《Accidental Champion: A LitRPG Apocalypse Tower Climber (Book 1 Amazon Release on June 25)》 Chapter 1 - I Choose Champion The sky turned a vivid, blood red. Xavier Collins stared at it, a frown lining his face. That¡¯s odd. Some sort of blood sunrise, like a blood moon? He shook his head, shoved his ear buds back in and put his hands in the pockets of his plain black hoodie. He walked over the wide bridge that separated the two halves of his city, ignoring the red sky. No one else seemed to have noticed it, after all. Traffic crawled across the bridge so slow he could walk faster than it moved. Sleepy drivers sipped coffee, rubbed eyes, and shook fists at the people in front of them. It was a long trek to campus. He couldn¡¯t afford the inflated price of the university dorms (even if he did have the money, he¡¯d always been more of a loner and knew the noise would drive him crazy) and housing ¡°across the lake¡± was far cheaper. He could have caught the bus, but the walk was the only exercise he got, and he enjoyed his ritual of listening to audiobooks on the way. The soothing voice of the narrator drifted into his ears. He was listening to his favourite fantasy author¡¯s newest release. He took a deep breath, the smell of water on the air. In his mind, he was on a four-masted ship a part of a fleet of thousands, mages throwing flames over the waves. He couldn¡¯t help but enjoy the escape. It wasn¡¯t that he disliked his life. It wasn¡¯t bad. It was just that the ones in books always felt so much¡­ more. If I could move things with my mind, or wield a magic sword, or fly upon a dragon¡­ He supposed he was like most young people inching into adulthood, slowly stumbling into the ¡°real world¡± and wondering, Is this it? Is this all there is? He just wanted there to be more. Xavier struggled to focus on his morning classes. He had three lectures in a row and sat at the back of each one, right at the top of the stairs. He had a million tabs open on his laptop and kept switching between them and a story he was writing. If Xavier wasn¡¯t reading or actually studying, he tried to spend his time writing. He was an English Major hoping to get into an MFA in Creative Writing¡ªwhat his mother had called an ¡°infinitely unemployable career path.¡± But he wasn¡¯t here just so he could get a job after he left; he wanted to learn. Xavier loved learning. If he had any superpowers, it would be that. Problem was, the things he enjoyed learning didn¡¯t tend to have easy ways to earn money. In High School, he spent an entire year learning how to do parkour. He vaulted over benches and climbed walls and jumped from one gap to another. Learned how to fall from height and roll smoothly out of it to reduce the impact on his knees. But what exactly was he going to do with that? Become a stuntman? A thief? He¡¯d briefly considered that¡ªthe former, not the latter¡ªbut stuntmen tended to get hurt in their jobs. He¡¯d rather not make getting hurt his profession. A couple of years later he¡¯d stumbled on someone twirling two balls of fire at the ends of long chains. Poi, they were called. The balls were made of Kevlar¡ªlike in bulletproof vests and motorcycle gear¡ªand soaked in kerosene before they were lit aflame. He¡¯d taken to it fast. Earned a few hundred dollars busking downtown. Until he¡¯d wrapped one of those chains around an arm and got, well, burned. Because, play with fire and¡­ you know the rest. His earlier desire¡ªnot getting hurt in his profession¡ªmade him shy away from continuing. Besides, there didn¡¯t seem to be much career growth in that kind of performance art. When he¡¯d found writing he¡¯d figured that was the way to go. He was always trying to escape into books. Writing was simply the next logical progression. If he couldn¡¯t throw move things with his mind or fight a dozen orcs with only his trusty sword and shield, he could at least write about it. Seemed like a good idea to him. Not to his mother, but he¡­ well, he stopped taking her advice when he realised she couldn¡¯t handle her own life, let alone his. In his third lecture, Professor Manning, a man in a suit one size too big and old-fashioned half-moon glasses, droned on about the Hero¡¯s Journey and Joseph Campbell in a rasping monotone, things Xavier had learnt plenty about before he¡¯d even gotten to this class. Two girls sat in front of him whispering back and forth about some TV show. A guy three rows down openly played World of Warcraft, not even looking up from the screen. Xavier frowned, turned his head and looked out the window. The sky was still blood red. Dark clouds had gathered. The whispering stopped. The guy playing on his laptop removed his earbuds. A storm¡¯s coming. That definitely felt ominous. He was about to check his weather app when hail the size of golf balls plummeted from the sky and lightning flashed. The lightning forked off in six different directions. They were on the fourth floor here, and Xavier got a good view down to where one of the forks struck. He blinked, inched sideways on his seat. The lightning pooled into the courtyard, congealing into one yellow-glowing mass. It sparked, electricity shooting off it and setting a trashcan on fire. ¡°What the hell?¡± Xavier muttered. He stood and walked straight to the window. He wasn¡¯t the only one. As the boom of thunder was released the lecturer stopped his droning, finally noticing what was off. The congealing lightning rose, forming an arc as tall as a tunnel on the freeway. It buzzed and spat sparks until it appeared to stabilise. Then something stepped out of it. Xavier blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Squinted. Am I hallucinating? Others were pointing, panicking. The lecturer was saying something, his voice a discordant mix of panic and strained calm. Maybe I¡¯m dreaming. What he saw couldn¡¯t be right. It was green. About three feet tall. Wore rough spun clothes one might find at a renaissance fair or the set of Game of Thrones. It had sharp features. A long, curved nose. Needle-sharp, yellow teeth. Pointed ears. And it carried a sword. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. It was a goblin. The sky had been painted blood red. Lightning had created a portal. And a bloody goblin had stepped out of it and straight into one of the university¡¯s courtyards. Xavier took a stumbling step back from the window just as the world went grey and everything froze. Including him. Text appeared, transposed over his vision. Interlopers have discovered your world. Your Solar System has now been marked for integration into the Greater Universe. System integration begins in: 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ System integration commencing. A blinding flash of light erupted in Xavier¡¯s vision. The world shifted until he appeared in a completely black room. He blinked, trying to see some shapes in the darkness, but there was nothing there. He reached out, but there was nothing to touch. ¡°Where¡­ where am I?¡± His mouth was dry. So dry. His voice cracked and shaky. Then more text appeared. Subject identified as XAVIER COLLINS. Subject? Xavier thought. Where is this text even coming from? Why can I read it in the dark? Subject¡¯s physical skills deemed as: Minimal. Minimal! Xavier rubbed the back of his head. He looked down¡ªthough he couldn¡¯t see anything in the darkness of this place¡ªand supposed he had gotten out of shape since he stopped parkour¡­ four years ago. Subject¡¯s intellectual skills deemed as: Middling. Xavier pursed his lips. He didn¡¯t much like being judged, though he had to admit he couldn¡¯t fault whatever the hell was judging him, even if he wanted to cuss it out. ¡°Minimal, middling,¡± he muttered into the darkness. Subject¡¯s spirit skills deemed as: High. Xavier tilted his head to the side with a frown. What are spirit skills? And¡­ why are mine high? ¡°Hello?¡± he said, his voice sounding no more confident than before. ¡°Is anyone out there?¡± He wasn¡¯t sure if a response would help. Please choose a Moral Faction. Do you wish to:
  1. Fight for your world.
  2. Fight for yourself.
  3. Fight for chaos.
Xavier shifted his weight from one foot to the other. What kind of choices were those? He chose what he considered to be the obvious one: Fight for your world. ¡°One,¡± he said aloud. ¡°I choose one.¡± You have chosen Moral Faction 1. Do you wish to become one of your world¡¯s Champions, Soldiers or Support? Speak or think one of the options to learn more. Xavier¡¯s frown deepened. He still wasn¡¯t sure if this was a dream, but as someone who¡¯d consumed vast amounts of fantasy and science fiction novels, television and movies, he figured his best approach was to assume it was real until proven otherwise. If it ended up being real, assuming it was a dream would likely get him killed. Besides, since when were his dreams this¡­ elaborate? Xavier licked his lips. ¡°Champion.¡± Champions are a world¡¯s best fighters, and so they are given the best opportunities. Once a Potential Champion has been tested against other Potentials and found to meet the requirements, they will be sent to a pocket world to experience their tutorial, where they will be pitted against other World Champions to fight for rewards, upgrades, powerups¡­ Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he read the text. There was more, but he couldn¡¯t help but zero-in on what the second line said. Champions would be sent to another world? He still had no idea what was happening. It was beginning to feel like some weird video game. Champion, Soldier or Support? He could guess what Support would be, and he couldn¡¯t imagine Soldier would be near as interesting as becoming a Champion. And he had to guess that only Champions would get to be sent to another world. Isn¡¯t this what he¡¯d always wanted? Something¡­ more? If this wasn¡¯t just some dream or weird hallucination, he would forever be kicking himself for not getting the opportunity to be sent to a whole different world. His imagination went wild, and he spoke before checking the other options, or even reading the rest of the text. ¡°I choose Champion.¡± You have selected Champion. Subject¡¯s full integration will not commence until after the first test. Prepare yourself for battle. Fight to the death. ¡°Battle? What do you mean battle?¡± Before Xavier got an answer, another blinding flash assailed his vision. He blinked it away. This time, he didn¡¯t end up in total darkness. Instead, he stood in a grassy plain that seemed to stretch on forever. The air was still. There was no breeze. The sky was a clear blue, no sun, though it was bright as day. Not a speck of cloud. This doesn¡¯t feel real. Your opponent, another Potential Champion, will be arriving in: 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Your opponent has arrived. Another Potential Champion? Opponent? He supposed this is what the text meant when it said he would be tested. Perhaps I should have read to the end. Xavier swallowed as he looked over at his opponent. The man appeared to be in his late thirties and was built like a bear. He wore a military uniform. A tactical vest, helmet, goggles. There were several patches on his shoulder, one was of an eagle carrying a trident. Crap, is that a bloody Navy Seal? He didn¡¯t only come with the uniform, either. Xavier didn¡¯t know much about guns, but he¡¯d played a fair amount of Counter Strike in his day¡­ which he knew meant absolutely nothing. Still, even he could identify the man¡¯s weapon. It was an assault rifle. An M4A1 carbine, if he was right. Not that the distinction mattered. Xavier checked his pockets. His keys and phone had been in his backpack, which currently sat under his desk in the lecture hall, and all he had on him was¡­ a pen. A writer should always have a pen¡­ To test the preparedness level of your world¡¯s pre-integration elite, Potential Champions will not be supplied with weapons and armour, and will have to fight with what they came with before they can be fully integrated into the Greater Universe and receive their new abilities. Fight to the death. Xavier took a stumbling step back. He pulled the pen out of his pocket. He felt like a baby kitten pitted against a lion in a cage fight. The soldier took a few steps forward. He had his hands on his rifle, but his finger wasn¡¯t on the trigger. His uniform looked dirty and roughed up, like he¡¯d been on deployment when this had all happened, which explained why he was decked out in full gear. He looked left and right. He¡¯d been in a ready position when he arrived, but seeing only Xavier there he relaxed. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± The man¡¯s voice was deep and gruff and carried far. Standing across from him, Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel¡­ not-very-manly. The soldier looked up at the sky and gestured toward Xavier. ¡°I¡¯m not going to fight an unarmed, non-combatant! This isn¡¯t protecting my world!¡± The man swore something fierce. He sighed, pulled the strap of his rifle over his head, then made to place it on the ground. Surrender recognised. XAVIER COLLINS is the victor. JULIAN MYERS forfeits his chance at becoming a World Champion. One cannot walk backward on the path. Extermination imminent. The soldier¡ªJulian¡ªscrunched up his face. ¡°Extermination?¡± he muttered before his eyes widened. A bolt of lightning struck him, jolting his entire body until he fell, unmoving on the ground. Congratulations XAVIER COLLINS. You have passed the first test! You have gained 100 Mastery Points. You have gained 100 Spirit Energy. You will be returned to the waiting room in 0 seconds. Chapter 2 - Full Integration Xavier breathed. Fast and shallow. Someone had just died in front of him. Julian. Julian Myers. The man hadn¡¯t wanted to fight. He¡¯d put his rifle on the ground. He could have killed Xavier in a second. Could have won the challenge. But he¡¯d surrendered. And paid for it with his life. And that¡¯s the only reason I¡¯m still alive. Xavier had been yanked back into the ¡°waiting room.¡± The black expanse of nothingness. He put his hand to his chest, heart beating so damned hard it hurt. He¡¯d expected to feel the fabric of his hoodie. Instead, he felt his bare chest. He looked down, but couldn¡¯t see himself in the darkness. He touched his jeans¡ª They were gone. I¡¯m naked. Why the hell am I naked!? It wasn¡¯t the weirdest thing that had happened that day, and it didn¡¯t overshadow that Navy Seal¡¯s death, but it still made him feel ever more vulnerable. He shut his eyes. When he did, he saw lightning shoot down from the sky. Saw it strike the soldier. Julian. He snapped his eyes back open. A notification appeared, superimposed over his vision. He stared at it, blinking, still in shock. Congratulations XAVIER COLLINS. You have passed the first test! Prepare yourself for Full Integration. ¡°Full integration?¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°How do I prepare myself if I don¡¯t know what that is. And why in do I have to be naked? That doesn¡¯t make any¡ª¡± Pain spread over Xavier¡¯s entire body. Pain like he¡¯d never felt before. He¡¯d broken a wrist, once, while trying to learn how to ride a skateboard. He¡¯d burned himself. He¡¯d been punched in the face. He¡¯d pulled something in his back and been laid out for two weeks. But this? This made everything he¡¯d ever been through combined pale in comparison. He shook violently. His mouth was open, and he was sure he was screaming, but he couldn¡¯t hear himself over the pain. As suddenly as it came, it went. A bright flash of light illuminated the room. It turned from a black expanse to a white one. There was still nothing to be seen, but now his own body was visible. Xavier gasped in a breath and looked down at himself. Nothing had changed, as far as he could tell. And he was still very much naked. ¡°Wonderful.¡± He hoped he wouldn¡¯t be sent into another fight to the death in this condition. If what he¡¯d been through could even be called that¡ªhe hadn¡¯t done any fighting. Someone died in front of me. Because they refused to kill. He swallowed, waiting for something to happen, hoping he wouldn¡¯t be stuck here to linger in his own thoughts. You, XAVIER COLLINS, have now been integrated into the Greater Universe! The honour is yours. The System welcomes you. ¡°Thanks?¡± Xavier muttered, wondering what exactly the ¡°System¡± was. Based on your pre-integration abilities, your attributes have been distributed as follows: XAVIER COLLINS Level 1 Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Toughness: 5 Intelligence: 7 Willpower: 7 Spirit: 10 Mastery Points until next level: 100/1,000 Available Spirit Energy: 100/1,100 Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Xavier took a moment to absorb the information. This looked like some sort of character sheet. Definitely like a video game. This was why the System had judged his physical, mental and spiritual abilities. So it could quantify them? This is insane. All of this is absolutely insane. It also made a thrill run through him. Spirit. That had to do with¡­ magic, right? The sky had gone blood red. Weird lightning had created a portal. A goblin had stepped out. Now this. If everything else had been real, why couldn¡¯t magic be? Choose your preferred basic fighting class: Warrior Mage One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier blinked. That was it? Two choices? For some reason, he¡¯d expected more variation. Though he supposed the classes were only basic. There might be opportunities to specialise as one got stronger. But he was thinking too far ahead. One step at a time. He had already rushed one decision today, choosing the path of Champion without fully reading what the consequences of that choice would be. That choice had almost gotten him killed. It should have gotten him killed. Thank you, Julian, for sacrificing yourself. Xavier wondered if the man would have put his gun down, had he known it would mean his death¡­ He pushed that out of his mind. It had already happened. It couldn¡¯t be changed. And¡­ he didn¡¯t want it to be. I¡¯m still alive. I¡¯m still alive, and I need to focus. He eyed the two choices. Warrior. Mage. Both paths felt incredibly exciting to him. He imagined himself wearing full-plate armour, riding on a horse, slamming his sword into¡ª People? Did he really want that? To kill people? Maybe I¡¯ll be fighting goblins¡­ He shoved his worries into the back of his mind. This choice was an important one, as the System said: One cannot walk backward on the path. He¡¯d seen that firsthand when he¡¯d watched that Navy Seal surrender and die for it. Stop thinking about that! He shook his head. His attributes indicated that he would be a better Mage than Warrior. If I choose Mage, will I be able to move things with my mind? Throw fire from my hands? Call lightning from the heavens? Warrior sounded cool, but magic? Magic sounded awesome. You could wield a sword in ¡°real life.¡± You couldn¡¯t wield magic. At least, not in any life he¡¯d known before this. But before he decided, he cleared his throat and spoke into the white room. ¡°Can I have more information?¡± His voice didn¡¯t echo. It fell flat, barely travelling past where he stood. Warrior Class: A Warrior is a physical fighter. They can be an expert in hand-to-hand combat, melee weapon combat, or long-range combat. A Warrior¡¯s path is as varied as any other. Mage Class: A Mage is a magical fighter. Like a Warrior, they can fight at close range or at long range. They can wield the elements, commune with spirits, or summon magical creatures, or a thousand other possibilities. A Mage¡¯s path is as varied as any other. There are infinite paths to walk, with infinite choices to make. Each choice you make will form who you are, and can never be undone. That¡¯s ominous. Xavier sighed at the descriptions. They didn¡¯t exactly tell him a great deal. Though he was interested to see the different things a Mage might be able to do. He wondered how a Mage could be a close-combat fighter¡­ Xavier could have stood there, umming and uhhing about what choice to make for hours, but doing so would just be lying to himself. He¡¯d made the choice the moment he¡¯d seen the option. ¡°I choose Mage.¡± There was no pain this time. Something he was infinitely glad for. A flash of blue light consumed his vision then slowly faded. When he looked down at himself, he was pleased to find he was no longer naked. Instead, he wore bland grey robes. Mage robes. On his feet were thin leather boots, and a satchel had appeared over one shoulder. In his hand, he held a seven-foot staff with a small, white crystal at its end. ¡°Huh,¡± was all he could say. Congratulations, you have chosen the basic fighting class of Mage! You have gained the spell Cast Element. You have gained the spell Spiritual Guidance. You have gained the spell Summon. You have gained the spell Telekinesis. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. Four spells? He¡¯d just gained four spells? He rubbed his hands together. He had no idea how any of them worked. His brain hadn¡¯t been infused with the information like Neo in the matrix. But he was very eager to learn. Is this where I get sent to a new world for my tutorial? Xavier cleared his throat and asked the question aloud. The System responded, text flowing across his vision instantly. You have not yet met the requirements to enter the pocket world. First, you must protect a settlement from destruction. Only then will you be sent to the Eternal Tower. Requirements? Eternal Tower? Xavier¡¯s vision went white. When it cleared, he stood back inside his lecture hall, where he¡¯d been when this had all started. For a moment he wondered if this had all been a dream. If he¡¯d fallen asleep. And¡­ sleepwalked to the window? He shook his head. No one else was here. No lecturer. No students. Not a single person. He wondered how much time had passed since he¡¯d last been standing in this room. It couldn¡¯t have been long. Xavier looked around. He still clutched the seven-foot staff in his hand. Protect a settlement. Those had been the words. Though he would hardly call the university campus a settlement, he supposed that¡¯s what the message had meant. He stepped over to the window, clutching the thick staff in both hands. The portal in the courtyard was still active, though the goblin¡ªor whatever it was¡ªwas nowhere to be seen. Something clattered to his left. He spun about. The lectern on the stage had been knocked over. A small green man ran up the middle aisle of the lecture hall. Xavier stared at it. Took a step back. It was one of the goblins. As he stared, he wished he had more information. If I¡¯m level 1, what level is that goblin? Does it have a level? Xavier was quickly losing his grip on how the world worked. He got an answer to his question in the form of a notification popping up over his vision. It looked like the text he¡¯d seen before, but this was instead a small box that hovered over the head of his enemy. {Lesser Goblin ¨C Level 2} The Lesser Goblin made a bee-line toward Xavier. Xavier hefted his staff, wondering how in the hell he was supposed to cast one of his spells. He thought of the one he wanted, then said it aloud, hoping that would help. ¡°Cast Element!¡± Nothing happened. Well, his voice cracked. Nothing useful happened. ¡°Fire!¡± he said, hoping that would make some sort of difference. That flames would shoot from his staff and hit the little beast. Again, nothing happened. Oh, no. Chapter 3 - Stealing A Purse From A Goblin’s Corpse The Lesser Goblin cackled. It leapt into the air, kicked off the back of one of the seats, then fell straight at him, its short sword swinging down. Xavier swore. He managed to block the strike with his staff, hoping the sword wouldn¡¯t be sharp enough to cut through the wood. The strike hit with a solid thunk. The Lesser Goblin landed on the ground in front of Xavier. It slashed out at his leg. There was a stab of pain as the sword bit into his flesh. Xavier wanted to run, but he stood his ground. If I don¡¯t figure this out, I¡¯m not going to survive. He struck out at the goblin, swinging the long, heavy staff like a baseball bat. When Xavier had learnt how to fire twirl with poi¡ªtwo chains with balls of fire at the ends¡ªhe¡¯d also learnt how to use a fire staff, as a few friends he¡¯d busked with used them. Those movements hadn¡¯t been for fighting, they¡¯d been for performing, but the old patterns¡ªthe muscle memory, long embedded into him¡ªkicked in. He twirled his staff around his body in a way that made him look like some formidable expert. The goblin¡¯s eyes widened, its posture hesitant. Xavier grinned. He struck out again. The goblin tried to block with its short sword, but as the Lesser Goblin was half the size of him it simply wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop the weight behind Xavier¡¯s strike. And Xavier had a huge amount of reach on the little beast. He actually managed to push it back down a few of the steps. Another strike and the goblin tumbled to the ground. Maybe I should have chosen Warrior¡­ Xavier went in for a killing blow. He didn¡¯t think about it. He just moved. He¡¯d seen what happened when people hesitated in this new reality. Seen what it meant not to fight. The head of his staff bashed into the goblin¡¯s skull. Xavier winced as green blood and something that looked suspiciously like brain matter spurted out and onto his new leather boots. ¡°Eugh.¡± Xavier stepped back. He wiped the goop off on one of the chairs. Should he feel bad about what he¡¯d just done? He examined his feelings. That goblin would have killed me. I had no choice. You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin! You have gained 200 Mastery Points. You have gained 200 Spirit Energy. Instead of feeling the guilt he¡¯d expected, Xavier felt a burst of pride. He still wasn¡¯t sure what Spirit Energy did¡ªwas it some type of mana?¡ªbut he¡¯d figured out that Mastery Points were basically like gaining experience points in a game. It was what would bring him to level 2. What happens at level 2? He shrugged off the question. If this were like a video game, or like a fantasy novel, he knew what his next move needed to be. Xavier walked over to the Lesser Goblin corpse. Pain shot up his left leg. An adrenaline spike during the fight had made him forget about being wounded. Now the fight was over, that pain hit him in full. I don¡¯t suppose there are health potions in this new world¡­ He grunted and struggled into a kneeling position. The Lesser Goblin had a purse tied to its belt. Xavier, leaning heavily on his staff in one hand, grabbed the short sword that had fallen to the ground and sawed through the string. He tucked the purse into the satchel he¡¯d received when he¡¯d gotten his staff. This is really weird. I¡¯m stealing a purse from a goblin¡¯s corpse. Unfortunately, the satchel was empty. When he¡¯d opened it, he¡¯d hoped to find some potions inside. Something to heal his wounded leg. He slowly lowered himself until he was sitting on one of the steps, then he leant his staff against a chair and cut a length of fabric off the goblin¡¯s threadbare clothes. He was about to wrap his leg when he paused. What the hell am I doing? I¡¯m not in a bloody fantasy novel. There was a first-aid kit to one side of the lecture hall. He passed it every time he came into this room. Not that he¡¯d ever had any need for it. Until now. Xavier tried to shove the short sword into his satchel, but even though it was rather small¡ªbeing a sword for a goblin¡ªit jutted out awkwardly. Instead, he managed to stick it through the cord that tied his robes shut. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Not finding anything else of worth on the Lesser Goblin, Xavier climbed back up to standing. Using his staff like a cane he made his way down the steps to the first aid kit. He¡¯d been hoping to find the wound half-closed already. This ¡°System¡± had brought magic to the world, after all. But that wasn¡¯t the case. It looked normal. Yes, because a sword slash in my leg is normal. He did the best he could. He dressed the wound and wrapped it with the bandages. He¡¯d never taken a first aid class, so he had no idea if he was doing it right, but he figured it was better than nothing. At least it won¡¯t get infected. Can wounds still get infected, now the System has integrated us into the Greater Universe? He had no idea. His mind had kept turning as he cleaned his wound, trying to understand this new reality he¡¯d found himself in. He climbed to his feet and limped to the room¡¯s door. He shut it, turned the lock. There would be more goblins out there. He was sure of it. The System¡¯s message had told him to protect a settlement. If he¡¯d succeeded in doing that by killing the Lesser Goblin, he would have been transported out of here, or received some sort of success-notification. He went through his reasoning again. Nodded to himself. Sounds logical enough. Once the door was locked, he leant heavily against the wall. He looked at the corpse of the Lesser Goblin. Killing one of those things had left him limping. He may have been able to defeat it, but what happened if he had to fight two, four, six at once? He needed to play to his strengths. Whatever those were. Saying ¡°Cast Element¡± clearly hadn¡¯t been enough to use his spell, so it must work in a different way. He couldn¡¯t go into his next fight unprepared. He¡¯d be dead if that Navy Seal hadn¡¯t surrendered. I can¡¯t rely on luck to survive. He focused. Before, when he¡¯d needed to choose from options the System had provided, he¡¯d either said them out loud or thought them with purpose. He had an idea. A simple one. When he¡¯d thought he wanted more information about the goblin, it had appeared. Xavier frowned, and thought, Spells. Spells List: Cast Element ¨C Rank 1 Spiritual Guidance ¨C Rank 1 Summon ¨C Rank 1 Telekinesis ¨C Rank 1 ¡°Huh,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Is it really that easy?¡± He wondered what the different ranks were, and if he could see any descriptions of the spells. So, he thought what he wished: Description for Cast Element. Cast Element ¨C Rank 1 Cast Element is a basic Mage spell learnt by all starting human Mages. It gives the caster the chance to call upon each of the elements of fire, air, water, and earth. As a Mage advances, they may choose to specialise in one of these elements, generalise in several, or abandon the path altogether. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier smiled as he read the text. Though the description was quite general and didn¡¯t tell him anything about how to use the spell, he was glad his hunch had paid off. He took note of the references to ¡°the path.¡± In video games, one never tended to ¡°lose¡± a spell once it had been learnt, but this seemed to indicate that might change. The path of casting elements could be abandoned completely, perhaps in favour of one of the paths his other spells provided. I wish I had some sort of manual that explained all of this. The thought struck him. Manual! He frowned. No text appeared. It was worth a shot. He thought about himself, and the information he¡¯d seen¡ªhis attributes. At the simple thought of ¡°attributes,¡± nothing happened. But he realised he wasn¡¯t thinking it with purpose. Xavier tilted his chin up. Attributes and personal information. He threw in that last bit to see if it would change anything. XAVIER COLLINS Age: 20 Race: Human Grade: F Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Class: Basic Mage Level 1 Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Toughness: 5 Intelligence: 7 Willpower: 7 Spirit: 10 Mastery Points until next level: 300/1,000 Available Spirit Energy: 300/1,100 Xavier frowned. Why hadn¡¯t it shown him this information before? The fact that it mentioned his race as human made him wonder what other races were out there. Goblins, of course. But what else? Elves? Orcs? Weird grey aliens? He shook his head, moving to the next thing. Grade: F He tilted his head to the side. Grade F? What did that mean? It didn¡¯t sound good. Was he being graded on how well he¡¯d done so far? I¡¯m still alive, aren¡¯t I? Shouldn¡¯t that at least be a pass? Maybe it meant something else¡­ Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Xavier had already figured there must be other worlds, what with there being goblins coming through portals and all. But this only further confirmed it. His class being Basic Mage wasn¡¯t a surprise. He looked down at the text at the end. 700 more Mastery Points and he would reach level 2, which made him excited even though he didn¡¯t know what gaining a level would do. Spirit Energy, he still had no clue about. He licked his lips, and thought¡ªwith as much purpose as he could muster¡ªWhat is Spirit Energy? Nothing happened. He deflated. Well, that wasn¡¯t helpful. A clatter sounded, somewhere out in the hall. Xavier mentally pushed the notification away¡ªat least that worked¡ªand limped over to the door, wincing when he put weight on his injured leg. He placed his ear against the door. There was a massive thud as wood splintered. The point of a blade thrust straight through the wood, coming out an inch away from his face. He stumbled backward, heart racing. Almost fell. The sword was pulled back. An eye pushed up against the hole it made. Another goblin. The eye flicked toward Xavier. The goblin cackled. Another one cackled out in the hall. Then another. There were at least three. Xavier glanced about, considered hiding for a moment, then thought better of it. Time to fight more of these little beasts. Chapter 4 - I Can’t Live Up To Being A Champion If I Die I don¡¯t deserve to be here, Xavier thought as the goblins outside the lecture theatre¡¯s door kept slamming their swords into the wood. Wouldn¡¯t be long until they broke through. I¡¯m not a Champion. Not a defender of this world. I¡¯m just a college kid who likes to read and write fantasy and chose the wrong damned option. He released a breath. His hands shook, the staff gripped in both of them. If Julian Myers hadn¡¯t put his gun down and surrendered, I would be dead. Very, very dead. But he wasn¡¯t. He was here. Alive. He¡¯d chosen ¡°Champion¡± because he wanted to protect people. Because he wanted to be strong. It embarrassed him to think it, but he¡¯d chosen Champion because he wanted to be a hero. Heroes don¡¯t hesitate. They don¡¯t cower in fear. They don¡¯t run away from fights. They don¡¯t hide from them. The goblins kept slamming their swords into the door. Any second, the wood would fail. Any second, it would give in. Any second, he would die. Maybe I don¡¯t deserve to be here, but I am here. Xavier steeled himself. Clutched the staff tighter. I¡¯m going to earn the title of Champion. The little green beasts broke through the door. Xavier didn¡¯t wait. Didn¡¯t hesitate. Didn¡¯t back away or back down. He slammed the head of the staff straight into the first goblin that stepped through, not even bothering to scan it. The clear crystal at the end of his staff smashed into the beast¡¯s head, caving in part of its skull. Blood spurted from the wound. But the goblin was still moving. His attack hadn¡¯t done enough. Xavier followed it up with another strike as the Lesser Goblin stumbled into the room. A notification popped up in his vision. He dismissed it instinctively, hoping he could read it later. The goblin wasn¡¯t alone. It had come with four of its ugly, green-skinned little friends. Xavier gritted his teeth as the second goblin entered the lecture theatre. It leapt over the first, eyes wide, nose flared, lips pulled back. He yanked his staff up in a block, surprised he was fast enough. Again, he wondered if he should¡¯ve chosen Warrior. The System¡¯s words entered his mind, however. One cannot walk backward on the path. Second-guessing his decisions wouldn¡¯t help. The goblin didn¡¯t carry a short sword like the previous two. Instead, it wielded an axe. The head of the axe bit into the shaft of Xavier¡¯s staff, and he was surprised the wood didn¡¯t snap. The other goblins streamed into the room and surrounded him. One flanked him on either side, another cackling behind him. I can¡¯t live up to being a Champion if I die! In that instant, it occurred to him that most every fantasy caster he¡¯d read about manifested their powers in a time of great need. He focused, and thought¡ªwith heavy intent¡ªTelekinesis! He didn¡¯t know how the damned spell worked. Didn¡¯t know what he was supposed to do. He just clenched his jaw and willed what he wanted into being, hoping it would work. The goblin in front of him flew backward. It crashed through the lecture theatre¡¯s door and slammed into the wall in the hall. Xavier didn¡¯t have time to admire what he¡¯d done. He whirled his staff around him in a wild swing. Though he¡¯d heard a loud crack when the goblin had slammed into the wall, he knew it was still alive as he hadn¡¯t received a notification congratulating him for killing it. I cast my first spell! A smile slipped onto his face. He¡¯d moved the goblin with his mind. Shoved it ten feet without touching it. Three goblins still standing. He wondered how long it would take for the one in the hall to get back up. Xavier swung his staff at the closest little beast, but it slipped backward and one of its buddies pounced and cut a line into his ankle. He almost collapsed. Both legs now struggled to hold his weight. Crap, crap, crap! Cast Element! It was like something took over him, then. Power built up inside himself. Then entered the staff. The clear crystal turned blood red. The energy flowed into the staff until it could no longer contain it. Flames burst forth, straight out of the crystal. Fire streamed toward one of the goblins and consumed it in flame. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It wasn¡¯t a simple fireball that crashed into the enemy. This was more like a conflagration of flame. Every inch of the goblin was covered, its skin melting off. The other two goblins exchanged a glance, eyes wide. The flaming goblin flailed but soon fell. It writhed for a moment, then died. Xavier stood tall. Tall as he could with both his legs injured. Gripped the staff tight. The two goblins backed away from him. Aren¡¯t cackling anymore, are you? The one in the hall was standing up, stretching its back. They looked like they were about to run. Xavier wasn¡¯t about to let them. He¡¯d been tasked with protecting this ¡°settlement,¡± which he¡¯d figured must be referring to the university. Only then would he be yanked back out of this place and sent to the pocket world. Whatever that is. Besides, there was an addictive quality to defeating his opponents. To gaining more Mastery Points. If this was what he could do at level 1, what could he do at level 2? 10? 50? He used Cast Element again. Cast Element has a cooldown of 30 seconds. It cannot be used for another 25 seconds. He blinked. So much for throwing fire around. The goblins, seeing he hadn¡¯t blasted another of them into ash, were no longer backing off. In fact, they looked as though they were emboldened. Telekinesis! Xavier thrust his staff forward. Telekinesis has a cooldown of 30 seconds. It cannot be used for another 15 seconds. Again, nothing happened. Xavier swallowed. He snapped out with his staff, one of his legs giving in as he did so. The goblins began their insane cackling once more. Wicked grins alighted on their faces. The one he¡¯d thrown into the wall was back, and Xavier was surrounded on three sides. Xavier only kept on his feet out of sheer force of will. He narrowly avoided a sword-strike from the goblin on his left. But as he did, he moved into range of the one on his right. An axe bit into his knee. He slammed into the ground and yelled out in pain. This no longer felt like a video game. Video games weren¡¯t this painful! I can¡¯t die like this. I refuse to die like this! He was outnumbered and gaining injuries by the second. He had no idea what to do. He scrambled, trying to remember what the other two spells he¡¯d learnt were. If he¡¯d been smart, he would have parked himself at the back of the lecture hall and sent spells down at his enemies from afar in hopes of taking them down before they could reach him, but he hadn¡¯t even known if he could use his spells. He recalled his other two spells. Summon and Spiritual Guidance. He hadn¡¯t read their descriptions. He hadn¡¯t had time, after he¡¯d been injured by the first Lesser Goblin. He used Spiritual Guidance, worrying Summon might have some ritualistic component that would make it longer to cast. He thought the command as forcefully as he could. Spiritual Guidance! Xavier didn¡¯t know where the spells came from¡ªhe didn¡¯t know if he had mana like in a video game, or if he did, how much¡ªso he hoped he had enough energy left to cast another spell. Something came over him, then. Much like it had when he¡¯d used Cast Element and had thrown fire at one of the goblins. Except this felt quite different to that. It was¡­ taking over his body. A silver glow spread over him, and he felt himself gaining insight. His head snapped up, and it was as though he knew what he needed to do. It was strange, but he didn¡¯t question it¡ªhe didn¡¯t have time to question it. He¡¯d been gripping his staff with his right hand. He tossed it quickly into his left. The goblins were walking around him. They still looked cautious, and Xavier realised something about them¡ªthe little beasts were cowards. They had the numbers. He was injured. And yet now they saw him as a threat, they were still hesitating. Whatever force was guiding him through the spell helped him use that to his advantage. He drew the short sword he¡¯d shoved through the belt tying up his grey robes¡ªthe one he¡¯d taken from the first goblin he¡¯d killed. The staff now in his left hand, he leant heavily upon it and pushed himself to his feet. He lunged toward the closest goblin. His arms being longer, he still had the reach. He swiped straight for its neck. Still felt strange. He didn¡¯t know if he would have gone for a strike like that without the Spiritual Guidance spell influencing his actions. Xavier took the goblin¡¯s head clean off. The silver sheen disappeared. All the pain he¡¯d been feeling from his injuries flooded back. In that moment when he¡¯d stood and lunged, decapitating the goblin, he hadn¡¯t even realised the pain was gone. The Spiritual Guidance spell had worn off. It had been like a surge of adrenaline. But now that it was gone, he felt an emptiness he never had before. A wave of exhaustion slammed into him. Like he hadn¡¯t slept in days. And the pain? It wasn¡¯t just back. The pain felt three times as bad. He didn¡¯t even know how he was still standing. The two last goblins looked more wary than ever. As though about to bolt. Part of Xavier wished they would. But he imagined that would be a mistake. Mostly because he didn¡¯t know how many of the little beasts there were. What if they left only to gather reinforcements? Whatever pain and exhaustion he endured, he couldn¡¯t let the goblins see it. If they saw his pain. Saw how tired he was. And worse, if they glimpsed his fear, they would pounce. He gritted his teeth. An image of the Navy Seal, Julian, getting struck by lightning assailed his mind. That¡¯s what refusing to fight will get me. Dead. He wouldn¡¯t let that happen. Xavier stood as tall as he could manage. God, the pain felt unbearable. He gritted his teeth ever more. Remembered a quote by Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor and stoic philosopher. If its endurable, then endure it, he thought to himself, the words like a mantra. If it¡¯s unendurable, then stop complaining. Your destruction will mean its end as well. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d thought of that quote. It felt absurd, however, contemplating the last time he¡¯d used those words as a mantra¡ªhe¡¯d been struggling to stay awake during a particularly boring lecture about poetry. Why creative writing teachers insisted to make everything about poetry, he would never understand¡­ He repeated the mantra once more, standing tall. A swell of confidence ballooned in him, then. He swung his blade out wildly at the nearest goblin. In his mind, he felt something shift. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was for a moment, until he realised¡ªit was Telekinesis. It had reached the end of its cooldown. Xavier did the last thing he expected considering the dire circumstances he¡¯d found himself in: he grinned. Chapter 5 - At Least I Know I Can Handle Myself Xavier cast Telekinesis on one of the goblins. The little beast slammed into the wall behind it. Something cracked in the creature, just as it had the first time Xavier had used the spell on an enemy. Only this time, the wall he flung the goblin at wasn¡¯t as far away. It was right behind it. Xavier took an aching step forward, the pain in both his legs stabbing at him, his ankle¡ªthe one a line had been sliced into¡ªthreatened to give out. It faltered, but not enough to stop him from doing what he needed. He lashed out with the little sword. The Lesser Goblin hadn¡¯t made it back to its feet yet, so striking the little beast was easy enough. You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin! You have gained 200 Mastery Points. You have gained 200 Spirit Energy. Congratulations, you have reached level 2! Your health has been regenerated by 50%! Your Spirit Energy limit has increased by 100! You have received +1 Intelligence, +1 Willpower and +1 Spirit! You have received +5 free stat points! All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown! An odd sensation ran through Xavier¡¯s body. It was similar to when he¡¯d cast Spiritual Guidance, but even more invigorating. He felt like he could do anything. He was caught by a thrill of excitement, and he couldn¡¯t help but smile. Which he knew would look strange to anyone witnessing the scene. A young man in odd, grey robes killing green goblins, covered in their blood and smiling. That didn¡¯t put a stop to his feeling of elation, however. The pain in his legs faded, and he could stand without difficulty. The remaining goblin looked afraid. You should be afraid, Xavier thought. He threw the short sword down, took his staff in both hands, then used Cast Element. Energy ran from him and into the staff. The crystal at its top turned red, then fire flowed out of it. Flames streamed toward the goblin, which had turned and tried to run, but it wasn¡¯t fast enough to outrun the spell. The flames caught the Lesser Goblin, consuming it in seconds. You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin! You have gained 200 Mastery Points. You have gained 200 Spirit Energy. Xavier breathed hard. Still grinning. He looked around at the dead Lesser Goblins in the room. His grin faltered. Suddenly, he felt¡­ embarrassed? As though he shouldn¡¯t be smiling about what he¡¯d just done. He straightened and shook his head. The door to the lecture theatre was still broken, which meant more Lesser Goblins could find him at any moment. At least I know I can handle myself now. He took stock of the situation. First, he looked at his legs. His robes had slashes through them. They were covered in blood¡ªhis red and goblin green. He gripped his staff in his left hand and hiked the robes. Xavier had only bandaged the first wound he¡¯d taken, not others. He looked at the line in his ankle. All he saw was blood. When he narrowed his eyes and looked more closely, he found the wound almost healed. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. When I gained that level, it said my health had regenerated by 50%. That made him wonder what his health was. Did he have health points, like in a video game? Health points! he thought. Nothing appeared. He did, however, get a vague sensation, something that told him he was on the right track, almost as though he was beginning to get a feel for how the system worked. Health status. Your health is at 90%. Had he really lost so much health in that fight? He¡¯d taken perhaps three strikes, all to his legs¡ªthank God those little beasts had been short. Looking down, he supposed he had lost a lot of blood. Perhaps I lost more health as I bled? He wondered if that percentage would go up as time passed, and how quickly it would. Xavier paused. He hadn¡¯t been taken away from this place yet, which meant there were still goblins out there. At least, he hoped it would only be goblins¡­ Okay, what¡¯s my next move? So far, he¡¯d been blundering through on not much more than blind luck and sheer force of will. If he were to get out of whatever the hell this was alive, he needed more than that. He had received 5 free stat points when he¡¯d gained that level, along with 1 point into Intelligence, Willpower and Spirit. He didn¡¯t know which did what, only that he was deemed to have a strong spirit by the System. Whatever that means. He looked at his attributes and personal information once more. XAVIER COLLINS Level 2 Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Toughness: 5 Intelligence: 8 Willpower: 8 Spirit: 11 Mastery Points until next level: 300/3,000 Available Spirit Energy: 800/1,300 Free stat points remaining: 5 Alright, Xavier thought. My Mastery points are 300 of 3,000, which means it takes three times as many Mastery Points to reach level 3 as it did to reach level 2. He supposed that made sense. In any video game he¡¯d ever played, gaining levels became harder as one went along. Why would this System be any different? When he came to his Spirit Energy, he frowned, tilted his head to the side. He only had 800. How could that be possible? He thought back to all the fights he¡¯d been in, and the notifications he¡¯d received at the end of them. Whenever he¡¯d defeated an opponent, he¡¯d received the same amount of Spirit Energy as Mastery Points. Shouldn¡¯t his Spirit Energy be maxed out at 1,300, if that were the case? Also, shouldn¡¯t his maximum Spirit Energy only be 1,200? One thing at a time. He stood there for a moment, frowning. He should have 1,300 points of Spirit Energy, yet he only had 800. That was 500 less than he¡¯d gained after killing six goblins and ¡°winning¡± the fight with the Navy Seal. Xavier stopped himself from tapping his foot as he thought it all through. The last thing he wanted was to alert any goblins in the area of his presence¡ªthough he imagined the fight¡¯s noise must have travelled far. He strained his ears but heard nothing. He was alone. For now. Spirit Energy¡­ where could that 500 have gone? It clicked. He raised his chin. How many spells had he cast? He¡¯d used Telekinesis twice, Cast Element twice, and Spirit Guidance once¡ªhe had yet to use Summon. I used five spells. Each time he¡¯d used one of the spells, he¡¯d felt energy leaving him. That must have been Spirit Energy! And each of the spells had cost 100 Spirit Energy each! Xavier couldn¡¯t help but smile. It was like figuring out a little puzzle. Spirit Energy is mana. Except, since when did one gain mana from killing? He shook his head. Just because this felt like a video game, didn¡¯t mean everything would line up. How could it? This was real life, now. Unless I¡¯ve had a stroke or a coma. Or, worse, some terribly vivid hallucinations and the goblins are actually classmates I¡¯ve murdered. Except somehow, those eventualities felt more ludicrous to him than what was actually happening. He halted that line of thought immediately. Okay, now I know where the Spirit Energy went. Why do I have a maximum limit of 1,300? His limit had been 1,100, when he¡¯d gained a level, he¡¯d gotten 100 added to his limit. He looked at his stats again¡ªhis Spirit attribute was at 11, as he¡¯d gained 1 point from the level up. That clicked then, too. At least, the math added up. Each point in Spirit gives me 100 to my Spirit Energy limit. Each level gives me 100 as well. I was level 1 with 10 Spirit, so I had 1,100. Now, I am level 2 with 11 Spirit, so I have 1,300. He figured there was an easy way to test this theory. Xavier willed what he wanted to happen next. You have added 1 point to Spirit! Spirit increased from 11 ¡ú 12! You have 4 free stat points remaining. Xavier then thought to bring up his available Spirit Energy, seeing if he could only have that appear, instead of his entire stat sheet. Available Spirit Energy: 800/1,400 He pumped his fist in the air, even though he knew he would look ridiculous doing so. He felt a bit proud for having figured that out, though he was a long way from getting a handle on the System and whatever had happened to the world, this felt like a good step in the right direction. Before applying his other free stat points, Xavier moved around the room. Each of the Lesser Goblins he¡¯d killed had a purse just like the first one. Coins jingling inside. Using one of the short swords, he cut the purses from their belts and shoved them into his satchel. I wish I had some sort of bag of holding. Do those exist? He would find out. Assuming he lived long enough. He clenched his jaw, resolve settling into him. I¡¯ll see this all through. Whatever it is. He¡¯d chosen Champion, after all. Now, it was time to live up to that. Chapter 6 - Is This What I’ve Been Looking For? Xavier stalked the halls of his university, ears pricked for any goblins on the loose. He stifled a laugh at the absurdity of what he was doing. He¡¯d walked these halls a hundred times. Going from one class to another. Carrying his bag and laptop. Today, he wore grey, slashed-up robes covered in red and green blood. He carried a seven-foot-long staff with a clear crystal at its end that helped him channel his magic. The belt tied about his waist had a short sword shoved through one side and an axe shoved through the other. A satchel hung from his shoulders, six purses of jingling coins inside. He hadn¡¯t looked inside the purses yet. There were more important things to do than count his spoils of war. That morning, as he¡¯d been walking over the bridge on his way to class, he¡¯d been wishing he could move things with his mind. Wishing he could live in a fantasy world. Now, it seemed as though a fantasy world had come to him. His smile fell away. He¡¯d already seen one life lost because of what had happened. Because of the System integrating Earth into the Greater Universe. Xavier still didn¡¯t know what the wider ramifications were of that. He wondered how many others had chosen Champion. How many other fights to the death had there been? How many people had actually fought? Killing each other because of words that appeared superimposed over their vision? And how many others had been transported to a place like he had, made to fight goblins or who knew what else? Xavier swallowed. The integration wasn¡¯t exactly a dream come true, but there was no use complaining about it. A guilty part of him didn¡¯t want to complain about it. I always wanted more. Now I can wield magic. Throw fire. Fling goblins across a room with my mind¡­ is this what I¡¯ve been looking for? The very thought alone made him feel like he was doing something wrong by enjoying this. That Navy Seal had died for him. Then he¡¯d killed six goblins. Creatures that appeared just as sapient as he was. But the guilt fell away surprisingly quickly. If this was to be the new order of the world, why shouldn¡¯t he embrace it? Why shouldn¡¯t he enjoy it? Wouldn¡¯t that be better than suffering through it? This was surely just the beginning. Xavier didn¡¯t know what trials he would need to endure, but he did know that what he was doing right now was nothing more than a test. Though he worried about his mother, there was nothing he could do for her right now except hope she¡¯d been taken somewhere safe. She would not have chosen Champion. He imagined her choosing something like Support. The thought of her choosing Soldier was laughable. His mother wasn¡¯t even in this city. It would take him hours to get to her, assuming the roads weren¡¯t clogged and he could get a car to work. So, like many other things, he had to put his mother out of his mind and focus on the task at hand. Once he¡¯d taken the purses from the goblins, he¡¯d remembered his bag, laptop and phone had been at the top of the stairs. His wasn¡¯t the only laptop still sitting on one of the little desks in the room. He¡¯d ran up the stairs and grabbed his phone. Tried to use it. It had been on, but there had been no signal. He supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised. His laptop hadn¡¯t connected to the internet, either. The university¡¯s Wi-Fi was down. Xavier had shoved the laptop, his phone and earbuds into his satchel, along with his water bottle, but he¡¯d left his backpack there. It would feel strange to carry it around, considering what was going on. There wasn¡¯t anything useful in it, anyway. There was still so much he needed to learn. But he wouldn¡¯t go into his next encounter unprepared. He thought of the different spells he had available, thinking to bring up the list again, and was surprised to find new information. Spells List: Cast Element ¨C Rank 1 ¨C Upgrade Quest Unlocked! Spiritual Guidance ¨C Rank 1 ¨C Upgrade Quest Unlocked! Summon ¨C Rank 1 Telekinesis ¨C Rank 1 ¨C Upgrade Quest Unlocked! Upgrade quest? Xavier frowned. He focused on the first one. Cast Element ¨C Rank 1 Upgrade Quest: As you have now used this spell, you have begun your first step on the path to upgrading it to Rank 2. Available paths:
  1. Cast Fire ¨C to upgrade, use Fire to help kill 10 enemies. Progress: 2/10
  2. Cast Water ¨C to upgrade, use Water to help kill 10 enemies. Progress: 0/10
  3. Cast Earth ¨C to upgrade, use Earth to help kill 10 enemies. Progress: 0/10
  4. Cast Air ¨C to upgrade, use Air to help kill 10 enemies. Progress: 0/10
  5. Cast Elements ¨C to upgrade, use all the four elements to help kill 5 enemies each.
Choosing one path may eliminate some or all other paths. This will both limit your ability and strengthen it. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Upgrading a spell from Rank 1 to Rank 2 will make you immediately forget another Rank 1 spell of your choosing. Once a spell is forgotten, it is almost impossible to be learnt again. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier stopped walking as he read Cast Element¡¯s different paths. He wasn¡¯t as prepared for his next fight as he¡¯d hoped. He slipped into a small classroom on his left, ensuing it was deserted before he shut the door. He almost took a seat before thinking better of it. There was only one exit, the door he¡¯d walked through. The blinds were closed. He flicked on the lights. He wasn¡¯t surprised they worked, as a projector screen was still running, pointed toward the room¡¯s front wall. He looked at the heavy desk near the door where a teacher should have been sitting. An abandoned cup of tea rested atop it. Xavier walked around the desk and shoved it in front of the door. It took longer than he¡¯d hoped, and made him sweat more than it should have. Now the door was blocked, he took a seat facing it. I still have 4 free stat points, maybe I should put one into Strength¡­ He hadn¡¯t invested them in anything yet, as he wasn¡¯t sure which attributes would best help him as a Basic Mage. He assumed Intelligence and Spirit were the more important ones but couldn¡¯t be sure. Xavier sighed and plopped himself onto one of the seats. He looked at the information again. Upgrading a spell from Rank 1 to Rank 2 will make you immediately forget another Rank 1 spell of your choosing. Once a spell is forgotten, it is almost impossible to be learnt again. If he used Cast Element on enough enemy goblins with the fire element, he could upgrade its rank. But that would mean losing the chance of using the other elements. Unless he diversified the spell¡¯s usage, using the spell twenty times instead of ten. It would take longer for him to rank-up the spell, and something told him focusing on all four elements would mean none of them were as strong as if he were only focusing on one or two. Assuming it lets me focus on two¡­ And if he did rank-up the spell, he would lose one of his other ones. He bit his lip. That meant he could only keep two out of the four spells. And out of the three he¡¯d used, he liked them all. Xavier put his head in his hands. He hadn¡¯t even used the Summon spell yet. He supposed he could do that now. It probably used 100 Spirit Energy like the other spells had, and he still had 800 Spirit Energy left. What does Summon even do? The information came up as he raised his head. Summon ¨C Rank 1 Summon is a basic Mage spell learnt by all starting human Mages. Summon has several different paths, and is a difficult spell to master. It can be used to summon an ally to your position, summon a trained familiar, summon the help of a lesser deity, or even summon the dead. As a Mage advances, they may choose to specialise in one of these areas, generalise in several, or abandon the path altogether. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier swallowed. Or even summon the dead. A shiver ran up his spine at the thought of necromancers creating zombie hordes. Was this really a spell all starting human Mages got? At least it says it¡¯s difficult to master. Xavier wondered what he could even do with this spell. He definitely wouldn¡¯t use it to summon the dead. That¡­ wasn¡¯t his style. He didn¡¯t fancy having walking corpses around him, reminding him of all the people or creatures he¡¯d slain. Though having his own army didn¡¯t sound too bad, except for the fact that he was a loner who would far rather spend his time alone. The part about summoning a trained familiar did sound interesting. He wondered if he could train multiple familiars. Starting with a wolf, making his way toward a dragon¡­ He closed his eyes, imagined himself riding on the back of one. But how could he train a familiar here? Maybe if he¡¯d appeared in a forest. All he¡¯d encountered at the university were goblins, and something told him those didn¡¯t qualify. Even if they did, he didn¡¯t want a goblin as a pet¡ªthat seemed more like slavery. He tilted his head. Summon the help of a lesser deity. What would that look like, exactly? Perhaps it should have surprised him that deities¡ªgods and goddesses¡ªexisted in the first place. Xavier had been an atheist since the age of ten, when he couldn¡¯t get a good answer from his mother about why she believed in God. But¡­ well, after the day he¡¯d had, it would take a lot more than that to surprise him. Besides, his lack of belief had always hinged on their being a lack of proof. If he could actually summon the help of a deity, that seemed like proof enough of their existence. Would summoning their help give him some sort of boon? Or would a god appear in front of him and kill his foes? He doubted it would be the latter. There¡¯s gotta be some strings attached to summoning a god¡¯s help. He didn¡¯t like that idea on principle. He didn¡¯t know anything about the Greater Universe. The last thing he wanted to do was get mixed up with gods and goddesses. What if he ended up worshiping a malevolent one by accident? Though he still liked the idea of riding a dragon, he couldn¡¯t make this decision based on something he didn¡¯t know was possible. If he had to fight for his world, he needed to become as strong as he could be now. That meant choosing a path and sticking to it. He looked at the next spell. Telekinesis ¨C Rank 1 Telekinesis is a basic Mage spell learnt by most starting human Mages. Telekinesis has several different paths, and is a difficult spell to master. It can be used as a blunt force instrument, or an instrument of precision. As a Mage advances, they may choose to specialise in one area, generalise in both, or abandon the path altogether. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier frowned. It was only learnt by most starting human Mages, and not all? He wondered why that was. The two different paths made sense to him. He supposed it was the difference between flinging something at an enemy, or flinging the enemy, like he¡¯d done with those two goblins. He brought up the upgrade information. Telekinesis ¨C Rank 1 Upgrade Quest: As you have now used this spell, you have begun your first step on the path to upgrading it to Rank 2. Available paths:
  1. Heavy Telekinesis ¨C This path allows you to move heavier items or opponents but lacks accuracy ¨C to upgrade, move ten heavy objects. Progress: 2/10
  2. Precision Telekinesis ¨C This path allows you to move light items with high accuracy ¨C to upgrade, move twenty light objects with great precision. Progress: 2/20
  3. General Telekinesis ¨C This path combines the best and worst of both worlds ¨C to upgrade, move ten light objects with great precision, and move five heavy objects.
Choosing one path may eliminate some or all other paths. This will both limit your ability and strengthen it. Upgrading a spell from Rank 1 to Rank 2 will make you immediately forget another Rank 1 spell of your choosing. Once a spell is forgotten, it is almost impossible to be learnt again. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier blinked, then smiled. He didn¡¯t need to kill any enemies to upgrade Telekinesis to Rank 2! He just had to move heavy or light things¡ªassuming he ended up choosing this spell. He sighed, once more wishing he didn¡¯t have to choose. Then he looked at the information for the final spell. Chapter 7 - Quest Log Activated Hiding in the small classroom of his goblin-infested university, a heavy desk in front of the door, Xavier read the spell description for Spiritual Guidance. Spiritual Guidance ¨C Rank 1 Spiritual Guidance is a basic Mage spell that is rarely learnt by human Mages and is only available to those with a naturally strong Spirit. Spiritual Guidance has several different paths, and is an incredibly difficult spell to master. It can enhance one¡¯s body, mind and magic, and subtly guide one¡¯s actions while in combat. As a Mage advances, they may choose to specialise in one area, generalise in all, or abandon the path altogether. Unlike other spells, generalising in Spiritual Guidance does not hinder the power of each of this spell¡¯s abilities as achieving Rank 2 and upgrading the spell to Spiritual Trifecta is only achievable by rare individuals. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. The spell was rarely learnt? Required a naturally strong Spirit? The System deemed my Spirit skills high. Is that why my Cast Element spell was able to take out the goblins in one hit despite only being level 1? Because I had a high Spirit attribute? He narrowed his eyes and brought up the Upgrade Quest right away, wanting to learn more. Spiritual Guidance ¨C Rank 1 Upgrade Quest: As you have now used this spell, you have begun your first step on the path to upgrading it to Rank 2. Available paths:
  1. Spiritual Strength ¨C Enhance one¡¯s physical and mental strength while in combat ¨C to upgrade, fight an enemy while this path is active. Progress: 1/10
  2. Spiritual Defence ¨C Enhance one¡¯s physical and mental defence while in combat ¨C to upgrade, fight an enemy while this path is active. Progress: 0/10
  3. Spiritual Magic - Enhance one¡¯s magical power while in combat ¨C to upgrade, fight an enemy while this path is active. Progress: 0/10
  4. Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Enhance one¡¯s physical and mental strength and defence, as well as one¡¯s magical power, while in combat - to upgrade, fight an enemy while this path is active. Progress: 0/5
Choosing one path may eliminate some or all other paths. This will both limit your ability and strengthen it. Upgrading a spell from Rank 1 to Rank 2 will make you immediately forget another Rank 1 spell of your choosing. Once a spell is forgotten, it is almost impossible to be learnt again. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier¡¯s interest piqued even further. He stared at the fourth path, Spiritual Trifecta, and reread part of the spell¡¯s information: Unlike other spells, generalising in Spiritual Guidance does not hinder the power of each of this spell¡¯s abilities. He grinned. That¡¯s the path I¡¯m going to take. It seemed like the obvious choice. It made him wonder why there were multiple paths to begin with. Wouldn¡¯t everyone choose Spiritual Trifecta? It even had fewer requirements to upgrade, only using the spell to fight against 5 enemies instead of 10! It didn¡¯t even specify killing the enemies. Then again, it did say it was only achievable by rare individuals. I¡¯ll have to become one of those rare individuals, then. He realised he¡¯d been a fool, earlier, when he¡¯d left the lecture theatre, for not having looked at his spells first. There¡¯d been far more for him to do before facing his next enemy. I hope there are enough enemies for me to face to upgrade these spells. He bit his lip. He needed to make a difficult decision. He was definitely going to pursue upgrading Spiritual Guidance to Rank 2. As he could only choose two out of his four spells, and he¡¯d already put aside Summon, he needed to decide between Cast Element and Telekinesis. Why does this feel like such a difficult choice? He sighed. I can¡¯t spend all my time on this decision. There are goblins to kill. He chuckled to himself. Goblins to kill. Yeah, that¡¯s a completely normal thought to have. Xavier stood. As though standing alone would help him feel more assertive. Cast Element helped me kill my enemies faster. Throwing fire was the quintessential Mage spell. But moving things with his mind? The way he had flung those goblins against the wall? He thought about which spell would help him better in the long run, and which he would prefer to use. Though he didn¡¯t have knowledge of the System and how it would let him develop those spells, he¡¯d read plenty of books¡­ Fire is too volatile. What if I can¡¯t control it? What if I set fire to an enemy army and the fire can¡¯t be contained? As powerful as fire was, it was chaotic, too. It might have helped him kill his enemies faster, but there was something about Telekinesis that he liked even more. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t the most logical choice, but he¡¯d always wanted to fling things with his mind. It was an insane dream he¡¯d had since he was a kid. Now that he could actually make it happen? How could he refuse? This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Seeing as he had to choose, he decided to go with Telekinesis¡ªHeavy Telekinesis, to be precise. He imagined using it to move a mountain, or fling an entire army to the ground, and couldn¡¯t help but grin. It gave him a better image than simply setting everything on fire. Besides, he couldn¡¯t say he liked the smell of burning flesh. For a moment, he considered using Telekinesis in here. He could move the desk out of the way of the door with his mind, but he only had so much Spirit Energy. 800 points, to be exact. Even if he could gain the next rank, he¡¯d be without Spirit Energy for his next fight. I need to figure out a way to gain more Spirit Energy without killing enemies. It was the same thing that stopped him from using Spiritual Guidance, even though he needed to practice with the spell. He looked at his legs. His tattered robes. He¡¯d taken a lot of damage when those goblins had attacked him, and he still didn¡¯t know how to regain health without levelling up. He checked in on his health. Your health is at 91%. He blinked. Grinned. It had gone up! Though it hadn¡¯t gone up much, not a whole lot of time had passed since last he checked. Perhaps ten or fifteen minutes. Maybe sleeping makes it regenerate even faster. Or, like, meditation? Xavier shook his head. There was so much to figure out, but he couldn¡¯t spend all his time trapped in this room. He¡¯d spent too much time here already. If he was careful enough, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about losing health. Just to be safe, he put one of his free stat points into Toughness. You have added 1 point to Toughness! Toughness increased from 5 ¡ú 6! You have 3 free stat points remaining. Hopefully that will help. He also decided to use the rest of the stat points. He didn¡¯t know how much difference they made, but there was no point hoarding them if it meant the difference between survival and death. He threw 1 point each into Intelligence, Willpower and Spirit. Those three attributes appeared to be the most important for a Mage. He might have killed a lot of those goblins by whacking them over the head with his staff or using one of their short swords, but such tactics would only be effective for so long. He paused before moving the desk as the attributes were distributed. Tilted his head to one side. Narrowed his eyes, furrowed his brow. Did he feel smarter? How am I supposed to tell? Xavier sighed and shoved the desk along the ground again. The heavy legs scraped against the floor. Sounded louder than it had before. Once he¡¯d moved it aside, he readied himself, then opened the door quietly. The hallway was clear. Not a person¡ªor goblin¡ªin sight. He worried about heading out to the courtyard. Worried about being in the open. Since he¡¯d seen his spells had quests to upgrade them, he¡¯d wished he had some sort of quest screen for defending this outpost. Quest Log Activated Current Quest: Protect a human settlement from invaders taking root on your world. Defeat all of the enemy invaders. Progress: 6/50 Rewards:
