Savage Awakening 462. Back to Astra

“Overwhelming force with underhanded methods… that is that Monster’s way. So you may expect its agents there, prowling in secret.”

Zane nodded.

“But Astra is a vast place, and one that fords the eras. It can't be everywhere at once—certainly not every time at once. Still, it’ll be best to keep a low profile. Even if it doesn't eliminate you, it can still make your journey much more difficult. It can a nuisance in any number of ways. Seizing the treasure before you can, for instance.”

The word ‘inconspicuous’ floated through his mind. He winced.

“…I’ll try.”

“Ah—yes.” Noughtfire gave Zane a look-over. “Perhaps I set you up for failure last time, with those instructions. You do cut a rather striking figure, disciple.”

He couldn’t deny that.

“Here.” Noughtfire handed him a necklace. A charm was tied to its end—a chunk of amber.

He inspected it. “This thing’s meant to disguise me?”

“It’ll mask your aura and apply a light glamor. It’ll work well enough, so long as you don’t test it too much—no Limit Breaks and such.”

He didn't feel much different at first. It felt like he’d stepped into the shade of a cloak, felt it cast him in shadow.

And as his aura passed through, it was filtered.

The feeling he gave off changed.

He now felt like an early Ascendant, even to himself.

He grinned. “Neat.”

Noughtfire showed him how he looked in a scrying glass.

He might’ve been looking at another brother. There were some recognizable features—his nose, slightly more crooked; jaw slightly less square, sharper; a scar down the left side of his face. Though the most striking difference was a short boxed beard with a mustache. His build was pretty similar. Still him in spirit—a rugged look. But you’d never think it was Zane.

He looked like he could be a blacksmith, maybe. Maybe a mercenary.

Yeah. He could work with this.

Noughtfire seemed mildly amused by something.

Zane blinked. “…It is working. Right?”

“It’s working just fine. In any case—the realm you're visiting this time is called the ‘Cloud Atlas Continent.’ It is known as Astra’s peak realm… that means it’s the realm to which all other realms flow. The strongest go there to fight. Although the best you’re likely to face there will still only be Minor Gods.”

“Shouldn't be much trouble, then.”

“Only the Monsters are likely to bother you. You might run across a few troublesome minions. Do try to crush them without too much fuss. You don’t want to draw the attention of the greater ones, ideally. Some discretion will do you well. Mind you—these are likely to be Monster Kings. But with your current strength levels…”

“I’ll take care of them just fine.” He was pretty confident in that.

The old Sage smiled. “I thought you’d say that.”

“What am I looking for, exactly?”

“I do not know,” said Noughtfire slowly. “Though where it drops you will follow the lines of Fate. You’ll be put where you need to go, in other words. It should be hard to miss—likely some major world event—perhaps era-defining.”

“That’s it, then. Get in, get out, don’t attract too much attention.”

“That’s the idea.” Noughtfire inspected the map again. “You’ll likely need to work out some kind of disguise. A backstory—a name, fighting style. Nothing recognizable as ‘Zane.’”

“No Red Giant either, then?”

“I think not… not at first, at any rate. Though with that new Bone of yours—even with just your physique, you’ll get by just fine. I’m sure you can figure out the rest of the details later.”

Zane stowed the amulet away.

The mission was to not attract attention, not break anything too badly, and in general go in with finesse.

On the one hand, it didn’t sound too hard.

On the other hand… he knew himself.

He looked down.

He was, at a basic level, a little limited with how stealthy he could be…

Sometimes you just had to work with what you had, he supposed.

At least this time he went in a little more ready.

He vaguely had the thought ‘it can’t be that hard’ before he wisely decided to think better of it.

“Anything else I should know?”

“On this matter? That’s all, I should think… although—there is another matter of interest.” Noughtfire put away the map. “The First Prince of Dragons is making preparations. Lord Haxorax is said to go into seclusion and take the Rites of the Primordial Ancients sometime in the next few decades… if he survives, he’ll rank among the strongest True Dragons of all time, wielding the might of his ancestors… a half-step Empyrean that can challenge Empyreans.”

He took another sip of tea.

“That’s sixth on your incentive list, mind you. Among your final incentives. I expect he’ll be looking forward to your challenge.”

Noughtfire stroked his beard.

“It should make a good test of how your Laws are coming along. I expect you'll need every one you can get to take down such a Dragon.”

“I’ll go for it after I finish things in Astra.”

Zane had no great quarrel with the guy. He’d been busy with Monsters of late—in truth, he didn’t think about Haxorax very often.

But he kept seeing the guy when he checked his individual rankings. Haxorax was up there still—with more than four times his Kill Count.

He was always up for a new challenge.

“The First Prince of Dragons was the defining talent of this era… arguably the #1 talent of this generation before you came along,” said Noughtfire. “He’s merely a checkpoint to you.”

