Savage Awakening 195. Monster Knight (II) (Patreon)

Zane took a heavy breath.

Rivers of essence gushed into him. Core Monsters had so much to give. It all merged into an ocean with him at the center, soaking in the light…. 

Level up!

Essence Level 200 -> 201

A week ago he would’ve thought it a wealth of essence. But now he needed far more essence than before. He had to feed his Core. It felt like shoveling fuel into a high-powered furnace. 

These Core Monsters felt suddenly weak, watered down to him. This was inferior essence, nothing like his own… it could not sate him. There had been maybe twenty or thirty of the Monsters—it wasn’t enough. 

He looked around, took in the damage he had wrought. He nodded, satisfied. 

All the humans, he was pleased to see, had survived. They looked rather stunned by the whole thing. 

Even Zane was a little surprised. He didn’t think the world would rip that easily. He wasn’t even sure how it happened. 

This world seemed to have trouble holding him. Even when he stood nearly at rest—just keeping the engine of his core stoked and churning—the air gave little protests. Micro-tears rippled out around him.

He remembered this was an E-grade planet. He was pretty sure he had outgrown it. He was ready for the next grade up. 

He was ready to graduate to the Superdungeon. Eager to. 

Everything here felt suddenly kind of breakable. 

There was only one thing he wanted to break right now. 

He frowned. His jaw clenched. 

He turned and looked to a certain distant peak. To the clouds wreathing the tip of it… 

“Is that the one?” he asked Eze.

Slowly, Eze nodded.

He grunted. Then—carefully—he scooped Reina up around the waist with one arm, held her tight to him, almost chest-to-chest. She made a little surprised noise before she settled into him and clung on. He always found her surprisingly easy to scoop. She had a small waist but her body curved well to either side of it—she made for pretty secure holding.

He knew she wanted to help, and her healing powers could come in useful. Just in case.

He didn’t feel he was going to need it though. 

Right now he was still high off the thrill of the fight—off the feeling of untamed power coursing through his limbs, tingling at his fingers. His heart was still thumping strong in his chest. He looked to his hands. In that moment he felt like he could crush anything he put his heart to.

He asked Reina if she felt comfortable—she nodded quickly.

Then he kicked off. Launching for Heaven’s Peak.

*** 

Again he underestimated his power. He meant to make it there in bounds—but one kick shot him up like a rocket. He blasted hundreds of feet in the air, winds shrieking—Reina pressed her face against his chest, closed her eyes, and clung on tight. Strands of her hair fluttered into his face as they flew. 

He landed as gently as he could on an in-between mountain, took most of the shock in his legs. And launched off again.

This time he shot through the thick cloud layer. For a few seconds, all he saw was white. He was lost in the fog. 

Then he broke through. Felt sunlight on the side of his face, the crisp coldness of the air, brushing down his arms…

And there was Heaven's Peak. Thrusting out of the clouds. It was as grand a mountain as Zane had ever seen, stacked high with dense slabs of snow, of ice, of granite. Proud, a beacon throwing back reams of rising sunlight, shining with a natural majesty—the sort of thing old-timey artists might devote their lifetimes to trying to capture in painting without ever managing it.

There was some mysterious quality to the place that couldn’t be described, only felt. Something that trembled the heart, that struck you when you looked at it… 

You have entered: Dungeon: Heaven’s Peak (???)

He landed a few hundred feet beneath the peak. And let Reina down. It took her a moment to catch her breath. Her heart was going very fast. But when she took a deep breath and looked up again, she’d firmed up. She looked determined. Ready.

Together they marched for the peak.

You have entered:

Final Lair

First of Earth’s Gates to the Graveyard of Lost Realms (???)

This Gate transports you to an unspecified floor of the Graveyard of Lost Realms, the finishing dungeon for all integrated planets. Which floor you enter is determined by Fate. Which floor you exit likewise. Enter at your own peril.

This Gate admits one party only. Other parties must enter through other gates.

Zane paused. Was that the name of the Superdungeon—the Graveyard of Lost Realms? He wasn’t sure what to make of the question-mark grading. Reina was frowning at it too. But she was not really in analyze mode. She was too focused on the fight ahead. She did think it didn’t sound like a normal dungeon… it almost sounded like they would enter, and exit, through a small chunk of this ‘Graveyard’. And the word 'transport' made it sound like a portal to somewhere else to her. The whole thing made it sound like somewhere other than Earth.

They decided to deal with it later. 

The closer they got, the more destruction they saw. Scorch marks scattered on the mountainside. Ravines streaming down the mountain, going deep into the crust... It was evidence of Irina's last stand. The Minotaur had exerted such force against her it had not only overpowered her Godbeast Bloodline—with ease. It had shattered the mountain beneath too.