  1. You will be sent to a pocket world.
  2. Unknown item.
Huh. Xavier ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Would have been nice if that had shown up from the start,¡± he muttered. He stared at the last reward. Unknown item. Could that be a better staff? Maybe new, untattered robes? Forty-four more goblins to kill. He hoped they were all level 2. Xavier gripped his staff in both hands and stalked down the hall as quietly as he could. Seeing that quest log gave him a renewed sense of urgency. Honestly, he hadn¡¯t expected there to be so many. A part of him was terrified, as he should be. This was life and death, and all that. But another part? Another part was excited. That was a lot of Mastery Points. He could rank-up his spells. Gain more levels. More stat points. He felt giddy. Like he hadn¡¯t in a long time. Not since he was a kid. A sense of adventure swelled inside him. Cackling sounded around a corner. More goblins. He grinned. Slowed his stalking walk to a creep and popped his head around the corner. Two goblins, standing alone. He scanned them. {Lesser Goblin ¨C Level 2} {Lesser Goblin ¨C Level 2} Good. He could take two level 2 goblins. He needed to gain a lot of Spirit Energy. Enough to practice Spiritual Guidance. And he wasn¡¯t going to miss an opportunity to use Telekinesis. The goblins both faced away from him. They were speaking to each other, though Xavier didn¡¯t understand what they were saying. The language was harsh and guttural, their voices high-pitched. Honestly, it sounded like they were mumbling to each other. What do goblins have to talk about, anyway? Xavier stepped into the hall, unseen, and cast Telekinesis. The goblins had been standing quite close together, and both of them were struck by his spell. They flew farther than he¡¯d expected. The vicious crack when they slammed into the ground made him wince, but no notifications appeared. Still not strong enough to take them out in one. Perhaps if he¡¯d flung them at a wall. Or off a roof¡­ Xavier sprinted at the closest goblin, which struggled back to its feet. He needed to use Spiritual Guidance. And not in the same way as before¡ªhe needed to draw on all three of its qualities. Spiritual Strength. Spiritual Defence. Spiritual Magic. He repeated those three things in his mind as he cast the spell, trying to imagine what they might feel like. The power seized him, as it had before. Exactly as before. Fear alighted in the Lesser Goblin¡¯s eyes. I¡¯m not using all three. He didn¡¯t know how he knew, he simply did. It was instinctual. But he couldn¡¯t hesitate. He slammed the staff¡¯s head into the goblin¡¯s skull. You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin! You have gained 200 Mastery Points. You have gained 200 Spirit Energy. The skull caved in easily. Xavier felt how much stronger he¡¯d hit. Far stronger than the last time he¡¯d used Spiritual Guidance. The silver sheen of the spell remained on him. It nudged him to bash in the other goblin¡¯s skull. One smooth hit and it would be done for. But if he did that, he¡¯d be one more step away from upgrading to Spiritual Trifecta. He recalled the upgrade¡¯s requirement: Enhance one¡¯s physical and mental strength and defence, as well as one¡¯s magical power, while in combat. It didn¡¯t say use them all at once. Xavier faced the last goblin. The goblin slashed out. Xavier, silver sheen still enveloping him, caught the sword on his staff, diverting it. The silver sheen wore off. Exhaustion struck him, but less severe than last time. Perhaps because his leg wasn¡¯t injured, or because he¡¯d expected it. Maybe even because he had more points in Spirit or Willpower than before. He didn¡¯t know, but he took it as a win. He tried to use the spell again, focusing on its defensive aspect. Spiritual Guidance has a cooldown of 10 seconds. It cannot be used for another 7 seconds. Of course, the cooldown! Xavier hadn¡¯t known what the cooldown was before this fight. It was the first time he¡¯d tried to use it twice in one fight. Xavier backed away down the hall. Was this a stupid plan? Should he just attack the goblin, kill it while he had the chance? Only if I have to. He wanted the Spiritual Trifecta upgrade. He needed to do something exceptional if he were to become powerful enough to be a Champion. Let¡¯s send it on a merry chase for a few seconds. He pretended to look afraid¡ªwhich, admittedly, wasn¡¯t the hardest thing in the world to do, considering the circumstances¡ªand ran down the hall, toward the classroom he¡¯d hidden in while figuring out his spells. Every few seconds, he checked the cooldown. It wasn¡¯t until he made it around the corner that it finally reached zero. He heard the goblin¡¯s pursuit, its mad cackle echoing off the walls. I wonder if that will attract more of the little beasts¡­ The second the cooldown ended, Xavier whirled. He didn¡¯t know how powerful the Spiritual Defence would be, but he hoped it would be strong enough to take one of the goblin¡¯s hits. Because when the Lesser Goblin leapt into the air, short sword cocked in a backswing ready to strike, he hadn¡¯t raised his staff to block the attack. Xavier cast Spiritual Guidance. As the sword came down, a silver sheen enveloped him once more. Book 2: Chapter 1 - Why Don’t I Just See What I Can Do The army of enemy Denizens and beasts stretched on farther than the eye could see, covering the horizon on every side of Queen Alastea¡¯s castle. A sight that should strike fear into any warrior¡¯s heart. The ranks of the Endless Horde held Denizens of all sort and manner¡ªsome that looked no different to those soldiers standing within the castle. Humans, elves, and men who looked like demons¡ªeven lizard men were among them. There were other races, too. Ones that weren¡¯t contained within the walls. Men and women who looked to be dwarves, carrying wicked-looking axes and hammers, each standing no taller than five feet, the men¡¯s beards swaying in the wind. Bestial, humanoid Denizens that looked like orcs, sharp tusks jutting out from either side of their jaws. Their skin was the grey of a dull, overcast sky, and their fangs looked jagged and sharp, jutting out from the top of their mouths to sit over their bottom lips. Xavier Collins stepped up to the parapet atop the castle¡¯s battlements on its forward wall. He wore his dark, Shrouded Robes, his hood down, and he knew his silver eyes would be visible for anyone to see. Perhaps those eyes of his were the reason Queen Alastea, with her hair such a dark brown it looked black, wearing a silver glowing gown, staff gripped in a long-fingered hand, golden crown resting atop her head, looked at him differently than she did the others. Or perhaps it was because he, unlike the other members of his party, had his aura under control¡ªa perfect balance struck within his Spirit Core¡ªshowing him to be someone of far greater aptitude and power than any ordinary level 14 Denizen. His party stood at his back. Howard, a former cop and current Shield Sentinel, his sword sheathed at his side and his large tower shield still within his Storage Ring. Justin, a swordsman, once an Olympic fencer before all this mess, now an Airborne Duellist with the ability to fly, and all while still being only sixteen. And Siobhan, the red-headed Irishwoman who¡¯d migrated to the states but still had a hint of her old accent, wearing Mage robes and gripping her staff loosely. She was a Divine Beacon, and the only support class among them, able to heal them and teleport them wherever they needed to go, among other things. Though his party were formidable, especially considering they were each only level 11, they would not be fighting by Xavier¡¯s side. He didn¡¯t need them to. Xavier summoned Soultaker, the staff-scythe he¡¯d carried since attaining the epic class of Soul Reaper, into his hand. The black, arm-length metal blade reflected the sun¡¯s light. Queen Alastea¡¯s gaze turned to the blade with a curious expression. It was strange, meeting the woman again. Xavier and his party had been on this floor once already¡ªthe fifth floor of the Tower of Champions¡ªand had faced the first four waves of the Endless Horde. Though he supposed saying they destroyed them, not merely faced them, would be a more apt description of what had happened. He had spoken to the queen. Seen her awe of him after he¡¯d fought in that first wave. They¡¯d spent over four hours in this place, and left it less than an hour ago. And yet the woman didn¡¯t recognise him at all. ¡°What you ask¡­¡± Queen Alastea trailed off. She did not look like a woman who was often lost for words. Her adviser, tall, old and the image of a scholar with his pointed grey beard, inspected Xavier and his party closely but did not say a word. Queen Alastea cleared her throat, straightened, full of poise. ¡°Your status as Champions of the Void earns you many freedoms, but asking me and my soldiers to stand down against the Endless Horde, when it is our people we wish to protect, flies in the face of wisdom.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°I assure you, Queen Alastea, once you see what I can do it should lessen your fears.¡± He rested a hand on the parapet, looking out at the horde once more. ¡°There will be time for your people to create a portal and escape through it. I will not let a single enemy in these first five waves reach the moat, let alone the top of the battlements.¡± He didn¡¯t plan on the enemies in the latter waves reaching the battlements either, though he still couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how many he would be able to endure. Queen Alastea blinked. ¡°I hope this confidence you have placed in your prowess is something you are able to prove, Champion.¡± ¡°Xavier,¡± he said. ¡°My name is Xavier.¡± He hadn¡¯t introduced himself the first time he and his party had been on this floor, not that the queen would have remembered that anyway. At the best of times, Xavier wasn¡¯t much of a social animal¡ªwhich, honestly, was quite the understatement. But they intended to spend a lot longer here this time around, and if their plan of gaining a good rapport with the queen were to work, he would have to make an effort to break out of his shell. This woman. This castle. He was sure that it would have information about the Greater Universe that Xavier and his party had not been able to access. Coming from a newly integrated world, they were highly constrained by all the things they didn¡¯t know. Spending time on this floor could change everything¡ªbesides, they would have to spend a long time on this floor anyway, if he were going to have a chance at reaching the top spot on the ladder. I will reach the top spot. It won¡¯t be a game of chance. I will face every wave until I have nothing left in me. Until I can no longer endure another single enemy. It wasn¡¯t about winning. Well¡­ it wasn¡¯t only about winning. He needed to gain the record for this floor if he were going to get the most out of it he could. The title for being number 1 was simply better than the titles beneath it. And he would need every title he could get if he was going to protect Earth from the invasion that was no doubt already underway. He looked over the notification for the floor once more, as he knew the first wave of the Endless Horde were about to charge. Welcome to the Fifth Floor of the Tower of Champions. The Fifth Floor of the Tower of Champions is a test of how much you can endure. Time is frozen on this floor. Outside of this instance, entering this floor will always take a single hour, whether a Champion leaves the floor within one minute or one year. This castle will soon be under siege from both Denizens and beasts, experiencing increasing waves of difficulty. Unlike other floors, a record on this floor is not based on how quickly it can be cleared, but rather how many waves of enemies one survives. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Each wave has a floor boss, or ¡°wave boss,¡± and once you have cleared the first five waves¡ªa feat that takes no less than five hours¡ªthis floor will be considered cleared. Know this: the castle will fall. You cannot protect it forever. The waves are never ending. It was that last line that excited Xavier the most. It also sent a small shudder up his spine. He didn¡¯t think it was of fear, for he didn¡¯t feel afraid. Perhaps it was simply anticipation. Xavier had faced more than one challenge since the System had integrated Earth. He¡¯d nearly been killed by goblins, pumas, and a humanoid rat-beast that stood on two legs and called itself a king. He¡¯d faced the challenge of clearing the last floor as quickly and efficiently as possible. But right now he felt powerful beyond what the Tower of Champions could have expected of him. The challenges the tower threw at him weren¡¯t life threatening, not anymore¡ªthey were about achieving the best possible time. Not once, on the last two floors, had he worried for his life. It wasn¡¯t as though he wanted to be in danger, but he yearned for that sense of adventure. That thrill of the fight. And there was a pit in his stomach, one that hungered for every single soul among the ranks of the Endless Horde. This would challenge him. This would push his level and his limits higher than anything else he¡¯d faced since the integration of Earth. This would prepare him for the armies that would be invading his world even as he stood upon those battlements. War drums beat outside the walls. A horn was blown. Denizens smashed their weapons on their shields. And the first wave of the Endless Horde whipped back their heads and roared. The first wave were comprised of level 10 enemies. Wolven. Wolf-like beasts the size of horses, twin horns jutting from either side of their heads. They looked ferocious. Formidable. Yet their auras were dull. They were like ants facing off against a bear. Xavier¡¯s soulkeeping was at capacity. He held 200 souls within him¡ª200 souls he was ready to unleash upon the enemy. At first, he¡¯d intended to spend this wave practising Soul Block, a spell he¡¯d been neglecting, but seeing the look on Queen Alastea¡¯s face, the sheer doubt in her brown eyes, he knew he needed to make a show out of this. Display his prowess so she did not doubt his strength. That would get her onside faster than blundering around out there letting wolf-like beasts attack him with their slobbering maws. Standing at the parapet he took a deep breath¡ªsomewhat regretting it as the wind turned, bringing with it a whole army¡¯s worth of sweat¡ªand focused. There were at least three thousand enemies in this first wave. He doubted he could take them all out with the number of souls he held in a single casting. Why don¡¯t I just see what I can do. He stepped up atop the parapet wall, casting Spiritual Trifecta upon himself, and Spirit Infusion upon his staff-scythe. Xavier and his weapon were both overtaken by a silvery glow, each spell enhancing the power of his magic. He gazed around at the oncoming wave without a hint of worry on his face; he launched his attack, casting Soul Strike infused with every single one of the souls in his reserve. Two hundred bolts of lightning shot forth from his staff. The pure white bolts arced high in the sky, the ones directed at the enemies coming at the castle from the back¡ªas the Endless Horde encircled the walls from every side¡ªshooting straight over the tall towers. He could sense the auras of the enemies back there even if he couldn¡¯t see them from where he stood, his aura-sight piercing through the castle¡¯s thick stone. Apparitions sprang to life, taking the avatars of Denizens and beasts he¡¯d used to fill his reserves, their souls coming back to life one last time before they were extinguished in this attack. Massive Wolven and formidable-looking elven and human warriors and mages¡ªsouls he¡¯d harvested from the fourth wave¡ªmaterialised at the end of the bolts of lightning, taking translucent form long enough to charge through the enemy beasts, causing massive amounts of soul damage. As he watched, he realised the spell he¡¯d cast had actually been overkill. A single soul could have perhaps taken down twenty of these beasts. The entire wave died in one spell. Remaining on the wall, Xavier reaped the souls of the three thousand enemies he¡¯d just killed. Each soul he harvested that he didn¡¯t need for his reserve, he instantly consumed with Soul Harden. He pushed away all of the different kill notifications, focusing only on the last two bits of text that popped into his vision. Soul Harvest has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Harvest is now a Rank 7 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Harden has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Harden is now a Rank 7 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Oh, this floor¡­ this is gonna be good. He didn¡¯t gain a level from all of those kills¡ªhe needed sixteen million Mastery Points before reaching level 15¡ªbut that didn¡¯t matter. He would get there soon enough. Besides, he¡¯d just added another 10 spots to his soulkeeping threshold. That was enough for him for now. Xavier tried not to smirk. He wanted to look humble. He lowered Soultaker and stepped back off the wall, walking over to Queen Alastea. The woman¡¯s eyes were wide as she looked over the parapet at the thousands of dead. The last time he¡¯d been on this floor, he hadn¡¯t stuck around to see how she might react to his use of soul magic. ¡°You¡­ you are indeed all you say you are, Champion of the Void.¡± Queen Alastea paused. ¡°Xavier.¡± She gave a small, stiff bow of the head. Xavier smiled. ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve seen what I can do, and it will still be almost an hour before the next wave¡­ you don¡¯t happen to have a library in that castle of yours, do you?¡± Queen Alastea blinked, looking a little confused. ¡°I, ah.¡± It was the most flustered he¡¯d seen her. In fact, before this moment he couldn¡¯t have imagined what the queen would even look like flustered. ¡°Yes, we do.¡± She looked to her adviser. ¡°Kalren, would you show these Champions to the library in the castle¡¯s leftmost tower?¡± Kalren raised a curious eyebrow. He was staring so intently at Xavier as to look almost creepy. He glanced at the queen and lowered his head. ¡°Certainly, Your Majesty.¡± He stepped forward, motioning a hand to the battlement¡¯s switchback stairs. ¡°This way.¡± Xavier grinned as he followed the adviser. Yes, it was facing the waves of the Endless Horde, and the challenge that the latter waves would provide that excited him most about this floor. But going to a library in what was basically a fantasy world? Discovering secrets the System had kept from their newly integrated planet? That¡­ that was a damned close second. As Xavier and his party followed the old man to the library, Xavier felt something. A prickle on the back of his neck. He frowned, trying to examine what it was he was feeling. It was¡­ it was similar to what he¡¯d felt before, at the end of the previous floor. That presence that had appeared and made him feel like nothing more than a speck of dust. An ant staring up at a mountain. But this presence was different. More subtle. Once again, he knew it wasn¡¯t the System that was looking at him. This, far more than the sight of the Endless Horde, made Xavier feel a hint of fear, because he couldn¡¯t deny it any longer¡ªthe things he was doing in the tower were gaining attention from far, far outside of it. He was being watched. Watched by entities more powerful than he could yet imagine. And who knew if those entities had good intentions. By the time they reached the double doors up the castle¡¯s steps, the presence was gone. Looking at the other members of his party, it was clear they hadn¡¯t felt it. Xavier sighed to himself. Another thing to add to the list of worries I can¡¯t deal with yet. The queen¡¯s adviser, Kalren, let them through the castle¡¯s large doors¡ªpast all the realm¡¯s citizens that were huddling in fear inside, waiting for the portal to be opened so it could get them out of this place¡ªand up a set of stairs that curled around a tower, until finally they reached the castle¡¯s library. When Kalren opened the library¡¯s doors, Xavier held in a gasp. There were more books within the castle¡¯s walls than he¡¯d ever hoped of finding. This floor might just end up being their secret weapon. Book 2: Chapter 2 - You Want To Explain That Again? When Xavier stepped inside the tower room his mouth fell open. All he could do was stare around in awe. The castle¡¯s tower library was like something out of Beauty and the Beast. The room was circular with ceilings three floors high. Bookshelves lined every inch of the walls reaching all the way up to the tower¡¯s ceiling which was topped off with thick glass, letting the sun bathe the spines in light. He couldn¡¯t help but imagine what the place would be like when there was a light rain pattering on that glass, a mug of warm coffee in one hand and a book open in the other, with flames crackling and dancing in the hearth. Maybe some light music as ambiance. There were staircases and walkways close to the shelves for the books higher up, along with ladders interspersed throughout the place. Tables lined the middle of the room with lamps atop them. The lamps gave out a warm light. He gave the closest one a double-take when he realised that it wasn¡¯t flames that produced their light, but rather crystals. Crystals that gave off a sense of energy. Is that Spirit Energy powering those lamps? Xavier wondered. His aura-sight certainly seemed to think so. Justin released an appreciative whistle. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of books.¡± Howard and Siobhan stepped in after them. Kalren, Queen Alastea¡¯s adviser, looked at the books with great admiration. ¡°This is the royal library. A difficult place to gain access to. As you can see, Queen Alastea¡¯s family have collected much knowledge in this place.¡± He lowered his head, forehead creasing. ¡°I only wish her parents were here now. Perhaps¡­¡± He drifted off, drew in a breath. ¡°My apologies. You may peruse them at your leisure. I will fetch you all when the next wave is close to charging.¡± ¡°You need only fetch me,¡± Xavier said. ¡°My party will remain here.¡± Kalren nodded, and was about to walk out of the room when Siobhan took a step forward. She cleared her throat. ¡°Why are the books still here? Isn¡¯t this castle to be abandoned? Surely there would be enough Storage Rings to store them within.¡± Kalren paused, turning to face her. ¡°The queen has entrusted me with some of the family¡¯s most beloved tomes, but unfortunately the queendom does not have enough Storage Rings to spare to transport every book from this library to safety. Such an endeavour is no longer within her means. The queen donated all of the ones she had, barring her personal ring for usage in¡ª¡± His face scrunched up. ¡°In the final battle. She wished the people of her realm the ability to bring all of their beloved possessions with them.¡± He raised his left hand, wiggling his ring finger. ¡°I gave my own to the cause.¡± Siobhan bowed her head. ¡°Queen Alastea is very kind to her people.¡± ¡°They are everything to her.¡± He made to leave again, but Siobhan spoke once more. ¡°Are you able to show us around these books?¡± The man paused. A look of frustration flashed across his face, though it was gone in an instant. ¡°My queen has instructed me to leave when the portal opens, which means I have less than five hours remaining to spend by her side before she sacrifices herself. She is the last of the family that I have devoted my entire life to. I wish to spend these few hours by her side, advising her, as is my duty.¡± Kalren stepped out of the library, his boots thumping lightly on the winding stone stairs that led to the bottom of the tower. Siobhan looked conflicted as she stared at the door. Xavier thought he knew what she was thinking. That did not feel like the kind of reaction that the System might simply fabricate. She touched a hand to her chest, and none of her usual excitement was present, despite the library they now had access to. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to offend him.¡± Howard put a hand on the woman¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sure the man knows that. We are here to help him and his people, after all.¡± ¡°So weird,¡± Justin muttered, eyes on the doorway. ¡°Why would the System create such an intricate backstory for these people? Isn¡¯t this level just to test how well we protect against a siege? How well we can defend a fortified area?¡± Siobhan¡¯s gaze fell to the stone floor. ¡°Video games construct narratives to help a player with immersion. Perhaps that¡¯s simply what the System is doing.¡± Her words lacked conviction. She released a sigh. ¡°In any event, it looks as though we¡¯re on our own in here.¡± She gazed up at the many books lining the wall, that spark returning to her eyes. ¡°I didn¡¯t imagine they¡¯d have so many! It¡¯s rare for medieval societies to have access to this many books.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t exactly a medieval society,¡± Howard said, walking over to one of the shelves. ¡°In fact, I don¡¯t really know what to call it.¡± Xavier turned his own attention toward the books. Though he was impressed with how many of them there were, he did wish that Kalren had stayed. The sheer volume of books in this place gave him a sense of overwhelm. There was so much that they needed to learn. So much they didn¡¯t know about to begin with. He stepped over to the nearest bookcase. The tomes that lined the shelf were hardbacks that looked like they should be in a museum. He reached out, just short of touching one, as though worried he might damage them. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The tower library didn¡¯t have labelled sections or any sort of dewy decimal system. There were no computers pointing toward a book with all the information he needed. If there was some sort of directory, he couldn¡¯t ascertain its location. The books did have words on their spines. They were in a script he didn¡¯t recognise. For one, fateful moment, he worried they wouldn¡¯t be able to read any of the books. The System might have translated spoken language to them in the tower¡ªthere was no way this queen spoke English¡ªbut that didn¡¯t mean it would translate written language. But even though he¡¯d never seen the script before¡ªeven though there was no reason he should be able to read it¡ªas he stared at the words their meaning became clear to him. ¡°Strange,¡± he muttered. The others glanced over. Xavier picked up the book. ¡°It¡¯s in another language, another script, but I can read it.¡± ¡°Well thank god for that,¡± Howard said. ¡°So, what exactly is it we¡¯re looking for?¡± The man looked at Siobhan, then over at Xavier. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s plenty of interesting stuff to find in here¡­¡± ¡°Anything useful we can get our hands on. Class manuals, information on newly integrated planets, how to defend against invasion, training modalities, other races¡¯ weaknesses, the creation of defences¡­¡± Siobhan trailed off. ¡°We need to know everything.¡± Justin ran his finger along the spine of a few different books, walking beside the wall. ¡°Whatever information is in these books didn¡¯t seem to help the people out there.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t them,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I¡¯d also like to find any information on Spirit Cores and Celestial Energy. Anything that can help me gain and strengthen those skills.¡± ¡°What about the Endless Horde?¡± Howard asked. Xavier nodded. He hadn¡¯t thought of that. ¡°If you find anything about it, though I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a priority.¡± He bit his lip, a thought occurring. ¡°We have no idea if this place is real¡­ do you think, somehow, it could have information on the Tower of Champions? Or why they call us Champions of the Void?¡± ¡°Some of these questions you could just ask the queen,¡± Justin muttered. ¡°I¡¯m sure she wouldn¡¯t mind, especially considering what you¡¯re doing for her.¡± Siobhan pursed her lips but nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Perhaps you should head back out and speak with her. You¡¯ll need to be out there for the next wave.¡± As she spoke, she took a book and flicked through its pages. ¡°We¡¯ll come get you if we find anything.¡± Xavier looked at the book in his hands. He hadn¡¯t even had a chance to open it yet. He sighed and placed it back on the shelf. He didn¡¯t want to walk out of this place, but perhaps she was right. His time might be better spent out there. Queen Alastea might be more forthright with information than Sam had been. But he worried about her level of power. How much could she really know, if she couldn¡¯t deal with these five waves? Perhaps he¡¯d get an answer to why she had to stay behind. Though he knew that didn¡¯t matter when it came to clearing the floor, he¡¯d been curious about it ever since she¡¯d mentioned it. With some reluctance, he left the others in the library and headed back the way they¡¯d come, down the winding stairs and past the civilians packing the castle tight. He wondered what types of classes they had. What levels they might be. And why they weren¡¯t fighting. He supposed he didn¡¯t really know what it was like for integrated worlds out there. How many people become fighters, and how many became crafters? I¡¯ve no idea how the Greater Universe even works. As he walked, he summoned his Sector Travel Key. The item that would take him anywhere he wished within his galaxy. It made him once again wonder where he would go, and what types of places there would be to see. Queen Alastea was exactly where he had left her. She turned and greeted him with a minute bow. ¡°I did not expect you to return so quickly. The next wave is still close to fifty minutes away.¡± ¡°I was hoping you would be able to answer some questions for me.¡± The queen raised an eyebrow. ¡°Are you curious about our defences?¡± She swept her gaze around the battlements, at the soldiers arrayed along the walls. ¡°It does not appear as though you need them, considering how you dealt with that first wave.¡± I don¡¯t, he thought. At least not yet. ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I was curious about.¡± He paused, wondering how honest he should be. Again, he supposed it didn¡¯t matter. This woman wouldn¡¯t remember who he was. ¡°The world that I and my party come from has been newly integrated.¡± Queen Alastea blinked. ¡°Newly integrated?¡± The woman frowned. ¡°I do not understand. What does that mean?¡± Adviser Kalren stood behind the queen, his eyes widened at Xavier¡¯s words. ¡°I have heard of this, though I didn¡¯t believe it to be true.¡± ¡°Heard of what, Kalren?¡± ¡°There are legends of a time when the System did not rule over the Greater Universe. An integration is what happens when the System comes to a world.¡± Queen Alastea¡¯s frown grew deeper. ¡°A time before the System¡­ but the System is eternal?¡± ¡°The System is eternal,¡± Kalren said. It didn¡¯t sound like an answer to her question¡ªmore like a repeated prayer. ¡°But there was a time before it.¡± Xavier was intrigued by the conversation they were having. Mostly because they spoke of the Greater Universe at all. He¡¯d thought of the floors as¡­ contained instances outside the normal universe. Fabricated realities created by the System. All the information he¡¯d found said the Tower of Champions had remained unchanged since the System came. Yet these people spoke as though the System had always been. He bit his lip, and asked a question he wasn¡¯t sure he was supposed to ask. ¡°Do you know about the Tower of Champions?¡± The adviser cocked his head to the side. ¡°Of course we know of the Tower of Champions.¡± He raised his chin, peering down at him. ¡°You really are from a newly integrated world.¡± ¡°You¡­ wait, you¡¯ve heard of the tower?¡± Queen Alastea looked confused. ¡°We know. That is where Champions of the Void come from, after all.¡± She stared at him for a moment. ¡°You really did not think we would know? We, who summoned you here?¡± Xavier walked over to the parapet and leant against it. ¡°You know that¡­ you know that we came from there?¡± He put a hand on his head. ¡°That means you know that what¡¯s happening now has happened before?¡± Queen Alastea turned from him. ¡°An infinite number of times, no doubt. Not that we remember. Admittedly, it is difficult to wrap my head around. We knew what summoning Champions of the Void would do, however. It was¡­ it was the only choice I could make.¡± She shut her eyes. ¡°My people would die if you were not here.¡± Xavier propped himself up against the parapet, trying to understand what the hell was going on here. These people are real. All of it is real. ¡°You want to explain that again?¡± Book 2: Chapter 3 - What Ifs And Could Have Beens Xavier sat on the parapet wall of Queen Alastea¡¯s castle. Behind him, the ranks upon ranks of the Endless Horde waited for the next wave to begin. In front, Queen Alastea and her Adviser, Kalren, stood. He ran a hand through his hair. These people are real. There were so many things he didn¡¯t understand about that. ¡°What confuses you?¡± Kalren asked in the tone of a tutor. Xavier released a sigh. ¡°I was led to believe that the Tower of Champions had been around for as long as the universe itself¡ªsince the very beginning of the System.¡± Kalren bowed his head in a nod. ¡°That is correct.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Then¡­ the floors in the tower do change? The manual we read said they remained static¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± Kalren shook his head. ¡°They do not change. They do, in fact, remain static for all eternity. Each Denizen who enters the tower and becomes a Champion faces the same challenges. And they always have, since the very first Denizen.¡± Xavier shut his eyes and put his head in his hands. He thought he felt a headache coming along. ¡°Then what is it? Time travel? Did¡­ did the System pull things out of time, out of¡­ the future? Because clearly you know what the Tower of Champions is and you¡¯re a part of it and it¡¯s always been around, but you can¡¯t have¡­¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Kalren uttered. ¡°I see where the issue is.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad someone does.¡± ¡°You are under the false assumption that there is only one universe.¡± Xavier opened his eyes, dropping his hands. He raised his head and looked at the adviser. ¡°Multiverse. I had thought of that.¡± Kalren walked over to the parapet and leant against it beside Xavier. Where before he had been the epitome of seriousness, now he was a little less reserved. ¡°When you first came here, you thought we weren¡¯t real, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°This is actually the second time I¡¯ve been on this floor.¡± Kalren nodded. ¡°Indeed. Indeed, that is common.¡± ¡°And yes¡­ I didn¡¯t know. I still don¡¯t really understand.¡± ¡°That is fair, considering you came from a newly integrated world. Our world has been a part of the System for longer than our memories can reach. The people of this queendom¡ªthose who still remain¡ªdo not know of a time before it, so it is difficult for me to put myself in your shoes.¡± ¡°So this¡±¡ªXavier waved a hand¡ª¡±is an alternate universe?¡± ¡°From your perspective, yes. One of an infinite number, in fact. But I assure you, it is very real.¡± If not for Xavier¡¯s Intelligence attribute, it would probably have taken him a lot longer to wrap his head around what was going on. Even then, it simply went against everything that he believed could be true. ¡°And this¡­ this universe is now different to the universe I was in the last time I stepped onto this floor. It¡¯s changed, because of my actions.¡± His forehead creased, becoming heavily lined as he pieced the implications of that together. ¡°Which means¡­ you are the same people we met, but you aren¡¯t the same people we met.¡± ¡°Ah, well, at least you catch on fast,¡± Kalren said. ¡°The multiverse is a difficult concept for people to digest, even those born in societies with the knowledge of it. It purports an infinite number of universes. Ones that diverge with every single decision. Summoning a Champion of the Void made this universe branch off perhaps¡­ trillions of times.¡± The adviser let out a breath. ¡°It is a lot to swallow. A lot to imagine. Surely, we have died many, many times. But we cannot concern ourselves with the goings on of other universes, ones we are not in direct contact with, can we? We would get lost in all of the what ifs and could have beens. All we¡¯d do is sit there and contemplate possibility without doing a single thing. There might be universes out there were the System never spread, as blasphemous as that is to say, it is simple truth. The System is eternal, but it may not be omnipresent.¡± ¡°If this is true¡­¡± Xavier felt like he¡¯d never frowned so much in his life, his face scrunched up in what Siobhan would call stink-face. ¡°Then each floor of the tower is connected with a different universe¡ªa different starting point in a thousand different universes.¡± He licked his lips, his thoughts coming together. ¡°They couldn¡¯t be connected to just one universe, because everything that happens on each floor, with every Denizen that enters it, would change that universe¡­¡± He clutched his head again. Kalren chuckled. ¡°As I said, it is a lot to swallow.¡± He clapped Xavier on the back with more familiarity than he would have expected. ¡°I¡¯m glad you are the Champion of the Void that ended up here. You are clearly strong enough to deal with these waves. And the fact that we are real people¡ªeven if we do not share the same universe¡ªseems to be important to you.¡± Xavier looked at Kalren. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be important?¡± ¡°Denizens enter the Tower of Champions in search of power. Most Denizens do not care how they acquire that power. In an instance such as this, they might perform their task, but they would not care about the casualties to our number.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Many of my soldiers would lose their lives, were someone less strong or less caring to have arrived,¡± Queen Alastea said. ¡°I am sure that¡­ that has happened many times.¡± She got a faraway look, no doubt contemplating the what ifs and could have beens. Xavier, selfishly, wondered if this knowledge actually changed anything for him. Then he remembered the army he had killed. No, the two armies he had killed. On the third floor, he had destroyed both the elven army and the human army in different instances. Those were all real people, fighting for a real cause, somewhere. And I don¡¯t even know which side was in the right¡ªif either of them even were. Should he feel guilt for that? Had he been wrong to fight? He needed to fight. Needed this strength to protect and save Earth. It wasn¡¯t as though he could simply turn away from it. Was the fact that the people he¡¯d faced in these places real something that needed to change the way he approached each floor? For the most part, the enemies he¡¯d faced hadn¡¯t been humans, or sapient Denizens from other races. Then again, that Rat King he¡¯d faced had been able to talk¡­ This doesn¡¯t change anything for me. It can¡¯t. But in a way, it expanded things. He looked at Kalren, at Queen Alastea and her guards, at all the soldiers standing on the wall, in an entirely new light. He¡¯d wondered what it would be like to travel to different worlds. And here he was, already doing it. These aren¡¯t set pieces. Aren¡¯t fabrications made by the System. They¡¯re real people, just¡­ from somewhere far, far away. Xavier raised his chin. He was now even more glad that he¡¯d told the queen he didn¡¯t want her soldiers fighting in this conflict. He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting real people killed. That will happen, when I return to Earth. I won¡¯t be able to save everyone. But it¡¯s not something that needs to happen now. Of course, there were real people in the Endless Horde. But they¡­ they were on the wrong side of this conflict. He stood. Looked at Queen Alastea. ¡°Your people will be safe.¡± Now that he knew she was real, there was another question he had to ask. ¡°Why will you remain here when the portal opens? Why do you think your fate is sealed?¡± Queen Alastea peered over the parapet at the enemy Denizens and beasts. ¡°It was my family who angered the Endless Horde. They will follow the blood that runs through my veins to the ends of the universe. If I go with my people, I will doom them to this fate.¡± She motioned to the horde. ¡°Whether in ten years, a hundred, or a thousand. The Endless Horde does not stop.¡± The waves are never ending. He remembered reading that, from the System notification about this floor. He turned and looked at the ranks. ¡°The notification I received said the waves will never stop. If this is real, how can that be possible? And why¡­ why do they wait? Why do they come in waves? Not that I want them all to move at once.¡± Kalren, his hands folded behind him, spoke, ¡°The System has told you a half-truth.¡± Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The System lies?¡± ¡°The System does what it wishes,¡± Queen Alastea muttered under her breath. ¡°In this case it only seems like a lie. The Endless Horde has an army that spreads through half of the sector, and the ability to connect different worlds with portals. Portals they can afford to keep open for as long as they wish. In theory, there is an end to their waves, but it isn¡¯t an end you or I will ever see.¡± ¡°As for why they do not attack all at once¡­¡± Kalren began. ¡°As a stronger force, they are restricted by the rules of engagement within this sector. I do not know if these rules hold true in your universe, or even in other sectors. But in this instance, they cannot simply send their strongest Denizen after us. And if they did, the System would punish them greatly. It is shameful for those of a higher Grade to eradicate those of a lower one. That does not mean it doesn¡¯t happen, of course.¡± Xavier latched onto this idea. He knew the System put restrictions on which Denizens could travel to Earth while it was being integrated. Only allowing them to be a single level higher than the highest-level Denizen from Earth. Perhaps that also meant there were other restrictions he didn¡¯t know about. ¡°The System wants to give you a fighting chance. Or¡­ or a way to escape?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Kalren replied. ¡°Even if the odds are against us.¡± ¡°But you.¡± Xavier looked at Queen Alastea. ¡°You¡¯re sure you cannot leave?¡± ¡°I have accepted my fate. I only wish my ancestors had done the same.¡± She raised her chin. ¡°Had they made such a sacrifice, many lives would have been spared.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t have to ask her to understand what she meant. If the Endless Horde pursued her blood wherever it went¡­ someone in her family¡¯s past had taken their ire and escaped from the horde, only to doom one of their descendants later down the line. It made him wonder what choice he would make, were he in Queen Alastea¡¯s shoes. He supposed he could understand her sacrifice now. I think I would fight. I think I would escape, hide, become strong, and then come back and fight. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how long it would be until the next wave came, but he was more eager than ever for it. These people were real, and he had the power save them. To destroy these waves until their portal was created. And I abandoned them last time¡­ those were real people I just left after defeating the fourth wave¡­ He couldn¡¯t think on that. As Kalren had said, he should not lose himself in the what ifs and could have beens, nor concern himself with universes he was no longer connected to. Xavier cleared his throat. ¡°You say these waves are near infinite. That the Endless Horde covers half your sector¡­ I do not see how I could defeat them all. But I do promise you, Queen Alastea, that I will remain here for as long as I possibly can. Your people will survive. They will pass through the portal. And I will remain, taking down as many waves as I can until fighting for a moment longer would mean losing my life. Though I know that will not save you, it will at least give you a chance to live a little longer than you would have otherwise. I do not ask for anything in return. However, I am new to this¡­ System. To all of it. I have many questions that people such as yourselves might be able to answer, if you¡¯re willing.¡± Queen Alastea still looked as poised as ever, but there was something new in her gaze as she looked at him, as though she were appraising him. ¡°I will answer whatever I can.¡± Xavier was almost surprised by how much Kalren and the queen had been able to tell him. When he spoke to Sam, there were all sorts of restrictions imposed upon the bartender¡ªthe caretaker. But here, it had been different. He and his party had hoped they¡¯d found a loophole to learning new information about the System and the Greater Universe, and so far it seemed as though he had. I¡¯m going to learn as much as possible from this floor. He looked out at the Endless Horde. And I¡¯m going to eradicate as many of their number as I can. That was something he wouldn¡¯t feel any guilt for. Book 2: Chapter 4 - Soul Block Xavier spoke with the queen and her adviser, Kalren, right up until the war drums began to beat once more, the thrum of their consistent thuds announcing the imminence of the next wave. Has it really been an hour already? He pushed himself off the cold stone, standing from where he¡¯d been sitting on the parapet. Xavier informed the queen to once more order her soldiers not to interfere with the wave. This time, the woman did not argue. She simply lowered her head in a small nod, then had Kalren issue her orders in a booming voice loud enough to be heard along the walls. Good. The display of power he¡¯d shown during the first wave, taking it out with the use of a single spell and 200 souls, had clearly shown her he knew what he was doing. ¡°This wave will take longer than the last,¡± Xavier told her. ¡°It may look as though I am in danger, but there are simply some spells I need to rank up.¡± ¡°My soldiers will not interfere unless I deem it necessary. Perhaps they will learn something by observing you.¡± Queen Alastea stepped up to the parapet, placing her hands upon the stone, her forehead slightly creased. The woman was usually adept at keeping poised, not betraying her emotions. Now, he could see the worry in that expression. She knows she will die. Maybe not on this wave, or the fifth, or the fiftieth. But she must be wondering: How long can he truly hold out here? Xavier took a few steps backward, giving him a bit of run up, and cast Spiritual Trifecta upon himself. Then he sprinted at the parapet. He leapt, soaring over the wall and the moat beyond, and landed in a smooth roll. He couldn¡¯t help but grin as he came back to his feet in a sprint. A jump and roll like that would be impossible for a normal human. He hadn¡¯t even needed to roll to absorb the impact to his knees, he¡¯d simply done it so it wouldn¡¯t reduce his momentum. How good would I be at parkour now? He shook that thought away as the next wave of the Endless Horde charged. Xavier summoned Soultaker from his Storage Ring. Having it in hand increased his running speed because of the Scythe-Staff Mastery boost. Though the shift wasn¡¯t huge, he noticed it instantly. Come on, Endless Horde. Come straight at me. The enemy Denizens and beasts opened mouths and maws, shouting battle cries and uttering ear-piercing howls that would have curdled the blood of a normal level 14 Denizen. Xavier stopped running and let them come. Gripping Soultaker in both hands, he felt no fear, only excitement. He cast Spirit Infusion into the scythe-staff but did not attack the first enemy. He had 210 souls stored and ready to go. He could have destroyed this entire wave in a matter of minutes¡ªmaybe less¡ªif he truly wished. This isn¡¯t where the challenge comes from. As fast as he¡¯d run, he was now in range of the Mages and archers the enemy had. It was the mages he was most interested in taking attacks from¡ªhe would get enough physical attacks from the Wolven and the foot soldiers. The first of the Wolven leapt straight at him, saliva dripping from its fangs, lips pulled back in a terrifying snarl. Xavier cast Soul Block for the first time. An apparition of a Wolven appeared¡ªone of the souls he had stored from the first wave¡ªjust like it might have had he used Soul Strike. But this apparition looked more¡­ solid than the Soul Strike apparitions ever did, as though Xavier could reach out and feel its fur. It leapt, throwing itself in front of the attacker. It was as though the enemy Wolven hit a brick wall. It slammed into the apparition, trying to tear through it with its claws, but found only resistance. The beast yelped, shrunk back, then raised its hackles. Interesting, Xavier thought. I wonder what the cooldown on this spell is. He opened the Upgrade Quest the moment he could, reading it rapidly. Soul Block ¨C Rank 1 Upgrade Quest: As you have now used this spell, you have begun your first step on the path to upgrading it to Rank 2. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Available paths: Soul Block (Magical) ¨C Use Soul Block to block against a single magical attack ¨C to upgrade, infuse 100 souls into magical Soul Blocks. Progress: 0/100 Soul Block (Physical) ¨C Use Soul Block to block against a single physical attack ¨C to upgrade, infuse 100 souls into physical Soul Blocks. Progress: 1/100 Soul Block (General) ¨C Allows the user to cast Soul Block against both magical and physical attacks at the cost of one third defence ¨C to upgrade, infuse 50 souls into magical Soul Blocks and 50 souls into physical Soul Blocks. Magical ¨C Progress: 0/100 Physical ¨C Progress: 1/100 This spell is locked to your Soul Reaper class. Gaining Rank 2 in this spell will not require you to forget another spell, and this spell cannot be forgotten while you remain in the Reaper line of classes. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier raised an eyebrow. The Upgrade Quest was almost identical to that of Soul Strike. As the other enemies closed in, attacking in droves and surrounding him completely, Xavier quickly discovered that Soul Block¡¯s cooldown worked in exactly the same way as Soul Strike¡¯s cooldown. Considering their other similarities, that didn¡¯t surprise him. This meant the spell had the ability to block an attack every single second. Or, he could infuse 60 souls into the spell and block one really strong attack per minute. Either way, it would be a great help to him. But it didn¡¯t mean that he could block everything that came at him. Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff cleaved through the enemies with ease. Apparitions materialised out of thin air, intercepting attacks left and right. At first, he couldn¡¯t direct the blocks at specific attacks¡ªthey simply blocked whatever attack came at him next. But eventually, he got the hang of directing which attacks Soul Block would defend against. He prioritised physical attacks, from arrows, claws, swords and spears, until he¡¯d accumulated fifty of them. Then he set his attention upon only blocking magical strikes. It only took a few minutes for another notification to appear. Soul Block has taken a step forward on the path, upgrading to the spell: Soul Block (General). Soul Block (General) is a Rank 2 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but let out a laugh when the spell ranked up so easily. He didn¡¯t stop there, however. While he fought, he kept a close eye on the walls¡ªensuring no enemies got too close to the moat, and taking them out with Soul Strikes, something he was able to do even against the enemies on the other side of the castle. This was only possible because he could see their auras even through the stone walls. During that wave, he managed to rank Soul Block up three more times, bringing it up to Rank 5 before every enemy had been defeated. On his return to the parapet, the queen¡¯s adviser told him he¡¯d taken twenty-five minutes on that wave. Xavier nodded back to the man with a grunt. That wasn¡¯t too bad, really, considering all he¡¯d gotten out of it. He¡¯d also gained a rank each in his Physical Defence and Magical Defence skills, and a rank in Scythe-Staff Mastery. Bringing them up to Rank 11, 11 and 9 respectively. ¡°How strong are you, Champion of the Void?¡± Queen Alastea paused, seeming to consider something. ¡°Champion Xavier.¡± Xavier smirked. He couldn¡¯t help but enjoy being called that. I¡¯m in an alternate universe, in a fantasy world, and a beautiful queen just called me ¡°Champion Xavier,¡± as I fight to save her people. Xavier considered his next words. Considered how much he should tell this woman and her adviser. Not to mention the others nearby that had their ears perked, the Queen¡¯s Guard and other soldiers on the wall eavesdropping. Sam had told him to be wary of how much he revealed about himself. Of his class. Of his titles. But¡­ given everything they¡¯d told him about how the Tower of Champions really worked and where each floor came from, he knew for a fact that this was the one and only time his universe would be connected to this universe. The Tower of Champion¡¯s fifth floor would always be here, but the Queen Alastea that other Champions met would be in a branched off reality to the one that Xavier was speaking with now. He could tell them anything, and¡ªin theory¡ªit would never even be able to come back to his universe. Xavier bit his lip, then told the queen and her adviser just how strong he really was. That he was a true Progenitor. That he¡¯d ranked first on the fourth floor, and that he intended to rank first here. He told them of his epic class, and that he knew he¡¯d been observed no less than twice by Denizens powerful enough to glimpse within a tower floor. Powerful enough to glimpse into an alternate universe, Xavier realised. When he was done, Queen Alastea¡¯s eyes were wide. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. ¡°It seems that we have encountered a great Denizen at the beginning of their journey.¡± She lowered her head in a shallow bow¡ªthough far deeper than she¡¯d ever gone before. She was still a queen after all, and he was in her domain. ¡°I am honoured to have you be our Champion.¡± ¡°From what you have said¡­ there is still much that we can teach you.¡± Adviser Kalren tilted his head to the side. ¡°I can instruct you in how to unlock the two other skills for your Spirit Core, if you wish?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°You can?¡± He¡¯d been hoping this would be the case. Unlocking Cultivate Energy and Core Strength was still beyond his knowledge. ¡°You know what Celestial Energy is?¡± Kalren chuckled. ¡°Indeed.¡± He ran a hand through his pointed beard. ¡°I can also help you unlock your secondary core.¡± He looked at Queen Alastea. ¡°If my queen would allow me to remain here for more than five waves.¡± Queen Alastea¡¯s posture shifted. She¡¯d relaxed slightly as they spoke and Xavier revealed his strength. Now, she straightened once more and looked sternly at her adviser. ¡°We have already discussed this, Kalren.¡± ¡°Indeed we have, my queen. However¡­¡± Kalren motioned to Xavier. ¡°Circumstances have changed. I promise that I will leave when it is no longer deemed safe to stay, but do you not think this man deserves such a reward?¡± Xavier was still wrapping his head around what Kalren had said. What is a secondary core? Book 2: Chapter 5 - Journey to E Grade On the battlements, Xavier looked between Queen Alastea and Adviser Kalren. They spoke politely to each other, but there was an undercurrent to their words. If anything, it looked more like they were bickering with one another. Not like an old married couple¡ªno, definitely not. But it was clear that this man had once been her mentor, and now she was his queen. Their relationship, and the roles they played in each others lives, had changed much over the years. Finally, the queen let out a sigh. ¡°Fine, Kalren. You may stay. However, if I perceive that at any point you are in even the smallest amount of danger, I will order you to step through that portal. Or if there is any danger of the Endless Horde getting to that portal and identifying where it leads¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let that happen,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Trust me, Queen Alastea, your people will be safe.¡± Queen Alastea looked over at Xavier, a small smirk forming on her lips. ¡°If I am to call you Xavier, then perhaps you should call me Kiralla.¡± Kalren¡¯s eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead as he peered at his queen. Though the flicker of emotion did not last long. His eyebrows were back in a neutral position by the time the queen¡ªKiralla¡ªwas looking at him again. ¡°Kiralla.¡± Xavier nodded at the woman. ¡°I think I can manage that.¡± Once the words had fallen from his mouth he knew how foolish they sounded. Of course he could manage to call the woman by her damned name. Was giving me her first name some form of flirting? He shook that from his head and looked at the adviser. ¡°What was this you said about a secondary core? I¡¯ve never heard of that before.¡± Kalren chuckled. ¡°It is remarkable, the things you are capable of despite your lack of knowledge. Please do not take me seeing the humour in it as offensive.¡± Xavier gave a thin smile. ¡°Not at all.¡± Kalren cleared his throat. ¡°A secondary core is the next step you will need to take on your journey to E Grade. However, there is much you will need to accomplish before we can begin that step.¡± He rubbed his hands together. ¡°First, you must cycle Spirit Energy through your core.¡± Xavier dipped his head, stopping himself from sighing. He wanted the man to tell him more, but he also didn¡¯t want to waste time asking questions he would get answers to later. ¡°All right. What do I have to do?¡± For the next ten minutes, Kalren had Xavier sitting on the cold stone floor of the battlements, deep in meditation, observing his core. The man had instructed him to expend some of his Spirit Energy, so Xavier created some Lesser Spirit Coins and deposited them into his Storage Ring. ¡°Now that you have fallen into a deep rhythm of meditation, you should be able to see your core. Notice the Spirit Energy entering it naturally. It will take you some time to see the flow of the energy as it enters through your lines. Do not be ashamed if it takes you a few days¡ª¡± ¡°I feel it,¡± Xavier said, tilting his head to the side. His reserve was filling up so rapidly it felt as though it was difficult not to see it, though he¡¯d never actually observed it before. I just didn¡¯t know what to look for. Kalren was silent for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. ¡°You¡­ you see it? Are you sure?¡± Xavier nodded. ¡°Ah, good. Good.¡± Kalren¡¯s surprise was clear. Xavier didn¡¯t need to open his eyes and look at the man to see that. Xavier, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t all that surprised that he had discovered it so quickly. He didn¡¯t think it was because he was particularly gifted¡ªit was just the fact that his Spirit attribute was almost at 500 points. How could he not be able to do something like this? ¡°What do I do next?¡± ¡°Well, if you indeed are able to see the energy entering you, now you must learn how to manipulate it. The reason I had you expend Spirit Energy from your core was so that it would be easy for you to identify one part of the cycle¡ªthe Spirit Energy merging with your reserve. That is always the first step, and usually takes quite a bit longer.¡± Xavier waited for the man to elaborate, interested to learn exactly how he was supposed to manipulate the energy. He¡¯d already learnt how to do that when he¡¯d learnt the Aura-Control skill. Though he supposed that must be different to this. ¡°Cycle¡± made it sound as though the energy would rotate somehow, and the only thing he was truly able to do was control how quickly the energy was burned in his core, decreasing or increasing the strength of his aura. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Now that you have seen the way Spirit Energy enters your core, observing the lines that it follows through your body, you must pull it from your core and have it circle back around those lines.¡± Xavier frowned. He wanted to ask why, but from all the mentor-student media he¡¯d ever digested in his life, he knew the answer he received would likely be unsatisfying¡ªsomething along the lines of because that is what must be done. Still, he was curious as to the reason for doing such a thing, but he kept that curiosity inside. The information that the adviser had given him about a secondary core still dangled over his head, and he knew that he would only have so much time to receive the man¡¯s instruction. Xavier was confident he would easily be able to deal with the first ten or twenty waves without really breaking a sweat. He was confident he would be able to wipe out a hell of a lot more than that¡ªwave 100 had a nice ring to it. What he wasn¡¯t confident about was how long those waves would take him to complete. The queen had informed him that each wave would begin their charge after an hour, whether or not the previous wave had been dealt with. It was inevitable that eventually, as the waves became progressively more difficult, Xavier would reach something that he couldn¡¯t deal with. Though he did know he would be much stronger by then, considering how many levels and rank-ups he was going to gain. So Xavier kept his questions to himself and listened to the man¡¯s instruction as attentively as he could. And though the first part of the exercise had been incredibly easy for him to grasp, this second part¡ªpulling the Spirit Energy back out of his core without the use of a spell or through the creation of Lesser Spirit Coins¡ªwas turning out to be incredibly difficult. Before he knew it, the war drums were beating again, and another wave of Denizens and beasts charged toward Queen Alastea¡¯s castle. Horns blew, shouts sounded and howls filled the air. A breeze rolled in, and his nose crinkled, registering the scent of not only sweat, but of blood and viscera that had been dispersed on the battlefield during the last two waves. Xavier had an awfully clinical and practical thought, wondering just how littered the space outside the walls would soon become with the dead, and whether they would need to be cleaning away the corpses. He no longer bothered gathering them into his Storage Ring¡ªit simply wasn¡¯t a very good use of his time any longer. Xavier rose from where he sat cross-legged on the stone and leapt over the parapet once more. The third wave comprised of level 12 enemies. Again, they posed no difficulty to Xavier. He was tempted to simply blast them with Soul Strike¡ªhe could pack 250 souls into a single one now¡ªbut he didn¡¯t wish to grow complacent. If he were going to last here for the latter waves, he would need to strengthen everything, not just his favourite spell. So, once more, he plunged himself back into the fray. Using Soul Block liberally, he tore through the nearby enemies with spirit-infused melee attacks. Soultaker¡¯s blade sheared through their bodies, leaving the battlefield riddled with beasts and Denizens alike sliced neatly in two. Legs, arms and heads fell to the dirt as his blade cleaved through the mess of enemies. The annoyance at having to deal with another wave quickly dissipated as the excitement of the fight flowed through him and he harvested one soul after another. He felt more fluid than before. His skill with his scythe-staff was increasing tremendously fast. Soul Block didn¡¯t seem any stronger for all the ranks it had gained, but he knew that was simply because he wasn¡¯t facing enemies strong enough to actually harm him. That could also be why it wasn¡¯t growing through the ranks terribly quickly despite his rapid use of the spell. Once again, Xavier kept a close eye on the enemies at the rear of the castle. When they neared the moat, he fired off a Soul Strike infused with 150 souls and took half the wave out all at once. Though he didn¡¯t wish to grow complacent, when he realised the strength¡ªor rather, weakness¡ªof the enemies was making it more difficult to acquire ranks in his skills, he figured he could focus on that in latter waves more effectively. He waited until the end of the wave to read the skill and spell notifications that had popped up, digesting them all at once, finding Soul Block had gained two more ranks, with Soul Harden, Soul Harvest and Spirit Infusion each gaining one, and his Scythe-Staff Mastery getting to the next rank as well. Xavier returned to the battlements to take instruction from Kalren, and sometimes even from the queen herself. Once more he struggled with the seemingly simple task of manipulating his Spirit Energy. Each minute that past felt like an entire hour as he was stuck in deep meditation, trying to yank the energy free of his core and drag it through the lines in his body. He was sure it was his Willpower stat that helped him keep focused. If it wasn¡¯t so high, he probably would have found himself getting frustrated by his lack of progress, as by the time the fourth wave was readying its charge he hadn¡¯t so much as made the Spirit Energy budge. This wasn¡¯t helped by the fact that Kalren seemed to have a little smirk on his face, apparently taking some pleasure in the knowledge that Xavier was struggling with this task. Though Xavier figured he couldn¡¯t blame the man. He¡¯d always been frustrated by people who didn¡¯t struggle with a skill. There was a perverse kind of pleasure, watching someone talented deal with difficulty¡ªseeing that they too were merely human. He tore through the fourth wave with blade and spells equally, gaining a few more ranks here and there, but ensuring it didn¡¯t take him near as long as the other two waves. After fifteen minutes, the wave had been defeated and he¡¯d gained another level. Xavier grinned when he looked at his stats. He didn¡¯t need to contemplate where he would spend his 20 free points. It was time to see if having 500 points in Spirit would break him through another attribute threshold. Book 3: Chapter 1 - Earth Earth, a few miles from what was once the city of Fronton. Commander Alden Trellot stood at the top of a tall mountain, looking through his viewing glass at a metropolitan city. It was interesting to see how far this world¡¯s non-System technology had come in the years before it was integrated. He could see the remnants of metal land vehicles, and even something that looked like it had once flown¡ªthis had crashed straight into one of the city¡¯s absurdly tall buildings, slicing it in half and making the top part of it tumble to the ground. His viewing glass gave him readings on the number of portals within the city. As far as he could tell from his vantage point atop the mountain¡¯s highest peak, there twenty-five portals active. As he didn¡¯t yet consider the inhabitants of this world as much of a threat, the closest invasion force was what he¡¯d been keeping a close eye on since he¡¯d entered this world. He lowered his viewing glass, depositing it back into his Storage Ring. Trellot was a born Commander. On his planet¡ªa human world¡ªthat meant he¡¯d been selected from birth to participate as an invasion force¡¯s leader. It also meant that he had been restricted from levelling up beyond Level 10. That was the safest level he could reach if he wished to enter a world within the first week of their integration. Naturally, he¡¯d ordered one of his Level 10 soldiers to enter through the portal ahead of him once that week had been up. When he received a report that the soldier hadn¡¯t died, he¡¯d stepped in afterward. It was costly, sending troops to a new world. That cost only rose with the level of the Denizen that was sent, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be getting any more reinforcements unless this planet proved to be worthwhile. But that wouldn¡¯t matter. He would be strong enough to take on the locals. The only problem was, he wasn¡¯t the only planet that had set its sights on this one. In fact, there were far too many contenders. It wasn¡¯t every day that a newly integrated planet was even visitable until their introductory five years had come up. Everyone and their uncle wanted in on this opportunity. It wasn¡¯t just empires, conglomerates, and the like. It was independent outfits, too. Any Denizens of the appropriate level who thought they might have something to gain by getting onto the ground floor of an emerging planet had come here¡ªit¡¯s easier to become the big fish in a small pond, after all. Exactly my plan. The light from the closest portal inside of the city¡¯s borders flickered out. It had been visible even without his viewing glass, and now it was suddenly gone. ¡°What?¡± Trellot muttered. ¡°Why are they closing their portal?¡± He got his viewing glass back and peered to where the portal had been only a moment ago. What he saw was death. The invaders in that area had been humans, like he was, though they were from a different world. A rival world. He¡¯d observed them mere moments ago¡ªand somehow, they¡¯d all been killed. Did another invading force move on them? Either way, it wasn¡¯t anything to worry about. The invading forces he¡¯d observed so far within the city were nothing compared to his. Their numbers were small. Some had only dozens, others hundreds, perhaps a few thousand at best. None had the numbers of his. That¡¯s why he was out here, in the world¡¯s wilderness, testing his soldiers on the beasts that had evolved since integration, boosting their levels what his father called ¡°the old-fashioned way¡± before he moved in on the city. Soon, his force would be ready. ~ Alistair Reid stared at the carnage he¡¯d just wreaked over the invasion force. In each hand, he held a dagger. Dark energy seeped from his blades, licking the air like smoke from burning tar. They were the perfect weapon for the way in which he liked to work¡ªup close. Personal. This wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d come up against invaders from another world. He¡¯d faced many different threats since the System had integrated Earth. Some of them hadn¡¯t even been human¡ªthere were more than a few elves around. But these were the first human invaders he¡¯d killed. He took a deep breath and read over all of the notifications he¡¯d received. God, it felt good. The special title he¡¯d been granted let him gain more Mastery Points when he killed members of his own species, which was why he¡¯d cleared this part of town of every single tutorial group he could find. Each tutorial group had a thousand members. Taking them down had been easy enough, as they never seemed to have any fear of him when he wandered into their midst. He wasn¡¯t an invader, after all. He was just another earthling. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Why would he be a threat to them? The invaders had been a different story. He couldn¡¯t simply walk into their camp and pretend to be their friend, they had far better defences than any of the tutorial groups. He¡¯d had to take them head-on. He ripped every piece of valuable gear he could off the corpses, depositing it all within one of his many Storage Rings¡ªhe¡¯d gotten more than a few off the enemies he¡¯d faced from other worlds. This was only one of the baby invasion forces, however. There seemed to be different tiers of enemies. None of the different invaders he¡¯d encountered seemed to have come from the same place. The biggest difference he¡¯d found was the size of their portals. The bigger the portal, the more powerful a force stepped through it. So far, he hadn¡¯t encountered a force more powerful than himself. ~ The enemy invaders were ruthless. Kelly Jacobs had learnt that lesson quick enough. She also didn¡¯t understand the System. At first, she thought that it was trying to protect them from the invaders that had turned up on Earth. The notification had said that it had integrated Earth because invaders arrived, as though it were trying to give them a way to defend themselves by giving them access to the System¡ªsomething she had learnt was very advantageous¡ªbut then it had scrambled the entire world. Kelly loved her family more than anything in the world. When she¡¯d chosen to defend her world, she¡¯d picked Support. She¡¯d never been much of a fighter¡ªher husband, Howard, he was the fighter in the family¡ªbut she¡¯d always been one to lend a helping hand. She volunteered at soup kitchens, helped stock neighbourhood pantries, brought blankets and soup out to the homeless in winter, and chilled bottles of water and sandwiches in the warmer months. Support. Help. It was what she did, and when her children were old enough she¡¯d brought them with her, teaching them how to be kind and sympathetic to those who lacked the same advantages as them. The moment she¡¯d chosen support, the System had given her the option to be sent to where her children were. She¡¯d jumped on that option, of course, selecting it instantly. Her children were both under the age of sixteen¡ªRebecca was fourteen, Michael was twelve. They did not yet have access to the System. Something that, at first, she¡¯d been grateful for. There was still no sign of her husband. The System had sent her to what it called a Safe Zone. An entire city¡ªone she honestly didn¡¯t recognize. It certainly wasn¡¯t Fronton, as it had the Seatle Space Needle and the Chicago Tribune Tower standing right next to one another, an interesting sight, for sure. The city contained no fighters. Only children, and support classes like her own. There were far more children than support. The city was deserted other than them. No people. Not a single one other than those the System had sent here. When she¡¯d arrived, a massive hologram of a woman in white had stood in the centre of the city, where millions of people had been gathered, and explained their situation. She had no idea who this hologram was. Some sort of god? Or just a representation of the System? No one else had known, either. The first few hours¡ªhell, the first few days¡ªhad been absolute chaos. The kids, especially, were out of their minds with worry. The System hadn¡¯t dumped her near her children, only in the same area, she¡¯d had to find them herself. Then there were thousands and thousands of children whose parents weren¡¯t with them. It had only been after she¡¯d chosen the support path that the System had even informed her that she could be sent to her kids. Howard chose Champion. I know he did. The fool of a man thinks he¡¯s responsible for everything. It was what had made her fall in love with him. She¡¯d always been generous, and he¡¯d always been protective. Not just of her, but of others. He¡¯d been a cop when they¡¯d met. He¡¯d broke up a fight at one of the soup kitchens she¡¯d volunteered at. One of the first things she¡¯d noticed about him was he wasn¡¯t as brash, or harsh, or downright violent as the other cops she¡¯d been around. He looked as though he truly wanted to help people, he just did it in a different way to her. She sighed. She couldn¡¯t begrudge him for his choice. She just wished he were there. Almost two weeks had passed since Earth had been integrated into the System, and Kelly Jacobs now knew that the System didn¡¯t care about their wellbeing. The city that she and the others had been placed in that served as a ¡°Safe Zone¡± was surrounded by enemy invaders. A barrier of energy stopped them from entering the city, but that barrier would only last for so long, and the barricade of invaders stopped anyone else from Earth from getting inside. Even if Howard were on Earth, how in the world would he get to us? The Safe Zone had a time limit. Three weeks. Apparently the System thought that was long enough for the world to get itself in order. From what Kelly could see stuck in here, she knew that was wrong. Where are you, Howard? And when are you coming home to us? ~ The forest was hers. Melissa Donavon stalked through the trees, her bow in hand, an arrow nocked, her gaze glancing left and right. She¡¯d succeeded in her mission. At least, one of her missions. After she¡¯d caught that Obatri beast and the elves in the bog, picking them off one by one with her arrows, she¡¯d grown in strength enough to take out everyone else at their camp. Slowly but surely, she¡¯d whittled down the enemy¡¯s forces until none of them of those pointy-eared bastards survived. Then, when they were all dead, she¡¯d stood watch over their portal as it shrunk. She didn¡¯t entirely understand how it worked, but the System had told her that if she killed every last one of the invaders, their portal would close. Melissa couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it was a reward the System gave to her, or if it was simply that those on the other side of the portal weren¡¯t going to send more troops through now that they¡¯d lost contact with everyone they¡¯d already sent. When the portal had shrunk to the size of a penny, then disappeared completely, she¡¯d smiled. Oh, it felt good to clear her forest of rats. My forest. It really was hers, now. As long as she kept protecting it. Once the portal had closed, the System had given her another quest. There was something called a dungeon in the area, with a powerful boss beast in its depths. If she were to clear that dungeon, the System said it would reward her with something called a Seed Sanctuary. She didn¡¯t know what it was, but she liked the world sanctuary. Maybe it will be somewhere that I can finally feel safe. All she had to do was find the dungeon. She wondered if anyone else on Earth had one of these Seed Sanctuaries, or if she would be the first. Book 3: Chapter 2 - Mini-Maps and Dungeons Congratulations XAVIER COLLINS. You and your party have completed the first ten floors of the Tower of Champions! You have taken the first step on becoming stalwart protecters of your world. As you are the first from your planet to complete this milestone, you¡¯ve unlocked a special reward¡ªaccess to what is known as the mini-map. Access to the mini-map is usually only given to those who have unlocked the Pathfinding skill, but in some circumstances it can be rewarded by the System. On this mini-map, three of the nearest dungeons to the location you have been returned to have been revealed. As you gain quests, other locations may be revealed on your mini-map, such as those locations that hold enemy invaders. Xavier¡¯s eyes glazed over as he read through the notification. He had to say, he was glad to have a mini-map at his disposal. To be honest, he was more than glad, he was thrilled. He doubted he would have stumbled upon the Pathfinding skill, especially since he didn¡¯t even know that mini-maps existed. I¡¯ll definitely keep that in mind. We can give others that advice. Shame we didn¡¯t learn anything about it from the library on the fifth floor. He was about to look around where he and the other members of his party had been dropped when another notification appeared in his vision. This one made him smile. He¡¯d been wondering if he would see its like. Title Unlocked! Homeward Bound: You and the members of your party are the first four Champions of Earth to return to their planet from the Tower of Champions. To achieve this remarkable feat sets you apart from every other Champion from your world. Whether this is because your world¡¯s people are weak, or you are strong, this feat must be rewarded. You have received +100 to all stats! Xavier felt the rush of attribute points slam into him and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. For a moment, his Spirit Core almost got out of control. He drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on his core and the burning of his Spirit Energy, returning it to a perfect equilibrium, remembering Sam¡¯s adage about candleflames not producing smoke. Gaining power¡­ it never lost its excitement for him. He looked over at the others. For them, gaining one hundred points to each of their attributes would be an even bigger boon. Recently, when he¡¯d completed the tenth floor, he¡¯d been disappointed there hadn¡¯t been a record for him to gain¡ªthat the titles he¡¯d gotten weren¡¯t unique enough, and wouldn¡¯t give him a further leg-up on others. Not that I need it at this point. Now, he was glad there was a little something else that they¡¯d gotten for being the first to return to Earth, and he was happy the other members of his party had gained it as well. ¡°That¡¯s quite the rush,¡± Siobhan said. She let out a breath, then clapped her hands together. ¡°All right, now¡­ where the hell are we exactly?¡± Xavier blinked, dismissing the text that had appeared in front of his vision. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea.¡± He¡¯d expected them to be returned to wherever they¡¯d been taken from. He thought he might end up back in his university¡¯s courtyard, where he¡¯d faced the goblins who¡¯d almost killed him. God, that already felt like a lifetime ago. Instead, he was standing in the middle of what looked to be an incredibly large forest. The trees in the forest were nothing like the ones he was used to. They were larger. Far larger. And¡­ were some of them glowing? ¡°But we¡¯re definitely not in Fronton anymore,¡± Xavier said. Justin facepalmed, then stared at Xavier through a gap in his fingers. ¡°Please tell me that wasn¡¯t a Wizard of Oz reference?¡± Xavier shrugged. ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t tell you.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t we in Fronton?¡± Howard asked, his lips pursed. It was clear he wanted to mention his family, but he was holding back. They were still just gaining their bearings. ¡°Dungeons¡­¡± Siobhan muttered. Her eyes were still glazed over, a little wide. ¡°Whoa. This mini-map is cool.¡± Xavier smirked. He was about to look at his own mini-map when another notification interrupted him. Following the clearing of the Tower of Champion¡¯s tenth floor, Champions have a minimum of one month to spend back on their home world. This one-month timer will not begin until every Champion from Earth either clears the tenth floor or dies. ¡°One month?¡± Xavier brightened. That was more time than he could have hoped for! If he¡¯d been able to clear out the entire Endless Horde in six weeks, surely he¡¯d be able to help Earth in the time they had here¡ªespecially since he was even stronger now than he had been then. Not to mention the timer hadn¡¯t even started. The other parties are probably weeks away from being able to clear the tenth floor¡­ this is a huge boon. It made him wonder how long other Champions from other worlds might have. There were probably some Champions who spent months training on the floors just to get as much out of them as they possibly could. Could a stay back on Earth potentially stretch on for years? Xavier curled his thumb inward and touched the Storage Ring on his left hand, contemplating the Sector Travel Key inside of it, wondering when he¡¯d get a chance to go planet hopping. There will be time for that eventually, though maybe not this time through. Howard grunted. ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s a good amount of time.¡± He tilted his head to the side, blinking. ¡°The mini-map doesn¡¯t show Fronton. And it¡¯s just¡­ full of shadows, the dungeons only small pricks of light.¡± ¡°I think the map will only show us what the System has revealed to us, or what we¡¯ve discovered on our own. Once we¡¯ve explored the area, it won¡¯t be in shadow any longer,¡± Siobhan said, placing a hand on the man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, man. We¡¯ll find Fronton. We¡¯ll find your family.¡± ¡°Siobhan¡¯s right, Howard. We¡¯ll find them.¡± He looked at the others. ¡°We¡¯ll find all of them.¡± He paused. ¡°I¡¯m going to look at my status. Then we¡¯ll move out.¡± XAVIER COLLINS Age: 21 Race: Human (?) Grade: E Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Class: Otherworldly Reaper (Legendary) Level 100 Strength: 2,127 (4,254) Speed: 1,975 (4,730) Toughness: 1,949 (3,859) Intelligence: 2,199 (5,519) Willpower: 2,607 (5,892) Spirit: 3,198 (8,155) Mastery Points (E Grade) until next level: 21/100 Available Spirit Energy (E Grade): 81,650/81,650 Available Willpower Energy (E Grade): 18,500/18,500 Available Skill Points: 2 Free stat points remaining: 0 Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, All 100, First All 100, 1,000 Stats, First to 1,000 Stats, Greater Butcher, All 1,000, First All 1,000, Level 100, First to level 100, E Grade, E Grade Progenitor, E Grade Speedrun (Unmatched), Destroyer of Hordes (Unmatched), Ahead of the Pack 2, Goliath Killer 2, Ninth Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER, Tenth Floor Climber, Solo Tower Climber 10, 1st Tenth Floor Climber, Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone), Homeward Bound Spells List: Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Rank 50 Heavy Telekinesis ¨C Rank 50 Spirit Break (All) ¨C Rank 50 Spirit Infusion ¨C Rank 50 Soul Harvest ¨C Rank 50 Soul Strike (Ranged) ¨C Rank 50 Soul Block ¨C Rank 50 Soul Harden ¨C Rank 50 Willpower Infusion ¨C Rank 65 Core Burn ¨C Rank 4 Summon Otherworldly Spirit ¨C Rank 1 Soul Shatter ¨C Rank 1 Soul Puppet ¨C Rank 1 Skills List: Physical Resistance ¨C Rank 66 Magical Potency ¨C Rank 50 Magical Resistance ¨C Rank 50 Physical Damage ¨C Rank 70 Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 25 Scythe-Staff Mastery ¨C Rank 51 Meditation ¨C Rank 50 Aura-Control ¨C Rank 50 Core Strength ¨C Rank 50 Cultivate Energy ¨C Rank 50 Identify ¨C Rank 27 Split Mind ¨C Rank 13 Evasion ¨C Rank 10 Minor Spirit Coins: 125,480 Lesser Spirit Coins: 8 Xavier grinned. My Spirit Attribute pushed past another threshold, over eight thousand. That¡­ that¡¯s insane. In fact, all of his attributes were insane. He¡¯d pushed them so much further than he¡¯d realised. With all of the enhancements he¡¯d done to his body with Assimilate Properties¡ªa skill that was somehow only Rank 25. Maybe I should assimilate more things into me¡­ He¡¯d been a little afraid of doing that, since that question mark had appeared beside his race in his status. He still wanted to gain some more information on it first. Still, his mind was a little blown by how much more powerful he already was since getting to E Grade. He hadn¡¯t even gained any levels, yet his Spirit attribute had almost been doubled. The titles I received after killing the Lord of the Endless Horde clearly made a massive difference¡­ no wonder I have people from strange worlds peering down at me. He stared at his Mastery Points, wondering if the System would reward him for killing any beasts or invaders here. It had stopped providing him with Mastery Points altogether when fighting enemies in the tower¡ªthey were all simply too low level for him. That¡¯s not entirely true, he reminded himself. He¡¯d noticed that the Mastery Points he did receive were simply an incredibly small percentage of a single E Grade Mastery Points. They¡¯re not entirely useless, they¡¯re just almost completely useless. I¡¯d have to kill millions of enemies to even make a dent. Gaining ranks in his skills and spells had become incredibly difficult too. He¡¯d only really gained a few ranks in Core Burn and Identify lately, though part of that was he hadn¡¯t been using his new spells much. I¡¯ll have to change that soon. He still had two skill points to spend. He wasn¡¯t really sure what he was going to spend those points on, and he wasn¡¯t in any rush to make that decision. Xavier grinned when he saw that the System had restored his Spirit Energy reserve all the way back to full after teleporting them here. He was wondering if it would do that, he was pleased that it had. He skimmed over his spells, skills, and titles, wondering what new titles he might have to gain in this world, then he closed down the status screen and looked over at the others, each of their eyes momentarily glazed over as they must have been seeing what the added attribute points from their most recent title had done for them as well. Howard looked stronger than ever. It appeared as though the man had already become more defined since arriving on Earth. His broad shoulders held a tension in them as hard as steel, and his jaw was locked tight, the muscles in his cheeks twitching. Siobhan looked lithe and powerful for a mage, just as she had before, though the extra stats seemed to further enhance her features. She was playing with a strand of her red hair, twisting it around a finger. She must be thinking about her sister. How old was she? Fourteen? Still two years until she enters the System. Justin was the one of the three that looked the most at ease. His hands were dangling at his sides, one of them brushing against the hilt of his long, slender sword every now and then, though Xavier couldn¡¯t help but see a hint of worry in the teenager¡¯s eyes. His mother¡¯s out there somewhere, and so is mine. ¡°All right.¡± Xavier slammed the butt of Charon¡¯s Scythe, his scythe-staff, against the hardpacked earth they were standing on. God, it felt good to be back on earth, even if he had no idea where they actually were. This forest doesn¡¯t even look like it belongs on Earth. The last time he¡¯d checked, trees on Earth didn¡¯t tend to glow. I guess the world has changed since I¡¯ve been gone. Maybe as much as I have. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Howard asked. Xavier shrugged. He didn¡¯t really have a plan. If he were honest, he¡¯d expected the System to provide him with a quest the moment they¡¯d set foot here, but that hadn¡¯t happened yet. A part of him wanted nothing more than to check out the three dungeons the mini-map showed in the area¡ªbut dungeons weren¡¯t important when there would be people in danger out there, somewhere. Unless there are titles I could get for completing them¡­ ¡°We scout. Find civilisation.¡± Xavier nodded to himself. ¡°I¡¯m the fastest. Maybe I should be scouting on my own.¡± He withdrew one of his Portal Stones and tossed it up into the air and caught it. ¡°This¡¯ll come in handy.¡± [You back on your world yet, Xavier Collins?] The voice was milky and smooth, and it sounded directly inside of his head. For some reason he smiled when he heard it. [Adranial. I¡¯d say it¡¯s a pleasure to hear from you, but that remains to be seen.] Siobhan waved a hand in front of his face. ¡°Earth to Xavier? Hello?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You spaced out for a minute there,¡± Siobhan said. He tapped a finger to his left temple. ¡°I¡¯m talking to Adranial.¡± Siobhan raised an eyebrow. ¡°And you were¡­ smirking as you did so?¡± Xavier cleared his throat. He hadn¡¯t met this Adranial yet, and according to Howard she¡¯d killed everyone in the arena without so much as a hint of remorse. But it was nice to speak with someone who had¡­ power, like he did. Even if he knew she couldn¡¯t be quite on his level. ¡°The contract I created with her stipulates that I must give her the coordinates of Earth within twenty-four hours of returning here,¡± Xavier said. ¡°So we still have a little time to get established.¡± Siobhan¡¯s expression soured. ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of bringing her and her party to Earth.¡± Xavier nodded. ¡°Noted. But, we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Howard wrapped the fingers of his right hand around his axe¡¯s haft. ¡°You¡¯ve me to blame for that.¡± He inclined his head. ¡°Thank you. For what you did for me. I hope it doesn¡¯t backfire on us.¡± Xavier¡¯s face turned to steel. ¡°I¡¯ll ensure that it doesn¡¯t.¡± [Give me time to gain my bearings, Adranial. Then I¡¯ll give you the coordinates.] [All right, Xavier Collins. I can give you that much. I suppose it¡¯s only fair.] She paused. [Do you even know how to find your world¡¯s coordinates?] Xavier frowned. He didn¡¯t know, but he hardly wished to admit that to her. [I¡¯m sure I can figure it out.] [Hmm. Of course you can. I wouldn¡¯t doubt you for a second. Adranial out.] Siobhan crossed her arms. ¡°You¡¯re smirking again.¡± He tossed her the Portal Stone. She was still the one he shared a Communication Stone with, after all, so it would be best to leave it with her. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how long I¡¯ll be gone. Why don¡¯t the three of you check out that nearby dungeon, and report back? I¡¯d also like to see if our mini-maps can be shared in some way because we¡¯re a party, or if we each have to discover a place on our own first.¡± ¡°Have you looked at your mini-map yet?¡± Justin asked. Xavier blinked. He hadn¡¯t yet, and he felt a little foolish for that. But he supposed it was alright to be a little disorientated the first time he¡¯d arrived back on Earth. It was a moment he¡¯d been waiting for for a long time, after all. He brought up the mini-map. The first thing he noticed was that there were three green dots on the mini-map, along with a white dot. ¡°Huh.¡± The green dots were clearly the other members of his party, while the white dot was him. Only a small portion of the map was revealed¡ªa patch of green depicting the trees they stood beneath, while the rest was wreathed in shadow. ¡°This is definitely going to come in handy¡­¡± Then an idea occurred to him, and he lit up. ¡°Do you think this will work on tower floors?¡± Siobhan nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Xavier smiled, looking forward to testing that theory. But there was a lot to be done here before he could. He¡¯d returned to Earth so much stronger than he¡¯d left it. The world was likely in chaos, but he and his party were here now, and he felt more ready than ever to do what he needed to save his world. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving.¡± Book 3: Chapter 3 - The Invaders’ Camp Xavier sped away through the forest, leaving the other members of his party to locate the dungeons that had appeared on their new mini-map. It still felt so surreal, being back on Earth. The trees looked familiar, and at the same time incredibly different. Though he had never spent all that much time wandering through forests, he was sure they¡¯d never had trees as large as this. I wonder where we are, he thought as he ran, taking in his surroundings, sensing a few weak auras nearby. And how far away Fronton is. He had to say, he was more than a little bit frustrated at the System for having left them out here, without even a quest. He¡¯d thought things would be straightforward when he returned to Earth. He¡¯d chosen to defend his planet, and as of yet he hadn¡¯t even had a chance to do that. The Tower of Champions had been so linear, his path expected, predictable even if the floors themselves weren¡¯t. Now, he wasn¡¯t sure what to do. He headed toward the nearest weak aura, sprinting through the trees. His speed felt incredible. He¡¯d run through a forest much like this before, on the seventh floor, when he¡¯d gotten Princess Narella to her peace treaty. This almost felt the same. His feet never slipped along the leaves wet with dew, or missed a root that jutted out from the dirt, his perception and balance and reaction speeds were too advanced to let that happen. It was almost as though he were running on solid ground. Xavier quickly came upon the beast that had produced the aura. When he saw it was only a beast, and not an invader, he was disappointed. It wasn¡¯t as though he was going to get any Mastery Points from either one, so he¡¯d much rather fight an invader. Maybe I should just leave this beast alone. He tilted his head to the side, watching the beast. It was a brown bear¡ªat least, it had been before the System had integrated it. It looked as though the System changed the animals of the world far more than it did the humans. At least visually. Bears had always been strong, but this one looked weirdly muscular, and its claws were more like blades than something natural. It reminded Xavier of his own¡­ alterations, from assimilating so many different materials from beasts. Thankfully, his advancement to E Grade had smoothed much of that out, though his nails were still sharper than others, his skin rougher, at least he didn¡¯t -look particularly bestial. The bear loped over to a tree on all fours. The tree¡¯s trunk wasn¡¯t the widest he¡¯d seen, but it was about as thick as a lengthways small car. The beast rose on two legs and slashed its blade-like claws through the tree, clearly activating some kind of spell. A portion of the tree was cut away, one just large enough for the tree to topple toward the ground. Xavier had been standing in what now was its path and stepped to the side as it slammed hard into the grass. The bear gave out a small roar and stalked over to a massive beehive that had been attached to the tree. The hive was glowing, and the bees inside of it were not normal bees by any stretch of the word. A sudden loud buzzing sounded as they flew out of their hive and attacked the bear. {Venomous Honeybee ¨C Level 1} Since when are bees venomous? Also, can¡¯t bears climb? Did it really cut down an entire tree just for some honey? Xavier shook his head a little incredulously and moved farther through the forest, leaving the beast and its lunch behind. Civilisation couldn¡¯t be that far away, could it? ~ After ten minutes of swift running through the forest, ignoring the beasts he encountered even when they caught his scent and thought to attack him, Xavier came upon a large cluster of auras. The instant he did, a notification appeared in his vision. Quest Log Update (New Quest Available) A new quest? Excitement bloomed in his chest as he opened his log. Current Quest: You are in possession of a Seed Sanctuary. This area is currently in dispute. To claim this area, you must:
