Planet Explosion was another short hop away. This one was a desert planet—a few lakes dotting long stretches of sand. The sun beat down heavy overhead.

There were no dunes here. Gravity flattened them all into hard-packed sand, like a race-track.

This planet's core came from a Neutron Star, said the Barbarian Sage. Some of the densest stuff you could get. It was meant to train, like its name suggested, explosiveness.

It was grueling just to stand here—when Zane touched down, he had to work to keep his knees from buckling.

The test was to run a thousand-meter dash under these hyper-gravity conditions.

"Ready?" shouted the Sage.

Zane nodded and clipped a belt to his waist. A spread of moons was chained to the other end, dangling behind.

The Barbarian Sage blew his horn—and Zane stomped. And bolted. Blurred across the landscape, throwing out so much force his tendons and quads burned at the first step. Soon he skidded to a halt, leaving a line of flames blasting up the sands…

"7.4 seconds!" said the Sage.

"Again," growled Zane.

Over the next hour he threw himself forward under that punishing heat. Each step sounded like a cannonball, kicking up plumes of dust that were sucked back down to the ground just as fast… by the end of it the track was half-blackened with skid marks.

He went until his legs broke down. He was sweating mightily then, heaving in deep breaths, and he felt the burn ripping up his calves, his thighs…

Titan Growth Stimulus: 110%

“It’s over 100%,” said the Sage, scratching his head. “Huh. Didn’t know that was possible.”

It was a good session.

He unclipped the belt from his waist.

"6.2 seconds!" said the Sage, nodding. "That'll be enough for the day. Good work."

Explosiveness was Zane's weakest link, he knew. It was also where he would see the most growth, the Sage predicted.

By now, a deep, pleasantly painful soreness had settled all over Zane's body. He was also getting tired and fast—yawning as he wiped a line of sweat drenching his brow…

He could do with some sleep. It seemed rest was quite important to muscle growth. His body was aching for it—sore almost everywhere he could feel…

But there were still one more planet to go.

***

Planet Temper was the last of the strength-building planets—a barren planet of volcanic-black stone rife with cracks. Giant ravines split its surface into a thousand different continents, molten red light spewing from each one.

Giant runes ran across its surface. Made to concentrate its heat, its gravity.

"My old buddy Grand Elder Coldhands made 'em," said the Barbarian Sage. He looked fondly down at the planet. "Best in the business. Made all the Conclave's defensive wards too."

But these wards were meant to attack. They were meant to simulate the pressure and the heat found in the heart of stars.

This planet was a crucible.

As Zane neared the surface, he heard a crackling echoing from somewhere deep down, made cavernous by the walls of the ravine. It sounded like a great many things being slowly steamrolled.

"Right then!" said the Sage, rubbing his hands. "Let's do this."

He waved Zane over; the two of them went through a heat wave that warped the air a good three or four feet. Descended down a winding tunnel—then they were into the guts of the planet proper.

The tunnel was lit by some glow from deep within. Veins of magma ran down the walls—magma so bright it seemed taken from the surface of a sun.

The instant Zane stepped foot there he knew he'd entered a new world.

The air was something physical now, had gained a serious weight—he felt it draped thick across him as he descended.

It got heavier. A huge compressing force—he had to frown then. It felt like the palm of some angry god was pressing over him, trying to crush him.

A hundred feet in and he was having to force every step. A hundred and fifty feet and he was wobbling, grimacing. His sweat steamed out the moment it came.

"You alright there?" said the Sage.

Zane set his jaw and nodded.

They kept trudging—two hundred feet. Two hundred and fifty.

By then his vision was blurring. His whole body had gone bright red—he could hardly stay upright. He stumbled forward in a strange haze—all of a sudden it'd gotten quite hard to think. His body felt like it was being slowly crushed flat from all sides now.

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Only his stubbornness stayed clear in his mind. Cut through the haze like a knife and forced his body to march on.

It happened around three hundred feet in.

Zane keeled over.

"Phew!" said the Sage. He considered Zane's face-down body. "Thought two hundred would be the end of it. After that I figured you might go on forever by the look on your face."

The Barbarian Sage dragged his disciple out. Zane's body was still quite red, like steel taken straight from the forge and smoking badly.

"Well—that's the end of it!" said the Barbarian Sage cheerfully. "Good showing."

He paused. "…Zane?"

Zane gave a groan to show he was still sort of there, still face-down.

The Sage went and got some spirit water to splash him with. It went to steam the moment it touched Zane's skin. But a few more tries and Zane started to cool down—by then the rest of his body—the cartilage, the bones, the skin, the smaller muscles too—was lit up bright in the astral plane.

Titan Growth Stimulus: 126%

The Sage propped him up—"You're fine, lad. Walk it off—you've got it!"

He slapped a bandage on Zane.

Blearily Zane noticed the Sage seemed to do the same thing, no matter what the injury was.

After he took in some Spirit Steel chunks he was feeling quite alright. His whole body was burning head-to-toe. So sore he felt he could hardly move a muscle.

It was a good kind of soreness. One that satisfied him deeply; he knew he'd see what it'd bring in a few days' time.

Still, though—he could do with a nap.

***

That was the end of one of the most tiring days Zane had ever felt. Even the Barbarian Sage's hearty back-slaps were wobbling him.

***

Earth

Reina was surprised to find her Zane burning up, face-down on their bed. He slept a full twenty-four hours.

By then she'd gotten all four Concepts of Renewal. She helped him recover the next day—she was astonished. She'd never seen him worked like this before.

