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Savage Awakening 122. Touch of Death (V)

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The punch fell the way night fell. An endless darkness settling over his world, settling over his soul. And he sank straight into it. Deeper and deeper…

He thought it would be a violent thing. Not at all. It was gentle, almost a tender good night; so tender he couldn't even rage against it. There was something almost beautiful about it. He once heard a quote about how it all ended—not with a bang but a whimper.

He felt a Law at work here. Less than a speck, the fai...

121. The Touch of Death (IV)

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Zane could tell when they both hit a wall six moves deep.

Every new level just ballooned. For Zane, it felt like his soul was stretching, tearing at the seams.

Eze, meanwhile, was doing stuff Zane couldn't even start to understand. While Zane felt everything out—like putting white noise on full blast; he just had to bear it, withstand it—the guy was processing everything.

He was remembering every move, and the move after that, in sequence. So much a spike of ...

Savage Awakening 120. Touch of Death (III)

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Eze's eyes began to glow. Shit.

Zane rushed to match him.

Something was coming—Zane could feel it. The two of them started circling each other like prowling lions. All around them, the crowd stood in hushed, breathless silence.

Zane tapped into Eze's mind and felt another world. A ghostly shifting world... what was the guy up to? Sage Mind couldn't tell Zane what Eze saw. But Zane could feel it—feel it in the way those ghostly futures fell away,...

Savage Awakening 119. Touch of Death (II)

The punch landed, and they all felt it. You didn't even need Sage Mind—the aftershock swept the far and wide, passing through every soul there. A soft echo of what Cain had felt—a futility, an utter hopelessness, on and on.

Silence reigned. They were all frozen. Shaken. The treasure had spared Cain's life—but if it wasn't there...

They all knew what would've happened.

But one person there was having a very different reaction.

Zane stood there, breathing heavy. He...

Savage Awakening 118. Touch of Death (I)

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There was a deathly silence. Then— “Emeka Eze!” said Cain. His voice came out shaky and about an octave higher than before. He cleared his throat, tried getting his voice under control. "What…What a lovely surprise!"

He was smiling, but he was actually quite spooked. You could even see it on his face—his smile was brittle; the color had drained from his face. All his confidence had been doused with cold water.

Eze nodded. He met Cain's eyes with a gaze so int...

Savage Awakening 117. Tomb Kings (IV)

A/N:

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I have edited 116 to

1—play down Zane's 'feel-bad-about-beating-up-Mike

2—include a brief lil monologue by Mike in the astral realm before shit goes down

3—show Zane's full beatdown of mike, including a different end

//

Zane checked out the treasures inside.

The first was a single feather—red at the center, radiating out to yellow at the edges. It flickered and smoldered just sitting there. Fire Laws poured ou...

Savage Awakening 116. Tomb Kings (III)

Then it felt like he'd been shoved. Shoved so hard his whole world spun. He was violently flung away; he started falling, hurtling out of control. Nausea washed over him; not in his gut or in his head—not anywhere he was used to feeling it. Not anywhere physical. It went deeper than that, wrenching at his mind, at his soul.

The world became a slur of swirling colors.

Then slowly, everything righted itself again.

He blinked, trying to get the blurriness out of his ...

Savage Awakening Chapter 115. Tomb Kings (II)

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Mike came at him like a rabid animal. "DIE!" he shrieked.

Zane, meanwhile, was still feeling bad about the whole thing. In Zane's head Mike was still just a poor sad guy.

In that moment it was easy to forget Mike Masters was ranked top ten in the world—and he'd already slain another top ten World Ranker. And he had four Levels on Zane. And he had all the powers of an Elemental Law—at the time of day it was at its strongest…

Mike screeched and struck. His sw...

Savage Awakening 114. Tomb Kings (I)

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A/N: 

Retconned so Mike Masters broke through 2 weeks before present time, and is Level 106!

//

1 month ago...

A full moon shone over a desolate mountain peak. A peak so high it loomed far above the restless churning clouds.

A man stood atop it—a broad-shouldered man with strong features and short white hair. His eyes were trained on the sky.

They glowed an unearthly bright blue.

He...

Savage Awakening AU? Chapter 114??. Tomb Kings (I)

A/N: 

CAVEAT: 

I was originally going to trash this chapter and rewrite it from scratch. 

But I didn't want to leave y'all with nothing for today--and I figure even something that isn't canon story content could be interesting--so here's a chapter 114 that can be considered AU Fanfiction, except it's by me. Maybe this is random bonus content. 

Except if enough of you like it it may become the real story? 