  1. Defeat the enemy invaders and close their portal.
  2. Clear the Crystal Dungeon and defeat the Dungeon Boss.
  3. Clear the Deathly Dungeon and defeat the Dungeon Boss.
  4. Clear the Moon Sky Dungeon and defeat the Dungeon Boss.
Progress: Incomplete Reward:
  1. Bonus Mastery Points
  2. Unknown Item
  3. Land Claiming Rights
Xavier tilted his head to the side. Finally, a quest! Though this wasn¡¯t exactly what he¡¯d been looking for. He hadn¡¯t expected to have to go up against dungeons. Not that I have to. I could simply ignore the quest, couldn¡¯t I? He frowned as he read through the description again, then touched a finger to his Storage Ring. He¡¯d thought about the Seed Sanctuary a few times since he¡¯d arrived here, not sure of where to actually plant it. He¡¯d planned to find civilisation before he did, and all of their families, not to mention other Denizens that could help run the place. He wanted to get a lay of the land. But there was something alluring about planting his Seed Sanctuary in the middle of a forest. Carving out a place for it amongst the trees. It felt¡­ right in a way that he hadn¡¯t expected. He supposed the fortress had seed in the name, maybe it even required a place like this where it could flourish? Did he expect to be able to plant it in concrete? If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Well, it is magic¡­ Another thing that was curious to him was the Bonus Mastery Points the quest said it would reward. It was good to know that completing quests would bring him Mastery Points. He had a lot of levels to gain if he wanted to bring Sam to this world. He shrugged away his thoughts and stalked through the forest toward the invaders. Whether he wished to claim this area or not, he couldn¡¯t tolerate invaders of any sort on his world. He especially couldn¡¯t let them gain a foothold out here in the middle of nowhere, growing stronger from fighting off the beasts in Earth¡¯s wilderness. [I just got a quest,] Xavier told Siobhan through the Communication Stone. [So did we!] she replied, sounding excited. [It says we can claim this area if we defeat some invaders and clear some dungeons.] Xavier blinked. [Huh. I guess being in a party shares the quest between us.] That made him wonder if there were any solo quests out there, or if he would always gain quests with his party. [Have you looked at your mini-map?] Siobhan asked. Xavier hadn¡¯t. He did so now. ¡°Whoa.¡± The mini-map looked so much more filled out than it had the first time he¡¯d looked at it. No longer was the entire thing wreathed in shadow but for where he was standing. He could see large swathes¡ªmostly going in a straight line¡ªof the forest that had been revealed. His party¡ªthree green dots¡ªwere no longer visible on the map, but other things were. A single yellow dot showed what he assumed was one of his quest objectives. He selected it in his mind and a bit of text appeared above the dot. Invader Camp Xavier smiled. It wasn¡¯t a lot of information but this mini-map was going to come in handy. He certainly hadn¡¯t expected it to reveal this much to him. There was another yellow dot, showing one of the dungeons, and two yellow arrows, pointing back in the direction he¡¯d come from. The other two dungeons. My party must be heading toward one of those. Then there were the red dots. [That¡¯s awesome,] Xavier said, responding to Siobhan. [I didn¡¯t realise we¡¯d be able to see enemies with this thing.] [Right? ] Siobhan sounded just as excited as he did. [I think it¡¯s only the enemies we can sense an aura from, though. I¡¯m not sure how to test that theory, however, but it makes sense. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the mini-map as we move through the forest, and none of the red dots had appeared on it until we¡¯d sensed one of the enemies¡¯ auras.] Sometimes Xavier forgot that the others were able to sense auras since they¡¯d gained their classes at Level 10. Though they weren¡¯t yet able to hide their own, something that made it a little dangerous for them walking around the forest. Their Aura Sight also wasn¡¯t near as powerful as his, so didn¡¯t work at the same distances. He bit his lip, starting to wonder if he should have left them alone in the first place. He didn¡¯t know how far these invaders had gotten in the forest. What if they came across his party while he wasn¡¯t with them? Xavier shook his head. They can take care of themselves. Besides, they have one of the Portal Stones. It wouldn¡¯t take me long to get back to them if they were able to set it down. [Just be careful out there,] he couldn¡¯t help saying. [I can see the invader¡¯s camp in my mini-map. The quest didn¡¯t pop up until I sensed what must be one of the auras of the invaders.] [Are you going to take it out alone?] [I don¡¯t see a reason not to.] [Understood. We¡¯ll let you know when we get to the dungeon.] They were still heading toward the dungeon? Part of him thought they should have reached it by now. The radius of the mini-map wasn¡¯t all that large, after all. At least, as far as he could tell. It didn¡¯t mark distance. Xavier touched a finger to his Storage Ring again, contemplating the item he¡¯d purchased through the Item Broker¡ªthe one that had pretty much cleared him out. How far away is this camp? He was staring at the camp in his mini-map as he said that. He¡¯d half expected some kind of measurement to appear, or for it to tell him his travel time. All right, so it isn¡¯t exactly Google Maps. The SCABA¡ªwhich he thought was a terrible acronym¡ªwould block communications for a five-mile radius, at least until he got it upgraded. He wanted to lay the spikes down near where the enemies were, just to ensure that none of them got a message away. He checked his soulkeeping threshold. He had a good few hundred souls at his disposal, from when he¡¯d harvested them after the final fight on the ninth floor with all those spiders. More than enough to deal with these invaders. To be honest, he wouldn¡¯t even need to use Soul Strike. Part of him wondered how he should go about this. Information gathering¡­ that was probably the smart way to go. But honestly, right now, a part of him just wanted to blow off some steam and get rid of these bastards. Gaining alliances with invaders didn¡¯t feel like an option, even if he¡¯d considered it. Not just because they were invading his world, but because if he formed an alliance with them, they would know how strong he was, and send through more powerful fighters¡ªones that might appear anywhere in the world. They could even have their soldiers hide out until he was returned to the tower. He moved swiftly though the trees, determination setting his jaw, closing in on the auras he sensed. As a precaution, he set down the Subspace Communications Area Blackout Array, spiking the ground in several places. When he was finished, he frowned, unable to sense anything. Did it work? He realised it should be easy enough to test. He tried to contact Siobhan through his Communication Stone and wasn¡¯t able to. He bit his lip again. He was glad it had worked, but he was also worried now that they wouldn¡¯t be able to contact him. Xavier released a sigh. He brought up the mini-map and tilted his head to the side, eyes widening slightly at what he saw. There was a shaded circle inside that of the mini-map, one that depicted the blackout¡¯s radius. The red dots were well and truly in the middle of it. The description said the radius was five miles wide, which gave him an idea of how large the mini-map was. I wonder if I can improve this mini-map by obtaining the Pathfinding skill? He filed that thought away to come back to later. First, he pulled one of the spikes out of the ground and deactivated the blackout so he could send a message to Siobhan. [I¡¯m going to put down the blackout array and deal with the invaders myself. You won¡¯t be able to contact me for a little while. I don¡¯t know what threat these guys pose, so can you all sit tight and not move forward with checking out that dungeon until this is done?] There was a pause before she replied. [All right, we can do that. We¡¯ll sit tight, though Howard¡¯s frowning at me. I think he wants in on the action. So do I, to be honest.] [You¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities, I promise.] Xavier cut the communication short, slamming the spike back into place and reinitiating the blackout area. He was glad to see that the yellow dot depicting the enemy invader¡¯s camp sat at least a mile within the radius. He headed toward the cluster of auras he¡¯d first sensed, the red dots on his mini-map. He approached slowly, his steps careful and quiet. He could have killed them all with a Soul Strike from afar, but he wanted to get eyes on the enemies before he just outright attacked. As Xavier approached the camp, part of him wondered if he should purchase a stealth skill, but he hardly needed to be stealthy. Stealth isn¡¯t exactly a part of my path. Hell, I could probably control them all with Willpower Infusion alone. What reason would I have to hide? Xavier pushed a branch out of the way and got his first glimpse of the enemy invaders. Part of him had been expecting to see goblins¡ªthey were the first and only invaders of Earth he¡¯d encountered, after all¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t goblins. It was humans. He frowned. They were several campfires dotted around the area, campfires that curiously weren¡¯t giving off any smoke. That was strange. Some sort of magic that prevented the fires from revealing the invaders¡¯ position? He saw at least a dozen tents, with one large one in the middle¡ªno buildings¡ªand smelled cooked meat, which set his stomach to rumbling. Is that¡­ beast meat they¡¯re cooking? So far, he wasn¡¯t impressed by the invaders¡¯ camp in the slightest. Around the nearest cookfire several warriors and a single mage sat, chatting and laughing together. One of the warriors held a length of chain attached to a metal choker. A choker that was around a man¡¯s neck. A man who looked battered and beaten, stirring a pot on the fire. The man wore what looked like basic warrior armour¡ªhe was the only one in the camp with basic armour. His arms were bare, and on his wrist, Xavier glimpsed a tattoo. A very Earth-specific tattoo, of spiderman¡¯s mask. Xavier looked around the camp and quickly discovered this man wasn¡¯t the only one the invaders had taken in as a slave. This might require a more delicate touch than I¡¯d planned. Good thing he hadn¡¯t blasted the camp with Soul Strike from afar. Book 3: Chapter 4 - Thanks, System Xavier made a count of the slaves he could see. He didn¡¯t know how many he expected to find, but he ended up counting twenty-two slaves. As for the invaders, there were more than his mini-map had shown. The tents that the invaders had brought with them blocked auras from being sensed. That was an interesting detail. It made him wonder if his Seed Sanctuay would be able to do the same. It made sense that it would. Focus, Xavier chided himself. By his count, there were roughly a hundred invaders. Not a great many. He¡¯d honestly been expecting more than that. His Soul Strikes were accurate enough that he should be able to use them to kill every enemy in the camp without hurting the slaves. The soul apparitions have never harmed the members of my party¡­ but what if the spell doesn¡¯t recognise these slaves as allies? Just as he had that thought, a System prompt appeared. To select Denizens you wish to categorise as allies, focus on their auras or visually select their person. Huh. Thanks, System. He did as the System instructed. When he focused on the nearest slave, he thought ally. The change was instant. In his mini-map, the man appeared as a blue dot, whereas before he¡¯d been a red one. So everyone not categorised is assumed to be the enemy? Yeah, that tracks with my experiences so far¡­ Xavier did the same for every other slave that he could see in the camp. He¡¯d seen a few of the invaders step in and out of their tents, but he couldn¡¯t see inside them as the flaps obscured his view, or weren¡¯t facing his way. If there were slaves inside of those tents, he risked injuring them. Let¡¯s go about this a different way. Xavier cast Willpower Infusion. Purple energy shot forth out of him, turning into a mist, as though a massive cloud had descended upon the area. The invaders barely had time to notice the mist before it was already on them. He didn¡¯t send it to control slaves¡ªeven though he sensed that he¡¯d be able to if he wished. The invaders¡¯ minds were weak. Nothing he couldn¡¯t easily handle. He took control of every one of them, but the mist¡ªunfortunately¡ªcouldn¡¯t penetrate the tents. What are those things made of? He¡¯d get a chance to identify them later. Kill each other, Xavier willed the command through the link he now had with each of the invaders. He would leave one alive¡ªfor now. Perhaps he should have felt a twinge of guilt or regret for dealing with the invaders so harshly¡ªhe often tried to spare lives where he could. But the invaders didn¡¯t deserve his mercy, just like the Endless Horde had not deserved his mercy. Especially these invaders, who had taken slaves, bound them in chains, and made them cook for them. Hopefully they haven¡¯t made them do anything else¡­ The carnage was disturbing to watch. One moment, the camp had been peaceful enough, the invaders chatting away with each other. The next, they stood, drew weapons or summoned staves. Swords were slashed and spears thrust. Spells were flung and arrows loosed. Bodies dropped everywhere. Xavier had activated his kill notifications, and saw them coming in, noticing the average level of the invaders was around fifteen. Higher than I expected, but still weak enough. Though this many invaders would have given my party quite a bit of trouble if I wasn¡¯t with them. The slaves¡ªno, captives, for he refused to think of his people as slaves¡ªstumbled around and gasped in shock at the chaos that had befallen the camp. Some of them picked up fallen weapons, but found they had no one to fight. Then something was thrown out of one of the tents. Xavier frowned. It had come from the big tent in the centre of the camp, exactly where the yellow dot had indicated the camp was on his mini-map. As he hadn¡¯t seen a portal yet, and the quest clearly indicated there should be one here, he wondered if it was inside. The item was spherical, like a ball. It rolled a few feet before it came to a stop. Xavier tilted his head to the side, staring at it. It glowed a harsh, bright blue. What the hell is it doing? Xavier had been about to push the sphere away with his telekinesis when the invader he¡¯d decided to keep alive was suddenly free of his mental hold. Somehow, the line of Willpower Energy between them snapped in the same instant the blue light had flashed. That¡¯s a powerful little device. The invader, a warrior, summoned a large halberd to her hands. She was faster than the captives, and slashed toward one¡ªa strike that would no doubt take off the captive¡¯s head. The captive was only a teenage girl, around Justin¡¯s age. Xavier grabbed the invader with Heavy Telekinesis and crushed them in the air. Blood fountained around them as their body was squished. Xavier¡¯s nose crinkled and he winced at the sight. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Not near as clean as Soul Strike. He felt a little bad for the captive who now had blood all over her clothes and face. At least she¡¯s alive. Xavier stepped out of the trees, revealing himself for the first time. The device was still pulsing blue light. It was clear to him now what it did, though it had taken a moment for him to figure it out in the confusion. Somehow, that device was able to sever my Willpower Energy. It halted my Willpower Infusion spell, stopping me from being able to control that last soldier. Or anyone else for that matter. He¡¯d had no idea such a device existed, and for an F Grade to possess a defensive item of that calibre was definitely impressive. A man stepped out of the tent. He wore golden full-plate armour that gave off a bright glow, and had a red cape draped over his shoulder that flapped as he came to a standstill. The man drew a sword, a two-handed beast of a thing. His hair was blonde, his eyes¡­ gold? Like his armour? Golden eyes. That was new. The man didn¡¯t look afraid. He tilted his chin up and stared at Xavier as though he were a bug. The captives, chains around their necks, looked terrified at the sight of Xavier¡ªwith his dark robes and his massive scythe-staff, and the hint of beast his slightly grey skin revealed¡ªbut they were even more frightened by the sight of this man. What has he done to them? Some began to flee, others were frozen in fear, while a few of the braver ones picked up fallen weapons, holding them with such little skill that it was clear they hadn¡¯t raised their levels or ranks¡ªor maybe had no weapon skills at all. The red-cloaked man pointed his sword toward Xavier. ¡°Mental sorcerer, your control has been thwarted! You shall not gain access to my mind with this device active!¡± The man smirked. ¡°Let¡¯s see how strong you are without your despicable tricks.¡± Xavier grinned. There was a corpse right beside the man. He Soul Stepped his way to it, swinging Charon¡¯s Scythe in the same instant. As he materialised, his weapon was mid-swing. The blade severed the golden-armoured, golden-eyed, red-cloaked bastard¡¯s head clean off. The man¡¯s head went one way, his body the other. Armour clanked loudly on the ground. Xavier tipped his chin up. This action did not, apparently, calm down the captives in the area. If anything, they became more frightened. All of them were running now. Xavier sighed. ¡°Stop! I¡¯m on your side!¡± How could he show them? He glanced around, wondering if there were any more invaders hiding in their tents. From the looks of it, it had only been their leader. Then he spotted one captive who hadn¡¯t fled. They couldn¡¯t flee. The end of their chain was attached to a post, and they weren¡¯t strong enough to remove it. ¡°Will they come back for you?¡± Xavier asked. The man was shivering. Not from cold. His eyes were wide. ¡°I-I d-don¡¯t know.¡± Xavier brought up his mini-map. He could still sense the auras of all the former captives as they ran through the forest, so their red dots were visible on the map as well. Some in small clumps, others alone, but all were running. None looked like they were coming back for this man. He supposed he didn¡¯t blame them. They surely would have tried to scan him, and when that hadn¡¯t worked, they would have known that he was way, way out of their league¡ªassuming they hadn¡¯t gotten that hint from what he¡¯d done to their now-dead captors. Xavier shrugged and stepped into the large tent. He¡¯d been right. There was a portal in here. Protecting the people of Earth was his first priority, but the captives were safe now. He would release the one chained to the post, but first he had to make sure there weren¡¯t any other threats coming. The tent was huge. Larger on the inside than it had been on the outside, like the Tardis from Doctor Who, or the tents used in Harry Potter during the Quidditch World Cup. He smiled. ¡°God, I love magic,¡± he muttered. Or science¡ªwhatever the hell it was that managed to do this. He supposed the tent must be made by some sort of similar spatial technology to that of Storage Rings. His hunch had been right. At the far end of the leader¡¯s tent, a purple portal stood. Beneath it was a red carpet the same shade as the dead leader¡¯s cloak. ¡°A red carpet? Really? Talk about full of themselves.¡± Xavier shook his head. Though what should he have expected, considering the man¡¯s glowing golden armour? Xavier had far stronger gear¡ªE Grade gear¡ªthan that man could have possessed, and yet his robes didn¡¯t glow. The tent was¡­ well, kind of beautiful. He had to admit, he was a little jealous of it. These invaders were clearly horrible people, but their leader knew how to travel in style. Expensive-looking, finely crafted furniture adorned the entire place. Plush couches and armchairs, a bookshelf with old, leather-bound tomes, even a writing desk. Part of him just wanted to look at everything, but he had something more important to do, so he strode straight over to the open portal. ¡°So, how do I close this thing?¡± Congratulations! You have defeated all of the enemy invaders, and the first part of your quest! The enemy invaders portal will soon close now that it is no longer being maintained. Quest Log Updated Xavier blinked, feeling a little¡­ disappointed? That was a bit anticlimactic. Then again, he could imagine the relief that someone much weaker than himself might feel after taking down these invaders and being rewarded with their portal shrinking down into nothing. Just as it was doing now before his eyes. He tilted his head, staring at it. He reached out to touch it but fell short, not wanting to lose a finger. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of world lay on the other side. Would he survive if he stepped through? Would he be able to fight whoever¡ªwhatever¡ªwas in this other world? Xavier had defeated a D Grade Denizen before, a man who was well on his way to becoming the ruler of an entire sector. But that man¡­ he¡¯d been from a very weak sector, at least comparatively. He¡¯d only just reached the beginning of D Grade and fighting him hadn¡¯t exactly been the easiest thing Xavier had ever done. I¡¯m stronger now than I was back then. Much stronger. He bit his lip. It was foolish¡ªvery foolish¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t help but want to step through that portal and teach whoever was on the other side a valuable lesson about attacking Earth¡ªthat it was very, very bad for one¡¯s health, and the health of their planet. But he didn¡¯t have a good lay of the land yet¡ªboth on his own world, and that of the sector at large. The strongest Denizen in the sector was a C Grade empress. Did that mean that she was the only C Grade in the sector, or just that she was the strongest among them? Besides, the Silver River sector was a relatively new sector in the grand scheme of things, which meant it would have plenty of powerful Progenitors. The Lord of the Endless Horde had been powerful, but he hadn¡¯t¡ªas far as Xavier knew¡ªhad any special advantages or titles. Certainly nothing like Xavier possessed. Xavier might be incredibly strong for his level, but that didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t others out there strong for their own levels, levels much higher than his. Not to mention there¡¯s a big difference between facing a single D Grade, and a whole army worth of them. He pulled his hand away from the portal as it shrunk and took a step back for good measure. Xavier stepped out of the tent. When he did, the man chained to the post flinched. It was time to corral the former captives and show them that he was a friend. Book 3: Chapter 5 - A Plan When Xavier had deemed it safe, he¡¯d pulled the blackout arrays¡¯ spikes out of the ground and deposited them back into his Storage Ring, then he¡¯d contacted Siobhan to let her and the others know what had happened. Getting the captives to all come back to one place was more difficult than he¡¯d expected. Apparently, a muscular man in a dark robe carrying a wicked looking scythe-staff with the ability to kill a camp full of over a hundred invaders was a scary sight to them. He supposed he couldn¡¯t blame them. Part of him had wondered if he should just let them run¡ªbut they¡¯d probably just get themselves killed out in the middle of nowhere. Besides these people had been on Earth in the couple of weeks following the integration that Xavier and his party had missed. They may very well know something that he and the others didn¡¯t. Some of the captives were injured. They had bruises on their arms, scratches and cuts on their faces, and no doubt other injuries and wounds he couldn¡¯t see that had been hidden by their clothes and armour. After getting them all together, he¡¯d contacted Siobhan and the others again, letting them know it might be best for them all to make it over to the invaders camp. Something told him that seeing more faces from Earth¡ªfaces that were less scary than his own¡ªmight make things a little easier. When Siobhan and the others arrived, the captives were all standing in the middle of the camp. They looked like zombies, and were completely unresponsive to Siobhan, Howard, and Justin¡¯s arrival. Siobhan¡¯s eyes widened as she saw them. She whacked Xavier on the shoulder, with her staff no less¡ªthough it didn¡¯t hurt him in the slightest¡ªand gestured at the twenty-two former captives. ¡°You used your mind control on all of them? Have you lost your mind?¡± Xavier ran a hand through his hair, feeling a little sheepish. ¡°It seemed like the best way to get them all in the same place. In hindsight, it might not have been the nicest thing for me to do.¡± Howard grunted, shook his head. ¡°At least it¡¯s an effective crowd control technique.¡± ¡°Of course you would think that.¡± Shiobhan levelled a glare at the former cop. The man returned her glare with a simple shrug. Xavier touched a finger to his Storage Ring, contemplating the spherical device he¡¯d taken¡ªthe one that had been tossed out of the tent by the invaders¡¯ leader. He¡¯d tell the others about it later. ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d be able to talk to them,¡± he said, looking at Siobhan. Siobhan blinked. ¡°Me? Why me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a healer, and you look a lot friendlier than I do.¡± Siobhan sighed. ¡°All right. Are you able to release them one at a time?¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t want me to let them go all at once? I thought using my mind control on them was a bad idea?¡± Siobhan crossed her arms. ¡°It might be a bad idea, but I¡¯m all out of good ones.¡± Xavier inclined his head and did what she asked. He released a man that looked to be in his sixties. Out of all of them there, he was the most injured¡ªhis face was purpled with bruises. I¡¯m glad I killed all the invaders, especially if this is the way they treat out people¡­ The man¡¯s face went from slack, to suddenly alert, to frightened. Siobhan took a step toward him. Only a small one. The man looked like a wild animal ready to flee. He was wearing basic mage robes, practically identical to the ones that Xavier had when he¡¯d first been integrated. ¡°We mean you no harm,¡± Siobhan said. She didn¡¯t have her staff in hand, having deposited it into her Storage Ring¡ªwhich seemed like a wise choice¡ªand her hands were raised in a placating gesture. ¡°How¡­ how did I get back here?¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened as they settled on Xavier. ¡°Y-you!¡± He shook his head, took a hesitating step back. Xavier bit his tongue. He wanted to tell the man he¡¯d just freed him. That he should be grateful, but he knew how incredibly insensitive that would sound. For all he knew these people had been captured right at the beginning of the integration. I can¡¯t really imagine what they¡¯ve been through. The trauma they must have suffered. He took the opportunity to scan them. All their auras were weak, and he barely bothered scanning enemies any longer. He probably should have done it earlier. {Human ¨C Level 1} He frowned, scanning the others. All of them were only Level 1? No wonder their wounds aren¡¯t healing. None of them even know the power they¡¯ll gain from levelling up. They¡¯ve been left behind right at the start. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. For a moment, he imagined if he¡¯d been put in their position, how he might be feeling right now. The impatience he¡¯d felt at the captives being afraid of him drifted away. These people aren¡¯t weak, they just haven¡¯t had the opportunity to become strong. A rage filled him then, as he looked down at the invaders¡¯ corpses that littered the camp. He clenched a fist. So far, what happened to Earth had been simply in his mind. Earth had been invaded. He¡¯d known that since he¡¯d encountered the goblins. But spending so much time in the Tower of Champions, he¡¯d been removed from it all. This was the first time he¡¯d come across the evidence of what was actually happening. How many other atrocities have been committed against our people all across the world? How many of them have been captured, killed, or something much, much worse? ¡°He saved you,¡± Siobhan said, tearing Xavier out of his thoughts and back to reality of the situation unfolding before him. The reality of what the man in front of him had gone through. ¡°He saved all of you.¡± She took another step forward. The man didn¡¯t run, though he didn¡¯t look as though he trusted her. He probably knew that there was no way for him to get away. ¡°I¡¯m going to cast a healing spell on you.¡± The Divine Beacon didn¡¯t bother bringing out her staff. Having her staff in hand would have boosted the spell¡¯s strength, but she didn¡¯t need the spell to be stronger, it should be more than enough to heal this guy¡¯s wounds. A white light enveloped the man, had him stumbling backward. When the white light cleared, he touched his face. The older man blinked, staring at Siobhan. ¡°Thank you. What¡­ what are you? Some sort of angel?¡± His gaze slid from her to Xavier, and Xavier wondered if the man thought he was an angel of death. I suppose I am. Siobhan smiled warmly. The expression lit up her face, and Xavier wondered how she couldn¡¯t look trusting. ¡°I¡¯m not an angel. I¡¯m a support class.¡± ¡°Class¡­ yes. The System made me choose a class. I chose mage.¡± He looked around. ¡°Though they took my staff. I¡ªI tried to cast a spell on them, but I didn¡¯t know how.¡± Xavier remembered the first time he¡¯d tried to cast a spell. He hadn¡¯t been able to either. He couldn¡¯t imagine still being in that position. One by one, Xavier released the other former captives from his control. They took away their bonds, breaking the metal circlets around their necks. They didn¡¯t appear to have any keys. One of the women said a mage had melted the metal together, fusing them and burning their necks. He hadn¡¯t noticed the burns before, but Siobhan quickly had everyone healed. She cast her Divine Beacon spell, and it healed every one of the captives all at once. Xavier used his fingers to break the circlets, finding his Strength attribute more than enough to deal with them. According to the captives, the circlets had some sort of enchantment on them that was able to interrupt the flow of their Spirit Energy, making it impossible for them to cast spells. They found their weapons discarded in one of the tents. Though as they were merely basic weapons, Xavier allowed the captives to loot the bodies of the dead soldiers in the camp. He had to imagine that most of the soldiers had come in at the beginning of integration. Looking through his kill notifications, he found the invaders¡¯ leader had been Level 20. He looted the leaders¡¯ corpse himself, finding the man had a Storage Ring on one of his fingers, though he didn¡¯t care about the man¡¯s glowing, golden armour, he was interested to see if the man had anything else of value. Howard came up to him while Siobhan and Justin were outside with the captives, and Xavier was inside leader¡¯s tent. ¡°This is where the portal was.¡± Xavier gestured to where the red carpet ended. ¡°A little ostentatious,¡± Howard said. ¡°What are we going to do with them?¡± ¡°When they¡¯re a little¡­ settled, we¡¯ll gather information from them.¡± Another thing Xavier hadn¡¯t noticed at first was how skinny the former captives looked. They¡¯d been the ones cooking the invaders¡¯ meals, but it looked as though they hadn¡¯t been given their fair share to eat. To become that skinny in barely two weeks¡­ they must each be incredibly hungry. ¡°Once their bellies are full and they¡¯re feeling safer.¡± Howard grunted. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier to get information from a witness when they feel safe. But that¡¯s not what I mean. I mean, what do we do after? We have to keep moving. Find Fronton. Find our families.¡± Xavier turned and faced the man. ¡°I know we do, but we can¡¯t just leave these people out here to survive on their own. They wouldn¡¯t last. The beasts in the forest have grown beyond what Level 1s are capable of dealing with.¡± Howard ran a hand through his hair. Shut his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting we leave them behind. I just, don¡¯t know what to do, is all.¡± He sighed. ¡°I still feel as though I¡¯ve betrayed you.¡± He clenched his right fist, his fingers curled around the haft of his double-bearded axe. ¡°Is there any way you can get out of this contract?¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°You didn¡¯t betray me, Howard. Nor do you betray Earth.¡± He walked over and stood in front of the man. ¡°You were willing to sacrifice your life to break the contract.¡± He lowered his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether or not I would have done the same, in your position.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t known you long, but you always seem to make the right choice, even when it¡¯s hard to tell what that is,¡± Howard said. Xavier smiled, a little surprised the man had so much faith in him. ¡°Then trust me now. I won¡¯t let anything happen to Earth. I can¡¯t get out of this contract, and I don¡¯t intend to. Instead, I¡¯m going to work it around to our advantage,¡± he said, thinking, even if I¡¯m not sure how to yet. He laid a hand on the man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Trust me?¡± ¡°All right.¡± Howard sighed. ¡°This quest¡­ do you plan to lay claim to the area?¡± Xavier thought on that for a long moment. ¡°At first, I wasn¡¯t sure if that would be the best choice, even though I wanted it¡ªI want to plant the Seed Sanctuary. Get that process started. But finding civilisation was more important.¡± ¡°Was?¡± Xavier nodded. ¡°We¡¯re going to find your family, Howard, but you know we can¡¯t just leave these people behind to fend for themselves.¡± Howard dipped his head. ¡°I was hoping you would say that.¡± ¡°You were?¡± ¡°A little voice inside my head was telling me the same thing.¡± Howard sat at the edge of the long dining table. ¡°My wife¡¯s voice. She¡¯s¡­ always been a helper. Whenever she saw someone in need, she¡¯d do anything she could to help them. It¡¯s one of the reasons I fell in love with her, to tell you the truth. That generous soul of hers. And she¡­ she always said she fell in love with me because I¡¯m a protector.¡± He looked up at Xavier. ¡°What kind of protecter would I be if I let you leave these people behind for my own, selfish reasons? Twenty-two souls to find and help three?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I need to find my family, Xavier, but not at the expense of innocent lives.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a good man, Howard. I look forward to meeting your wife. She sounds wonderful.¡± Howard cleared his throat and pushed off the table. His expression, which had been some mix or sombre and wistful, fell away, turning serious once more. ¡°What¡¯s our next step?¡± Xavier tapped his fingers against the table. ¡°We scrounge this camp for anything useful. Make it as safe as we can for those we¡¯ve freed. Then we head over to those dungeons.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Howard said. Book 4: Chapter 1 - Return to the Tower of Champions Xavier Collins materialised in the middle of a long hallway, one that stretched farther than even his eye could see. The longer he looked down the hall, the more it looked like some sort of unlimited mirror illusion. Though he was used to be being teleported by the System by now, and even travelled through his fair share of portals, it was still a little disorientating to be back here after all his time on Earth. He wasn¡¯t unsteady on his feet, but he put his hand to the wall anyway. Other people all along the seemingly infinite hallway appeared. These people appeared a split second or two after he did. Strange. Did the System teleport him faster than it teleported others? If so, he wondered why that might be, and came up with a few reasons¡ªmost of them to do with his superior stats and grade. Xavier was E Grade. Not only that, he was the first among the people of Earth to reach this grade. And he was a True Progenitor. Maybe even more than that, if the things that Adranial had told him were to be believed. The first thing he noticed about the other people returning to the tower was the abundance of gaps. He tilted his head to the side, staring down the hall. When Xavier had originally materialised in the tower, just after he¡¯d completed his first quest, he had been the first human in his instance to arrive. The place had been completely deserted. He remembered training in the hallway, lifting a vending machine that he¡¯d smuggled out of the cafeteria at his university¡ªat his old university, he supposed¡ªover his head to gain strength. He smirked at the memory. But he couldn¡¯t help but frown at the reason why there were gaps, and the fact that there were more gaps than there were people. How many people have we already lost to the tower? Xavier¡¯s cohort had been five hundred people strong when he¡¯d first arrived here. Something told him they¡¯d be lucky if it was still half that. By the time most of the other Champions had arrived back on Earth, he was sure he¡¯d gotten rid of the biggest dangers¡ªthat of the invaders from other worlds trying to enslave or wipe out his people¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t Earth where the Champions would have been in danger. It was the tower floors¡ªespecially that last floor, the melee. Countless Champions would have perished during that melee, or they might have even refused to participate and surrendered instead of fighting, which would mean they were sent to a different world and banned from returning to Earth for a hundred years. Xavier shook his head. Millions upon millions of people had been lost to the integration. If he wished to mourn every loss, he would spend his life in a pit of misery and never get anything useful done. He opened the door to his quarters and smiled. His room in the Tower of Champions didn¡¯t have much. A bed. A writing desk. A trunk. It was small and sparse. He hadn¡¯t spent much time sleeping here¡ªhe hadn¡¯t spent much time sleeping since this had all started. He closed the door, reminiscing about his rooms back on Earth, in Collinsville. There had been a lot of upgrades and advancements that he¡¯d made to the Sanctuary Seed base that he¡¯d barely experienced, but he¡¯d left the base¡ªthe city¡ªin a strong place for everyone that remained there. ¡°Xavier!¡± a perky voice with a slight Irish lilt called. He turned from his door and looked down the hall to see a beautiful redheaded woman striding toward him with a bright smile. Siobhan wore the white robes of a healer. Her class was a powerful support class, though it had the ability to do damage in its own right. Her class was called Divine Beacon. The woman was well on her way to E Grade¡ªand by well on her way, she was already Level 99. Siobhan, Howard, and Justin each wanted to gain a few more titles before they pushed to E Grade. Though Xavier had been proud of the people he¡¯d powerlevelled to E Grade back on Earth, the classes they¡¯d been offered hadn¡¯t been as prestigious or powerful as he¡¯d been hoping. Getting them to E Grade that swiftly had been a necessity. He didn¡¯t want that to happen to the other members of his party. Xavier nodded his head at the woman. ¡°Hey, Siobhan.¡± He stretched his arms, encompassing the tower. ¡°So, how does it feel to be back?¡± The woman let out a long sigh. She smiled. ¡°Better than I thought now we know the Earth is safe.¡± She touched a necklace dangling from her neck. ¡°That my little sister is safe.¡± She grasped the necklace a moment before tucking it into her robes. Xavier smiled at the woman. He knew that for a long while, the others had held in their worry for their loved ones as well as they could. Since they were all found, families reunited and people brought to safety, there had been a lightness in the other three that he hadn¡¯t seen before. Their drive to improve hadn¡¯t been diminished, but their worries had. Taking some of that stress away from them had only made it easier for them to focus on what was important¡ªgaining power so that the ones they cared about always remained safe. It didn¡¯t take long for Howard and Justin to find him, too. Howard¡¯s class was a Shield Sentinel¡ªa tank¡ªand Justin¡¯s was an Airborne Duellist, a fighter with the ability of winged flight. Neither of them had upgraded their weapons or armour in the time while they were back on Earth, despite the fact that they could have afforded to, and even eventually gained access to the System Shop at Collinsville. They each figured there was no reason to upgrade until they got to E Grade. Xavier definitely saw the logic in that. It had been some time since he¡¯d gotten new robes and a new scythe-staff himself. Honestly, he was getting to the point where he worried if he swung the damned thing too hard it might break.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Fortunately, that hadn¡¯t happened yet. Still, it was about time he got something new. Howard rubbed his hands together. ¡°So, should we head down to the tavern? See how Sam is doing?¡± Sam¡­ Xavier had thought about the barkeep a few times in the last few weeks. His original plan had been to get the man to come to Earth, to have him protect it while he wasn¡¯t able to be there. He¡¯d held onto that plan for a good while, thinking he would try to execute on it before returning here, but there had been no way for him to actually contact the man¡ªand by the time he was ready to return to the Tower of Champions, he realised that initial plan? It was no longer necessary. Besides, he liked seeing Sam in the tavern. It wouldn¡¯t be the same without him. Justin frowned. ¡°Do we have time for that? Shouldn¡¯t we get straight onto the next floor? Make sure we¡¯re the first to pass it?¡± Howard rested a meaty hand on the young man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Justin, do you really think anyone¡¯s going to catch up to our man here?¡± He flicked his gaze over at Xavier with a nod. ¡°I suppose not,¡± Justin muttered. He looked a little disappointed. He must have been eager to keep going through the floors of the tower. To be fair, Xavier was eager too. He did want to visit Sam and update the man on how things had gone back down on Earth, and even in the melee¡ªthey hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to talk after that¡ªbut the lure of the next floor called to him. ¡°We have to go down there,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I told Adranial that¡¯s where we would meet her.¡± Howard¡¯s expression soured. The man had been in a good mood a second before¡ªone of the best Xavier had seen him in, except when he was around his family. It had been a nice sight. ¡°Adranial.¡± Howard shook his head. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe you let her come here.¡± ¡°Let her?¡± Siobhan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Something tells me that woman does as she pleases. I don¡¯t think Xavier would have been able to stop her short of killing her.¡± Xavier turned away from them and started walking to the stairwell. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to stop her, Howard. We spoke about this. You know exactly how valuable having her in our cohort will be. She has information on the tower no one else will ever have access to.¡± Howard grunted in dissatisfaction¡ªXavier had gotten a handle on reading the man¡¯s grunts in the time they¡¯d known each other. ¡°I¡¯m surprised she hasn¡¯t weaselled her way into the party yet.¡± ¡°Wheedled,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Not weaselled.¡± ¡°I know what I said,¡± Howard grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m not letting her into the party,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Not unless one of you dies or decides to leave.¡± As he reached the stairwell, he glanced over his shoulder. ¡°None of you plan on doing that anytime soon, do you?¡± They all shook their heads. ¡°Good,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± It turned out they weren¡¯t the only ones who¡¯d had the idea of going downstairs to the visit the tavern. There were a few other people on the stairs, some of them he didn¡¯t recognise, others he did. He¡¯d met a fair few people from his cohort the first time he¡¯d been in the tower, but they hadn¡¯t spent all of their time down in the tavern, and he was sure there were many people that were on the floors when they were down there. He nodded at the few Champions he recognised that had made their way to Collinsville. He couldn¡¯t help but note with a bit of pride how differently the people treated him now that they knew what he was capable of. No one was looking down at him, thinking he was some punk kid who didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. He was well beyond that. He didn¡¯t need to punch anyone to the floor to prove himself¡ªnot anymore. When he opened the doors to the tavern he found that the place was exactly as they¡¯d left it. His gaze turned toward the man behind the bar, and he couldn¡¯t help but smile. Sam was running a rag over the long wooden counter, a counter which already looked pristine. ¡°Back so soon?¡± Sam said, raising an eyebrow as Xavier approached. ¡°Didn¡¯t think the tavern would be your first step on your return.¡± Xavier rested his hand on the bar, then turned his head and gazed about. Adranial and her party hadn¡¯t gotten here yet. ¡°We¡¯re meeting someone here.¡± Sam raised an eyebrow. ¡°You? Meeting people? Looks like you¡¯ve changed a bit since you¡¯ve returned to Earth. I have to say, it¡¯s good to see you after the, ah, melee. Sorry I couldn¡¯t tell you much about that.¡± He ran a hand through his hair. ¡°The rules being what they are.¡± Sam looked at Howard, Siobhan, and Justin as they walked up to the bar. ¡°Good to see the rest of you are in one piece too. The usual for you all?¡± ¡°Better stick with coffee,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It¡¯s a little early to start drinking.¡± Howard¡¯s frown in response to Xavier¡¯s words was profound, but the man didn¡¯t argue, and he didn¡¯t order a beer or whiskey, either. That was good to see. ¡°How were things¡­ back on Earth?¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. ¡°You haven¡¯t heard?¡± He knew for a fact that information packets had made their way all around the Silver River sector about the things that he¡¯d done to secure Earth¡¯s safety¡ªthe lengths he¡¯d gone to, killing D Grades on other planets to stop them from invading his own. ¡°Alas, no, I have remained here since you were gone.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t you get to go home when there¡¯s no one in the tower?¡± Sam looked down. ¡°Not much waiting for me back home. Besides, I like my solitude.¡± Xavier tilted his head back, staring at the man, wondering what was lying behind those words. For a moment, Sam looked as though he was in another world. It wasn¡¯t a long moment. Soon, he flicked his gaze back up to Xavier, seemingly remembering he wasn¡¯t alone in the tavern anymore. ¡°Tell me what happened.¡± Xavier gave him a rough overview of all that happened back on Earth. He was still surprised the man hadn¡¯t heard about it, especially since he¡¯d been tasked with watching over Xavier in the tower by the Empress Larona herself¡ªthe most powerful Denizen in the Silver River sector. Sam¡¯s eyes became progressively wide the longer Xavier spoke. There were a few things Xavier kept out of the recap, however, like the fact that the woman he was meeting here was the descendent of the most powerful and oldest Denizen in the entire Greater Universe. That was something the man didn¡¯t need to know. It was also something he didn¡¯t think Adranial would appreciate him sharing. Something told him that Empress Larona, with her ability to see into the future, was already aware of who Adranial was, as their future had been linked from the moment Howard had his melee with her. Our futures are linked? He¡¯d never actually thought of it that way, though he supposed it was true. ¡°You¡­¡± Sam shook his head. ¡°You managed to do all that? I thought you were different, but¡­¡± The barkeep shut his eyes. It looked like he needed a moment to digest just how much Xavier had accomplished. ¡°Xavier Collins,¡± the voice came from behind him. A woman¡¯s voice. It sounded casual, playful. Xavier turned around and looked at the woman who¡¯d given up her best memories of her home so that she could pledge allegiance and loyalty toward Earth in order to come here¡ªto his instance in the Tower of Champions. ¡°It¡¯s time we talk about the next floor.¡± Xavier hadn¡¯t spoken to the woman much since she¡¯d given up her memories. They were now locked away in his own mind¡ªthough he didn¡¯t actually have access to them. He was still surprised Adranial had entrusted them to him in the first place. The cynical part of him had simply assumed that the woman was trying to gain more of his trust with the gesture, but something like this¡­ it wasn¡¯t done lightly. Even if it had started that way, it still showed how much she believed in him. He took in her form-fitting white robes. The mask she¡¯d worn while fighting hung from her neck. She held herself a little differently. There was a glint in her eye that hadn¡¯t been there before. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the eleventh floor,¡± Adranial said. Book 4: Chapter 2 - Stats The two parties parted ways after their conversation. Xavier was deep in thought, his forehead creased, as he made his way up the stairs. Adranial, Domical, Elsie, and Larson had told them everything they knew about the eleventh floor. They¡¯d sat down at a table near the bar. Sam¡¯s eyes had widened at the sight of Adranial and the other members of her party. He hadn¡¯t asked where they¡¯d come from, or how they¡¯d gotten here, but Xavier could tell the man was having a small internal freakout. Denizens from another world had not only gotten into this instance of the Tower of Champions, they were also in his cohort. Xavier could see how that might be disconcerting, especially if you¡¯d never before known something like it was possible. Adranial and her party had laid out everything they knew about the eleventh floor. And everything was not an overstatement. They knew exactly how many enemies could be found in the area of the floor. They knew what level each of those enemies were. They knew who the friendlies were, what levels they were, if they would be of any help, and what the mission objective was. Xavier was reminded of reading one of those old strategy guides for the Final Fantasy games he used to play. Sometimes, when he¡¯d gotten stuck, he¡¯d pick one up and flip through the pages, and it would walk him through every step. It felt like cheating. It felt too easy. And it made him¡­ angry. The information she had would be the type of information most established worlds had access to, even if it could only be transferred by word-of-mouth. They¡¯d memorised every detail of the different floors, something they must have spent much of their time doing before they were integrated. It was a wonder that Xavier had managed to do what he¡¯d done. He stepped into the Staging Room feeling conflicted. Adranial and her party were down in the tavern, spreading the information they had about the floor to other Champions, so in turn the information could keep spreading through the entire cohort and to other ones. He¡¯d told all the Champions he¡¯d been able to contact to hold off from entering the eleventh floor until they could get a hold of this information, so he knew he¡¯d delayed many by hours. But he also knew the difference it would make in the long run. It wasn¡¯t just that these Champions would be more successful on the floor¡ªthere would be more who would actually survive it. According to Adranial and her party, there was quite a jump in difficulty between the first ten floors and floor eleven up. The time away from the Tower of Champions was not intended for people to be idle. They needed to keep pushing forward. And if they didn¡¯t, they might get left behind. Xavier worried for the other Champions out there. It felt like every single one of them was his responsibility. But he knew he couldn¡¯t dwell on what happened to them too much. Adranial would take care of informing others about the floors¡ªXavier and his party could focus their full attention on their own journey here. Which was quite a relief. It was good to take away the burden of being responsible for everyone from time to time. Stepping into the Staging Room felt almost freeing. He¡¯d spent a good amount of time here. The place felt familiar, even more so than the tavern downstairs. This was where he¡¯d chosen his classes, opened his loot boxes, bought new equipment. It was where he¡¯d prepared himself for the tower, where his party had trained and practised their spells. He chuckled to himself as he thought of the first time Justin had used Winged Flight. ¡°What are you laughing about?¡± Siobhan asked. Xavier shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ good to be back. Better than I thought it would be, actually.¡± He strode over to the door to the next floor. He wasn¡¯t going to walk through it, not yet. They had a chance to discuss their strategy for the floor now that they knew what to expect. ¡°Protecting Earth is important. And I do worry about what might happen to it while we¡¯re gone. But now that we¡¯re here, I feel like we can move forward even more. What I did in the tower? It¡¯s what brought me my strength in the first place,¡± Xavier said. Howard crossed his arms over his large chest. ¡°This floor sounds easy enough.¡± ¡°Another wave floor,¡± Justin said with a sigh. ¡°Just like the Endless Horde. Figured we¡¯d be done with waves.¡± ¡°The System is likely to reuse floor types a lot, especially considering there are a thousand floors to clear,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not just like the Endless Horde. The waves aren¡¯t endless, for one.¡± ¡°Neither were those, technically¡­¡± Justin trailed off. ¡°But I get your point.¡± ¡°So, how are you going to do this?¡± Howard asked. ¡°Are we going to farm the floor first?¡± ¡°No,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be wise. The enemies on this floor won¡¯t be strong enough for that to be worthwhile for any of you anymore.¡± Howard grunted. ¡°True.¡± ¡°So, what is the plan, then?¡± Siobhan asked. Xavier had spoken to Adranial about his lead in the floors. He¡¯d been worried that he might lose it due to the fact that he¡¯d been held back on Earth for a few weeks before the other Champions had returned. A part of him had wondered if those Champions from the other competing worlds in this instance of the tower had already made it back and cleared the eleventh floor. She had reassured him that that wasn¡¯t at all possible. Though they had all returned to the tower at the same time, even if another Champion cleared the eleventh floor before Xavier, they wouldn¡¯t gain the lead. This was because only their time in the tower counted. At first, this had confused him. She¡¯d gone on to explain that the week or so Xavier had spent in the tower was being tracked by the System, and that the moment he returned, the timer would start ticking again. The Champions who had several weeks here would have that on their timers. There was no way they would be able to catch up unless Xavier wasted weeks on the eleventh floor. It messed with his mind a bit, but it also helped to reassure him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He could take his time. He didn¡¯t need to rush through this. ¡°We need to take a look at this floor. Get a feel for it. It¡¯s all well and good to have the background information that Adranial and her team gave us, but it¡¯s not the same as experiencing it on the ground for ourselves.¡± Siobhan stepped up to him, a look of concern on her freckled face. ¡°What about the innocents? If we leave before the tenth wave¡­¡± She looked down. It was something they¡¯d wrestled with on every one of the floors. The people they met when they entered a tower floor, they were real. They existed out there, somewhere. Even if that somewhere was a different universe¡ªwhich, well, it always was. Still, they were real people. People that if he didn¡¯t save, would likely end up dead. When Adranial spoke of the best ways to farm the floor, she hadn¡¯t mentioned any of this. She hadn¡¯t been concerned with the safety of the town¡¯s inhabitants. She¡¯d only spoken of the objective. It was something he understood. Those people were collateral damage, in a sense. Damage that the System caused. Not her. Not him. But that didn¡¯t mean he was just going to let people die if he could do something about it. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do, but you have to remember. Our world, even our sector, is the priority. We need to make the best use of these tower floors that we can, even if that means innocent people die.¡± It was happening all over the Tower of Champions. And not just this Tower of Champions, either, but every single one of them throughout the entire Greater Universe. People, real people, were dying because of the actions of Champions. That didn¡¯t excuse him from helping, though. It simply gave him a bit of a feeling of emptiness. Not for the first time he wondered why the System operated this way. Wondered why it wished for conflict in the first place¡ªwhy it pitted people, worlds, sectors, against each other. Something told him he would never find the answers to those questions. But if he did¡­ maybe they¡¯d be somewhere in the tower. Maybe they will be at the end of it. ¡°Well, I¡¯m ready,¡± Justin said. His sword appeared in his hand. He walked over to the door. Placed his palm on it. ¡°It does feel good to be back here.¡± Xavier smiled. It was nice to see how enthusiastic his party was. ¡°All right. Now, Adranial gave us a recommendation on how to finish this floor, and what the records are based on, but she wasn¡¯t able to tell me what the highest record was.¡± Xavier tapped his foot. ¡°Her strategy made sense, but I don¡¯t think we should take it at face value. If her way is how all the most well-trained Denizens in the Greater Universe go through this floor, then it might not be the best option for us.¡± ¡°How do you figure that?¡± Howard asked. ¡°It sounds like her way has literally had billions of years to be tested. What makes you think you can do it better?¡± The man¡¯s words were not harsh, simply blunt. ¡°Because doing something in the exact same way and expecting a better result isn¡¯t always the way to go,¡± Xavier said. ¡°If we find a better way to do this floor, that¡¯s what I want.¡± Howard nodded. The others did too. They knew he¡¯d be taking the lead here¡ªhe was the one who would be clearing the floor, after all. Before entering the tower, he took a look at his status screen listing all his attributes. He¡¯d pushed hard to get through as many of those dungeons as he could. The only thing that had slowed him down was having to powerlevel the people he¡¯d taken with him. That, and actually finding more dungeons. Especially when he¡¯d started coming across dungeons that wouldn¡¯t let him in. They weren¡¯t as common as the other ones, but there were dungeons that only allowed Denizens of certain levels or Grades to be permitted inside. And he didn¡¯t always fit the bill. He¡¯d also already started to lose a few of his record clears, but only for the first few dungeons he¡¯d gone through. He¡¯d quickly began to solo dungeons after going through them with others. That way, he could secure the solo-clear title as well as the record title. As it was, the accumulated dungeon titles contributed more attributes to his stats than his Tower of Champion titles, but he knew that wasn¡¯t the whole truth. Being a True Progenitor meant that everything was tied together. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to clear those dungeons as swiftly as he had if he had been weaker, nor would he have been able to guarantee that he could get the record clear for each of them. He also wouldn¡¯t have gotten the first clear titles if he had spent longer in the tower. The fact that he¡¯d cleared the first ten floors of the Tower of Champions as fast as he had, then kicked all the invaders from Earth, gave him an opportunity that few in the Greater Universe would ever likely have access to. Then, of course, there were all the attributes that he¡¯d gained from his levels. And, considering he had a Legendary class¡­ that was a lot. XAVIER COLLINS Age: 21 Race: Human (?) Grade: E Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Class: Otherworldly Reaper (Legendary) Level 161 Strength: 6,339 (13,312) Speed: 6,177 (17,110) Toughness: 6,141 (13,203) Intelligence: 7,016 (20,346) Willpower: 7,044 (18,314) Spirit: 8,320 (21,216) Mastery Points (E Grade) until next level: 4,550/10,000 Available Spirit Energy (E Grade): 215,890/215,890 Available Willpower Energy (E Grade): 150,600/150,600 Available Skill Points: 0 Free stat points remaining: 0 Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, All 100, First All 100, 1,000 Stats, First to 1,000 Stats, Greater Butcher, All 1,000, First All 1,000, Level 100, First to level 100, E Grade, E Grade Progenitor, E Grade Speedrun (Unmatched), Destroyer of Hordes (Unmatched), Ahead of the Pack 2, Goliath Killer 2, Ninth Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER, Tenth Floor Climber, Solo Tower Climber 10, 1st Tenth Floor Climber, Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone), Homeward Bound, First Dungeon of Earth, Dungeon Diver 110, Dungeon ¨C First Clears, Dungeon ¨C Solo Clears, Dungeon ¨C Record Clears, 10,000 Stats, First 10,000 Stats, All 10,000 Stats, First All 10,000 Spells List: Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Rank 60 Heavy Telekinesis ¨C Rank 60 Spirit Break (All) ¨C Rank 60 Spirit Infusion ¨C Rank 60 Soul Harvest ¨C Rank 60 Soul Strike (Ranged) ¨C Rank 60 Soul Block ¨C Rank 60 Soul Harden ¨C Rank 60 Willpower Infusion ¨C Rank 75 Core Burn ¨C Rank 60 Summon Otherworldly Spirit ¨C Rank 1 Soul Shatter ¨C Rank 60 Soul Puppet ¨C Rank 60 Skills List: Physical Resistance ¨C Rank 80 Magical Potency ¨C Rank 70 Magical Resistance ¨C Rank 60 Physical Damage ¨C Rank 80 Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 25 Scythe-Staff Mastery ¨C Rank 60 Meditation ¨C Rank 50 Aura-Control ¨C Rank 50 Core Strength ¨C Rank 50 Cultivate Energy ¨C Rank 50 Identify ¨C Rank 50 Split Mind ¨C Rank 50 Evasion ¨C Rank 50 Minor Spirit Coins: 11,300,480 Lesser Spirit Coins: 5,606 He couldn¡¯t help but be a little taken aback by how much stronger he was. How much more efficient his skills and spells were. Though he¡¯d said there might be a better way to do this floor, he was beginning to wonder if that was just wishful thinking¡ªbecause he wouldn¡¯t be doing it the exact same way as everyone else, simply because he was more powerful than anyone who had stepped on this floor in the past was liable to be. At least, he hoped that was the case. He stared at his attributes for a bit longer. The only things that had lagged behind were his skills and spells. Especially his otherworldly spells, which he¡¯d been avoiding using lately¡ªinformation about what kind of damage they did to his soul appeared to be tightly guarded around the Greater Universe, with nothing about it available in the System Shop. But he had plans for that. As for his other spells and skills, it was hard for him to push them forward when he wasn¡¯t facing enemies that were strong enough to give him a challenge¡ªthe only reason he¡¯d gained as many levels as he had was because of the quests he¡¯d completed. The System hadn¡¯t penalised him for those. God, he felt powerful. Ready and eager to finally move forward in the tower once more. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Xavier asked with a grin. They all nodded. He took the handle, and entered the eleventh floor of the Tower of Champions. Book 4: Chapter 3 - Welcome to the Eleventh Floor Xavier, Howard, Siobhan, and Justin materialised in the middle of a small wood, exactly where Adranial had said they would. He gazed up at the trees. The leaves were orange, red. Autumn colours. Though who knew if autumn existed on this world. He didn¡¯t really know how seasons on other planets worked. A breeze rolled in, scattering the leaves on the forest floor, and setting the branches to slightly sway. The breeze was cool, but not cold. The air was clean. ¡°Nice day for it,¡± Howard muttered, stepping past him. The man had his double-bearded axe in hand, though he hadn¡¯t bothered to summon his tower shield. He won¡¯t need it here. I doubt anything could hurt him, even if he stood there and let himself get attacked for an hour. Though the levels of the enemies on this floor had increased rather dramatically to the levels of the enemies they¡¯d faced back on the ninth floor, they were still weak compared to Xavier¡¯s party. The normal enemies were all Level 30. Adranial said that if the melee didn¡¯t get a Champion without prior knowledge of the tower, then the eleventh floor usually did the trick. The wood was quiet but for the chittering of birds somewhere high up in the canopy. There was a well-worn path heading through a break in the trees. They all walked toward it. Xavier didn¡¯t feel like he was in a rush. It was nice to take in the fresh air of another world. It didn¡¯t take them long to come upon the town. Adranial had said the town was called Grimward. The town had summoned Champions because it had been beset by a powerful necromancer who wanted the land. Apparently there was a resource in the area, something ancient that only the necromancer could sense. He wanted to purge the town of all life, then raise the victims into his own personal mining crew. Xavier was looking forward to finding this necromancer and sending him to the land of the dead. He already had a plan for how he was going to clear this floor, one he hadn¡¯t told the others yet. Mostly, because he didn¡¯t know if it would work. That¡¯s why he¡¯d insisted on getting a feel for the floor. He¡¯d asked Adranial if there were any records of anyone having defeated the necromancer, and not just the waves of zombies he¡¯d sent into the town. The woman had frowned, shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°And it¡¯s not the point of the floor.¡± She¡¯d knife handed the table, gently, but enough to make Sam give her a small glare before he turned to serve another Champion who¡¯d just entered the tavern. ¡°Stick to the plan. You¡¯re strong enough to clear every wave faster than anyone who¡¯s come before. I¡¯m sure of it. What is it your people say? This should be a slice of cake.¡± ¡°Piece,¡± Justin had muttered. The frustration had leaked out of her like air from a balloon. She¡¯d straightened and nodded at Justin. Xavier had assumed she¡¯d thought he¡¯d said peace. He hadn¡¯t bothered to correct her, nor had he bothered to argue with her point, either. Impossible. The word had sat with him since she¡¯d said it. Impossible¡­ There was another thing he¡¯d done that everyone had considered impossible. Defeating the Lord of the Endless Horde himself. He wouldn¡¯t be here if not for what he¡¯d done there. So why would he hold himself back, just because he knew he could secure the best time on the floor without going above-and-beyond? Was that really what he needed? Maybe no one¡¯s ever been able to beat her ancestor¡¯s time because they haven¡¯t tried something like this. The first thing they came upon was high walls. The walls were made from some kind of stone, which was clearly enchanted, as it had a soft blue glow about it. Xavier already knew what was on the other side of those walls¡ªseveral farms that circled the town. According to Adranial, this town had tried to ¡°hide¡± from the responsibility of living within an integrated world. Long ago, the highest power of their world had granted them the protection of the walls for some task one of the inhabitants had performed. The highest power of their world was, by now, long gone. The memories of these people barely stretched that far back. They lived a life as peaceful farmers and crafters, never venturing far outside of their town. The monsters and beasts around them weren¡¯t strong either. Without a population of powerful Denizens to test themselves against, many of the beasts had migrated to different lands. At least, that was how Adranial had put it. Xavier wondered how accurate her little story on the history of these people had been. All he knew was the wall could protect against the strongest enemy this little world had to offer¡ªas long as that enemy was living. ¡°Pretty big loophole,¡± Justin had muttered when Adranial had given them that tidbit of information. ¡°And these people just decided to hide away and ignore the rest of the Greater Universe?¡± Howard asked. Siobhan had shrugged. ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like such a bad life, I suppose. And there have been plenty of cultures that hid away from others. Not every country gets into the business of fighting other people¡¯s wars.¡± They walked around the wall, following the path, until they came upon the gate. A man stood above it. He wasn¡¯t wearing armour, and he had no discernible weapon. He certainly didn¡¯t seem like any other guard Xavier had seen before.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The man was waving his arms down at them, frantically trying to get their attention. ¡°Champions! You¡¯ve arrived!¡± He turned and shouted to someone they couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Open the damned gates! We need to get these people inside!¡± The gates opened before them. The person atop the wall hadn¡¯t even taken a moment to ask who Xavier and his companions were. He¡¯d simply opened the gate to them. That seems really foolish. Xavier looked sideways over at Howard. The man seemed to understand exactly what he was thinking. ¡°These people have been sheltered,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°And it means they don¡¯t know how to make themselves safe,¡± Howard replied with a shake of his head. That, too, had been a part of Adranial¡¯s explanation of the floor. Hearing it was one thing, however. Seeing it? It was still difficult to believe how much these people had put their heads in the sand. For generations they¡¯ve lived, not worrying about what might happen in the future, pushing the threat to their people onto the next generation and not preparing them for it. He supposed it was a lot like climate change¡­ those on Earth had been seeing it coming for decades, and while some tried to do something about it, mostly the threat of it was ignored or derided. I suppose that kind of thinking is universal. Not very comforting, though. They waited for Xavier to take the lead and step through the gate first. As he did, the people standing on the other side widened their eyes at the sight of him. One woman, who looked to be roughly in her sixties, raised her arms and crossed them in some sort of superstitious symbol of warding. ¡°Necromancer!¡± Justin chuckled. ¡°I guess it¡¯s your dark robes.¡± Xavier looked down at himself. Shrugged. he supposed it wasn¡¯t strange that someone might mistake him for a necromancer, considering how he was dressed in all black. He hadn¡¯t even summoned his scythe-staff. ¡°I¡¯m not a necromancer.¡± He motioned to the others. ¡°We are the Champions you summoned.¡± The look of relief on the woman¡¯s face was palpable. It was also worrying. It made Xavier frown. Did this woman simply believe him at his word? These people really are sheltered. ¡°Thank God!¡± The woman clutched her chest as she caught her breath. Xavier didn¡¯t need to scan the woman to know she was Level 1. These people had shunned the System their entire lives. God? Xavier wondered. To which God are they referring? He wondered if the god was real or imagined. Considering how much he¡¯d recently learnt about the universe, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised either way. Xavier sensed the boy long before he reached them. As they¡¯d walked toward the town, he¡¯d seen the tiny aura flitting through the forest. Adranial had also told them to expect him. ¡°The zombies are coming! The zombies are coming!¡± the boy shouted from somewhere behind them. When he reached the small crowd that had gathered on the inside of the gate, he bent over and clutched his knees. ¡°The zombies¡­ are¡­ coming.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Trevor. We heard you.¡± This last voice had come from a bald man walking through the crowd. They separated for him as he passed. The man was in his late forties. He was trim. Tall. Had a refined look about him. Again, he wore no armour, had no weapon to speak of. Xavier didn¡¯t think that everyone should have to fight in the Greater Universe¡­ but he worried about an entire culture refusing to do so. If any country or culture did that back home, they would have been wiped from history. Sometimes, you have to fight for what¡¯s yours if you don¡¯t want to lose it. The bald man folded his hands in front of him, lifted his chin up. He had an all-important look about him. ¡°You must be the Champion we summoned.¡± His gaze trailed from one to the other. ¡°Interesting lot, you are.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side. ¡°For someone who despises the System, I¡¯m surprised you summoned us at all.¡± The man opened his hands. ¡°Unfortunately, it was our only option. Though it is a truth we refuse, we do live within the System, and so when it can be used to save us¡­ well, sometimes there is no other choice.¡± Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of the Amish. He¡¯d heard they would never drive a car themselves, but would be more than happy to be driven by someone else. It all seemed a little hypocritical to him. ¡°So,¡± the man said. ¡°Will you help us?¡± The man¡¯s name was Connor Drier. Adranial had worn an odd sneer on her face when talking about him. Apparently neither this town nor its people were much liked by the Champions who¡¯d passed through the floor. No surprised there, Xavier thought. Though he supposed he might be judging them too harshly. ¡°Do you have any fighters?¡± Xavier knew the answer to this. According to Adranial, none of the people in the town were above Level 1. Not a single one of them. From what he could see before him, that information had been accurate. Connor Drier smiled at him as though he were a simpleton. ¡°We are not a fighting people, Champion.¡± ¡°Well, maybe you should be¡­¡± Howard muttered. Xavier looked out at the gathered people. People who seemed wary of Xavier and his party, but clearly looked up to the strange, up-himself bald man who ran this town. Ever since he¡¯d heard about what this floor entailed, he knew he wanted to go about it differently to all the other Champions who¡¯d come before, but to do that he would need to get a feel for the place. He¡¯d been trying to think of how he could spare these people¡¯s lives. Now, as bad as it made him feel to admit, he was beginning to wonder why he should care about these people. They had been in the System for generations upon generations, and yet they didn¡¯t even try to protect themselves. He looked at the wall that had been created to protect them. It was strange that it would have such a loophole if someone so powerful had created it. Surely someone strong enough to create something like this would have been able to stop the undead from getting past it. He shrugged those thoughts away. It didn¡¯t really matter. He had a job to do. This floor was a means to an end. ¡°If you want your people to survive this, you¡¯re going to need to act,¡± Xavier said. He figured there was no reason not to be upfront with them. Maybe he would feel better about himself if he could just lie and pretend they were going to defend them till the end, but it was better to tell them the truth. Wasn¡¯t it? ¡°Do you know anything about Champions? About the tower?¡± Xavier asked. Queen Alastea and her people had known all about the Tower of Champions. They¡¯d known what the consequences of summoning Champions to their aid was¡ªthat it would create a near infinite number of alternate universes, and the chance of it saving their iteration could be anything. It still did his head in thinking about it. Connor crossed his arms. ¡°We may do our best to live outside the System, but that does not mean we are fools.¡± Xavier sighed. He stepped forward, making the other man step back. A look of fear flickered on the bald man¡¯s face. Xavier smiled. Raised his hands. ¡°I¡¯m not the one you have to worry about. This necromancer. He wants your land. Your resources.¡± He motioned toward his party. ¡°We¡¯re not here to clear this floor. We¡¯re here to feel it out, so we can clear it better the next time around.¡± The man¡¯s look of fear turned to one of anger. ¡°This is what¡¯s wrong with the System! You Denizens don¡¯t care about anyone but yourself! You would throw away our lives for what, a little extra power?¡± Xavier shut his eyes for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not here to argue with you. I want to save your lives, but I don¡¯t have to. There is more at stake than your little town, but I don¡¯t need to explain myself.¡± He summoned his scythe-staff to his hand, an action which made every single person in the gathered crowd take a step back. Some even gasped. ¡°Leave or die. It isn¡¯t a threat.¡± Xavier turned to Siobhan. ¡°Your Summon spell, how strong has it become?¡± Siobhan smiled. ¡°Strong enough to do what you¡¯re thinking, especially with a bunch of level ones.¡± Connor took another step back, his hands up in front of him as though that would be enough to stop Xavier or the others from hurting him. Thinking back to when Xavier had checked his attributes, he could probably kill this guy with his pinkie finger. Stab straight through his skull and into his brain. Not that he would. He shrugged away the randomly violent thought. ¡°All right, Siobhan. Let¡¯s find a safe place for them. Then get them the hell out of here.¡± Book 4: Chapter 4 - Are You Seeing What I’m Seeing? Connor Drier did not want to be moved. The rage that split his face was like nothing Xavier had ever seen. He straightened, standing almost as tall as Xavier, and tried to look down his nose at him. Xavier sighed and cast Willpower Infusion. On the entire town. Purple mist flowed from Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff. The crowd of people standing in front of him barely had a split second to widen their eyes. They certainly didn¡¯t have time to take a step back. And no one got a chance to run. He made every single person within the area come toward him. Influencing their minds was the easiest thing in the world. A simple push and they did everything he wished. The power he wielded was intoxicating. Sometimes it made him wonder what he would be capable of if he took a different path¡ªa more selfish path¡ªand he was glad that he had been the one to become Earth¡¯s True Progenitor, and that it hadn¡¯t fallen to someone else, like Alistair. He wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever used this spell on a Level 1, but he imagined it would work just as well on someone stronger. The purple mist had flowed from him and engulfed everything in the matter of a couple of seconds. Howard looked over at him, then at the people, an eyebrow raised. ¡°That¡¯s one way to do it.¡± Xavier couldn¡¯t tell if the man disapproved or not, and honestly, he didn¡¯t care. These people would be of no help during the floor, and Xavier was only doing this to protect them. What lengths would I go to, to protect someone? How much of their freedom would I take? Xavier pushed that thought away. Sometimes you had to cross a line to save a life. He wasn¡¯t going to feel guilty for it. ¡°Adranial didn¡¯t tell us much of anything about the rest of the floor,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where will be safe.¡± Xavier nodded. With his thumb, he touched the Storage Ring on his left hand¡ªthe one that held his Portal Stones. He could move faster than the others, but despite how high he could jump, he couldn¡¯t fly. We¡¯ve got time. ¡°Justin. Get in the air. The necromancer wants this town and the surrounding area. If we can get these people somewhere outside of that, they won¡¯t be in danger.¡± Justin didn¡¯t delay. He leapt straight upwards, his wings springing into life from his back at the apex of his jump. Xavier watched as Justin soared through the air, the young man¡¯s massive white wings flapping, sending a gust of wind downward, taking him higher and higher. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but bask in the moment. There was a beauty, to what they were each capable of. A purity in the power they held, in the things they were able to do. For some reason, it was easier to see here than it had been back on Earth. Adranial had said it would take fifteen minutes from when the town was warned about the coming zombies and their arrival, so Justin would have plenty of time to find somewhere. There were Portal Stones not just in Xavier¡¯s Storage Ring, but in all of their Storage Rings. Xavier had the one they were paired with. They also each had Communication Stones. They had figured out how to set up a party-wide communication line, and Xavier was able to speak with each of them telepathically if he wished. Howard glanced at him, then the man¡¯s voice entered Xavier¡¯s mind. [I¡¯m glad you¡¯re doing this.] Xavier tilted his head to the side. [Why wouldn¡¯t I be?] Howard looked away, and he didn¡¯t answer. Siobhan looked between them, having heard the exchange, but didn¡¯t say anything either. Did he think I wouldn¡¯t bother trying to save them anymore? The townsfolk¡ªincluding their leader, Connor Drier¡ªwere all gathering together in the square. Xavier had commanded them to come together into one place. He pursed his lips as he noticed several people in various states of undress. Apparently, they hadn¡¯t been aware of the imminent attack on the town, or maybe they were just¡­ taking advantage of what might have been their last moments alive. He ordered them to return to their houses and put on clothes before coming back. There was still time. I¡¯ll have to remember that for next time. Assuming I pull off a stunt like this again. And chances were, he would. Xavier gazed up at the wall. In one giant leap, the wind rushing through his hair, billowing his robes, he landed on the stone, touching a hand to it in a crouch that was more for aesthetics than actually necessary. He walked over to the battlements and looked down at the forest. It took him a moment to spot the movement, but when he did, it was the only thing he saw.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. This wall isn¡¯t going to help. He knew what undead did when they reached a wall like this. He¡¯d seen Game of Thrones¡ªeven if they did mess up that last season. They would simply climb it, then open it from the inside. He scanned the area, trying to find where the necromancer might be. His vision was powerful enough to cover a great distance, but he couldn¡¯t see through the dense canopy of trees from sheer force of will alone. It would be good to have some sort of vision skill, or maybe an item¡ªsomething like Xray goggles¡­ I¡¯ll have to look into that. He didn¡¯t doubt that an item like that might exist. The zombies were starting to slowly stumble out of the tree line. First there was one. A single straggler that had made it ahead of the pack. Xavier couldn¡¯t tell the gender of the zombie. It was too far gone. Another came out of the trees. This one had clearly been a man once. What remained of the zombie¡¯s body was huge and muscular. The other half, however, had been stripped to the bone. Then another stepped out. And another. Until hundreds were making their way into his vision. Then thousands. Some primal part of him that was still active felt fear at the sight of so many zombies. Humans were hardwired to be disgusted by the dead. A mechanism that helped them stay away from things that might make them sick, it was thought. And it was a hundred times worse when the dead walked. What¡¯s dead should stay dead. That part of him was tiny, however. To Xavier, these zombies were more like ants marching toward a picnic basket. Annoying, a little frustrating to deal with, perhaps, but not an actual threat. [Justin. How¡¯s it going up there?] Xavier asked. He could still see the Airborne Duellist in the distance if he squinted. He wondered if the necromancer had spotted him. Probably not. [I think I¡¯ve found somewhere. A grassy plain on the other side of a valley,] Justin replied. [There¡¯s a city somewhere in the distance as well. Somewhere safe for them, I hope.] Xavier nodded to himself. [That will have to do.] This wasn¡¯t the ideal way to save the people from the town, but he figured if he let the necromancer have what he wanted, then there wouldn¡¯t be a reason for him to go after the townspeople. He would get the land, and whatever powerful resources it contained, and the people would be safe. Xavier and his party could bail out of the floor before the end of the tenth wave, and come back and fully clear it on their second run through. No innocents dead. He consoled himself with the fact that it was better than leaving them to die. Besides, these people had gotten themselves into this situation¡ªit was their fault for being so weak in a universe that required one to be strong. Perhaps it would be better if horrible things like this never had to happen. Better if people could live their lives without fear. But people could hope all they liked for the reality they wanted, they still had to deal with the reality they were stuck with. There were still a few minutes until the wave officially began. Adranial said you could attack the zombies before the first waves reached the town. Some Champions completely bypassed the town and headed straight into the forest. But the problem with that was it would bar the town off to the Champions. The walls were too strong. The undead might be able to get past them, but if they were locked, a Champion wouldn¡¯t be able to unless they¡¯d been invited. There was an invisible barrier that domed the place in, preventing anyone from simply leaping over the wall. Adranial hadn¡¯t been sure if it would work on Xavier. As far as she knew, someone as strong as him had never entered this stage of the tower before. There were elites in other parts of the universe that were powerlevelled when they were returned to their home. People from strong families, who thrived simply because of who¡¯d birthed them, which meant that it wasn¡¯t uncommon for E Grades to be clearing this floor. However, there was quite a difference between an E Grade who¡¯d been powerlevelled, like John Hammond, Melissa Donavon, and Allegra Delacorte back on Earth, and someone who¡¯d made it there by themselves. John Hammond and the others Xavier had powerlevelled were strong for their level because of the titles they¡¯d gotten from the dungeons, but they weren¡¯t incredibly strong for their levels. They were simply above average as they hadn¡¯t ranked up their skills and spells all that effectively. This is often what stopped other Denizens from being powerful for their level if they were uplifted. On top of that, Denizens from elite families simply wouldn¡¯t have access to the same kinds of titles that someone from a new world could. Xavier was as strong as an elite D Grade right now. He could probably get through this wall. But he didn¡¯t want to risk it. Especially considering the door that exited the floor was inside the walls, at the centre of town. Xavier had seen it beneath Connor Drier¡¯s feet when the man had first come up to him. The door was huge¡ªabout the size of the town square itself¡ªwhich meant anyone who wanted to go through it would have to clear the square first. Something that wouldn¡¯t be easy if one were trapped outside the walls, or if the square was overrun by people or zombies. Xavier pushed these thoughts away as he continued to scan the area. He still didn¡¯t see any sign of what he was looking for. [I¡¯ve reached the location,] Justin said. [Landing now.] [Good,] Siobhan said. [I¡¯ll teleport them all to where you are.] A brilliant white light enveloped everyone down in the town square. In a flash, they disappeared. Siobhan¡¯s Summon spell had improved a lot over the last couple of months. Xavier had to say he was impressed¡ªhe hadn¡¯t seen enough of what his party could do these days. Xavier felt an odd sensation as all the people he¡¯d been controlling were suddenly in a different place. He still felt his connection to them, even at this distance, though it was a little fainter. It was also a bit disorientating not being able to see the people he controlled. Maybe I can one day learn to look through their eyes. If so, that would be a definite tactical advantage. [All done,] Siobhan said. [They arrive all right?] [They¡¯re all here,] Justin replied. A notification popped up into Xavier¡¯s vision. Before he read the words, he assumed it would be announcing the imminent arrival of the waves, and that maybe it would explain how long the waves would take. But that¡¯s not what the notification said at all. Xavier stared at the notification, his eyes widening in slight shock. This can¡¯t be right. This¡­ Xavier bit his lip. [Uh,] Howard uttered. [Are you guys seeing what I¡¯m seeing?] Every single one of the gathered zombies had stopped outside of the walls. They¡¯d just frozen there. They were no longer approaching the walls as they should have been. And because the zombies didn¡¯t breathe, it almost looked as though they were statues. It felt eerie. Strange. He had a memory of watching I Am Legend and seeing the scenes with the mannequins, always feeling like they were going to move. This was a little like that, but worse. Xavier read over the notification again. Book 4: Chapter 5 - A New Old Friend Xavier stared blankly at the notification in front of him. Congratulations! You have cleared the Eleventh Floor of the Tower of Champions. Party Member Contribution: Xavier: 0/0 Kills. Howard: 0/0 Kills. Justin: 0/0 Kills. Siobhan: 0/0 Kills. Attributions will be shared equally on this floor. Title Unlocked! Eleventh Floor Climber: This title has been upgraded. You have cleared the Eleventh Floor of the Tower of Champions, and shall be rewarded. You have received +26 to all stats! On the first ten floors of the tower, this title would have given you +2 to all stats for each floor. From the eleventh floor, this will now be +6 points for each floor. Note: the title ¡°Tenth Floor Climber¡± has been stricken from your soul. Title Unlocked! 1st Eleventh Floor Climber: Out of Champions from five competing worlds, your party is the first to clear the Eleventh Floor of the Tower of Champions within your instance. You have received +60 to all stats! On the first ten floors of the tower, this title would have given you +5 to all stats for each floor. From the eleventh floor, this will now be +10 points for each floor. Note: As you have a similar title, ¡°1st Tenth Floor Climber¡± has been combined with this title and shares its stats. Title Unlocked! Eleventh Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER (Completion Time ¨C minus 5 min 38 sec): Out of all the Champions from all the worlds in the Greater Universe who have completed the Eleventh Floor of the Tower of Champions in every possible instance, your party have completed this floor in the fastest time. This title is a Temporary Title. If your record is edged out of first place, your title will be turned into a normal top 100 title. If your record is edged out of the top 100, your title will be lost. You have received +240 to all stats! On the first ten floors of the tower, a Ranked 1 RECORD HOLDER title would have given you +20 to all stats. From the eleventh floor, this will now be +100 points for each floor this record is gained after ten. Note: As you have similar titles, each has been combined with this title and shares their stats. You may still view the previous titles and your standing on the leaderboards, if you will it. In 10 minutes, you and your party will be returned to the Staging Room. Xavier shut his eyes. Clenched his fists. Things had not gone to plan. How could this be possible? How could they have cleared the floor already? He wouldn¡¯t have another chance to do this¡ªhe couldn¡¯t go backward and try the floor again. They only ever got one chance to clear a floor. He released a breath. Opened his eyes. It wasn¡¯t the end of the world. In fact, considering they got the record clear¡­ He leapt down from the high wall, landing neatly on the ground in the town square where Howard and Siobhan had gathered. The townsfolk were gone. Justin was on his way back¡ªXavier could already see his wings growing bigger as he neared. ¡°What the hell happened?¡± Howard asked. ¡°We¡­ cleared the floor,¡± Siobhan said. Howard grunted. ¡°Well, that much is clear. But how?¡± Three thuds sounded on the heavy wooden gate. Metal on metal. Xavier turned, his gaze on the door. He frowned, forehead creasing. Was that one of the zombies? Except the zombies had all frozen a fair distance from the wall. With the speed he¡¯d seen them move at, he doubted one had made it to the gate already. For a moment, he wondered if he might have left one of the townsfolk here. But they wouldn¡¯t be outside the walls, and he was able to see their auras. Xavier walked over to the gate. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Howard asked. ¡°Seeing who¡¯s on the other side.¡± Justin swooped down and landed in the square. He shook his wings, then retracted them. ¡°That notification¡­ we cleared the floor? We didn¡¯t even get any kills in.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Xavier opened the gate. He used his telekinesis. Turned out the powerful wall wasn¡¯t protected from the inside. Whoever had designed this wall¡­ Xavier was surprised it had protected these people for so long. A woman stood on the other side. She wore dark robes that were awfully similar to the ones Xavier had on. He supposed he could see how someone might mistake him for a necromancer. The woman also held a staff with a skull at its head, two glowing gemstones stuck in the eye sockets. One green, one blue, as though the skull had heterochromia. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes at the sight of the woman. He took a step back in his shock. He recognised her. The woman had pale skin. She wasn¡¯t scarred¡­ but one day she would be. How could this be? ¡°Romalda Heralda,¡± Xavier said. The woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°You know who I am?¡± Xavier looked her up and down. He was confused. But his mind worked fast enough. This is an alternate reality. A different universe to our own. This woman isn¡¯t the Romalda I know. Isn¡¯t the one who died and ended up reincarnated in a dungeon. This is someone else¡ªsomeone who took a different path. ¡°It¡¯s complicated,¡± Xavier muttered. Romalda looked him up and down, then looked past him at Howard, Siobhan, and Justin. ¡°Very interesting,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re Champions. Did these people summon Champions to face my army?¡± She cackled. The cackle was familiar, though not as¡­ ancient sounding as when he¡¯d last heard it. This one was youthful, free. This all felt very strange to Xavier. Like characters in a book breaking the fourth wall. It was one thing for Connor Drier and the other townsfolk to know about Champions and the tower¡ªthey¡¯d been the one to summon them¡ªbut this woman¡­ Romalda ran a hand through her hair. ¡°Thank you for clearing the town. I was hoping to create more workers, but this¡±¡ªshe flicked her thin fingers at the empty square, shrugged¡ª¡±will do nicely.¡± She raised her chin. ¡°Now, you may leave.¡± Her eyes glazed over momentarily. She couldn¡¯t scan Xavier, or the others for that matter¡ªthey had items to block scans too. It only seemed prudent. The woman¡¯s jaw stiffened as her eyes refocused. She may not have been able to scan them, but something told Xavier she was able to sense they were more powerful than her. ¡°I have no problem with you or your party,¡± the young Romalda said. Xavier gripped his scythe-staff. He looked past the woman at the zombies amassed outside the walls. There were more than he¡¯d thought. From this vantage point, he could better see through the trees. He would have been able to wipe them all out easily enough. A single swipe of Charon¡¯s Scythe would take out Romalda, too. But that didn¡¯t seem necessary anymore. The threat was gone. The floor cleared¡ªeven if it hadn¡¯t been how he planned. He noticed he hadn¡¯t gotten the solo title for this one, either. He supposed he hadn¡¯t done anything to deserve it, so that made sense. Looking at the woman, at what she¡¯d been about to do, Xavier wondered if he was making the right choice back on Earth. He¡¯d been feeding Denizens into her dungeon in order to strengthen this very woman¡ªor her alternate universe counterpart, at any rate¡ªto become strong enough to break out. But it wasn¡¯t as though he¡¯d been totally ignorant of her past, and what that past would mean she was capable of. Xavier stood there for a long moment. He checked the timer. Not much time had passed since they¡¯d ¡°completed¡± the floor. It was hard for him to imagine that there hadn¡¯t been a single Champion in all the different iterations of the tower that hadn¡¯t decided to simply evacuate the town. It was an unorthodox way of completing the floor, he had to admit, and he hadn¡¯t even been intending to do it¡ªbut their record time¡­ it was in the negative. How amazing was that? Eight minutes, ten seconds until we¡¯re returned to the tower. He wondered if there was anything he could learn from this woman. But right now, she was only F Grade. This woman was early on in her story. Years away from being the person he¡¯d met in that dungeon. If anything, he might have advice for her, not that he wished to give her any. ¡°Why are you staring at me like that?