Savage Awakening 337. The Second Planet (I) (Patreon)

Zane slashed down.

It was an arc of pure sunlight—an arc spanning the length of a continent, holding the weight of a world. Flaring that pure gold-white. Seen from space, it looked like a massive crescent moon making landfall.

Physical power and explosive power packed into one brutal blow.

And it split the planet in two.

The blast radiated out to Ragnos proper, lighting up the faces of the second and third planets out in deep space.

Planet One fell apart. Split open, making two great lakes of shattered stone, cracking open, and Zane saw the innards of both halves had blackened.

And there—deep down, near the core, was the God Golem.

God Golem (Simulated Monster Lord)

Essence Level 488

It was a bit weird seeing a Monster the size of many skyscrapers stacked together cowering. Its trembles made earthquakes.

It was staring up at him. He’d just barely missed.

It made a whine, almost a metallic scream.

Then Zane finished the job.

***

“Not bad at all,” mused the Patriarch. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen raw power like that in an Ascendant.”

Sage Noughtfire nodded but said nothing.

“Why, that’s nearly comparable to what you could do as a Minor God—”

“That is a lie, and you know it, Father,” snarled Haxorax. The Dragon prince looked like he’d had enough.

“Is it?” The Patriarch just shrugged.

“If he faced my Minor God peak as he is now, I’d slaughter him. You’re provoking me.”

The trouble, thought Burnwater, was that it was working.

“I’m simply speaking the truth,” snorted the Patriarch. “Take it however you like. Regardless—I was skeptical of that arrangement with the tin-heads. This business with the dual paths, Fire and Steel… it’d take far longer than if he focused on just one. But it’s paying dividends, clearly. What must he hit to claim that treasure, Noughtfire?”

“He must clear the 3rd planet.”

“Hmm…” The Patriarch stroked his beard. “He might have a shot at this after all.”

Ragnos wasn’t unique to Noughtfire’s Constellation. It was an elite and extremely expensive training tool manufactured by the Steelheart Conclave—there were versions across each of the major paths.

“It’ll come down to how he spends his essence. How much his soul can muster… This next planet ought to tell us a lot more.”

***

Planet 1 Cleared

Planet 2 Opened

To continue this run, enter in the next 60 seconds.

Zane found himself back on the main asteroid.

He’d hardly broken a sweat there.

Onto the next one. He’d see if this one proved more of a challenge. He was hopeful.

He looked out above, took a gander at it. From this distance, it looked something like an icy-blue sea urchin, shrouded in a haze of faint mist—the kind you might find in the early morning. Hordes of glistening spikes poked out of it. They seemed to be mountain-sized icicles.

Interesting.

He wasn’t much concerned, just looking at them. He knew what he could take.

He stepped on through.

And was spat out into open air.

Freezing open air—air rife with blizzard gales, gales that hammered straight down, blasting him straight at the ground, howling like devils in his ears—

He felt the presence of some Tier 6 Law, massed thick in the air. Stirring the currents, making an invisible whirlpool.

The mountain-icicles rushed up beneath him at eye-watering speed.

It looked like he’d have to take a crash landing. Growling, he crossed his arms and his legs, braced his core—and just took it.

The icicle that pierced up at him would’ve run through Sky-Grade spirit steels.

But it could not contend with Zane’s physique.

Its tip stabbed him in the belly as he fell on it at mach speeds—and shattered.

The entire peak of that giant icicle crumbled under his weight as he crashed through, shattering more and more of it, until at last he came to an unsteady halt… the wind kept howling above him, sealing off the skies.

He got to his feet, taking care—this new plateau he’d made was a bit slippery. He inspected his abs.

That spike had actually managed to leave a shallow scratch slashing across his belly, he saw—it drew blood.

He found that a bit surprising.

It seemed this planet was built of sterner stuff than the last.

***

Burnwater gave a little yelp the moment Zane struck the spike.

Ragnos’s Planet 2 was a rude awakening for most everyone who attempted it. It usually took three or four goes just to clear the entrance. The winds were brutal, and you could find no purchase—it was hard not to slam straight into the spikes.

When Burnwater first tried all those ages ago, he remembered being impaled on the spot.

But Zane’s abs were something else.

The Patriarch barked a laugh—“Good Heavens! Those Steelheart folk haven’t cheaped out, have they? That kid’s body must be a Heaven-grade treasure by itself.”

“He was wounded in the opening challenge,” said Haxorax coldly. The prince couldn’t seem to help himself anymore. He was still speaking curtly, stiffly, but Burnwater could tell he was still seething. “That is hardly impressive. The true elites land unscathed.”

“By that, you mean you. But you were a Minor God then, were you not?” said the Patriarch, grinning. “And you wielded the Burning Heaven shield! Zane took it with just his body. A point to Zane, I’d say.”

The Patriarch seemed to take a perverse delight in tormenting his son.

