Savage Awakening 453. Rampage (II)

“Just how long has he been going for?” said Tyler.

“It’s got to be six hours by now…” said Becca.

“He’s racked up, what—eight? Nine Credits by now? And he’s still going!”

“He must’ve taken down a good 70% of the horde by now,” said Becca, shaking her head. “Maybe more…even by Zane standards, it’s… it’s something else.”
“My word,” said Brom, mustache quivering. “I must say—when he busted out that Armor Break, I was rather beside myself. But no one told me he’s got such stamina! Good heavens… I swear—never in the history of man has one man had such stamina—not even the Drake-Lords of the 3rd Cycle… I do wonder if it can be attributed to that physique he’s got. Really quite remarkable, that…”

Becca and Tyler just blinked at one another.

Tyler coughed. “Right,” he said. “Let’s check in on the ranks!”

“I think that’s a great idea,” said Becca quickly.

They were keen to avoid another viewer complaint from Reina.

“Would you look at that,” said Tyler, feeling proud. “The rankings jumped up over 60 slots! #47 True God in all of Dragonspire, up from 118.”

“And nearly all of those are close to maxed out, let’s remember,” said Becca. “That’s Level 680s, 690s—some, like the Azure Flame’s Haxorax, are even half-step Empyreans. That’s as elite as they come.”

“Do we think Zane might hit some kind of wall?” said Tyler. “Fighting up like he’s doing—I thought it was supposed to get a lot harder.”

“It is!” said Brom happily. “And yet Zane seems not to care what other folk think he ought to be able to do.”

The planet rankings also popped up briefly—it had gone all the way from 996 to 486.

“Now,” said Brom. “I’ve got to come up with a title for this chapter. The Battle of… hm… it’d have to incorporate his smashing, of course. And how long he’s lasted. And the sheer size he’s demonstrated! Why, I’m thinking—”

“That’s all for today, folks!” cried Becca.

The broadcast faded to credits.

***

2 weeks after that battle…

“It’s payday!” beamed Becca.

There were fireworks going off all over Earth. Notifications dropping en masse.

Today was the day the first planet reward would drop. And—

Planet reward get!

Top 500 Planet achieved

Dispensing…

+7 Credits!

That instantly put most of Earth's finest over the top.

It brought Zane’s total up to a whopping 16.7 Credits.

Good for that last Shard.

Evan and Avery were quite excited—they could now afford to upgrade their Signature Title Skills, and snag that Tier 6 Law upgrade too.

Chomper had already eaten his Credits.

None of them were sure how that was possible. But Chomper went to take a nap—it seemed to power him up, anyway.

Speaking of—

“How’d it go?” said Zane through a mouthful of cookie.

“Not gonna lie. Not great. I might’ve gotten thrown off, just a bit,” said Avery.

“She got Team Rocketed again,” Evan explained.

She squinted at him. “I’m gonna kick you in the shins. Anyway—I saw the vision. A spark, y’know? Look—I’m gonna make it happen. You just watch!”

“Sure.”

In the background of their skyscraper living room, a screen showed scenes all over Earth.

Mostly jumping between top Ranker hubs. There were explosions of magic all over—little festivals popping up. There was Yuki the Sky Painter, showing off his new Tier 7 spells in front of a massive crowd. Cherry blossoms dotted the background.

There was Ben Lane in Britain, raising hordes of undead in front of a reconstructed Big Ben. The sky went ink-black with death powers; folks clapped politely.

There were a few top rankers in his own Faction celebrating too, just outside. He saw fireworks going off through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

For his part—he just had a nice meal with his friends—like old times. He, Reina, Avery, and Evan shared some delicious salmon.

Then they were off to collect their prizes.

***

By now he had the setup down. Remote planet, far from anything too breakable. Shard in hand.

This time it turned out to be overkill.

This time there was no vision of Destruction. Instead when he crushed the stone, he felt a spark of the stuff race through him. And strike at the core of his Laws.

And he felt that Destruction at the heart of his Red Giant intensify. That Core burning stronger. Then—

Skill evolved!

Armor’s Bane I[Common (D)] -> Armor’s Bane II [Uncommon (D)]

Armor’s Bane can now destroy Tier I Corrupted Bones.

Armor’s Bane’s effect has been increased by 30%. Destruction density has been increased by 20%.

When he breathed out, he gazed across space.

He imagined he could see Dungeon X. See the Creature deep within, stewing, growing stronger just as he was, day by day…

It was waiting for him at the end of a long and bloody road.

He clenched his fist.

He was ready.

***

“Spirits are high going into this last week, just before the Third Challenge,” said Tyler. “It’s a jittery time, of course—but that planet boost’s done a lot for morale, that’s for sure.”

“Everyone’s been fighting so hard,” said Becca cheerfully. “From the folks down on ground level holding down the fort, to the top Rankers, holding back the hordes—it’s a team effort. Every bit matters!”

“That’s right,” said Tyler. “‘Course—hard not to talk about the man who’s put in 70% of the kill count.”

“Zane’s been on a mission ever since this all started,” said Becca. “It really does feel like he’s more locked in than usual.”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause he’s defending his home?”

“I think that has to be a part of it! He knows his friends are there too—Reina’s there too. He does seem to fight better when he’s fighting for something...”