¡± Romalda said. ¡°I know you. In another life.¡± He tilted his head to the side. Xavier realised that being honest with this woman would bring no consequences to him, or to Earth¡ªor to anyone in his universe. ¡°It¡¯s making me wonder. About the Tower of Champions. About who else I might meet on its floors.¡± The woman crossed her arms. ¡°What floor did I make?¡± ¡°Eleven.¡± She nodded. ¡°Not bad.¡± She shook her head. ¡°You really know me? The dark robes¡­ are you a necromancer too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a reaper.¡± The woman took a step back. Xavier suppressed a smile. ¡°Reaper. Terrifying.¡± She raised her chin. ¡°Am I younger, or older, when you meet me? What grade am I?¡± Xavier told her. Everything. That she had been B Grade once. That she had died. Been reincarnated into a dungeon. About the deal they¡¯d made together. The woman didn¡¯t seem afraid. In fact, her face lit up with glee. ¡°B Grade¡­¡± She smiled wide. ¡°Better than I could have hoped for! Though I certainly won¡¯t be letting myself get killed in this reality, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Xavier rubbed the back of his neck. This was all still doing his head in. He often forgot how strange the Tower of Champions really was. It made him wonder who else he might meet on its floors¡ªor if he¡¯d meet people he¡¯d already encountered in the tower out there in the Greater Universe. It also made him wonder how different these people might be. Did all the different alternate universes start from the exact same place? How does it all work? And why did the System create the tower in the first place? There must be a reason. Perhaps it was one he would one day discover. That¡¯s when he had a thought¡ªhe¡¯d been avoiding using his otherworldly spells, despite how powerful they were. He was worried about how they might injure his soul. The Spirit of Vengeance had really made him afraid. But fear wasn¡¯t something that he should let rule him. Xavier had been hardening his soul from the moment he¡¯d been able, and he¡¯d never stopped, even when the spell plateaued and gaining ranks in it became tiresome and difficult. Even when he didn¡¯t see any obvious rewards from it. It was simply what he did. Would the System really give him spells that might ultimately cause him harm? Maybe. Should he let that stop him from using them to get answers? Definitely not. ¡°Strange as this might sound, it¡¯s been good to see you, the Great Romalda Heralda.¡± The woman smirked. ¡°The Great Romalda? Well, that has a rather nice ring to it, doesn¡¯t it? And yes, this has been nice. The insights you have given me¡­ I have to say they have been enlightening. Though I hope to never meet you in my future¡ªfor that would mean I will have died. Say hello to Romalda for me.¡± Xavier chuckled. He hadn¡¯t even thought of how odd it might be for the Romalda he knew to learn of this. Then again¡­ she might already know. I doubt that. No one had ever faced the necromancer up close, nor killed them. Adranial said it was impossible. According to Adranial, the necromancer on this floor had always lurked in the shadows. This was the first time they¡¯d been brought into the light. Like the Lord of the Endless Horde¡ªXavier was probably the only one to have ever encountered him on the fifth floor. Xavier walked back over to the others. Howard had a blank look on his face. Justin was avoiding his gaze, looking sheepish. And Siobhan looked¡­ worried? ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you three?¡± Xavier asked. Justin scratched the back of his neck. ¡°We were just wondering whether you wanted to keep us with you on the next floor.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Siobhan tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve gotten a record holder title, and you can¡¯t get your solo title. Seems like having us with you might be too much of a risk.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. The solo title is helpful¡­ but missing out on one? It isn¡¯t going to change much in the grand scheme. Besides, it isn¡¯t like this was done on purpose. Hell, I was the one giving the orders. If anything, this is my fault.¡± He shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ve discovered a new way to clear this floor, and we¡¯ve done it faster than anyone else would ever think was possible. I think that¡¯s an amazing achievement. Certainly not something anyone needs to be sorry for.¡± Justin relaxed. Howard¡¯s shoulders became less stiff. Siobhan smiled warmly. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what our loot boxes have to offer,¡± Xavier said. ¡°And there¡¯s something else I¡¯d like to do when we¡¯re back in the Staging Room as well.¡± In the time he¡¯d been talking to Romalda, the countdown timer had continued ticking away. Now, it was seconds from reaching zero. When it did, they were teleported out of the eleventh floor. Book 4: Chapter 6 - Loot Arriving back in the Staging Room felt like some weird d¨¦j¨¤ vu. They had completed the eleventh floor incredibly quickly, and on their first run through. Despite what Xavier had said to the others, he was a little annoyed he¡¯d lost out on the solo title, but he wasn¡¯t about to hold it against them. He was impressed with what they had managed to do. It wasn¡¯t that he thought Romalda deserved to have that town. In a just universe, the townsfolk¡ªhowever foolish they were¡ªwould have been allowed to keep their land and not have to leave it. But this universe wasn¡¯t just, and at least everyone had come out of the situation alive. And we managed to complete the floor before the wave even started. Justin leapt over to his loot box. His wings sprang out briefly, letting him glide down straight in front of it. Xavier frowned. Looked around. The Staging Room was larger than it had been when they were going through the first ten floors. He wasn¡¯t sure how he hadn¡¯t noticed that the first time they¡¯d returned here. Perhaps he¡¯d simply been too focused on the floor they were about to go in. ¡°Anyone else notice this place got bigger?¡± Howard asked. Siobhan nodded. ¡°Yeah. When we talk it even creates a slight echo. I guess it will give us more room to spar and practice.¡± Howard grunted. ¡°I guess so.¡± They strode on over to the loot boxes. Like a kid on Christmas morning, Justin had already opened his. Xavier smiled. The other members of his party had never gotten loot as good as what he¡¯d gotten, but he supposed that might change, now they¡¯d achieved a record clear for the floor. Xavier knelt by his loot box. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a little giddy about the whole experience too. There was something about receiving loot that was just inherently exciting, even if he wasn¡¯t really expecting to get anything much of use. Xavier undid the latch with a click, then flung up the lid. You have gained 25 Mastery Points (E Grade). You have gained 600,000 Lesser Spirit Coins. You have received a Farscope. Xavier frowned. The last time he¡¯d gotten a loot box, he¡¯d received 6 E Grade Mastery Points. This was a definite step up, but for him? It was basically nothing. Xavier was Level 161 now. The next thing he wanted to achieve was advancing to D Grade. But that still felt rather far away. I¡¯m not going to gain enough Mastery Points on these weak floors. But that was to be expected. The quests back on Earth were how he¡¯d gained levels, and hopefully there would be more levels to gain when he returned. That¡¯s all right. I¡¯m not clearing these floors for levels. I¡¯m clearing them for titles. There was a small part of him that wished he could still be back on Earth, clearing dungeon after dungeon. The rush he¡¯d gotten from that had been¡­ quite exhilarating. But he knew the tower had a lot more to offer than the dungeons back on Earth ever could. There were a thousand floors of the tower, and they were only going to get tougher to complete. Depending on how fast he moved through them, there might come a time when he came to floors that were simply too much for him. Where he would have to grind out the levels, farming the floors over and over before he became strong enough to complete them. When Xavier had first come to the Tower of Champions, he¡¯d thought going through all one thousand floors was something a lot of the elite Champions did¡ªassuming they didn¡¯t get themselves killed. But apparently even the strongest Champions rarely made it past the hundredth floor. Xavier skipped past the Lesser Spirit Coins. They were a drop in the bucket to what he had at his disposal. Instead, he looked at the item he¡¯d received. Farscope. He raised an eyebrow. He liked the sound of that. The item had appeared in his hand. From reading the name of the item, Xavier had expected it to be a small telescope¡ªlike the ones ship captains used in movies¡ªbut that¡¯s not what he was holding in his hand. It was small, round, slightly concave, and looked to be made from some sort of thin glass. It was also red, like blood. He held it up. It looked like a contact. Something someone might wear to improve their vision, or to change the colour of their eyes. Interesting. Xavier used Identify on the item.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. {Farscope ¨C Radius: 100 Meters} Farscope is an item much beloved by melee fighters and mages alike. Farscopes are rare items that require a soul bond to activate, and can only be used by the first Denizen who touches them. Because of this, the conditions of them being for sale within the System Shop or in other markets are rarely met. The Farscope lets the wearer see everything around them for the radius the item is rated for. The wearer is able to see behind them, and even past objects that would otherwise block their view. Never play cards with someone wearing one of these. This item can grow in power if the right requirements are met. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he read the description. He liked the sound of that. One hundred metres wasn¡¯t a huge radius, but it was a start. The way to increase its power, however, was more than a little vague. If the right requirements are met didn¡¯t really tell him all that much. He held the Farscope higher. Now, how do I put this damned thing in? He furrowed his brow, frowning at the little lens. He¡¯d seen people put on contacts before. His mother wore them every day¡ªshe¡¯d hated her glasses. It had always looked like an unpleasant experience. ¡°What have you got there?¡± Siobhan asked. Xavier glanced over at the woman. ¡°It¡¯s called a Farscope. I¡¯m supposed to put it on my eye¡­¡± Siobhan chuckled. ¡°And what, you¡¯re hesitating?¡± She shook her head. ¡°The Great Xavier, the strongest Denizen on the planet Earth, a True Progenitor and more besides, worried about putting on a contact?¡± He stared at her a moment. ¡°Well, when you put it that way¡­¡± Xavier was about to shove it straight in his eye when he remembered his ability to quick equip clothes and armour. He figured it would work on equipment like this¡­ With a slight nudge from his mind, a notification popped up. Would you like to fast-equip Farscope? Yes, Xavier willed. Which eye would you like to equip? Xavier blinked. He tilted his head to the side. He hadn¡¯t considered this. It should be an easy enough question, he supposed. He remembered the one time he¡¯d tried archery. The instructor had talked to them about dominant eyes. Xavier hadn¡¯t even known dominant eyes were a thing until that quick archery lesson. Xavier was right-handed, but his left eye was his dominant one. Should he place the contact on that eye? I¡¯m overthinking this. Xavier chose his right eye, the non-dominant one. He could always experiment and change it later if he wished. ¡°Whoa,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Your pupil just turned red. Weird.¡± Xavier was barely paying attention to what she was saying. He took a step back, trying to wrap his head around everything he was seeing. The description had been right. He could see everything within a hundred metre radius. He could even see through the walls nearby! It was that very thing, seeing through the walls¡ªor rather, what was on the other side of those walls¡ªthat was doing his head in. There was nothing on the other side. Absolutely nothing. Xavier took a breath, exhaled slowly, then turned his attention to the rest of his surroundings. Not with the eyes in his head, but with the ability of the Farscope. This¡­ wasn¡¯t like normal sight. It was more expansive. It was like having a 3D image and being able to move through it, except he could see from every angle, as though he had multiple eyes floating around the space. God, this is weird. The human brain had not evolved to see things this way, but it had been some time since Xavier had become something far more than simply human. Besides, he remembered something he¡¯d read once. An experiment had been done where people were asked to wear these goggles¡ªor maybe they were glasses, Xavier couldn¡¯t remember¡ªthat flipped everything they saw upside down. At first, it was incredibly disorientating for everyone involved. But, after a little while, the brain adapted to the new type of input. Xavier stood there, concentrating on what he was about to see. Waiting for his brain to adapt. He figured it should have happened faster, but the Farscope was a strange thing to get used to. Siobhan stood a few feet away from him on his left, and Xavier could see behind her. The back of her head. Down her back. Her shapely¡­ well, suffice to say he could see everything. ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± Siobhan asked. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. He looked up at the woman¡ªthrough his actual eyes. Even with the Farscope on his right eye, he could see her clearly and with perfect depth perception. He hadn¡¯t lost any vision in the eye he¡¯d equipped the Farscope to. Still, it was a very strange sensation. A part of him wanted him to take the Farscope off. The stimuli he was receiving was almost too much. ¡°It¡¯s strange. The item lets me see everything in a hundred metre radius, from every angle.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°It¡¯s a lot to take in.¡± Siobhan put her hands on her hips, shifted her weight from one foot to the other. ¡°I can imagine. I can also see how effective it could be in a tactical situation. Having eyes on the back and sides of your head, being able to see at any angle¡­ that¡¯s powerful stuff.¡± Xavier nodded. It was. Though he had to wonder how it would be helpful to him at this stage in his journey. ¡°So, what item did you get?¡± Xavier asked Siobhan. Howard and Justin stepped over to them, and they stood in a circle, all facing one another. Siobhan raised her right hand, palm up. Something appeared atop it, summoned from her inventory. A gold bracelet with a blue gemstone. ¡°It¡¯s called a Health Seer. Pretty self-explanatory. It gives me the ability to see the percentage of health that any being has.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°That¡¯s pretty fantastic.¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°I guess I got it because I¡¯m a healer? I can see how it would be good for helping those not in my party¡­¡± ¡°It will be amazing when fighting stronger enemies, too¡± Xavier said. ¡°We¡¯ll know exactly how much damage our most powerful spells can do.¡± Siobhan perked up a bit. ¡°Huh. I suppose I wasn¡¯t thinking about it in that context. I tend to consider the wellbeing of our party first.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s exactly what makes you such a great healer,¡± Howard said. ¡°Always thinking of our needs first.¡± Siobhan crossed her arms. Initially, Siobhan hadn¡¯t wanted to be a healer. It was something that she¡¯d fallen into, but she¡¯d gone along with it because she knew how valuable it would be. Now, though she crossed her arms and was even pouting a little, there was a little smirk turning the corner of her lips. She liked what she did. And she was good at it. Besides, it wasn¡¯t only healing that she was capable of¡ªit was summoning. If not for her, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to get everyone out of that town so quickly back on the Eleventh Floor. She¡¯s the reason we completed the floor so swiftly, before the waves even started coming. This time, it wasn¡¯t because of me. That made him worry a little. The record clear they¡¯d gotten was more a fluke than anything else. What if someone else got the same fluke and took our spot? But considering how long the tower had been around, if someone else was going to stumble on the same solution, surely they would have done it by now. Xavier shook those thoughts away. He didn¡¯t expect to hold the record clears for all eternity. He would have them as long as he had them. ¡°Howard, Justin, what items did the two of you get?¡± Xavier asked. Book 4: Chapter 7 - Wing, Sword, Wing Xavier stood in the Staging Room after they¡¯d all just opened their loot boxes following the clearing of the Eleventh Floor. Justin grinned¡ªstill looking like a kid on Christmas. He took a step back. ¡°This is a situation where it¡¯s better I show you, rather than tell you.¡± The young man¡¯s wings sprang from his back. Though Xavier had seen them plenty of times, he still stared at them a little awestruck. The ability to fly. It was one that he coveted. One that he could see being incredibly useful on the battlefield. Maybe there¡¯s a way for me to get that ability down the line¡­ A second after Justin¡¯s wings had sprouted, something materialised on them. Metal armour. Xavier frowned. Armour on wings? Wouldn¡¯t that mess up Justin¡¯s ability to fly, with the armour making the wings heavier? Justin leapt up into the air and soared around the Staging Room with ease. As far as Xavier¡¯s eyes were concerned, the metal armour didn¡¯t weigh the young man¡¯s wings down at all. Justin reoriented his body, becoming upright in the air, then flapped his wings forward, sending him backward, and that¡¯s when Xavier noticed the sharp blades at the top end of the wings. The item wasn¡¯t just armour. It turned his wings into some kind of weapon. While in the air, Justin summoned his sword to his hand. He performed a combination of strikes. Wing, sword, wing. One, two, three. Wing, sword, wing. One, two, three. Xavier could see how deadly the strikes might be against something around Justin¡¯s level of power. Justin¡¯s class was a swift damage dealer with the ability to effectively dodge attacks. It was almost rogue-like in a way. After his quick demonstration, Justin swooped back down and landed in front of the others. ¡°What do you think?¡± The kid was positively beaming. Howard clapped him on the shoulder. ¡°I think that¡¯ll be pretty great in fight.¡± Siobhan nodded. ¡°It¡¯s definitely unique.¡± Xavier grinned. ¡°I think that¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°There¡¯s more,¡± Justin said. ¡°The item is Soul Bonded. It will grow in power as I grow in power, which means, in theory, I¡¯ll never need to upgrade it. It¡¯s already stronger than my sword. Considerably. And, I can do this with them¡­¡± Justin turned and faced one of the walls. He launched back in the air, hovering about five feet up. His left wing jutted forward. An Air Strike shot forth¡ªsomething he would usually launch with his sword. It left a long slash in the stone wall. After a moment, the stone wall healed itself, becoming smooth once more. ¡°Huh,¡± Justin said as he landed back down. ¡°Didn¡¯t know the walls did that.¡± They turned to Howard, next. The man frowned. ¡°What is it?¡± Siobhan asked. The former cop shook his head. ¡°The item I got. It¡¯s¡­ interesting, to say the least.¡± ¡°Interesting how?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t leave us hanging like that,¡± Justin said. ¡°Tell us what it is.¡± The young man was giddy, clearly excited to be back in the tower, going through the floors. ¡°Is it turtle shell?¡± Howard frowned. ¡°A¡­ turtle shell?¡± ¡°Yeah, well, you¡¯re a tank. It could be something you retreat into.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve missed hanging out with you three.¡± Howard grunted. ¡°It¡¯s not a turtle shell.¡± He raised a hand. A ring appeared in it. A ring with a clear gemstone. ¡°This is called Martyr¡¯s Revenge. It¡¯s a one-use item.¡± ¡°One use?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°How can it be one use? It¡¯s a ring.¡± Howard turned the ring around in his hand, catching the light. ¡°Whenever I¡¯m wearing this ring and take damage, the pain I feel is intensified.¡± Siobhan stepped forward, her forehead creased, eyes pained. ¡°Intensified? That sounds horrible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with her,¡± Justin said. ¡°Why would you want something like that? Hardly sounds like a reward. Maybe there was a bug in the System.¡± He glanced up. ¡°Though I probably shouldn¡¯t have said that out loud.¡± ¡°You really think the System can¡¯t read your mind?¡± Siobhan raised an eyebrow at Justin. Justin bit his lip. ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°And how much is it intensified?¡± Xavier asked, turning back to the subject at hand. Howard blinked. He looked blankly at Xavier. ¡°It¡¯s intensified tenfold.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°Why on Earth would you ever want to put something like that on?¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Though the downside of using the ring was admittedly terribly, Xavier had to imagine there was a strong upside when a cost like that was paid. Howard looked down at the ring again. ¡°It stores the damage. I mean, sort of. I still take the damage, but the same amount of damage is stored within the ring. It doesn¡¯t say that it has a limit. And when I¡¯m ready¡­¡± Howard trailed off. Xavier understood. ¡°You can use all the damage you¡¯ve stored to attack an enemy.¡± ¡°One powerful hit.¡± Howard nodded. ¡°Then the ring will disintegrate.¡± ¡°Barbaric,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°But, as you said, it is rather interesting.¡± ¡°Good thing you don¡¯t have to use it,¡± Justin said. ¡°Going through that much pain¡­ I mean, is it really worth it?¡± At the same time as the young man spoke those words, Howard slipped the ring onto his finger. ¡°I don¡¯t have to use it. But¡­ what if one day I need it? One if, one day, it¡¯s the only thing that saves me. Or one of you.¡± He turned his gaze downward, staring at the ring. ¡°Or my family.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t like the idea of Howard wearing such a ring. He was about to say so. He¡¯d opened his mouth and everything. Then he imagined what it would be like if he were in the man¡¯s shoes and had gotten an item like that. The potential damage the item could do against an enemy¡­ it was huge. If damage was stored over thousands and thousands of encounters¡­ This could be an item that allows Howard to kill someone of a higher grade. Xavier would wear it, wouldn¡¯t he? He was glad it wasn¡¯t the item that he¡¯d received. He could certainly see how it might be more useful on a tank, as well, when their job in a party was to soak up damage. The item still made him feel uncomfortable. Howard would be feeling ten times as much pain as he had been before. But that was the man¡¯s choice. If it ever became too much, he could always take the ring off. ¡°It¡¯s up to you,¡± Xavier said after contemplating it. ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but I can¡¯t blame you for wanting to use it.¡± Siobhan dipped her head. Her frown intensified. Her eyes no longer looked pained. Now, they looked angry. But the woman didn¡¯t say anything. She simply sighed and nodded slightly. Then she turned to Xavier. ¡°Do you want to test out your new item?¡± ¡°Yeah, what did you get?¡± Justin asked. ¡°Of course we know it won¡¯t be as cool as what I got.¡± Justin frowned, stared at Xavier¡¯s eye. ¡°Why is your eye red?¡± Howard grunted. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask that myself.¡± Xavier told them what item he¡¯d received, and what it was capable of doing. Justin seemed the most intrigued of the two, but he could see Howard¡¯s interest in it as well. ¡°That¡¯s just¡­ not fair,¡± Justin said. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to give it to me? I¡¯ll trade you for it.¡± Xavier wondered what the item would be like in the hands of someone like Justin. Giving the young man the ability to see three-hundred-and-sixty degrees around himself¡ªand in a radius of one hundred metres¡ªwould definitely help him, considering the type of combat style Justin used. For a moment, Xavier actually considered handing the item over to him. He didn¡¯t need it, after all. Xavier was already incredibly overpowered as it was. But he didn¡¯t want to give it up. ¡°Sorry, Justin. I¡¯m keeping it.¡± Xavier shrugged. ¡°Besides, I thought whatever I got couldn¡¯t be as cool as what you got?¡± Justin looked at his armoured, bladed wings¡ªhe¡¯d yet to retract them, even though he normally would once he¡¯d stopped flying. Especially when they were outside of combat. He took a moment, then he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. A Farscope sounds lame compared to this.¡± He slashed the air with one wing, then the other, then grinned. Xavier chuckled. ¡°Siobhan¡¯s right. It¡¯s time I test this new ability.¡± He summoned his scythe-staff to his hands. ¡°Anyone got earmuffs?¡± Xavier ended up buying a few things from the System Shop. He wanted to block every sense but his eyesight, so that he could focus primarily on the Farscope¡¯s ability. He even ended up wearing a blindfold, discovering that the Farscope didn¡¯t need him to be able to see out through his eyes to function. Now all he had was his ability to see everything for one hundred metres around him. Xavier knew there would be other ways to go about this. For instance, he could potentially split his mind, having different parts of his mind focusing on different senses, but that wasn¡¯t the way he wanted to go. Eventually, he wanted them all to work in concert. He stood perfectly still and waited for the others to strike. It was strange, having his normal senses blocked and only using something new, but it was also a great way for him to force his brain to adapt to a new way of perceiving the world. Justin and Howard, along with Siobhan¡¯s Divine Guardian, approached him from three different sides. Considering Xavier was so much more powerful than the others, he knew even a three versus one sparring match was nowhere near an equal match-up, so he allowed the others to use every trick they had up their sleeves, and all he was supposed to do was dodge or block their attacks. At first, Xavier felt incredibly clumsy. He was controlling his movement whilst looking at himself. It was a weird out of body experience. It felt more like controlling a character in a video game. To Xavier¡¯s surprise, Justin actually managed to get an Air Strike or two in, even though Xavier was way faster than the Airborne Duellist, he was simply too busy finding his footing. A few minutes passed¡ªwith a few more hits getting through his guard¡ªbefore Xavier began to get a better feel for it. He imagined if he was a much lower level, getting this far in the process might have taken him hours. As it was, his body and mind worked much more swiftly. Once twenty minutes of this had passed, something in Xavier¡¯s mind clicked. He moved as smoothly as he ever had, and he was getting better and better at navigating his new sight ability. There was something truly amazing about being able to see so much at once. Something expansive and right about it that he simply hadn¡¯t felt the first time he¡¯d accessed the new ability. The way he moved was becoming more like a dance. Howard, Justin, the Divine Guardian¡ªnone of them could get close to him, and Justin¡¯s ranged attacks were doing nothing at all. Xavier was liking the item the System had given him more and more. He didn¡¯t see it being all that useful to him now, but as the ability developed, and as the threats he faced became stronger¡­ Imagine if I had this when all those damned portals had been opening up and I was being peppered with arrows. They would have been so much easier to avoid. Yes, this Farscope would do quite nicely. They spent roughly forty-five minutes sparring like this. He could see how exhausted the others were. Justin and Howard were pushing themselves to their very limits with each second that passed. Once Xavier felt satisfied, he called an end to the sparring match. He figured the others would need a break. To his surprise, during the match, he¡¯d actually gained two ranks in Evasion, bringing it up to Rank 52. He¡¯d tried ranking Evasion up in sparring against them in the past, but it hadn¡¯t worked. He wondered if that was because of his new ability¡ªmaybe his Evasion skill was fusing with it somehow¡ªor if his party members were simply growing in power better than he¡¯d imagined. Maybe it¡¯s a bit of both. Either way, it was time to move onto the next thing. Book 4: Chapter 8 - Super Genius Xavier called an end to the sparring match, much to Howard and Justin¡¯s apparent relief. ¡°I guess we should find Adranial. See about the next floor,¡± Siobhan said. Justin was panting. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said between breaths. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± He placed a hand on the Staging Room¡¯s wall. ¡°I¡¯ll race you to the tavern.¡± The young man straightened. Closed his eyes. Took a moment to compose himself. Suddenly, his breathing became normal. ¡°I do wish the woman had told us what the next floor would be like already,¡± Justin muttered. He looked forlornly at the door to the next floor. ¡°We could already be there by now.¡± Xavier clapped a hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re already ahead of schedule, in so many ways, I think we¡¯ll be all right.¡± Though he did wonder if Justin had a point. Adranial could have given them more information. Could have told them about the next three, five, ten floors all at once. She wants me to have to come back to her each time, doesn¡¯t she? They headed down to the tavern. Considering they hadn¡¯t even been gone for half an hour, it felt like they¡¯d barely left the place. Sam was no longer idly cleaning things behind the bar. Now, he was serving a long line of Champions. Xavier recognised a few of the faces, but there were also noticeable gaps. He wondered if those people were simply doing the Eleventh Floor already, or if perhaps they hadn¡¯t made it back to the tower. Some of them might be on other worlds after having surrendered on the tenth floor¡­ But more, he knew, would simply have died back on Earth. Adranial and her party looked as though they were holding court. The woman sat at the head of a table with her back against the wall, speaking to the crowd that had gathered before her. Xavier wondered if the woman had explained who she was, or how she¡¯d ended up here. He was glad to see she was doing what she said she would¡ªsharing the details of the next floor with the other Champions, so that they could spread the world. Adranial frowned at Xavier as she spotted him. She stood from her chair and excused herself from the crowd, whispering something to Domical. The horned man cleared his throat and continued on from where she¡¯d left off. His expression was blank as he spoke, and it made Xavier wonder how the man felt about being here¡ªand what he might have given up. ¡°What are you doing back here so soon?¡± Adranial asked. ¡°I thought you went off to clear the Eleventh Floor?¡± Xavier glanced at his party, then looked back at Adranial. ¡°We¡¯ve already cleared it.¡± Adranial¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What? But, it¡¯s been like¡­ half an hour?¡± She looked over at Sam¡ªthe bar was at least twenty feet away¡ªand hollered at the man. ¡°Double whiskey. Neat. Right here.¡± She slapped her hand down on a table and motioned for the others to sit there as she did. Then she summoned a device from her Storage Ring and placed it in the centre of the wooden table. She tapped a button at its top. The device made a buzzing sound. Instantly, some sort of transparent forcefield surrounded them. ¡°What¡ª¡± Xavier started. Adranial spoke with a wave of her hand. ¡°Something that will give us privacy.¡± She stared at Xavier. ¡°How did you clear the floor so quickly?¡± Xavier thought about whether he should reply. The last thing he wanted to do was give the solution they¡¯d found to everyone in the Greater Universe. But this woman wasn¡¯t everyone, she was Adranial. Xavier and his party would not have been able to clear the floor the way they had without the information she¡¯d given them. He lowered his head in thought. Fortunately, his mind moved rapidly. The other members of his party were looking at him, following his lead on this. She gave up a lot to be here. To help us. I might not fully trust her motives, and I know she didn¡¯t want to come here, but I¡¯m slowly starting to trust her. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll tell you.¡± Xavier raised a finger. ¡°But I have a condition.¡± Adranial¡¯s shoulders relaxed. ¡°A contract,¡± she said. ¡°A contract,¡± Xavier replied. It didn¡¯t take long for them to figure out the particulars of the contract. Adranial wasn¡¯t interested in giving out the information of how he¡¯d completed the floor to anyone back on her own world, or to her ancestor. She also didn¡¯t care if it went to other Champions from Earth. The only people she would share it with would be the members of her party. And even then, she would in turn restrict them with a contract.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Ah, contracts. They¡¯re always even more helpful than I imagined they would be. Xavier had wondered if he was being selfish, keeping this information even from his own people. But he realised it didn¡¯t matter. Honestly, he didn¡¯t want other Champions from Earth going after the record clears, and he doubted any of them would even be able to manage it. They would all be better off farming the waves before trying to clear the floor¡ªeven if that would cause a lot of casualties with the townsfolk. I can¡¯t save everyone in every universe. Best to try and stick to the one that I¡¯m in, and the ones that I¡¯m sent to. ¡°You¡­ evacuated the town?¡± Adranial said after they¡¯d signed the contract. Xavier hadn¡¯t spent long on the recap¡ªthere wasn¡¯t really a lot to tell. ¡°We did,¡± Xavier said. ¡°All the necromancer wanted was the land, so we gave it to them.¡± Sobhan gave him a slight side-eye. The way he was talking, he was making it out as though they¡¯d gone down this route on purpose, instead of simply stumbling upon it by accident. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure why he wanted Adranial to think that, but he did. While they were sitting and talking, Xavier took the chance to split his mind. One part of his mind focused on the conversation in front of him, while the other part of his mind was using the Farscope. The Farscope would be visible to the eye, making his right eye red as it did, and it would be obvious to anyone who knew what it was that he was wearing one. He had to believe Adranial knew what a Farscope was, too. Though she hadn¡¯t said anything about it. His attention drifted around the room. In the privacy bubble, he couldn¡¯t hear what was going on out there, only see it. Xavier wanted to hone this ability, to get used to the various stimuli, before he went to the next floor. The sparring match he¡¯d had with the other members of his party back in the Staging Room had gone a long way in helping him learn how to use the new ability, but he¡¯d not had access to any of his other senses during that time. He needed to learn how to use them all in concert with one another. And though he was wary of splitting his mind for this purpose, it seemed like a decent first step. Developing an ability like this only seemed like a good idea. If he went out there without some practice? He imagined it would get overwhelming fast. Even though he knew he could deal with anything the tower threw at him right now, that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to be in any way vulnerable. Adranial tapped the table with her fingers, rolling them on the wood from finger to thumb, making a slight drumming sound. ¡°Evacuate the town¡­¡± she muttered. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure how we would manage that.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t you just use a portal? I¡¯ve used one of those before on a floor.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Adranial said. ¡°I remember.¡± She tapped her forehead with her index finger, glanced over at Howard. The man shifted in his char. ¡°But you also had the ability to mind control the townsfolk into submission, and a mass teleportation spell. This idea you¡¯ve had? It¡¯s not the first time anyone has had it, you know?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°I did not know.¡± ¡°You really think you¡¯re some sort of super genius who managed to think of something billions of people hadn¡¯t thought of before?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Xavier trailed off. He resisted the urge to rub the back of his neck and look all sheepish. ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t think that.¡± ¡°People have tried evacuating the town in various ways. Stands to reason that if no one is there, then the objective¡ªprotect the townsfolk from the zombie horde¡ªwill be far easier to meet. The problem is, the townsfolk aren¡¯t cooperative. Threatening them, hurting them, neither of those things have worked. It¡¯s only made them more hostile. Throwing them one by one through a portal? That could work, but the people scatter, hide in the town. Even with their auras visible it can be tough to find them¡ªsome of their buildings are shielded from detection.¡± ¡°People have really thought this deeply on this plan?¡± Siobhan asked. Adranial nodded. ¡°According to the information I have, yeah, but no one¡¯s managed to evacuate the town before the zombies arrive at the gates, at which point they would be fools if they didn¡¯t turn their attention onto the zombies, or restart the floor.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Xavier said, thinking about the combination of skills that had let them do what they¡¯d wanted to do. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a mass teleportation spell be enough?¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°No. It¡¯s rare one would be strong enough to snatch up that many people at this stage of the tower, especially if those people are noncooperative. Teleporting that many people who don¡¯t want to be moved? Not easy, even if they¡¯re Level 1.¡± Xavier looked over at Siobhan with new appreciation. The combination of him mind controlling everyone in the town and her teleporting them¡­ he hadn¡¯t realised such a skillset would be so unique. ¡°If people knew this plan was a viable option, they might reconfigure their parties to this end, maybe even train toward it from early on,¡± Adranial said. ¡°But since no one¡¯s ever achieved it¡­¡± She trailed off. ¡°Well, at least, no one who¡¯s actually spoken about it. For all I know there are orcs in the Blargal sector who use this tactic all the time, somehow managing to evacuate the townsfolk while fighting the zombie waves. I haven¡¯t got access to every different way people combat this floor, just the elites in my sector and its neighbouring sector.¡± She waved a hand. ¡°Anyway, none of the people on the record list have used this strategy. I should know. I¡¯ve studied them, and they¡¯re all from my sector.¡± ¡°The¡­ Blargal sector?¡± Siobhan scrunched up her face. ¡°Is that even a real place?¡± Adranial sighed. ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Does any of this?¡± Justin said. ¡°We¡¯ve already completed the floor.¡± He leant forward, rubbed his hands together. ¡°Tell us, what does the next floor have to offer?¡± Xavier had noticed a strange phenomenon using his Farscope. When he looked at the privacy bubble from outside of it, whenever people spoke, their mouths were blurred. He took a sip of his drink¡ªjust coffee, something he¡¯d ordered after Sam had brought Adranial her whiskey. Must be to stop anyone from reading our lips. ¡°That¡¯s a little rude, Justin. The least we can do is help her get through this floor,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Are you aiming for a top 100 title, too?¡± Howard crossed his arms at his chest and looked away, clearly not caring about this conversation one bit. Xavier didn¡¯t blame him. He hadn¡¯t come here to debate the best ways of completing a floor they¡¯d already been through, either. Still, maybe garnering some good will with this woman wasn¡¯t such a bad idea. She¡¯d been ordered to come here. Might as well make her feel like her time here was worth it. Book 4: Chapter 9 - The Twelfth Floor Xavier, Howard, Siobhan, and Justin spent a good deal of time talking with Adranial and the other members of her party about what strategy they should use for the Eleventh floor. Xavier wasn¡¯t worried about the four of them usurping his party¡¯s record clear, not after they¡¯d spoken for a few minutes¡ªthere simply wasn¡¯t any way for them to do it as efficiently. When the conversation finally turned to the twelfth floor, Xavier¡¯s interest was piqued. He leant forward in his chair and paid close attention to everything the woman said. The twelfth floor was, according to Adranial, quite a doozy. It was one of the most talked about floors in this sequence, one that Champions came to with equal part excitement and dread. Like the tenth floor with the melee, it was unique. It did not simply teleport one¡¯s party into a difficult situation with monsters or Denizens that needed killing. It pitted them against others in the Greater Universe. There would be several other parties on this next floor, and there would be no way to determine who those parties would be, or what sector they would be coming from. Not that that part mattered much to Xavier. Xavier listened carefully, his frown deepening the longer she spoke. The way she wanted him to go about this floor wasn¡¯t¡­ the way he usually would. It didn¡¯t take into account the potential for lost life. Xavier wasn¡¯t against killing. It might have seemed that way, from how he and his party had gone about the last floor, but he¡¯d killed his fair share of Denizens. Whilst in the Tower of Champions. Whilst on Earth. And even when on other worlds within his sector to prove a point. ¡°Why is the System pitting us against each other?¡± Howard asked. ¡°What does it have to gain from all of this?¡± Adranial stared at the former cop, tilted her head to the side. It was rare that Howard ever addressed Adranial. ¡°That question isn¡¯t helpful.¡± She looked at the ceiling. ¡°To know the intentions of the System¡­ it is something that is beyond the likes of you and me.¡± Her gaze dropped. For a moment, it fell on Xavier. But only for a moment. When there was nothing more to be said about the floor, Xavier and his party headed back to the Staging Room. With Adranial, they¡¯d discussed the most popular tactics for the floor. Back in the Staging Room, he and his party chatted about what tactic they might use. Justin tapped his foot, crossed his arms at his chest. ¡°We should just get onto the next floor,¡± he said. ¡°We all know you¡¯re going to be able to get the record.¡± Xavier frowned, wondering what was making Justin so eager. To be fair, Justin was always a little overeager. Xavier tended to find it endearing. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go in half-cocked. You heard what Adranial said¡ªthere¡¯s no repeating this floor.¡± ¡°Are you going to go with her plan?¡± Siobhan asked. She bit her lip. Xavier sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to, but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to see a better option,¡± Howard said. For a moment, Xavier wondered if the titles he was trying to get were even worth it. He was already incredibly strong. So what if he missed out on a title clear or two, and instead tried to do the right thing? The honourable thing? He lowered his head, wondering what to do. ¡°Justin¡¯s right.¡± Justin stopped tapping his feet. ¡°I am?¡± ¡°I¡¯m as surprised as you are,¡± Siobhan said with a wink. Howard chuckled. The big man pushed himself off the wall he¡¯d been leaning on. ¡°Plan?¡± He stared Xavier in the eye. Xavier strode toward the door to the next floor. He walked past each of them without giving them any eye contact. ¡°We do what we have to.¡± They materialised in a small cave chamber. It reminded him of one of the early floors they¡¯d been on, but he knew that the whole floor wouldn¡¯t be like this. The chamber was barred. This was the safe room. The first ten floors had safe rooms on almost every one of them. There¡¯d been a pattern that was easy enough to discern. Adranial had told them that pattern was no longer reliable. Everything changed past the tenth floor. ¡°So¡­¡± Justin clapped his hands together, clicked his fingers, clapped his hands together again. A nervous, waiting habit. ¡°When you, rather gruffly, said ¡®we do what we have to,¡¯ did you mean¡­ you¡¯re gonna kill everyone?¡± Xavier smirked. ¡°It would be the most effective method of winning.¡± Siobhan scrunched up her face. ¡°You know, when you talk like that, I never know if you¡¯re joking or not,¡± Siobhan said. Xavier sighed. ¡°It can be hard to tell.¡± He walked straight up to the bars and folded his hands behind his back. The truth was, he wasn¡¯t sure which way he was going to go yet. This floor, much like the tenth floor, wasn¡¯t based on time, but Participation Points. Adranial had told them the various ways in which Participation Points were traditionally earned on this floor.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Unlike the tenth floor, there was a way to get a record clear on this one, even though the floor was unique. It wasn¡¯t time, nor was it number of kills, or waves defeated like on the floor with the Endless Horde. It was Participation Points. The party with the most Participation Points by the end wins the floor. Xavier had debated with himself whether or not he should solo this floor. Leave the others back in the Staging Room. He was confident they would survive this floor if they tackled it on their own. The kill every other party method of defeating this floor wasn¡¯t as common as Xavier would have thought. In fact, there were unspoken pacts among most sectors in the Greater Universe that stated that cooperation on this floor was better than outright violence toward each other. This was something that Xavier found difficult to believe, but also something that he hoped was true. On the other hand, it would be a lot easier to justify taking out the other parties if they attacked his first. I don¡¯t think that will be necessary. The ground shifted. A loud, rumbling sounded. It was something that he¡¯d been ready for¡ªsomething that Adranial had warned them about. Rock dust fell from the ceiling, onto their heads, into their eyes. Xavier looked up. Noticed the rock dust didn¡¯t bother him at all. Curiously, even with his Farscope ability, he wasn¡¯t able to see through the walls around him. They were simply solid rock that stretched for as far as his ability could see. And there wasn¡¯t much to see on the other side of the bars, either. ¡°You know that¡¯s my first earthquake,¡± Siobhan said. She had a hand on the wall for support, even though she wouldn¡¯t have needed it. ¡°Mine too,¡± Justin said. Xavier hadn¡¯t experienced an earthquake before either, but he was focused on thinking through his next moves. He could have done this back in the Staging Room¡ªperhaps he should have¡ªbut it didn¡¯t feel the same back there. He liked being on the ground. Liked being where the action was. Thinking about things in the moment seemed more effective to him than simply extrapolating what would happen from the comfort of the tavern or the Staging Room. Perhaps that would make him a poor general, but for what he needed to do it had worked for him so far. A notification appeared in their vision. Welcome, Champions, to the twelfth floor! It is time, once again, to test your mettle against the creme of the crop of the Greater Universe, or well, anyone else who happened to be doing this floor at the same time as you. The mission objective is to defeat the Dark Lord Altruin of the Altruin Empire and assist the collective alliance in their attack on the lord¡¯s grand city! Xavier frowned. Adranial had told him, word for word, what this notification would say. Like some other floors, he found it hard to believe just how weak the people here were. Traditionally, a Champion on this floor would be around Level 30 to Level 40, and the enemies on this floor were around Level 35¡ªwhich was a step up to the last one. The Dark Lord Altruin, however, would be the first E Grade enemy on any of the floors that people were intended to fight. Xavier had, of course, fought E Grade enemies in the past. He¡¯d killed thousands upon thousands of them when he was fighting the waves of the Endless Horde. It had taken him months to get enough experience to get to E Grade himself by fighting them¡ªthough the only reason it had taken him so much longer than the people he¡¯d powerlevelled was because the System had been heavily restricting the Mastery Points he¡¯d gained from the kills, while those he¡¯d powerlevelled hadn¡¯t been restricted at all. Still, it was interesting to see that the System was already pitting people against E Grades on the twelfth floor¡ªand that was in fact why this floor was supposed to be a cooperative effort with the other parties. The only way that the Champions would be able to defeat the E Grade enemy was with the help of others, so the more of the collective alliance¡¯s army that survived, the more likely the floor was to be cleared. Though ¡°supposed to be¡± wasn¡¯t really the full story, as everyone knew that the party who contributed the most received the most Participation Points, and the best way to contribute the most was to ensure that the other parties contributed nothing¡ªthe System, even, at times, would send encouraging notifications to this effect, according to Adranial. The System enjoys conflict. As long as people are killing, it will give them Mastery Points, and in this case, Participation Points. But Xavier wasn¡¯t going to play that game. He rolled his head around his neck, summoned his scythe-staff to his hand, and spoke to the others over his shoulder. ¡°You three stay here in the safe room.¡± Justin stepped forward. ¡°Stay here?¡± Howard leant back against a wall, crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°You expected him to take us along?¡± ¡°Well, after last time¡­¡± Siobhan sighed. ¡°Tell us how things go.¡± Sometimes, he forgot how it made him feel to keep these three out of the floor and do it by himself. It looked as though they were each eager, to varying degrees, to be involved, but none of them fought his decision. There was no point in doing that. The safe room will open in 10 seconds. The notification popped up, then a countdown timer appeared in the top right corner of his vision. He readied himself. Another notification appeared. You are but one of five parties who have been included in this fight. The more you contribute to the effort to defeat the Dark Lord Altruin, the more Participation Points and Mastery Points you will receive. Though these other parties are here to help you in your cause, they are not your friends. Be wary. Xavier frowned. He wasn¡¯t used to the System being so¡­ blunt bout these things. It seemed to be talking a little differently to how it normally would, though it was consistent with what Adranial said the notification would be. There was more. He continued to read it as the timer ticked down. The attack on the Dark Lord¡¯s city has already begun. The city is surrounded. Once this safe room opens, there will be a ramp up to the surface. Follow this ramp and you will find the other parties close by. The safe rooms, unlike on other floors, didn¡¯t have any sort of time limit. His party could stay inside them for the entirety of the floor. Some parties actually used that as their tactic to clear this floor. Adranial had sneered at that ¡°tactic,¡± calling it the coward¡¯s way. A party would hide within the safe room, not receive any Participation Points, and let the other parties who¡¯d appeared on the floor deal with the mission. Xavier wouldn¡¯t have thought doing that would qualify them for clearing the floor, but apparently the System didn¡¯t care as long as the objective was carried out. As long as the objective was carried out. The bars rose. Xavier grinned. He knew exactly how he was going to deal with this floor. Book 4: Chapter 10 - Elite Champions The bars rose up from the ground, making an awful grinding noise as they retracted into the ceiling. There was another loud rumbling as the earth shook once more. Xavier let his body sway slightly from side to side, imagining as though he were a captain on a ship. The reason for the earthquakes had nothing to do with the tectonics of the planet and everything to do with the assault that was currently going on against the Dark Lord¡¯s city. Xavier chuckled, remembering Justin¡¯s reaction at hearing that the enemy on this floor had called himself a Dark Lord. Justin had started mumbling questions about whether or not Voldemort might be real and out there somewhere in the Greater Universe. Adranial had simply stared at him. At first, she¡¯d taken his questions seriously, asking who this Voldemort he referred to was, until Siobhan had mentioned he was speaking about a villain from a children¡¯s book series. ¡°Adults read them too!¡± Justin had protested. The conversation had quickly moved on. When the bars were high enough, Xavier slipped under them and sped forward. Adranial had been sure to tell him, several times, that there was no reward for the best time on this floor. Xavier knew that. He was also ignoring that. He wasn¡¯t trying to complete the floor as fast as he possibly could¡ªhe was simply intending to get more Participation Points than all of the other parties. And he didn¡¯t need to kill them to manage that. The second Xavier reached the surface he stopped. Looked around. There were two ways that he could go about this¡ªwell, there were likely hundreds of ways, but for his particular purposes, only two. The first of those ways was that he could try and mind control all of the other parties with Willpower Infusion. If he prevented them from moving forward, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about them getting any points at all. But there was a problem with that. There were some items that would prevent him from mind controlling others. If something like that were to be in the possession of one of the other Champions, he might feel compelled to kill them. No. He didn¡¯t need to stop the other Champions. He just needed to be faster than them. Adranial had given them an extensive layout of the area, the city, and the fortress that the Dark Lord Altruin would be within. She hadn¡¯t been able to draw a map of the area or the blueprints of the castle¡ªthat was something the System prevented, as details of the Tower of Champions weren¡¯t permitted to be recorded by anything but someone¡¯s memory, which made the passing down of floor details an important oral tradition in all the sectors around the Greater Universe. With the knowledge of exactly where the enemy city was, Xavier sped forward. Now would be a great time for me to learn how to fly. It would certainly be easier if he had a vantage point from above. But Xavier didn¡¯t need to have the ability to fly for that. Sprinting forward, Xavier leapt up into the air. He hadn¡¯t performed a jump like this in some time¡ªhe hadn¡¯t needed to¡ªso he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by just how damned high he soared. The strength in his muscles had improved almost unimaginably since he¡¯d blasted through all of those dungeons. The wind whipped past it, and he felt the sensation of seeing everything around him¡ªto 100 metres¡ªto be very strange in the air. There wasn¡¯t a whole lot to see up this high with the Farscope. Though he¡¯d become accustomed to the new ability, it was a little disorientating using it while moving this fast. He imagined it would be even more disorientating when he was back on the ground and actually had things that he could see. His normal vision, however, was a different story. From this high, he could see the city of Altruin quite clearly. It sat in the middle of a wide, grassy plain, with cultivated land surrounding it. The land was walled off¡ªpresumably to prevent local beasts from getting into the farms. There was a strange quality to the place, and it took him a moment to realise why that was. The architecture reminded him of old gothic buildings. The structures were dark, and the buildings had tall, sharp spires. The castle itself was what drew his eye most, to the point where he didn¡¯t even bother to look down and try and spot the other parties in the area. They will be able to see me, however, assuming they think to look up. The castle was far larger than Queen Alastea¡¯s had been. It stood in the middle of a much larger city, as well. There was something resting at the top of the tower. Something large. Xavier narrowed his eyes, squinting to try and tell what it was. It shifted, unfurled its wings, and everything became clear. Yep. That¡¯s a dragon. Its wingspan was massive. Each wing was as large as the tallest tower of the castle. It made the outrageously big castle look small in comparison. More like a toy. One that the dragon could knock over at its whim, like a toddler knocking over Legos.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Xavier was impressed. He knew about the dragon, of course. Adranial had told him everything she could about this place. She¡¯d said the dragon was large, but he hadn¡¯t gotten the impression that it was quite this large from her description alone. Xavier smiled. His plan was an obvious one, even if it had taken him a moment to come to it. The problem with listening to Adranial¡¯s knowledge and advice when it came to the Tower of Champions¡¯ floors was that she was speaking from the perspective of an elite Champion. And while elite Champions had different tactics to weaker Champions who were making their way up the floors, that didn¡¯t mean those plans would suit him. Xavier wasn¡¯t an elite Champion. He was something altogether different. Something, he perhaps arrogantly presumed, that the Tower of Champions had never seen before. It took a long while for Xavier to fall back to the ground. When he did, he leapt straight back into the air again. It took him a few leaps before he made it inside the city. When he was coming up over the massively tall wall, he found the collective alliance laying siege to one large section of it¡ªit looked as though they were making good progress, but it would take them a while before they made it through. With the help of the Champion parties that were no doubt on their way, they¡¯d get through the defences faster. But by that time the floor would already have been completed. Xavier would make sure of that. Arrows and spells came up to hit him. Xavier was moving too fast for them. He heard the swoosh of flames and the hiss of arrows as they passed by somewhere behind him. Even if they did hit, they wouldn¡¯t do him any damage, so he wasn¡¯t at all worried about them. Xavier glanced back over his shoulder at the collective alliance. He supposed part of the objective included helping them attack this city. He cast Willpower Infusion¡ªa spell that had, as of late, become his favourite. Purple mist flowed out from him and sunk to the ground like a cloud of fog on a chill, London morning. He grinned down as he watched the defending army panic. The army was predominantly made up of human Denizens, though there were the occasional demonkin among their ranks. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder how they¡¯d gotten there. Xavier breathed in deeply when he felt his spell overtake all of their minds, feeling his own mind expand. In mere moments, the majority of the enemy army was under his control. This is what true power is. He made the army turn upon itself. Here, he was not so worried about loss of life. This city was a dark one. An evil one. Those in the ranks of the Dark Lord Altruin were the enemies of peace, just as those who had been in the Lord of the Endless Horde¡¯s army had been. And he intended to deal with them swiftly. The defending army did not scream as they tore themselves apart. They did not shout. They simply fought and died. It was strange seeing so many die so silently. Xavier turned his attention away from the carnage. It was not something he needed to see. He landed on top of a building, swiftly kicking off it. The Dark Lord Altruin, according to Adranial¡¯s information, would be on the back of that dragon. The dragon wasn¡¯t to launch off its perch on the castle until the collective alliance had breached through the walls, something that would have taken them a while yet if not for Xavier¡¯s help. It would still take a little more time for them to breach the walls, even with the majority of the defending army already lying dead on the ground. Xavier looked at his notifications briefly as he soared through the air toward the massive dragon with its black-stone wings extended. Just as he¡¯d suspected, he didn¡¯t gain any Mastery Points from the enemies he¡¯d just destroyed. It wasn¡¯t something that he minded. But he did acquire their souls. I could kill the Dark Lord from here. One Soul Strike should do the job. But if Xavier was going to go straight to the enemy, he wished to look the man he was about to kill in the eye before he went through with the execution. Adranial had shared the results of many accounts of the clearing of this floor, what she¡¯d never mentioned was whether or not someone had actually spoken to the Dark Lord. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure what he might gain from such a conversation¡ªor perhaps, an interrogation¡ªbut who knows what secrets might be hidden here. He frowned inwardly, wondering why he cared about what secrets this E Grade ¡°Dark Lord¡± might hold. As he neared the castle, the dragon¡¯s eyes turned toward him. The dragon leant forward, almost like a sprinter waiting for the gun to go off. As the dragon moved, Xavier spotted the rider on its back. The Dark Lord Altruin. The man instantly reminded Xavier of the Lord of the Endless Horde. He wore similar armour, had a similar sword¡­ The Lord of the Endless Horde had been the strongest Denizen in his little, weak sector. Clearly, this Dark Lord Altruin¡ªthough even weaker than the Lord of the Endless Horde¡ªwas in a similar position. At least on this world. But it was strange to find that he looked so similar to the other man. What if¡­ This was an entirely different universe to the one he¡¯d been in when he¡¯d defended Queen Alastea¡¯s castle from the Horde, but that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t the same sector he¡¯d been in, just on a different timeline. He was probably just imagining connections, however. This man wasn¡¯t the same man that he¡¯d fought in the past. And even if he was to one day be the Lord of the Endless Horde, what would it matter? Xavier had seconds thoughts about speaking to this person. There was nothing that he could gain from interrogating someone so much weaker than himself¡ªjust as he would have gained nothing from learning the Lord of the Endless Horde¡¯s secrets. Their approach to living within the Greater Universe was antithetical to his own. The dragon launched from its perch, earlier than any of Adranial¡¯s accounts had ever mentioned. Perhaps Xavier coming over the wall and decimating the man¡¯s army had counted as a breach of the walls. Considering it was something even more sever, he supposed that wasn¡¯t a surprise. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but smile as the beast neared. He narrowed his focus, looking straight at the man on the beast¡¯s back. The helmet the man was wearing obscured him from Xavier¡¯s vision quite effectively, but Xavier was still able to see his eyes. What he saw in them was a deep rage. The Dark Lord had clearly not expected this. Xavier, gripping Charon¡¯s Scythe in both hands, did not bother trying to dodge the stream of fire that came forth from the dragon¡¯s open maw. He simply took the damage. The attack caused a great deal of smoke to permeate the air, but it didn¡¯t prevent Xavier from being able to see¡ªhis Farscope could easily pierce smoke, after all. Xavier came through the other side of the attack, entirely unscathed. He could feel that his robes, which were nowhere near as powerful as himself, had caught fire in places. He didn¡¯t bother trying to put them out. The warmth was rather pleasant. As Xavier came out completely undamaged and was now visible to his enemy once more, he saw the look in the Dark Lord¡¯s eyes change. The rage that had been bleeding out of them turned to something else. To fear. I¡¯ve looked him in the eyes now. No need to talk to him. Xavier slashed his scythe-staff in a wide arc that cut straight through the dragon¡ªthe dragon that hadn¡¯t even had time to try and block his attack, retaliate, or get out of the way. His blade sliced through the massive beast like a hot knife through butter and kept going until it reached the Dark Lord. Xavier¡¯s attack cut Dark Lord Altruin¡¯s head clean off. Book 4: Chapter 11 - Soul Bound Xavier and his party arrived in the Staging Room soon after the death of the Dark Lord Altruin. Once the dragon and its rider had been killed¡ªin a single slash of Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff¡ªXavier had stood at the top of the castle¡¯s tallest tower and looked out on the city, waiting patiently for the floor to end as he read through the various notifications that had popped up in his vision. His eyes had widened as he¡¯d read through one of them. He had gotten a solo title for completing this floor, something he wasn¡¯t sure that he would get. When he had asked Adranial about getting a solo title for the floor, she¡¯d said that it might not be possible. As far as she¡¯d been aware, there hadn¡¯t been any accounts of anyone soloing the floor. To solo the floor, one had to be without their party, or without a party entirely, and they must not let the other parties on the floor attack the enemy¡ªwhich means that every single member of the other parties would have to either decide to remain in their safe rooms and simply not fight, or that they would have to all be killed. Something that would be close to impossible for a single Champion to be able to pull off. Xavier hadn¡¯t needed those conditions to be met, as he¡¯d taken out the enemy army and the Dark Lord before the other parties had even made it to the city walls. The solo clear title that he received wasn¡¯t a normal solo clear¡ªit was a first solo clear, which meant that Adranial was right¡ªno one else had ever achieved this particular feat. No one but Xavier. But that wasn¡¯t the only title he was happy to see that he¡¯d gotten. He had received 2,000 Participation Points on the floor¡ªthe highest number that could be achieved, as he was the only Champion who¡¯d participated. It was twenty times the amount he¡¯d gotten when he¡¯d completed the tenth floor, and back then he had gotten the highest amount possible too. He was glad he¡¯d decided to take out the army, as he was sure that had added to the number of points he¡¯d received. Generally, in the process of clearing this floor, the collective alliance would have dealt heavy damage to not only the defending army, but the Dark Lord himself. Xavier had done it all on his own. Justin shook his head as Xavier told each of them about the titles he¡¯d gotten. ¡°That¡¯s just¡­ too easy.¡± Justin grinned. ¡°You¡¯re too powerful for these floors, man! Way too powerful.¡± Siobhan looked up at the ceiling. They were standing near their loot boxes. Only Justin had opened his up yet. Just like after the last floor, he¡¯d headed straight for his box and grabbed his loot as fast as he could. ¡°I wonder how the System feels about what you¡¯re doing,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°I hardly think it designed these floors to be defeated so easily.¡± ¡°I wonder if the System even thinks at all,¡± Howard muttered. Siobhan¡¯s vision snapped straight onto him. ¡°Should you talk like that?¡± Howard shrugged. ¡°If the System wanted to strike me down it would have by now,¡± he said, his tone casual, but Xavier couldn¡¯t help but catch the little hunch of his shoulders and the minute glance up at the ceiling, as though waiting for the System to strike him for those words. Nothing happened, of course, and Xavier was glad for that. ¡°If the System didn¡¯t want me to participate on these floors it could easily ban me from the tower,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Careful,¡± Justin said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to give it any ideas there, man.¡± Xavier opened up his loot box. Howard and Siobhan did the same nearby. There wasn¡¯t anything much of worth in this one. No amazing item like the Farscope he¡¯d gotten, or the Sanctuary Seed. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be a little disappointed. All he¡¯d received was a scythe-staff¡ªone that was weaker than the one he already possessed. ¡°Why would the System give me this?¡± Xavier muttered as he turned it around in his hands. Considering how easily he¡¯d completed that floor, getting the first solo clear record, he had been expecting something¡­ more. Maybe the System is messing with me. Xavier and the others headed back down to the tavern. Xavier could have searched through the System Shop for an item to buy. He had a great deal of money, and now a high number of Participation Points, which he could use to buy things in the shop as well, but he didn¡¯t think that was necessary right now. He and the other members of his party would be stuck in the tower for a good few floors until the System let them return to Earth. He wanted to obtain as much money as he could before reoutfitting his gear. The problem, often, when he bought gear, was that he outgrew it so very quickly. Maybe I can talk to Adranial about that. Or even Sam could have some advice. If there is a weapon I can obtain that can grow with me¡­ then I would never outgrow it, and it could stay with me.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Once more, he couldn¡¯t help but think of that weapon he¡¯d seen in the System Shop. The Stave of the Otherworldly Void Reaper, even though he doubted it would match that description, it was still something he felt himself aiming toward. Maybe one day I¡¯ll get my hands on that, or something like it. Howard insisted on getting a drink this time around, citing the fact that they weren¡¯t exactly in a rush¡ªnot now that they¡¯d gone through two tower floors in record time. Adranial frowned when he stepped in. There was no crowd in front of her this time. It looked like, for now, she¡¯d told everyone she needed to tell about the eleventh floor. In fact, she and her party had been on their way out as he came in. ¡°Did you forget something?¡± Adranial asked. ¡°No,¡± Xavier said with a straight face. ¡°We¡¯ve simply completed the twelfth floor.¡± Adranial¡¯s mouth fell open, and stayed that way for a good long moment before she shook her head. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious? You¡¯ve¡­ completed the floor already?¡± Xavier told her about the titles he¡¯d gotten. Adranial lowered herself into the nearest chair with a bit of a stunned expression on her face. ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± She looked up at him. ¡°You¡¯re crazy. Even crazier than you were through the first ten floors!¡± Xavier sat across from her. ¡°So, tell me about the next five floors of the tower. That way, I won¡¯t have to come back each time.¡± He paused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll still fill you in on how we clear them¡­ though I¡¯m not sure how helpful it will be.¡± He explained exactly how he¡¯d cleared the twelfth floor. Adranial just frowned at him, her forehead growing more and more creased. ¡°You just¡­ jumped into the city and killed everyone?¡± Xavier shrugged. ¡°That about sums it up.¡± ¡°It is a good plan,¡± Domical muttered. ¡°For those who can manage it.¡± He turned to Adranial. ¡°This mad bastard clearly doesn¡¯t need our help.¡± ¡°This mad bastard is going to get it whether he needs it or not,¡± Adranial replied. She ran a hand through her hair. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever seen her like this. It didn¡¯t take her long to compose herself, however. Adranial spent the next hour detailing the next five floors for Xavier and his party. Xavier sat back and relaxed, listening intently as he sipped his drink. It felt good to be here. Good to be sitting down, already ahead of the game. He didn¡¯t often take a moment to appreciate what he had gained, but now felt like a good time to do that. His friends were all safe. Their families were safe. Earth was safe. And the Tower of Champions was his to master. There were problems in his future he needed to face, like what happened when the five years were up, and Earth was no longer restricted. He had already made several enemies, ones that clearly didn¡¯t care about the threat he¡¯d made to the sector. There were even enemies he¡¯d made outside of the sector itself. Then, of course, there was the threat to the Silver River sector that he was sure the Empress Larona was concerned with. Beyond that¡­ there was something else. Adranial¡¯s ancestor wants me for something, even if they won¡¯t tell me what that is. Whatever it was, it probably wasn¡¯t good. But even with all of that ahead of him, Xavier felt a sense of confidence. A sense of peace. Perhaps he was being prideful. Arrogant. But he felt as though he could handle anything that came his way¡ªand handle it well. That¡¯s what the Greater Universe had shown him, after all. That it was impossible for him to fail. Once the explanation of the different floors had ended, Xavier leant back in his chair. He was onto his second drink now. The alcohol didn¡¯t taste very strong, and he didn¡¯t feel it alter his mind in any way. Sam said it was the strongest thing he could serve, but apologised that it wasn¡¯t enough. Xavier had never thought he might lose his ability to get tipsy, but he supposed it wasn¡¯t really all that much of a loss. He wasn¡¯t drinking so that he could get drunk, after all. He was simply drinking for the taste and the atmosphere. He had never liked getting drunk¡ªbeing in an altered state. It simply wasn¡¯t for him. And now, when there was so much responsibility on his shoulders? It didn¡¯t seem like the right thing to do, anyway. He looked at the others around the table and smiled to himself. Friends. He¡¯d never had much of those before¡ªhe¡¯d never really had any of those before. Not like this. His party spent so much time together, went through so much together, that they were starting to feel more like family than friends. At least, the good kind of family. The type of family you choose. Adranial looked as though she¡¯d been ready to leave after everything she¡¯d said about the floors. Xavier held up a hand, stopping her. ¡°Wait a moment, would you? I have a few more questions.¡± The woman nodded. She didn¡¯t seem annoyed. In fact, it looked as though she liked his company. A small smirk played on the side of her lips as she sat back down. ¡°What is it?¡± Xavier interlocked his fingers together on the wooden tabletop and leant forward. ¡°I¡¯m wondering if you can help me with something.¡± Her smirk grew. ¡°Yeah? Help you with what?¡± She winked. Xavier blinked. Had he said something else? It looked as though her mind was elsewhere. ¡°I need a weapon that will grow with me. The weapons I buy from the System Shop¡­ I outgrow them too quickly. It almost doesn¡¯t seem worth buying something again.¡± There was the slightest hint of disappointment in Adranial¡¯s eyes as she leant back in her seat. The others around the table lost interest in what they were talking about. Another conversation began to start up to either side of them. Howard was talking to Domical. They were frowning at each other. Both made grunting sounds as some form of communication. The human and the demonkin looked rather different, but they acted startlingly similar. Justin was talking to Larson, and Siobhan was chatting to Elsie. ¡°You want a Soul Bound weapon,¡± Adranial said. Xavier tilted his head to the side. ¡°I do?¡± Soul Bound. Xavier hadn¡¯t heard that exact term before, but some spells had been bound to him in the past, for picking his reaper line of classes¡­ maybe this was something similar. ¡°You do.¡± She summoned a staff to her hand. Xavier wondered if he¡¯d ever actually seen a weapon on the woman before. Howard had said she hadn¡¯t needed one during the melee. ¡°I¡¯ve had this staff since before I could even wield it. It might not be powerful enough for someone such as yourself to wield right now, but one day it will grow far stronger than anything you can currently wrap your fingers around.¡± The staff didn¡¯t look all that powerful or unique. It was¡­ well, it almost looked like nothing more than a long, fallen branch. If one, for a moment, ignored the runes that were etched into its sides, or the crystal at its top. ¡°How does it become more powerful?¡± Xavier asked. The woman shrugged. ¡°It feeds on a portion of my Mastery Points. That might seem like a disadvantage, but it¡¯s actually the opposite. When you have all the time in the Greater Universe to progress, the speed at which you gain levels doesn¡¯t need to be outrageous. Sometimes, it is better to slow things right down so one has the requisite time to become proficient in their skills and get them to a high enough rank and accrue more titles along their way to the next grade.¡± Xavier nodded. He understood that approach well enough. ¡°So, where do I get one of those?¡± Book 4: Chapter 12 - Looking for a Challenge The woman scoffed. ¡°I have no idea where you would get one. This one was given to me by my mother.¡± She paused, and it looked as though that hadn¡¯t gained the reaction that she¡¯d wanted from him. ¡°My mother is A Grade.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Your mother is¡­ A Grade. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s quite something.¡± He didn¡¯t ask how old Adranial¡¯s mother was, though for someone taking the slower path to power¡ªthough perhaps slow wasn¡¯t the right word¡ªhe imagined she would be quite old. Hundreds, if not thousands, of years. She could be even older than that, for all I know. She could be millions of years old. ¡°If an A Grade gave that to you, how am I supposed to get my hands on one?¡± Adranial sighed. ¡°I already told you, I don¡¯t know.¡± She shrugged noncommittally.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Domical said, turning to look at Xavier. ¡°Or, well, I¡¯ve heard stories.¡± ¡°Stories?¡± Xavier eyed him. It didn¡¯t sound all that conclusive, but it was better than nothing¡ªwhich was what he currently had. ¡°Aye. Stories. Weapons like that? They don¡¯t tend to appear in the System Shop. And, even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t be something the likes of you could afford.¡± He paused. ¡°No offense. Just, you¡¯re new around the Greater Universe. It takes a long time to accrue true wealth. The wealth like those from families like ours possess.¡± He didn¡¯t say the words with pride, more matter-of-factly. He wasn¡¯t boasting, rather informing. ¡°It¡¯s only an F Grade weapon right now, though,¡± Siobhan said. The others had stopped talking amongst themselves, clearly having been drawn to the topic of conversation between Xavier and Adranial. ¡°Would an F Grade weapon really be worth that much?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the grade of the weapon that is the reason for their price, but the potential of the weapon. Xavier should know a little something about potential, considering that¡¯s what he is using against the other people in his sector¡ªthe potential for him to become strong enough to defeat them all.¡± ¡°Potential is quite the commodity in the greater Universe!¡± Larson said. Domical glanced at his fellow party member. ¡°Indeed,¡± he said with a flat look. ¡°Though Soul Bound weapons rarely become available in the System Shop, they can be found at prominent auctions. A sector like this should have plenty on offer, with people who likely don¡¯t know their true value. Though you still wouldn¡¯t be able to afford one with spirit coins alone.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°What else would I use as currency?¡± Adranial smiled, cutting in. ¡°A deal. Domical is right about potential, and yours is larger than anyone¡¯s.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying, what, that he could trade in some future favour as though it was money?¡± Howard asked. ¡°There are many things that have worth attached to them, Spirit Coins are only one of those things. As for finding an auction like this, I wouldn¡¯t know where to look in this sector. You¡¯d be better off speaking to a resident.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side. ¡°Surely you would bt able to procure a weapon like this for me?¡± Adranial laughed. ¡°Not around these parts. Maybe if you would have taken me up on my offer.¡± Adranial and her party departed after that. They looked eager to get to try their skills on the eleventh floor. Xavier wondered how that would go¡ªa part of him wished these floors could be recorded and broadcast. He imagined they would make quite a good show, with people sponsoring the Champions, betting on how they would do, following their favourites¡­ Maybe in another universe. He walked over to the bar with an empty glass, and sat at one of the stools, nodding at Sam. The barkeeper nodded back. ¡°Top that up for you?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather have a coffee, actually.¡± The caffeine wouldn¡¯t do anything for him. Not that he needed it to¡ªnot anymore. But he still liked the taste. In moments, Sam presented Xavier with a steaming cappuccino. Xavier grabbed the drink, wrapping his fingers around the ceramic, feeling its warmth on his skin. He breathed the coffee in, took a sip, then shut his eyes for a moment. ¡°Nothing like that taste.¡± He placed the cup on the bar, but kept his hands wrapped around it. Sam eyed him. ¡°Something tells me you didn¡¯t just come over here for the coffee. What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°I need some advice.¡± ¡°Advice?¡± Sam started wiping down the bar. ¡°What kind of advice?¡± He sounded a little sceptical. ¡°It¡¯s not about that woman you were talking to, is it? Because I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the best person to come to with dating advice¡ª¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Dating advice?¡± Xavier blurted. ¡°What? No!¡± ¡°Oh, all right. What did you want to ask?¡± ¡°I want to find a Soul Bound weapon.¡± Sam stopped wiping the bar. He stared at Xavier. ¡°A Soul Bound weapon? Have you suddenly become a very rich man?¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°Not that rich, no. But I might have something to trade.¡± Sam narrowed his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how wise that would be.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Because you would have to trade over a pretty damned big favour to get something like that.¡± Xavier leant forward. ¡°What about your Empress Larona? That woman has had her eye on me, after all. Wouldn¡¯t you consider a favour to her from me to be a good thing?¡± Sam sighed. He took a glass from under the bar and poured himself a drink. Not the first time Xavier had seen the man do it. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s gonna happen. In fact, I know that it won¡¯t. My empress¡­ well. Let¡¯s just say she¡¯s told me she will be taking a very hands-off approach to your development.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°She¡¯s had you looking for me for how long? What was the point of you finding me, if she isn¡¯t about to offer her help?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t need the woman¡¯s help, necessarily, but he was a little confused. ¡°That¡¯s not why the empress needed to find you, Xavier. This isn¡¯t something she¡¯s liable to change her mind on. Trust me.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side, then nodded. ¡°I understand,¡± he said, even if he didn¡¯t. ¡°But surely you can point me in the right direction.¡± Xavier took out his Sector Travel Key. ¡°If there¡¯s an auction on somewhere, maybe I could go to it soon.¡± ¡°You would spend you Sector Travel Key use on that?¡± Xavier hadn¡¯t decided yet. He would be able to use a Portal Stone to come back, but he only had the one set of sector-wide stones, which meant he would have to leave one on the other side. Though he supposed it was a moot point. He couldn¡¯t travel away from the Tower of Champions until he was returned to Earth again. Still, Xavier found him nodding to the barkeeper. ¡°Yes. I think I would.¡± Sam nodded back. ¡°Well, all right. Far be it for me to tell you what to do. I doubt you would actually listen to me, anyway. Besides, you¡¯ve become far more powerful than I am in such a short type¡­ I¡¯ve been around longer, but that doesn¡¯t mean I know any better. I¡¯ll reach out. I know some people who frequent auctions like these.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°You do?¡± The way the man had spoken when Xavier had returned here earlier, it made it seem like he didn¡¯t have any friends at all. ¡°You meet a lot of people when you live for a long while,¡± was all Sam said in reply. He moved off to serve another customer. Xavier stood up, taking the coffee with him, and walked back to the table where the others were waiting. ¡°Any luck?¡± Siobhan asked. ¡°A Soul Bound weapon does sound awesome,¡± Justin said. Howard grunted. ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. Sam is going to poke around. It¡¯ll be a while before we can leave the tower anyway.¡± Howard cracked his knuckles. ¡°Not long. Not at the rate you¡¯ve been going.¡± Xavier smiled. They were going rather fast. Something he was proud of. ¡°What do you three say¡ªtime to move forward again?¡± They already had the information for the next five floors. Xavier didn¡¯t want to sit around, even if they were well ahead. There were things that needed doing. While Earth was safe, he didn¡¯t want to be gone from it for any longer than he needed to be. Besides, there might be other places in the sector that he wished to visit. Howard cracked his knuckles, then his neck. He stood up from the table and nodded. ¡°Ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Siobhan stood. ¡°I look forward to seeing how you tackle the next floor.¡± Justin practically jumped out of his seat. ¡°More titles? More loot? More watching Xavier Collins, Earth¡¯s mightiest Champion kicking some ass? Of course I¡¯m in!¡± Xavier chuckled with a shake of his head. ¡°Well, all right then. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± The next few floors flew by just about as fast as the last two had. Xavier didn¡¯t spend a great deal of thought on them. Like most of the first ten floors had been, these floors amounted to simply killing all the enemies on the floors. Something at which he excelled at. Something at which he didn¡¯t need to devise any clever strategies to complete. And, unfortunately, that meant he was gaining the record titles for those floors without even having to push his abilities. Not that he was complaining, exactly, it just meant that the floors weren¡¯t much of a challenge¡ªand it also meant that they weren¡¯t holding his interest. It didn¡¯t take all that much effort for him to step into a floor, send out a mass Soul Strike, and kill every living enemy being in the area. By the end of their first day back at the Tower of Champions, Xavier had already cleared eight more floors. And there first day hadn¡¯t even been all that long. He would have kept going, but once they¡¯d made their way back down to the tavern, they hadn¡¯t been able to find Adranial and her party. They would have to wait until she returned to gain knowledge of the nineteenth floor. Technically, he could keep moving up the floors without her knowledge, but he worried he might encounter another floor that didn¡¯t let him go onto it twice¡ªlike the tenth floor and the twelfth floor. He figured the odds of that were too high to risk. But, considering how fast they were going through the floors, Xavier didn¡¯t think it was such a bad thing for his party members to have a well-deserved break. Well, maybe well-deserved was putting it a little too kindly, considering he¡¯d been the one doing all the work¡ªat least since the eleventh floor when they¡¯d inadvertently cleared the floor in record time simply by evacuating a town. Regardless, Xavier himself didn¡¯t mind taking a break from the floors, especially now that there were simply too easy for him. There were things that he wished to do that he would need some privacy for, or at least some quiet. Certainly, he needed time- to accomplish them, and time wasn¡¯t something that he¡¯d had all that much of lately. He¡¯d gotten to the level he was without really slowing down to focus on his cores. Right now, he had access to two cores¡ªhis Spirit Core, and his Willpower Core. But there were several more cores that were hidden inside his body, cores that he wouldn¡¯t be able to access until he was at a higher grade. But he would be able to access a third core while he was still in this grade. He hadn¡¯t gone to Sam or Adranial for advice on this. Sam was E Grade, like Xavier was, but the man was a lower level than him now. He had also uncovered his first and second cores far later than Xavier had¡ªand he hadn¡¯t uncovered his third core yet. Adranial was still F Grade. She was strong for her Grade¡ªeven stronger than Howard, Siobhan, and Justin had become¡ªand there was a good chance that she would have insights about this, but this was something he wanted to see if he could uncover by himself. He was looking for a challenge, after all. Book 4: Chapter 13 - Another Core Xavier let the others go their separate ways after they had no luck finding Adranial in the tavern. He returned to his room, somewhere he didn¡¯t expect to spend a great deal of time, but was always a good place to come back to when he wanted some quiet. He sat, cross-legged on the floor. Unlike when he had uncovered his Spirit Core, he wasn¡¯t worried about burning through his core by accident. He was good at burning through cores, that was true. But it was his enemies¡¯ cores that he had grown adept at burning through. Xavier closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, falling into a meditative state. That was another thing he hadn¡¯t spent a great deal of time on. His meditation skill. When he had been fighting the Endless Horde, he had gotten quite good at maintaining his meditation as he fought. It was something he was still capable of doing¡ªif anything, he was far better at it now despite his skill having barely increased. But it was also something that he had been lazy with. He was simply too strong to need all the little boosts. That kind of attitude, he knew, was liable to get him into trouble in the future. One day¡ªand that day could be sooner rather than later, for all he knew¡ªhe would come up against someone who was truly a match for him, and Xavier would have to be at the top of his game to defeat them. Just the thought of that made him smile. All these thoughts slowly drifted away as his meditation began. He looked inside of his body. In his mind¡¯s eye, he was able to see the different cores he had already uncovered¡ªhis Sprit Core, and his Willpower Core. He could see them as clear as day. Xavier took a moment to wonder what the next core he would uncover would be. Would he uncover his Speed Core, like Justin had? Or his Intelligence Core, as Siobhan had? There was definitely a chance that he would uncover the same core as Howard¡ªhis Toughness core¡ªbut Xavier wasn¡¯t as sure about that one, even if he had used his Toughness to his advantage many a time. The last core he expected to uncover was the Strength Core. Xavier¡¯s Strength attribute¡ªlike all of his attributes¡ªwas incredibly high for his level, but it also wasn¡¯t one that he found himself relying upon a great deal. His Strength simply didn¡¯t come up in fights as much as his other attributes did. He did fairly well as a melee fighter¡ªa slash of his scythe-staff was how he¡¯d taken down that dragon and its rider back on the twelfth floor, after all¡ªbut still, strength wasn¡¯t exactly where his strengths lay. However, he didn¡¯t really mind which core he uncovered. Whichever one it ended up being, it would no doubt come with a new spell. The last time he¡¯d uncovered a new core¡ªhis Willpower Core¡ªit had proved to be an incredibly boon. His Willpower Infusion spell, in some circumstances, was his most powerful asset. Soul Strike was strong. He had used it to kill a lot of enemies rather swiftly¡ªand he doubted he would have ascended through the tower as well as he had if it weren¡¯t for that spell¡ªbut without Willpower Infusion? There was no way he would have been able to defeat the Lord of the Endless Horde. The energies within his body swirled. He followed the lines of them to each of his visible cores. He breathed, slower, deeper, longer. He didn¡¯t know how long he sat there for. At one point, a notification popped up in his vision. He ignored it, barely registering that it was there at all, and simply kept meditating. Another notification popped up. Again, he wasn¡¯t sure how long that had taken to happen. Time passed. And it kept passing. Until finally, he felt something. At first, he wasn¡¯t sure what it was. It didn¡¯t feel right, and by ¡°right,¡± he simply meant it didn¡¯t feel like his other two cores, which made him think that what he was feeling wasn¡¯t a core at all. Could this be my soulkeeping reserve that I¡¯m feeling? But no¡ªit wasn¡¯t his soulkeeping reserve. It was a core, he just didn¡¯t know which core. He pushed his mind as hard as he could, focusing on it. Unfortunately, he had no luck uncovering it¡ªat least in that moment¡ªand he could feel the strain he was putting on himself. He opened his eyes and stood up. Tilting his head from side-to-side he heard a satisfying crack. Then he stretched his back and heard a few more pops. Xavier didn¡¯t feel aches and pains in the same way that he had before the System had come, but he still felt them¡ªor at least, the ghost of them. Sitting in the same position for hours on end, no matter how strong you are, still grew uncomfortable¡ªeven if part of that discomfort was just in his head. He paced around his room for a bit, moving his limbs about, getting the blood flowing. It didn¡¯t take long¡ªa few seconds, really¡ªfor the strain that had been on his mind from all his intense focus to disappear.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Considering how strong my attributes are, uncovering this third core should be easy. The only reason he hadn¡¯t tried to do it yet was because of how busy he had been powerlevelling people and protecting Earth. He had thought that the instant he had a little time for it, that it wouldn¡¯t take him very long. A part of him thought about leaving his room to go find the others, to find something to distract himself with, to check if Adranial and her party were back in the tavern yet, but that felt far too much like admitting defeat. Besides, if Adranial and her party had returned, one of the others would have come and knocked on his door by now. Hell, they wouldn¡¯t even need to go that far¡ªthey could have just contacted him via their Communication Stones. Nothing can stand in my way. I¡¯m not letting this stop me. After he looked at the two notifications that had popped up in his vision¡ªthey were both rank ups to his Meditation skill, bringing it to Rank 52¡ªhe sat back down on the ground and closed his eyes again. It only took a moment for him to fall back into an intense, meditative state. This one felt even stronger than the last one had. It was trancelike in its intensity. The feeling of focus was a little intoxicating. Addictive. The amount of clarity he was feeling in that moment¡­ he almost wanted to sit there for a full day to experience it. Maybe longer. A part of him knew that wasn¡¯t really something he would want to do, but that part of him was too far in the background of his mind. More notifications popped up in his vision as his focus intensified. Xavier didn¡¯t know what it was that he was feeling¡ªwhat this new level of focus might be¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t get enough of it. Then, finally, he touched on the thing he was looking for. When he¡¯d pinpointed the core, only another split second passed until he uncovered it fully. You have gained +20 Speed! You have discovered your Speed Core. Spell Quest Unlocked: Time Alteration To unlock Time Alteration, you must:
