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Savage Awakening 324. The Festival of Might (III)

Everyone had been so stunned they'd forgotten about Zane.

Then the shouts started up again.

"The new lad's challenging Orin?!"

"Zane's strong, but he's just an Ascendant. He's not even got a Bone, has he?"

"The Barbarian Sage—he's gone mad this time!"

Some other voices popped up too, though.

"I wouldn't count him out. Remember last time? That one's something special."

"He's got weird powers too, don't forget—it's that Title of his! They say he can...

Savage Awakening 323. Festival of Might (II)

“All the Faction’s best will be here, crowded ‘round,” said the Sage, looking around, hands on hips. “Waiting their turn—seems like we’ve just come in time for the Minor Gods’ show!” 

He whistled as he surveyed the crowd. He waved and grinned at a few of the elders there.

“That lass there—see the Giantess?” he said, pointing. She was towering a good head over most folk. Giant gold rings wrapped her biceps. 

“That there’s Ylcaraz! One of ...

Savage Awakening 322. The Festival of Might (I)

It was a typical night these days. Cross-legged under a full moon around a crackling campfire, a blanket of mist shrouding the chaos far below. Chowing down on juicy raw drake leg.

Fluffy was looking at Zane, making begging noises. They sounded like glass shattering, mixed with the howls of the damned. Zane frowned at her. She gave him a lick. 

"Fine," said Zane and tossed her a bone. She happily shredded it midair.

"Time sure flies, eh?" sighed the Barbarian Sage.

Savage Awakening 321. The Gauntlet (VI)

She showed up in a form-fitting red dress—which, with her form, was quite a sight. Normally she turned heads down the street wherever she went, but now she stunned anyone who looked at her, including Zane. 

She was even more gorgeous than normal. He wondered what the occasion was.

She strode up to him with purpose and greeted him with an unusually fierce kiss, like she was claiming him.  

Zane blinked.  

“Did you miss me?” she said. 

Zan...

Savage Awakening 320. The Gauntlet (V)

It seemed only then that Vadros started to appreciate the danger he was in.

The Prince was now the one with whiplash—he whirled around, pale eyes bloodshot, trying to find a way out, finding none. Whirling on Zane now, staring like he couldn't believe—would've never thought a creature like Zane could outmaneuver him. 

And all the while, the walls closed in…

No! shrieked Vadros, whirling back on Zane. 

Shadows extended down the lengths o...

Savage Awakening 319. The Gauntlet (IV)

This fellow was so pale it was like he'd never seen the sun. Hairless, with beady red eyes, sunken cheeks.  

But what drew Zane’s attention was his aura. 

It smoldered in the astral plane, casting a billowing shadow whose bleak fingers reached halfway across the cage. Some strange power ran dense through the Prince’s veins, tinging them void-black. Some nasty Bloodline Zane had felt in Monster Lords before, or even Monster Knights. But it so dense in this beast it wa...

Savage Awakening 318. The Gauntlet (III)

It was a violent next few minutes.

Chains crashed about, wrestling down the Cobra. Stormfire and Void Rot clawed at each other in bursts that shook the cage. The Monster’s tail spikes slashed the air, leaving bubbling hissing scars wherever it passed… 

Zane took a battering.  

His skin steamed all over, exposing the places where the rot drilled deeper into the muscle. He was slammed into the ceiling, the walls, over and over…

He just kept getting up. 2024-10-16 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Savage Awakening 317. The Gauntlet (II)

It was said that one bite from that Serpent was enough to kill a Minor God. That was how it got its name.

Godsbane Cobra (Monster Lord)

Essence Level 542

It was so massive it couldn't rear up to its full height in the space of the cage—sixty feet in the air, a mountainous shadow looming over Zane. A seething black spittle splattered from its crescent fangs. It landed in thick gobs that hissed like nests of angry snakes. Runes flared up on ...

Savage Awakening 316. The Gauntlet (I)

“That tip right there? That's made of the horn of the Titan Rhino,” said the Barbarian Sage proudly. “Beauty, ain't she?”

Zane nodded. His eyes never left it. 

“Sacred Bones spike the powers of Spirit Weapons too! Some Skills, they make a hell of a lot stronger. Although…” the Barbarian Sage chuckled. “Can’t show you here, unfortunately. Last time I wielded her around these parts was when that A-Tier dungeon  ‘Ghoul Graveyard’ broke—blew a hole in...

Savage Awakening 315. Training Montage (VII)

It struck him like a stampede. 

It wasn't just one King Ursa—it was the King and its ancestors poured into one monstrous force. Not one avalanche but an avalanche of avalanches, slamming into Zane at once.

It took him off his feet—for just a fraction of a second.