Reina tried not to look at it, though her anxiousness did jump. She tried to just focus on him. On his power, rather than its power. She felt more at ease. 

They both shared the same belief. When Zane’s power and this Minotaur’s came together, it would be Zane coming out on top. 

Soon they saw the capstone up ahead. Shattered. They saw reddish light streaming from beyond—the same light they'd seen in the vision, the light going out of the Gate…

They rounded a final bend, circled an outcropping of icy boulders. And stepped up onto the plateau of the peak.

And there. Sitting on the edge of those ancient runed stone stairs. Sharpening the edge of his axe with a stone—an edge blistering with black lightning...

Asterion (Monster Knight)

Essence Level 255

The Minotaur was even bigger in person. And the subtle aura it gave off... the fight hadn't even begun and Zane could tell this was no ordinary Monster. 

Something about its aura felt very, very old to him. Like a creature out of an ancient myth. 

What bothered Reina was that Irina Volkova had gotten so little out of the beast. It had killed her almost entirely with brute strength. They hadn't seen what it was truly capable of—not even its Skills. 

And it had to be capable of a lot more than just raw power. It barely looked like it broke a sweat when it killed the World #1… 

Zane tried reading it with Sage Mind—getting a deep analysis. And was surprised to find he hit some kind of wall. 

It was the first time this had happened. 

He could still get a read on its feelings, though. 

There was a brooding weight to its calmness, like the calmness of a boulder. 

The Minotaur looked up.

It smiled hideously. Its teeth were like tombstones, its eyes dark empty voids.

I HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOU. It rumbled. EVEN AS WE FOUGHT. I KNEW. SHE WAS NOT THE ONE I WAS SENT TO EXECUTE.

Zane stepped slowly closer. Narrowing his eyes at the creature. Feeling it out, getting a better read on it with Sage Mind. Its intents, its feelings… 

Once he felt deeper into its aura he saw it was wider than his own, even—though it was much less deep.

Still. This thing’s Core was not like those of the Monsters below. Everything about it that they could gather. Its Bloodline. Its Essence. Its Law. It was like a World Ranker compared to a mere mortal.

An Elite among Monsters. 

It stood. Drew up to its full height. Ten-odd feet of rippling muscle.

And its Bloodline began to pump through its body. Awakening... its aura began to rise.

THAT EXPLOSION. IT WAS YOU. YOU DISPATCHED THE GRUNTS.

Zane stayed silent. Tensed. Ready. 

It shrugged.

IF YOU HOPE I WILL FALL LIKE THEY DID. I MUST DISAPPOINT YOU.

It snorted. Plumes of smoke left its fat nostrils. HAVE YOU COME TO FIGHT ME LITTLE ONE? 

Its eyes were set ablaze—and it let its aura out.

DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE… YOU CAN WIN? 

It hit Zane like a hot summer wind. Buffeting him with a wide-ranging, fast-moving pressure on him, howling around him… 

The Monster bellowed, a sound that trembled the grounds, sent cracks shivering between Zane’s feet.

And its aura skyrocketed.

It unleashed the full breadth of its powers for all to see. Towering to the high heavens... A miasma of darkness, of crackling lightning, tainted the air. Stifling. It was an unbridled strength. It was a certain overbearing pride. A primal Bloodlust, a bloodlust that a sea of corpses could never sate... That Core aura told you everything you needed to know about this creature. It laid its soul bare—proudly bare.

No wonder that World Ranker Team had paled. It was easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer force of its spirit. 

But Zane Walker was not so easily moved. 

His heart did not wither at the sight of it—it sped up, thumped harder. He grew more eager. His Core was like some great lion hearing a rival’s roar—and yearning, seething, to respond with its own… 

He unleashed his aura. Everything he was. His power. His soul. His will. It all poured out of him. 

And it was a sight to behold. 

And the two auras surged. Broke against each other, clashing feverishly—rising higher and higher, farther, blowing out against each other—two auras so strong the very fabric of reality struggled to hold them both—it was like seeing two great heavenly bodies side-by-side in the sky…

And then. Just like every other time Zane’s aura had gone head-to-head with another—

Zane began to dominate. 

It was an eclipse of body and soul. For though that Minotaur had a great deal of power in its aura—it couldn’t hold. It lost ground. And soon it could no longer be denied. Its aura covered a great space. It might have shone farther... but in this first duel before the duel, Zane’s power burned brighter.

The Minotaur just stared at him. Slobbering a little, choking a little. Its bull’s mouth working, like it was chewing on a hard-to-swallow cud.