Savage Awakening 113. Cliff Face

A/N:

Changed it so you can now gain essence within the Asura Hell Array--wanted to make the runs more consequential; due to this, have had to do some other minor retcons:

—changed payment mechanics a bit. You pay an initial cost of 5 high-grade essence stones, plus 3 high-grade essence stones per level cleared. Which increases to 7 from levels 5-7, since they're extremely cost intensive

—also: as such Zane gains a level in chap 111, and another in chap 1...

Savage Awakening 112. Testing (II)

He wasn't sure how much faster his Skill Leveling had gotten in here. When was the last time he Leveled two Skills in a row? He couldn’t even remember.

He wondered if they were based on kills. That'd be nice. The splash damage was very convenient.

He figured he was pretty well suited to do well in this kind of thing; he could womp a chunk of them at once—and he could soak a lot of damage too. He could just keep chugging.

As he was musing, more Monsters were closing in. A...

Savage Awakening 111. Testing (I)

Zane touched down and wiped a line of soot off his face.

He looked at the mess he'd made. All the half-melted boulders strewn about, gaping open, showing their swirling lava cores. He smiled.

Yes. He liked this.

Still though...he scratched his head. It wouldn't do to go flying every time he threw a shot.

Cranking up Steely Density would help, sure. It'd anchor him some. But there had to be a way to control these Extinction Smashes too. He felt like he'd gone a little o...

Savage Awakening 110. Big Deal

"I want three A-ranked Law treasures," said Zane.

Elias gagged. "You want what."

"One Electricity, one Fire, One Wood."

"Wood?!"

"It's for Reina."

Elias goggled at him. Then he took a deep breath, in and out, and plastered on a wobbly little smile. "Let's take a step back here. That A-rank Vial of Essence—that may have given you the wrong impression. That was a very rare, very generous gift I gave you! It was a one-time thing. L...

Savage Awakening 109. Third Class Evolution

Zane liked the Chain Warlord a lot. The idea of using a harpoon and dragging them in… You couldn't grapple much with axes, so he'd let that part of his style rust a little. But he had a soft spot for it.

The main problem with Axes was also why he liked grappling. Lots of his enemies nowadays were birds. Or almost-birds, like that Javier. They wouldn't hold still. He liked it when he could just hold an enemy down and crush them. Maybe this could let him do that.

He also liked the...

Savage Awakening 108. Breakthrough (III)

A/N: housekeeping: changed end of Yuki’s section so he notes Zane’s breakthrough, but doesn't come see

//

A single note rang out. A silvery note, a note of the soul. It was the same note Zane felt in that Steelheart Conclave Law recording. Now it spread from him, washing outward, touching the souls of hundreds, all at once. Resonating.

Suddenly the bottleneck fell away; some constriction vanished from his soul. Essence could flow freely again. The last o...

Savage Awakening 107. Breakthrough (II)

A/N: Yui Urabe -> Yuki Urabe

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//

Steel essence poured out of the Worldseed like water escaping a dam. Into him.

Zane closed his eyes. He reached out with his soul.

Usually, he had to make an effort. It took some searching. Not so right now. It was impossible not to feel Elemental Steel.

It screamed at him everywhere. Scathing winds scoured him from the outside. A little tempest brewed from within as the Worldseed gave him more and m...

Savage Awakening 106. Breakthrough (I)

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Zane was to meet Evan and Avery in the 'Golden Garden.' It was named for the little gold-petaled flowers peppering its grounds, swaying gently in the breeze. It stood on top of a hill. From here you could see most of the Silicon Coven headquarters sprawled out below, a dotting of steel silvers and bright-blues.

Beyond that loomed the vast deepening blues of the San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate twinkled in the distance, a suggestion of gold.

Lines of grills stretched ...

Savage Awakening 105. Scouting Out

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Zane was a little concerned as he watched them go, but... eh. Evan would be fine. Avery was a little... much... but she meant well.

***

The mid-afternoon sun told him he still had a few hours before dinner. So he went to get settled. He walked down a main avenue lined with runed stone pillars. Banners hung off the top of them, printed with the faces of a bunch of World Rankers attending the event—some serious, some smiling. Little flags dotted the corne...

Savage Awakening 104. Talent

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"So? Want to give it a try?"

Zane just frowned at him. Elias rolled his eyes. "It's not a trick question. Yeesh." Zane could feel he was telling the truth.

"Here." Elias held out the crystal. "Let me show you."

Once he grasped it firmly, a little scale flickered up in front of it—a wispy illusion. It looked like a thermometer. At its bottom, there was a display. It read, "F0."