The old Sage snorted.

“Good.” He set down his cup. “That is the attitude you must have if you wish to challenge the Lord of Monsters one day.”

He handed Zane the map of Astra.

“Here you are. Oh—and do enjoy yourself.”

Zane was surprised to hear that, coming from Noughtfire of all folk.

“These next hundred years will be a marathon to the Final War,” said Noughtfire. “It will get grueling in parts. But it’s easiest at the start. Take a breath, disciple. This is Astra. There are dangers, but you're not facing down hordes anymore. Which is to say… make it a good time, Zane. It’ll make what comes next easier.”

Zane grinned. “I will.”

With that, he finished his cup, bade the old guy goodbye, and left.

***

The last few days before he left, he did a great deal of Leveling with Reina.

Level up!

Level up!

Essence Level 555 -> 557

It turned out to be quite a pleasant few days—just lying there on a warm, comfy bed, with her curled tight to him.

But he got itchy when he stayed still for too long.

And her work needed her—the World Tree got hit pretty hard. They had to rebuild.

It was soon time to go.

***

Evan hugged him, sniffing.

“You'll be back before you know it,” Zane assured him.

“Did you make sure you packed all your elixirs?” said Reina, bending down to his level.

“Mhm! I double-checked twice,” said Evan.

Evan was off to some kind of special train station. It’d take him right to the Tower, along with all the other ticket-holders. It was the only way to get there.

He hugged everyone again.

Then, waving, beaming, he headed off with Chomper into the portal.

Next up was Avery.

“Peace, losers,” said Avery. She put on her sunglasses. She was just about to walk through the portal when—

“Excuse me?” said Reina, arms crossed.

“Uh.” Avery froze, sensing danger. “I just meant—see ya!”

Avery was headed off to some Thousand Seas Tribe beach, where she planned on lying down and simply not getting up.

Reina, meanwhile, had some tomes to delve. She was digging into ancient archives that hadn't been touched for thousands of years—to read up on notes of past Mistresses and unlock the secrets of the World Tree.

“I’ve just got to get more out of myself,” she told him. She bit her lip.

She didn’t like how easily the Slayer had taken her down.

A kiss, and she was off too.

He watched them all go, feeling quite warm.

Then it was his turn.

Off to Astra.

***

His new Astra map was enchanted to teleport him right to where he needed to go. All he had to do was tap it, will his way through, and it’d open up a portal.

That was the theory, anyway.

He went over his new backstory. His name was Jack. He was a wandering Martial Artist. No Laws—he doubted he'd need them; his body would be enough to end most fights.

Noughtfire said his amulet would work until Limit Break, but with how he’d described the continent, it didn’t sound like it’d be necessary.

He hadn’t tested his new Third Form much. But with how strong he seemed to be in just those tests…

He should be fine.

With that, he took a breath, pressed down, and willed his way through.

Reality tore open around him.

He had just a moment’s surprise. Then he was falling through, wheeling through the void—a crack opened up under him again, and he hit open air.

He caught a glimpse of misty mountains and rolling green fields—a village puffing with smoke—though he was spinning so fast he couldn’t be sure which way it was.

Then trees rushed up to greet him.

He hit the ground face-first.

WHAM!

“…”

He got up, brushing off dirt.

Not the best start to a stealth mission, he had to admit.

He’d work on it.

He looked around—he seemed to be in the middle of a field. The only person who saw that was an old stick of a farmer, picking stalks of lightly glowing ginseng.

“Hey there,” said Zane with a friendly wave. “Which way to the nearest town?”

***

The nearest town turned out to be called Jade Leaf Township. And it turned out he wasn’t the only visitor lately. Though most came by carriage or wagon, the old guy said. “Rather than, uh.”

He looked up, blinking.

“It’s not worth thinking too hard about,” said Zane.

“…Sure.”

He was a nice, if rather baffled, man named Ning. Most of the visitors were just passing through, apparently—on their way to some big deal of an event.

“They’re calling it the Summit? Something like that.”

“What is it?”

“Not too sure myself, to be honest…” Ning was a bit distracted. “Say—what did you do again?”

“I’m Jack,” Zane reminded him. “A wandering Martial Artist.”

“I see.” This information did not seem to make Ning less confused. “Well, uh—Mister Jack. You’ll have better luck finding out in town, I think…”

“Thanks. …Sorry about the field.”

“Oh—that’s alright. You didn’t hit any crops—just this one boulder I was meaning to clear out, actually…”

Ning glanced at the boulder, which had split into a thousand easily clearable fragments.

He seemed to be trying to figure out why it was broken, but Zane’s face was still fine.

This, Zane found, was a common thread in his fights.

In any case.

Jack the wandering Martial Artist headed off, feeling pretty good about his future.