Burnwater glanced nervously from Father to son. “Um—”

Haxorax gnashed his jaw. “If that oaf thinks his body will be enough to survive the opening blast… I’d like to see him try!”

***

Zane stood there, looking about. Wondering where the enemies would come from.

Planet 2

Begin

He heard them before he saw them or even felt them. A piercing sound riding the wind—a screeching. Coming from all sides, wrapping all around him.

Was that… Monkeys?

Then he felt the auras ringing around him.

He saw them next. Cresting the horizon, closing in in a tight circle.

Monkeys was right—each as big as a barn, fur the color of ice, with lanky limbs and muscular whips for tails.

They screamed at him, eyes manic red, baring gleaming fangs.

Their tails wrapped easily around the spikes, jettisoning them through the air at near-supersonic speeds.

Iceberg Howling Monkey (Simulated Monster Knight)

Essence Level 513

These things were a full thirty Levels stronger than the last final boss—and they were minor gods one and all…

Things were getting more serious.

Zane took out his Chains again, readying his Domain. Preparing to stop them cold as soon as they got in striking range.

Then he felt something strange pulsing off them. A ghostly light in the Astral Plane… he frowned. Was that an attack?

It looked like they had something charged up deep in their throats—already loaded, ready the moment he dropped. And they had him trapped—trapped by the blizzards above, by the Monkeys around.

Zane brought up his Chains and narrowed his eyes. Whatever it was, he’d block and counter, he decided.

Just before they got within striking range, their eyes began to redden all at once. Their jaws unhinged.

Zane’s Chains flared. Ready to strike back—

Then the Monkeys unleashed hell.

It was a pure sound, to Zane’s surprise—a screech so loud it rippled the air in a massive wave, distorting his sight of them. A sound like a knife on glass, blown up a thousandfold… but the worst of it wasn’t in the physical plane.

The worst of it struck in the realm of the soul.

Before Zane even moved, his Red Moon flared into being all around him as the worst of the waves rammed into him.

It shivered. Vibrated, like it was struggling to handle the onslaught—cracks rippled down its face…

Zane blinked.

As it took more and more, the cracks only widened. That… had never happened before.

He struck back hastily. Lashing out a vicious arc of Solar Flare—but it came too late.

For the first time since he got the Red Moon Pagoda, Zane’s astral defenses shattered.

And the back end of that soul ambush tore into his soul.

He grunted. It felt like his head was splitting; he staggered; the world swam before his eyes—it felt like he’d been cracked over the soul with a hammer.

Vaguely he was aware the Monkeys were screeching again. Normal screeching this time—whatever that last attack was, it seemed they’d dumped it all on him. Zane winced, head pounding—he had to get his bearings—

Then they descended on him in earnest.

***

Cracks spread down Zane’s shield. The big guy looked a bit bewildered—almost certainly he’d never had to deal with a soul attack like this. He wasn’t sure how else to block.

Burnwater could empathize. Planet Two of Ragnos was a rude awakening for any who tried it—in fact, there wasn’t a single Minor God who’d managed it first try, for precisely this reason. You were ambushed by attack after attack. The closest first try was Haxorax at mid-Minor God.

Back then, that opening soul-strike had wrecked the Dragon Prince so badly he was a stumbling mess; he barely managed to make it to Planet 2’s Final Boss.

Zane’s shield cracked.

And Zane took the soul ambush to the face.

“He’s finished,” said Haxorax, as though it was exactly as expected.

Even Burnwater was a little hesitant.

Haxorax was starting to turn away.

Then he paused. Looked back, frowning.

His eyes widened a fraction.

Zane was still standing. Blinking. Bleeding from the nose, but he hadn’t blacked out. Not even close. He looked a little wobbly—that was all.

That was all a dozen Minor Gods’ soul strikes could do to him.

“…What?!” hissed Haxorax. His cheek twitched.

By all logic, Zane should’ve been crippled—but other than being a bit dazed, he didn’t look all that worse for wear. Even the Monkeys were looking at each other, confused.

Then they shrugged. Turned back.

The danger was only beginning.

Icicles big as icebergs began massing at their fingertips.

If he wouldn’t fall to soul attacks, they’d wreck him the old-fashioned way.

Zane still looked a little out of sorts.

“He’s—he’s a damned idiot,” said Haxorax, struggling to hide his surprise. It gave Burnwater some joy to find the Prince was having trouble pretending to be unimpressed. “An idiot who’s about to be finished—how many point-blank attacks does he think he can take?!”

“He’s Zane,” said Burnwater cheerfully.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means—as many as it takes!”

***

The ground had hardly stopped tilting under Zane's feet before the first of the icebergs crashed into his face.

That might’ve knocked him over the edge—if not for a second iceberg blasting him the other way.

By then Zane had had enough.

He growled—and unleashed his Domain.

Gold swamped the world. An incredible heat blooming in an icy world—and though those icy Tier 6 Laws struggled against him, they were dealing with a force far beyond them.

The temperature skyrocketed at once.