Then it began to laugh. A staccato grunting sound. It snorted.

SO THIS WAS NOT A WASTE OF MY TIME AFTER ALL. AT FIRST I BELIEVED IT WAS ABSURD TO SEND ME! EVEN FOR AN UR-PLANET… BUT YOU ARE NO ORDINARY NATIVE. WHAT GRADE OF CORE HAVE YOU ACHIEVED, YOUNG ONE? HIGH-PEAK?

Zane stayed silent.

REMARKABLE. NO BACKING. NO SECT. YET—YOU HAVE ACHIEVED A PEAK CORE WITH THE PIDDLING RAW MATERIALS ON THIS BACKWATER PLANET… 

It considered him more closely. 

IF YOU HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO ROAM. BEEN PROPERLY NURTURED. YOU MIGHT HAVE ACHIEVED GREATNESS IN THIS UNIVERSE. A TRUE THREAT TO MONSTERKIND…

It gave a deep-throated sigh. 

BUT YOU ARE FACING ME. I HAVE LOST COUNT HOW MANY WOULD-BE GREATS I HAVE CRUSHED BETWEEN MY FISTS… IN TRUTH. I ENJOY SLAYING THE GREAT ONES THE MOST.

It licked its lips. It was telling the truth. Zane could feel a new eagerness smoldering in that black heart. A hunger.

MY NAME IS ASTERION THE EXECUTIONER! It boomed. It thumped those two plates of muscle it called a chest. GUARDIAN OF THE FINAL GATES! IT IS YOUR OWN GREAT MISFORTUNE TO FACE ME HERE. AT THE BEGINNING, RATHER THAN THE END… 

Its massive fists clenched tight. Its eyes shone blacker and blacker—THAT LITTLE ICE-GIRL HAD THE HUBRIS TO FIGHT ME. YET SHE WAS NOT DESERVING OF MY TRUE POWER. FOR YOU… 

It stomped a foot. Snorted, like a bull about to charge—I WILL GIVE EVERYTHING! 

Reams of black lightning surged down its body. Blasted through each of its muscles swelling them, pumping them full of essence—and the Monster began to inflate.

At the same time, it set its Bloodline on fire.

The first thing that became clear was just how much Bloodline it had. That Blood might be a lesser grade than Zane's—but the sheer quantity of it… it granted the Monster strange powers. 

A ghostly image flickered over its head. A beastly avatar, like what Eze’s Bloodline showed. But this one was far denser. Clearer, brighter, and it shone almost corporeal in the Astral Plane—a bigger, nastier version of this Minotaur, red-skinned, with horns sticking out of its mouth, jutting out of its head… 

There was a resonance between its soul and Asterion’s. An echo of very old souls. As though these were its ancestors, its heritage; it was somehow drawing power from the thousands of Minotaurs that came before it. Linked through history, through fate, by all that seething Blood.. 

It made the beast bulge even bigger. So big it was straining at the skin. Every last inch of it was packed full of raw, poorly restrained power—so much its body could hardly handle it. It was ready to explode.

It had made no empty boasts. This thing was not even close to being in the same league as those minions Zane had beaten. It could’ve crushed them all with one hand.

But Zane gave a grunt of his own. Stomped down. And his blood began burning too.

The might of the Titan Rhinoceros erupted through him. Bringing a ferocious power to his own muscles, making his aura explode, his body rage with his new Core essence. And his power towered to meet the Minotaur’s once more—

GODBEAST BLOODLINE? The Monster Knight was stunned. Then it gave another bellow. A laugh shaking its whole body. YOU GROW MORE INTRIGUING BY THE SECOND, LITTLE EARTHLING. BUT YOU ARE SIMPLY TOO LITTLE! THIS IS NOT EVEN ENOUGH BLOODLINE FOR TRUE MANIFESTATION! 

It crouched. All its muscles bunching, coiling, compressing… as though to charge.

YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE SCOPE OF THIS UNIVERSE. THIS… IS WHAT TRUE POWER FEELS LIKE!

And it came at him like a freight train. Full speed. It kicked off so hard it was like hundreds of tons of dynamite going off at once, shattering the mountain peak, sending a good half of it avalanching down the other side—

Already it was upon him. Axe carving down chock-full of black lightning.

Zane let loose his Primal Roar. His body burned to the limits of its powers. And he threw up his Chain to greet it.

A Chain blazing with Stormfire. Powered by that unyielding, mighty essence at the Core of him.

An intense greed showed then in the Minotaur’s eyes. A flaring bloodlust; its mouth curved into a wild ugly smile. It remembered how it had shattered Irina's Chains in one stroke. All it could think was how stupid this human was. It would take a sadistic glee in breaking Zane the exact. Same. Way.

