"I like to keep it simple with names. Call it like I see it."

The Sage grinned.

"How fast you progress and how strong you become is in your hands now, Zane. In Heaven-grade things get serious fast."

Zane nodded. Noughtfire had said something like this too.

"All those level-ups you just had, this past week? They're worth about as much as one level in the First Form."

This was mildly alarming to Zane, considering how much he had just eaten. But looking around, he suspected he'd be doing a lot more than just eating here.

The Barbarian Sage nodded. "But each new level now also means a much bigger leap in power."

He gestured toward the moons floating high above. "The scale of things starts widening—and fast! From here on, your power's measured on a planetary scale."

He patted Zane on the shoulder. "The harder you try—the more you push your limits, lad—the more you temper your body. The more gains you make. It's a mental test as much as it is physical."

Zane liked the sound of that. It suited him.

"I'm ready," he told the Sage.

"Then let's get going, eh?" The Sage spread his arms wide, taking in the sweep of the place.

"Planet Pull!" he said. "It's the first of my strength-builder planets."

He waved toward one pit. "There's all the water you'll need—fresh water, taken from a Heaven-grade Spirit Spring. Got a big ol' tub of it left in storage—plundered it from this one giant Iceberg planet deep in the Desolation Wastes. It's got some extra Qilin horn powder mixed in for energy."

He waved to the other pit, full of steel blocks. "And there's your fuel. The building blocks of your future strength—some damned quality blocks, too. Once you're done exercising, you'll be real hungry. That's when you'll take in a block or two, and fuel your growth."

Zane nodded.

"So there you have it!" said Barbarian Sage. "Eat, work, sleep—push the limits. Over and over. That's the path to strength.”

His eyes began to cloud over a bit. "I remember when I first dug this place. That was ages ago—but I knew I wanted this, and bad. Just like you. I was first on the Path of the Titan Rhino, see—it was up to me to prove myself or get thrown out! See, they don't like weirdos like me, Zane, folk who stray off the known Paths. Not unless they're damned strong. So I trained hard and grew strong in the dark. So many years spent here, just me and the stars, working away…"

He sighed wistfully. Then shook himself out of it. "Right then!"

He nodded to the chains and the moons and the anchors, grinning again. "Figured out what you're meant to do?"

Zane inspected the moons more closely and found letters carved into their bellies. 1p. 2p. 4p. 8p. All the way up to 128p on the biggest moon.

"P stands for planet, by the way," said the Sage. "That's the weight of one F-ranked planet—standard unit of measure. Go on, lad."

Zane strode up to the Chains. Snatched up the belt, felt the weight of it, then wrapped it snug around his waist. Then he grabbed its chains and attached them to the anchors. Anchoring him down to the planet.

After that, he turned to the weights—the moons.

"1P will be plenty to start with!" said the Sage. "Even just that'll defeat most Minor Gods. Only the elites, the Top 50 all-time, would dare try it."

Even the 1P Moon, the smallest of them, had a certain air of impossibility to it—it was a behemoth, a fixture in the sky, something celestial. Thousands and thousands of miles off. Not the kind of thing man was meant to lift…

That only made Zane more eager to try it.

He grabbed hold of the chain anchoring the 1P Moon to the ground firm with both hands—and released it.

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Then he was swamped with the force of a world.

Instantly he had to crush down a foot, fighting hard, gritting his teeth—but already he started to slide down the surface of the planet, threatening to tip over—

His body exploded with fire, with life. He stomped harder and righted himself.

At the same time the slack in his belt went out, locking him down to the ground.

Then it was just the power of his muscles holding back the weight of that moon. Its blank face seemed to stare back at him, stare him down. A challenge.

"Try a few curls!" shouted the Barbarian Sage, cupping his hands around his mouth.

The force on Zane’s arms was so huge it felt like they might come out their sockets any moment. His biceps were working furiously just to stay locked—his arms, trembling with the tension…

He tightened his grip. And curled.

The entire moon sagged toward him. He strained harder, veins standing out stark on his neck, down his arms like so many pipes—

He curled it in.

That was one rep.

His biceps had never burned this horribly before. His whole body was still trembling, rigid, every muscle working hard just to keep himself upright, just to resist that weight. He went for it again—

Two.

