Holding the crystal up, Jonathan watched as it exploded, sending shards of light into his body. In comparison to before, the explosion was far duller, changed in respect to his heightened senses, at least opposed to none at all. His vision sharpened yet again, and the bloody ground below came into full focus. Things that had not been there before appeared out of nowhere, disgusting, wormy parasites that crawled in and out of the holes in the slab of flesh below.

  A faint, keening howl drifted down from above, and Jonathan slowly looked up, to see a face gazing down at him. It was barely recognizable as one, composed entirely of writhing tentacles, that at the distances involved, must have been miles in length. Two burning eyes were set into the center, and just looking at them, whited out Jonathan’s mind briefly. Madness encroached upon him for a brief moment, before he mustered control over himself, and turned his gaze away, towards safer sights.

  One of the Spawn crawled around nearby, but it looked very different to its previous form. Now that he could see properly, he could make out the lengths of ropy flesh that propelled the things, allowing it to skitter along the ground in the way that it did. Hidden in folds of flesh, a hinged jaw awaited, lined with razor sharp teeth, ready to shred its prey. The ends of the tentacles were tipped in semi corporeal razor blades, which must have been what had hurt him earlier. It all made more sense now.

  Jonathan’s lip curled in disgust at the sight, and a wave of revulsion crested within him as he realized that the dungeon was only going to get worse from here. His vision was nowhere near its normal levels, meaning that there were more of the crystals lying around to be found. If the gaze of the being that inhabited the roof of the dungeon was already maddening at this level of perception, how bad would it become?

  He understood now why the dungeon worked the way it did. Other than the obvious nod to its theme, the tiered levels of perception allowed for one to become accustomed to the strange beings and scenery of the dungeon. Even in its current state, the dungeon was already concerning. How much worse would it get? To temporarily comfort himself, he opened his stats.

  Jonathan Harlowe

  Tier 4

  Void Human(Exalted)

  Divinity Aspect: Void Hegemon

  Elemental Mastery: 17%

  Elemental Juggernaut: Tier 4 Legendary

  Active Blessings: The Third Eye of Exal’drin

  Level 362

  (1305 free points)

  Strength

  4960

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  Dexterity

  4131

  Constitution

  3899

  Resilience

  3935

  Intelligence

  3862

  Wisdom

  3349

  Divinity

  40

  Health: 87728/87728

  Stamina: 111600/111600

  Mana: 86895/86895

  

  
• 
  
    Titles
  
    


  

  True Unbound Spirit: Unique

  Second Circle Breaker: Unique

  Nascent God: Transcendent

  Supreme Initiate: Ancient

  Prodigy of Fusion: Mythical

  Lesser Xenocide: Legendary

  Greater Giantslayer: Legendary

  Iron Will: Epic

  Leader of Men: Epic

  Refined Form: Epic

  Avenger: Epic

  Lineage Hunter: Rare

  Righteous Killer: Rare

  

  
• 
  
    Skills
  
    


  

  Maw of the Void: Ancient

  Aegis of the Void’s Dichotomy:Ancient

  Void’s Hunger: Ancient

  Ephemeral Trifecta: Mythical

  Greater Smite: Mythical

  Void Piercer: Mythical

  Void Missile: Mythical

  Runic Overcharge: Mythical

  Flame of Judgement: Mythical

  Rune Savant: Legendary

  Void Drill: Legendary

  Channeled Basic Truesight: Legendary

  Sense the Weave: Legendary

  Fists of the Maelstrom: Legendary

  Minor Enlightenment: Legendary

  Void Slipstream: Epic

  Warrior’s Trance: Epic

  Battle Focus: Rare

  Impact: Rare

  Focused Scry: Rare

  Runes of Power: Rare

  Redirect: Uncommon

  

  
• 
  
    Pathway Skills
  
    


  

  Blunt Weapon Mastery(Advanced): Expert 5

  Runecrafting Expertise(Advanced): Expert 4

  Energy Manipulation(Advanced): Expert 2

  

  
• 
  
    Martial Path
  
    


  

  Flowing Maelstrom: Expert 2

  

  
• 
  
    Weapon Domain: Expert 5(Advanced)
  
    


  

  Metaphysical Domain: Expert 4(Advanced)

  Energy Domain: Expert 2(Advanced)

  

  
• 
  
    Quests
  
    


  

  The Strongest: ???

  Hellbreaker: Impossible

  Pathway of the Titans: Heroic

  He had more than enough points to bring up his strength significantly, but as of yet, he had no need. Perhaps if the dungeon became more difficult he would be forced to invest a few of them, but for right now, with his vision returned, he was able to find a way through.

  As he followed the slowly ascending slope of the dungeon floor, a faint, shadowy shape appeared in the distance, looming over the dungeon like a claw. He would have spotted it from the very beginning had he been able to see properly, but with his vision around the levels of a normal human, it was still indistinct.

  With nothing better to do, and a creeping feeling gnawing at the edges of his consciousness, Jonathan headed towards the castle. He decided not to travel at full speed, given that there were things hidden all around him. There could have been a gaping pit carved into the world, and he would never see it.

  By the time he reached about a mile’s distance from the keep, he could make it out clearly. A vast, gothic cathedral of a building, it was nevertheless heavily fortified, despite its temple-like appearance. Its windows were made of stained glass, looking like eyes peering out from the face of its oblique form. Things moved behind the windows, darting in and out of sight too quickly to be made out.

  All around the building, sigils were burned into the ground, with the flesh around them smoking from the heat. The stench of burnt meat permeated the air, providing an extra level to the macabre scene. Jonathan strode over the charnel field, and leaped over the remaining section, landing before the castle.