  1. Cultivate 10,000 points of Celestial Energy into your Speed Core, turning it into Speed Energy.
  2. Successfully cycle 10,000 points of Speed Energy through your Speed Core.
Progress:
  1. 0/1,000
  2. 0/1,000
Xavier¡¯s eyes snapped open. He smiled, letting out a long exhalation. God, he felt good. Better than he had in a while, if he were honest. And he couldn¡¯t be happier with the core that he¡¯d just uncovered. The Speed Core. He chuckled a little to himself. He supposed it made a lot of sense for him to uncover that core. Speed was something he had been heavily concerned with since the moment he¡¯d entered the tower and cleared the first floor. But the spell quest he had unlocked, that was what got him truly excited. He had spoken to Justin after the Airborne Duellist had unlocked his own Speed Core¡ªthis was not the spell he¡¯d had access to. The spell that Justin had gotten was Speed Infusion, which, if Xavier were honest, was exactly what he¡¯d been expecting to get. Is there still a way for me to get Speed Infusion? Xavier wasn¡¯t sure, but right now, it wasn¡¯t his concern. Right now, he simply wanted to unlock this new spell¡ªTime Alteration¡­ It sounded like it had the potential to be incredibly powerful. A spell that could alter time¡­ obviously, at this point, he had no idea how this particular spell would work, but long before the system had come down to Earth, he¡¯d thought having the ability to control time would be an incredible thing. Who wouldn¡¯t want to be able to control time, after all? Didn¡¯t everyone dream of being able to do something like that, at some point? He smiled to himself as he took a moment to pace around his room again. His room really wasn¡¯t very large. He pushed his senses out. Celestial Energy. It was the energy that permeated almost everywhere¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t all that abundant within the walls of the tower itself, but rather on the floors. The Tower of Champions, the rooms, the tavern, they weren¡¯t where one could grow their strength. The floors were. And so the Celestial Energy within the tower was far thinner than it was on the planets they were sent to when they went to each floor. Still, he could regain his Spirit Energy while he was here, and his Willpower Energy too, which meant that there was some Celestial Energy in the air. There had to be. All he needed to do was tap into it. Xavier, feeling a little cramped in his room, headed up to the Staging Room. He was a little surprised when he found that the Staging Room was empty. He had expected to find the other members of his party up here, sparring or practising some of their spells. Maybe they¡¯re down in the tavern, or have retreated back to their rooms. Xavier jogged around the Staging Room for a moment, then he turned that jog into a run, until finally he was sprinting about the place at full speed. He didn¡¯t often test out his full speed. There really wasn¡¯t much need for it. The Staging Room, even though it was larger than it had been when they¡¯d first come to the tower, was very difficult for him to sprint around. His legs ate up the distance between the two walls in what felt like an instant, so he had to change direction incredibly sharply. After a hundred quick laps of the room, Xavier stopped. He wasn¡¯t even out of breath. His body had changed a lot, since that day he¡¯d walked to university and seen the sky that odd colour. Since that lightning shot down a portal and a goblin stepped out of it. He walked to the centre of the room and was about to sit down and try and cultivate Celestial Energy when he stopped, turned, and stared at the door to the next floor. He tilted his head to the side. Celestial Energy would be far thicker on the other side of that door, on the nineteenth floor. True, he didn¡¯t know what the nineteenth floor would hold, but during his first foray into the tower floors, he hadn¡¯t known what they would hold either. Why should this be any different? I doubt the floor will trap me, like the tenth floor and the twelfth floor. He could talk to try to talk to Adranial through his Communication Stone, but she was on the eleventh floor of the tower right now, and Communication Stones didn¡¯t work while one was on a tower floor. At least, none of the ones he had worked. He struggled to imagine a Communication Stone that could bridge the divide between universes, however. That would be a very powerful item indeed. He could call the others to him, but he didn¡¯t need them for this. All he wanted to do was step into that floor and cultivate some energy. It wouldn¡¯t even take him very long. Xavier stepped over to the door. Before entering the next floor, he left a note in front of the door, just on the ground. The others would easily spot it. Then he entered the nineteenth floor of the Tower of Champions. Book 4: Chapter 14 - Interlude Guardian stood atop the wall, on the battlements that surrounded Collinsville. His massive hands were folded behind him, and he stood tall. Taller than any of the humans around him, that was for sure. He stood rather still, too. Guardian supposed he would understand if someone mistook him for a statue¡ªthough he was the farthest thing from a mere statue. Guardian was a golem! A powerful one, in an extremely important role. Though golem was a construct, he bore intelligence and personality. (More than the humans around him, that was for sure.) Guardian chuckled to himself. The guard a few feet away jumped at the sudden noise, his eyes widening as he glanced over at Guardian. The woman gripped her spear tightly, then loosened that grip when she saw it was only him. He had been still for the past hour, and that was the first time he¡¯d made a noise. He didn¡¯t need to turn his head to see outside of this place. Guardian was a protective construct, one that was plugged into the defences of the Sanctuary Seed. He could sense when others were nearby. He had a mini-map display in front of his vision that he was constantly monitoring. If any threats neared Collinsville, there was no way that they would get past him. After Xavier Collins had left Earth, Guardian was the strongest entity on the entire planet. ~ Alexic Kalcav slipped through the Collinsville defences with ease. He came in disguise after he encountered some refugees travelling through the forest from a nearby city. Alexic had tacked onto them, joining their little troop as they braved the beasts between them and the safety of Collinsville. People all around Earth were hearing about this new city that had popped up in the middle of nowhere, and it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to pose as a local. Their speech patterns were a little strange to him¡ªa young man kept referring to Xavier Collins as ¡°the goat.¡± As far as Alexic knew, goats were four-legged beasts with small tufts of hair on their chin. They were stubborn creatures that headbutted their enemies. Perhaps this young man thought the leader of their world was stubborn? Alexic shook the thought away. Despite the odd ways in which the youths of this world spoke, he adapted to their speech patterns well, integrating into the group of refugees. Once they discovered he was proficient in combat, they allowed him along with them without a second thought. In fact, they made him their unofficial leader. Which meant when he greeted the three E Grade guards at Collinsville, he was representing all of the refugees with him. Guardian, the golem standing atop the wall¡ªperhaps the only true threat to Alexic on the entire planet¡ªdidn¡¯t so much as glance down at him. This may very well be easier than I had thought. Alexic had been sent to this planet for one specific purpose¡ªto send a message to this Xavier Collins. Xavier Collins himself had sent a message, not too long ago, to all of those in the Silver River sector. He had shown that while he might not be a threat to those in power today, he would be a threat tomorrow. But Alexic did not represent anyone from this sector. He came from a neighbouring sector, one far more powerful than this one. It was decided that this child needed to be taught a lesson, and Alexic had been sent to do the teaching. Alexic was adept at discreet assassinations. At kidnappings and torture. He may look like a normal swordsman, but his class was closer to that of a rogue than anything else. That was one of the reasons it was so easy for him to pretend to be from this world. He was a spy. One that could alter his looks and the way that his aura was presented. Unfortunately, there was one thing that Alexic was unable to alter¡ªand that was the way that contracts functioned. He currently had a contract running right now, one that instructed him to kill the different members of Xavier and his party¡¯s families. It wasn¡¯t a difficult mission. He had easily gained the information he needed from a Champion from Collinsville that he¡¯d captured and tortured. None of his targets would be difficult to kill¡ªnone of them were even halfway to achieving E Grade. They were weak, and they would be easy prey. But there was a problem. As much as Alexic thought this Xavier was owed a lesson, he was beginning to wonder if it would be the best course of action. His employer was a ruthless leader. A B Grade who was far stronger than anyone in this pitiful sector.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He was a man who thought that no one in the area was above him, and that no one in the area should ever become above him. So he weeded out the talent that he discovered around him, or he took deals with them, ensuring that their power would become restricted and that they would never become a threat to him or his empire. When Alexic and his people were brought through the gates, he couldn¡¯t help but be a little stunned at how easily he¡¯d entered this place. He was a master of infiltration, but usually places like this presented somewhat more of a challenge. A newly created city in a fledgling world so soon after being integrated into the Greater Universe? These people should have been more afraid of strangers. More paranoid. The security protocols in this place are horrendous. Looking around the little city that had literally been grown from nothing, Alexic couldn¡¯t help but be more than a little impressed. It had been some time since he¡¯d been to a newly integrated world, and he¡¯d never been to one that had so much infrastructure already in place at this stage in their development. It was quite a sight, if he were honest. An achievement he wouldn¡¯t have expected from a True Progenitor. True Progenitors popped up from time to time, but more often than not they were lone wolves. They may create an elite team around them, and they may take measures to protect their planets¡ªas all who chose to become Champions are want to do¡ªbut they didn¡¯t tend to create places like this until they had been around for at least a year, maybe even two. It was definitely a reason for his bosses to be worried. Someone from the newly sprouted city came to show them around. There was a new section of Collinsville that was currently being grown to accommodate all the new citizens that were travelling to them, and the immigration policy was¡­ close to non-existent. The new area, however, had yet to be completed, so he was led to a tall apartment building with the others and told that this would be their dwelling until the places had finished growing. The person leasing the way was a bright, perky young woman who carried a staff. She wore the white robes of a healer and seemed overly nice, like many healers often were. The refugees that had come with him kept asking questions about safety and security, wondering whether beasts were able to get into their rooms. Some asked if other people would be able to enter their rooms. Weak, Alexic thought. These people could barely fend for themselves out there in the forest. If it hadn¡¯t been for him, most of them wouldn¡¯t have even made it here. He could have slipped away from the main crowd, but he didn¡¯t want to draw attention to himself. The task he¡¯d been given, while it was one he was confident he would achieve, was still not to be taken lightly. To the best of his ability, he had to appear as though he was one of these people. Even after the first kidnapping was performed. He had a fixed number of targets, and he was going to stick to them. Justin¡¯s mother. Siobhan¡¯s sister. Howard¡¯s wife, daughter, and son. And Xavier¡¯s mother. Alexic had been told to capture the people who might be deemed the least important to Xavier, and work his way through the others. In the tall apartment building, he was taken up to the twentieth floor and shown into a rather bare room. It had a bed, a table, and a closet. Nothing more. And it was incredibly small. More like a broom closet than an actual room. Better than sleeping outside. ¡°Please, feel free to make yourself comfortable,¡± the perky woman said in the hallway as everyone stood in front of the rooms they¡¯d been assigned. ¡°Tomorrow, you will each be assessed to see where you lie on the path. Your levels and classes will all be taken into account, as well as your interests. Then you will get to choose what you will do to contribute to Collinsville. We value freedom in this place, but know that everyone has to contribute something if we¡¯re to function like a society again.¡± The young woman turned and left. That¡¯s it? Alexic was left to his own devices, as was everyone else from his little band of refugees. It didn¡¯t make much sense to him. Far too trusting. Too easy, even. He didn¡¯t spend long in his room. There wasn¡¯t anything to do there. No, the first thing he did was step out of the apartment building and explore Collinsville. No one even gave him a second look as he walked through the streets. He did notice a guard or two, but they didn¡¯t even appear to be on duty, as though they weren¡¯t at all worried about security within the compound¡ªor, well, city, as they were calling this place. -Very strange indeed. Alexic had learnt quite a lot from the man he had tortured for information. One of the things that he¡¯d learnt was just how powerful Xavier Collins had become¡ªor, at least, an estimation of how powerful he¡¯d become. And Xavier¡¯s current level of power? Well, it was beyond Alexic¡¯s employer¡¯s estimation. Beyond any expectation. The footage provided in the information packet for what the man had done to a group of D Grades had reached several sectors beyond Silver River now. Everyone was watching. Everyone was curious to see what this new True Progenitor was capable of. But no one had expected him to be as strong as he was now. This Xavier Collins isn¡¯t normal. He¡¯s more powerful than he should be. More powerful than anyone should be at this stage of his development, no matter how many damned titles he might have earned. And yet¡­ he was this powerful. Alexic had a decision to make. He cased the various places where the man he¡¯d interrogated had told him where Justin¡¯s mother might be¡ªthe woman would be his first target. A plan was forming in his mind, one that would be difficult to pull off. One that would put him on the radar of a lot of powerful people. But one that might ultimately serve him best in the long run. Alexic had been loyal to his employer for many years. He had carried out every single mission the B Grade ruler had sent him on. Alexic was still only E Grade, and it had been a privilege to work for someone so powerful. But he had also seen that his own path to power would be a long, slow one. With his ruler¡¯s propensity to stamp out potential, he knew he couldn¡¯t progress too quickly¡ªknew he couldn¡¯t stand out too much¡ªfor if he did, the stranglehold the man had on his freedom would only tighten. Right now, the contract that he was under wasn¡¯t a death-contract. If he refused to do what the contract told him to do, he wouldn¡¯t lose his life. He wouldn¡¯t even lose the System. But he would lose every one of his levels, skills, and spells. He would have to rebuild himself from the ground up, something he¡¯d contemplated doing from time to time when he¡¯d chafed at the hold that his ruler had over him. With the power that Xavier held, and the task that Alexic had been contracted to carry out, he was starting to believe that in the long run, making Xavier Collins angry with him? Well, it wouldn¡¯t be the wisest thing in the Greater Universe that he could do. Either way, to achieve what he wanted, he needed to capture the people on his list. Whether that was for leverage, or to ultimately kill them¡­ he had not yet decided. Book 4: Chapter 15 - The Old Man Xavier materialised on the nineteenth floor of the Tower of Champions. He was standing in a dark cave. A fire was burning nearby, the flames making shadows dance on the jagged rock walls. The place smelled damp, and Xavier sensed that there was an open body of water somewhere nearby. A man sat by the fire. He looked old. His face was deeply lined, the wrinkles cut into him as though by a knife, or like creases in a thin piece of paper. ¡°Champion,¡± the man said. He tilted his head up to look at Xavier. He frowned. This only served to accentuate the man¡¯s wrinkles, making him look another decade older. He looks like he¡¯s a hundred years old, but in the Greater Universe, that could mean anything. ¡°You came alone?¡± the wrinkled man asked. Xavier glanced up and down the length of the cavern. There were two exits. One on either side of the room he found himself in. One, he could tell, was where the open body of water was¡ªsome underground river or lake? The other, he didn¡¯t have a clue on. He could see with his Farscope only a hundred metres around himself. It was helpful, but not at a distance. Maybe I should have asked Adranial about this floor¡­ He had no idea what was going on. ¡°I came alone,¡± Xavier said, answering the man¡¯s question. ¡°Well, don¡¯t just stand there. Come sit by the fire.¡± Xavier hesitated. Usually, this would be about when he would start fighting enemies. He couldn¡¯t see any doors¡ªexits that would allow him to get back to the Staging Room. That didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t there, however. The exit door was often hidden away somewhere out of sight. The cavern he was in was definitely not a safe room. Xavier had gotten used to the feeling of being in a safe room. Like there was static in the air. It had taken him a little while to realise that, but once he had, it was unmistakable when he was standing inside of one. And he most definitely wasn¡¯t standing inside of one now. Xavier stepped forward and sat by the fire. He didn¡¯t see the harm in it, after all. He did, however, decide that it might be wise to use his Identify skill on the man. He focused on the old man and activated Identify. Nothing happened. Well, something happened. He felt something block him from doing it. A mental block, telling him that the skill was inadequate. Xavier didn¡¯t like that. A sudden chill ran up his spine. He¡¯d stopped walking, standing a foot away from the fire. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to sit?¡± the man asked. ¡°Not afraid of an old man, are you?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Xavier sat. It didn¡¯t much matter what level this man was. If he was a foe and not a friend, he would be easy for Xavier to deal with. The man smirked. ¡°Assessing my level of threat, then dismissing it. That¡¯s a dangerous thing to do, you know.¡± ¡°Are you the one who summoned Champions to this place?¡± Xavier asked. An old man sitting by a fire in a cave, trying to sound as though he were wise. Xavier suddenly felt like he was in a story. If he was, the man would be one of two things¡ªa wise old warrior who would become someone¡¯s mentor, or an evil dark wizard pretending to be nothing more than a helpful, kind old man. Or he could just be some elderly, crazy hermit who hasn¡¯t seen the light of day for decades¡ªhis skin was rather pale, after all. The man held a stick. He pushed a log around in the fire. The fire sparked. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Why?¡± The man glanced up at him. There was something in his eyes. Something like a deep sadness. ¡°There is a monster.¡± He looked over at the tunnel that led to the open body of water. ¡°It¡¯s been terrorising the locals. There¡¯s a river that runs through these caves. It surfaces a few miles away, but this¡­ this is the monster¡¯s lair. I summoned Champions here to deal with it.¡± Xavier narrowed his eyes. The man was lying. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how he could tell. And it wasn¡¯t that he was lying about the monster. No, the monster was real. The man was lying about the reason he¡¯d summoned Champions to this place. Or, in this case, a single Champion, as Xavier had come alone. Does it matter why he¡¯s lying? Xavier hadn¡¯t come here to clear the floor. Not right away, at least. He had come here because he wanted to cultivate Celestial Energy, and the stuff was thick in the air here. But something strange was happening. Something that he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on. ¡°Why are you lying?¡± Xavier asked.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ve been accused of many things in my long life,¡± the man said. ¡°Lying is seldom one of them. Why would I lie to you?¡± With the stick he¡¯d been pushing logs around the fire with, he motioned down the tunnel. ¡°The monster is there. You¡¯ll find it easily enough.¡± Xavier narrowed his eyes. He didn¡¯t bother trying to use Identify on the man again. Clearly, this man had an item that could block it¡ªit was unlikely that he had a spell that could block it, as Xavier should be powerful enough to get past it. Though that was a definite possibility. ¡°I didn¡¯t say you were lying about the monster,¡± Xavier said. The man smiled. It looked a little sinister. Maybe he is an evil wizard. Xavier didn¡¯t move from where he was sitting. He wanted to see this thing through. He pushed on. ¡°You¡¯re strong enough to deal with the monster on your own, aren¡¯t you?¡± The man sighed. He nodded slightly. Opened his hands and shrugged. ¡°You got me.¡± He tilted his head to the side again. It was a familiar gesture, one Xavier had performed hundreds of times. ¡°And now why did you know I was lying, Champion?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I knew.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have some sort of skill or spell for detecting lies, do you?¡± Xavier shook his head again. This was very strange. The lies Xavier could sense from the man¡­ how was he even able to? And if what he¡¯d felt was correct, this man had been the one to summon Champions here, which meant Xavier doubted he was supposed to actually fight him. He had just summoned Champions here for an unknown reason. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°The Tower of Champions is a very strange thing, isn¡¯t it? Every single floor is a gateway to not just another world, but another universe. Don¡¯t you find that just absolutely fascinating?¡± ¡°Yes. I do, as a matter of fact. But I¡¯m not sure what that has to do with why I¡¯m here.¡± The man stared Xavier in the eye. ¡°It has everything to do with why you¡¯re here, and if you would look at me a moment longer, and I mean really look, I think some ideas would come to you rather rapidly.¡± Xavier blinked. He did as the man said. Though the man had lied to him, he didn¡¯t sense any ill intent. He wasn¡¯t sure why he could suddenly sense someone¡¯s lies or their intent. A part of him wondered if it was an evolution of his power¡ªbut he didn¡¯t think that was it. He narrowed his eyes and looked intently at the strange man in front of him. As he stared, he contemplated what the man had said, bringing up the fact that the Tower of Champions was a gateway to alternate universes¡­ then it clicked. ¡°No,¡± Xavier breathed. ¡°It can¡¯t be.¡± The man smiled. Chuckled. ¡°Oh, but it can.¡± The man breathed in deeply, then exhaled slowly. As he did, the air about him shivered. Xavier felt a crackle of power in the air. The man¡¯s visage shifted. Became younger. Significantly younger. Someone who¡¯d looked to be over a hundred years old¡ªby the way people used to age pre-integration¡ªsuddenly looked to be in their late forties. The man¡¯s shoulders filled out. The old, ratty robes he¡¯d been wearing turned into thick, dark robes that radiated a strange power. And his right eye turned a familiar red. The Farscope. Though the man looked significantly younger than he had a moment ago, his actual features didn¡¯t change. And even though he looked more youthful, Xavier got the impression that this man was the oldest person Xavier had ever met. He was also himself. At least, a different version of himself. ¡°You¡¯re me,¡± Xavier said, his mouth falling open. He had thought about this being possible, of course. Thought about the possibility of meeting himself, or someone else he knew. In fact, Xavier had already encountered someone in the tower that he had met before in his own universe. The Great Romalda Heralda. But even though he had thought it was possible that he might meet himself, he never thought that it would be probable. The man who was another version of Xavier Collins raised his chin. ¡°I am and I am not you. Our paths will have diverged significantly. There are universes that are more similar than others, but those universes never touch¡ªat least to my knowledge.¡± The man¡ªXavier, but not Xavier¡ªopened his hands. ¡°I summoned Champions to this world, knowing the consequences. I had to¡­ get creative to make the System do this for me. Normally, it would not allow someone who could solve a problem on their own to summon Champions.¡± He shrugged. ¡°But, as you have no doubt already learnt in some capacity, there are ways to get around the System. ¡°Because I summoned a Champion, I have now created a near infinite number of alternate universes branching off from the moment a Champion is summoned. It¡¯s only dumb luck that I am even encountering you. There will be billions of iterations of myself that have spoken to, and will speak, to other Champions, as the old man you just saw before you.¡± Xavier blinked. Put a hand to his head. Shook his head. ¡°This is a lot to process.¡± The other man chuckled. ¡°Oh, I can imagine. It¡¯s not exactly an easy thing for me, either, seeing myself. A younger me. A different me. And this is exactly what I was hoping for. Your Tower of Champions will be different to my tower, however¡ªI¡¯m sure you would have already gathered that.¡± Xavier nodded slowly. His mind was turning incredibly fast, yet at the same time it felt slow, sluggish, as he wrapped his head around everything that was going on. ¡°My Tower of Champions has you.¡± ¡°I daresay it¡¯s different in other ways. We could sit here and talk about all of them, but the fact that you¡¯re here at all is a very, very good sign.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± The other, older Xavier shrugged. ¡°There will be countless realities where we died facing the goblins back before we even made it into the tower. There will be realities where we weren¡¯t foolish and actually read the description and chose not to become Champions. And I am sure there are versions of us who died on the first floor. Maybe even ones that died before the System came down at all. Hell, there are realities where we weren¡¯t even born. The chances of me actually encountering me¡­ well, those are impossible to calculate.¡± He glanced up at the ceiling. ¡°Unless one were the System itself.¡± Xavier thought about that for a moment. It¡­ boggled his mind. ¡°If your tower is different to my tower¡­ the Tower of Champions is the only reason I¡¯m as powerful as I am. If I didn¡¯t push through it and gain so many titles, then I wouldn¡¯t be this strong in the first place.¡± The other man dipped his head in a nod. ¡°That is true. Our towers are probably more similar than not. In fact, that is my hope. That was my plan.¡± He tilted his head to the side again, and now Xavier saw exactly why the gesture looked so familiar. It was his gesture. ¡°What level are you?¡± the other Xavier asked. ¡°And what floor is this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Level 161. This is the nineteenth floor. I came here to¡ª¡± ¡°To cultivate Celestial Energy into your new core!¡± The man chuckled. ¡°Yes,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°But¡­ how did you¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, how wonderful!¡± The other Xaiver was grinning. The grin looked a little mad. ¡°It worked! I¡¯m having a little trouble believing that it did, but it worked!¡± His fingers on his right hand curled into a fist and he pumped it into the air, then looked a little sheepish. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but laugh a little. This whole thing was a bit absurd. ¡°What do you mean, it worked?¡± Book 4: Chapter 16 - Little Young Me The man sitting by the fire in the dark, dank cave on the nineteenth floor of the Tower of Champions smirked. The man who was Xavier Collins but was not Xavier Collins. ¡°My version of the Tower of Champions has an old man sitting by a fire in this very cave, giving the quest to kill a monster.¡± He jutted his head through the tunnel. ¡°Over in that underwater lair. I remember the floor clearly. I¡¯ve also done all that I can to gain as much information about everything the old man says in response to people, so that I can play the role perfectly.¡± Xavier shut his eyes and lowered his head into his hands. ¡°Are you saying that you found where this floor happens, tracked it down among all the different worlds in all the different sectors, with the only knowledge being that it was in a cave, and there was an old man and a monster?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the man said. ¡°I did. I also had to wait until the right time. It wasn¡¯t the first floor I tried to locate¡ªit was just the first one that worked. The problem was, many of the tower floors occurred before Earth was integrated. You¡¯ve already confirmed that yourself, haven¡¯t you?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Romalda.¡± ¡°Indeed. Then there are floors where the events simply didn¡¯t happen in our universe. I mean, that¡¯s almost impossible to confirm, but I managed to on more than one occasion.¡± He waved a hand. ¡°Finding this floor? It was all very complicated to calculate. And the chances of this actually working, of me encountering a version this close to myself¡­¡± He smiled. ¡°The spirits said it could work. Even so, I struggled to believe them.¡± ¡°Spirits?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°From the otherworld?¡± ¡°Indeed. You really should use their insights more often, Xavier.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°What did you do with the old man that should have been here?¡± The other Xavier waved a dismissive hand. ¡°He¡¯s safe. I controlled his mind and took his place. Nothing too sinister. His monster will be slain, whatever happens to the Champions who come here.¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°This is insane, you know?¡± The other Xavier grinned madly. ¡°It is rather insane, isn¡¯t it?¡± Xavier, slowly coming to terms that this impossible thing had actually happened, looked the man in the eye once more. It wasn¡¯t the first time impossible things had happened to him, after all. Why not something as insane as this? ¡°So, you still haven¡¯t answered¡ªwhy am I here? You obviously went to awful lot of trouble to talk to little old me.¡± ¡°Little young me, actually,¡± the other Xavier muttered. ¡°Indeed,¡± Xavier said. ¡°So why go to all this effort?¡± Another shiver ran up his spine. He imagined doing something like this himself. He wouldn¡¯t do it on a whim. Wouldn¡¯t do it for a laugh. Wouldn¡¯t do it just to chat about life. He would do it because he needed to impart important information to¡­ himself. The older Xavier dipped his head in a nod. ¡°I know that you¡¯re confused. Trust me. I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve been in the exact spot that you are in, but as I am you¡ªor, well, mostly you¡ªI can understand what you must be feeling right now. It also means I know what you must be thinking, just as you knew I would be lying. And you are right to be worried.¡± ¡°Is this to do with Earth¡¯s safety?¡± ¡°No. Not directly, at least.¡± ¡°The threat on the Silver River sector? The one Empress Larona is concerned about?¡± The other Xavier shook his head. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be able to deal with that?¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t what I came here to talk about.¡± Xavier shut his eyes. ¡°This is like time travel, right? Not exactly like it, because our universes are different, but¡­ aren¡¯t you worried you¡¯ll change something by talking to me?¡± ¡°Changing something is the very reason I am talking to you, Xavier.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°God, it¡¯s weird saying my name like that.¡± ¡°Our name,¡± Xavier corrected. ¡°Yes. Our name.¡± The older man shifted where he sat and stared at the flames, pushing the logs around with the stick he¡¯d had earlier. ¡°The System isn¡¯t what you think it is.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± The older man glanced up at the cave ceiling. Narrowed his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what will happen if I tell you everything. The spirits knew talking to you, me¡­¡± He waved his hands a little wildly. ¡°They told me this was possible, but they didn¡¯t tell me much more than that. They didn¡¯t tell me what the consequences of this might be. For a hundred years I¡¯ve been trying to get to this conversation, and now that I have, I¡¯m starting to get cold feet.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°A hundred years?¡± Xavier blurted. ¡°You¡¯ve been trying to talk to me for a hundred years?¡± The other man chuckled again. ¡°You say a hundred years as though it were a long time. Though I suppose to you it is a long time, considering you haven¡¯t even lived for a quarter of that time yet. But one day? When you get to my age? It won¡¯t feel like that much.¡± ¡°When you get to my age,¡± Xavier muttered. ¡°As though there isn¡¯t a better phrase to make you sound old.¡± ¡°I am old. Which means you should listen to me, Xavier.¡± ¡°I am listening. You¡¯ve come this far. You obviously aren¡¯t afraid of what the System will do to you,¡± Xavier said. ¡°No point getting cold feet now.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Which, at least, mean¡¯s you¡¯re right too¡­ What do you mean when you say the System isn¡¯t what I thought it was? I don¡¯t even know what it is! Not really. Only that it¡¯s trying to spread across the entire universe¡ªin every universe, I suppose¡ªand that it¡¯s been around for billions of years.¡± ¡°Countless billions of years, actually,¡± the other Xavier said. ¡°No one really knows how long.¡± ¡°I know that it wants conflict. That it gives us levels, titles¡­¡± The man shook his head. ¡°The System isn¡¯t the entity that gives those things to you,¡± the other man said. ¡°Though I know you aren¡¯t yet able to grasp the distinction at this point in your journey.¡± Xavier stared at his older self over the flames. This was the first time he had ever spoken to someone who had knowledge of what the System actually was and was willing to share it with him. ¡°The System doesn¡¯t give us levels and titles?¡± That didn¡¯t make sense to Xavier. Of course it was the System who gave them these things. They didn¡¯t have them before the System had integrated his world, after all. There was no way to cultivate energy into oneself, or to throw fire from one¡¯s hands, move things with their mind¡­ even if there had always been stories about such things. ¡°Celestial Energy isn¡¯t only present where the Systems is present. I know that¡¯s something you¡¯ve yet to learn, but it¡¯s the truth.¡± Xavier¡¯s forehead creased so heavily he thought he must look as old as the man across from him actually was. ¡°What do you mean? You mean to say that there¡¯s magic even without the System?¡± The other man shifted from side to side, his head tilting one way then the other. ¡°Magic isn¡¯t really what I would call it. Celestial Energy, the energy one can turn it into¡­ it¡¯s more complicated than that.¡± Xaiver waved a hand. ¡°Regardless, are you telling me that people could do these things even without the System?¡± ¡°Yes, and no.¡± The man was staring into the flames again. ¡°Think about how thin the Celestial Energy is in the Tower of Champions. That¡¯s the very reason you stepped onto this floor, isn¡¯t it? I was glad to find you alone. I remember doing the exact same thing.¡± He nodded to his left. ¡°The exit to the Staging Room is that way, by the way. For when you¡¯re ready for it.¡± Xavier ran a hand through his hair. Something clicked in his mind. ¡°Are you saying that back on Earth, before the System came, there was Celestial Energy, it was just¡­ really thin?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± the other Xavier said. ¡°You¡¯ve heard of qi.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve heard of it. Never thought it was real though.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s because it was so difficult to grasp before. The Zen masters who¡¯ve been able to¡­ they have great potential now that the System has come. Post-integration, Celestial Energy is abundant. Not only that, the System is there to help us harness it. Qi is simply energy. There were some people, pre-integration, who were able to harness it. There were even some normal people who used it by accident.¡± He paused. ¡°You¡¯ve heard of mothers picking cars up to save their trapped children, or the berserker rage that warriors can sometimes get into, or the amazing, impossible things that people through Earth¡¯s history have managed to do. The miracles that some myths say people performed¡­ If you really, really look for it¡­ it¡¯s there. And, I imagine it was more abundant a few thousand years ago. That¡¯s why we have so many stories about it.¡± Xavier took a moment to wrap his head around this. ¡°Is this why you brought me here? To tell me that magic¡ªCelestial Energy¡ªexisted before the System came?¡± The other man shook his head. ¡°No. Not exactly. But it is something that you need to know if you¡¯re to understand what¡¯s going on here. Or at least, a small part of what¡¯s going on.¡± He waved a hand. ¡°The System is not the entity that gives you power. It can facilitate the giving of power, through things such as titles, as you¡¯ve said, but titles existed before the System gave them to people¡ªthey just weren¡¯t strictly quantifiable.¡± Xavier shut his eyes. His head was starting to hurt. ¡°A headache coming on?¡± the other man said. ¡°I figured something like this would happen. Here.¡± Xavier opened his eyes and found that the other man was offering him a thermos, of all things. ¡°It isn¡¯t poisoned. Trust me, I wouldn¡¯t go through all of this just to poison myself.¡± The other him smiled. Xavier knew he was telling the truth. He took the offered thermos and sipped from it. ¡°Coffee.¡± ¡°Not just any coffee. That¡¯s the best damned coffee this side of the Greater Universe. A kilo of those beans costs more than your entire outfit of gear.¡± The man sniffed. ¡°Not that what you¡¯re wearing is worth all that much.¡± ¡°You could always pitch in, fund my next set of gear.¡± The other man chuckled. ¡°No. That wouldn¡¯t do. That is not the kind of help I am going to give you. You already know you don¡¯t want it, too, don¡¯t you? You refused the offer Adranial¡¯s ancestor gave you. Earth could have been completely safe, and you could have been given everything you needed to progress.¡± Xavier opened his mouth, about to ask how the other man knew that¡ªwhich would be an incredibly stupid question. Of course the other man knew¡ªthe other man was him. ¡°Did you ever regret doing that?¡± The other man winked. ¡°You tell me.¡± ¡°You never did.¡± Xavier nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would, when I made that decision. But¡­¡± ¡°One can never be sure, otherwise these decisions would be far easier ones to make.¡± The other Xavier motioned to where they were. ¡°I am in a similar predicament. Not knowing whether this choice is a wise one until after I¡¯ve made it. In fact, I might never know, as I doubt we will ever be able to talk again.¡± ¡°That brings us back around to why you¡¯re here¡ªor rather, why you brought me here.¡± ¡°Yes, well. There are things you must know. Things¡­ that I think would have made a difference, had I known them.¡± The other man got a faraway look. ¡°A difference? A difference to what?¡± Xavier leant forward. ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± The man shook his head. ¡°Nothing I should tell you.¡± Book 4: Chapter 17 - Time and Space Xavier sat in front of the flickering fire, the flames playing with the shadows on the older man¡¯s face across from him. The older man who wouldn¡¯t tell him what had happened to bring him here. Xavier wanted to argue, but a part of him saw the futility in that. There didn¡¯t seem to be much point in arguing with himself. And if this man was as old as Xavier thought, that meant he was far, far more powerful than Xavier could even currently imagine. ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell me what level and grade you are, are you?¡± The other man only smiled faintly. ¡°What about Adranial, can I trust her? Can I trust her ancestor?¡± The other man turned his head. Said nothing. The faint smile still on his lips. ¡°What do you want to tell me then!¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t sure where the frustration came from. He hadn¡¯t come to this floor expecting an interaction like this. He hadn¡¯t known he would learn anything about his future. How could he have? Why was he angry with this man¡ªthis man who was him? The other Xavier sighed. ¡°That anger isn¡¯t going to help you, you know. It certainly won¡¯t help you with me. You don¡¯t intimidate me, Xavier. You know that. I wish that I could speak to you for hours, days. Wish that I could tell you all the wonderful and terrible things that have happened to me, that might very well happen to you in your future. I could warn you of so much, and make you excited for even more¡­ but I don¡¯t want to risk too much changing, only the important things.¡± He paused. ¡°The one important thing.¡± Xavier calmed himself. He took another sip of the coffee. God, it really was the best damned coffee that he¡¯d ever drunk. He couldn¡¯t be surprised that his future self would value coffee as much¡ªif not more¡ªthan he did. Though he still couldn¡¯t imagine spending that much on coffee, he liked that he would do so in the future. Doesn¡¯t sound so bad to be that rich. But he was also worried. He couldn¡¯t shake the chill that had come over him since he realised who this man was. It wasn¡¯t a good sign, this. It wasn¡¯t a nice, friendly chat. It was some kind of warning. And the man¡ªhimself¡ªwasn¡¯t even being straight with what kind of warning it was. ¡°So,¡± Xavier said, sipping the coffee. ¡°The System isn¡¯t what gives people power, only what facilitates it.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Were there planets out there with more Celestial Energy than Earth?¡± ¡°There were¡ªwe even had visits from some of them, from time to time, in history.¡± The other man shrugged. ¡°At least, that¡¯s the theory.¡± He touched a finger to his forehead. ¡°There is also a¡­ mental link that some people are able to access. A sort of universal knowledge that creative minds can tap into, one that helps us tell stories.¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Of magic, and elves, and gods¡­¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°Tolkien.¡± ¡°And others,¡± the other man said. ¡°Many, many others.¡± ¡°You said the System wasn¡¯t the entity that gave us levels and titles, only¡­ helped to facilitate it. Are you saying there is another powerful entity out there that does give the Greater Universe those things?¡± ¡°The jury is still out on whether this power is an entity¡ªa living being that has wants and needs. But yes, there is something else. Even I can¡¯t explain what it is, and let me tell you, I¡¯ve gone to great lengths to figure it out. And I¡¯m not the first. There are those who have been around for billions of years who don¡¯t understand it.¡± ¡°Adranial¡¯s ancestor?¡± Xavier asked. The other man didn¡¯t nod or shake his head. Didn¡¯t smile or say a word. ¡°Another thing you can¡¯t tell me.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re getting the hang of it.¡± The other Xavier chuckled. He seemed to like doing that. Apparently, he was able to see the humour in things much better than the young Xavier could. Perhaps that¡¯s something that he could learn from¡­ well, himself. ¡°Why do I need to know this?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°I mean¡­ I want to know this. It¡¯s interesting. I¡¯m certainly learning more from this interaction that I expected to learn when I came to this floor. I just thought I was going to gain a new spell.¡± ¡°Oh, you are going to learn a new spell. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting you leave without you learning it, either. So you can expect to stay here for a good while. Don¡¯t worry, the others won¡¯t be missing you too much. They¡¯ll find that note you left.¡± He winked. ¡°Right,¡± Xavier said.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°I¡¯m telling you these things because the System¡­ well, it was created.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Created? By what?¡± The other man raised a finger. ¡°Not by what, rather by whom.¡± Xavier stared at the flames for a long moment, taking in what the man had said. He didn¡¯t really see how it changed anything, to learn that the System had been created¡­ but then again, in a way, it changed everything. ¡°How could someone create something as powerful as the System?¡± ¡°Before the System, the feats that Denizens were able to perform were considerable. The power that they possessed was more raw and less focused. They didn¡¯t have particular spells, but rather control over reality itself. It was an incredibly difficult thing for people to master. But master it they did.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the people who were around before the System¡¯s creation were more powerful than what those under the System can become?¡± Xavier asked. The other Xavier shook his head. ¡°No. They wouldn¡¯t have needed the System, if that were the case. But they could alter realities in ways you can only dream of.¡± Xavier tipped his head up. ¡°What about you?¡± A faint smile appeared on the man¡¯s lips. ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°Can you alter reality in such ways?¡± Xavier¡¯s back straightened. He tried not to look too eager to hear the answer. ¡°You¡¯ll have to learn of that another time.¡± Xavier¡¯s forehead creased as he looked down and away from the man. He gazed into the flames. ¡°The System has been around since the dawn of the universe. How could these people have created it?¡± ¡°The power that they possessed¡­ it was too late for them so save their own universe. The System was something they devised of that would help in the long run, but that wouldn¡¯t help them. Upon its creation, they sent it back in time, to the beginning. And so the System formed around the same time as the universe.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying these people were strong enough to travel through time?¡± ¡°There are several different ways to travel through time.¡± The other man motioned to the cave they were both sitting within. ¡°In a way, you are travelling to another time and space. But everything that happens here does not directly affect your universe. The type of time travel these people possessed created alternate worlds with every use of it. It did not help their timeline.¡± Xavier once again put his head in his hands. His head didn¡¯t hurt, but his brain was being a little strained wrapping his head around everything. ¡°All right. The System was created. Because they wanted to¡­ save the universe? Or, at least, a universe?¡± He bit his lip. ¡°What exactly were they trying to save it from?¡± The other Xavier stared at him. There was a sadness in his eyes. A sadness he had seen before, but was all of a sudden more profound. The man blinked. Looked away. Stared at Xavier again. And, with a slight shrug of his shoulders, almost apologetically, he said, ¡°The end.¡± ¡°The end? The end of what?¡± The other Xavier opened his hands, extended his arms wide either side of him. ¡°Of everything. The end of the universe. They saw it coming. They couldn¡¯t stop it.¡± Xavier looked away. The end of the universe. The System had been created to¡­ combat the end of the universe? Entropy? Heat death? Last time he checked, that wasn¡¯t something one fought. Was it? He said this to the other Xavier. ¡°I would have thought the same, but the end of the universe¡­¡± He trailed off. ¡°I worry I am saying too much. I worry that it will hear. That it will stop me.¡± He glanced up at the ceiling. ¡°It¡¯s stopped me before.¡± Xavier thought about everything the man had said. A conclusion was slowly forming within his mind. Something that seemed impossible, but what else seemed impossible that had happened lately? Here he was, talking to himself. ¡°Someone tries to end it,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Someone¡­ someone who could harness Celestial Energy before the System came. Someone you¡¯re saying I¡¯m going to have to fight. An enemy at the end of time¡ªan enemy at the end of the universe.¡± Xavier looked over at the older version of himself. The man didn¡¯t just look sad, he looked tired. Xavier wondered, yet again, how old this version of himself actually was. As he stared at the man he was hoping for a denial. Hoping for him to tell him that he was wrong. That he was foolish for even thinking that way. ¡°Yes,¡± the other Xavier said. ¡°Someone tries to end it. And they succeed. They succeed every single time, no matter what the System throws at it. No one has been strong enough to combat it¡ªnot in a near infinite number of universes.¡± His gaze flicked up. ¡°We were supposed to be the one.¡± He shut his eyes. ¡°I think we still can be. Just not¡­ me.¡± The weight of Earth had been on Xavier¡¯s shoulders for some time now. Then, when he¡¯d learnt of the threat, and Empress Larona¡¯s reason for her interest in him, the weight of his sector had settled on his shoulders as well. At first, the weight had been crushing, but it had pushed him forward. He was a better person. A better Denizen. A better Champion. Because of that pressure. But how could the fate of everything, his entire universe, be on his shoulders? How could he do anything to actually stop something like that from happening? His breathing turned shallow. He found himself drawing his knees up to his chest and hugging them in front of the flames. He was in some sort of shock. He could tell that, logically, but he also didn¡¯t care to do anything about it. His breathing was coming faster and faster. His heart raced, so hard it was beginning to hurt. His heart beating shouldn¡¯t have hurt someone as powerful as himself. And yet, here he was. A hand rested on his shoulder. Xavier didn¡¯t push it off, though a part of him wanted to. There was already enough weight on his shoulders as it was, he couldn¡¯t afford more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± the other man said. ¡°Perhaps this was a mistake. Perhaps I shouldn¡¯t have told you all this. I just¡­ I wanted to warn you. Wanted to help you.¡± Xavier shut his eyes. He focused on his breathing. On meditating. It took longer than he expected, but finally, he got a hold of himself. His breathing slowed. His heartrate slowed. And his mind began to clear. ¡°No,¡± Xavier said, opening his eyes again. ¡°You have nothing to be sorry for. It was just¡­ a shock.¡± He shook his head. ¡°It still is.¡± The other man nodded. He moved backward, sitting across from Xavier on the other side of the fire once more. ¡°The System was created to combat¡­ The cause of the end. It was designed to turn people into weapons. Was designed to help us use Mastery Points, Celestial Energy, all of it. It¡¯s here to make us stronger. Every universe created is another scenario. Almost like¡­ a computer running simulations, but those simulations are real, and they¡¯re whole universes, and there are countless lives at stake, and ultimately, the lives of everyone at stake. And this entire time, in every universe, the System has been looking for someone. Someone who can fight this. Someone who can win.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re saying¡­ It¡¯s looking for us?¡± The other Xavier shook his head. ¡°Not us. But you, maybe.¡± Book 4: Chapter 18 - You Have Completed Your Spell Quest The other Xavier didn¡¯t say much after that. Apparently, that was all he had gone to all this trouble to tell him¡ªthat the universe was ending, and he was responsible for saving it. He wouldn¡¯t answer any of Xavier¡¯s other questions. About the future. About his friends. About his abilities. About the other places in the sector he might be able to go. Nothing. He had simply told him that now he had the information, he would know what to do with it. That it would inform his every choice, and because of that, his choices would be better. More calculated. They would serve him in the long term¡ªthey would turn him into what the System needed even better than the System itself could. It didn¡¯t feel helpful to Xavier at all, having all that weight on him. How could knowing every single one of his decisions could change the entire universe help him move forward? It was¡­ paralysing. Xavier wondered what other things he could talk to himself about, but he ultimately decided that was just too strange. Besides, this man wasn¡¯t him. Not truly. Their paths may have been close to identical¡­ right up until the nineteenth floor. Now, they were different. Now, the other Xavier had changed Xavier¡¯s trajectory simply by speaking to him. I still don¡¯t know how me knowing all this now is going to help. Even if it does inform my decisions, I don¡¯t know what the right decisions are if I don¡¯t know what¡ªor who¡ªI¡¯ll be fighting. It wasn¡¯t as though he was given a timeframe when everything was supposed to end. Besides, if the universe was to end, and the other Xavier had failed to stop it, how was he even here? Shouldn¡¯t he have¡­ died? Shouldn¡¯t whoever had created the System in the first place have died, if they were combatting the end¡­ shouldn¡¯t they have already ended? Too many questions and not enough answers. The answers, he feared, were too far away, and he didn¡¯t know if getting them would help him, anyway. The other Xavier certainly wasn¡¯t about to give him any more information. So Xavier closed his eyes and meditated instead. He focused on the Celestial Energy in this place, drawing it into his third core¡ªhis Speed Core. It was difficult, at first. Counterintuitive. He¡¯d gotten used to dragging Celestial Energy out of the air and placing it in the two cores he¡¯d had access to. His habits were strongly formed, and at first he struggled not to simply bring the energy into his Spirit Core and his Willpower Core¡ªboth of which were full and didn¡¯t need him bothering with them. He knew he would be able to figure it out, however. He knew he had to figure it out. The stress and pressure and shock of what he¡¯d just learnt was still weighing on him¡ªit would always weigh on him, he knew. It was simply a part of his life now, one he¡¯d have to get used to. I can¡¯t let this paralyse me. I can¡¯t let it stop me from moving forward. Ultimately, nothing has changed. Not in my present¡ªnot in my immediate future. It occurred to him as he meditated that this was, perhaps, what Adranial¡¯s ancestor had an interest in him for. The woman¡¯s ancestor had been around for as long as this universe had¡ªor, at least, almost as long. His planet had to develop life, first, before the System came and hijacked it. Still. He would know what was going on better than anyone. The System is watching. That notification. The words of it. They popped back in his mind. Was this why the System was watching him? Because he was¡­ one of its chosen? He breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly. His thoughts were kicking him out of his meditative state, which wasn¡¯t helping him cultivate energy at all. Focus. Focus on the task at hand. Once he got into a properly focused state, it didn¡¯t take long for him to start cultivating the Celestial Energy into his Speed Core. The first drop of energy into it felt like a sip of water after being stuck in the desert for a week. Then it was a flood. Overwhelming in its intensity. He wasn¡¯t aware of how long he sat there. He didn¡¯t really care how much time passed. The monster on this floor would be slain by the other version of himself no matter what he did. The other version of me¡­ This other version of Xavier would be here the next time he stepped onto the floor. Pretending to be an old man. Every time anyone stepped onto this floor, they were interacting with him. He had thought he¡¯d already wrapped his head around that, but the realisation that he, Xavier Collins, had been a part of this universe, as someone on a floor of the Tower of Champions, since just about the time of the universe¡¯s birth¡­ God, that was a lot to take in. It all was. Pushing away the thoughts again, he continued cultivating, then circulating that energy out and back through his new core until finally a notification popped up in his vision.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Congratulations, you have completed your Spell Quest and gained the spell Time Alteration! Xavier opened his eyes and smiled. The smile surprised him. After all he¡¯d just learnt, he hadn¡¯t expected to take joy in anything, let alone the simple act of learning a new spell. Even if he had only done that a few times since entering the System. ¡°It¡¯s a good feeling, isn¡¯t it?¡± the other Xavier said. Xavier nodded. It was a good feeling. His smile drifted away, however. The reason he had come to this floor was to learn this new spell, and the other Xavier had no more information. It was time for him to head back to the Staging Room. Soon. I want to stay here. Just a little bit longer. He decided to read the spell¡¯s description before he left. Time Alteration Time Alteration is a powerful spell based on the Speed attribute. This spell gives one the ability to infuse Speed Energy into the space around them, creating a time dilation field that slows or speeds up time in the user¡¯s immediate area. The spell it limited in its scope¡ªthe more powerful the user¡¯s Speed attribute, and the higher rank of the spell itself, the more area this spell effects, and the longer its possible duration. Note: This is a localised time spell. It will only affect the timeline of the user¡¯s universe. It does not have the ability to create new timelines, nor can it make the user travel through time. Xavier tilted his head to the side. Yet another thing he needed to wrap his head around. He looked at the other Xavier. The older Xavier. ¡°Do you want to give me any tips, about this spell?¡± That faint smile brushed the man¡¯s lips again. ¡°This is something you¡¯ll have to figure out for yourself.¡± He looked in the direction he¡¯d said the door to the Staging Room would be. ¡°You better go. Your friends will be waiting.¡± Xavier still didn¡¯t want to go, but he stood up all the same. The other man stood, too. ¡°Would it be weird to shake hands?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I feel about what you told me¡­ but I¡¯m glad you did. At least, I think I¡¯m glad.¡± The other man stepped around the fire. They shook hands. It did feel weird. Xavier hesitated. He had more questions about the spell he¡¯d just learnt. One of those questions pertained to the note at the end of the spell¡¯s information. The note that talked about alternate timelines. The note said that this spell didn¡¯t create new timelines, nor did it allow the user to travel through time. Xavier hadn¡¯t seen notes like that on spells before. It made him wonder¡­ Why would the System go out of its way to say this spell couldn¡¯t be used to create new timelines, or travel through time, if those two things weren¡¯t possible? But the older Xavier wasn¡¯t going to answer his questions. Not on this. So Xavier left the nineteenth floor. I have other ways to get answers. As long as I don¡¯t mind calling on spirits from the otherworld. When he returned to the Staging Room, he¡¯d expected to find the others waiting for him. Siobhan with crossed arms. Howard with a frown. Justin a little annoyed that he¡¯d been left out, but excited to hear about the floor. But no one was in the Staging Room at all. He tilted his head to the side, looked down at the note. It hadn¡¯t been disturbed¡ªit was exactly where he¡¯d left it. With all the talking he¡¯d done with the other Xavier, and all the meditating, he was sure he¡¯d been gone for at least a few hours. Had the others simply thought he was sleeping in his room? He found the others in the tavern. The three of them were having a drink. They looked up as he came in. ¡°Xavier!¡± Justin jumped up from the chair. He swayed slightly, caught a table, got his balance. Xavier couldn¡¯t remember seeing the younger man ever lose his balance, especially as his levels kept rising. How much has he had to drink? Siobhan giggled behind her hand. Howard¡¯s face was a little flushed. Xavier smirked, raising an eyebrow at the three of them. ¡°This is how you spend your free time between floors?¡± Howard shrugged. ¡°What? Can you blame us? We¡¯re well ahead of the curve¡ªwell, you¡¯re ahead of the curve. We¡¯re just hanging off your coat tails.¡± Howard hiccupped. Sipped his drink. Wiped his mouth. ¡°We thought you were in your room? What were you doing, meditating?¡± Xavier sat at the table after ordering a drink. The strongest thing Sam had. He knew it wouldn¡¯t do much for him, but he felt as though he needed it. It wasn¡¯t every day you met yourself, after all. He frowned at the others when he sat down. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d been gone for hours and hours, but it was hard to believe they¡¯d been down here that long. After they chatted for a few moments, Xavier understood what happened. He hadn¡¯t noticed it while he was on the floor, and he wasn¡¯t sure how he would have. Perhaps it was the fact that there was a monster in the adjacent cavern, and it hadn¡¯t made a single noise. Or maybe he could have noticed the lack of airflow coming into the room. Maybe his subconscious had noticed those things but had bigger fish to deal with. From the moment Xavier had stepped onto that floor¡ªor at least from the moment the other Xavier had looked up at him¡ªhe¡¯d been in a time dilation field. While in that field, time had stopped. He and the other Xavier had moved faster than anything outside of the field could. Xavier looked around the tavern. It was surprisingly empty. All the Champions in the cohort must be on floors right about now. Sam was cleaning a mug behind the bar, seemingly pretending not to even notice that they were there. He could easily be listening into this conversation. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Siobhan asked. ¡°Huh?¡± Xavier replied. ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to ask you questions.¡± Howard clapped him on the back. ¡°And you¡¯ve just been sitting there, not responding.¡± That isn¡¯t like me. Xavier cleared his throat. He wondered if he should tell the three of them about what he¡¯d seen. He usually told those three everything that happened to him. He¡¯d been honest with them since the beginning. He stared into his cup for a long moment, swirling the liquid around. He wanted to tell them. And¡­ in the grand scheme¡­ how was what he learnt so bad? The universe would one day end if he didn¡¯t stop it¡­ Hadn¡¯t he already known the universe would one day end? Didn¡¯t everyone, on some level, know that? But we never imagine we might be alive to see it, and with the lifespans we¡¯ll gain at the higher grades¡­ It felt different, knowing he¡¯d be there for it. Felt different, knowing there was a chance to stop it. ¡°I have something I need to tell the three of you.¡± He stood, downed his drink, then placed it back onto the wooden table with a thunk. ¡°Just not here.¡± The other members of his party didn¡¯t argue. They didn¡¯t grumble about having to leave their drinks behind or leave the tavern early. They simply nodded and followed him up to the Staging Room. They looked curious enough, but none of them asked him any questions until they were inside the privacy of their own little instance. ¡°All right,¡± Howard said, crossing his arms. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°From the look in his eyes, I¡¯d say it¡¯s something serious,¡± Siobhan said. Justin just frowned, looking a little confused. Xavier let out a sigh. ¡°I went to the nineteenth floor by myself.¡± Book 4: Chapter 19 - Freedom, Power, and the End of the Universe ¡°You¡­¡± Justin¡¯s face fell. He looked more disappointed than Xavier had ever seen him. Xavier hadn¡¯t realised the young man would feel like that at all¡ªbut, had he thought about it for a moment, he would have known that he would. Justin sat down on his currently empty loot box, the chest bearing his weight easily. ¡°You completed the floor without us?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°No. I didn¡¯t complete the floor. I unlocked my Speed Core. I wanted to draw energy into it so I could gain the spell associated with it.¡± ¡°Speed Infusion?¡± Siobhan asked. ¡°I got a different spell. But that isn¡¯t what I wanted to talk to the three of you about. At least, not yet.¡± Howard crossed his arms. ¡°What happened?¡± He glanced over at the door that sent them to the different floors of the tower. ¡°I¡­¡± He ran a hand through his hair. He wasn¡¯t sure how to broach this. Again, he considered simply not telling them. And again, he pushed that thought away. These were the people he trusted the most in the world¡ªin the universe, even. He released a sigh. ¡°I met someone on the floor.¡± Siobhan raised an eyebrow. An uneven smirk stretched up the left side of her face. ¡°You¡­ met someone, did you?¡± ¡°Not like that,¡± Xavier said. He sat down on his own loot box. Put his head in his hands. Telling them would make it feel even more real than it already did. But he knew that shouldn¡¯t be the thing to stop him. Without knowing how to start this, he took the blunt approach. ¡°It was me,¡± Xavier said, his face blank, staring at the ground. ¡°It was you¡­ what?¡± Howard asked. ¡°It was me who I met on the nineteenth floor.¡± Siobhan raised her hands, palms facing out. ¡°Back up. What are you talking about? What do you mean, it was you who you met on the nineteenth floor?¡± Howard and Justin exchanged baffled looks. Siobhan put her hands on her hips. Then her face shifted, her eyes widening as something dawned on her. ¡°You met¡­ yourself!¡± ¡°Now that she¡¯d figured it out, maybe you could let us in on what¡¯s going on,¡± Howard said. Justin looked at Howard. ¡°What, you don¡¯t understand?¡± Howard stared at him. ¡°Neither do you.¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°I met an older version of me. Someone who is, obviously, from a different universe from our own. This universe is incredibly similar, however. It seems as though this¡ªhim speaking to me on the nineteenth floor¡ªmay very well be the first time our paths diverged.¡± The others took a moment to absorb this. Even Siobhan, who¡¯d seemed to have caught on to what had happened a moment ago. The fact that she¡¯d understood what he meant didn¡¯t seem to dampen the shock. Indeed, it probably increased it. Xavier had known what was going on when he¡¯d been talking to himself. He¡¯d understood. And here he was, still trying to wrap his head around it. ¡°So¡­¡± Justin scratched the back of his neck in that sheepish way he often did. Only he didn¡¯t look sheepish, just confused. ¡°You met an older version of you?¡± ¡°I posited that this might happen,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Or, at least, that it might be possible.¡± She was tapping her index finger against her lower lip. ¡°You did?¡± Justin asked. ¡°When?¡± ¡°When I was deep into my cups in the tavern.¡± Siobhan tilted her head to the side. ¡°I guess I never said it out loud.¡± ¡°All right,¡± Howard said. He was staring directly at Xavier. ¡°So you met yourself. What does that mean?¡± His forehead creased. ¡°Why would an older version of you summon Champions? There¡¯s no way summoning Champions who are powerful enough to complete the nineteenth floor would be any help to you in your current state, let alone when you¡¯re older.¡± ¡°I can only think of one reason,¡± Siobhan muttered. ¡°But this doesn¡¯t make sense. Wouldn¡¯t someone have discovered this? I feel like Adranial, at least, would have warned us.¡± ¡°Adranial doesn¡¯t know,¡± Xavier said. ¡°No one knows. Only me.¡± Justin rubbed his head as though it hurt. ¡°This is¡­ too much.¡± ¡°This man. This other you. He wanted to speak with you?¡± Siobhan said, worry in her voice. Howard grunted. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it couldn¡¯t have been about anything good.¡± ¡°No,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He took a moment to recount to them everything that had happened in his conversation with himself. Every little bit of it. The others looked more than a little crestfallen. ¡°The universe is ending?¡± Justin asked. ¡°That can¡¯t be right! Shouldn¡¯t we have, you know, known about this?¡± ¡°Well, no one has been sure,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°It¡¯s just something that¡¯s been theorised for a long time. You know, the heat death of the universe.¡± ¡°Oh. Right,¡± Justin replied. ¡°But isn¡¯t that, like, billions or years away? How would that effect any of us?¡± Xavier tilted his head down. ¡°It is a long time away,¡± he said. ¡°But apparently the System¡­ it was designed for this. To look for someone¡ªsomeone who can fix this. Someone who can stop the end of all things.¡± ¡°And you think you¡¯re that person?¡± Siobhan asked. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who thinks so,¡± Xavier said. ¡°But the other me¡­ he¡¯d been chosen by the System for this. It thought he might be the one. But he failed.¡± Justin shut his eyes. ¡°So when you say he was an older version of yourself, you meant, like, really, really old?¡± ¡°That must have been strange,¡± Howard said. ¡°I¡¯m having trouble imagining it at all.¡± Justin¡¯s frown intensified. ¡°If this problem is billions of years away, is it really something we need to be worrying about?¡± Siobhan looked over at him. She shrugged. ¡°Maybe. Maybe not. We know our lifespans can be lengthened now. There¡¯s a chance all of us will still be alive for this. Especially with how Xavier is going.¡± Howard shook his head and kept doing so as he talked. ¡°This isn¡¯t an immediate problem. We shouldn¡¯t have to worry about this. The end of the universe¡­ it¡¯s too far out.¡± He sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t see how this matters.¡± Xavier nodded. He¡¯d thought about that too, somewhere between being shocked to meet himself and overwhelmed at the new responsibilities that had just been put onto his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve had a similar thought, but the fact that he came to me¡­ this might be a long, long time away, but that doesn¡¯t mean we should forget about it. It doesn¡¯t mean we should live our lives as though it might never happen.¡± Siobhan blinked. ¡°You want to do something about this, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think you will be sick of life by then? When you¡¯re billions of years old?¡± Howard asked. ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ll be¡­ ready to leave it all behind?¡± ¡°No,¡± Xavier said, then he looked at Siobhan. ¡°To what Howard said. To what you said? Yes, I want to do something about this. If it wasn¡¯t important, that other version of me wouldn¡¯t have gone through the trouble of contacting me like he did.¡± Justin was still looking a little baffled by all of this. ¡°We¡¯ll live long enough to see the end of the universe. Everything will end, then there will be nothing left. We¡¯re all gonna die one day¡ªeverything will die. No loved ones. No legacy. Nothing left behind. Is this even all worth it, if it¡¯s all going to be lost?¡± Xavier chuckled. He couldn¡¯t help himself. He¡¯d never heard Justin speak like this before. ¡°You all right there, Justin? Having a little existential crises?¡± Justin looked up at Xavier through his hands. ¡°What does it all matter if one day nothing will be?¡± ¡°Because, right now, everything is,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it all gets taken away, or even when that happens. As far as I know, we can only ever live in the present.¡± He looked at Howard. ¡°I know I¡¯m still young, especially in the grand scheme of things, but I can¡¯t ever see how immortality would be a burden. Life is everything. Having it eternally? That would be the ultimate prize. Even if the end is billions of years away¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be true immortality if it came.¡± Justin nodded slowly. Then his expression shifted. ¡°We might live for billions of years.¡± He smiled. ¡°Or we might live forever. That¡­ that is awesome!¡± Siobhan shook her head at him, but she was smiling while she did it. ¡°Didn¡¯t take him long to come back around.¡± ¡°Small blessings,¡± Howard said. ¡°I still don¡¯t see how this changes anything.¡± Xavier raised his chin. ¡°It changes everything. This¡­ all of this, every decision I make¡ªevery decision we make¡ªit¡¯s all about the long game. All about ensuring whatever it is that causes the end of everything is defeated.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t get over the fact that the System was created by someone,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°It feels like something that was always here.¡± ¡°It was always here¡ªin our universe. But that isn¡¯t the case for others.¡± Xavier stood up from the chest he¡¯d been sitting on. ¡°It¡¯s time we move forward. We have a universe to save.¡± Howard chuckled. ¡°Not for a long, long time you don¡¯t.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t reply to the man. He understood what Howard must be feeling¡ªhe felt it a little himself. In a way, this didn¡¯t feel urgent. Not one bit. There were other things he needed to worry about. Other things that should be on his mind. But all of them were just a path toward this. Xavier had a goal before this. Several of them. But he now knew where all his actions would be leading him¡ªhe now knew what his ultimate goal was, and his ultimate prize, too. If I stop the end of the universe, I can become immortal. I¡¯ll be able to live for all eternity. It wasn¡¯t simply power that he craved, even though he did. It was something more. Something that he¡¯d never truly had. It was freedom. The freedom to do whatever he wished, whenever he wished, for as long as he wished. To not have to worry. To not have anything that needed to be done. To pursue the things he wanted to pursue. That¡¯s what true power was, and that¡¯s what he would get if he were able to save the universe. ¡°So, what do we do next?¡± Justin said. He clapped his hands together, a big smile on his face. ¡°Saving the universe doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s going to be easy.¡± He slapped Xavier on the shoulder. ¡°But we¡¯ll be there to help.¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy to say that when something is literally billions of years into the future, isn¡¯t it?¡± Siobhan said. Justin smirked but didn¡¯t reply. ¡°First,¡± Xavier said. ¡°We see how my new spell works.¡± ¡°Your new spell?¡± Justin asked. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s right, you revealed your Speed Core! What¡¯s the spell? You said it wasn¡¯t Speed Infusion?¡± Justin¡¯s secondary core was a Speed Core. Xavier could see why the young man might be curious. ¡°I got a spell called Time Alteration.¡± ¡°Time Alteration?¡± Justin blinked. Then his face lit up. ¡°That sounds unbelievably awesome! Are you kidding me? You can alter time? I revealed the same core you did, why didn¡¯t I get Time Alteration?¡± ¡°Maybe because you revealed it at a lower grade,¡± Siobhan posited. ¡°Or, perhaps, because you¡¯re not the one who has been chosen by the System to save the very universe itself, and you don¡¯t have anywhere near his level of power or number of titles?¡± ¡°Okay, Siobhan, fine. There might be a few reasons he got that spell and I didn¡¯t. But that doesn¡¯t mean you have to rub it in.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t rubbing it in, I was¡ª¡± Howard raised a hand. ¡°That¡¯s enough bickering, children. Xavier has a spell to cast.¡± Xavier smiled and nodded at Howard. ¡°Thanks, Howard.¡± He looked around the Staging Room, took a quick breath, then he cast his Time Alteration spell for the first time. Book 4: Chapter 20 - Thrown Through Time Standing in the Staging Room, his party before him, Xavier cast his new Time Alteration spell. The others were looking on with interest. He hadn¡¯t even given them a chance to ask what the spell did. Though he supposed it was all in the name, so they would have had a strong idea. However, Xavier, if he were honest, wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure what the spell would do either¡ªand he had the description to work with. Still, even so, he didn¡¯t know how the spell would act. Didn¡¯t know how to make it slow down time or speed it up¡ªand he wasn¡¯t sure how it worked in relation to what was happening around them. But he was about to find out. What looked to him like a large soap bubble shot out from where he stood. It expanded, taking in his party members. The odd thing about the bubble wasn¡¯t the bubble itself, but rather that the other members of his party clearly couldn¡¯t see it. Casting the spell, there hadn¡¯t been any fanfare. He¡¯d felt a surge of power rip through him and out of Charon¡¯s Scythe, but that power hadn¡¯t been visible even to him. No wonder I hadn¡¯t noticed the older version of me using the spell. I thought it was just because he was a higher grade. I guess I was wrong. The bubble didn¡¯t stretch all that far. It had a radius of maybe ten feet around him. Enough to encompass himself and the other members of his party, but no more. ¡°So¡­ are you going to cast the spell?¡± Justin asked. Xavier blinked. ¡°I already¡­¡± He trailed off as he felt a slight pressure in his mind. Then a notification popped up in his vision. Do you wish to speed up time, or slow down time? Xavier blinked again, staring at the words. He tilted his head to the side. If he sped up time, what affect would that have outside of the bubble? Would it mean that he and the others would be able to have an hour-long conversation in a single minute? Or would it mean when he ¡°popped¡± the bubble, they would have moved into the future? He assumed it would be the former that would happen¡ªor something like it¡ªbut it was difficult for him to know. Especially if everyone was inside the bubble when he activated it. He couldn¡¯t wait to test out the different applications of this spell. All he hoped was that it had a short cooldown time. ¡°Howard, could you please take two steps back?