“Now here's a fun question. Just how far can he go? He’s already broken into the Top 50 at True God. At this rate—could he clear the Top 20, even?”

“I’m not too clear what kind of power levels it takes to get there,” said Becca, hesitant. “But if he starts beating the Monsters’ top-tier True Gods—if he keeps up this rampage… you have to think it’d be hard to deny him, right?”

The rankings were right beside them.

The chart showed him lagging behind the top few names at True God by a factor of 2.

The #1 on that chart was Haxorax.

He was 5x the kill count of the second place.

And his home planet Verxes, the ancestral home of the True Dragons, was far and away the #1-ranked planet.

***

Zane had settled down to do that final chase. These last few weeks, all he’d been focused on was that 10 Million Year Bone.

35 Credits.

Every time a wave hit, he could rack up more—but it was looking like there wouldn’t be many chances before the final challenge.

The bulk of his Credits would come then.

He didn’t find himself too impatient most times. But he could feel himself getting a little more jittery, just waiting for it to go down—a restless energy. Not anxiety. An eagerness.

Then something strange happened.

A little over a week before the last wave hit, he was munching on some dreamsteel, as he was wont to do nowadays between bouts of action.

He took one more munch.

Friend of the System II — 100% Progress

Friend of the System II unlocked!

Friend of the System II perk:

All planetary and individual rewards are doubled, alongside all event challenge rewards.

Then—

System Store, Section I, has been unlocked

A bulk package of Divine Profound dreamsteel was for sale for 14 Credits. Some vials of rare Divine Profound elixirs.

But his eyes were drawn instantly to that physique symbol.

Buff of Ultimate Vigor [Uncommon (D)]

The Signature Buff of the Ancient Titan, who, by virtue of its sheer vigor and physique prowess, rose to Archon of the Celestial Imperium. Makes the user an unending font of Vigor.

This buff can only be wielded by those with the Savage Sage Title.

Perks:

1. Breakneck Starter. The body’s potency increases extremely quickly at the start of battle. For Zane Walker, that means 150% Asura Titan’s Body instantly.

2. Extreme Limit Break. The body can endure Limit Breaker form for 3x as long.

3. +50% to Health, +50% to regeneration. +20% to Limit Breaker power.

The more he read, the more he liked.

Each one of those perks sounded like quite a boost. Together…

He’d decided before he was even through. He had to have this. It’d build on his greatest strengths—his favorite kind of power-up.

The thing was—it was 28 Credits.

Then there was the 10 Million Year Bone to think of…

***

Later that week, he had a Leveling session with Reina.

Level up!

Essence Level 544 -> 545

Afterward, she mumbled about some news—a few ancient powers were active again. Gilgoroth, the same Monster Emperor that’d attacked them in the Superdungeon, was terrorizing the Azure Flame Faction. Mounting heavy assaults.

There was a lot on her mind. But she couldn’t get too worked up—she was too comfortable at the moment.

He told her about his new power afterward.

She was intrigued by the description. Even before they got to the powers themselves, which would make for quite a boost.

“It has to come from outside the Galaxy,” she said. “Just like the Savage Sage.”

He’d thought so too. She looked up at him, wide-eyed.

“Zane… this could be really good for you.”

Even by their most optimistic projections, he’d be hard-pressed to make the full 35 Credits before the end of the wave.

“Even if you did, from all I’ve read, 10 Million Bones can take a while to integrate,” she said. “It’s not an instantaneous thing—you couldn’t use it until after the final battle anyway.”

“But I can make use of this buff now.”

She nodded.

The third Challenge, from everything she’d read, was the most grueling—but also the most rewarding—by far.

By the end of it, he’d get three rewards. The planet reward, the individual reward, and the event reward.

His performance would show in all three.

She felt he should invest everything he had into doing well there.

“Makes sense.”

They were agreed on that.

Time to bet everything on himself, and do as much damage as he could.

“There’s also that Final Boss to think about,” she said. “That chimera you saw in your breakthrough… more than 50% of the aura signature coming out of Dungeon X is just that one Monster.”

She bit her lip.

“Zane—when the time comes…”

“I understand.”

It had to be him.

No one else on Earth could stand up to that thing. He wasn’t sure if anyone except Reina could even help him.

She put a hand on his chest and nodded.

She did wonder what that had been back in the second challenge—when she’d drawn on the World Tree itself. It puzzled her.

“Just seeing you on the ground like that…”

This close, he could feel the worry and the anger in her chest.

“I’ve got to find a way to harness it,” she said. She was determined. She never wanted to see him like that again. “It’s just… I don’t know if I—”

She caught him looking at her and blinked. “What?”

He was just amused—she acted all proud. But she underestimated and doubted herself constantly. For no reason at all that he could tell.

“You’re overthinking it. It’s like you’ve never seen yourself fight under pressure.”

She pursed her lips.

“It’s a compliment,” he added quickly.

“Hmph.” She lifted her chin. “Well—good.”

They Leveled a little more.

Level up!

Essence Level 545 -> 546.

Then she yawned, stretched, and got up.

“Time to get to work.” She looked over his shoulder at him and grinned. “See you on the battlefield.”