Savage Awakening 473. The Summit of the Ages (VI)

“Welcome, folks, to the round of 32!”

By now, the arena was packed to near-bursting—every row and box. This late in the tourney, only the grandest of the arenas was in play—a spiderweb silver funneling to clear blue sky.

The audience thundered its approval.

“On the left—it’s just her first year of dueling, and she’s already one of the most feared names in the realm. That zither of hers is a piece of work—mysterious as it is unstoppable. Sixty men have tried—among them some of the biggest names in the realm… and all couldn’t help but succumb! Trained by the legendary Elder Jadeheart herself—it’s the Zither Princess!”

“Make it fast,” Elder Jadeheart said curtly.

The Princess nodded.

“Then there’s Jack! Who’s still practicing the Way of Rock! A real fan favorite. Counted out at first—but he’s since shown us that the humble rock can do great things—things no one could’ve ever expected! Can he do it again?!”

Zane waved his rock. It felt like the announcer had gotten a lot more positive about him lately, a welcome sight.

This Zither Princess didn’t look like much. Physically, at least—she was small, with delicate, pretty features—almost fragile. But he felt a strength in her soul.

He had some inclination of what he was up against.

He’d done some prep for this round, actually. He had a plan.

***

“I wonder how it works,” mused Ryu.

“Don’t you have zithers in Sky’s Edge?” said Jun.

“Not as weapons…”

“She lulls enemies to sleep,” said Kira. She looked much more pleased than she had yesterday. Jun looked a little redder. Ryu didn’t think too much of it.

“It’s stronger than it looks,” she continued. “They say you can't block her attacks—you just have to take them. It’s a soul thing.”

“Ah.”

“Maybe he can stop her before she gets going?” said Ryu. “Sneak in a rock throw?”

“Won’t work,” said Kira. “Those zither notes are freakishly good at deflecting. He’ll have to hit her straight-up.”

“Everyone who’s fought her so far couldn’t get within ten feet of her,” said Jun. “I guess it just depends on how big Jack’s soul is…”

“Do we know anything about that?” said Ryu.

“It has to be pretty damn big, right?” said Kira, squinting at him. “I don’t know. Something about him…”

Jun looked a little alarmed.

Someone snorted—it was a Young Master to their left, wearing a fur cap. “Doesn’t matter how big it is. Have you seen her fight? That Jack’s easy pickings. She took down the Yellow Springs Prince last round with ease—he’s got one of the biggest souls around!”

“No one asked, bozo!” snapped Kira.

***

The Zither Princess took out her pick gracefully, as if she were in a concert hall. She plucked a single note.

A note that shuddered the Astral Plane.

The crowd hushed.

“There’s a ward between that arena and the rest of us,” said the announcer. “It’s dampened nearly all that sound—and it’s still wreaking havoc!”

Big swathes of the audience did look drowsy.

“If it’s this strong out here, just imagine what Jack's feeling in there!”

Sure enough, Zane winced and staggered.

“That’s how it always starts,” said the announcer. “If he’s stumbling here… Bad. Real bad. And you can’t really blame him—soul attacks are tricky as all hell! It takes decades just to train up a decent defense. But that’s with a sect’s backing and all kinds of secret tomes! A humble miner like Jack—he’s just got to gut it out…”

He paused. Frowned.

“Wait. What’s that he’s pulling out there? He’s pulled something out of his pockets—are those pebbles?”

Zane showed them off to the crowd.

“What’s he doing?!”

He imbued them with essence, then put a pebble in one ear. Then the other. 

“…”

“Hidden technique,” Zane informed them. “Rock earplugs.”

***

Lower boxes

For a moment, there was just the sound of the Zither Princess’s note, fading away, rising a little at the end—even the note sounded confused.

Then—

“What,” rasped Saint Earthshatter. “Is a rock earplug?”

His secretary looked equally stunned. “I suppose it’s just… using rocks to block the sound, sir—”

A pause.

“It… seems to be working?” she said uncertainly.

Sure enough—Jack seemed fine now.

“That—that—”

Saint Earthshatter’s glass exploded in his grip, spilling wine all over himself.

He wiped it off, spluttering—

“I’ve had enough of this Jack! You can’t just put rocks in your ears and call it a rock earplug! It’s a damned rock!”

“Seems a little harsh,” said a nearby Elder, wincing. He was Elder Cloudspear, a renowned wind expert. “I don’t know—I could see it working…”

“That’s because you don’t know the first damned thing about rocks!” He jabbed a finger at the glass. “I know rocks. The hardness—the texture—the acoustics—none of it’s right, not a damned thing!”

He took a deep breath; he was suddenly aware folks were looking at him funny. “Look,” he growled. “Just watch. Any second now, he’ll—”

He broke off.

Jack had started making his way straight for the Zither Princess.

“I dunno. He seems fine to me,” said Elder Cloudspear. “Better than ever, actually.”

A silence.