¡± Howard frowned, but he did as Xavier instructed, taking two steps backward. He was now standing just outside the bubble. ¡°Wait¡­ why did you want him to step away?¡± Justin asked. ¡°Nothing¡¯s going to explode, is it? Should I take a step back?¡± ¡°Of course nothing is going to explode, it¡¯s a time spell!¡± Siobhan said. Then she looked warily at Xavier. ¡°I mean, right?¡± Xavier smirked. ¡°Well, I mean, I¡¯ve never cast it before.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Best to have at least one of you survive.¡± ¡°He¡¯s joking,¡± Howard said. Justin crossed his arms. ¡°Of course you¡¯d say that. You¡¯re safe.¡± Xavier looked over at Howard. ¡°Can you start counting, and tell me what you observe of us?¡± Howard nodded. Xavier willed the spell to speed up time. Nothing changed. He felt the spell work¡ªthe pressure that had pressed against his mind was now gone. But inside the bubble was exactly as it had been a moment ago. Outside the bubble, however, was what had changed. Howard stood there, arms crossed, staring into the bubble, not moving an inch. ¡°He¡¯s frozen,¡± Justin said. ¡°He¡¯s not frozen,¡± Siobhan replied. ¡°We¡¯re just moving so fast that it looks like he¡¯s frozen.¡± Siobhan grinned. ¡°This is a time dilation spell!¡± She looked as though she was about to take a step toward Howard when Xavier stopped her. ¡°I still don¡¯t really know how this spell works,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what will happen if one us steps outside of its radius.¡± Siobhan drew herself backward a little, taking a step away from Howard. ¡°And you can see the¡­ barrier?¡± Xavier nodded. ¡°I can. It¡¯s curious that you can¡¯t. I thought, as my party members at least, that you should be able to see it.¡± ¡°Whoa,¡± Justin said. He was staring at Howard. ¡°So, right now, you¡¯re altering time? What else can the spell do? Can you go back in time? Because that would be so awesome!¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°Nothing like that, no.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Justin said, sounding disappointed. ¡°Well, this is cool too, I guess.¡± Siobhan tapped her index finger on her lower lip. ¡°Interesting. It only works within the field. And, I imagine, the stronger the spell becomes, the larger this field of yours can become, too?¡± Xavier nodded. ¡°Makes me wonder how long the cooldown will be,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°A spell like this¡­ well, when most of the Tower of Champions¡¯ floors have time-based records, it could definitely come in handy¡ªnot that you need that kind of help at this point.¡± ¡°I may need that kind of help in the future,¡± Xavier said. ¡°These floors might be easy now, but we have no idea how they will change.¡± ¡°Can the spell slow down time?¡± Justin asked.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°It can,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°But only inside the barrier.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°I think that means time will pass more quickly outside of it.¡± Justin frowned. ¡°How could that be a good thing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering that myself.¡± Xavier paced around the radius of the bubble. He wanted to know how Howard might perceive movement that was happening inside of it. He couldn¡¯t help but watch Howard. Xavier¡¯s speed was so high that he could move faster than any of them, but if he moved at speed while inside this bubble, and someone outside was looking in? He would likely become invisible to them, but that didn¡¯t seem necessary to test right now. ¡°I can think of a few applications,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Or, at least, I have the seed of a few new ideas forming in my mind.¡± ¡°As do I,¡± Xavier said. He was still pacing around the bubble, thinking about the different possible applications of the spell. He wanted to know how he could use it on the next floor¡ªor if it was even worth doing so. ¡°This is really cool,¡± Justin said. He took a step toward Howard, but made sure he wasn¡¯t too close. ¡°I still wonder what happens if I step out of the bubble.¡± He raised his arm, and looked like he was going to touch the bubble, although he didn¡¯t actually know where it was. ¡°Why would it get stuck?¡± Justin asked. Siobhan bit her lip. ¡°Well, it stands to reason. The bubble speeds up time within itself. So everything outside is moving as slow as Howard is. If you put your hand through that¡­¡± ¡°Then my hand might move slower than the rest of my body?¡± ¡°Exactly. You wouldn¡¯t want that, would you?¡± Justin dropped his head. ¡°No. I suppose I wouldn¡¯t.¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t worried. At least, not about himself. He wanted to see what would happen, but he didn¡¯t want to put the others through it. So, he stepped up to the bubble. He reached out and put a single finger through it. He tilted his head to the side as his finger moved through the bubble. ¡°Are you sure you should be doing that?¡± Siobhan asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure I would rather be the one to face any consequences.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°I¡¯d rather you face the consequences too,¡± Justin said. ¡°Oh, how very polite of you, Justin,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°I think so.¡± Xavier held his finger through the bubble for a moment. He didn¡¯t move an inch. Not even a millimetre. He examined his finger through the clear barrier that only he could see. Nothing appeared to be happening to it. ¡°So¡­ Are you gonna do anything?¡± Justin asked. ¡°My finger is through the barrier already. I¡¯m about to pull it back through.¡± Siobhan stepped right up to him. She tilted her head down and stared at his finger. ¡°Do it.¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow at her instructing him, but did as she said. He pulled his finger back. It was an odd sensation. One that he couldn¡¯t quite understand. He tilted his head to the side again, staring at his finger. It looked exactly the same as it had before. It didn¡¯t get left behind as Siobhan had feared. ¡°Well, that was boring,¡± Justin said. ¡°In this case, boring is a good thing. Though I wonder what would happen if someone was thrown through the barrier,¡± Siobhan mused. ¡°Also, the barrier might have acted differently because it was Xavier who was putting his hand through it.¡± She looked at Justin. Justin put his hands up. ¡°What are you looking at me for? I don¡¯t want to test it. And I certainly don¡¯t want to be thrown through it.¡± Siobhan frowned at him. ¡°Fine then. If you aren¡¯t brave enough to do it, I suppose I¡¯ll have to be the one.¡± ¡°Oh, well, can I be the one doing the throwing?¡± Justin asked. Siobhan turned on her heel and faced Xavier. ¡°Come on, Xavier. Throw me through it.¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. ¡°All right. If you say so.¡± Xavier stepped up to Siobhan and picked her straight off the ground. ¡°You ready for this?¡± ¡°Of course I am,¡± Siobhan said with confidence. Xavier shrugged, then threw her through. Siobhan flew through the air. When she hit the bubble, Xavier flinched. Her body went straight through without any issues, then it froze on the other side. The woman was suspended in midair. Although, Xavier knew that wasn¡¯t actually what had happened. She wasn¡¯t suspended in the air, she was frozen in time. At least from the perspective of those still within the bubble. Outside the bubble, time was flowing perfectly normally. Justin walked up to the barrier. Xavier stopped him from making it all the way through. Justin nodded. ¡°Thanks.¡± The young man frowned. ¡°I think I know what is happening here.¡± He looked at Xavier. ¡°Can you tell me exactly where the barrier ends?¡± Xavier showed him what he wanted. Justin pushed his hand through without any hesitation. Then he wiggled his fingers on the other side. Xavier was surprised that they moved. ¡°How did you manage that? I thought whatever would be on the other side would be frozen?¡± ¡°I had thought that would be the case and first too.¡± Justin pulled his hand back through. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t appear to work that way. I noticed when Siobhan was thrown through, she wasn¡¯t¡­ Crushed or anything.¡± ¡°Wait, you thought she might be crushed, and you let me do it anyway?¡± Justin shrugged. ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t very sure.¡± ¡°I wonder¡­¡± Xavier stepped over to where Howard was. He wasn¡¯t very far over the line. Only a single step. Xavier could easily reach him with an extended arm. So, he did just that. He reached through the bubble and found that he was able to move his arm. He wasn¡¯t sure why he hadn¡¯t tested his finger. He supposed he was expecting something else to happen to it. He pushed the man¡ªgently¡ªon the chest. Then Xavier pulled his arm back through the bubble. Howard didn¡¯t move. Xavier hadn¡¯t expected him to. He wanted to know if the man would move once the bubble was gone. ¡°An interesting test,¡± Justin said. ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± Xavier was sure there were other things that they could test, but one thing he was very interested in was finding out how long the cooldown was. It was easy for him to deactivate the spell. All he had to do was think it, and it happened. The moment the spell ended, two things occurred. The first was that Siobhan continued to fly through the air. She yelped, and it echoed in the Staging Room. The second thing that happened was that Howard was pushed backward. Shock was written across his face. He caught his balance easily enough¡ªhe had multiple skills for doing so. ¡°Did you push me?¡± Howard said, staring at Xavier. ¡°How do you know it was me who pushed you?¡± ¡°None of the others would have been able to move me.¡± Siobhan crashed to the ground. She stood, brushed herself off, and stalked back to the other three. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to throw me that far.¡± Xavier raised his hands defensively. ¡°I didn¡¯t throw you very hard.¡± He turned to Howard. ¡°And yes, it was me who pushed you.¡± He explained to Howard what had happened since he had cast the spell. He also told Siobhan about being able to move one¡¯s limbs outside of the barrier, as long as their main body remained within. ¡°I wonder how well that works for weapons,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°Did you test how long the spell lasted?¡± Howard asked. Xavier shook his head. ¡°No. I suppose that would have been a good idea. However, it didn¡¯t feel as though the spell would have ended anytime soon.¡± [Xavier Collins? Are you hearing me?] Adranial asked through the Communication Stone. [Have you finished the eleventh floor already?] Xavier asked. [We did. Much faster than we¡¯d expected. Something tells me you¡¯ve already made it through the last five floors that informed you about.] [Indeed. And I may have ventured onto the nineteenth floor a little early.] [You haven¡¯t completed it already, have you?] Adranial replied, and Xavier could sense her indignance through the link. [No. Not yet.] For a moment, Xavier wondered if he should tell her about what had happened on the nineteenth floor. He could easily make her sign a contract, stopping repeating anything she heard. But he wasn¡¯t sure that he trusted her that much. Even with a contract. At least, not yet. Maybe sometime in the future. Though he did have some questions for her. He wanted to know if anyone had found the man on the nineteenth floor to be strange in any way. It was a little hard to believe that he was the first one to discover the man¡¯s true identity. Had no one in the history of this entire universe ever realised there was more to the man in the cave by the fire? Though he supposed it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for someone as powerful as a future Xavier to trick people coming through the nineteenth floor¡ªpeople who would mostly be F Grade, and only very rarely E Grade. Xavier was sure that he too would have been fooled had the future version of himself not wanted to be revealed. He hadn¡¯t sensed anything strange about the man. Then again, he hadn¡¯t tried to. [Will you be down in the tavern soon?] Adranial asked. [I¡¯m on my way now.] [Good. We¡¯ll meet you there.] Book 4: Chapter 21 - What’s Going On Here? Adranial frowned at him. ¡°What do you mean, is there anything strange about the old man?¡± Xavier shrugged. ¡°I just felt like he might be hiding something.¡± ¡°Hiding something?¡± Adranial asked. ¡°Why would the old man be hiding something?¡± The woman shook her head. Her hair was down, and her curls bobbed a little. ¡°He¡¯s just an old man! There is absolutely nothing remarkable about him.¡± Xavier looked away. ¡°Why do you look offended by that?¡± Adranial looked over at Siobhan, Howard, and Justin. ¡°Do any of you know what¡¯s going on here?¡± Justin glanced at the other two. Howard¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. Siobhan crossed her arms and looked into her drink. None of the three said anything. Adranial frowned some more. ¡°Anyway. Forget about the old man. He¡¯s not the important thing about the nineteenth floor.¡± The woman took a sip of her ale. ¡°What you really should be asking about is the monster.¡± Justin grabbed his own ale. ¡°It¡¯s just a monster, right? Xavier can just¡­ kill it really fast, then he¡¯d be done with the floor.¡± Justin had a point. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure that he needed anything from Adranial about the nineteenth floor. He wanted to ask her more questions about the old man, but obviously doing so was making her suspicious. The last thing he wanted was to tip her off, though he doubted she would be able to simply guess who he was, or why Xavier was so interested in him. Still, it was better to be safe. Which was why he asked about the monster. ¡°Justin¡¯s right. What¡¯s unique about this monster? This floor seems pretty straightforward.¡± ¡°Justin¡¯s right. Two words that could never be more true,¡± Justin muttered to the side. ¡°Well, that¡¯s where you would be wrong. About the monster. Not about Justin being right. Although, you¡¯re wrong about that too. This monster is, well, as you said, unique.¡± Adranial sipped her ale again. ¡°Not to sound arrogant, but how exactly would I have any trouble with this thing? It can¡¯t be stronger than me¡ªno one would ever survive this floor if it was.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that it¡¯s strong¡ªthough it is, at least for the floor. The problem is that it has the ability to teleport.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still not sure how that would make an impact. I¡¯ll kill it before it gets a chance to teleport away.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be so easy. This monster has a strong ability to hide when it needs to. It¡¯s a predator, like all beasts in the Greater Universe. But, unlike other beasts in the Greater Universe, this one knows that it¡¯s also prey.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve lost me,¡± Justin said. ¡°She hasn¡¯t lost me.¡± Siobhan leant her hands on the table and inched forward in her seat. ¡°This makes sense, don¡¯t you see? We¡¯ve encountered a lot of beasts that will blindly attack us, even when they see how strong we are¡ªeven when they see how strong Xavier is. They are predators by nature. However, they are also prey¡ªit simply depends who they¡¯re fighting.¡± She nodded at Adranial. ¡°This beast is smarter than many that we¡¯ve fought in the past. It will see Xavier¡¯s strength, even if it can¡¯t read his aura, and it will hide.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s in the cave in the first place,¡± Adranial said. ¡°At least, according to that old man you were so interested in.¡± She gave Xavier a pointed look, one that said she still had questions about that. ¡°The beast attacks, then hides within the network of caves when stronger Denizens come to the area.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t one of those stronger Denizens simply deal with it?¡± Howard asked. ¡°It seems odd they would need Champions for something like this.¡± ¡°Those Denizens don¡¯t much care about the safety of the smaller villages. At least, not enough to go on a hunt for the beast. If it were nearby, easy to find, or actively attacking, they would kill it. But otherwise? It simply wouldn¡¯t be worth it for them,¡± Adranial said. Xavier nodded. ¡°All right. You¡¯ve explained that the beast isn¡¯t dumb, but I should be fast enough to take it down.¡± ¡°It¡¯s got some sort of spell or skill that makes it resistant to the first attack that lands on it. Then, it disappears in an instant if it deems that attack too strong, hiding away from whoever attacked. That is why you¡¯ll have trouble with it¡ªyou won¡¯t be able to find it.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side. This was suddenly piquing his curiosity. ¡°Well, that¡¯s more interesting than the last few floors have been for me. Everything has become a little too easy lately.¡± ¡°Too easy,¡± Justin muttered. Xavier ignored the young man. ¡°Now, you must know where this thing hides?¡± Adranial shrugged. ¡°No one does.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Siobhan said. ¡°There must have been billions of Denizens who have come through this floor and not a single one of them knows where this beast hides away when it feel threatened?¡± ¡°People simply tend to restart the floor. There have been many who have searched for it, but as no one has ever found it, it¡¯s often deemed as a waste of time. Again, you know that knowledge of the floors is difficult to pass down¡ªso there could very well be someone out there who has found it, and that knowledge simply never reached my sector, or they decided to keep it to themselves. Either way, you, Xavier Collins, have to be careful. Usually the tactic with this monster is to use a weak attack on the beast¡¯s first defence. Any attack will do. It might be smarter than other beasts, but not by a lot. It¡¯s easy enough to fool this thing into thinking you¡¯re weaker than you already are.¡± Xavier had been thinking of doing just that. He was glad for the information, but if that was how he could fix it, he wasn¡¯t sure why the woman was going on about things so much. ¡°The problem, however, is you won¡¯t be able to fool it, Xavier. No E Grade ever has. It¡¯s recommended that people don¡¯t advance to E Grade until after they¡¯ve completed this floor, or that E Grades come onto the floor with F Grades so they can help with the monster.¡± Xavier looked at the other members of his party. He wanted to solo the floor. Something told him this wouldn¡¯t count. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to come up with some other solution.¡± Adranial smiled. ¡°I was hoping you would say that.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°You were?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± She leant forward on the table. A lock of her fell over her shoulder and into her face. She moved it away with a hand. ¡°I want to see you struggle for once.¡± She winked. ¡°It would be nice to see something the Great Xavier Collins isn¡¯t able to do.¡± ¡°The Great Xavier Collins?¡± Siobhan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Please tell me people aren¡¯t calling you that, because I think your ego has grown enough as it is. There¡¯s no need to make it any bigger.¡± Xavier looked at Siobhan, deadpan. ¡°But¡­ I am great.¡±Stolen novel; please report. Adranial and Siobhan sighed at the exact same time. Xavier and the others returned to the Staging Room. They were eager to move on through the floors after their short break. Adranial had detailed the twentieth floor, and the next few after that, as well as the nineteenth floor that they were about to enter. Xavier had originally thought he would be returning to Earth after the twentieth floor, like he¡¯d returned to Earth after the tenth floor, but apparently that wasn¡¯t an option. He was actually glad for that, considering how quickly they¡¯d gone through these floors. As much as he wanted to be able to go back to Earth, right now his primary focus was simply getting through these floors as quickly as he possibly could. That wouldn¡¯t happen if was sent back to Earth every ten floors. Adranial hadn¡¯t told him which floor would send him back to Earth. Almost as though she were trying to hide it from him. When he asked Sam, the barkeep kept it to himself as well, not without winking at Adranial in the background first, however. Apparently it was a conspiracy, though he wasn¡¯t sure why they were keeping it from him. He supposed perhaps Adranial didn¡¯t want him leaving the Tower of Champions before letting her know. She knew he wouldn¡¯t blindly plough ahead if he didn¡¯t know which floor would take him back to Earth until he reached it. Xavier rubbed his hands together as he looked over at the door to the next floor. The last thing he wanted to do was linger in the Staging Room now that he knew what was coming next. ¡°So, do you have a plan for this floor?¡± Justin asked. Xavier smiled. He nudged his new spell¡ªthe one he¡¯d just acquired and tested in this very room only a few minutes before they¡¯d gone down to talk to Adranial in the tavern. He could feel that the spell had already reached the end of its cooldown. It had been about thirty minutes since the last time he¡¯d used it. He was a little annoyed that it had taken so long for the spell to be used again, but considering how overpowered the spell was, he supposed that it made sense that he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it so quickly. At least, not yet. Perhaps in the future it would have a much shorter cooldown and he¡¯d be able to use it multiple times during a fight. I¡¯m definitely looking forward to that. At least half an hour wasn¡¯t really all that long. ¡°I do have a plan,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°But you¡¯ll just have to wait and see what it is.¡± Justin glanced at Siobhan with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You see how he isn¡¯t telling us the plan, and he¡¯s pretending how he knows exactly what he¡¯s doing? That means he hasn¡¯t got a plan. He¡¯s clueless.¡± Siobhan laughed behind her hand. ¡°Yeah, Xavier can be pretty clueless sometimes. Though I wouldn¡¯t sell him short.¡± ¡°No. I suppose I wouldn¡¯t want him harvesting my soul if I got on his bad side, either.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to harvest your soul, Justin.¡± Xavier paused. Turned. Looked at the young man. ¡°At least, not anytime soon.¡± He winked. Justin knew he was joking¡ªat least, he probably knew. Though as Xavier stepped over to the door to the next floor, he heard the teenager swallow. They entered the floor. The old man was by the fire once more. Xavier looked over at him. This man was him. An older version of him, but him all the same. But it wasn¡¯t the exact same older-version-of-Xavier that he¡¯d spoken to the last time he was on this floor. This Xavier had never met him before. This Xavier might think this was the first time he¡¯d been on this floor and try to talk to him. [You guys deal with him,] Xavier said through the Communication Stone. He fled down the cave tunnel toward where the monster was. He needed to find it as fast as he could if he was going to get the record for this floor. And he didn¡¯t need to just find it, he needed to cast a spell before it caught on to how powerful he was. He figured that shouldn¡¯t be too hard, despite all of Adranial¡¯s warnings. Just because other Denizens had struggled to keep it close didn¡¯t mean he would have the same issue. You aren¡¯t going to hide from me. Adranial hadn¡¯t explained what the monster was, or what it looked like¡ªaccording to her, that wasn¡¯t the important part. Xavier, however, hadn¡¯t been expecting it to be a damned kraken. The sight of the thing in the underground lake made him almost stop running. Krakens were things of myth back on Earth¡ªbut of course in the Greater Universe they would be something that actually existed. He should have known that. He was getting used to finding out things like this existed, after all. He¡¯d faced dragons and hydras and wyverns and all manner of other kinds of previously mythological beasts. What was one more? There was a small part of him that wished he could tame beasts like this. But he knew that would never be in the cards for him. He wasn¡¯t some sort of beast tamer or monster summoner. He was a killer. As soon as Xavier deemed that he was close enough, he stopped running, skidding across the ground. His feet stopped a couple of inches before the water started. Instantly, he cast Time Alteration. He¡¯d been moving so fast that the kraken hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to even lay eyes on him yet¡ªand the damned thing had a lot of eyes, so he figured that was an impressive feet. He couldn¡¯t tell exactly how large the beast was, as so much of its body was submerged in the water. But it looked as though it had hundreds of writhing tentacles, each of them just as slimy as the last, filled with disgusting puckers that appears to be like small mouths filled with needle-sharp teeth. He could already see that the kraken was snagging up other smaller beasts and feeding them straight into its giant, teeth-lined maw in the middle of its large body, but he shuddered when he saw some of those small, pucker mouths eating tiny fish beasts in the underground lake. Xavier knew most people would look at a beast like this with fear, but mostly it just made him cringe. The Tower of Champions wasn¡¯t a challenge for him anymore¡ªhe wasn¡¯t sure if it ever would be again. That realisation made him sad. He paused where he was for a moment¡ªit didn¡¯t matter how much time passed while he was still in this time-bubble. Time was moving at the slowest of crawls outside of it, after all. That was the whole point of him using the spell in the first place. Xavier just stood there. The tower floors¡­ they weren¡¯t enough for him, just as the dungeons he¡¯d been clearing hadn¡¯t been enough for him. Had they made him stronger? Of course¡ªhe¡¯d gained countless titles clearing them. He was a great deal stronger than he¡¯d been before he¡¯d gotten so many titles. But he¡¯d refused to go to Adranial¡¯s ancestor¡¯s sector and be under their protection and tutelage because he¡¯d wanted things to be harder, not easier. This wasn¡¯t harder. Standing there, Xavier cast a few spells at the kraken, sure that his plan would circumvent its ability to teleport. The kraken was outside of the bubble he¡¯d created with his Time Alteration spell, but it wasn¡¯t far outside. He¡¯d needed to be close enough for what he¡¯d wanted to work. One of the beast¡¯s tentacles had slid outside of the water and was less than an inch outside of the bubble. Xavier had measured the space exactly, ensuring that this would happen. That tentacle was where he¡¯d targeted his spells. The first spell that he cast was Heavy Telekinesis. It didn¡¯t really matter what spell he used¡ªhe simply needed the beast¡¯s defensive spell to be spent, and this felt like the easiest way to do that. The second spell he cast was Soul Strike. Then he cast Soul Shatter for good measure, though he didn¡¯t think it was completely necessary. Each of the three spells reached the edge of the bubble then moved so slowly it was almost like they weren¡¯t moving at all. The spells hit the beast in quick succession. And exactly what Xavier had thought would happen, happened. Once Xavier had dropped the Time Alteration spell, the beast died. The floor was completed. Xavier slumped his shoulders. He felt an utter sense of disappointment. His plan had worked, but a part of him hadn¡¯t wanted his plan to work. He¡¯d wanted this floor to be more of a challenge. He stared down at the dead beast that was floating up to the surface of the water. The kraken was even larger than he¡¯d thought it was. Xavier hadn¡¯t even bothered scanning the beast. Its actual name, its level, more information he might have gained about it from his Identify skill¡ªnone of that seemed important. Why would something like this be important if it was so easy to defeat? It¡¯s like I¡¯m crushing insects beneath my boot. More of an annoyance than anything else. He stood there and waited for the titles to flow in. This was the single objective from the floor. But the titles weren¡¯t coming. The floor hadn¡¯t ended like he¡¯d thought. Xavier frowned and looked around the cavern. He looked down at the beast¡ªit wasn¡¯t bobbing at the surface anymore. It wasn¡¯t moving at all, despite the fact that it had been bobbing slightly in the water. In fact, nothing in the cave that he could see was moving. He looked down at the water where it had rippled outward from the massive beast¡¯s movements. The ripple had stopped, like it was a photograph and not reality. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± he said aloud. His voice didn¡¯t echo, despite the large cave, as though the sound waves didn¡¯t travel very far. It was like his Time Alteration spell had been activated again, but of course he hadn¡¯t done that. There was still almost half an hour until the cooldown ended¡ªthe cooldown didn¡¯t start until the spell finished, unlike most other spells. And he would know if this was something he had done. He looked behind him, half-expecting to find himself¡ªthe older version of him, anyway¡ªstanding there. But the man wasn¡¯t there. The man wasn¡¯t anywhere to be seen. Something very, very strange was going on. Do I have the ability to be invisible in the future? Xavier wondered. But then, why would he want to hide from himself? None of this made any sense. Then a notification popped up in his vision. For a split second between the notification popping up and him actually reading it, Xavier thought he could relax. But what he saw wasn¡¯t a notification about him finishing the floor. It was something else. The System wants to talk to you. Book 4: Chapter 22 - The Voice of the System Xavier stood in the large cavern on the nineteenth floor of the Tower of Champions. The kraken had been slain with ease, and its corpse had floated to the top of the water. Now, it was frozen in time, as everything else in the cave was. But it hadn¡¯t been Xavier who had frozen it. If this notification was to be believed, it had been the System itself. Xavier took a stumbling step back as he stared at the notification. He read it again. The System wants to talk to you. Xavier had gotten a direct notification from the System before¡ªone that said the System was watching. But he¡¯d never seen, nor heard, of anything like this. The older version of himself had said that the System thought Xavier would be the one who was able to help save the universe from ending. Xavier had believed the man¡ªwhy would he lie to himself, after all? Even if the realisation had been overwhelming, it had been one that he¡¯d accepted. Was he worried about the implications? Of course. But he also had years and years to prepare. What he hadn¡¯t been prepared for was meeting the very System itself. He stood there, looking around, waiting for¡­ something, he didn¡¯t know what, to appear. How would the System look to him? Would it appear as a person, or would it look like something completely different? Would it even appear at all? The System always ¡°talked¡± in notifications, so Xavier wasn¡¯t sure why he was expecting something different to happen. Of course something different will happen. This isn¡¯t normal. Not at all. Then, someone appeared. A woman. She looked human, as far as he could tell. But she was taller than any human he¡¯d ever seen¡ªperhaps seven feet tall. She was slender and wore silver, glowing full-plate armour that hugged to her figure. Her hair was silver, too. Not the grey of old age. This silver was more vibrant. It was tied up in a ponytail that fell down her back. A cape was draped over her shoulders. It flowed as though it was being pulled and pushed by the wind, even though the air in the cavern had been completely stilled. This System is a woman? He hadn¡¯t really ever thought that the System would be a physical entity at all. Not really. And yet, here she was. ¡°You¡¯re the System?¡± Xavier blurted. Then he shut his mouth. He hadn¡¯t been intending to speak. He didn¡¯t want to talk out of turn to the very System itself. But he hadn¡¯t been able to help himself. The tall woman tilted her head down and looked at him. Her face looked severe¡ªuntil she smiled. Then, it looked calm, serene. It had an odd relaxing quality to it, to the point where Xavier wondered if he were being affected by some kind of spell or skill in the woman¡¯s¡ªthe System¡¯s?¡ªarsenal. ¡°I am not the System. I am merely The Voice of the System,¡± the woman said. Her voice was beautiful. Calling it the voice of an angel sounded fairly cliche, but it was the only comparison Xavier felt as though he could make. The Voice of the System. The System has a voice? Someone who speaks for it? Why bother thinking it, when he could ask. ¡°You¡­ speak for the System?¡± The woman inclined her head. ¡°I do. It is my primary role, now.¡± She looked around the cave. Her eyes glazed over for a moment. ¡°We have been here before.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°What?¡± The woman¡¯s forehead creased. ¡°Something is different, however. Yes.¡± Her smile returned. ¡°Something is indeed different.¡± ¡°What do you mean, we¡¯ve been here before? I would definitely remember this.¡± ¡°Indeed. I imagine you would.¡± The Voice of the System nodded her head toward the tunnel. Xavier turned around to look at what she was motioning toward. He hadn¡¯t noticed it before, even when he had looked behind him, but there was the tip of a boot protruding from around the corner of the tunnel. Xavier didn¡¯t have to see who that boot belonged to to know. It was the older version of him. ¡°I have spoken to other versions of you,¡± the woman said. Xavier blinked again as he looked at the Voice of the System. ¡°You¡­ you exist in different timelines?¡± ¡°I exist wherever the System wills me to.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°But¡­¡± Xavier shook his head. The woman raised a hand. ¡°You are not at a point where you are ready to understand it all, and that is not why I have come to speak with you.¡± Xavier swallowed. ¡°Why has the Voice of the System come to me?¡± He wasn¡¯t thrilled by what was happening. So far, it was the second curveball he¡¯d been hit with in as many hours. First, the other version of himself. The older one. And the bombshell he¡¯d dropped. Now the System itself had sent its Voice to have a word with him? I was getting a bit bored with how easy these floors were¡­ Perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have complained so loudly in his thoughts if he hadn¡¯t wanted something different to happen. The Voice of the System began pacing in front of him. It was only then that he realised she was walking on the surface of the lake. It made Xavier wonder if the woman was even there at all¡ªexcept when her foot moved and revealed the water beneath it, he could make out her boot print. The ripple in the water her movement would cause had not yet eventuated, as time had been stopped in the area. ¡°The Tower of Champions was intended to be a challenge. It was created as a forge, to temper the Weapon of the System.¡± ¡°The¡­ Weapon of the System?¡± This was the first Xavier had ever heard of that. ¡°Indeed,¡± the woman said, without any further explanation. She stopped. Faced him. ¡°But you are not being challenged by the tower anymore. Even gaining record titles has stopped being a challenge for you.¡± Xavier swallowed again. It sounded like an accusation. He remembered what had happened when he¡¯d been mowing down the different waves of the Endless Horde. The System had throttled him for it, making it harder for him to gain Mastery Points from the enemies he¡¯d defeated. It looked as though something similar was about to happen. But now the System had sent their Voice to talk to him, he imagined it would be something much, much worse. ¡°The System wants difficulty, challenge, conflict. That is not something that you are getting from these floors.¡± ¡°What does it¡­ intend to do about that?¡± The woman smiled. This time, it wasn¡¯t comforting. ¡°It intends to make things more difficult for you. The Weapon of the System needs to struggle, after all.¡± Xavier frowned. He was feeling slow. Slower than usual. As though his mind were moving through thick sludge. This had all come as quite a shock to him, so he supposed he shouldn¡¯t be surprised to find that his mind was sluggish. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but catch that she seemed to be calling him the Weapon of the System. ¡°I¡¯m the Weapon?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°You have claimed the role before. In¡­ other lives.¡± She tilted her head up. ¡°Though you have yet to succeed.¡± Again, he felt an accusation in her words. Though, were they her words? She was the Voice of the System¡ªthese were the words of the very System itself. An all-powerful entity, staring down at him, accusing him of failing. This was most certainly not a feeling he liked. I suppose I knew something like this was coming ever since the older version of me spoke to me. Maybe¡­ maybe even before that, with all that Adranial had told me. It shouldn¡¯t have come as a surprise, but how could it not? ¡°I am the Weapon of the System,¡± Xavier said again. This time, it wasn¡¯t a question. He was simply testing out how it felt saying the words. It felt very strange. ¡°No,¡± the woman said. ¡°Not yet. But you will be.¡± She stepped forward and took hold of his shoulders. He tried to pull away from her grip, but as strong as he was it was impossible. She was far, far stronger than him. Something told him he wouldn¡¯t be able to Soul Step to the corpse of the kraken, either. And even if he could, he doubted it would actually do any good. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Xavier felt vulnerable. No, he didn¡¯t just feel vulnerable¡ªhe was vulnerable. There was absolutely nothing that he could do. The Voice of the System¡ªand so the System itself¡ªhad him in its clutches. But when couldn¡¯t the System do whatever it pleased with him? Everything went black. Then white. He appeared, standing in the middle of the Staging Room. He blinked. How in the world had he gotten back here? The floor hadn¡¯t ended. He hadn¡¯t gotten any of the notifications before turning up here. But there were a list of notifications that were trying to get his attention now¡ªa list that hadn¡¯t been there before when he¡¯d been speaking to the Voice of the System. Xavier had thought something terrible had been about to happen, and yet¡­ here he was, standing in the Staging Room, absolutely unharmed. Had what he¡¯d just experienced been some sort of weird hallucination? He looked around, expecting to see the other members of his party. But none of them were there. He was about to call out to them, but what would be the point? Instead, he used his Communication Stone¡ªthey each had one now, and they could be all linked so he could talk to his entire party telepathically at once. [Siobhan?] he said first. When a few seconds past without a response, he communicated through the stone again. [Howard? Justin?] Still no response. A shiver ran up his spine. This¡­ was bad, wasn¡¯t it? And it definitely wasn¡¯t a hallucination. He thought through the worst scenarios. The first one was that the System had simply killed his friends. Perhaps it thought they were holding him back¡­ But would it do something like that? And if it would, why wouldn¡¯t the future version of himself have warned him of that? Why wouldn¡¯t he have told Xavier that his friends were in danger? He¡¯d been tight-lipped on much of the future, only telling Xavier of his one goal¡ªto stop the universe from ending. Would he, would I, really have let my friends die if there was something I could do for them? He shook his head. No. The System wouldn¡¯t have killed my friends. It needs my help. It¡¯s clearly an intelligent entity¡ªit would know that I wouldn¡¯t want to help it if it did something like that. Wouldn¡¯t it? Xavier tapped his foot on the ground, wondering about the predicament he was in. He finally looked at the notifications that had popped up. Maybe they would offer some sort of explanation for what had happened. The first few notifications were nothing interesting simply because they were exactly what he¡¯d been expecting to appear. They were the titles that he¡¯d gained from clearing the nineteenth floor of the tower. He wasn¡¯t surprised to find that he¡¯d reached the first-place record. Of course he had. If he hadn¡¯t, the System wouldn¡¯t have sent its Voice to talk to him. Wouldn¡¯t have done¡­ whatever it had just done to him. He skipped past them, barely reading what they had to say. Honestly, he didn¡¯t care what they had to say. Getting these titles was no longer a victory¡ªjust as the Voice of the System had been alluding to. It was all too easy for him. This should be a struggle¡­ Well, the System was trying to make it one for him, that was for sure. After the final title notification, Xavier read on. His eyes widened at what he saw. His mouth fell open as he read it. He felt a host of different emotions. Anger. Fear. Trepidation. His fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his skin, making him bleed. But he healed so fast the wounds never lasted very long. Still, the pain let him think a little more clearly. He read the notification for a second time. The System has transported you forward through the tower. Your next floor will now be the 100th floor of the Tower of Champions. You cannot receive any titles for the previous floors that were skipped. Rise of the Last Summoner 2 - Amazon Release! Hey everyone! I am thrilled to announce the second book in my Rise of the Last Summoner series comes out on Amazon today! I hope you all enjoy this book! It¡¯s a very different vibe to Accidental Champion, but I have good fun writing them. ?? All ratings and reviews and shares will be greatly appreciated! Though this series hasn''t performed near as well as Accidental Champion, I won''t be seeing the royalties for Accidental Champion''s Amazon release until next year as it''s with a publisher (Aethon has been amazing! The process is simply slower than self-pub). In the meantime, the money from this series is helping keep my bills paid! That''s actually the whole reason I need to juggle two series right now. Anyway, the links at the bottom. To avoid spoilers, here¡¯s the blurb for book 1: Four hundred years ago, in the time before the Godfall, the demon hordes were unleashed upon the world of Elaria. Now, the world has shrunk to one small valley, the Valley of Auld, humanity¡¯s last bastion.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. All those within its walls are protected. Elian is markless¡ªsomeone who cannot activate skills¡ªand he is one of the poorest markless there is. A miner, forced to leave the city and toil in the nearby salt mines. On their way to and from the mines, the miners are kept secure in a locked wagon. The wagon is not locked to keep them from escaping. It¡¯s locked to keep the demons from getting in. Until one day, on their return journey to the city, the wagon is attacked, and the marked guards tasked with protecting it are all slain. On that day, Elian discovers he isn¡¯t markless after all¡ªhe is full-marked, giving him access to all four classes. Infuser. Invoker. Necromancer. And Summoner. Summoners were responsible for bringing the demon hordes to Elaria in the first place, and their existence has been purged from the marked bloodlines. Full-marked shouldn¡¯t exist, yet here he is. With his newfound powers, Elian must gain skills, fight the demons, and get himself and the other miners back to the city safely¡ªbut if anyone discovers what he truly is, he¡¯ll be killed on sight the moment he returns. A LitRPG Progression Fantasy adventure, Rise of the Last Summoner has a hard magic system that allows marked to control demons, reanimate corpses into minions, steal an enemy¡¯s senses, and infuse different properties into items. Thanks all! Links Ebooks: Book 1 - https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D46SP5XT Book 2 - https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D4Z599WS Audio Book 1 - https://www.audible.com/pd/Rise-of-the-Last-Summoner-1-Audiobook/B0D82BKHSJ Book 4: Chapter 23 - Still Mortal Xavier walked over to the wall of the Staging Room. He leant his back heavily against it, then he slid down to the ground. There were more notifications after the first one, but he was taking his time absorbing the first. The System has transported you forward through the tower. Your next floor will now be the 100th floor of the Tower of Champions. You cannot receive any titles for the previous floors that were skipped. That¡¯s insane. He shook his head. Did the System really do this to him? How was that fair? His plan¡­ his plan to become powerful was to gain all of the titles from the Tower of Champions that he could! And now? Now that had been taken away from him. By the very System itself. He was shaking. Shaking with the rage that he felt. He wanted to kill someone. Wanted to take his anger out on the very System itself. Xavier took a breath. He couldn¡¯t think like this. And right now, he needed to think. He couldn¡¯t let his emotions take control of him, even if he wanted them to. He had to think. Had to think rationally. Else he wouldn¡¯t be able to make any good decisions at all. Else he¡¯d get himself into more trouble than he was already in. He didn¡¯t want to let go of the anger he felt, however. The anger was righteous. He had a good reason for feeling this rage, didn¡¯t he? Why should he let go of it? Xavier harnessed the power of his Meditation skill, breathing ever deeper, doing his best to focus on nothing more than his breath coming in and out. It took a little while, but he was able to manage it. The rage and anger he felt started to bleed out of him. His shoulders sagged, no longer as tense as they¡¯d been a mere moment ago. Breathe in, breathe out, focus. Breathe in, breathe out, focus. Those words repeated themselves in his mind over and over again until he was able to think clearly once more. He stood up and pushed himself off from the wall. He looked around the Staging Room for a second time. There was still no sign of the other members of his party, though this time that made perfect sense. Of course they weren¡¯t here with him. They couldn¡¯t be here with him. They¡¯d been back on the nineteenth floor, which meant the next floor they would need to clear would be the twentieth floor. While the next floor that Xavier needed to clear was the one hundredth. Though he no longer felt that deep rage that he had a moment ago, he was still feeling rather disorientated. How could he not be, after all that had just happened? He read the notification that followed the first. The System wishes you well. Xavier blinked. Those words¡­ they had not been what he was expecting. Not at all. He tilted his head to the side, staring at them. He read them over and over again for a moment, as though thinking he must have gotten them wrong the first time. The System wished him well? Xavier had just been thrust forward through the tower floors! And though he wanted to gain solo titles from the floors, and had always fought alone¡ªor tried to fight alone¡ªnow the others were gone. Completely. Having their help wasn¡¯t even an option anymore. And his friends hadn¡¯t just been there to help, either. Not in a tangible way, at least. They¡¯d been becoming like family to him. He enjoyed their company. Enjoyed their insights. Liked talking to them and being with them. For so long he knew they¡¯d been worried he¡¯d move through the tower without them. He always reassured them that he wouldn¡¯t. He supposed they knew that might always not be true¡ªjust like deep down he¡¯d known it too. But none of them could have expected something like this to happen, could they? Who would have known that the System would force it to happen, and so soon after they¡¯d just returned to the tower? Xavier paced around the Staging Room. There was only one loot box in the centre of the room. Gone were the loot boxes that the other members of his party would have opened. Only, could he even call them his party anymore if they weren¡¯t allowed to join him on the floors? They will always be my party, whether I¡¯m fighting beside them or not. Xavier closed his eyes.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The one hundredth floor. Eighty floors ahead of where he should have been, and without all the titles he should have gotten for them. But if the System wanted him to be this Weapon the Voice had spoken of, then how much could he truly be missing out on by not getting those titles? If the System thought that Xavier needed to be challenged, rather than needed to gain as many titles as humanly possible¡­ maybe there was something else going on here. Something else that he needed to do to gain power. Eyes still closed, Xavier stopped pacing. He turned, looked over at the door to the next floor. The one hundredth floor. There was one more notification after the last one he read. You can no longer gain access to the knowledge others hold about the Tower of Champions¡¯ floors. He ran a hand through his hair. All the effort Adranial had gone to to get here¡ªthe sacrifices that she¡¯d made with her memories¡­ and what, it had all been for nothing? She wasn¡¯t even allowed to help him anymore? No one was? Xavier, for the first time since he¡¯d come to the Tower of Champions, was completely on his own. He would need to rethink everything. The entire way that he went through the different floors of the Tower of Champions. He was no longer a powerhouse, mowing through the different floors with ease, optimising exactly how he would defeat each floor to get the best record possible. Xavier would have to fight as hard as he could for every single floor. Now, he didn¡¯t know how difficult this next floor would be, but if the System had sent him here because it wanted him to be challenged, then that meant it would be a challenge¡ªthere was no way that the System itself would send him toward something he could easily complete. The anger Xavier had bled away through meditation wasn¡¯t completely gone. He could still feel it just below the surface. But now that it was under control there were other things that he could feel too. Fear was one of them. His lifespan had been extended so incredibly far, and would extend even farther. It wasn¡¯t that he hadn¡¯t risked his life in the past¡­ it was just that he hadn¡¯t needed to risk his life in a good little while. Coming back to the Tower of Champions, he¡¯d felt safe. Nothing could touch him. It hadn¡¯t been arrogance or ego, even if it might have looked that way. It had simply been fact. That had all changed. His life would be at risk the second he stepped through that door. This is how it¡¯s supposed to be. This is what everyone should feel. Even the elites feel challenged on the different floors. He tapped his foot on the ground. He felt restless. He felt¡­ excited. Xavier Collins was finally going to get the challenge that he was after. [Xavier? Where are you?] The voice was Siobhan¡¯s, and though there was clearly worry in her tone, he felt a sense of relief at hearing it. [I¡¯m in the Staging Room,] he replied through the Communication Stone¡¯s connection, before realising she wouldn¡¯t be able to make sense of that. [No¡­ I¡¯m in the Staging Room, with Howard and Justin. You aren¡¯t here, and there are only three loot boxes. For a moment, we thought you might be¡­] [Dead?] Xavier chuckled. [No. I¡¯m definitely not dead.] He looked at the door to the next floor again. [But there is something the four of us need to talk about.] Xavier met with his party in the tavern, then he told them exactly what had happened. The looks of shock on their faces were palpable. He was sure that he had looked exactly as they had when he¡¯d discovered what had happened to him. ¡°That¡¯s insane!¡± Justin said. ¡°You skipped eighty floors?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if skipped is the right word,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°He was taken from them¡ªhe didn¡¯t get a choice. Or any titles.¡± The redheaded woman was staring down at the table, her forehead more deeply crinkled than Xavier had ever seen it. ¡°This isn¡¯t fair, what the System has done to you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not fair,¡± Howard said. ¡°But life before the System wasn¡¯t fair, and we all knew life with it wasn¡¯t either.¡± ¡°Sounds like you aren¡¯t even bothered by this?¡± Justin said. Howard shook his head. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m bothered. But¡­ I¡¯m not sure if this is a bad thing, or not.¡± He glanced up at the ceiling. ¡°Not this specifically, at least. But¡­ it is terrifying, that the System can change the rules so easily. I¡¯d thought the System¡¯s rules were the one thing keeping us all safe¡ªthat working inside of them was how we could protect the people we cared about the most.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about the level restrictions blocking off-worlders from coming to Earth,¡± Xavier said. He hadn¡¯t even thought of that, but if the System could just change the rules whenever it felt like, what was stopping it from letting stronger Denizens come to Earth? Wouldn¡¯t that be the struggle the System wished him to experience? ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to worry about that,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°At least, not until something like that actually happens.¡± She nodded at Xavier. ¡°I think we have enough on our plate as it is without inventing dangers.¡± ¡°The one hundredth floor?¡± Justin sighed. ¡°Absolutely insane.¡± The tavern was fairly quiet. Only one other party was there. They must have come at a time when other parties were on floors or maybe even sleeping. Xavier wanted to go and talk to Sam about all that had happened, but he wasn¡¯t sure he saw the point. The System isolated me for a reason. It wants me to figure this out on my own. ¡°So, what are you going to do?¡± Justin asked. Xavier blinked. ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯m going to move forward. Go to the next floor. Exactly like I would have if none of this had happened.¡± ¡°You have no idea what you¡¯ll be facing on the other side,¡± Siobhan said. Xavier smiled. ¡°No. I don¡¯t have a clue. But that doesn¡¯t mean I shouldn¡¯t go and face it. If the System wants to see me struggle, well, I better go give it what it wants.¡± Xavier stood up from his chair. ¡°Besides, maybe this will make me even stronger.¡± The others didn¡¯t say anything as he left. Xavier walked past Sam. The man¡¯s forehead was deeply lined, much like Siobhan¡¯s had been, and it was clear he¡¯d been listening into the conversation. He flagged Xavier down, stopping him from exiting the tavern before speaking with him. Xavier headed over to the bar. He wasn¡¯t sure what the man would say, but he was curious to hear it. Then something occurred to him. ¡°Your empress¡­ did she see this?¡± Xavier asked. He wasn¡¯t annoyed that Sam had listened in on their conversation. If Xavier had wanted it to be completely private, he wouldn¡¯t have come down here to have it. Or, he would have taken precautions, like his Time Alteration spell. Sam shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. She does not share such things with the likes of me. But¡­ I heard what you said. About being pulled forward through the floors. About¡­ talking to the Voice of the System?¡± Xavier leant on the bar. ¡°Have you ever heard of that before? The Voice?¡± Sam shook his head. His eyes were wide. ¡°Never. Not even in myths.¡± Xavier wondered whether that was because this was a relatively young sector, as it had been purged more than once, or if it was because what had happened to him was so exceedingly rare. ¡°I just wanted to tell you to be careful.¡± Sam sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no advice I can give you. Even if I wanted to, the System wouldn¡¯t let me tell you about those floors. Not that I¡¯ve been on them. And you¡­ you¡¯re already more powerful than I imagine I¡¯ll ever be. Just¡­ be careful. Remember that, despite all you¡¯ve accomplished, you are still mortal.¡± Xavier nodded at the barkeep. Still mortal. Those two simple words put everything into clear perspective for him. The next floor? It could take his life if he wasn¡¯t careful. Book 4: Chapter 24 - Welcome to the One Hundredth Floor of the Tower of Champions! Xavier stepped back into the Staging Room. It felt empty without the other members of his party. It was bigger, too. It had expanded, becoming even larger than it had when they¡¯d returned to the tower. It seemed absurd that it would be this large just for him. He slowly walked toward the door to the next floor. Then he stopped, turned, and stared at the pedestal that would let him access the System Shop. I guess it¡¯s time I upgrade my scythe-staff and my robes. It had been a while since he¡¯d bothered to do that, even though he knew he¡¯d outgrown them. He¡¯d been holding off getting a new weapon. He wanted a soul bound weapon, like Adranial had told him about, but getting one of those seemed close to impossible¡ªat least right now. But it had been some time since he¡¯d looked in the System Shop. Adranial has a soul bound weapon. A staff that her mother, an A Grade, gave her. There¡¯s no way that I¡¯ll be able to find a soul bound weapon just sitting for sale in the System Shop. Even if one did pop up, there¡¯s no way that I would be able to afford it! Xavier felt as though he was rich for his level, and he definitely felt as though he was rich for the amount of time he¡¯d been within the System. But by the standards of the Greater Universe, he was near the bottom of the totem pole. He stepped over to the System Shop anyway. When he had spoken to Sam about having something to trade for a soul bound weapon, he¡¯d been speaking of trading his loyalty in some way¡ªnot completely, but perhaps signing a contract that would owe him a favour to someone. This would be betting on the fact that he would one day become powerful enough for that favour to be more than worth it. I don¡¯t have access to people like that right now. Not here in the tower. Though he didn¡¯t know what he would find on the tower floors¡ªand he didn¡¯t know what he would find in the loot boxes now, especially once he had completed the one hundredth floor. The one hundredth floor can¡¯t be that bad, right? I mean, I was already on the twentieth floor¡­ this is only eighty floors after¡­ Xavier sighed and touched a hand to the crystal atop the pedestal. The System Shop interface came up instantly. He searched for the keywords ¡°soul¡± and ¡°bound¡± for a good while but, unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have any luck. He felt like he should feel excited about the prospect of attaining new gear, but all he felt was frustrated that it wouldn¡¯t be the weapon and robes he was truly after. Still, he couldn¡¯t keep going on like he had been, not with how the System was interfering with his time in the tower. Now that he was about to enter the one hundredth floor, he couldn¡¯t half-ass anything¡ªhe had to optimise his equipment, and make sure that everything was on point. Otherwise he might be walking into a situation that he wouldn¡¯t be able to handle. The last thing he wanted to do was step onto the next floor underprepared. So Xavier sifted through the different scythe-staffs that were on offer for his grade, level, and attributes. Maybe I should push to D Grade as fast as I can. That way I¡¯ll be able to access even better equipment. The thought popped into his head, and he wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about it. He probably wouldn¡¯t have much say in how long it took him to get to the next level. It wasn¡¯t as though he could restrict the number of Mastery Points he gained without the help of the System¡­ right? He tapped his foot in thought for a moment, then stepped away from the pedestal. He tilted his head to the side and wondered if he should speak with Adranial. It wouldn¡¯t take long for the woman to figure out that something strange was going on with him. Wouldn¡¯t take her long to realise that he and his party members were turning up in the taverns at different times, or that he no longer needed information on the next floors. The System¡¯s notification had told him that he was not allowed to obtain information on future floors, it didn¡¯t say anything about obtaining information in general from others. It would be pretty damned rude if it did. And it wasn¡¯t just Adranial or Sam that he could ask for information from¡ªeven if Sam rarely offered anything good these days¡ªhe had a spell that would be perfect for things like this. Otherworldly Communion. I can¡¯t go much longer without using that spell, he thought. The problem is, I don¡¯t know what the cooldown is like right now¡ªthat seems to change, like it does for Summon Otherworldly Spirit. I might very well need insight on the floor I¡¯m about to enter. Using it now seemed like it could be a waste. A risk he didn¡¯t want to take. Gaining another level would mean he wouldn¡¯t need to wait for the cooldown, but he didn¡¯t know how long it would be until he got to the next level. It wasn¡¯t as though he¡¯d gained all that many E Grade Mastery Points since returning to the Tower of Champions, after all.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Though he supposed that could change dramatically soon. Xavier shut his eyes. Took a breath. All of his plans had gone awry. Screw it. He filtered through the different scythe-staffs and robes that were in his price-range¡ªfactoring in that he would need to be able to afford both¡ªand bought the most expensive ones that he could afford. Then he sold off his old gear and equipped the new ones. He didn¡¯t bother giving the weaker, cheaper gear much of a look¡ªthe System Shop was good at filtering through its options, and from a cursory glance he could see what it put at the top was the exact thing he preferred to buy. Xavier looked at the information for his new scythe-staff and set of robes. First, he looked at his scythe-staff. It appeared in his hands the moment he bought it. He had to say, he was impressed by the look of the thing. It didn¡¯t look as¡­ ¡°practical¡± as his last scythe-staff. Charon¡¯s Scythe hadn¡¯t looked strictly like a traditional scythe, but more like a war scythe¡ªthe blade had extended from the end of the staff more like a polearm weapon. This weapon? It looked like death himself would have been happy to wield it¡ªand it looked just as old. He would have to adjust his melee fighting style using this thing, but he was happy to do that considering how much more it would amplify his attributes. Besides, it wasn¡¯t exactly as though melee fighting was what made Xavier shine. Xavier ran a hand across the wood of the weapon. The shaft wasn¡¯t straight. It was gnarled and had a slight curve. It had a natural feel to it. Like when the universe began and the first tree dropped its first branch, death was there to pick it up. It¡¯s just a weapon, Xavier told himself. I think I¡¯m being a little dramatic about it. The blade was the silver of the moon, and he could see how well it would catch the light in the dead of night. Perhaps that was how the weapon got its name. The only thing Xavier was a little upset about was the fact that he would have to do away with his Soul Step ability. Charon¡¯s Scythe¡¯s imbued ability had been incredibly helpful to him. But it wasn¡¯t more important than the sheer strength this weapon offered. He looked at the attributes a second time, and the imbued skill the weapon would give him. Midnight Scythe This scythe-staff requires 10,000 Intelligence, 10,000 Spirit, 5,000 Willpower, and 3,000 Strength to wield. +1,500 Intelligence +2,000 Spirit +1,250 Willpower +1,000 Speed +750 Strength +250% Spirit Energy recovery +200% magical damage dealt +200% physical damage dealt Imbued ability: When this scythe-staff is in the hand of its wielder, it bestows upon them the Restorative Spirit ability. For half of the wielder¡¯s Spirit Energy reserve, it can restore a single spell from cooldown. Time restriction: This ability can only be used once every 12 hours. This scythe-staff is enhanced by 20% when paired with the Midnight Robes. He tilted his head to the side as he read the imbued ability. Restorative Spirit. It was an imbued ability that he¡¯d seen on a different staff. He¡¯d gotten Charon¡¯s Scythe instead of the staff that had this ability, thinking teleportation would be better¡ªperhaps he¡¯d been right, but none of the other staffs that offered as much raw power as this one had a teleportation ability like his old staff. Still, he could definitely see how being able to instantly restore one of his spells from cooldown could come in handy. Having use of one of my otherworldly spells every twelve hours instead of waiting for their natural cooldown would be overpowered and awesome. Or using a powerful Soul Strike twice in quick succession, after harvesting the souls the first Soul Strike had made available. The robes looked barely different to the last ones that he had acquired. They were black, with long, billowing sleeves that somehow never got in the way of his hands¡ªas though magic was keeping them from being tangled up. The robes flowed back behind him. There was no wind in the Staging Room, but he imagined these billowing with that scythe in his hand would be quite the sight. The robes also matched his scythe-staff, something that he hadn¡¯t even intended¡ªalmost as thought the System had steered him toward them. Midnight Robes These robes require 10,000 Intelligence, 10,000 Spirit, and 5,000 Willpower to wear. +1,000 Intelligence +1,000 Spirit +750 Willpower +120% Spirit Energy recovery +120% magical damage resistance Imbued ability: When these robes are worn, they bestow upon the wearer the ability to Otherworld Phase. Otherworld Phase allows the user to phase into the Otherworld for a period of two seconds, effectively making them incorporeal. Time Restriction: This ability can only be used once every 10 minutes. These robes have a self-repair feature fuelled by Spirit Energy. These robes are enhanced by 20% when paired with the Midnight Scythe. Xavier smiled at that. He hadn¡¯t even known one could find matching equipment, but he was glad for it. A 20% boost on the attributes he gained from the scythe-staff and the robes would serve him well. He tilted his head to the side at the imbued ability. Otherworld Phase was the exact ability his Anointed Robes of the Umbral had given him, but it wasn¡¯t an ability that he¡¯d really needed before. It seemed that it was a common ability with the robes that were on offer to him. Part of him wished he¡¯d gotten something different, but he also saw the benefit in an ability like that. Especially now, when he might actually be vulnerable against the enemies he was facing. Maybe I¡¯ll use it more often. Hell, maybe the ability will end up saving my life. Whether he used the imbued abilities or not, the robes and the scythe-staff themselves had improved his attributes dramatically. He hadn¡¯t even thought that it was possible for equipment to improve him to such a degree. Just by putting on this gear, he felt so much more powerful. God, why hadn¡¯t he done this earlier? And this equipment isn¡¯t even the best that I could be able to get¡ªit¡¯s just the best that I can afford, and the best for my grade. The requirements for the attributes on the equipment were much lower than he actually had. What would it be like if he had soul bound equipment? No point thinking on that right now. He turned back and faced the Staging Room door. Speaking to his party in the tavern, getting new gear from the System Shop¡­ it almost felt as though he¡¯d been procrastinating entering this next floor. He bit his lip. Maybe he had been. A little. But could anyone blame him? He had no idea what to expect on the other side. That only made him smile more. This is the type of adventure I want. He strode over to the door, his new Midnight Robes billowing behind him from the motion, and grasped the handle. Tower of Champions. The Tower of Champions is where World Defenders prove themselves, fighting for rewards, upgrades and powerups. Open Floors: Floor 100 of 1,000. Would you like to enter the 100th floor? Xavier released a breath, then willed his answer. Yes. Instantly, Xavier was transported to the floor. Book 4: Chapter 25 - The Hunt Xavier blinked, gripped his new Midnight Scythe tightly, and looked around the place that the System had taken him. The one hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. A frown lined his forehead as his gaze trailed over the room. Xavier was standing inside a tavern. It wasn¡¯t as large, nor as clean, as the tavern at the bottom of the Tower of Champions where Sam was the barkeep. This one looked like it came straight out of the Middle Ages. Or, well, some world¡¯s version of the Middle Ages. The place was packed, which was not at all what he¡¯d been expecting. More often than not the floors would start in a Safe Zone. This didn¡¯t look like it was a Safe Zone at all. Xavier felt the press of power on him from those around him¡ªas though they weren¡¯t doing anything to shroud their cores. There were perhaps twenty sets of tables and chairs. The tables were made of wood thicker than his forearm was long, and the chairs were actually just stools that had been bolted to the ground¡ªwhoever ran this place clearly didn¡¯t fancy their patrons throwing chairs. From a quick use of his Identify skill, he could even see that the stools had been enchanted. Did I really just use Identify on stools? He shook his head and focused on the people. They looked like¡­ well, to him, they looked like adventurers straight out of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Different parties? He stepped forward. The barkeep caught his eye and waved him over. Xavier figured speaking to the woman was his best bet. He strode across the sawdust strewn hardwood floor and leant his elbows on the bar. ¡°Another Champion?¡± the barkeep asked. The woman looked to be in her thirties. She had dark hair that flowed down past her shoulders and purple eyes. She also had pointed ears, though she didn¡¯t quite look like the other elves he¡¯d encountered in the Greater Universe so far. Is she half-elf, half-human? Whatever she was, she was beautiful, which was probably why he found himself staring a moment too long. The woman smirked at him. ¡°Another Champion?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°Yes. From the tower.¡± The woman nodded behind him, at the other people in the room. ¡°Champions are gathering here for the Hunt.¡± The Hunt? What is she talking about? Xavier looked at the adventurers around the place, clinking mugs of ale, talking over the noise of the minstrels playing on the small stage in the corner, or bending over the tables and conversing in harsh whispers. ¡°These are all Champions?¡± He was feeling a little disoriented. God, he wished he had some foreknowledge of this floor. He was also feeling¡­ well, alone. Even though he did the fighting on tower floors, it had still been nice having his party with him. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d get the chance to fight with them ever again. Not in the Tower of Champions¡ªnot the way things were looking. That brought a sadness within him that he hadn¡¯t expected. But it also gave him an opportunity. There were adventures that he could go on without them¡ªones that they would never survive. He didn¡¯t have to worry about their safety alongside him. At least, not until they were all back on Earth. He could push forward on his own. In fact, he had to push forward on his own¡ªthis was the position the System had put him in. The woman pointed at one of the walls. There were notices stuck to it with nails. At first, Xavier had thought it was some sort of community noticeboard, but now that he looked at it properly, he saw that it was something quite different. Each of the notices had a drawing on them. A drawing of a different beast. He narrowed his eyes, able to read to text from the other side of the tavern with his improved eyesight. They were wanted posters, or quests. Xavier chuckled. This felt exactly like a video game, and like he was about to go monster hunting. When he¡¯d been thrust forward through the floors, because the System wanted things to be more of a challenge for him, he hadn¡¯t expected something quite like this. They¡¯re all Champions, from all over the Greater Universe. All from different sectors, and all here for something called the Hunt. He felt a sudden fear. If this wasn¡¯t a Safe Zone, did that mean any of them could try to kill him at any moment? Would he be strong enough to defend himself? A notification popped up into his vision. Welcome to the one hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions! The System welcomes you to the Hunt. The one hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions is a continuous floor. This means that the floor is always active¡ªleaving this floor and returning to it will not restart the floor. Time moves differently on the one hundredth floor than it does on other floors of the tower. It moves considerably slower while on the floor. One hour on the one hundredth floor translates into a single minute passing back in your own universe. This means that Champions can spend a great deal of time on this floor honing their skills and spells, as well as racking up kills for the Hunt before they decide to cash in their rewards and move onto the next floor. There are no record titles for this floor, and there is no time limit to how long a Champions can stay on this floor. They do, however, have to hunt and kill at least one beast from the wall per week of time spent on the floor, or else they will be booted from the Tower of Champions and banned from their home world for fifty years.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. There are countless different instances of the hundredth floor, all of which are ongoing. You will only ever be able to enter this instance of the hundredth floor. Once you have slain ten beasts from the board, you may choose to complete the floor, or remain for as long as you wish. Warning: Do not attempt to attack your fellow Champions. If you do, there will be consequences. Xavier read through the text multiple times. He tilted his head to the side and thought about the consequences of this floor. A continuous floor? The floor¡­ always remains the same? That was hard to believe, but since when had the System lied to him? Xavier contemplated the time difference. An hour here only being a minute back home¡­ and there was no limit to how long he could be on this floor? He smirked. Couldn¡¯t help himself. This floor¡­ it was reminiscent of the fifth floor, where the waves of the Endless Horde would simply continue to attack the castle for seemingly forever. Maybe he could do something with that, like he did on the fifth floor¡­ he had been the first person in the Greater Universe¡ªat least, in his universe¡ªto ever defeat the Lord of the Endless Horde. He was sure that, more than anything, was what had gotten him to the place he was in right now of potentially becoming the Weapon of the System. The fact that there were no records for this floor also took a little bit of the pressure off. Well, not a little, it took a lot of the pressure off. So did the warning about attacking other Champions¡ªthough it was incredibly vague. ¡°Yeah,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I guess I¡¯m here for the Hunt.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, your first drink is on the house.¡± She motioned to the different barrels behind her and started describing the different drinks that she had available. It was clear that she was used to dealing with off-worlders who didn¡¯t understand the type of alcohol they served here. ¡°I¡¯ll just have whatever is most popular,¡± Xavier said. The woman rubbed her hands together and grabbed a mug. ¡°Whisper Ale it is, then.¡± ¡°Whisper Ale?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°Why is it called that?¡± ¡°The tale says if you drink enough of it, you start to hear the whispers of the dead,¡± she said, putting on a spooky voice. ¡°Or, well, it¡¯ll get you really drunk, at least.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t really like being drunk, but he also didn¡¯t think the alcohol would have much of an effect on him anyway¡ªnothing Sam served did anything to him. His constitution had simply become too strong. But he found he liked the taste of alcohol, and the ritual of drinking it. He sipped from his mug. His eyes widened. ¡°God, that¡¯s strong.¡± He put the mug back down on the bar and suddenly felt a little foolish. Of course the alcohol would be stronger¡ªhe was on the one hundredth floor! Everyone around him was likely many, many levels higher than himself. Those who didn¡¯t have their cores shielded were definitely D Grade¡ªnot that he hadn¡¯t been able to deal with D Grades before. But he certainly hadn¡¯t drunk D Grade alcohol before. I¡¯m definitely out of my depth. The woman chuckled as she saw him put the ale back down on the bar. ¡°How was that?¡± ¡°Smooth,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Really smooth.¡± He figured he wouldn¡¯t need another sip for a while. The last thing he wanted was to start hearing ghosts¡­ ¡°So, I just go to that board and take one of the notices down?¡± The barkeep nodded. ¡°Then you hunt the beast and bring back its pelt for a reward.¡± A hunt quest, like in an MMO. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but notice how similar this all was to games he¡¯d played in the past. Now that he¡¯d discovered that the System had been created by someone, it made him wonder if perhaps that someone had been into video games or something at the time¡ªassuming there were video games wherever this person had been in the universe. Maybe that¡¯s why everything was the way it was. It certainly wouldn¡¯t surprise me. Xavier nodded at the barkeep and thanked her for the drink¡ªeven though he wasn¡¯t even sure that he liked it¡ªthen he headed over to the wall of notices. There was a sign at the top of the board he hadn¡¯t noticed before that read Hunt Quests. He sniffed. Shook his head. Every single one of the beasts he could see on the board were D Grade¡ªand¡­ some of them were even C Grade. Xavier blinked. C Grade beasts? The most powerful woman in his entire sector was only a C Grade! The System couldn¡¯t really expect him to be on a floor where there were C Grade beasts running around, could he? ¡°First time on the floor?¡± said someone with a deep voice. Xavier turned around. The voice had come from his left, but no one was there. It took him another second to turn his gaze downward. The man who¡¯d spoken was short, had a massive beard, and had a warhammer resting on their shoulders. A dwarf. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Noticed the way you were staring at the C Grade beasts on the board.¡± Xavier ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Yeah, they just¡­ seem a little out of reach.