Savage Awakening 314. Training Montage (VI) (Patreon)

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 Skills, too. He took Zane to one of their spare mountain ranges to do a little showcase.

"Bladelight Hurricane!" cried Evan. "Hiyaaaa!"

His massive sword became a blinding blur—a thousand planes of solid light slicing through the air, trembling the world. 

When the light faded, the mountain was chopped into little bits.

Evan looked up hopefully at Zane. Zane felt this was deserving of many head-pats.

*** 

Evan seemed a bit sad about something though. 

"What's up?" said Zane as they went back.

“I got a Signature Quest!” said Evan. It was something he had to take. 

He had to go defeat the Ghoul King Thorgon and his armies of darkness. Thorgon was a very strong Monster Lord who ruled a distant frontier star system. The quest was rated hell difficulty. But if Evan could do it he would get a new Signature buff Skill: the Hero’s Blessing.   

It was a legendary buff, seemingly given by the System itself. Last Chaos Cycle, the Hero from the Constellation Order had wielded the same one. It buffed all light-based attacks up to double their power, depending on the time of day. 

Zane thought this was pretty cool.

"Mhm!" said Evan.

Evan's Master said it would be a long journey. The sort where he'd learn a lot—maybe even how to answer moral dilemmas. He'd get a lot stronger along the way. He might even get a character arc.

But it also meant he'd go away for a few months—maybe longer. It meant he'd have to say goodbye to his friends for a little while. 

That weekend, they munched one last batch of cookies before Evan's trip and spent a nice afternoon fishing, like old times.

Then Evan had a tearful send-off with Reina and Avery and Zane. He gave Zane a big hug. 

“You will do great,” said Zane, ruffling him on the head. And he meant it. 

"Knock 'em dead!" cried Avery.

"There's some extra healing elixirs in your ring, just in case," said Reina. 

Evan sniffled and nodded.

He promised to send many postcards. Then, bright-eyed, he set off on his new adventure. 

Zane felt a pang in his chest watching him go. 

Evan would be just fine. 

*** 

Once the weekend was over, Zane went right back to his training. 

Mornings usually found him on Planet Pull—washing down chomps of Sky-grade Spirit Steel with ice cold elixirs, soothing and fueling his burning muscles. He found himself curling the 4P moons with ease now—he was quickly moving onto the 8P ones with the glossy dark sheen.

In the background, the Barbarian Sage nodded and yelled encouragement like "You get 'em!" and "Damned strong, lad!"

On Planet Push, he'd moved to the second-biggest continent, weighing 7.7P. The Sage would pick quite a few continents off of Zane in the coming weeks. 

Zane sometimes took a planet's worth of weight head-on, and be mostly fine. Usually only his nose broke. Even the Sage was a bit bewildered. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve got a hell of a face?” 

It had gone through much tempering, Zane told him. 

In the afternoons, it was a common sight to see the Barbarian Sage cheerfully dragging a smoking, quite cooked Zane out of the bowels of planet temper. 

And through it all, he just kept ingesting loads of steel treasure… feeling his body growing denser day by day. Refined more and more…

Skill up! 

Titan's Body, First Form IV -> V

He also topped up on his Bloodline. The Sage fed Zane a few elixirs distilled with Titan Rhino blood essence—boosting his Bloodline drops all the way up to 64.

Skill evolved! 

Titan's Body, First Form [Common (H) -> Uncommon (H)]

His full capacity was 128 now. He was curious when he'd fill it out.

"That'll come once you graft in that Godbeast Bone," said the Sage. "We'll get out on safari once you've broken through to Titan's Body, Second Form—we'll get you one out there in the wilderness. Won't be long now."

He nodded. "But first—max that First Form out!" 

Zane threw himself back into training.

And steadily grew stronger…

*** 

Northern Circle  

Hoarfrost Peak

The Ursa Major growled.

It was a twelve-foot tall behemoth—thick white fur glistening with frost over a thicker layer of knotted muscle. Most of its essence was concentrated in those muscles, bulging like bowling balls under its skin. Packed twice as dense as other bears. 

Its breaths froze crystal shards in the already chilly air as it patrolled its tribe's territory. A jagged spear of a mountain, buffeted by fierce blizzard winds that'd knock down any creatures that tried to fly there—even Minor Gods. 

The only way up was on foot. Up miles of treacherous frozen-slick rock. 

At the bottom: a ravine of bleaksteel spikes. Sharp enough to pierce straight through even body-tempered Minor Gods—especially when slammed down by blizzard winds from great heights…  

Many a Minor God had tried challenging this peak, enticed by the mysterious power they sensed at its peak. Only to meet an awful end. 

And yet—something was trying again. 

Ten Minor God auras had lined the path. Ten of the Ursa’s brethren. Snuffed out, one by one….

The Ursa’s eyes narrowed.

It was a human.

A beacon of heat—an overflowing well of vitality… a man. Only an Ascendant. But his flesh had the same smell as peak Sky-grade treasures. 

His heat defied the sub-zero temperatures. A halo of warmth flowed off his flesh, beating back the cold…

***

Zane eyed his latest foe. 

Ursa Major

Essence Level 527

The bear came on all fours, growling. 