It was his new reaction time that saved him. There was a moment of shock.

But Zane got over it fast. 

Instantly his eyes were clear, bright with a sudden intensity, an urgency.

He sto...

Savage Awakening 314. Training Montage (VI)

These past few months Evan had been learning a lot in the Constellation Order. He'd gotten up to Ascension, made new friends, and mastered most of the arts of cake-making. There were a few small bumps—a few of the Outer Faction Chosen had tried to bully him at first. 

But Evan had stood up for himself and made himself be brave, just like Zane had taught him on their adventures. The bullies stopped after that.

Zane was proud of him. 

Evan had learned some new Skil...

Savage Awakening 313. Training Montage (V)

That night around the campfire, the Barbarian Sage threw Zane a little celebration feast. He took out some strange-smelling green legs of meat, a rare drop of some True God chimera. It was some of the most essence-rich stuff Zane had ever tasted. 

Level up! 

Essence Level 425 -> 426

Slaying that first Monster Lord marked the first big checkpoint of what the Sage had planned for Zane's first stint at the Steelheart Conclave. They...

Savage Awakening 312. Training Montage (IV)

It wasn't possible. Gorthak felt no essence—no Law, not even the hint of a domain! What was that man punching with? 

Then the man moved. And Gorthak saw a layer of distortion over his knuckles.

It stopped the Monster dead.

Reality would only waver like that if burdened with a massive amount of power.

But there was nothing in that punch. Nothing but raw muscular force…

And only then did Gorthak understand just how much trouble it was in. 

It ha...

Savage Awakening 311. Training Montage (III)

"It's time to face the kind of thing that'll attack your home in nine years' time," said the Barbarian Sage. 

Zane perked up at that. 

"It's time to put your training to the test." 

Their destination was halfway across the Barbarian Sage's home planet. They bounded between the peaks, going miles at a time. No one bothered them. Zane sensed a few Minor God-level powers watching from a distance here and there.

He swore he felt stronger auras still, hiding ...

Savage Awakening 310. Training Montage (II)

A/N: Added:

“Cranky little thing. But it tends the pond well, maintains the Tears of Boreas. You’ve just got to make it respect you—then it’ll leave you be.” 

Also—changed it so the Growth stimulus % are cumulative, covering Zane’s entire body! Before, it referred to how stimulated each individual muscle group was. 

//

Those teeth were honed to fine points of tempered bone, a forest of gleaming spikes packed dense with Ti...

Savage Awakening 309. Training Montage (I)

Planet Explosion was another short hop away. This one was a desert planet—a few lakes dotting long stretches of sand. The sun beat down heavy overhead.

There were no dunes here. Gravity flattened them all into hard-packed sand, like a race-track.

This planet's core came from a Neutron Star, said the Barbarian Sage. Some of the densest stuff you could get. It was meant to train, like its name suggested, explosiveness.

It was grueling just to stand here—when Zane touched d...

Savage Awakening 308. Titan's Body, First Form (IV)

Planet Press was just a short teleport away.

It was much less barren than Planet Pull—it actually seemed a real planet, with circular oceans running between sprawling land-masses, some fuzzy with greenery, others great swathes of desert. Zane saw a few volcanoes near the poles.

There were even some folk living here, Zane saw, as they beamed down. Speckles of lights over the continents—the Barbarian Sage said he knew some of their chiefs. Went down for drinks with them sometime...

Savage Awakening 307. Titan's Body, First Form (III)

"I like to keep it simple with names. Call it like I see it."

The Sage grinned. 

"How fast you progress and how strong you become is in your hands now, Zane. In Heaven-grade things get serious fast." 

Zane nodded. Noughtfire had said something like this too.

"All those level-ups you just had, this past week? They're worth about as much as one level in the First Form." 

This was mildly alarming to Zane, considering how much he had just eaten. But lo...

Savage Awakening 306. Titan's Body, First Form (II)

Zane could stomach a lot. And it was clear the Barbarian Sage was investing a great deal into him, and he was grateful. It was a huge gift.

Still, though...

He eyed the giant blocks, blinking. 

All that in a week? 

…Added together, they appeared to be several times the size of him.

Then he shrugged. 

He supposed he could give it a go.

Really he'd never tested how much he could eat at once. And he was never one to question himself in t...

Savage Awakening 305. Titan's Body, First Form (I)

Titan Rhino’s Lung Chunk [Sky (S)]

The bloody chunk let out so much aura it was like radioactive material in the astral plane.

Casually the Barbarian Sage tossed it at Zane. 

Then—“I’ve got to check up on a few pets,” he said. “There's also a few Monsters imprisoned around these parts which could be a bit of an existential threat to the Faction if they got out. Gotta make sure they're down pat.” 