¡± The dwarf threw his head back and laughed. It was a loud belly laugh that filled the entire tavern. ¡°A little out of reach? You make it sound as though you think you¡¯d be fighting them on your lonesome!¡± The dwarf glanced around. ¡°Speaking of being on your lonesome, I didn¡¯t notice you appear with a party.¡± He narrowed his eyes and leant in conspiratorially. ¡°You aren¡¯t soloing this floor, are ya?¡± ¡°I am, actually.¡± The dwarf leant back and raised his bushy eyebrows. ¡°Ohhh. Well. Big man. I¡¯d slap yer shoulder, but it¡¯s a lil¡¯ outta reach.¡± He chuckled, then poked his index finger at one of the C Grade beast notices, crinkling the paper. ¡°That right there is what we call a Raid Monster.¡± Xavier raised his eyebrows right back at the little dwarf. ¡°A Raid Monster?¡± He glanced about the tavern again. ¡°You mean to say that different parties here will team up to take it on?¡± ¡°Aye. You know the term. Good. Seemed liked you were more clueless than that.¡± Oh, I¡¯m plenty clueless, Xavier thought, but didn¡¯t say. ¡°I, ah, know a thing or two.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you do, lad. I¡¯m sure you do. Likely you won¡¯t be taking on something like that while you¡¯re on the floor. The people who go on raids? They only take Champions who have a hundred beasts slain off the board.¡± Xavier gave a low whistle. ¡°A hundred beasts. The floor only requires ten. How many have you gotten?¡± ¡°Me?¡± He slammed a fist onto his chest and grinned. ¡°Been here a month, floor time. Gotten five kills.¡± Xavier suppressed a frown. The dwarf said his kill count as though it were something to be proud of. Five beast kills from the board in an entire month worth of floor time? Xavier did the math, wondering how much time that would be back in his own universe. Only a little over twelve hours. Huh. That¡¯s not even a full day. The dwarf held his hand forward. ¡°The name¡¯s Gimble.¡± Gimble looked down at his own hand, with a slightly confused expression. ¡°Humans, you like to shake hands, don¡¯t you?¡± Xavier took the dwarf¡¯s hand. ¡°My name is Xavier. And yes, we do.¡± He chose not to give the dwarf his last name. He had no idea what sector the man was from. Did the System combine people from the same area of the Greater Universe on this floor, or was it as random as the tenth floor Melee had been? He¡¯s probably never heard the name Xavier Collins, but better to be safe than sorry. ¡°Well. Good to meet you, Xavier. As you¡¯ve just arrived, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll see you back in Hunter¡¯s Home before long. Unless you intend on taking a break from the floor,¡± Gimble said. Hunter¡¯s Home? I guess that must be the name of the tavern. Xavier contemplated that for a moment. The floor was continuous, as the notification had said. That meant that if he took a break, time would keep passing here. An hour for each minute back in their actual universe. If he was gone for an hour, days would pass here. If he was gone for an entire day? Almost two months would go by¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll be taking a break any time soon,¡± Xavier said. When he¡¯d been looking at different gear, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he would ever acquire a soul bound weapon. He hadn¡¯t been in a position to talk to other people from around the Greater Universe back in the Staging Room. But on this floor? It seemed he had access to a great many Champions, all of whom he was sure were a higher grade than him. The longer he stayed here without taking a break, the better chance he might have to make connections with them. Perhaps he¡¯d be able to figure out how to get his hands on a soul bound weapon after all¡­ That wasn¡¯t his main objective, however. His main objective was fighting one of the beasts from the board. He wanted to get an idea of how strong they were, and just how out of his depth he truly was. Book 4: Chapter 26 - I’m Xavier Collins! I Can Take On Anything! Xavier spent more time than he would like to admit staring at the different beasts on the notice boards. Though the notices had information on the beasts, they didn¡¯t actually say what level they were, only what grade they were. That made it difficult for him to decide what an ¡°easy¡± monster for him to go after would be. This feels more than a little humiliating. On the lower floors, I would be able to waltz out there and face anything I came across. He wondered if that was still the case¡ªif he would be able to face anything on the board and come out of the encounter alive. Except for maybe the C Grade monsters. Gimble had walked back off to his other party members to leave Xavier to his contemplations. For a moment, he wondered if he would be able to team up with another party. That would be the safest way to go about all of this. But Xavier knew that the System didn¡¯t want him to take the safe route¡ªit wouldn¡¯t have sent him here if it did. Every single big reward Xavier had gained from the System had come when he had taken life-threatening risks, not when he¡¯d gone down the safest path possible for himself. So, he needed to do that again. Take a risk. This looks like it can¡¯t be too bad. Xavier snagged a notice from the wall and looked at the beast it depicted. The beast was called a Magma Bull. The bull¡¯s skin was red and looked as though it was made from molten rock¡ªwhich, given its name, it likely was. I think I can take on one bull. He walked away from the board with the notice in hand. A notification popped up. Do you wish to accept the Hunt Quest for the Magma Bull? One must be on a hunt for at least two days before going back on a quest and choosing another hunt. No Champion can be on two hunts at the same time. Interesting. Two of these days¡ªin real time¡ªwasn¡¯t very long. But here, on the hundredth floor, he could see how that might become a problem. He needed to slay at least one beast per week from the board. If he had trouble with this one, and then a few more¡­ No need to worry about things that have yet to come to pass. He accepted the Hunt Quest. The moment he did, his mini-map automatically opened up, which was something he¡¯d been half-expecting. He was hoping the mini-map would have a little flag or dot on it somewhere, or maybe an arrow pointing him in the right direction for the Hunt Quest. If it did, he would be able to go straight to the beast. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case. There was, however, an area on the mini-map that was now illuminated, with a little exclamation mark bobbing up and down. Xavier narrowed his eyes as he stared at the exclamation mark. He mentally clicked on it. This is the area in which the Magma Bull was last seen. The Magma Bull is a ferocious animal that has been killing local farmers¡¯ livestock. Though the Magma Bull hunts alone, there are more threats within its territory than the monster itself. Be on your guard, Champion. Killing local farmers¡¯ livestock, really? Xavier couldn¡¯t imagine being a farmer in the Greater Universe, with all the threats out there. Maybe if he were a battle mage of some sort and a farmer, then he could properly defend his farm, though he didn¡¯t know why he would bother farming if he were a battle mage¡­ He strode straight out of the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern, his new robes billowing behind him as he walked. Some of the other Champions in the room looked over at him, others gave small nods. Gimble gave an excited wave. ¡°Careful out there on yer own, big man.¡± Xavier nodded at the little dwarf. ¡°I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll stay out of trouble.¡± As he opened the door and stepped out, snow was falling around him. He stopped and just looked around, admiring where he was. Hunter¡¯s Home was in the middle of a large forest in the middle of the winter of whatever world he was currently on. The trees were all capped with snow, and it must have been packed two feet high on the ground. Xavier hadn¡¯t seen much snow in his life, so this was a complete novelty to him. The little space around the tavern itself had been shovelled, and there was a clear, stone path that spread out into¡­ seemingly the middle of nowhere. Shame I don¡¯t have any fire related powers. I could melt the snow as I walked. The path was only clear of snow for a short distance. His first step in the snow made his foot sink straight down. How is anyone supposed to fight in this?The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. But it turned out it was just the immediate area that had been hit this hard with the snow. Everywhere else, it was much thinner and more densely packed. A part of him wanted to sprint straight through the forest and find this monster he was supposed to be hunting and get this over with as quickly as he could. But he couldn¡¯t help but wonder about the nature of¡­ well, everything. Like why couldn¡¯t the System stop the universe from ending when it was strong enough to slow down time in an entire universe? Multiple universes, actually? It had so much power¡ªand yet it couldn¡¯t stop whatever it was that was coming? And if the System was that powerful, and it couldn¡¯t do this¡­ how was Xavier ever supposed to manage it? He had been feeling far more confident about saving the universe from its end a mere few hours ago than he was now, even if it had been incredibly overwhelming¡ªhe¡¯d known he was special, different, strong. But here, on the hundredth floor, suddenly his confidence was being tested. Maybe that¡¯s what the System was trying to show me, that I shouldn¡¯t be so confident. It was tyring to humble him, and there wasn¡¯t anything he could really do about it. Xavier tried not to spend too long in this introspective state. He was a man of action, and there was plenty to be done. After a few miles of walking and taking in the scenery of this new planet, he hadn¡¯t sensed a single beast¡¯s aura. Either the area was deserted, or the beasts here were much better at hiding their presence than any he¡¯d encountered before. Something tells me it¡¯s the latter and not the former. He was about to finally start sprinting toward his destination when he heard a rustling in some bushes nearby, then the crunch, crunch, crunch of something walking through the snow¡ªhe knew the noise well enough, after he¡¯d been walking through the snow for the last little while himself. A roar sounded. He turned and found a massive wolf running toward him¡ªnot just any wolf, this was a wolven. Or, at least, it bore a striking resemblance to one. He¡¯d encountered wolven before¡ªthey had been a part of the ranks of the Endless Horde¡¯s massive army. Xavier tried to Identify the wolf on its approach, but something blocked him. Really? I¡¯m not strong enough to identify this beast? It wasn¡¯t even one of the beasts from the board! Xavier readied himself for combat as he watched how fast the thing could move. When it had started loping toward him, it hadn¡¯t been running all that fast. Xavier thought the beast would be fairly weak compared to him. But then the thing began to move even faster, faster than Xavier had expected it to be able to move. Had it been lulling him into a false sense of security at first? The wolven wasn¡¯t as massive as some he¡¯d seen, but its muscles were incredibly densely packed on its body. He could see them shifting beneath the skin. Xavier felt a hint of fear at the sight of the beast, something he hadn¡¯t expected. The kraken he¡¯d faced on the last floor had been far larger and looked far more intimidating¡ªbut this beast? He wasn¡¯t even able to identify it. He swiftly went through his abilities. It wasn¡¯t that long ago when he was last fighting D Grades. He should be able to manage this. God, I hate the lack of confidence I¡¯m feeling. I¡¯m Xavier Collins! I can take on anything! Xavier cast Willpower Infusion¡ªhis ace in the hole. Purple mist shot forth from his Midnight Scythe, straight toward the beast. The beast popped out of existence a split second before the purple mist reached it. Xavier frowned. Blinked. That had¡­ never happened before. The beast had somehow managed to dodge his Willpower Infusion spell! He¡¯d had times when the spell hadn¡¯t worked, or an item had disabled it, but for it to be dodged completely? There was a shift in the air behind him. Not that Xavier needed the shift in the air to know where the beast was. He could see it clearly with his Farscope. Xavier sidestepped and whirled around at the same time. The sidestep didn¡¯t do him any good as the beast changed direction easily. Its jaw clamped onto his arm before he¡¯d even realised the beast was this close. Damn, it¡¯s fast. Xavier¡¯s mind moved even more swiftly than his body, and with as much Speed as he had, it had been a little while since he¡¯d been caught unawares. Even being able to see where the beast was hadn¡¯t helped him. Xavier didn¡¯t panic. Panic was for fools and dead men. He wasn¡¯t about to become either of them. Instead, he knew exactly what to do. He cast Otherworldly Phase. It had a cooldown of ten minutes, and only lasted for two seconds, but it worked for him instantly. The beast fell through him. And two seconds was a long time for entities that could move as fast as them. Spirit Infusion was already strengthening his muscles, his mind, his magic, offering a slight silver glow to him that was practically permanent, as he always recast the spell whenever it finished, its cooldown being shorter than its duration. Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis, pushing the wolven back. The beast yelped in pain as it was launched into the air. Good. I can hurt it. Xavier followed that up with a Spirit Break, a Soul Shatter, and a Core Burn. The Spirit Break caused the beast even more pain¡ªphysical, mental, spiritual. It was a torturous spell. Soul Shatter bore directly into the beast, causing the wolven soul damage that was almost impossible to block. Then Core Burn did its work, now that the beast¡¯s will had been softened by the other spells. Xavier was glad to see that his spells were actually working. He¡¯d been a little worried when he realised how fast the beast was that there was a chance it was too powerful for him. The very thought was alien after all he had done in the last few weeks. After all he¡¯d accomplished. That thought wasn¡¯t the only thing that was alien to him. If he¡¯d hit any of the enemies he¡¯d been facing lately with a Soul Shatter or a Core Burn, they would be dead already. The wolven had been hit by both and it was still standing. The Heavy Telekinesis spell had flung it into the air. Xavier had expected it to teleport again, but it hadn¡¯t yet. The three following spells had hit the beast while it was still being thrown. Now, it landed hard on the ground and writhed, making pained yelps. Xavier stepped forward, ready to put it out of its misery. The Core Burn should have finished it off, but Xavier could see that the damned beast was somehow fighting it. The beast¡¯s veil about its core dropped the moment it had been hit with Core Burn, and waves of energy crashed out around it. Xavier could finally get a sense of the beast¡¯s level of power. D Grade. Strong. And this isn¡¯t even one of the beasts from the board. Killing this won¡¯t count toward a Hunt Quest. The wolven made it back to its feet swiftly and shook off the core burn. It was breathing heavily, its chest rising and falling. It stood in a hunched position, growling, fangs exposed, saliva dripping from them, eyes wide and set on him. It shook off Core Burn. How in the hell did it manage something like that? Xavier didn¡¯t know, and he figured it didn¡¯t matter. He slashed his scythe-staff down at the beast. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have gone for a melee attack¡ªit wouldn¡¯t have been necessary. But he felt an irrational anger at this beast for resisting his power. A rage at it for being as strong as it was. He wanted to exert his will. He wanted to see it bleed, like it had already made him bleed¡ªhis arm stung where the thing had clamed its jaws into him. Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff came down, striking for the wolven¡¯s head. It was a perfect strike, one that would hit it directly in its brain. But the Midnight Scythe did not get bloodied. The blade hit only air. The beast had teleported again. Xavier saw it, with his Farscope item¡¯s ability, a little ways behind him, hiding behind a tree. Then he heard a howl, coming from his left. And another from his right. Then a third. This wolven wasn¡¯t alone¡ªit had a pack. Book 4: Chapter 27 - What the Hell Is This Beast Made Of? Xavier stood in the middle of a clearing on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. D Grade wolven were howling all around him. He counted at least five different howls. He gripped his Midnight Scythe tightly. Facing the first wolven, he¡¯d been holding back. He hadn¡¯t cast his most powerful spell, Soul Strike. But there was a reason he¡¯d been holding back from using that. Soul Strike was an incredibly strong spell for him, one that he¡¯d used to great advantage against large numbers of enemies. Its strength was in the number of souls he was able to harvest, and when he was fighting great numbers of weak enemies, harvesting souls was an easy enough task. On this floor, the hundredth floor, where none of the enemies were below D Grade¡ªat least, as far as he¡¯d found so far¡ªgaining a lot of souls to work with didn¡¯t seem like an easy task. Maybe after this fight I need to make it back to the tavern¡ªHunter¡¯s Home¡ªand find Gimble, or speak to the barkeep. I could ask one of them where I¡¯d be able to find some weaker monsters to farm for souls. The last thing he wanted to do was step into Hunter¡¯s Home and ask questions that would make him appear as though he were too weak for this floor. Well, that wasn¡¯t true¡ªthe last thing he wanted to do was fail this floor. And well, failure, in this case, would likely mean death. The wolven howls had been more than one hundred feet away, so he hadn¡¯t been able to see the beasts with his Farscope ability. But the howling sounds quickly morphed into swift running through the forest¡¯s underbrush. The five howls had come from different wolven to the one he¡¯d already been facing, which meant he now had six different beasts he needed to face, and all of them D Grade. I need to hit them with Willpower Infusion. That might very well be my only way out of this. Unless I want to exhaust my soul reserve. And he definitely didn¡¯t want that. Something told him he would need those souls when it came time to face the Magma Bull. Xavier waited for the wolven to come to him. Using Farscope, he watched them all closely as they finally came into range, then burst into the clearing. They didn¡¯t come for him right away, as he¡¯d thought they would. Instead, they began to circle him. One of them was bigger than the others. It had silver fur and looked¡­ weathered. It wasn¡¯t scarred¡ªscars were hard to come by when healing was so easy. But it looked more like a veteran of battle than the others did. This has to be a beast from the board¡ªhas to be a part of a Hunt Quest. Not that he would get anything for killing it even if it was. He had taken on a different Hunt Quest. The bigger wolven growled. Then it launched forward. The instant it did, the other five wolven launched forward as well. Xavier smiled. He¡¯d been waiting for this. He hadn¡¯t seen any of them use any ranged attacks, for which he was glad¡ªhe hadn¡¯t needed to use Soul Block. Not yet. Something told him their attacks were all of the melee variety. That first beast, its jaw clamped on his arm, that could have very well been a spell¡ªone he¡¯d only been able to avoid because of Otherworld Phase. Xavier waited until the enemies almost had their teeth clamped around him, then he activated Buffer. Buffer was an imbued ability from his Dark Steel Bracer. It was an ability he hadn¡¯t found the need to use much, but one he¡¯d always kept in the back of his mind. It could push back all enemies around him twenty feet back for a period of ten seconds. It was a powerful ability. Though it had a catch¡ªit could only be used once per day. Or, more accurately, once every twenty-four hours. Xavier had to wonder how it worked¡ªit couldn¡¯t possibly work against any opponent, could it? A C Grade wouldn¡¯t be pushed back by a simple imbued ability. Regardless, it worked on the wolven. Xavier watched as all six wolven were pushed backward from him. It was a beautiful sight, one that made him feel as though he were in control again. Now, it was time to even the odds. Xavier turned his attention to the first enemy he had faced on this floor. The wolven was still breathing a little raggedly. Xavier could tell that it had taken quite a bit of damage from his attacks, even if it hadn¡¯t succumbed to them. The very fact that the beast had called for help was rather telling. Another thing that was telling was that it had only used its teleportation spell twice since their fight had begun, which meant it had limitations. Xavier was assuming those limitations were time-based¡ªa cooldown. And the beast had only just used the teleportation spell a moment ago, when Xavier had swung his Midnight Scythe down at its head. It wouldn¡¯t have teleported away from my Willpower Infusion spell if it were able to resist it, would it? Xavier was about to find out.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He cast Willpower Infusion, focusing it on a single enemy. He could have used it on the other enemies around him, but he wanted to make sure he had a strong lock on this one. Until he could feel the beast¡¯s mind, he wouldn¡¯t be able to know how strong his hold over it would be. The purple mist shot for the wolven. This time, it didn¡¯t teleport out of the way. It tried to turn. Tried to dodge. It failed. The Willpower Energy that was the purple mist thrust in through the beasts¡¯ nostrils, ears, eyes, mouth. Fear struck the beast like a hammer as this happened. Then the beast¡¯s face slackened. Xavier stood in the middle of the clearing, six wolven around him, all circling the twenty-foot radius created by his buffer spell, but unable to push forward and attack him. He felt strong again, looking at their lacklustre attempts. He felt even stronger when he realised how much weaker the wolven¡¯s mind was than his own. It would be hard to control the whole pack with his Willpower Infusion spell¡ªeven if he managed to get them under his thrall without each of them teleporting away¡­ one of their minds was weaker than his, but all six combined would be a challenge he wasn¡¯t sure he was up to. That made his rage return¡ªthe rage he¡¯d been feeling when he¡¯d come in to attack the first wolven with his scythe-staff. I should be able to crush these beasts with nothing more than my pinkie finger! Controlling the first wolven, Xavier made it attack one of the others. The buffer spell lasted for twenty seconds. He¡¯d been keeping track of the time as it had passed¡ªonly two seconds had gone by. It felt like longer, but he knew that was simply because time moved different for people as fast as him. Xavier still had a few tricks up his sleeve, ones he wasn¡¯t sure he was ready to use. Ones didn¡¯t want to have to use. He wanted to see how he could do against these wolven without them. Xavier focused his attention on the wolven that he had his thralled beast attack. Xavier cast the same three spells again¡ªSpirit Break, Soul Shatter, and Core Burn. They¡¯d always worked for him in the past. There was a part of Xavier that was regretting making Soul Shatter an area-of-effect spell. While it clearly hurt these wolven¡ªall of them, in fact¡ªhad he made it a single-target spell, it would have done a hell of a lot more damage. I can¡¯t just soften all six of these enemies, I need to go in for the kill. Take them out one by one. Far faster than this. The beast had been distracted by its ally attacking it¡ªapparently too distracted to even think of teleporting away. Each of the three spells Xavier cast landed on it easily. That was when it teleported. Straight out of the one-hundred-metre radius. God dammit. Xavier¡¯s anger flared even more. This was ridiculous! He knew for a fact he was still stronger than these wolven, but he hadn¡¯t killed a single one of them. I¡¯m going about this all wrong. He still hadn¡¯t shifted his mindset. He wasn¡¯t taking the threat of these wolven seriously. If he wasn¡¯t careful, that would come back to bite him. Literally. Fifteen seconds left before Buffer falls. It felt like an eternity, but he couldn¡¯t become complacent. Xavier refocused his attention. He still had one of the wolven under his thrall. That was the enemy that was most vulnerable. And that was where his focus needed to be. Take them out. One by one. Xavier cast Core Burn on the wolven. Now that it was under his control, there would be no way for it to fight back against the spell. It¡¯ll be dead within seconds. The core burn spell did its work. Xavier, being in control of the beast¡¯s mind, could almost feel what was happening to it. Could feel the chaos in the beast¡¯s cores as it burned through the energy in each of them one after another, until finally there was nothing left. The spell had taken five whole seconds to kill the beast, which was longer than he¡¯d hoped it would take. The wolven had been tough. But finally, the spell had done the job, and there was still ten more seconds of his Buffer ability to go, keeping the enemy wolven at bay. The silver wolven howled incredibly loudly the moment that first wolven died. Then it snarled and began to glow a fierce red. The beast broke through the Buffer ability and leaped straight for Xavier¡¯s throat. What the¡ª Xavier¡¯s thoughts didn¡¯t even move fast enough to react. He threw up his arm in defence, a reflex he shouldn¡¯t have even had. Not anymore. He should have cast Soul Block. Why didn¡¯t he cast Soul Block? My mind is panicked. Chaotic. I can¡¯t get control of myself. All of this feels wrong. There was nowhere for him to run to. If he fled, he would be fleeing straight out of Buffer¡¯s range into the fangs of more wolven. The beast clamped onto his arm instead of his neck. At least that was something. Pain pierced his mind as the wolven pierced his flesh drawing blood. Xavier saw his health go down 10 percent. And that¡¯s just from one bite! If that thing had gotten to his neck¡­ The beast was still glowing red. Xavier tried to yank his arm away, but it only made things hurt worse. The panic in his mind intensified. Physical Resistance has reached Rank 81! Physical Resistance has reached Rank 82! Xavier blinked. He hadn¡¯t had that skill go up in what felt like a while. The notification stripped him of his fear¡ªat least for a moment¡ªand helped him refocus. He breathed and let go of his panic. There was another glow about the wolven that hadn¡¯t been there before. This one was around its jaw, and Xavier knew what it must mean¡ªthe bite wasn¡¯t just a normal melee attack, it was some sort of spell. There would be no dislodging those jaws off his arm, and his health was steadily declining the longer the wolven hung on. I have to kill it. He didn¡¯t know how the beast had gotten through his Buffer skill. All the other wolven were still stuck outside of it, even though a few of them had begun to glow red just like the first one. It seemed to be some sort of berserker spell, as the wolven were flying into a rage. Your health is at 75%. God, it¡¯s going down faster than I thought! Perhaps now was the time for Xavier to use one of the aces he had up his sleeve¡­ No. I can do this without those spells! I have to, if I want to move forward today. I can¡¯t use all my soul reserve on this one damned beast! Xavier cast Spirit Break on the beast, hoping to cause it enough pain to let go of his arm. The beast didn¡¯t even yelp. The spell only caused it to growl ever louder than it already was and yank Xavier¡¯s arm left and right in its jaws. Xavier slashed down at the beast with his scythe-staff, one-handed. The blade slammed toward the beast¡¯s silver fur and was¡­ Deflected? What the hell is this beast made of? It must have some sort of defensive spell active! Your health is at 70%. There were still eight more seconds until Buffer fell. He was glad for that. It felt like a hell of a lot more time had passed since this thing had broken through. Xavier blinked. What a fool he had been! These wolven had teleportation abilities. If he wanted to get this one off him, all he would need to do was threaten it with the Willpower Infusion spell. That had been what had made the first wolven teleport away when he first encountered it. And if the wolven didn¡¯t teleport away? Well, then it might just fall under Xavier¡¯s control¡­ Book 4: Chapter 28 - A Step Forward on the Path Xavier cast Willpower Infusion on the wolven, with only seven seconds until the Buffer ability stopped working. Purple mist shot from his staff and made its way to the beast. It didn¡¯t need to cover much distance, what with how close the wolven was. Either the beast didn¡¯t have a chance to teleport away, or it was too enraged to realise the threat. The spell hit it dead on, purple mist flowing into its eyes, nose¡ªeverything¡ªuntil Xavier could feel the wolven¡¯s mind. And what he felt was power. It was far stronger than the other wolven he¡¯d just taken over and then killed. There was something else about this beast, too. It felt¡­ ancient. At least, ancient to him. It was most certainly over a thousand years old. How has this beast managed to stay alive around this forest for a thousand years, when there are Champions running around doing Hunt Quests every day? Xavier figured now wasn¡¯t the time to ask those questions. He focused his mind to a point, trying to pierce through the wolven¡¯s mental barrier. He¡¯d dealt with blocks like this before, but it had been a while since he¡¯d felt this spell truly challenged. He¡¯d only ever been able to control the Lord of the Endless Horde for short periods of time, after all. I can do this. I have to do this. Another second ticked by, and with it, 20 percent of Xavier¡¯s health disappeared. Your health is at 50%. Halfway gone. This is getting serious. It was that moment when another of the wolven broke through the Buffer ability with a massive growl. It leapt into the air straight for him just as the first had. Then another broke through. And another. There¡¯d still been a few seconds left on the Buffer spell, yet all the beasts were breaking through it! Xavier was a split second away from casting Time Alteration or Soul Strike, and if that didn¡¯t work, he¡¯d go all the way to Summon Otherworldly Spirit¡ªthe Spirit of Vengeance had worked for him in the past¡ªwhen something in his mind clicked. He felt a vulnerability in the wolven¡¯s mental defence, something that he could break through. A crack in its armour. It only took him a millisecond. He managed it faster than the other wolven were able to reach him. Suddenly, the strongest wolven among them was on his side. The first thing Xavier did was command it to release him. Xavier jumped straight upward with all his strength. The jump took him high¡ªhigher than he¡¯d even expected. He wasn¡¯t yet used to the extra strength that the Midnight Staff offered him. He was, however, used to adapting to surges in his attributes¡ªhe¡¯d had enough of them, after all. I¡¯m not going to let this pack of wolven take me down. Now that he was high in the air, he saw an opportunity to flee. He could make it back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He¡¯d be safe in the tavern. But fleeing was not on his agenda. He was going to make these beasts pay for making him feel this vulnerable. Still high up in the air, Xavier was out of range of his Farscope ability. He couldn¡¯t see the battlefield as he had before¡ªonly from a bird¡¯s eye view. So, he split his mind in two. His thoughts were suddenly clear, up here in the thin air. Once his mind was split, he sent part of his consciousness down into the wolven he now controlled. The control felt weak, tenuous. Far weaker than his control over the other wolven had been. But he knew he would be able to hold onto it for long enough to do what needed to be done. In the same instant he was looking out from the wolven¡¯s eyes, Xavier cast Soul Puppet. He raised the other wolven from the ground, the first one that he had killed. This wasn¡¯t one of his most powerful spells, but he¡¯d discovered the stronger the soul he used it on, the stronger the puppet he could control. Now, two of the six wolven were under his thrall, even if they were being controlled by two very different spells, and one of them was technically dead. Xavier smiled from on high as he watched the two wolven he controlled go after one of their kin. He cast several more spells as he began to plummet back down to the ground. Spirit Break, to weaken the target beast¡¯s resolve. Soul Shatter, to cause it tremendous damage. And Core Burn, to finish it off. With the other two wolven attacking it, the spells were enough. It couldn¡¯t shrug off the Core Burn while it was trying to defend itself¡ªand the big, ancient silver wolven was far, far stronger than it, ripping into its neck with a fierce attack that, coupled with Xavier¡¯s spells, left the beast dead on the ground within less than a second. As Xavier fell back down to the ground, he used Heavy Telekinesis to slam his next target straight into the earth. The spell was so strong that the wolven dug a hole ten feet deep until it hit solid rock and finally stopped. The rock behind it cracked, and the wolven lay, disoriented, in the crater. Soul Puppet!Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The second dead wolven came under his thrall. He had all the wolven he controlled attack the one down in the crater. And thus the process was repeated, until all the wolven were dead¡ªand had become his puppets¡ªexcept for the final, silver wolf, who remained alive and under his Willpower Infusion spell. Xavier¡¯s control of the beast had somehow solidified, as though its mind had weakened as its pack died, one by one, around it. Xavier couldn¡¯t imagine what that must be like from the beast¡¯s perspective¡ªbeing forced to kill its kin, without having any control over its own body. He had seen it happen¡ªhalf of his own mind had been split, controlling the beast from within. But he knew that wasn¡¯t the same as feeling it. Xavier stood across from the silver wolven, with five wolven soul puppets around him. Attack! he willed. And the wolven did. They tore their alpha apart while Xavier watched, his health slowly ticking back upward from where it had been halved. He raised his chin as the alpha wolven died. There was a part of him that felt very tired. The fight had been more mentally draining than he¡¯d expected it to be. Now that the silver wolven was dead and no longer under his thrall, the different parts of his mind came back together. It was an odd feeling, having his mind snap back into a whole. But that wasn¡¯t why he felt tired, and it wasn¡¯t his body, either, even if he¡¯d taken a fair bit of damage to his health during the ordeal. He was mentally drained from the entire fight. From controlling the wolven. From being in so much danger. For being so stressed and vulnerable. At the same time, his heart was pumping hard in his chest. He felt invigorated. It was an odd dissonance. Exhaustion and invigoration. He supposed he¡¯d been here before. In a near-death experience. And that¡¯s not even the closest I¡¯ve come to dying. It isn¡¯t even in the top five. Still, it was the closest he¡¯d come in a while. And instead of being angry about it, like he had earlier in the fight, he was¡­ glad. He¡¯d been wanting a challenge. He¡¯d been wanting his fights to actually mean something. And while this fight hadn¡¯t been the closest he¡¯d come to death, if he¡¯d made a few more wrong moves¡­ Things could have been far more dire. He went over to the dead alpha wolven and tilted his head to the side as he stared down at it. ¡°You and your kin were worthy opponents,¡± he said. ¡°But that won¡¯t stop me from harvesting your soul.¡± Xavier used Soul Harvest, then he touched a hand to the beast¡¯s hide and put the corpse into his Storage Ring. He didn¡¯t do the same for the other wolven. They were arrayed behind him. His puppets¡ªhis protectors¡ªat least for now. Before Xavier moved on through the forest, he sat down in the dirt near where the silver wolven had died. He split his mind into several parts, each doing something different. One part of his mind was keeping watch, his eyes wide open, his ears perked. Another part of his mind was reading through the different notifications that he¡¯d gotten from the fight. He¡¯d put off reading them after the first two had come through, ranking up his Physical Resistance spell¡ªthe fight had been too high focus for him to take his attention away from it. And the final part of his mind was going over the fight and all of the mistakes he¡¯d made. Because from his count, there were many. The first mistake he¡¯d made was not taking the initial wolven¡¯s attack seriously enough. He could have cast Time Alteration before it had reached him. He could have used Soul Block¡ªfrom both times the different wolven had made it to him. It was the Time Alteration spell he knew he¡¯d underutilised the most¡ªwell, underutilised was putting it mildly, considering he hadn¡¯t used it at all. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure why he hadn¡¯t used it. When the first wolven had clamped onto him, it wouldn¡¯t have been all that much help. But it certainly would have been helpful before that had happened, or after, when he heard all the different wolven howling. He¡¯d known they were coming for him, yet he hadn¡¯t done what he should have. He also hadn¡¯t used Soul Block. When the first wolven had attacked him, it was true that it had taken him by surprise¡ªbut that was no excuse. His mind worked fast enough that he should have been able to do something about the attacking beast. He could have easily used his Soul Block spell to stop it from clamping onto him. Because I didn¡¯t take the threat seriously, I let the beast attack me. Xavier had assumed the alpha wolven had been a beast from the board¡ªone he didn¡¯t have a Hunt Quest for¡ªbut he was beginning to think that wasn¡¯t actually the case. If it was just any old beast from around here, then I¡¯ll be in for a surprise when I come up against the Magma Bull. Now, knowing the strength of some of these beasts, and¡ªif he was right¡ªknowing that they likely were nothing compared with the beasts from the board¡­ well, he would need to be more careful. And less prideful. He still thought not using Soul Strike had been a wise idea, even if it had put his life in danger. There was a part of him that was trying to tell him he shouldn¡¯t worry so much¡ªhe¡¯d defeated his enemies, hadn¡¯t he? He hadn¡¯t come out unscathed¡­ but he was healing quickly enough. I need better supplies. I had a chance to use health potions, but I didn¡¯t touch them because I¡¯m not used to having to. Xavier shook his head, wondering how he¡¯d gotten himself so complacent. Though he supposed he knew the answer to that well enough. At the same time, another part of his mind was going through the notifications that had come up during the fight. Firstly, he was surprised to find that he¡¯d gotten a few more ranks in Physical Resistance than he first realised. Physical Resistance has reached Rank 83! Physical Resistance has reached Rank 84! Four ranks, in a single battle? It had been a long while since he¡¯d managed something like that. He smiled to himself. This¡­ was an opportunity, one he shouldn¡¯t pass up. That wasn¡¯t the only rank up he¡¯d received, either. Soul Puppet has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Puppet is now a Rank 61 spell. Soul Puppet is now a Rank 62 spell. Soul Puppet is now a Rank 63 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier smiled again. Ranking up Soul Puppet had been a very difficult task back on Earth, and on the earlier floor. But here, he¡¯d done it without even really intending to, gaining three whole ranks. Very nice. He read the next few notifications. Willpower Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Willpower Infusion is now a Rank 76 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Shatter is now a Rank 61 spell. Soul Shatter is now a Rank 62 spell. Soul Shatter is now a Rank 63 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Core Burn has taken a step forward on the path! Core Burn is now a Rank 61 spell. Core Burn is now a Rank 62 spell. Core Burn is now a Rank 63 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Spirit Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Spirit Infusion is now a Rank 61 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Spiritual Trifecta has taken a step forward on the path! Spiritual Trifecta is now a Rank 61 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Heavy Telekinesis has taken a step forward on the path! Heavy Telekinesis is now a Rank 61 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier leant back, taking in all he¡¯d gained from the fights. He had gained a rank in¡­ every single spell that he¡¯d used, other than Soul Harvest. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time something like that had happened. Taking a breath, he read on. Book 4: Chapter 29 - I Can Do Better After reading through all the notifications showing him the rank ups he¡¯d received to his skills and spells from his first battle on the hundredth floor, Xavier read through the kill notifications. There, he was very curious about. The first five wolven turned out to all be the same level, something he supposed wasn¡¯t too surprising. You have defeated a Level 210 Wolven! You have gained 260 Mastery Points (E Grade). He skimmed over the other four, but they each offered the same number of Mastery Points. Then he read the last kill notification. You have defeated a Level 225 Alpha Wolven! You have gained 350 Mastery Points (E Grade). Xavier blinked. His eyes widened as he looked at the levels of the enemies he¡¯d defeated. He¡¯d fought D Grades before. The highest-level D Grade that he¡¯d fought before today had been Level 230. These Wolven had been¡­ a lower level than that? They were still D Grade, but that, more than anything that had happened since he¡¯d entered the one hundredth floor, shocked him. When he had fought the other D Grades, his level had been significantly lower than it was now. He¡¯d been Level 108 when he¡¯d defeated the last D Grade enemy back on that planet that had invaded Earth. Since then, he had gained so many attributes it was rather insane, not to mention over 50 levels along with the countless dungeon titles¡­ Yet these wolven had been a challenge. It was true that he¡¯d utilised more powerful spells back in that fight¡ªSpirit of Vengeance being one of them. But this¡­ there was far more to this. These wolven are way, way more powerful than the D Grade humans I fought! Even though their level is almost the same! Xavier supposed he shouldn¡¯t be surprised when the level of a beast or Denizen didn¡¯t match up with what he assumed their actual power would be, considering¡­ well, himself. But still, it came as a shock. They also offered the exact same Mastery Points as the other D Grades he¡¯d slain, something which he honestly didn¡¯t think was all that fair¡­ Maybe whatever sector of the Greater Universe this floor is on, people are more powerful for their level and grade¡­ He would need to be aware of that in the future, for whoever¡ªor whatever¡ªhe came up against next. Not that he¡¯d been able to scan these beasts, or even use Identify on them. He hadn¡¯t known what their level was until he¡¯d gotten the kill notifications for them. Still, it would be wise for him to be cautious, so that¡¯s exactly what he was going to do. Xavier frowned when he got to the end of the list of notifications. A part of him¡ªa big part, if he were honest¡ªhad been hoping that he would have gotten some sort of title from that fight. But there was nothing. He supposed that made sense. There had been nothing truly remarkable, nothing title-worthy, about his performance during that fight¡­ still, he was used to getting titles left and right. Now, he wasn¡¯t sure when the next time he would get one would be. This floor doesn¡¯t even offer a record title, and even if it did, it looks like I wouldn¡¯t be able to gain it¡­ He took a look at how many Mastery Points he still needed to get to Level 162. Mastery Points (E Grade) until next level: 6,225/10,000 I gained 1650 E Grade Mastery Points from that one fight¡­ That was definitely new. Maybe making it to D Grade won¡¯t take all that long¡­ Xavier stood and brushed himself off. It was time to keep moving. But he had a few decisions to make along the way. As Xavier walked through the forest, he contemplated his position. On this floor, he needed to defeat a beast from the notice board every week. When he¡¯d gotten here, he¡¯d thought it would be wise to defeat as many of them as swiftly as possible, as he needed to defeat ten such beasts before he was able to make it to the next floor.Stolen novel; please report. Xavier wasn¡¯t used to lingering on different floors on the tower. Not anymore. But that particular habit wasn¡¯t going to help him. Not here. He needed to take a different approach to the hundredth floor. He needed to take the same approach that he¡¯d taken on the fifth floor of the Tower of Champions¡ªthe floor where he¡¯d taken down the Lord of the Endless Horde. That, out of everything, had been the moment that he¡¯d proven to himself that he was worthy of being a Champion. If Julin Myers hadn¡¯t laid down his weapon right when the System had first integrated Earth, allowing Xavier to win their fight, and unknowingly sacrificing his life¡­ Xavier wouldn¡¯t be alive right now. He wouldn¡¯t have fought those goblins and gained the first kill of any Denizen from Earth, or the first quest title. He wouldn¡¯t have been the first Champion from Earth to make it to the tower. Xavier hadn¡¯t deserved any of it¡ªor, at least, he hadn¡¯t felt as though he had. He¡¯d fought hard to feel worthy of it all. Of being a Progenitor¡ªor being a True Progenitor. To ensure that the Navy SEAL, Julian Myers, hadn¡¯t died for nothing that day. Killing the Lord of the Endless Horde had proven to himself that he was worthy. Now, he felt the need to prove himself again. He¡¯d had far too much trouble fighting those wolven. Xavier looked at the mini-map, specifically at the area in which he was supposed to find the Magma Bull, the target of his first Hunt Quest. Xavier had an entire week to kill this beast, and here he was going after it at his first opportunity. That¡¯s not the way I¡¯m going to play this. One hour here is only a minute back in the tower. No one is waiting for me. No one is missing me. Earth will be fine while I take my time on this floor. And if I don¡¯t take my time, I¡¯m liable to end up dead, anyway. Xavier smiled. Broadly. He felt a sense of purpose. It wasn¡¯t as though he hadn¡¯t felt purpose lately¡ªhis purpose to protect Earth had been fulfilled, at least for the meantime, and it was still a driving force in his life. But this? This would be a true challenge for him¡ªwhich meant it would have a true reward. He was still angry with the System for doing this to him, but that anger was fading, along with some of his pride. I need to farm as many beasts as I can before I face that Magma Bull. And I need to fight better than ever I have. That encounter with the wolven was sloppy. I can do better. Far better. The Magma Bull¡¯s territory was straight ahead of him. Xavier turned left instead, the five wolven corpse puppets following behind him, padding along the underbrush, not taking a single breath. Xavier felt as though he were in a situation he had never found himself in before. Ever since he¡¯d been thrust into the Greater Universe when the Earth was integrated by the System, he¡¯d been thrown from one floor to the next, or charged with protecting Earth, or had been flitting from one dungeon to another. Many of his adventures had been alone, but they¡¯d all been urgent. This, here, felt different. This, here, felt like he could actually take his time and he wouldn¡¯t being doing his world or his people a disservice. He wouldn¡¯t be failing anyone, because time moved so slow here¡­ He thought back to his brief interaction with the dwarf, Gimble, back in Hunter¡¯s Home. The dwarf had said he¡¯d been here for month, and his party had taken out five beasts from the notice board. Xavier had thought that had been a dismal performance, but maybe he¡¯d been looking at things the wrong way. There were a lot of Champions relaxing in there, instead of out fighting every moment. Maybe that¡¯s something I¡¯ll get a chance to do while I¡¯m on this floor as well. If the System was going to thrust him into this position, Xavier was going to take as much advantage of it as he possibly could. Starting with training. As he walked through the forest, the corpses of the dead wolven following behind him, under his control, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. What the System had done to him¡­ maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all. It was another ten minutes of walking until Xavier came upon another beast¡ªor at least, until he came upon one that wanted to make its presence known. In the one-hundred metre radius he could see everything of, he hadn¡¯t spotted a single enemy, but that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t out there. If he couldn¡¯t hear them, that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t hear him. He hadn¡¯t known many beasts to hide, but he also knew it could happen¡ªlike with the kraken back on the nineteenth floor. This forest is massive. Perhaps larger than any other I¡¯ve seen. There could be millions of beasts here. He¡¯d gotten a bird¡¯s eye view of the forest when he¡¯d been high up in the air, after leaping straight upward during the fight with the wolven. He hadn¡¯t been focused on it at the time, but he had noticed the forest stretched as far as his eye could see¡ªand he could see pretty damned far. The beast was making an odd snuffling sound. He couldn¡¯t see it yet, only hear it. It was out of the range of his Farscope. I wonder if someone here will be able to show me how to upgrade the Farscope. Xavier felt like some adventurer in an RPG as he stalked through the forest, looking for beasts to farm. Or a character from one of the many fantasy novels he¡¯d read¡ªand a few he¡¯d tried to write. This was more like what he¡¯d imagined things would be like when he¡¯d been thrust into this new reality at the start. The snuffling sound became louder and louder. Xavier banished his thoughts and focused only on the sound. He split his mind, so he could monitor the area around him. The leaves rustling in the trees. The wind whistling, making swaying the branches. The last beast he¡¯d fought hadn¡¯t been alone, he didn¡¯t want to make the mistake of assuming that this one would be. From the noise alone, Xavier was getting the feeling that this was some kind of boar. But he didn¡¯t have to contemplate that long, as it started barrelling through the trees straight for him. Xavier couldn¡¯t yet see the beast, but he could see its effect on the forest. Trees were uprooted or snapped straight in half, falling left and right as it thundered toward him, the sounds of its feet¡ªhooves?¡ªcrashing into the ground. Xavier couldn¡¯t sense any other beasts around. Just the one. Hopefully, things would remain that way. He waited a little longer. The beast came into view, the trees no longer obscuring it. ¡°That¡¯s a big one,¡± Xavier muttered. He¡¯d been right about it being a boar. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how he hadn¡¯t managed to see the beast until now. It was huge. Damned huge. Not the biggest beast he¡¯d ever faced, but definitely up there. It was as tall as a three-storey building and had tasks that looked sharp enough to pierce through enchanted steel. Xavier tried to use his Identify skill on the beast, but once again he had no luck. I need to figure out how to change that. Xavier waited until it was within the one-hundred metre radius of his Farscope ability. Then he waited some more. He¡¯d yet to cast a single spell. He didn¡¯t want to do that too early. So far, all he did was hold his ground and wait. He didn¡¯t have to wait very long. The giant boar was fast. Not as fast as the wolven he¡¯d just faced, but close enough. He checked the distance every millisecond as it came closer and closer. Nothing on the thing glowed¡ªno ranged spell seemed to activate. Xavier thanked his lucky stars for that. Finally, when Xavier deemed it was close enough, he cast his first spell of the fight. Time Alteration! Book 4: Chapter 30 - Who Knew a Pig Would Have Such Mental Fortitude? He sped up time around him and him alone, creating a bubble the same size as the one he had back in the Staging Room. He hadn¡¯t practiced with the spell, so he didn¡¯t know yet how much he could manipulate the time bubble¡ªwhether he could make it smaller or larger with repeated use. The spell, unlike others, didn¡¯t appear to have a specific path to choose from. Technically, he needn¡¯t have waited until the beast had gotten this close to cast the spell, but it seemed more than necessary to do so. The closer the beast was to the edge of his time barrier, the faster his spells would reach it once Xavier dropped the barrier. Xavier took a breath, staring at the beast. He had a moment to think, in this time bubble of his. He tilted his head to the side and examined the boar a little more closely, wondering if there were any weak spots he should target¡ªnot that he planned to swing his Midnight Scythe at the beast. That hadn¡¯t done him any good when he¡¯d been up against the wolven. Xavier cast a series of spells intended to weaken his enemy as best he could. He¡¯d kept his wolven puppets close enough that they were still within the barrier. Outside the barrier, everything was still. The forest was more peaceful than it had ever been. The leaves on the trees didn¡¯t move a millimetre. The branches didn¡¯t sway. Saliva that had dropped from the boar¡¯s mouth had been frozen in midair. Xavier blinked, looking at the saliva. It was¡­ green? That was when he noticed the boar¡¯s tusks. They weren¡¯t just sharp, they were covered in something. Something green, like what Xavier had mistaken for saliva. Some sort of acid or poison? He definitely wouldn¡¯t let this beast get too close. It had been long enough¡ªmore than twelve minutes¡ªthat he could use his Otherworld Phase imbued ability again if he needed to. He was trying not to need to, however. Then, something occurred to him. Something that probably should have occurred to him earlier. It was true that he needed to take these beasts seriously. His very life was in danger in thses encounters, in a way he hadn¡¯t experienced enough lately¡ªbut that didn¡¯t mean he had to plan the fights with the fastest route of defeating his enemy in mind. In the fight with the wolven, I gained at least one rank in practically every single spell I used, not to mention several ranks in Physical Resistance. This wasn¡¯t just an opportunity for him to gain levels. Adranial had told him that gaining levels as swiftly as possible wasn¡¯t the best route to true power¡ªthat one had to ensure they honed their spells and skills along the way. That was why power levelling was frowned upon, and used only when necessary, and not as a primary way of levelling up those in positions of privilege. Xavier had seen that to be true firsthand, especially when it came to gaining titles. But right now, titles weren¡¯t what were on offer here. Ranks were. Xavier tapped a finger on his chin in thought. Here was an opportunity. He began to pace back and forth in the small time bubble, and couldn¡¯t help but let out a chuckle. The boar was close by. Massive. And a huge threat to him. Its mouth was open wide, acid or venom or whatever the hell that was dripping from powerful tusks. That thing would do a lot of damage to him. And here he was, casually pacing around in his time bubble as though the threat were miles away. I have to say, I like this Time Alteration spell quite a lot. Though he wanted his spells to be more powerful, it was his skills that he felt as though he should focus on. He might not primarily be a melee fighter, but he should still be able to do damage to them with his Midnight Scythe¡ªespecially in one-on-one fights. He also needed to be better at taking damage. His health had reduced by 50 percent in the last fight. That was far too much. So Xavier decided he would focus on a subset of his skills during this fight, and if the fight became too intense, he would use anything within his power to kill this thing. He could always regroup back at the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern. Xavier let out a breath. He cast the first of his spells¡ªSpirit Break¡ªhe needed to get an idea of how much damage his spells managed to do against this thing. Spirit Break would soften up the beast. Soul Shatter was next¡ªhe needed to hurt this thing. He couldn¡¯t waste his Time Alteration spell simply coming up with a plan. The last spell he cast was Heavy Telekinesis. Xavier could have cast Core Burn. There was a part of him that wanted to finish this fight as fast as possible, because he knew what was about to happen next would be¡­ most unpleasant. I¡¯m taking a huge risk, doing things this way. But taking risks¡­ that has always served me well in the past. Once Xavier had cast his last spell, he took a few steps backward until he was at the very edge of the time bubble. Then he sprinted forward. The instant he reached the edge of the bubble he deactivated his Time Alteration spell. His Midnight Scythe was in mid swing. Melee fighting¡ªexactly what he¡¯d originally said he wouldn¡¯t do, but he felt a sense of glee in what he was doing. God, it felt good getting back in the fray like this. The boar didn¡¯t see any of the attacks coming. Spirit Break. Soul Shatter. Heavy Telekinesis. All three spells hit it at the exact same time¡ªor just about¡ªbecause of time having been stopped when he cast them.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Then Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff slammed into the flesh of the massive boar¡¯s leg. It wailed in pain, like a pig about to be slaughtered. The Heavy Telekinsis spell he¡¯d cast hadn¡¯t pushed the beast back like Xavier had expected. He¡¯d thought the thing would fly through the air and he¡¯d have to catch up to it to get a swing in. That wasn¡¯t the case. The spell had been only just strong enough to stop the thing in its tracks. That will have to be enough. The Midnight Scythe¡¯s blade sunk into the beast¡¯s flesh. It wasn¡¯t deflected like that Alpha Wolven had deflected his attack earlier. Well that¡¯s good to know. Maybe I can hurt these D Grade beasts with my scythe-staff alone. Xavier yanked the scythe-staff out, leaving a fresh wound behind that gushed blood. The boar made a terrible noise¡ªpain or hatred he didn¡¯t know, maybe a mixture of both¡ªand tried to skewer him with one of its tusks. Heavy Telekinesis! The thing¡¯s head stopped short. Xavier smiled. This was exactly what the telekinesis spell shined out. Moving heavy things. He slashed out at the beast one more time. Physical Damage has reached Rank 81! Xavier leaped backward with a grin on his face. That was exactly what he¡¯d been hoping would happen. Looking at the beast, he wasn¡¯t sure if he was willing to let it hit him to increase his Physical Resistance. He¡¯d done things like that before, and he¡¯d even planned to do it in this fight, but staring at the massive boar right now, and remembering just how much damage the wolven managed to do to him, he wondered if it would be such a good idea. Especially since he¡¯d hit it with several spells and it was still standing tall, barely looking worse for wear. That was when the massive beast¡¯s tusks began to glow an acidic green. Xavier narrowed his eyes. Evade, block, or take the hit? His drive to survive told him that was an absurd question to even ask. It didn¡¯t take him long to make a decision, mostly because he didn¡¯t have long. A beam of energy shot forth from the boar¡¯s tusks. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. He hadn¡¯t realised the beast would have some sort of energy beam! He sidestepped the strike just in time. Whatever that beam of energy was made of burned the very air that it touched. When it reached the ground, it melted the dirt and rock and grass and sunk, creating a crater. Xavier was glad he¡¯d dodged that. Evasion it is. Now, it was time to bait the beast into attacking him. The Evasion skill had been of great help to Xavier back when he¡¯d been facing the Lord of the Endless Horde. He¡¯d come a hell of a long way since then. It was time to make use of it again. Xavier got in close and slashed out at the beast, cutting into its leg. He ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding being stomped. He found himself beneath the boar and leapt upward, slicing underneath its belly in a long line with his Midnight Scythe. The beast let out another one of those pained squeals, this one even louder than before, Maybe its underbelly is its weak spot. Wouldn¡¯t surprise me. Another stomp came his way. Xavier dived, rolled, avoided it. Evasion has reached Rank 53! He grinned. It¡¯s working! Everything was going to plan. And it wasn¡¯t even that hard. In fact, he felt like he could do this all day¡ª SLAAAAAAAM! Xavier was hit in the side by what felt like a wrecking ball. Your health is at 49%. What in the hell was that? Xavier was flung through the air. It took him a moment to right himself. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he¡¯d been taken by surprise that much. He¡¯d been using his Farscope ability. He¡¯d seen everything that was going on. He should have seen the attack coming. Where in the world had it come from? Flipping himself in the air he landed horizontally on a tree feet-first¡ªthe force of his landing snapped the tree in half, but it managed to slow him down just enough. Sometimes I wish Heavy Telekinesis could be used on me. When he did finally land on the ground, he shook himself off and stared over at the boar. It was barrelling toward him, breaking trees left and right and crushing everything beneath its hooves, just as it had on its first approach¡ªonly Xavier couldn¡¯t use Time Alteration again during this fight. Not while it was still in cooldown. Xavier split his mind a third time. He had an incredibly strong memory thanks to his Intelligence attribute. He used that memory now to look back at the fight and what had happened. It was almost like pressing rewind on a video. That¡¯s when he noticed something¡ªthe boar¡¯s tail. He hadn¡¯t really paid attention to it during the fight. He hadn¡¯t needed to. Though he had been aware of it. The tail was massive, longer than any boar¡¯s had a right to be. It also had spikes. Xavier should have been watching out for it, but with Farscope he would have been able to see if the beast had been about to strike him with it, wouldn¡¯t he? In his memory, the boar¡¯s tail disappeared completely a moment before something invisible slammed into Xavier. It can make its tail invisible? Well that isn¡¯t fair! Xavier¡¯s health ticked up, but far too slowly compared with how fast the boar was barrelling through the underbrush. Over 50 percent of my health in a single strike, and I¡¯ve been playing chicken with this thing. Xavier bit his lip. It was time to end this. He leapt high in the air where he hoped the beast wouldn¡¯t be able to reach him. Spirit Break! The spell slammed into the beast, making it falter as it ran. It definitely looked weaker. Xavier had a bird¡¯s eye view of the thing. Its head turned up the instant Xavier had leapt. And its tusks were starting to glow. Gonna be tough to avoid that energy beam up here! Soul Shatter! This made the beast stumble, but it didn¡¯t fall. And the glowing tusks didn¡¯t stop glowing. There wasn¡¯t time enough for Xavier to cast his next spell. Instead, he cast Soul Block. He infused the spell with two hundred souls, hoping that would be enough. Considering the world he was on, he knew it was a risk using so many without a way to replenish them, but the last thing he wanted to do was risk getting killed. If its invisible tail-whip attack took just over half of my health, who knows how much of it this attack is liable to take. He contemplated using another spell¡ªlike summoning the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªbut he¡¯d been dancing with this beast long enough that he was confident he could kill it without it. Especially if he managed to gain control of it. The soul apparition that appeared was an amalgamation of different enemies he¡¯d recently faced. The kraken. The Wolven. Goblins. Humans. They appeared together, glowing and putting themselves between him and the enemy boar. The acid-poison beam of energy reached the soul apparitions. No damage came through. The attack was completely soaked up by the Soul Block. If I can find a good source of easy souls to reap in this place, I¡¯ll be golden¡­ Until then, he would need to ration them. Xavier cast the final two spells he¡¯d been planning to use as he reached the apex of his leap and began plummeting back to the ground. God, sometimes I wish I was able to fly like Justin. That would make things a little easier, wouldn¡¯t it? As Xavier almost reached the ground again, he cast Core Burn on the enemy for the first time. Nothing¡­ nothing happened. The boar shrugged off the attack. What the¡­ That spell was supposed to be his biggest damage dealing asset after Soul Strike and Spirit of Vengeance, and the damned beast just ignored it? How is that possible? He didn¡¯t stop to think about it. Just before landing back on the ground, Xavier cast Willpower Infusion¡ª Again, nothing happened. The boar had a strange purple glow around it. A purple glow that was familiar. It only appeared when he¡¯d used the Core Burn attack¡ªthen again when he used Willpower Infusion. This beast¡­ it has some fort of Willpower Infusion spell of its own¡ªsomething that protects it against both Core Burn and Willpower Infusion! Who knew a pig would have such mental fortitude? Xavier felt a bit of anger well up in him. But he hadn¡¯t played all his cards yet. Book 4: Chapter 31 - A Genius and an Idiot Xavier stood across from the giant boar, staring it down through the trees. Two of Xavier¡¯s most powerful spells had had no effect on the giant boar, but there were five wolven puppets that had yet to even enter the fight. Sick em, boys, Xavier willed to the souls controlling the puppets. The five dead wolven surged forward. They didn¡¯t howl, growl, snarl, or otherwise make a sound as they sprinted at the enemy. The Soul Puppet spell was different to an average necromancy spell. It didn¡¯t create mindless minions. Instead, it placed one of the souls from his reserve into the corpse he wished to control, and it was that soul that controlled the corpse. As Xavier had just reaped the souls of the wolven he¡¯d killed before puppeteering them, it was their very own souls that were controlling their bodies¡ªthey weren¡¯t lumbering, uncoordinated messes. They were killing machines. Xavier watched as the five dead beasts surrounded the boar. And Xavier joined them. For the first time since the fight had begun, the boar actually looked afraid. It tried to back away from the dead beasts surrounding it, but it wasn¡¯t able to. There was nowhere for it to go. Xavier was angry that he hadn¡¯t been able to use Core Burn or Willpower Infusion. Mostly because of how much he¡¯d grown to rely on the two spells. Creating an army with Willpower Infusion had been one of the ways he¡¯d become so powerful when he¡¯d been facing the waves of the Endless Horde¡ªhell, it had been the only reason he¡¯d killed the Lord in the first place. He looked at his soul puppets as the first of them moved in to attack and wondered it perhaps he had been taking this spell for granted. The only problem was using it took at least a single soul, and the longer that soul controlled the beast, the more it degraded¡ªthese soul puppets were in no way permanent and would only last so long. The souls also couldn¡¯t heal the damage taken by the corpses. The first wolven leapt at the boar and was gouged by one of its tusks. The other four wolven moved in¡ªalmost as though they¡¯d been waiting for the first to distract it. Each tore into one of the boar¡¯s ankles, clamping their jaws hard on them. They couldn¡¯t utilise any of the spells that the wolven had in life, but they were still more than strong enough to do damage. Once the wolven had clamped onto the beast¡¯s ankles, Xavier moved in. He swept his scythe-staff across the giant boar¡¯s belly, making it squeal in pain. At the same instant, he cast Soul Shatter on it. Core Burn might not have worked, but it wasn¡¯t the only spell at his disposal. Physical Damage has reached Rank 82! Xavier grinned. He hadn¡¯t been expecting that to happen so swiftly, especially as he was sure he wasn¡¯t doing a great deal of damage to this thing. The boar kicked one of its legs, and a wolven puppet went flying through the trees until it slammed straight into one, snapping it in two with the force. Xavier winced, imagining the pain the beast would have gone through, then he remembered these things wouldn¡¯t feel pain¡ªthey were already dead. The fifth wolven moved in and grabbed the leg that had kicked. But it was too late. The boar had an idea of what to do to get these things away from it now, and so it repeated the procedure. Only it didn¡¯t last long. Soon, the wolven had returned, and were digging their fangs into him once more. Xavier wasn¡¯t idle as this was happening. He sent Soul Shatter after Soul Shatter at the enemy. The problem was, Soul Shatter was an area-of-effect spell. It did great against a good number of lower-level enemies, but when it came to damage higher level, D Grade beasts? It isn¡¯t enough. Magical Potency reached Rank 71! Well, that¡¯s something at least. He had decided to farm these beasts so he could gain more ranks in his spells and skills, after all. He was paying closer attention to the different notifications he received during this fight, now. He had split his mind, and one part of it was simply waiting for notifications so they wouldn¡¯t distract the main part of his mind. Split Mind has reached Rank 51! Split Mind has reached Rank 52! Xavier blinked. He was mid-leap, coming to land on the beast¡¯s back. He hadn¡¯t expected to gain another rank in Split Mind. The ranks are coming so easily to me now! But if E Grade was anything like being F Grade, he knew that at some point, those skills would no longer keep progressing past a certain rank. His assumption was they wouldn¡¯t push past Rank 100, but he could be wrong.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He hoped he was. Why didn¡¯t I ask Adranial that question? She would have been able to tell me in a heartbeat. She probably has the different rank caps for every grade memorised. Xavier wondered if that was the kind of information that he would be able to find back at Hunter¡¯s Home. Every single one of the Champions inside of that place was a higher level¡ªand higher grade¡ªthan him, after all. They would know a lot more than he did. Xavier pushed that thought to the back of his mind and dug his scythe-staff straight into the beast¡¯s neck. His leaps had taken him plenty high, and he used the momentum from falling to further enhance the attack. The boar squealed in pain. It was weakening¡ªslowly, but surely, he was whittling down its health. Then Xavier had a flash of inspiration. Something that made him feel like a genius and an idiot at the same time. Melee fighting hadn¡¯t been something that he utilised much. Not for a good little while. And when it was, he was always fighting beasts that were significantly weaker than him¡ªat least, that had been the case for a good long while. Now, however, he was up against beasts that were tough-skinned and had a lot more health than he was used to. And he¡¯d just thought of a way that he could reinforce his attacks, one he probably should have been practising since day one¡­ Xavier landed on the boar¡¯s back. As he did, he saw its tail go invisible. He was ready for it this time, and leapt back out of the way just as he heard a woosh go straight by him. With Farscope, he could see exactly where the five different wolven puppets he had attacking the beast were. Four had their jaws clamped fast on the boar¡¯s ankle¡ªwhile it had been able to dislodge them the first time around, it seemed to be struggling this time. It¡¯s sluggish. Weak. The final beast had been trying to bite down on the boar¡¯s tail. It succeeded¡ªa second before the boar whipped its tail out in an attempt to hit Xavier. The wolven went flying. Xavier landed nearby on the ground then sprinted straight at the boar¡¯s front-right leg. He swung his scythe-staff and, a millisecond later, he cast Heavy Telekinesis. He wasn¡¯t casting the spell on the beast¡ªhe was casting it on his Midnight Scythe. Xavier had to hold on tightly to the shaft of his Midnight Scythe so it didn¡¯t get flung from his hands. He hadn¡¯t focused his Heavy Telekinesis spell at the perfect angle¡ªthat would be something he¡¯d need to work on. It had never been a highly accurate spell, but he¡¯d been able to make it work. But the technique had the desired effect. His Midnight Scythe slammed into the beast¡¯s leg. Previously, though Xavier had been able to break the enemy¡¯s skin and inflict a deep wound, the beast¡¯s bone had stopped his blade short of cutting any deeper. This time, that wasn¡¯t the case. Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff sliced all the way through the beast¡¯s leg and out the other side. If this damned beast had been normal sized, instead of freakishly huge, maybe that would have taken the beast¡¯s leg off completely. As it was, it took that leg out of commission. But the beast still wasn¡¯t dead. With its other legs, it stomped the ground, and Xavier leapt out of the way as the ground rumbled. With his Farscope ability, he¡¯d been able to see the glow about its hooves. With its stomp, it had cast some sort of spell. The ground rumbled, then opened in five places¡ªit swallowed up the wolven. Xavier had been buried alive in the past¡ªit wasn¡¯t something he was about to suffer again. But he could see that the ground was softer than it had been before, like everywhere except for where the boar stood had been turned into quicksand. If I touch the ground, it¡¯s going to swallow me up too. He couldn¡¯t afford to be stuck down there. It must be some sort of last-ditch spell, or else it would have used it earlier in the fight. Maybe it could only use this spell after it was damaged enough¡­ -Which meant it shouldn¡¯t be long before he managed to kill it. Xavier was about to kick off a tree when he realised that might not be the best idea¡ªhe would probably just snap the damn thing, losing any momentum he wished to gain in the action. Considering how high Xavier¡¯s Strength attribute was, he was much denser¡ªand heavier¡ªthan he looked. Then Xavier grinned. Fighting an enemy like this¡­ it was making him more creative. Making different options, different ways of using his spells, enter his mind. With his Farscope ability, he was better able to target things with Heavy Telekinesis. He might not be able to push himself with the spell, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t push other things, and the cool down on the spell was so short that he could use it more than once per second these days. Xavier kicked off the tree. The tree snapped, just as he¡¯d expected. But before he lost contact with the snapped-off tree, he used Heavy Telekinesis on it from other side. This little manoeuvre launched him forward, straight at the boar¡¯s head. By the time he reached the boar¡¯s head, Heavy Telekinesis was ready to be used again. Xavier swung the Midnight Staff straight at the top of the beast¡¯s head. He reinforced the strike with Heavy Telekinesis, this time targeting the very base of the blade just as the tip of the blade made contact with the enemy¡¯s head. Like striking a chisel with a hammer, it made the blade dig straight through the beast¡¯s skull and into its brain. The beast died in an instant. Several notifications rolled in at once, as though the skills and spells were waiting for the death of the enemy to pop up¡ªand he supposed they were. Killing the beast must have triggered their upgrades, just as it earned him Master Points. Physical Damage has reached Rank 83! Magical Potency has reached Rank 72! Magical Potency has reached Rank 73! Soul Puppet has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Puppet is now a Rank 64 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Shatter is now a Rank 64 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Heavy Telekinesis has taken a step forward on the path! Heavy Telekinesis is now a Rank 62 spell. Heavy Telekinesis is now a Rank 63 spell. Heavy Telekinesis is now a Rank 64 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Spirit Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Spirit Infusion is now a Rank 62 spell. Spirit Infusion is now a Rank 63 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Spiritual Trifecta has taken a step forward on the path! Spiritual Trifecta is now a Rank 62 spell. Spiritual Trifecta is now a Rank 63 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Holy crap, that¡¯s a lot of ranks in a lot of spells! He skimmed though them, all the while wondering just how strong this boar had been. Xavier also had a massive grin on his face. He hadn¡¯t been much of a melee fighter¡ªnot compared with his other combat abilities¡ªand he hadn¡¯t found a lot of use in his Heavy Telekinesis spell¡ªnot since the first few floors of the tower. Back then, however, the spell had been his most valuable asset. Maybe now, it would become a strong asset again, in a way that he hadn¡¯t expected. Fighting stronger beasts¡­ it¡¯s forcing me to experiment, to learn more about the skills I already possess. I never had to do that against enemies that were significantly weaker than me. Being on the hundredth floor¡­ it was going to help him become stronger in more than just levels and ranks. Xavier opened up the kill notification to see just how strong the beast he¡¯d just killed really was. I have just become a father! (A month break.)

My daughter has just been born!

I am excited, and want to spend as much time as I can with our new baby! And because of this, I am going to be pausing my chapter releases for the next month.

Why am I pausing posting?

I had planned to have a backlog to cover this time, but circumstances have prevented me from being able to do that! (We just moved house, lots of medical appointments, and I¡¯m writing another series simultaneously.) So I hope you''ll all understand the break. This is an amazing new chapter in my life, and I want to soak up every second I can of it. I¡¯ll be back to writing next month, and now that I have a dedicated office to do my work in after the move, even with all the chaos of new parenthood, you¡¯ll still get your chapters! Thank you for enjoying my stories! Without all of you, taking an entire month off to be with my new baby wouldn¡¯t have been possible. ??

What to read in the meantime?