"That's it! You've got it!" roared the Sage.

Zane heaved. There was such high tension going through his arms you could see each pulse of blood pumping up the veins, puffing his muscles with new energy—and here was where he felt his new endurance.

He wasn't done. Not yet.

Three.

"Nine Hells,” said the Sage. "Come on lad—just one more!"

A deep breath gave Zane back just enough. He forced it through.

Four.

It felt like his biceps were about to explode.

"Alright," said the Sage. "Easy now—"

Zane let out an animal bellow, felt his muscles screaming massively in protest—could feel sparks of pain lighting up those fibers, stretched to their breaking points—

He gave it everything he had. And curled.

***

Three reps was huge—especially for Zane's very first lift. The Barbarian Sage nodded proudly.

All that tempering was showing clear results. He wasn't the same Zane that had stood on the Lifting Stones.

But it was clear even Zane's new arms were on the verge of giving out. The Sage had seen millions of reps in his life. He could tell just by looking at the muscles when they were reaching their limits.

Zane gritted his teeth, aura blazing, and went for what would be his fourth and final rep—and even that was not a given thing. It took a special kind of man to squeeze that last drop out of his body.

"Alright, lad!" said the Sage, coming over to assist. "Easy now—"

Then he stopped short.

There was Zane. Mouth open in a silent roar. His arms bulged—and forced their way through.

The Sage blinked.

Had he missed something? He was sure those muscles had hit their limits. Now they definitely had. They'd reached clear breaking points along Zane's massive arms—the fibers were trembling, beginning to rip. There was no way—

Zane somehow forced out a sixth rep.

"What in the Nine Hells—“ said the Sage.

It was halfway through the seventh rep that Zane's biceps exploded.

The moon spun away—the Sage had meant to catch it and anchor it back down, but he was too busy staring at his disciple in utter bafflement.

Even Zane was baffled. He was blinking down at his own arms, confused, still heaving in thick breaths steaming in the air...

***

Zane wasn't quite sure what had just happened. He blinked down at his arms.

"...Huh," said Zane.

If you had asked him a moment before, he would've been quite certain he was going to do that seventh rep. There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

Then he heard a belly-laugh and looked up.

"That's what I'm talking about!" roared the Barbarian Sage.

***

The Barbarian Sage handed Zane a vial of Spirit Water and a shock of soothing cold energy shot through him. The healing had already begun, the torn muscles stitching back together fast—it would still be an hour before they were anywhere near whole, though.

After putting down all those steel blocks the past week, he thought he'd never be hungry again. But the Barbarian Sage was right—right after finishing, Zane's belly started rumbling.

He needed fuel.

The two of them sat down next to the pit with matching steel chunks, munching.

"Your heart's in the right place, lad,” said the Sage cheerfully through a mouthful of high-grade metal. "No need to break yourself, though, eh?"

He paused. “You're not meant to be able to do that, by the way. Your muscles should've given out before they broke, like it or not… how'd you get out those last few reps?"

Zane wasn't quite sure himself.

He believed deeply in his heart that he could do it. And he refused to give up on himself. In Zane's experience, if his will was there, his body would follow.

…Reina liked to say he was just stubborn.

The Sage chuckled. "How’s the arm?”

“Good,” said Zane. That was to say—his arms were still flaring up with white-hot spikes of pain. But they were halfway healed, and most of the new energy in his body was rushing to his biceps—they were beacons in the astral plane.

Titan Growth Stimulus: 38%

Deeply sore, too—so much he could hardly move them.

Zane told the Sage about the pop-up.

The Sage considered them. “Hm,” the Sage said at last. "Not sure how you're pushing yourself like that, lad. Most of us can't go there. Looks like it gives some pretty huge growth signals, though…For just biceps, you’d be lucky to get near 20%!”

He poked Zane's bicep, fascinated, which brought about a flare of massive pain. Zane’s face didn’t change.

"Never seen anything like it," said the Sage again. "Well—give it some rest! We'll come back in a few days once it's done growing, and see how much stronger you've gotten. Once you hit certain strength standards across your body, you’ll get a Level."

Zane nodded.

Now that he knew his muscles would grow that much more—each pang of soreness, of pain, gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

…He wondered if that was healthy.

Eh.

"For now—onto the next one. Planet Press!"