Savage Awakening 431. Farming Credits (IV)

In the first week, just two other Monsters' surges needed Zane’s intervention. He crushed both with little trouble.

+0.11 Credits

+0.24 Credits

That first Credit was in striking distance.

***

In the second week, he faced his first challenge—a horde got him under 75% Health for the first time. A mega-horde of nearly 2,600 stampeding Monsters. A good chunk of them were half-step True Gods.

He’d had to bust out his Solar Storm for that one.

Then it became a meat grinder of galactic proportions.

When it was over, half his star sector had been wiped clear.

Calculating….

+0.36—

Credit Earned! +1

Total Credits: 6

Nice.

Just two more until that breakthrough stone was his.

He was feeling optimistic about the whole thing.

There still hadn’t been a True God sighting yet—though he wasn’t sure why, with how many half-steps he’d seen.

It still felt like the Wave’s power levels were slowly ramping up. Near the end of week two, he started seeing stronger half-steps—Monsters with 100,000-year-old bones.

Around that time, Evan and Avery finished up their breakthroughs and headed on out. Evan couldn’t wait. It was finally time to save the Galaxy. He promised he would do his best.

They'd meet up around the final Wave. But for now, they’d strike out on their own.

Day after day went by like this. It was satisfying, honest work grinding out these Monster Waves. There was something pleasing to his soul about the feeling of hundreds of thousands of bones shattering at once.

Just the sound of it—Crunch.

Not to mention—

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

By the end of that week, he’d gotten to Level 511.

The higher up he got, the more essence each Level took. Even peak Minor Gods just weren’t cutting it anymore.

It was one of a few reasons he was looking forward to that first Event.

In the meantime, he just kept smashing.

***

“Morning folks! It’s Tyler and Becca here with your weekly update!”

“We’re happy to report Earth’s off to a great start,” added Becca.

There was a map behind the two of them displaying the whole Frontier belt—the same blown-up mini-map Reina had given Zane.

It zoomed in on a region to the southeast.

The image resolved to show Vanessa Volkova thrusting her staff at a stampede of Minor God Monster buffalo. A glacier rippled through reality, freezing them all. Halting them utterly—their momentum, their heartbeats—everything but their eyes, still trembling in their sockets.

Then she slashed, and the glacier shattered. Every Monster inside broke into chunks.

“Earth’s most talented are just feasting out there,” said Tyler. “They’re sure growing fast!”

“They’ll grow even faster once they get their hands on a System reward,” said Becca. “Vanessa got one of the Frost Dragon’s heirloom bones—it’s meant to be a 700,000-year-bone—just a tier below Zane’s own…”

“Hmph,” said Vanessa and blasted off.

“Now, off to the west!” said Tyler.

The scene shifted again—and there was Emeka Eze, charging up a line of asteroids straight at a half-step True God—an albino werewolf creature, fangs extended, drooling crystal slobber.

It slashed; ice-spikes skewered Eze’s shadow—but Eze’s eye gleamed a fraction of a second before, and light-green lines, Fate lines, showed faintly in his eyes.

He stepped smoothly out of the way. His gauntlet made a perfect arc. It struck almost gently.

Bang.

The werewolf froze.

Then its soul was blasted clean out of its body.

Its eyes rolled back; its corpse exploded in dust.

“Just what you’d expect from a man who once went toe-to-toe with Zane,” chuckled Tyler. “He’s holding the fort just fine.”

“Up northeast, it’s more of a chaotic scene…”

The scene focused on Jason.

Every asteroid within sight was splattered with Monster blood.

His eyes were bloodshot. His teeth bloodied—and his aura was a towering pyre of blood essence.

Not like Zane’s blood runes, which blazed with vitality. This was a dark blood, a blood that seeped and drained, vampiric.

“Woah!” said Tyler. “What’s gotten into him?”

“Jason had a Credit coming in,” said Becca. “He bought the Buff ‘Nosferatu Fang’—it lets him replenish his Health with the lifeblood of his enemies.”

She hesitated. “It… does have some side effects, though…”

Jason grinned; the blood aura around him exploded.

He tore into the Monster wave with abandon. Minor Gods shrieked, falling all around him…

They blinked as Jason carved through 70-odd Minor Gods, one after another.

By the end of it, he was a bloody mess—but he was still standing; he cracked his neck and let out a laugh.

Off a safe distance away, a few British World Rankers in sable cloaks looked on nervously—an archer, the necromancer Ben Lane, and a healer.

“Jason’s not the most…” Becca paused, uncertain. “When he’s bloodlusted like that—it’s best to just stay out of the way. One of Ben’s skeletons learned the hard way. He’s… he’s a piece of work, for better or worse.”

Tyler looked like he wasn't sure what to make of him either. He just chuckled—“He’s a character, alright, that Jason. ‘Least he’s putting it to good use! He might be the deadliest top Ranker at clearing large packs—behind Zane, of course.”

“Mhm! He’s got a long way to go there,” said Becca. “Speaking of—Zane’s still just dominating out there.”

The scene shifted one last time—only to show Zane’s axe cleaving right through a horde of killer crows. Gold seared out to either side, flaring at the moment of impact, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.

A little montage played after that—Zane smashing through a horde of devilish jellyfish. Him, strangling half-step True God boars.

“Just look at that!” said Tyler. It showed him going toe-to-toe with a horde of four-armed apes in hand-to-hand combat—he wrestled them to the ground, crushing them with bare punches. “He’s not even using his Chains there… that’s just Minor God essence powering raw strength!”

“He really just looks like he’s having fun out there,” said Becca. She was grinning again too.

