Savage Awakening 128. Elemental Law of Fire (III) (Patreon)

Two Laws at once. It gave him twice the joy when he saw those notifications pop up.

But twice the fatigue too. It clubbed him over the head; he blinked, shook his head, clearing out the feeling.

He felt a sudden urge to yawn. Going fast was taking a toll.

For now, though…he wasn't done yet.

He closed his eyes, hunkered down. And opened up his soul again. He reached out to the Phoenix Feather, felt it glow brighter, felt it start to resonate…

The scene shifted again. Still hazy, as though in a half-remembered dream.

A world of lush soft greenery. Young spindly trees, plains of thigh-high grass. A gentle breeze rippled through, stirring the leaves… it looked oddly familiar.

Then Zane realized—that was because it was the same. The place was the same, if not the time; he saw the same slopes—the hills, the valleys—they were just peppered with new life now.

The largest thing there was a gnarled oak tree. And there was a nest atop its highest branch. There he saw another familiar figure—the phoenix. Those same distinctive marks lay around its eyes. But the thing was bigger.

It was sleeping. Snoozing, snoring out little spurts of fire. It was… cute.

The fact that Zane could find a bird cute was mildly disturbing to him.

Anyway.

It lay there, its fluffy bright body rising and falling…

Then its eyes snapped open; it snapped upright, staring alarmed at the sky.

There came a distant roar. A familiar roar. The same roar that'd rung out before its last life plummeted from the sky, fatally wounded.

And a dragon climbed out from the clouds.

It was one of those dragons that looked like pythons crossed with centipedes; a bunch of short stubby legs, a very long scaly tube of a body, no wings. Its massive body looped over and over as it descended. It snorted a tuft of blue fire. Its white whiskers bristled menacingly.

He'd seen it do its nasty work in that last vision. It had come to finish the job.

The phoenix let out a screech of its own. A challenge. And it rose bravely to meet the threat.

The dragon's jaw unhinged—and out poured a whirlwind of wild blue fire.

At the same time the phoenix beat its wings. A single Skill rushed out, a ripple of essence shining with a very specific Law. Zane paid close attention.

The ripple passed the fires—and quenched them instantly.

A wet blanket of a Law smothering those flames down to their sources, giving them no space to burn, forcibly suppressing them—climbing to the dragon's throat. Making it choke, eyes bulging.

And the phoenix shot up to greet its nemesis. It became a beam of Light; there was a massive ripping sound. A geyser of blood scorched the air. The dragon plummeted, thrashing, its throat torn open…

The phoenix rose higher, glowing brighter, singing a trill of triumph.

The scene faded away.

Law comprehended!

Minor Law of Total Extinguishing.

Zane blinked—and he was cross-legged at the bottom of the Lake of Fire once more.

He had all he needed. Only thing was, he could feel the crash coming on, could feel his soul start to fray… Time to bring it all together.

Minor Law of Eternal Ash. Minor Law of Ashen Renewal. Minor Law of Total Extinguishing.

Swirling around each other in his mind, locking closer and closer in place—

Then he saw in an instant where they all fit into each other, completed each other. He saw the bigger picture. It clicked. Just like that.

Law comprehended!

Major Law of Ashen Legacy.

He had five now. One more Major Law, and that was all of them. He was still eager to go—

Then fatigue clocked him over the head.

This time he couldn't help but yawn. When he tried climbing back into that zen-state he felt his thoughts turning to spaghetti, as though he were severely sleep-deprived.

He frowned.

Yeah… he was done for today.

Still, he was very satisfied with his progress.

***

He spent the rest of his day recovering in the soul sauna. It felt like sprinting; his soul felt winded. As he lay there the sauna stretched out his soul, massaging it, working out the sore bits…

Without this thing—and all his top-class treasures—an Elemental Law could take a month for him. Maybe more, honestly. Zane knew Elias had been splurging for VGI; when he asked Reina if they could have their own sauna like this, she'd said these saunas were powered by a rare B+-ranked treasure called 'Yellow Springs Mists'. Even Elias didn't have enough to last long.

Zane would make the most of all this while he could. He nodded, determined.

Tomorrow Elemental Fire would be his.

***

That night in their hotel room, Reina updated him on what was going on.

Central and South America were making their own team. So was America on the East Coast. They were headed by World Rank #2 D'Angelo Hall. And World Rank #4 Jason Walker.

Here she paused.

"Elias proposed an all-American team, but…"

Somehow Zane knew what she'd say before she said it.

"Jason—your brother—he vetoed it."

Zane grunted.

"He said," Reina said softly, watching his face carefully. "It'd make things too easy for you. He said he'd see you at the top."

Zane stayed silent.

Reina was too. They stayed that way for a while. They'd never really spoken about Jason.

"I don't like him," Zane told her. Which was all he really wanted to say on it. She nodded and didn't pry, even though he could feel she wanted to. She was smart like that.

The West Coast team, then, was pretty much just Zane and Reina and Avery and Evan.

"That will be plenty," said Zane with confidence.