She could also tell he was growing at a stunning rate. As she massaged him, working out his sorenesses, soothing his muscles, applying the powers of her Concepts and her Title, she could feel them getting slowly denser even as he lay there…

There was a burning in Zane the next day—she could tell. He just wanted to get back to it.

She claimed him for a day first, though.

Active rest was very important, she told him sternly, and shoved him back onto the bed.

…She made a good point, Zane felt.

Level up!

Level up!

Essence Level 404 -> 406

***

After a weekend with Reina, he was right back to it. By then all his growing had finished.

He spent the next few days hitting each planet in order, working his body to breaking.

After taking the weekend off his muscles were done growing. When he threw himself into the curls again, he managed a full nine reps—a good two more than he'd done before.

He saw the same huge stimulus.

Titan Growth Stimulus: 43%

Spurred on, he threw himself at Planet Press. This time he got two reps more than last time, making six before the planet smashed into him.

This time, his nose only half-broke too. He felt this was another win, in a way.

"At your level it took me months to get a rep!" chuckled the Sage. "That limit-breaking training's something else, I tell you."

He was fired up seeing Zane break through over and over. Zane's passion made him all itchy—he sighed. He wanted to jump in, pump out a few reps, too.

After Empyrean the Barbarian Sage's training went beyond the planetary level to the galactic. These days he had to go into the deep recesses of space to get the intensity he needed.

"I'll take you sometime," said the Sage wistfully. "Out on safari, when you're ready."

He gaze Zane a once-over. "At this rate it shouldn't be too long."

Zane moved on to Planet Explosion next. Strapped on a planet's worth of weight and managed to shave a full second off his thousand-meter dash.

And on Planet Temper, he waded his way down and found he could stand the heat much better than just a few days ago—he staggered to a stop nearly four hundred feet in this time.

By the end of it, when he came out—

Skill up!

Titan's Body, First Form I -> II

A pure silver pulse ran through him head-to-toe, blessing every last fiber of him before fading away. Marking the moment.

He'd hit the first strength standard.

"Don't be fooled!" said the Sage. "That might seem just one Level, but it's a hell of a leap. Good enough to make a solid dent in those Minor God rankings."

He crossed his arms. "But we're not training you for that. We want you at the top of 'em. And not just that—we want you damned strong. Strong enough to turn back hordes in the Monster Wave, don't we?"

Zane nodded.

The Barbarian Sage grinned.

"Then we're only getting started."

A full few days of training later, Zane had loaded his body full of growth stimulus. He ate until he was all fueled too.

Then he was just sore and waiting.

The Barbarian Sage scratched his chin. Then brightened. "Right! I forgot. I've got a thing for this. It's been ages since I used it."

***

Up at the North Pole of the Barbarian Sage's home planet, in the middle of an ice sheet that ran a thousand miles in all directions—nestled between mountain peaks ruled by giant yetis and constantly-hailing plains prowled by giant winter wolves—there was a pond.

"At its deepest, it's the coldest place in the whole star system," said the Barbarian Sage. "Made it myself! There's a 'Tear of Boreas' at the bottom, see—it's a Heaven-grade treasure. Great cold and rejuvenation properties. That's what gives this pond its powers."

A cold steam rose slowly from its surface, crystallizing the air above in wispy lines…

"Go on," encouraged the Sage. "It'll help."

Zane pretty much went around shirtless all the time these days. So he just waded on in.

There was a shock of cold—it felt like a thousand icy needles were stabbing through his skin all at once, piercing deep into his muscles.

It was just a shock, though. Not enough to make Zane flinch. Instead he took it in, curious.

Where his burning muscles met the water, and felt that ice pierce through, the soreness started to ebb. A new cold energy flowed through, spreading fast, soothing the muscle…

It had a similar effect to what Reina had done.

At Ascendant, Zane was quite sensitive to his whole body. He could feel the growth at a tiny level—new muscles packing in denser, healing faster where the cold touched…

He waded deeper in—all the way up to his neck. And let out a breath.

"It'll only last a few hours at a time! But it's sure nice while it lasts, eh?" said the Sage.

Just as Zane was getting settled in, though, he felt a trembling deep in the water.

He frowned, peering down into the gloom…

"Hmm," The Barbarian Sage peered down too. Then he seemed to remember something. "Right! That nasty little worm lives down there, doesn't it?"

"What," said Zane.

The Barbarian Sage also called Fluffy a 'little snake.'

“Cranky little thing. But it tends the pond well, maintains the Tears of Boreas. You’ve just got to make it respect you—then it’ll leave you be.”

A Minor God aura blasted up at Zane. Frightfully cold, and a domain expanded right after—dense with Tier 5 Laws… it felt like Zane had stepped into a blizzard.

Zane had only fought one Minor God—Kakorax. This level. The Concept there—it felt a step above.

Then angry purple pupils lit up the darkness. Pupils as big as a man, slitted like a cat's.

Permafrost Serpent

Essence Level 512

"Stand your ground!" roared the Sage. "Give it a good smack. Teach it a lesson, and it'll back down! And none of that Stormfire too, lad—I like this pond!"

Zane nodded. Locked eyes with the beast.

A cold fury surged up at him.

He would have to beat a strong Minor God with just the strength of his Ascendant body.

He saw a jaw unhinge—saw rows and rows of dense teeth going deep into the darkness, glinting like icicles at the tips, gleaming with vicious Laws…

The Serpent screeched and lunged.