They watched as Zane wrestled the last ape to its knees.

“Nothing’s forced him to get serious just yet, has it?”

At the end of the broadcast, they showed the rankings.

Earth had crossed into the low 900s—“Every planet left’s got at least one True God,” said Tyler proudly. “We’re getting into the big leagues—and the rank’s still rising fast!”

Then they showed Zane’s individual ranking.

After his rampage the first day, he’d broken through to #1 Minor God.

He only rocketed up from there.

“There he is—after that savage beatdown, Zane’s up to rank #188 on the True God List! Can’t say I’m surprised. The question is—how much higher can he get?!”

“No one’s really done what Zane’s doing at Minor God,” said Becca. “It’s hard to know… we do know he’ll be facing some stiff resistance. He’s already beaten out the bulk of the early True Gods. I just got a report from the Scryer’s Guild this morning, profiling the top end of the True God list! It’s all the elite of the elite—Great Faction chosen with Million-Year-Bones, or Tier 7 Laws, or some other trump card.”

“Tall order. Then again—once he gets those System credits going…”

Becca nodded seriously. “It’s hard to say just where his ceiling is.”

“On that note—this is Tyler and Becca, signing off!”

They both beamed.

The scene faded.

***

By the 3rd and 4th week, dozens of Earth’s finest were showing up on the Minor God rankings. The wave was proving to be quite a boost. Evan and Avery even squeaked into the Minor God top 50.

They met up for lunch every few days. Evan and Avery ate sandwiches. He mostly ate Dreamsteel these days. Avery was trying to saddle Chomper in the hopes of riding him into battle.

It wasn’t going too well.

Zane did notice something curious—the Monsters were starting to trickle off a little around the end of the fourth week.

Almost as though they were being stored up for something.

He didn’t let down his guard.

He had a strange gut feeling about this lull—it felt like the calm before the storm.

The first Event Challenge was nearly upon them.

It was just the ebb and flow of the war, he supposed. He spent that week smashing the occasional Monster, mostly, or sitting on asteroids, keeping watch.

Then, one lunch break, he took a bite out of his Dreamsteel.

The tingling in his gut

He blinked. Then—

Title Gained!

Friend of the System I

Tier 1: All rewards from System Events are doubled.

Neat.

Just below, though—

This is a one-time perk. It will only function for those with the Title ‘Savage Sage.’

He had to grin at that. Then he looked out into the stars.

“…Thanks, bud.”

Just in timefor the event too.

He wondered what Aiwe was up to these days—if he was even still around.

Maybe one day—after this was all over, they’d get a chance to catch up.

For now, though… he finished up his steel and stood.

New Monsters had cropped up on the edge of his territory.

There was some more crushing to do.

***

At the end of the 4th week, the first True God made its appearance.

Not just any True God.

Hovarth, Defiler of the Hall of Ten Thousand Names (Monster Prince)

Essence Level 619

A cyclops so big it could cross mountain ranges in a step. When the scouts first saw it, they thought it wasn’t a Monster but a force of nature.

Three 100,000-year-old Monstrous Bones bolstering its muscles with ungodly strength.

It wielded a pillar of at least Primordial Grade—scribed with a thousand thousand glowing silver runes…

It had already barreled halfway through the Southern region.

“Take… this!” cried World Rank #7, the Sky Painter Yuki. The white-haired boy twirled, slashing out a brushstroke. He painted a tornado into existence, strong enough to upend a continent, and blasted it right at the Cyclops’ face—but all it did was make it squint and growl.

World Rank #9, the Spitfire Monk, slapped his belly. Magma burst from his mouth in a great stream.

The moment it crossed into the Cyclops’ distortion field, though, it was crushed to less than half its size. It left some light burns down the Defiler’s arms. But that was all.

Killer blow after killer blow landed. But all they’d done was draw out shallow cuts.

Then the Cyclops King bellowed—whipped an asteroid right at the Monk.

The Monk’s eyes widened—he tried spewing fire, blasting it off, but the asteroid crashed right through—

“No!” cried Yuki.

Then a well-built silhouette blurred into motion.

Emeka Eze cocked his gauntlet back and struck.

A shiver went through the asteroid; seams rippled down its face, linking all its weak points, as Fate-green light burst through.

It crumpled to dust. Eze grunted, skidding to a halt, and wiped the blood from his mouth.

“Thanks,” gasped the Monk. “Bastard hits freaking hard!”

He took a swig of his wine, replenishing his essence; it burned around his mouth.

Behind them, another two teams of top-ranker archers and mages—not elites, but still ranked in the 50s and 60s—loosed blast after blast at the Cyclops’ kneecaps, at its eye…

All that—and they barely slowed its advance.

Then the Defiler wrinkled its nose.

Puny humans.

A flicker of green crossed Eze’s vision. His eyes widened. “Get down!”

That split-second warning was enough.

The top rankers scattered. The pillar crashed down—and reduced half the asteroid field to rubble. Enough dust plumes to choke a planet.

If any of them were in the blast radius…

“We’ll just have to hold him,” said Eze grimly. “Retreat to the pass if we have to.”

Every World Ranker there was pale, some nearly exhausted.

But they nodded, determination written on every face.

Hovarth has wrenched pillars from the Halls of Titans… The Cyclops bared rotted teeth. A puny race on a backwater planet… dares think it can compete with me?

Each word rippled through space.

“Foolish creature,” said Eze calmly. “You don’t have the slightest inclination of what humanity is capable of.”

“Incoming!” someone shouted.

Eh?

There was a burst of gold.

Then Zane crash-landed on an asteroid.