Especially after tomorrow.

***

Tomorrow came soon enough.

He spent most of the day finishing up his recovery. Soaking in the soul sauna. He came out late in the afternoon.

He went straight for the Lake of Fire.

Somehow it'd gotten out that he was planning on breaking through to Elemental Fire—there was a line to get in. Then there was a line outside that line where folk—lots of folks from Fire Factions, interestingly—were camped. There were tents and binoculars and everything; he had the surreal experience of walking by a cookout where two guys were grilling skewers, discussing when he'd make his breakthrough. One of them was insisting it'd be tomorrow right as he passed by; the guy choked mid-sentence.

There was lots of cheering and shouting as he went. It felt like they were at a sports game and he was the home team. He was pretty sure he'd never met a single one of them before. Before VGI he might've found it kind of weird; now he was used to this kind of thing. Now he just found it amusing.

He took his Law Fruit; he grabbed his Phoenix Feather. And he waded straight in. He went for the hell pit.

This time the Fire Laws there had trouble even getting past his skin. It spoke to how close he was. He found a spot, crossed his legs, closed his eyes. And started to meditate.

This last Law escaped him for a surprisingly long time. It wasn't quite strong enough in his surroundings or in himself. So he closed his eyes and opened up his soul and let it go wherever it liked. Sought out the gap in his feelings and let the Universe fill it.

The Phoenix Feather started buzzing with Law; so did the Fire around him.

He let himself dissolve.

Two visions flitted by in quick succession…

He seemed to be in a very cluttered workshop; bronze gadgets were scattered over the workbenches, making a minefield of the floors. Soft sunlight filtered through dusty windows. Zane saw frizzy-haired, bushy-browed young man sitting at a long worktable.

"Here, Little Red!" the man called. "Here, girl!"

Then Zane noticed the phoenix perched above them—sitting on one of the rafters. It hopped down, fluttered once, and came to a halt right beside him. It was the same phoenix, and yet not, Zane knew. Another one of its many lives.

The man pointed at the table—at the two steel plates he had side-by-side. "Fire!" he called.

Little Red opened his mouth. Elemental Fire poured out. Very controlled, a single beam of it tracing the line between the plates. After it passed they shone bright. Welded together.

"Good bird," said the man, and gave Little Red a head scratch. The phoenix cooed softly.

Zane was feeling very conflicted right now.

Law comprehended!

Minor Law of Hot Fusion

The scene faded out. A new scene faded in. For a second Zane thought it was the same scene—the same rafters, the same workbenches.

But rather than cogs, there lay flasks scattered about. A furnace stood in the center of the room. No-one was there.

Then two men came in through a side door. One was old and frizzy-haired and a little cranky, like he'd just been woken from a nice nap for this. The other was an excited teen boy.

"What is it?" said the old man.

"The brew's almost done!" said the boy.

"I've heard that before," the old man grumbled. But he said it in a good-humored way.

"This time I mean it," the boy insisted.

He scrambled over to the furnace. "Here, Little Yellow!" he called. And a phoenix swooped down from the rafters. The same, yet not.

There was a flicker of pain in the old man's eyes; it passed quickly.

"Alright," he said, crossing his burly arms. "Let's see it."

The boy pointed. "Fire!"

And the phoenix gave him what he wanted. The cauldron lit up—its ingredients heated up. And something about Elemental Fire seemed to unlock them; soften their hard edges; coax out their energies, their essence, so they could mingle freely with one another—and what came out was something new, a milky broth swirling within, glimmering gently.

Law comprehended!

Minor Law of Fiery Transmutation

"It worked!" cried the boy. "Grandpa, it worked!"

Laughing, the boy gave the phoenix a pat on the head. It cooed softly.

The old man blinked. Then gave a little smile. "Well. Isn't that wonderful."

The scene faded.

There was Zane again at the bottom of the Lake, blinking.

…Hmm.

He felt conflicted for a bit. Then he settled on the only possible explanation. Some birds looked like birds, but they weren't birds on the inside. That was not a real bird, he decided. So it was okay for him to like it.

Anyway. He sensed he had all he needed—the last Minor Law was something he'd already comprehended. The Minor Law of Fire's Purity, which made up Ethereal Flame, would help him here too.

Once you put Fusion, and Transmutation, and Purity together…

Law Comprehended!

Major Law of Incendiary Alchemy

Now to put everything together.

Scorched Wrath. Ethereal Flame. Ashen Legacy. Thermal Flux. Incendiary Alchemy.

A fierce element, a proud element—a passionate element, a wrathful element; an element that lay waste to the world like no other, that destroyed its victims so badly they could never be re-made again. Yet…it turned its temper on the bad as well as the good. It could sear out poison as easily as it could raze a city. Burn a man alive just as it could warm him on a winter's night. It lit the stove-tops and the cauldrons, lit the torches and the cannons, fueled engines and volcanoes alike. It was the power that lit the very stars. It was hate. And it was hope.

Zane opened his eyes.

Law comprehended!

Elemental Law of Fire