"All the crystal does is circulate a little pure essence through you. It's like...

Savage Awakening 103. Arrival

NOTE: Retconning Evan's age to be ~14-15 to better match his personality! Also, removed the part where they can just teleport back from any A-rank Beacon for logistical reasons.

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//

First Zane and Evan teleported to Titansteel. From there they went on foot.

Before they set off Zane gave Evan the Titansteel Breastplate. He slid it right over Evan's tunic—it was a little big at first, but it shrank to fit him. Evan was delighted; h...

Savage Awakening 102. ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ

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They found Evan in one of the sick rooms—a cozy little thing on the fourth floor with a grand window overlooking the Faction's north side. You could see the fountains spurting up in the town square from here.

Evan lay in a little bed. He wasn't alone—there were three nurses there, all giggling. A brunette whispered something in his ear, and he gasped, "Woah! really?" There was more giggling. One of them pinched his cheeks. Another ruffled his hair. He just lay ther...

January End of Month Q&A

Here’s your chance to ask any burning questions you have, or just to tell me how you think the story’s going! 

Ex—if you want to know what inspired this story, I’d say:

Solo Leveling, the 2005 video game Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, and a gazillion different cultivation stories

Writing update on my end—went back to college in January, which screwed up the nice writing rhythm I had going. I’m easing into a new schedule in which I write 2x daily ...

Savage Awakening 101. Show and Tell

They lay there for who knew how long. Zane was happy just being Reina's pillow, listening as best he could, and being curious. He could tell she was a little pent-up. He wanted to help her vent a little.

She started telling him about it. Things were going better actually. The Harbormasters were her main headache—that was squished now. She had no big sudden threats. The Faction was getting to be a well-oiled machine. She had all these measures in place to take care of dungeon breaks, o...

Savage Awakening 100. Big Stick

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Woo chapter 100! 

//

A bunch of treasures lay inside atop a red plush bed. The first was a piece of paper,

smooth and yellow. He'd seen this kind of paper before.

Merchants Guild Promissory Note (B)

This promissory note can be redeemed for 10 Credits at any auction of the Dragonspire Galaxy Merchants Guild.

Well that told him very little. The name' Merchants Guild' rang a bell. He'd gotten an entrance token...

Savage Awakening 99. Final Boss (V)

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Zane had a cheat code for close combat. It was called Sage Mind.

He was just an okay boxer. But with Sage Mind he felt everything coming. It was like having lightning-quick reactions, but better—he could react before reacting was possible. It made fist-fighting so much fun. He felt like that guy from the Matrix sometimes. He didn't move as slickly—usually he just looked like he was blundering all over the place. But his opponents kept missing, to their consternation. Whi...

Savage Awakening 98. Final Boss (IV)

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Zane floated in darkness. A sightless, soundless void. He couldn't feel his body—he couldn't feel much of anything.

He could guess what'd happened.

Well. He supposed that was it.

He wished he had a chance to let Reina know he was sorry.

Not for helping Evan. He had no regrets there—he was quite happy about that, actually.

He was just sorry he let himself lose. To a tree, too. It was kind of embarrassing. He guessed that was life.

The one thi...

Savage Awakening 97. Final Boss (III)

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Zane just had to survive. Survive and do what damage he could. He had to keep its attention on him so Evan could chip away in the background.

It turned out much harder than it sounded.

The bough erupted around him. He felt like a small boat caught in a vicious storm. Titansteel roots towered like tsunami waves.

Then a root reared out of the ground and snagged his arm whip-quick. Another caught his leg; another wrapped his waist, coiling like a python. He slashed ...

Savage Awakening 96. Final Boss (II)

(1/1) * sorry guys couldn’t get 2nd chap out today — tried

//

It was an eldritch horror. A skyscraper of Titansteel towering on four looming gray pillars. Two gnarled trees climbed out of its back. Their silver trunks sizzled with essence and power and Law—Law like Zane had never seen. He felt that Law in his soul—like all this time he'd been playing a note slightly off-tune. And now he heard how it was meant to be played, full and clear and strong. Pure.

The Treant...

Savage Awakening 95. Final Boss (I)

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The chamber was made of pure Titansteel. Gray-brown streaks arched wall-to-ceiling. The floor was a cross-section of the Tree itself—you could see dozens of huge rings spread across it, silver lines circling one after another. Deep finger-width fissures spanned its length.

The air was musty. It smelled of old wood. Strips of glowing vines sprawled over the ceiling like stadium lights.

At the center stood the Monster. If the Bark Sentinels were lightweights, this thin...