He grinned in a way that made Za...

Savage Awakening 304. Worldbreaker Hammer (III)

A/N: Bonus Chapter!

//

Inner Systems

Steelheart Conclave  

It was common practice among the Steelheart Conclave's Inner Disciples to use their moons as a training ground. 

So it was the case with the Chosen Bol of the Mithril Golem Bloodline—#7 all-time on the Lifting Stones as a Minor God.  A ten-foot-tall behemoth of living-steel flesh. 

He set down the Heaven-Grade Spirit Steel...

Savage Awakening 303. Worldbreaker Hammer (II)

As the Barbarian Sage saw Zane ascend the steps, he was puffed full of confidence. 

Zane would do well, he knew. The lad took stupid well to the Titan Rhino’s blood. You came across these cases sometimes, especially in folk from Ur-Planets. They called them ‘super-responders’—every drop of Bloodline seemed to have several times the effect on them—and Zane was unusual even among those gifted few. Some men were born to be strong. 

Now—Zane was going up...

Savage Awakening 302. Worldbreaker Hammer (I)

There was a giant stele next to the hammer with names etched down the front of it—six columns, each with 50 names.

The columns were titled, “Ascendant. Minor God. True God. Empyrean.”

Next to each name was a recording—some read “2 AU or 3 AU.”

“What does AU stand for?” said Zane.

“That’s Apocalypse Unit,” said the Barbarian Sage. “The force needed to explode an F-ranked planet.”

These were Zane’s kind of people.

“The neat thing...

Savage Awakening 301. The Plaza of Titans

Zane and his friends were just back for the weekend, but they agreed they would at least make this a monthly thing. Long-distance teleports like this were very expensive, but Reina was happy to foot the bill.

*** 

There were some other World Rankers back on Earth. A bunch of Earth’s heroes had the same idea—they'd come home every once in a while. At any given time, a fair share were visiting. Most still had family here. 

One of them was a bulky blonde man with ...

Savage Awakening 300. The Next Level (III)

Avery handed Zane an Interspatial Ring.

“What’s in it,” said Zane, inspecting it.

“20,000 sky-grade stones,” she said, patting the ring. 

“…What.” 

“It's a long story.”

She then explained the long story, to all their consternation. 

Now she was quite rich. So rich she wasn't even sure what to do with all the money.

First she bought lots of sweets-related things. A castle made of pure chocolate. A volcano that spewed ...

Savage Awakening 299. The Next Level (II)

A/N: Edited a mistake in the last chapter, here's the corrected version:

“Now let us speak of your future. You stand at the peak of Tier 4 now—that is, Heavenly Stormfire. After you break through…” said Noughtfire. 

A new foundation flickered to life. Thicker than all the rest. It was hollow in the middle.

“This will be your Tier 5 Law. Think of it like a new layer of the pyramid. It is empty at fi...

Savage Awakening 298. The Next Level (I)

He opened the letter. There stood the Barbarian Sage behind a shattered coffee table. He grinned and waved a broken-off table leg. Zane waved back.

“Zane!” said the Sage cheerfully. “You haven't forgotten about me, have you?”

Zane had just been thinking about him actually.

“It's high time you got over here,” said the Sage. “I—”

He was cut off by an eldritch screeching in the background—it sounded like glass shattering blended with sharp edges gratin...

Savage Awakening 297. The Ten-Man Challenge (V)

There wasn’t a person still seated. Dragon-kin were clutching their heads; phoenix-kin were shaking each other, the lower stands were cheering and stamping so loud they threatened to bring down the stadium. Drinks were flying, hats were flying, shoes were flying, streamers were popping mid-air, showering flaming confetti—it was rank pandemonium.

And the Scryers were capturing it all, beamed out across the galaxy. But most were trained on Zane's face in that moment. Nodding satisfied...

Savage Awakening 296. The Ten-Man Challenge (IV)

The chains exploded with Stormfire. Plumes that burst halfway up the stadium—for a moment Throck was lost in the light of Destruction.

Then they descended on the ape-man, and feasted.

He howled—tried struggling against the onslaught, tried bringing his strength to bear—but for all his muscles, he couldn’t move an inch. 

 Zane held on tight. He felt the writhing force meet his own muscles and dissipate—vanishing without a trace. 

The hold only g...

Savage Awakening 295. The Ten-Man Challenge (III)

A/N: Book 3 (up to Chapter 263) comes out today on Kindle! Woo

//

Even standing there, their powers were suppressed. Swallowed up by greater fire. A hail of white sparks sizzled up their skin, leaving smoking burn marks that wouldn’t heal. They took passive damage just existing.

***

“My wo...