The Ursa Major Godbeast, said the Barbarian Sage, was one of the physically strongest of the bear Godbeasts. This bear pack had seized Hoarfrost Peak from a human tribe, slaughtering every last one. They'd dominated the region since, crushing all who dared challenge them.

But Zane was not like those men—and something in the Ursa could sense it. Maybe it was his aura. Or the confidence radiating from every inch of his body. 

As Zane climbed he could feel his body temperatures rising—melting the snow by his thighs even as he trudged through… 

The Ursa roared—a blizzard gale ripping down the mountainside. Its claws shone with rumbling, sleeting Tier 5 Laws, and it struck. Rearing up, slashing down with the full brunt of its massive weight. 

Its powers exploded at once. 

A vicious Bloodline attack: Avalanche Charge.

As the bear struck a vast wall of icy energies surged behind it, accelerating—its domain crashing down with it. Raw icy essence roaring downhill, the storm itself trembling, drawn in, a rumbling heaving mass—

Zane found himself staring down a wall of rushing white with the Ursa at its center. A force that could crush small planets. 

It would’ve crushed the Zane who’d first come to the Steelheart Conclave.

But that Zane was gone.

When Zane saw the force crashing down on him, he narrowed his eyes, braced himself, felt his muscles burning with his life-blood, his essence. A heat to rival all the cold this place could offer.

He narrowed his eyes and took the force head-on. 

It slammed straight into Zane—struck with a cracking BOOM! and rushed around him, mighty rivers of cold crashing down the mountain-side… 

When the snows passed, Zane stood in the exact same spot.

He'd stopped the avalanche with his bare hands. 

This one was strong, Zane thought. The strongest of its kin. 

He’d actually felt that. 

Then he bellowed, and heaved.  

The great bear's eyes went blank with surprise. In one motion Zane lifted it overhead—there was a moment as it roared and thrashed, but it was like a child in the grip of Zane's power. 

Zane hurled it off the mountainside.

Level up!

Essence Level 427 -> 428

Creatures like that could not trouble him now. He’d felt weights greater than that in training. It would take more than that to break him. 

He kept trudging up the mountain. 

Soon he was passing through a chilling cloud layer. He emerged at the peak.

A cavern hundreds of feet across. Twenty-foot icicles studded the roof, gleaming in the weak dawn light… a pale-blue darkness ran into its depths.

Then the icicles began to tremble.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Something was coming out of the cavern. 

The very beast Zane was here for.

Ursa King  

Essence Level 530  

Its eyes were furious red. A crown of ice covered its massive shaggy head and all that white fur couldn't hide the muscles bulging under its fur like a suit of armor. At its full height he stood tall as three men, and each heavy breath frosted the already-freezing air. 

But what caught Zane's eye, he only saw in the Astral Plane.  

This creature was known to the local beasts as the Tyrant of the Icespike range… a creature that slaughtered even mid-Minor Gods, creatures dozens of levels above…

It was all because of that silhouette. 

A silhouette of white buried deep inside the beast—in the shape of a bone.  

Zane was quite curious just what it could do. 

"Tell you what," the Barbarian Sage had said at breakfast that morning, while frying a spotted egg as big as his head. "Head off to Hoarfrost Peak! Go give that ol' bear a wrestle—that'll give you a good sense what Bone grafting's all about." 

The Sage nodded. "Thing about Godbeast Bones and Monstrous Bones is that they're rare as hells! Less than one in a hundred Godbeasts drop 'em. That old bear's got the one Bone of its entire species. Well… let’s just say there’s a reason it’s wrecked every other Minor God in that range! You've got to feel it to get the difference.” 

Zane could tell there was something odd about this beast the moment he laid eyes on it. 

That Bone was like a second heart in the Astral Plane. It pulsed with an ethereal translucent glow, a glow that branched into all the beast's muscles—giving it that same sheen…

That Bone… it had more than just Bloodline. It felt to Zane like very dense Weapon Souls did—like there was something greater within. The residue of ancient souls…

That Bone felt very, very old. Much older than the Ursa itself. 

The Ursa King bellowed at Zane—and when it did, Zane could swear he heard something in the background, an undertone. As if thousands of bears, long-gone, were roaring with it. Like a Bloodline manifestation—only it wasn’t merely calling on the powers of its ancestors.

Zane could swear, just feeling it, that some very real chunk of their powers were there. Preserved. 

And as the King readied for battle, they flared all through its massive body. 

Its domain erupted. Slammed into Zane like a full-body blow.  

The force of it surprised him.

Then Zane saw the coldnesses coalescing around the King. Saw its eyes flare snowy white, saw its fur crystallizing with frost, its muscles bulging under its skin—searing with that same light… 

Zane set his feet a good twenty feet before the edge of the cliff—gave himself room, just in case. 

He braced to take the force head-on. 

This thing was strong—stronger than anything he’d faced, he could sense. But Zane had confidence in his body.

The King howled. Charged. There came a huge whooshing, like all the air before it shot out at once, desperate to get away… 

Then Zane clocked the air rippling in front of the beast, and his eyes widened a fraction. 

A moment later it struck.

There was a moment of incredible impact. A mountain-shaking BOOM!

It blasted him clean off his feet.