Axe crashed over Chain.

The explosion rocked Heaven's Peak to its very heart. Tore gaping fissures deep into the skies. Gaping the cloud layer, ripping scars into the Heavens themselves, tearing the waning stars from the sky...

The rush of raw power was like nothing Zane had ever felt—an overwhelming blast. Nothing could have prepared him for it. The amount of essence, Law, of sheer force that slammed into him, all at once—it felt like a mountain crumbling on top of him. It did not feel like the kind of power mortal flesh was meant to bear.

He gritted his teeth. Let out a grunt of pure effort—that grunt turned into a roar, louder and louder, as he struggled against what felt like a world of power. There was just one thought burning in his mind.

He refused to go down.

His Chains shuddered. A nearly unstoppable force bore down on them. On him.

But it found in Zane a totally immovable object.

All that power ran straight into him—that freight train crashing through him—and hit an absolute wall.

Zane’s body took it all at once. Every muscle on his massive body straining to their maximum—and broke it where it stood.

It was as much a wall of will as a wall of body. 

The trouble was it broke him too. And badly.

Pain erupted inside him. So much he didn’t even know where to begin. So much of him shattered that instant. 

His body was still pumping white-hot, his muscles still screaming with effort… and he’d felt a good chunk of them give out just then. Tear with the brute force of it. His whole mouth was full of hot blood. And so many bones were cracked—an arm, his legs, his ribs—he was surprised he was still upright.

Warning! Health under 75%

He didn’t understand how it didn’t go under 50%. It was damned close. 

That power was no joke.

That 50-Level gap. That difference in Bloodline. At some point sheer quantity could still overwhelm quality. It nearly overwhelmed him. He was jumping a full half-grade in power, facing some Elite Monster. 

Still Zane had believed that even against this beast, strength for strength, he could take it… 

And he was proven right.

Only he paid for it with his body.

The Minotaur peered down at him—all its power run out of it in one big burst. Stopped utterly. 

...EH?

It seemed shocked that he was still standing. 

Still staring it down with the same fiery intensity. 

Distantly he heard Reina cry out, saw a notification pop up— 

You have been afflicted by: Buff: Evergrow 

Regen +30%! 

Duration: 1 minute 

At the same time— 

Skill Evolved! 

Stormfire Renewal [Common (E) -> Rare (E)] 

And his body exploded. Over and over. In a Chain Combustion. At every broken chunk of him, Stormfire blew up. Exploding healing all over his body—blasting whole cracked bones, rebirthing torn muscle, healing at a shocking speed, twice, thrice, four times what it had been before—and Reina’s powers only buffed him. 

At the same time his muscles, powered by his Bloodline, his new Core, never stopped burning, building, straining, even within a shattered body— 

And now as the Minotaur stood there. Still braced against him—Axe halted on Chain—heaving. Recharging after that mad rush… 

This all took mere seconds. Not even enough time for the Minotaur to get over its shock. It was still staring wide-eyed at him, disbelieving, like it was expecting him to fall apart at any moment. 

No such luck. 

He had just taken this beast’s hardest, all-out blow. 

My turn. 

And his body began to surge…

Zane roared. Specks of blood splattered all over its horrified face. 

He stomped. Hard. Shoved mightily, feeling every muscle in his body lighting up with a blinding power— 

He forced the great beast back. Made that enormous Monster Knight stumble. 

HOW ARE YOU STANDING?! choked Asterion. YOU OUGHT TO BE BROKEN TEN TIMES OVER!

It almost did break him. But it could never know that. 

Zane’s face had never changed. He showed no signs of weakness. That was just who he was. He barely winced, never cried out. If you broke his leg, he would keep running on it without complaint until the bone tore out of his body. 

To this Minotaur, then, staring at Zane’s stoic face—it seemed like it had barely wounded him. 

And all of a sudden this ancient beast was shaken. Even as the momentum in Zane’s muscles, building all this time, finally began to assert itself — 

“THIS,” he bellowed. “IS WHAT TRUE POWER FEELS LIKE.” 

And he gave the beast everything. 

//

A/N:

Experimenting with longer chapter lengths-- this one was 3.3k words, 50% longer than normal.

Let me know what you think! If you notice a difference in quality, if it didn't hit the same, etc. That's what I care about most ultimately

Debating between doing this or dropping occasional 2k bonus chapters

This one felt more unwieldy to me, esp toward the end, but that's likely because I'm not used to writing chapters this long. I imagine I'd get used to it with time

Probably just going to do 2k with frequent bonus chapters tbh