Then—

“What the hells is going on?!”

***

Even the Zither Princess looked taken aback.

But to her credit, she recovered fast.

She started plucking up a storm. Note after note struck him, a cascade of furious sound, an ocean of music. All meant to drown him.

“I’ve got to say. Never heard of that defense—but it looks like it’s holding up so far!” said the announcer. “It’ll get harder the closer he gets, though—those zither strikes just get stronger…”

There was a pause. “Hells—it’s holding up almost a little too well—”

Coincidentally, Jack winced and stumbled. The crowd gasped.

“Guess not—he’s struggling all of a sudden. Guess those rocks can’t block it all out—he’s still making it through, though!”

The Zither Princess’s brow furrowed. She was starting to sweat a little—plucking faster and faster, fingers blurring, notes growing discordant.

Jack’s steps came heavier too. He gritted his teeth as he made his way through. Foot after foot—soon the veins on his neck started to show.

“Look at that willpower!” roared the announcer. “You can see the sheer effort on his face, just how hard he’s fighting—he’s getting pounded out there. It’s the fight of his life, but Jack’s refusing to go down!”

The Zither Princess looked a little dizzy; she was plucking so fast. It was clearly taking a serious strain on her.

As Jack got within a dozen feet, he started wobbling badly too…

“They’re both on the ropes!” shouted the announcer. “But who’ll break first?!”

At last, Jack made it within striking range. He held up his rock. The whole arena seemed to hold its breath.

Then—suddenly—she looked up. She laughed. 

The music stopped at once.

“I forfeit,” she said brightly. “…You’re strong.”

She stood and bowed with the grace of a concert performer. Then she took her zither, gently put it in its carrying case, and walked away.

*** 

“Explain yourself.” Elder Jadeheart looked murderous. “You had the oaf!”

But the Zither Princess gently shook her head. She didn't seem at all disappointed.

“I felt his soul up close, mistress.”

“And that frightened you? You put down the Yellow Springs Prince. He’s some propped-up miner!”

The Princess shook her head. “Mistress… No man’s ever felt like that. Just so… big… it was like trying to dry the ocean with a sponge…”

Silence.

“Can we go get cloud cotton candy?” said the Princess.

Jadeheart sighed. “…Yes, dear. We can go get cloud cotton candy.”

*** 

Zane was actually quite happy about how that turned out.

First, he felt he deserved a pat on the back for that acting.

Second—it wouldn’t have been a great look, he felt—this innocent-looking girl sitting there, playing her zither. Then him, taking out a brick and bonking her.

“The savant of stone!” cried the announcer. “The pebble prodigy! The rock rumbler… give it up for Jack, now through to the quarterfinals!”

“Jack! Jack! Jack!” cried the crowd.

*** 

“That guy’s a riot!” chortled the Wildhammer. He was a bare-chested man, very hairy. He always kept his hammers strapped to his back.

“Rock, huh.” he mused. “Wonder how it fares against my hammers… damn!”

He wanted to jump in there right now and have a go at the guy—his blood boiled just thinking about it. There was an animal grin on his face.

The other top Chosen in the box gave him a wide berth. Wildhammer Liu had that reputation—he was the type of guy to fight you for no reason at all.

*** 

“You know,” said Salazar, swirling his drink. “If I didn't know any better, I could swear he wasn't trying at all.”

He watched Jack go, a glint in his eyes.

“Perhaps this tournament won’t be a waste after all.”

Jin was quiet.

“You alright there, brat?”

“Huh? Oh! It’s just…” Jin shook his head. “That Jack…I don’t know why, but he just feels really familiar…”

***

That night, Zane made a round of the final island. He didn’t manage to stumble across the rune. He figured he’d try again tomorrow.

***

Near midnight, the Wildhammer was stumbling home from the bar, the Drunken Tiger, where he’d just finished up a 1-vs-10 brawl against top Ascendants.

He’d beaten them all. He’d only had to use one hammer.

He wiped his chin, chuckling.

“Damn,” he rasped. He was still pumped as hell.

He sighed and glanced around, as though looking for something to hit. There was still a day before the next round. “Pity…”

He stopped. Squinted—that figure, standing in the alley. “Hey. You! Aren’t you that Blood Demon bastard?”

He stalked closer, grinning. “It is you! What do you say we have a little scrap? Call it a warm-up. …Don’t you walk away from me!”

But the man had already vanished.

Growling, Wildhammer followed.

He’d just rounded a corner when a gnarled hand seized him by the throat.

Zane Walker.

Wildhammer choked.

He clawed at the hand over and over. But all the Bull Tiger, all his furious heart, couldn’t come close to breaking that grip.

Then the hand turned the color of old blood.

Wildhammer couldn’t even scream. His body was punctured like a balloon. His heart stopped in an instant. All his vitality drained out of him. He slumped to the ground a husk and crumbled.

The Blood Demon Sage let him drop. Stared.

He made a disappointed whine and faded into the night.