If you¡¯re missing Accidental Champion and you¡¯re craving stuff written by yours truly, here are a few series you can check out if you haven¡¯t already. Surgecaller ¨C Complete 9-Book Progression Fantasy Series How do you kill an Immortal? Huon is weak. A surgecaller who escaped into the wilds, his only goal was to survive. Now he is Oathbound, forced to fight in an arena, forced to become stronger than he¡¯d thought possible. As he realises he can become strong, the need for revenge fills his heart, and a new goal forms in his mind. But his goal is impossible: kill the dragon rider, the Immortal of Fire. To succeed, he¡¯ll have to do more than just survive¡ªhe¡¯ll have to advance beyond anything the realm has ever seen. In the spirit of progression fantasies like Cradle and Mage Errant, enter a realm with magical beasts, where surgecallers can cultivate essence to strengthen their weapons, enhance their bodies and wield elemental magic. Ebook 1: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B091YJXX4PThis novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Audiobook 1-2: https://www.audible.com/pd/Surgecaller-Oathbound-and-Knighthood-Audiobook/B09G8GR9PG Hack, Slash & Burn ¨C Complete LitRPG Trilogy The orc apocalypse has arrived. In the small village of Berring, Calder runs the Broken Mug tavern. He was a gifted swordsman, and would have been a war hero if only his side had won. His injured leg tells him his days of fighting are over. When a Dark Portal opens in his village¡¯s main square and orcs stream through it, slaughtering his neighbours and setting everything on fire, it brings with it a second chance. A Soldier of Light appears and grants Calder a Weapon Stone, so he can help fight against the forces of Darkness. His leg is healed. His body pulses with superhuman strength. And he¡¯ll do anything to protect his people. Hack, Slash & Burn is a medieval LitRPG fantasy series with portals to other worlds, different classes, stats, levels and spells. Ebook 1: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0BJJM8T8R Audiobook 1: https://www.audible.com/pd/Hack-Slash-Burn-Audiobook/B0C3DZJT81 Rise of the Last Summoner ¨C 2 Books Released (Ongoing) Four hundred years ago, in the time before the Godfall, the demon hordes were unleashed upon the world of Elaria. Now, the world has shrunk to one small valley, the Valley of Auld, humanity¡¯s last bastion. All those within its walls are protected. Elian is markless¡ªsomeone who cannot activate skills¡ªand he is one of the poorest markless there is. A miner, forced to leave the city and toil in the nearby salt mines. On their way to and from the mines, the miners are kept secure in a locked wagon. The wagon is not locked to keep them from escaping. It¡¯s locked to keep the demons from getting in. Until one day, on their return journey to the city, the wagon is attacked, and the marked guards tasked with protecting it are all slain. On that day, Elian discovers he isn¡¯t markless after all¡ªhe is full-marked, giving him access to all four classes. Infuser. Invoker. Necromancer. And Summoner. Summoners were responsible for bringing the demon hordes to Elaria in the first place, and their existence has been purged from the marked bloodlines. Full-marked shouldn¡¯t exist, yet here he is. With his newfound powers, Elian must gain skills, fight the demons, and get himself and the other miners back to the city safely¡ªbut if anyone discovers what he truly is, he¡¯ll be killed on sight the moment he returns. A LitRPG Progression Fantasy adventure, Rise of the Last Summoner has a hard magic system that allows marked to control demons, reanimate corpses into minions, steal an enemy¡¯s senses, and infuse different properties into items. Ebook 1: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D46SP5XT Audiobook 1: https://www.audible.com/pd/Rise-of-the-Last-Summoner-1-Audiobook/B0D82BKHSJ Book 4: Chapter 32 - Big Swings, Hard Hits You have defeated a Level 230 Whiptailed Boar! You have gained 400 Mastery Points (E Grade). Level 230? 400 Mastery Points? Xavier blinked. He couldn¡¯t help being a bit disappointed by how many Mastery Points he¡¯d received. And, considering how much energy he¡¯d just put into that fight, he¡¯d been hoping the beast that he¡¯d faced had been the highest-level opponent he¡¯d ever faced. It wasn¡¯t. It was equal in level to an opponent he¡¯d faced in the past. Maybe D Grades are stronger than I thought. And maybe the ones that he¡¯d been facing back in his sector had had been weak. At least in regards to the grand scheme. It made him wonder just how strong a C Grade was. A true C Grade, one that hadn¡¯t gotten there using any shortcuts. One like the Empress Larona. Or the father of that man I killed¡­ the one that has a grudge against me. He put that out of his mind. He¡¯d done well in that fight. Better than the last one. He¡¯d actually come up with a new way for him to deal damage to his enemies. Something that would help him in the longer term. He looked down at the corpse of the dead boar. He could cast Soul Puppet on the boar. Create another soldier for his little army. Having the wolven as a distraction had been an advantage, though he could see that some of those wolven had been badly injured when the Whiptailed Boar had thrown them off to slam into trees. They couldn¡¯t heal their wounds, and the souls were surely degrading. Xavier bit his lip and considered if he should keep pushing on, or head back to the tavern. He looked backward through the trees, tilted his head to the side. The forest was quiet. He sighed. He couldn¡¯t go back¡ªnot yet. He hadn¡¯t achieved anything out here. Xavier had to remember that though time moved differently on this floor, and barely any time was passing back on his own world, that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t have a deadline¡ªhe needed to defeat that Magma Bull within the week. And he was getting the feeling that the monsters he¡¯d been facing out here in the forest, despite his initial assessment, would be nothing compared with the ones from the board. The Hunt Quests would likely take a lot more effort for him to complete. Xavier cast Soul Puppet on the Whiptailed Boar. As he did, he wondered if he¡¯d injured one of its legs too much. That was something he¡¯d never really had to worry about in the past¡ªif he hurt the beasts too much when he killed them, they would be less effective puppets for his little army. I think that¡¯s the least of my worries. Xavier looked at the different Soul Puppets he had gathered with a thrown. Some of the wolven were walking on unsteady legs. The Whiptailed Boar had taken a nasty hit from Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe to one of its legs, too, and it hadn¡¯t had a chance to fully heal it. Are these things going to be able to keep up with me? That was the problem, he supposed, with undead armies. An army only moved as fast as its slowest member¡­ Xavier kept heading through the forest. He moved at a sprint, commanding the puppets to keep up with him. He heard them trailing behind him. They were surprisingly fast for corpses. At least they weren¡¯t shambling messes. Not yet. Xavier looked again at the number of Mastery Points he¡¯d received and tilted his head to the side. At one point, he¡¯d thought that the number Mastery Points he¡¯d received from D Grade enemies was incredibly good. Now, he was wondering if that was truly the case. If I were D Grade myself, around Level 230, facing these things, how much would this really be? 40 D Grade Mastery Points? How many hundreds or thousands of these things would I need to kill? And these beasts were more powerful than other D Grades he¡¯d faced¡­ How do those D Grades gain levels if they aren¡¯t strong enough to mow down thousands of beasts? He shook his head. The way other people levelled wasn¡¯t a concern to him. Maybe the System was still nerfing the number of Mastery Points he received, and it had simply seemed otherwise because of how many levels he¡¯d gained from killing D Grades when he was in the low 100s. Or maybe he was thinking from a completely privileged position, and gaining levels for the average Denizen in the Greater Universe took months or years¡ªconsidering their lifespans, he supposed the latter was probably closest to the truth. He didn¡¯t know, and he didn¡¯t really care. Not for his purposes, at least. It didn¡¯t change what he needed to do. As Xavier kept travelling through the forest, he quickly came upon another wolven pack. He grinned. Though he still couldn¡¯t use identify on these enemies, to him this wolven pack almost looked identical to the first he¡¯d encountered. It would be a good test of his skills. He was a little surprised he¡¯d gotten the drop on the wolven pack. Last time, one of the wolven had sensed him long before he¡¯d sensed it. Maybe they have sensed me and deemed that I¡¯m not a threat. Either way, they weren¡¯t paying attention to him. The alpha was another silver furred, grizzled looking beast of a thing, and he counted a total of six members of the pack¡ªjust like the last one. Xavier wondered how he was going to play this fight, now that he¡¯d discovered a thing or two about fighting with Heavy Telekinesis.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. There hadn¡¯t been enough time between fights for his Time Alteration spell to have reached the end of its cooldown. As the enemy beasts hadn¡¯t noticed him, Xavier slowly stalked them, waiting a few more minutes until he could use the spell again. He didn¡¯t want to come up against these enemies without it, even if he did think it wouldn¡¯t end up being necessary, he didn¡¯t wish to take another stupid risk and get killed. Once the spell had reached the end of its cooldown, Xavier prepared himself and his puppets for the fight. He tilted his head to the side as he came up with a plan. Time Alteration¡­ More than anything, he wanted to test out his new melee abilities. But he also wanted to do it safely. He rethought the fight he was about to have. I think I know what to do. Xavier burst through the clearing where the wolven pack were sniffing around. Whether they¡¯d known he was nearby before or not, they were definitely paying attention to him now. Every single one of their heads turned to face him. Each of the beasts begin to growl low in their throat, their hackles rising. Xavier¡¯s puppets joined behind him, surrounding him. The clearing was quite large, almost like it was purpose built for a fight on open ground. Maybe it had been¡ªmaybe the System had had something to do with that¡ªor maybe a boar had come through and knocked down all the trees. He supposed it didn¡¯t really matter. Xavier had judged the distance before stepping into this clearing. He waited a split second, hoping the enemy would make the first move. The moment they started bounding toward him, he cast Time Alteration. He¡¯d been sure to keep his puppets within the radius of the time barrier. Xavier stepped right over to the edge of the bubble¡ªhe¡¯d cast the spell while the silver Alpha Wolven had been mid leap. I¡¯ve got all the time in the world. He wanted to soften up the enemies. Every single one of them. He¡¯d definitely been underutilising this Time Alteration spell. One by one, Xavier would cast four different spells on the enemy beasts¡ªSpirit Break, Soul Shatter, Core Burn, and Heavy Telekinesis. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill any one of them¡ªhe knew that from the first time he¡¯d faced these beasts. But it should be enough to weaken them all. Xavier paused. Could he remain where he was and cast as many spells as he could until the barrier dropped? And, when he did, would dozens, maybe hundreds, of spells slam into his enemies all at once? But then Xavier realised it wasn¡¯t that easy. Cooldowns. They worked differently in his time bubble. How could he not have noticed this before? He felt a bit foolish¡ªno, he felt very foolish. He¡¯d experimented with this spell, hadn¡¯t he? Yet how had he missed this drawback? The cooldowns worked on normal time, which meant he couldn¡¯t simply keep casting his spells for as long as possible until the time bubble burst. Xavier frowned. I guess weakening the alpha will have to be enough. Once he realised this, he didn¡¯t cast the last of the four spells. He would need that an instant after the barrier dropped. Heavy Telekinesis had an incredibly short cooldown period¡ªunder a second¡ªbut he would need it even faster than that. He could have cast Willpower Infusion on the alpha as well¡ªit would have been the smarter thing to do¡ªbut he wanted to push himself harder in this fight. He wanted a little taste of danger. Let¡¯s do this. Xavier prepared himself. He set his puppets charging toward the other wolven. He wanted them distracted while he took on the alpha. That was the biggest threat, after all. Xavier was acutely aware that the last time he¡¯d faced these wolven his melee attacks hadn¡¯t done a damned thing. They had just¡­ glanced right off. This plan of his could very well blow up in his face. But in that case, he had a backup plan. Xavier hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to use it. Xavier backed up to the edge of the time barrier, then he sprinted forward and leapt at the last moment before the barrier¡¯s front edge. The time barrier dropped. the wolven all around him started moving again. He saw a slight look of shock in the alpha¡¯s eyes as it must have noticed things change, and as the four different spells slammed into it. The alpha didn¡¯t even get a chance to howl out in pain before Xavier slammed his Midnight Scythe straight into its head. He used all the strength that he possessed, and backed that strength up with Heavy Telekinesis. Xavier half expected his blade to glance straight off the beast like it had the first time he¡¯d tried to strike a wolven with his scythe-staff But that wasn¡¯t what happened. The blade sunk straight through the bastard¡¯s skull and into its brain¡ªjust as his last attack on the Whiptailed Boar had. This attack was even stronger than that one had been, as he¡¯d gained several relevant ranks since then. Whatever defences the wolven had, Xavier was able to break through them. Blood spurted from the wound. Up this close, and with his Farscope ability, Xavier could see every detail of the attack. The wolven¡¯s eyes rolled back in its head. Its whole body spasmed. Xavier ripped his Midnight Scythe out of the beast¡¯s head and more blood poured out before it slammed into the ground. A kill notification popped up in his vision. You have defeated a Level 225 Alpha Wolven! You have gained 350 Mastery Points (E Grade). Xavier, blood on his face, grinned at the notification. More came in¡ªrank in his skills and spells that he pushed aside to look at after the fight. He felt a pulse of adrenaline through his entire body, and a thrill of excitement. This¡­ this was nothing like the last fight had been. In the last fight, he¡¯d come here feeling like an amateur. Feeling like he was way over his head. Maybe he still was. But he was starting to find his feet. Snarls and howls and growls surrounded him as his puppets attacked the wolven. He heard a horrible snapping sound. With his Farscope ability he saw that one of his puppets had its neck snapped and could barely move. The others were weakening, too¡ªthey weren¡¯t up to this fight. The Whiptailed Boar, however, was trampling over one of the enemy wolven like it was nothing, crushing it beneath its powerful hooves. With his enemies thoroughly distracted, Xavier entered the fight. He left the corpse of the Alpha Wolven and rushed to the next nearest enemy. All of his spells had reached the ends of their cooldowns. When time wasn¡¯t stopped, their cooldowns were insignificantly short to the point where he barely noticed them anymore. He softened his next target with two spells before he reached it¡ªSoul Shatter and Core Burn. Soul Shatter didn¡¯t only damage the enemy he targeted. Shards of the wolven¡¯s soul shot out in every direction, hitting everything that wasn¡¯t an ally. Xavier slammed his Midnight Scythe through the wolven¡¯s neck, pushing down on the back of the blade with his Heavy Telekinesis spell. The blade cut straight through the wolven¡¯s neck, decapitating it. Guess I won¡¯t be using Soul Puppet on that one. Xavier was breathing hard. Not from exertion, but from excitement. Maybe he was still overpowered here. The strength of his body mixing with the strength of his magic¡­ it seemed that was the recipe for his enemies¡¯ swift demise. He dealt with the other wolven with ease. There was nothing graceful about his attacks. Big swings, hard hits. They weren¡¯t perfect technique. But they were deadly. He hacked and slashed his way to victory, until every wolven in the clearing was dead and Xavier was covered in their blood. His robes disappeared the blood with their self-cleaning feature, and he took a cloth from his Storage Ring and wiped it off his face. Like it never happened¡­ Looking at the carnage, Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel proud of himself. He hadn¡¯t even been struck by one of these bastards. Stopping time and distracting them with soul puppets had been more than enough. Xavier inspected the dead wolven, wondering which would be good for him to use as puppets. Only two seemed like they would still be intact enough for him to get much use from them. Which was good, because he¡¯d left three of his current puppets in the fight. Xavier put the other corpses into his Storage Ring and wondered if it was about time he look into using his Assimilate Properties skill again. It had been changing him, and that was the reason he¡¯d stopped using it. But maybe being changed was exactly the thing he needed¡­ That was when he started looking at the notifications. He skimmed through them, just to see if there was anything of particular interest. And that¡¯s when he saw that he¡¯d gained a Spell Quest. He tilted his head to the side and read out what spell the quest was for. ¡°Telekinetic Enhanced Strike?¡± Book 4: Chapter 33 - A Sudden Spell Quest Appears Spell Quest Unlocked: Telekinetic Enhanced Strike To unlock Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, you must: 1. Enhance a melee strike with Heavy Telekinesis and use it for 100 killing blows against enemies of a higher level than yourself. Progress: 0/100 Xavier grinned. A spontaneous Spell Quest, triggered solely by his actions during a fight¡­ he tried to recall if that had happened before, going through all the different spells he possessed. There had been Spell Quests to upgrade spells, or Spell Quests after he uncovered one of his cores. There had definitely been spontaneous Skill Quests, but that was different. Interesting. I wonder what other Spell Quests I might be able to trigger in the future¡­ The requirements for the Spell Quest seemed incredibly easy, given how powerful he imagined the spell itself being. Right now, he was cobbling together the technique. But if he had an actual spell for it¡­ he could only imagine how much more effective it might become. I wonder if my Strength attribute will contribute to its power or not. He stood there for a moment, contemplating his fortune. He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. The System had sent him here. At first, he¡¯d been outraged. Now¡­ he felt a little guilty that he was enjoying himself so much. He cared about the other members of his party. He wanted to help them on their journeys. But there was a certain freedom in only fending for himself, in being able to take his time. Xavier opened his eyes and wondered what the System might be thinking¡ªif the System even had thoughts in a sense that Xavier would be able to understand. Was this what it had wanted for him? To experiment with his abilities? The System was what had given him the Spell Quest¡­ he wondered if it had done it consciously. Xavier shrugged off those questions. Having the answers to them wouldn¡¯t help him, and he knew what his next move was. Hunt. Kill. Fulfill the Spell Quest. Push his level up. He¡¯d gained another 1,650 E Grade Mastery Points from that fight¡ªthe exact number he¡¯d gotten from the first wolven pack. He wondered how it was that the wolven packs could have beasts in them with levels that were identical to the last, but he didn¡¯t wonder about that long. It seemed normal enough, given that¡¯s what it would be like in any video game he¡¯d played. This isn¡¯t a video game, but it sure feels like one sometimes. Xavier left the clearing and pushed forward through the forest, seeing what else he could encounter in this place. Part of him wanted to face more of the same¡ªhe was getting a sense for how those enemies fought, after all. If I encounter another enemy too quickly, I won¡¯t be able to use Time Alteration on it. It was a risk, not having the spell at his disposal, but it would take a lot longer for him to complete the Spell Quest if he forced himself to wait thirty minutes between each and every encounter. It also made him wonder¡­ why hadn¡¯t Time Alteration been one of the spells that had levelled up during those fights? It didn¡¯t really make sense to him. Time Alteration was still only a Rank 1 spell. He wanted to push the spell further. Gain more ranks. Reduce its cooldown. Make it reach farther¡­ but he wasn¡¯t really sure how to manage that. Xavier paused midstride and tilted his head to the side. Often, he would receive a Spell Quest for a new spell, giving him the choice of two or more different paths for a spell, and how to move it forward to the next rank. Time Alteration didn¡¯t have anything like that, yet it wasn¡¯t ranking up like his other spells. And his other spells were ranking up fast¡ªhe¡¯d gained even more ranks from the fight he¡¯d just had. So why wasn¡¯t this one moving? Xavier opened up his mini-map and looked over in the direction of Hunter¡¯s Home, wondering if there was someone there he could talk to about all this. He knew he was still very much an amateur when it came to his knowledge about advancement. Mostly because he¡¯d managed to skip ahead on so many different occasions, moving past the fundamentals that a ¡°normal¡± Denizen of the Greater Universe would have to learn. It wasn¡¯t something he was mad at himself about, because it had gotten him this far. But it definitely left gaps in his knowledge¡ªgaps that might very well be the key to making him stronger in ways he hadn¡¯t even considered, because he didn¡¯t know about them. He might also be able to learn about a better place to farm beasts. If there were lower-level beasts, or at least weaker beasts, out there that he could be taking on to make this Spell Quest go faster¡­ Then I wouldn¡¯t really be challenging myself all that much, would I? Xavier shook the thought of facing weaker beasts from his head and decided to head back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He hoped Gimble, the dwarf that he¡¯d met there, would still be around. Despite how powerful he¡¯d become, and how many life and death situations he¡¯d been through, Xavier still wasn¡¯t all that good at approaching total strangers and striking up conversations with them, especially if there was something he wanted from the interaction. I found it easier to lead Collinsville than I did to just talk to people in it¡­ On his way back to Hunter¡¯s Home, he encountered another beast. A Whiptailed Boar attacked him. He heard it barrelling through the trees long before it reached him, and he prepared himself for the fight.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. With his new technique at the ready, he hoped the fight would be significantly easier than the first. Xavier was aware that his Spell Quest required him to get specifically killing blows against the enemies he faced for it to count, but he also wanted to practice the technique in general. He decided to do his best to keep this a melee fight only. Perhaps he was being a little too overconfident, but Xavier figured he¡¯d earned a little overconfidence considering all he¡¯d achieved. He got slapped by the beast¡¯s massive, barbed tail halfway through the fight and broke part of his back when he crashed into a large boulder, cracking the thing in two with how hard he was slammed into it. Maybe I haven¡¯t earned that overconfidence¡­ Your health is at 40%. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened at that. One hit had taken out 60 percent of his entire health, and here he was, playing with the damned beast? Trying to restrict his attacks? He changed his tact. Sticking to his first idea of how the fight would go was a recipe for getting dead. His heart raced as the beast barrelled toward him. He leapt straight upward. He¡¯d gotten in four Heavy Telekinetic reinforced strikes since the start of the fight. The beast was definitely injured, but he wouldn¡¯t call it close to death. From the air, Xavier hit it with a barrage of spells. Spirit Break. Soul Shatter. And a Heavy Telekinesis that barely pushed it down. He would have cast Core Burn on the damned thing, but he already knew that spell was ineffective against these beasts¡ªat least at the level of power he could currently bring to bear with them. His soul puppets were distracting it, but their usefulness was proving minimal as more and more of them became injured. This Whiptailed Boar is stronger than the last. The hundredth floor was quickly proving that the last thing he wanted to do was get cocky. He may have felt as though he¡¯d annihilated that wolven pack, but it didn¡¯t mean he was safe here. His health shot up slower than he would like. He had a massive amount of Toughness¡ªat least for his level and grade¡ªbut that also translated into having a lot of health that needed regenerating. While he was in the air, it only ticked up to about 55 percent, which meant he was still in the one more hit means death category. Not a place he liked to be. As he fell back down, he held the Midnight Scythe with his left hand and summoned a Greater Health potion into his right and ripped off the cork with his teeth. Xavier hadn¡¯t used many health potions as of late¡ªhe really hadn¡¯t needed to¡ªand when he consumed this one, he was frustrated to find that it only regenerated 5 percent of his health. He didn¡¯t have enough time to consume another one on his descent. He gripped his Midnight Scythe with both hands and angled himself toward attacking the boar head-on. If he¡¯d judged this right, both him and the beast were in the same category. One more strike and he would deliver its death. The Whiptailed Boar¡¯s tail became invisible again. When this had happened the first time during this fight, Xavier had misjudged where the tail would be. He¡¯d thought it would come straight at him. Instead, it had come where the boar assumed he would dodge. Crafty bastard of a thing. This time. Xavier was sure to rely on his senses instead of his assumptions. Being in midair, it was difficult for him to dodge an attack¡ªhe couldn¡¯t manoeuvre all that effectively when there was nothing that he could push himself against. But he could make things push him¡ªsomething he¡¯d already proven when he¡¯d made half of that tree that had snapped in his last fight with one of these boars launch him forward. Xavier listened to the sound of the tail whipping through the air, then he used his Heavy Telekinesis spell on his Midnight Scythe¡ªnot as a part of a strike, but to shift him away. He gripped it tightly and was pulled forward. The tail whizzed passed him. He felt the air billow his robes. The wind from the attack was so strong it actually moved him. Unfortunately, though the cooldown on Heavy Telekinesis was incredibly short, it wasn¡¯t short enough that he could perform the attack instantly once more. Xavier landed on the ground in a roll. Farscope let him see the hoof come down at him, and he zipped out of the way. Evasion has reached Rank 54! He hadn¡¯t been getting enough ranks in Evasion lately. Something told him a skill like that, if he was going to be fighting like this, would come in handy. His health ticked up to over 60 percent. As long as the last attack the Whiptailed Board had delivered against him was indeed its strongest, then Xavier should be out of immediate danger. He kicked off a tree, flipping his momentum back the other way, then sprinted along the ground. As much as he liked the ability to leap incredibly high, as it created a good amount of distance between him and his enemy, allowing him to cast spells, he thought it would be a good idea to keep on the ground right now¡ªit was much easier for him to dodge an enemy¡¯s attacks if he did. A thought occurred to him as he was running. If he gained the Telekinetic Enhanced Strike spell, then he would be able to use Heavy Telekinesis to help move himself around and not have to worry about it interfering with the cooldown for his attack. That would open up several opportunities for him that he had never even considered. I really need this. I really need to be challenged. He dodged another whip from the beast¡¯s tail¡ªthe invisible attack spell must have been on cooldown, as this attack was clearly visible. The boar was shuffling backward. It had a frantic look about it. It¡¯s trying to get away from me. It knows it can¡¯t take another hit. That¡¯s when the tusks on either side of its face began to glow in a way he hadn¡¯t seen before. Blood red. Clearly a spell. A beam of light shot forward. Xavier dodged to the right, and the beam cut through the ground where he¡¯d just been. He saw it with Farscope. The damage it managed to do was tremendous. With Farscope, he was able to see one hundred metres around him, yet he couldn¡¯t see how deep that beam had cut into the ground. And the beam didn¡¯t stop. The beast moved its head, and the beam followed. It was like he was being attacked by Cyclops from X-Men. Xavier pushed his speed to its limit trying to dodge the beam. Evasion has reached Rank 55! Evasion has reached Rank 56! Xavier shouted a battle cry as he got close enough. The bloody boar was three-storeys tall¡ªhe didn¡¯t want to risk leaping in the air and losing his ability to dodge. So he aimed his strike at one of the boar¡¯s legs, cutting straight through it. He¡¯d been wrong¡ªthe strike wasn¡¯t enough to kill it. But it was damned close. Xavier dived and rolled out of the way as a hoof almost came down on him. Evasion has reached Rank 57! With each rank he gained in evasion, he could actively feel himself getting better at dodging. Xavier made it back to his feet and came back in for the final strike. He risked a leap. Used Heavy Telekinesis to reinforce his attack. And cut straight across the boar¡¯s belly from underneath. The beast was opened up, and unspeakable things fell from the wound causing a smell so bad he wished he didn¡¯t have a sense of smell at all. But a kill notification came, and he gained his first killing blow for his Telekinetic Enhanced Strike spell quest. The boar slumped down and fell with a loud thud that could no doubt be heard for miles around the forest. Xavier, breathing hard, stuck the butt of his Midnight Scythe into the ground and leant heavily on it. Another fight survived on the hundredth floor. And another lesson learned¡ªno matter how overpowered he thought he was, no matter if he¡¯d defeated beasts like this before, he had to stop getting ahead of himself. He had to stop letting himself get overconfident. If he didn¡¯t pull back just a little, he would never make it off this floor alive. Book 4: Chapter 34 - Gimble, Tam, Elinae, and Lilta [Author note: At this rate, I won''t be able to publish 4 chapters this week. Despite doing my best to carve out writing time, sleep deprivation has made it difficult to stay awake while at the keyboard, which has significantly dropped my rate of production. So unless a miracle happens, tomorrow''s chapter won''t come out. I''ve always been sleep deprived, but having a newborn is like a whole new level. I will adjust to this new reality soon, and hopefully gain some ranks in Working While Sleep Deprived! Or, you know, maybe I''ll even get some sleep and take off the Sleep Deprived debuff altogether... yeah, probably not for a while. Enjoy the chapter!] Xavier fought a little more than half a dozen more beasts on his way back to Hunter¡¯s Home. In the part of the forest that he was in, the beasts he kept encountering were the wolven packs and the Whiptailed Boars. He fought another pack and one more boar. The fights had been rough. He¡¯d been focusing heavily on using his new melee attack. Out of the seven beasts he¡¯d killed after that first Whiptailed Boar on his way back, he¡¯d managed to get five of those to count toward his Spell Quest for Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, which meant he had six out of the hundred he needed. This might take a little while. He grinned all the same. He had a few more puppets. Unlike normal zombies¡ªwhich was a strange thought to have, zombies¡­ being normal¡ªhis puppets didn¡¯t need a brain to function, so Elian tended to go for head strikes whenever he could. Not only did hitting the brain tend to do the most damage, it also didn¡¯t have a negative effect on the puppet¡¯s usage after death. He had eight puppets striding behind him when he returned to Hunter¡¯s Home. During the fights, he¡¯d pushed almost every single one of the skills and spells up a few more ranks. And he¡¯d gained another level. He was now Level 162. He hadn¡¯t spent any of his attribute points. He wanted to do that while he was at Hunter¡¯s Home. He was hoping to gain some insights while he was there. Xavier sighed in relief when he saw that Gimble was still in the tavern. The dwarf was drinking with the rest of his dwarven party at the same table. I¡¯ve been out fighting beasts, and he¡¯s just been sitting here drinking ale? Xavier felt a little bit jealous at the dwarf¡¯s ability to relax. Even in a place where time moved significantly faster than his own universe, he couldn¡¯t help but still feel that drive pushing him forward. It was something he was trying to fight, by coming back here. ¡°Ho there,¡± Gimble said, giving him a big wave the moment he saw him. He motioned Xavier toward his party¡¯s table. Though Xavier had come here to speak with others, he hadn¡¯t expected to speak with an entire party at once. This was different to addressing his own people back on Earth, where he¡¯d become something of a leader. And it was different to talking to his own party. To these people, he wasn¡¯t a powerhouse. Everywhere else, he¡¯d had his power backing up his confidence, while here he was a little in over his head. At least, that¡¯s what it felt like. I killed plenty of beasts out there, and I did it solo. Maybe I¡¯m not so out of my depth as I thought. Xavier headed to the table. He looked at the mugs of ale scattered about. These dwarfs could drink. Xavier wondered how much a drink was in this place¡ªthe only drink he¡¯d had here had been on the house. He could make Spirit Coins, but he couldn¡¯t make D Grade Spirit Coins. Still, he figured the polite thing to do would be offer them a round, even if he had just spent all of his money on his new scythe-staff and robes. ¡°You four look thirsty,¡± Xavier said. ¡°How about I grab you another round?¡± One of the other dwarves, one that was even more stocky than Gimble, with bushier eyebrows, stared at Xavier, then looked at Gimble. ¡°Where¡¯d you find this one, Gimble? Never met a human so polite.¡± Gimble rubbed his hands together. ¡°Didn¡¯t realise he was so generous. Might have taken advantage of it sooner.¡± He nodded at the bar. ¡°She knows what we¡¯re drinkin¡¯.¡± The dwarf winked at Xavier. Xavier headed to the bar, creating spirit coins as he went. Spirit was his strongest attribute, and something told him he still had more points in Spirit than the majority of D Grades around him in the room, if not all of them¡­ By the time he made it to the bar, he had more than enough coin to buy the table a round. That¡¯ll come in handy. The same woman was behind the bar. She smiled at him as she pulled the drinks from the tap. It turned out the group were drinking Whisper Ale. Xavier had the woman pour him one of the same, then he headed back to the table, carrying it all on a tray. One of the dwarves had already fetched Xavier a seat before he¡¯d made it back with the drinks. He placed the tray at the centre of the large wooden table and plopped himself down. The stockier dwarf smiled at the drinks, then frowned at Xavier. ¡°So, what brings a human over to a table full of dwarves?¡± ¡°A desire for good company,¡± Xavier said. ¡°And a thirst.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°For ale?¡± Gimble asked, raising his mug hopefully. Xavier smiled. ¡°For information. Gimble was the first person here to approach me when I arrived.¡± ¡°Aye. That I was. You looked lonely, over there.¡± Gimble introduced Xavier to the others, telling them his name. He motioned, drink in hand, to the other three dwarves at the table. The last two were female dwarves, and¡ªunlike in Tolkien¡¯s books¡ªthey didn¡¯t have beards. The stocky dwarf with the extra-bushy eyebrows was named Tam, while the white-robed dwarf who Xavier assumed was a healer was named Elinae. The last dwarf, a mage in dark red robes, was called Lilta. Gimble, Tam, Elinae, and Lilta. ¡°Watch out for Lilta,¡± Tam said. The dwarf leant in, his voice a little slurred. ¡°She¡¯s a blood witch. Don¡¯t let her cast a spell on ya.¡± He winked. Xavier smiled at Lilta. ¡°A blood witch?¡± The woman nodded solemnly. Xavier wondered if he should mention what type of class his was. He still wasn¡¯t sure what soul reaping was thought about in the Greater Universe. He decided not to say anything. He may have told them his first name, but he had kept his last name to himself for a good reason. The last thing he wanted was one of the planets from his sector that he¡¯d threatened to somehow find out he was on this floor. Even if violence wasn¡¯t supposed to be committed against another Champion here, it didn¡¯t mean it wouldn¡¯t happen. A soul reaper named Xavier¡­ seems like a dead giveaway. He supposed he wasn¡¯t doing anything to hide his appearance. Someone might find out he was here anyway. Still, better to be safe. ¡°Sounds like an interesting class.¡± Gimble downed the rest of his mug of ale, then grabbed the one Xavier had brought over to him. ¡°So, what information are you after? Saw you grab one of the notices. You having trouble finding your beasty?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I was wondering if there was access to the System Shop in this place. I have a new spell that I¡¯d like to learn more about, and if I could access an information broker, it could make things a little easier.¡± Tam chuckled. ¡°The System Shop on a floor of the tower? You ever encountered the shop on any other floor?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°No. I suppose I haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°Well, wouldn¡¯t expect to see it here, then.¡± Xavier looked around. ¡°This floor feels different to the others.¡± ¡°Aye, that it is,¡± Gimble said. He eyes Tam. ¡°Which makes it an honest question.¡± Tam grunted and leant back in his chair. ¡°Why don¡¯t you simply leave the floor?¡± Lilta, the blood witch, asked. Her voice was somewhat monotone, as though it lacked emotion. Xavier¡¯s forehead creased. ¡°I¡¯d like to avoid that if I can.¡± Elinae leant forward. ¡°Felicia.¡± She nodded over at the bar. ¡°The barkeep. That woman¡¯s been working in this bar forever. I daresay she might know where to find what you need.¡± Xavier nodded at the woman. The barkeep was going to be his next stop, though it was good to know her name now. ¡°You¡¯re here on your own?¡± Tam asked. Xavier looked over at the stocky dwarf. ¡°That I am.¡± ¡°Well, if you ever need anything, all you gotta do is let us know, aye? Can¡¯t imagine being out there on me own.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°I thought Champions could only join parties here when they were going after raid bosses?¡± ¡°Not just Hunt Quests to do around here. Plenty of beasties to kill,¡± Gimble said. ¡°Can do that together without joining our party. Though I figure you came here alone for a reason.¡± Xavier had come here alone for a reason, but he hadn¡¯t intentionally ditched his party. Though even if he had his party along, they wouldn¡¯t actually have been able to help him in this place. If these beasts could take out so much of his health¡­ they¡¯d destroy the other members of his party. It might be useful to have help out there, even just a healer¡­ But something told him he wouldn¡¯t be able to progress near as fast if he had others by his side. He was aware of the fact that he needed to be more careful in his fights. That he needed to be less arrogant. Did that really mean he needed to bring other people out with him, however? Was that what the System had had in mind, when he¡¯d sent Xavier here? That didn¡¯t seem like the lesson it was trying to teach him¡­ Having more people with me will only serve to reduce the challenge I face, and facing challenges is the only way I¡¯ll truly get stronger. ¡°The offer is tempting,¡± Xavier said. ¡°But it¡¯s one I have to decline.¡± As the dwarves weren¡¯t able to help him, Xavier left the table and headed to the bar to speak with Felicia. He could have stayed with the dwarves longer. Chatted with them. Had a few mugs of ale. Made some friends. It was even rather tempting, if he were honest. Real dwarves. He could ask them tons of questions just about their lives. Their world. Their culture and customs. He could learn more about dwarves than Tolkien ever invented about them. But he wasn¡¯t here for that. If he ended up needing allies? He¡¯d come to them. Otherwise, he needed to get on with his task. ¡°Back again? Those dwarves really know how to drink,¡± Felicia said. ¡°That they do,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°But that¡¯s now why I¡¯m here.¡± He sat on one of the stools and placed his elbow on the bar¡ªthe woman kept it clean. Sam would be proud. Xavier told the woman what he was after. Knowledge about a spell, and how to use it. The woman nodded along as he spoke, then asked him what spell he needed help with. Xavier wasn¡¯t used to being forthright about what spells he knew to strangers, but he figured now was the time. The woman raised an eyebrow and whistled. ¡°A time spell? That¡¯s powerful¡­ As it happens, I do know someone who might be able to help with that.¡± She tilted her head to the side. ¡°I think you¡¯ll like them. They too decided to come to this floor on their own.¡± Another Champion soloing this floor? That is interesting. He looked around the bar. ¡°Where might I be able to find them?¡± Felicia rapped her fingers on the bar and tapped a finger against her chin. Then she clicked her fingers. ¡°The Dark Mountains.¡± Xavier blinked. Dark Mountains sounded like a terrible name for a set of mountains. He looked at his mini-map. He hadn¡¯t filled out enough of the area to see any mountains on it. ¡°How far away are those from here?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°And who would I be looking out for?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯re not far if you¡¯re moving at speed.¡± Felicia¡¯s gaze turned toward the Hunt Quest board. ¡°Find a Hunt Quest for a Stone Bear, then your mini-map will point you exactly where you need to go.¡± Xavier nodded. That sounded easy enough. ¡°What do I owe you for the information?¡± ¡°Nothing. At least, nothing for now.¡± Felicia winked. ¡°But I might have some questions for you in the future. Perhaps me answering yours will help you answer mine, hmm?¡± Xavier smiled. He wasn¡¯t so sure about that. ¡°I suppose that depends on what questions you ask.¡± Now that he had the information he needed, Xavier didn¡¯t intend to linger in this place. He headed to the Hunt Quest board and looked for a Hunt Quest for a Stone Bear. He found several notices with a Stone Bear on them, The problem was, he couldn¡¯t take on more than one Hunt Quest at a time, and he couldn¡¯t simply switch out his current Hunt Quest for another. The notification, when he¡¯d first gotten the quest, had said he would need to be on the quest for at least two days before switching it out for another. Which meant, if he was going to find the person Felcia had described, Xavier would need to finish the Hunt Quest he was already on first. That, or find someone else to lead him toward the Dark Mountains. I could ask Gimble and his party to get me there¡­ or I could go after the Maga Bull right now. Xaiver spent the free attribute points he had left over from reaching Level 162. Considering the type of fights he¡¯d been in lately, with how much health he¡¯d been losing, and how he¡¯d been fighting, he decided to put half of the attribute points straight into Toughness, and the other half into Speed. Extra points in Strength would have no doubt helped him, but he didn¡¯t think it would have helped enough to be worth it right now. Better to be able to heal faster and dodge more effectively. Once he spent the points, he left the tavern. It was time to kill the Magma Bull. And if he wanted to ensure he found the Champion who might be able to help him with his Time Alteration spell before they took a break from the floor and disappeared for days, weeks, or months, he would need to move fast. Book 4: Chapter 35 - The Magma Bull Xavier sped through the forest. Instead of stopping to fight the beasts he came upon, he ran right past them. He could hear them pursuing him¡ªor trying to. The beasts didn¡¯t seem to want to get too far away from their respective territories, and he didn¡¯t want to deal with them right now. He wanted to finish this beasty off and move onto finding the Denizen who could help him with his Time Alteration spell. Assuming they¡¯ll even be willing to help me. Moving at speed, it didn¡¯t take him all that long to reach the Magma Bull¡¯s territory. He was a little surprised with how much the area changed as he went along. The forest he¡¯d been in, when he¡¯d leapt in the air and gotten a good look around, had seemed to stretch on almost forever. Yet in the middle of that forest, there was a more desolate area with a large volcano shooting up from the ground. How didn¡¯t I see before? Was it somehow blocked from my view? Xavier wasn¡¯t sure, but he supposed it didn¡¯t matter. He wasn¡¯t here for the scenery. He received a quest alert the moment he stepped within the Magma Bull¡¯s territory. Magma Bull Hunt Quest Alert: You are now in the territory of the Magma Bull. Be wary, the Magma Bull has taken the life of many a Champion. Facing the beast is not for the faint of heart. Well, that¡¯s ominous. And also doesn¡¯t tell me anything useful at all. There was a part of Xavier that wondered whether he should take the warning seriously. Almost every enemy encounter on the one hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions had shown him that he needed to be more careful. And here he was, doing the exact opposite of being careful. Running into danger. Jumping ahead. It¡¯s what got me where I am in the first place. No point in stopping now, he thought, though he wasn¡¯t being entirely genuine with that thought. He was, however, confident he could take on this beast. Even if he had to use the few spells in his arsenal that he¡¯d been avoiding to take care of this beast, he¡¯d happily do it. He could see how important his Time Alteration spell would be in the future. If there was any way to speed up the reduction of its cooldown, he was all for it. Half an hour is simply too long. Xavier was paused at the bottom of the volcano. In all his life, he¡¯d never actually been this close to a volcano before. As he stared up at it, he wondered if it was active. A puff of smoke coming from the top told him that it must be. He pursed his lips, wondering if he was strong enough to resist lava. Hopefully that won¡¯t be an issue. Now that he¡¯d reached the Magma Bull¡¯s territory, Xavier slowed to a walk. His gaze swept around the area. The area was devoid of trees. It didn¡¯t make sense, in his mind, for this place to exist so close to a massive forest. Nothing seemed to grow here. Nothing was able to penetrate the hard ground. And there were no beasts out in the open that he could see, either. He sighed, looking up at the volcano again. Something told him he¡¯d have to go up there. He paused. Tilted his head to the side, and wondered¡­ how was it he hadn¡¯t seen this volcano before? He¡¯d leapt high in the sky, gotten a vantage point from which he could see the entire forest. Yet he hadn¡¯t seen this? He¡¯d shrugged that off only moments ago, but there was something eerie going on here. Something he shouldn¡¯t be too swift to simply ignore. -Could it be that¡­ I¡¯m in a different instance, like the instances back in the tower itself, with the different Staging Rooms, and the different taverns? He turned around, gazed behind him. It hadn¡¯t seemed as though he¡¯d stepped into a new instance, but it was possible, wasn¡¯t it? The hundredth floor was unique. It wouldn¡¯t surprise him if the System had messed with this world in a way it hadn¡¯t with others he¡¯d been on. For a moment, Xavier shut his eyes. He drew on the memory of him speeding through the forest to reach the volcano. One benefit of having as much in his Intelligence attribute as he had, was the fact that his memory was close to perfect. Though he had to actually go searching for the things he wanted to remember. He examined the surroundings in his memory. It was difficult to examine something in a memory he hadn¡¯t been actively paying attention to at the time the memory had been created, though he found that with his Farscope ability it was much easier. When he spotted what he was after, he smiled. Honestly, he wasn¡¯t sure how he hadn¡¯t noticed it before. A few miles back, when he¡¯d still been in the forest, there had been the slightest of shimmers in the air. He¡¯d run straight by without even noticing it. Though perhaps a scrap of his subconscious had latched onto it, and that was why he¡¯d thought to look back and find it. Either way, it was there, and it was clear why he hadn¡¯t seen this place¡ªit wasn¡¯t technically in the forest.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. It was a separate instance from it. Xavier opened his eyes. Though this was interesting, he supposed it didn¡¯t change he needed to do next. Xavier was about to head up the mountain¡ªor, well, the volcano¡ªwhen he thought better of it. Maybe I should heed that quest update¡¯s warning. Xavier waited a few more minutes. He¡¯d left his soul puppets far behind because they simply couldn¡¯t move as fast as he could through the forest. He could feel them, getting closer, but it would be a little while until they reached this place, and it would take time for him to get them up to the top of the volcano, even with using his Heavy Telekinesis spell to do it. His puppets had been a strong asset in these recent fights. A part of Xavier hadn¡¯t been about to wait for them, but he was starting to learn that he shouldn¡¯t bumble his way through every fight. And he shouldn¡¯t let his impatience get the better of him. -Those Whiptailed Boars could take out more than 60 percent of my health. What if this thing is strong enough to take me out in one hit? I¡¯ll need the puppets as a distraction¡ªif I¡¯ve learnt anything in the fights on this floor, I can¡¯t risk even getting hit by this enemy. Before coming to this place, Xavier might not have thought that would be possible until he faced something at C Grade. But he knew he¡¯d been cocky. The wait felt like an age, but it was really only another two minutes before his puppets arrived. Xavier breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them. Now, all he had to do was get them to the top of the volcano. That turned out to be even easier than he¡¯d expected. He used his Heavy Telekinesis spell, one by one, on the puppets. Never in his life did he expect to be a magical lift. Though the spell was far better at massive pushes rather than more delicate work, it was still something he was more than capable of doing. Besides, this was hardly delicate work. Once the puppets were up there, Xavier trekked up the volcano himself. Well, perhaps trekked wasn¡¯t the right word¡ªhe leapt, with the help of his Heavy Telekinesis spell. Xavier used his Midnight Scythe to slice a platform straight from the ground, then he launched himself up in the air with Heavy Telekinesis. When he could start to feel the platform beginning to fall, he jumped off it. In one leap, he¡¯d made it to the top of the volcano. Xavier had to take a moment, just standing at the edge, to laugh, and bask in what he¡¯d just been able to do. He might not be able to fly like Justin could, but when he wanted to? He could really move. This was one of those times where he needed to remind himself of how amazing his life had become. No matter his responsibilities or obligations. No matter what the stakes or the consequences of his action. Here he was, on another planet, leaping mountains¡ªor rather, volcanoes¡ªin a single bound¡­ This is the stuff of my dreams, yet here I am, wide awake. Xavier looked down into the volcano. He¡¯d been expecting to see a big pit of lava. Maybe that was all the popular media he¡¯d consumed about volcanoes that had been influencing him¡ªor maybe this volcano, on an alien world, worked differently to the ones back on Earth. Either way, the terrain inside the volcano looked different to how he¡¯d initially imagined it. There was a lot of solid ground, for one. It looked like lava that had dried over the years. There were also tracks where there were gaps in the ground, leading straight to the lava beneath, and every now and then a geyser of lava would shoot up into the air. Wouldn¡¯t want to be hit by one of those. Fighting in an environment like this would definitely be quite the hazard. But it wasn¡¯t just the terrain he saw. The Magma Bull was down there. The beast was bigger than Xavier had first imagined. He¡¯d thought¡ªhe¡¯d hoped¡ªit would be around the size of the wolven he¡¯d been fighting. This bull, however, was twice the size of the Whiptailed Boar. It stood, six storeys tall, and incredibly long and broad. Its muscles were unbelievably massive. The damned thing looked like a building more than it did a beast. It also put into perspective just how large the inside of this volcano¡ªand the volcano itself¡ªwas. Xavier was about to get his puppets into place, only the Magma Bull had other plans. It spotted him, and the moment it did, steam shot from its nose and ears like it was from some kind of cartoon. Except unlike a cartoon, it wasn¡¯t in the least bit funny. The massive Magma Bull pawed the ground with one of its front hooves, leaving a long gash where it impacted. Then it bolted forward. The heavy impact of its hooves on the ground shook the entire volcano. Xavier felt the vibrations run up his leg and heard an ominous rumbling deep inside the earth. What if this thing sets off the volcano with its movement? Its horns started to glow red, and Xavier had seen something similar to this in the Whiptailed Boar¡ªbefore it had shot a beam of energy at him. I guess the fight starts now. Xavier dropped down into the volcano, landing easily on solid ground. His soul puppets were still high up behind him. He used Heavy Telekinesis to get the first of them in place just as a geyser shot up a few feet away from him to his left, lava streaming up into the air. He was about to ignore it when he realised that lava was heading straight for him. The Magma Bull must be controlling it. Xavier dodged away from the lava easily enough, then he cast Time Alteration, as the Magma Bull had been moving so fast it was already almost close enough to be within the radius of the spell. Everything froze. Smoke, halfway from leaving the beast¡¯s nose. A stream of lava coming from behind him, from another geyser, that had been close to reaching him¡ªhe wouldn¡¯t have gotten hit. He¡¯d seen it was his Farscope ability. And one of his two Whiptailed Boar soul puppets, hovering in the air controlled by his Heavy Telekinesis spell, halfway to reaching the volcano¡¯s surface. The beast stood before him. Massive. Muscular. And with a look of complete anger etched into its features. Well, this isn¡¯t exactly going to plan. Xavier was tempted to use Soul Strike on the beast. He hadn¡¯t tested Soul Strike out since he¡¯d come here, not wanting to ¡°waste¡± too many souls. He still felt the same way about that. But there was something different about this beast to the ones he¡¯d been facing. Something he knew he needed to be wary of. Xavier blinked, then his eyes widened. Had the beast¡­ shifted? He inched forward until he reached the edge of the time bubble. The beast was close to reaching it, something that had been intentional¡ªXavier had activated the spell so it would be as close to the bubble as possible. Watching the Magma Bull closely, Xavier could have sworn it shifted again. But time is frozen! Except, Xavier knew that wasn¡¯t strictly true. His time Alteration spell didn¡¯t freeze time outside of the area he was standing in, it sped time up within the barrier. Technically, time outside the barrier wasn¡¯t standing still, it was just going so slowly that nothing out there could move fast enough to make a difference. Nothing, except, for the Magma Bull. He could see a glow about it, one that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago. Speed Energy. It had infused Speed Energy into itself so that it could move faster. Xavier took a few steps back. He bit his lip, and felt actual fear seize him. This beast was stronger than he¡¯d thought, and he wasn¡¯t even able to identify it to get an idea of exactly how strong it was. When he¡¯d picked up the notice it had only shown the beast¡¯s grade, not its level, and to him, it had seemed like one of the weaker enemies for him to choose from. Apparently, I was wrong about that. Xavier sifted through his options, suddenly realising it might be a mistake to think that he could simply plan on evading this enemy¡¯s attacks. He might have increased his Speed and Toughness attribute with his last level up, but that didn¡¯t mean it would be enough. No. Xavier needed to be careful. He needed to throw everything he had at the beast. It moved again. A fraction of a millimetre, but it was enough. One of its hooves brushed the very edge of the time bubble. God, he¡¯d timed the activation of the spell perfectly¡ªtoo perfectly. The moment the Magma Bull was within the barrier, the bubble burst. Time started moving again. Book 4: Chapter 36 - Trifles Xavier¡¯s eyes widened in panic. Standing on the surface of the volcano, a bubble of time around him, he had thought he was safe. At least until he decided to deactivate the Time Alteration spell himself¡ªbut there were things he hadn¡¯t known about the spell. Things he couldn¡¯t have known from testing it himself, for he hadn¡¯t faced an opponent like this before. The Magma Bull was the fastest enemy Xavier had ever come up against. A D Grade beast from the one hundredth floor¡¯s notice board at Hunter¡¯s Home, Xavier hadn¡¯t expected the thing to be so damned fast. It had infused Speed Energy into itself after the time barrier had been shot up. And despite time being essentially frozen outside of the bubble, Xavier had seen it move. He¡¯d frozen the bubble so close to the beast that it didn¡¯t need to move far to reach it. Xavier scrambled out of the way. He dived and rolled to the side as his spell was forcibly deactivated by the enemy beast¡¯s presence. With his Farscope ability, Xavier was able to see the carnage behind him. The lava that flowed from the beast¡¯s two massive horns. The stomping of the ground beneath where he¡¯d been only a fraction of a second ago. Evasion has reached Rank 58! ¡­ Evasion has reached Rank 63! Xavier had split his mind, as he often did, into two parts. One of those parts was currently monitoring the notifications he received from the System. I dodged one attack, and my Evasion skill went up by six ranks? That was equal parts amazing and terrifying, because¡ªas far as he was concerned, that could only mean one thing. This beast was far more powerful than he could have imagined. The Lord of the Endless Horde ruled almost an entire sector, and he would have been crushed by this monster. Yet it¡¯s just another beast among hundreds on the notice board. And not even the most powerful¡­ It was strange, how the Greater Universe worked. Xavier was sure of this beast¡¯s power not only because of how fast it moved, but because he had quickly found that the stronger the attack that he dodged, the more likely his Evasion skill was to benefit from that¡ªthat wasn¡¯t more clear than in this moment, and it was only a further argument for what he was about to do. He didn¡¯t wish to expend his soulkeeping reserve unless he had to, so Xavier drew upon the one thing he knew was sure to end this fight. For the third time since he¡¯d gained the spell, Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. Everything froze, but unlike when he had cast his Time Alteration spell, it didn¡¯t only freeze outside a 100-met er radius. It froze everywhere¡ªeven his robes stopped billowing, and they did not fall to rest. They just remained where they had been at the instant he¡¯d cast the spell. The Magma Bull didn¡¯t move a single nanometre. It was truly frozen, this time. Colour drained from the world, turning everything black, white, and grey. A humming sounded¡ªthe noise that always came when he made a connection to the Otherworld and summoned forth a spirit. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier blinked as he looked at the different options. He had summoned the Spirit of Protection once, but he hadn¡¯t actually done anything with the spell, he had simply been testing it out. The Spirit of Protection had not been happy about that. Not in the least. It had been enraged that Xavier had summoned it, only to do nothing with it. It made him wonder what would happen if he summoned the spirit a second time. But he wasn¡¯t here to summon the Spirit of Protection. When he had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance, it had been an entirely different story. The Spirit of Vengeance had been overjoyed to be in his presence¡ªoverjoyed to carry out the task Xavier had set for it. The only one of the three spirits he hadn¡¯t tried summoning yet was the Spirit of Time. He tilted his head to the side, staring at that option. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯d forgotten that he could call forth the Spirit of Time, but rather that he didn¡¯t know what doing so would bring forth. My Time Alteration spell specifically said that using it wouldn¡¯t cause alternate universes to form. I assumed that, simply by the fact that was mentioned at all, it meant that other time spells might very well have that ability¡­ Maybe he¡¯d had one of those spells at his disposal all along. Though he still didn¡¯t know what he might do with it¡­If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Xavier was aware that summoning the otherworldly spirits took a toll on his soul, but he¡¯d been building his soul up for this very purpose. There was an odd part of him that felt almost like a coward for summoning the Spirit of Vengeance during this fight¡ªas though he should have been able to defeat that beast on his own, without its help. But that was a ludicrous thought. This was his spell. It was simply a spell he hadn¡¯t used much lately. He had only summoned the Spirit of Vengeance once¡ªwhen he had been fighting a host of D Grade warriors on a planet that had been invading Earth. That experience had shown him the true power of the spirit¡ªand in a way, the true power of himself for being able to bring a spirit like that into their world from the otherworld. The Spirit of Vengeance is an extension of my own abilities. I am an Otherworldly Reaper. And it is time to embrace that¡ªmy soul will survive whatever damage it takes. Xavier summoned the Spirit of Vengeance. He narrowed his eyes and shielded them with a hand just as a bright light burst into existence ten feet away. The light was too bright to see what it brought, but that brightness dimmed quickly until finally, the dragon was revealed. The dragon was massive. The size of a three-storey building. The dragon¡¯s translucent skin didn¡¯t stop its attacks from having a deadly, physical edge, even if it appeared to be immune to attacks itself. Energy bled from its scales, whisps of that energy drifting into the windless air. The dragon raised its head, and its glowing red eyes fell on Xavier. Ahhhhh, young one. It is good to see you once more. I did wonder when you would summon me again. Its head turned and tilted as he examined the area, then his gaze fell upon the Magma Bull. The sides of its mouth twitched up. What vengeance do you wish me to inflict? What wrong has this beast done upon you? Xavier swallowed. Vengeance¡ªthat was what this spirit was summoned for. And here Xavier was, bringing it forth to kill a beast as part of a Hunt Quest, when the last time he had used the spell it had been because he was striking back against those from a world that had invaded his own. The beast had not even struck him¡ªcould what he was doing even be considered vengeance? Suddenly, he had a terrible feeling about his plan, realising that he had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance to him not with a sound mind, but out of fear. The Spirit of Vengeance examined him. You are quiet, young Denizen. It sniffed the air. What is this fear I feel in you? Xavier knew the dragon could read his thoughts when he willed it, so that was how he communicated to it. I wish you to take vengeance upon that beast. The dragon blinked. It reared back. Narrowed its eyes. Has this beast wronged you, young Denizen? Suspicion and doubt leaked into the dragon¡¯s words, as though it knew something was strange here. Xavier tilted his chin up. He banished the fear he had been feeling. Fear would not serve him¡ªonly action would I froze time, and this beast had the gall to break through my spell, ruining my plans. The Spirit of Vengeance threw its head back. Seeing a dragon laugh was one thing, hearing one laugh was another thing altogether. It sounded more like a growling cough, energy flowed from its nose and mouth. You seek vengeance over small things, young Denizen. The dragon¡¯s eyes narrowed further, and it peered down at him seriously. If I did not like you, we might have a problem. Be warned, young Denizen, summoning a spirit from the otherworld to carry out the smallest of your tasks will not lead you where you wish to go. You are young, and you do not know better, but your ignorance can only be an excuse for so long before it becomes clear that it is not ignorance, but rashness, or even stupidity. I do not speak to wound, but only to utter truths. Its head turned once more to look at the Magma Bull again. It was strange to think that the Magma Bull was actually larger than the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªthat the demon was half the size of this random beast on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. But when it came to power, size was not the best indicator. I shall serve you this time, young Denizen. But do not summon me for such trifles again. The dragon raised its head. Now, I shall feast on the blood of your enemy¡ªI shall crack its neck and much on its spine! I shall rip and tear and wound. If the beast could speak it would be begging for mercy before I am through with it, for your vengeance shall be mine! Xavier titled his head to the side as he looked at the dragon. How did you get like this? The dragon¡¯s eyes flashed a deeper, darker red. I suffered more pain than any creature should ever endure. It kindled a flame of hatred within me that has been burning since the universe was young. I will forever seek revenge for others until I can one day seek it for myself. Xavier blinked. He honestly hadn¡¯t been expecting the Spirit of Vengeance to respond to him, though he was glad that it had. Perhaps one day I will help you seek your vengeance in return. It was the dragon¡¯s turn to blink. The expression on its face as it stared down at him was like nothing it had ever worn. I sense you may well one day grow strong enough for such a thing to be possible. As it stands, you are an ant compared to the object of my hatred. Time shall continue forward¡ªbe prepared, young Denizen. And remember, be careful why you summon us, or else one day, we may very well take our vengeance upon you. Xavier¡¯s heart grew cold at the dragon¡¯s words. He heard the warning loud and clear and was sad to realise that the spell had less utility than he¡¯d previously imagined. I was a fool to summon the Spirit of Vengeance¡­ perhaps I was even a fool to come after the Magma Bull¡­ he thought to himself. But now was not the time to chastise himself. He needed to ensure he had not come here for nothing. The Spirit of Vengeance had taken some sort of pity on him, but that wasn¡¯t something he could afford to rely on a second time. The next time he summoned the dragon, he would have to ensure he was doing it for only the right reasons. Time began to move forward once more. Xavier had gained a huge amount of Spirit since the last time he¡¯d summoned the dragon, and he was sure it would be even stronger than it had been in the past. Xavier had seen this thing one-hit D Grades¡ªeven if those D Grades had been considerably weaker than any of the ones he¡¯d faced in this place. The dragon sprang into action the moment it was able to. The Magma Bull, who had been stomping around where Xavier¡¯s time bubble had been, puffed smoke from its nostrils and pawed the ground at the sight of the Spirit of Vengeance. Blessedly, the beast turned its attention away from Xavier and focused on the dragon. Xavier hadn¡¯t even had a chance to cast a single spell on this thing¡ªan unfortunate eventuation from his time barrier having been destroyed. He wondered if he should even bother. On the sidelines, he stood, watching as the Spirit of Vengeance tore through the air like an eel through water. The dragon looked small compared to the Magma Bull, but it looked no less ferocious. Though the expression on the dragon¡¯s face was alien, it was clear as day that what it indicated was pure rage and hatred¡ªit had worn an identical expression the last time Xavier had summoned it. And this time, Xavier had gotten a window into its mind¡ªinto its motivations. It almost sounded as though the spirit hadn¡¯t always been a part of the Otherworld. Another thing I should learn about. He had been genuine, when he had offered to help the dragon take its vengeance. If Xavier¡¯s plans were not cut short, he would live countless centuries¡ªcountless millennia¡ªif he were able to make this beast from the Otherworld into a true ally, rather than just a summoned spirit¡­ I¡¯ll need all the allies I can get if I¡¯m going to save the universe. Having such a lofty goal after all he¡¯d been through on the hundredth floor felt almost ridiculous, but he had to remind himself why he was here. One day, I shall become the Weapon of the System. The System sent me here to learn something, and I¡¯m prepared to listen. Book 4: Chapter 37 - Beef Is Back on the Menu Xavier, standing on the surface of the volcano, only a few feet away from a pool of lava, observed the battle between the Spirit of Vengeance and the Magma Bull. It was beautifully brutal. The Spirit of Vengeance swept through the air like lightning striking sideways. The Magma Bull, despite being caught by surprise at the dragon¡¯s presence, had managed to brace itself for the attack. The dragon opened its maw as it slammed into the Magma Bull¡¯s neck. The Magma Bull tried to sweep one of its massive horns through its new enemy, but it just slipped straight through the translucent dragon. The Magma Bull dwarfed the Spirit of Vengeance, being at least twice its size, but this didn¡¯t look like a Yorkshire terrier attacking a German shepherd, it looked more like a lion taking down a bear. And the lion had a massive advantage. The dragon¡¯s jaws were clamped over the bull¡¯s neck like a vice. The Magma Bull jerked left and right, trying to dislodge the spirit, but it was having no luck. Streams of lava shot up from the pools around the area, heading straight for the dragon. Xavier took a step forward, waiting to see what would happen¡ªwondering if the strikes would actually land. The lava went straight through the translucent dragon and hit the Magma Bull. Though the lava didn¡¯t seem to hurt the Magma Bull on contact, it clearly enraged the beast. The Spirit of Vengeance isn¡¯t even fully in this realm¡ªits corporeal enough to attack, but not to be attacked. Xavier didn¡¯t understand how such a thing could be possible, but the last thing he was going to do was look a gift horse in the mouth. But while the Magma Bull couldn¡¯t dislodge the ethereal dragon from the Otherworld from its neck, it also didn¡¯t seem to be taking as much damage as Xavier had hoped. I saw the Spirit of Vengeance one hit D Grades. This Magma Bull should be really hurting right now. But it simply looked enraged. It started swaying side to side, then it bolted forward. The Magma Bull was¡­ running straight for the side of the volcano? What the hell does it think it¡¯s doing? The Magma Bull stopped suddenly. Xavier didn¡¯t know how such a thing was possible. It didn¡¯t slow down. Its hooves didn¡¯t cut trenches through the ground. One moment it was moving at speed¡ªand this thing could move¡ªthe next a green flash of light pulsed around its body and it was standing absolutely still. The Spirit of Vengeance went flying. Xavier had seen the dragon stand in the middle of a building¡ªlike a ghost, it didn¡¯t seem to interact with the solid environments around it. The only thing that had ever stopped it had been a magical defensive barrier that one of the enemy tanks had used in the last fight he¡¯d been in with the dragon. There was no such barrier here, and yet still, the dragon slammed into the side of the volcano as though it were a solid entity, and not a spirit from some mysterious realm of reality. Xavier took another step forward, eyes widening. Was there something different about this volcano? Something that let it strike the dragon? How could a volcano be more solid than a stone wall? Something snapped as the dragon slammed into the wall of the volcano. It fell and hit the ground. It was back on its feet a moment, then a flap of its wings had it in the air. Whatever had snapped¡ªit sounded like bones¡ªdidn¡¯t seem to hinder its movements. It was making an odd noise that took Xavier a moment to identify. For a moment he thought it was in pain, then he realised. Laughter. But not like the laughter from before¡ªthis was maniacal. Insane. The young Denizen has brought forth a worthy opponent! Joy will fill my heart when your blood floods the earth! It flew forward, straight at the Magma Bull, then a snap of its wings made its stop and hover in the air. It opened its maw and shouted one word. DIE! There was a red and blue glow at its throat, and Xavier knew what was about to happen next¡ªa stream of fire and ice shot forth and cut into the Magma Bull. The fire didn¡¯t do a thing, but the ice¡­ The ice stuck at its impact point and quickly spread across the Magma Bull¡¯s tough, molten skin. The Magma Bull pawed the ground, but its movements slowed the more the ice spread. The dragon threw its head back and laughed once more before shooting down to rip into the Magma Bull. The Magma Bull, however, wasn¡¯t having it. It stomped a hoof onto the ground and the ice about its body shattered. The dragon went wide eyed. Something glowed about the Magma Bull, then the ground rose up and slammed into the dragon, knocking it to the side. This beast can control the very earth? Xavier hadn¡¯t known that¡ªhadn¡¯t seen it happen before. He was also confused about why the solid rock around the volcano was able to hurt the beast at all. This doesn¡¯t make any sense! The ground rumbled. The Magma Bull was free of the ice that had spread across its body only a moment ago. It stomped the ground. Once. Twice. Then it jumped up and stomped the ground with both its front legs. Then, suddenly, it was standing on only its two back legs. Smoke streamed from its nose, and the beast spoke.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°You dare enter my sacred territory!¡± It stomped again. The entire volcano rumbled. ¡°You will not live to see another sunrise!¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t sure why he was surprised that the beast could talk. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d encountered beasts that walked on two legs and spoke like Denizens. He still didn¡¯t understand how it worked¡ªwhether the System classed this beast in the same way it classed a Denizen, now that its intelligence had grown, or if it thought of beasts differently, as they had not started off as sapient creatures, but had reached that point because of what the System offered them. The Rat King could talk, and it was way, way lower level than this¡­ It made him wonder if the wolven he¡¯d faced, or the boar, were the same. But that was hardly the most important thing on his mind right now. Why can it hurt you? Xavier asked, willing his thoughts to the Spirit of Vengeance. The beast and the volcano are as one. The magic infused in the very rock counters my being, like the barriers some Denizens can form. An expression of rage and glee mixed on the dragon¡¯s face. It is time for you to enter the battle, young Denizen. We shall feast on this beast¡¯s entrails together! As they might say on your home world, beef is on the menu tonight! Xavier blinked, for a split second fascinated by the fact that a spirit from the Otherworld could be making a reference that he was pretty sure was to the Lord of the Rings movies. He shook that off, however, and started casting spells at the Magma Bull. When he had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance, he had honestly expected this fight to have been over by now. But apparently the two beasts were close to evenly matched. Or perhaps it was simply that while Xavier¡¯s Spirit attribute was incredibly high, it didn¡¯t make this spell as strong compared with this Magma Bull as it had compared to the D Grades he¡¯d faced in the past. When I become stronger, the Spirit of Vengeance will too. But I have to wonder how powerful this beast would be if it were unleashed upon this world in full¡­ Xavier cast a series of spells at the Magma Bull, at the same time as he leapt backward toward the edge of the volcano. He had only brought one of his soul puppets down to the surface of the volcano. There simply hadn¡¯t been time to bring the others, but as he didn¡¯t think he would be striking this beast with any melee attacks, he brought the other soul puppets down as well, casting Heavy Telekinesis between his other spells to hover them down. Spirit Break! The Magma Bull¡¯s entire body shuddered as Xavier¡¯s first spell hit. He was surprised by that¡ªhe¡¯d expected it to have a different result. Well, he hadn¡¯t expected it to have any result. One of his soul puppets hovered down to the ground as the first had already sprinted forward to try and distract the enemy. Soul Shatter! The Magma Bull¡¯s body shuddered again as shards of its soul shot out all around it. It fell back to all floors and turned its gaze straight onto him. Its eyes were infused with an anger that felt almost physical, as though it permeated the very air. Steam shot up from the pools of lava all around the surface of the volcano at the exact same time as its gaze had fallen on him. Lava shot up from the pools closest to the two soul puppets Xavier had on the field of battle. The ground opened up, latching onto the soul puppets¡¯ legs. They¡¯d both been running at this point, and the force of their feet sticking to the ground, stopping their run, made their ankles snap. The lava came for them where they were stuck. It engulfed them, burned them away. His awareness of his soul puppets disappeared as they were destroyed before his eyes. So much for that. The ground rumbled where Xavier stood. He leapt up just as a rock had been about to slam into him and knock him over and straight back down to the surface of the volcano. Evasion has reached Rank 64! Huh. Xavier smiled. He¡¯d felt that attack coming. Something in him had shifted a moment before it had come. A warning. His Evasion skill was growing stronger and stronger with every fight, and with his upped Speed¡­ The dragon slammed into the Magma Bull and knocked it over. With the Magma Bull¡¯s focus having shifted, it appeared not to see the massive beast coming. Or, if it had, it hadn¡¯t managed to do anything about it. Xavier noticed something as he rose higher in his leap. The wound in the Magma Bull¡¯s neck, it was still bleeding, and the beast was hurt more than he¡¯d initially realised. The Spirit of Vengeance still packs a punch! And now the dragon had clamped its jaws onto the other side. Xavier capitalised on this. He cast Core Burn, hoping that this beast wouldn¡¯t be immune like the boars had been. Something slammed into his mind. The Core Burn spell was blocked, but not as fully as it had been by the boar. There was something there. A crack in its mental defences. Perhaps he might be about to worm his way through that crack if he applied just the right amount of pressure. Even as the Magma Bull rolled around the ground trying to dislodge the dragon, solid rocks rose into the air and slammed into the Spirit of Vengeance. Xavier heard the thud they made as they impacted the ethereal beast, when the Magma Bull itself couldn¡¯t even touch it with its horns. The dragon is actually getting hurt. Actually taking damage. I need to move faster! Help more! And it wasn¡¯t only that. His leap was still making him rise into the air¡ªthe two beasts were fighting lightning fast below him, each second passing almost like minutes¡ªand the Magma Bull was splitting its attention. Streams of lava shot straight up at Xavier. They rose higher than he had imagined they could. Even this far away from the surface of the volcano, he knew they would be able to reach him. And he had no idea how much damage they would be able to do to him. Xavier raised his Midnight Scythe. He cast Heavy Telekinesis, pushing the staff to his left, making him jolt that way out of the streams of lava. But there were over a dozen pools of lava down there, and they were coming at him from all angles. He evaded another of the attacks in the split second while his Heavy Telekinesis spell cooled down by spinning in the air. He smelled burning hair. The lava had been close. Not close enough. Evasion has reached Rank 65! Though the streams came from every angle, Xavier could see them easily with his Farscope ability. He used that to his advantage, dodging stream after stream, his Heavy Telekinesis spell yanking him this way and that as his midair acrobatics became increasingly intense. Adrenaline infused his entire body as the thrill of the combat thrummed through him. God, this felt good. He was pushing himself to the very edges of his ability. Evasion has reached Rank 66! Dozens of times the streams of lava had almost cooked him, and something told him they would take out a massive chunk of his health¡ªnot to mention deal him a great deal of pain. Then the hits would snowball, and he¡¯d fall before he hit the ground. The ground wasn¡¯t exactly a safe place for him, either, not after he¡¯d seen what had happened to his soul puppets. If the Magma Bull were able to clamp him in place¡­ A roar of pain was unleashed from below. At first, Xavier worried it had come from the Spirit of Vengeance. But even as Xavier had dodged stream of lava after stream of lava, pushing and shoving himself this way and that as he flipped around in the air, he hadn¡¯t stopped casting offensive spells. And Spirit Break was clearly taking its toll on the beast. Its movements were slowing, and so were the streams of lava. Xavier saw an opportunity. He didn¡¯t know how much health this bastard of a beast had, but its mind was starting to crumble. The next spell he cast wasn¡¯t Core Burn¡ªit was Willpower Infusion. Purple mist streamed out from the pure black blade of his Midnight Scythe and shot down toward the Magma Bull like a beam of light from on high. The mental barrier the beast put up was perhaps the strongest one Xavier had ever come in contact with¡ªor, it would have been if it wasn¡¯t riddled with cracks. And, just as he¡¯d hoped he would, he wormed his way straight through it. The streams of lava stopped. He made the beast freeze. Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis to make him shoot down toward the enemy, confident that in the time it would take him to reach the beast, the spell would have already reached the end of its cooldown. His control over the Magma Bull¡¯s mind was tenuous at best, and he already felt it slipping away. But it would last. Just long enough. The dragon kept ripping at the Magma Bull¡¯s neck, and now that Xavier had taken control of it with his Willpower Infusion spell, he was able to feel its health¡ªand that health was dropping fast. The control he had over the beast¡¯s mind slipped away just long enough for it to look up and widen its eyes. Xavier slammed his Midnight Scythe straight into the beast¡¯s skull, infusing it with extra strength with Heavy Telekinesis. His attack kept digging through its skull until it reached the brain deep beneath. The Midnight Scythe was lodged so deeply inside the beast¡¯s head Xavier knew he would have to cut it out. But the Magma Bull was dead. Book 4: Chapter 38 - Other Ways You have defeated a Level 280 Magma Bull! You have gained 2,000 Mastery Points (E Grade). Congratulations! You have completed your first Hunt Quest on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. Return to Hunter¡¯s Home to claim your reward and start on your next Hunt Quest! Hunt Quests completed: 1 Hunt Quests needed to pass to the next floor: 10 Xavier smiled. He¡¯d completed his first Hunt Quest, and there would be a reward at the end of it. He tilted his head, reading the kill notification. Two thousand E Grade Mastery Points? While it was the most Mastery Points he¡¯d gained from a single kill¡­ ever, considering how tough that fight had been¡ªand that he¡¯d needed to bring the Spirit of Vengeance into it¡ªa part of him had hoped he¡¯d gain significantly more. Still, Xavier couldn¡¯t complain. In fact, he had a massive grin on his face. That fight had felt good. He had definitely underestimated the Magma Bull¡ªhe certainly hadn¡¯t expected it to be Level 280, or what that might mean for its level of power. The fact that it had been able to damage the Spirit of Vengeance¡­ that had come out of left field. It¡¯s over a hundred levels higher than me. Of course it was going to be a challenge. Xavier tugged on his Midnight Scythe, which was currently stuck fast in the Magma Bull¡¯s skull. It didn¡¯t budge. He might have been strong enough to slam it into this thing¡¯s head, but apparently, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to get it back out. A claw reached over him, long as a short sword and sharper than a razor¡ªand translucent. It slit through the flesh and bone of the dead Magma Bull as thought it was barely there, making an opening. Now that the beast was dead, many of its defences would be gone¡ªit would be easier to damage its body. Xaiver tugged on the shaft of his scythe-staff once more and stumbled backward, having to right himself lest he fall. The Spirit of Vengeance did that strange coughing laugh¡ªit was chuckling. The spirit beast was wounded. And was it¡­ bleeding? Since when do spirits bleed? Xavier shook his head. He would probably get a headache if he thought about it too hard. You surprise me, young Denizen. The Spirit of Vengeance looked around, blinking its massive eyes, then shook its large head. I know where we are. The hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. The Hunt. It can¡¯t have been long since the last time you summoned me, and yet¡­ The dragon leant forward, so close Xavier would¡¯ve have been able to feel its breath, if it were indeed breathing. More of that energy bled off it than it had before, smoke drifting into the air. The Spirit of Vengeance narrowed its eyes. How did you make it here? Xavier smiled up at the Spirit of Vengeance. The fight was done, but the spirit still lingered in this world. That was interesting. It wanted to be here. He was also intrigued by the fact that this was the same Spirit of Vengeance. He didn¡¯t know much of anything about the Otherworld, other than that he could summon spirits from it, really. But there had been a part of him that had half expected to have summoned a different Spirit of Vengeance while he was on a floor of the tower. He was in a different universe, after all. And on this floor? Time didn¡¯t even more at the same rate as it did back in his own universe. Yet this was the exact same Spirit of Vengeance that had fought for him against the D Grades on the invaders¡¯ world back in the Silver River sector. Xavier gazed up into the dragon¡¯s eyes. The System sent me here.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The dragon blinked. Its head reared up. Then its lips twisted at the sides in a strange grin. You are an interesting specimen, young Denizen. I do wish for you to call on me again. I always have such great fun when I am with you. The dragon¡¯s tongue lashed out, tasted the air. It opened its giant maw and took a deep breath in, then puffed energy from its nostrils. It looked at the Magma Bull¡¯s corpse with longing. Though I do wish you had the ability to make me corporeal. Then I could truly feast on the hearts and entrails of your enemies. The dragon¡¯s tongue darted out again. It released a sigh. Ah, times gone by¡­ Then dragon¡¯s demeanour shifted. Its eyes narrowed, and it gazed down at Xavier. Do heed my warning, young Denizen. If you call upon me when true vengeance is not involved, then my actions may have to go against my will. You do not wish for me to become your enemy. The dragon blinked. Its expression¡­ softened. However, there are other ways to call me into the physical realm. If you find one¡­ The dragon smiled once more, then it turned into pure energy and was caught by the winds, streaming away. Summon Otherworldly Spirit has taken a step forward on the path! Summon Otherworldly Spirit is now a Rank 2 spell. ¡­ Summon Otherworldly Spirit is now a Rank 25 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. Twenty-four ranks from a single summon? He frowned, his forehead creasing deeply in confusion. The first time he had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance, the spell hadn¡¯t gained a single rank. Why had it gained a rank this time? He had even been warned that he had summoned it mistakenly¡ªat a time when he shouldn¡¯t have, and yet¡­ Xavier looked over at the corpse of the Magma Bull and wondered if it was because of the opponent the Spirit of Vengeance had faced. Had the previous opponents simply not been¡­ worthy? I need to learn more about my Otherworld spells. A lot more. Especially since the Spirit of Vengeance had clearly been trying to tell him something. There might be another way to summon it to this world¡­ and there might even be a way to make the dragon corporeal. Though he wondered about the latter¡ªwouldn¡¯t that mean it would be less resistant to taking damage, if it were more fully in the physical realm, as the dragon had called it? Perhaps¡ªbut that could also mean it would be more powerful¡­ He shrugged those thoughts away and stepped over to the corpse of the Magma Bull, tilting his head to the side. Xavier had completed his first Hunt Quest. One of ten until he could move onto the next floor. Though he wasn¡¯t sure he would be rushing to reach the floor one hundred and one. From everything he¡¯d experienced on this floor, it was clear to him that he had a lot to learn. A lot of skills to strengthen, a lot of spells to rank up, and more than that¡­ he needed to learn how to utilise the skills and spells he already possessed in a better way. Xavier touched a hand to the corpse of the Magma Bull. There was something he couldn¡¯t help but consider. A skill he had been neglecting since after he¡¯d faced the Endless Horde back on the fifth floor of the Tower of Champions. Assimilate Properties. He had been worried that the skill had been¡­ turning him into something else. Turning him into a beast. He¡¯d even encountered werewolves, where the Identify description had said they had been cursed because of the way they had changed their own bodies¡­ That had only made him worry even more about the skill. But, as he had been worrying about the damage his otherworldly spells might have on his soul to the point where he had neglected those spells, he was beginning to realise he had been overly cautious. Assimilate Properties can only make me stronger, and with how strong the beasts I¡¯ve been killing lately have been, maybe it¡¯s finally time for me to do something with it again¡­ the properties I gain from them will be far, far stronger than what I have used in the past. And if the skill did turn him into¡­ something else? Well, perhaps something else was what Xavier Collins needed to become to be the Weapon of the System. Though there was a problem with that¡ªhe didn¡¯t possess the Dismantle skill, and even if he did, it wouldn¡¯t be strong enough for him to cut through the Magma Bull¡­ When he had done this on the fifth floor, he had been relying on Justin¡¯s Dismantle skill. But now, he was alone on this floor but for the other Champions from other worlds and sectors. While he might be able to call on them for help, perhaps try and hire one of them to do this task, it didn¡¯t seem like the right thing. Besides, it wasn¡¯t as though he had much money compared with D Grades¡ªhe wouldn¡¯t be able to offer them enough. Xavier hadn¡¯t earned many skill points as of late. The System seemed to be getting stingy with handing them out¡ªit appeared as though it would rather have Denizens unlock them another way. But Xavier still had a few he¡¯d been keeping in reserve. I might not be ready to Dismantle the beasts I¡¯ve killed on this floor so far, but if I can rank up the skill enough¡­ He didn¡¯t want to have to rely on others here. He wanted to be able to do everything he needed on his own. Xavier brought up the list of skills he was able to acquire with his skill points and quickly located the one he was after. You have learnt the skill Dismantle! Dismantle ¨C Rank 1 Beasts are one of the most abundant resources in the Greater Universe. Some might see using resources from the corpse of a beast as sacrilegious, others as honouring the life it had lived, and respecting its sacrifice. Either way, no one can deny its practicalities. Xavier smiled. It felt good to learn a new skill, even if he wasn¡¯t sure when he¡¯d be able to fully utilise it. I can use my Midnight Scythe do dismantle beasts to begin with, but eventually I should pick up a true dismantling item. Xavier was getting ahead of himself. Before he started dismantling beast corpses, there was a Denizen he wanted to find. And that meant there was another Hunt Quest he needed to acquire. As he headed back to the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern, speeding through the forest, ignoring the beasts he came upon along the way, he contemplated the fight he¡¯d just been in, and the Spirit of Vengeance he had summoned. There is another way to summon the beast¡­ and I need to learn more about my otherworldly spells¡­ It was a good thing Xavier had the perfect way in which to do that, because there was another otherworldly spell he had been neglecting. Otherworldly Communion. The cooldowns on his two otherworldly spells were quite long, but that didn¡¯t mean he should avoid using them. As soon as he got his next level up¡ªand he didn¡¯t think that would take all that long here¡ªthey would both be refreshed. And he could always use Restorative Spirit, the imbued ability connected to his Midnight Scythe. He was only able to use that once per day, but that would be more than helpful. Xavier slowed down his run when he was coming close to returning to Hunter¡¯s Home. In a clearing not far from the tavern, he checked his surroundings, and was satisfied he was alone. Though he knew his Otherworldly Communion spell would essentially stop time for him, he still didn¡¯t want to be surprised by a beast attacking him the moment he came out of it. Xavier breathed deeply, coming up with the question he wished to ask the spirit he was to commune with. Then he prepared himself to cast the spell. Book 4: Chapter 39 - Its Claws into Your Skin Standing in the forest clearing on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, Xavier breathed deeply and looked at the description for the spell he was about to cast. Otherworldly Communion ¨C Rank 1 Otherworldly Communion is a legendary spell specific to the Otherworldly line of classes. Otherworldly Communion is a spell that gives the Denizen the ability to commune with the Otherworld and gain insight. One cannot walk backward on the path. I had forgotten just how little this spell description tells me. Xavier tapped his foot on the dirt ground. There was no point procrastinating. He cast Otherworldly Communion. Just as he¡¯d known it would, the world was bled of all its colour, turning a dull grey. Time froze for him and him alone. A notification appeared, and he slowly read through it. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. Xavier stared at the different options, wondering exactly which one this would fit under. It certainly wasn¡¯t option number three, sector insight, so he scratched that one off right away. Strategic insight. Maybe that was something he should have used in his last battle, but it wasn¡¯t what he was after here, either. Personal insight¡­ he supposed, in a way, information about his spells was something personal. Before choosing that option, he took a moment to think about what his specific question actually was. There were a lot of things Xavier wished to know. About himself. About the Greater Universe. About the System¡¯s plans for him. He could only wonder at the types of questions he could actually find answers to¡­ But today, he could only ask a single question, and the one that was currently burning a hole in his mind wasn¡¯t how to move forward with his Time Alteration ability¡ªfor he was hoping he would be able to find a Denizen on this floor that could help him with that. It was how he could summon the Spirit of Vengeance to this reality another way¡ªhow he might be able to make the dragon corporeal. And so it was that question that he held in his mind as he selected the second option, personal insight. A bright light filled the clearing. Colour shot forth from the light, spilling back into the world. The brightness of the light was overwhelming, but only for a short time. Xavier squinted, then opened his eyes fully as the figure standing before him was revealed. The last spirit he had communed with had been a humanoid in white robes, whose features had been obscured beneath a large hood. This spirit was¡­ altogether different. For one, the figure was tiny. Far smaller than he would have expected. The last spirit of this kind had been roughly his height. This one was¡­ A hamster? At least, it looked like a hamster. He supposed that in all the universes, there could be creatures that had evolved sapience, or beasts that had become sapient, that remained small and looked like¡­ hamsters. For a moment, he couldn¡¯t help but find the humour in this messed up Greater Universe. Goblins. Elves. Dwarves. Dragons. And now hamsters. He shoved those thoughts away. Whatever spirit this was, he had brought it here to ask questions of it, which meant it was likely infinitely wiser than he was. He didn¡¯t want to tick it off with his thoughts. Unlike the last spirit, this one wore silver robes. It raised its chin and stared up at him. Its hood fell off its head, revealing shining green eyes. Greetings, Denizen. What insight do you wish to receive? Xavier had been holding the question in his mind. He brought it forth now. I wish to learn how to bring the Spirit of Vengeance into the physical realm in corporeal form. The little hamster spirit tilted its head to the side in thought. An interesting goal. Spirits of the Otherworld are known to tempt those from the mortal realm to bring us forth. It looks as though this spirit has gotten its claws into your skin, so to speak. Xavier thought¡ªinwardly¡ªabout that for a moment. Was the Spirit of Vengeance simply¡­ tempting him? Trying to trick him to bring it forth into this world¡ªthis realm¡ªfor its own gain? This spirit had used the term mortal realm, not physical realm, though Xavier thought that must be rather similar. He shrugged off those thoughts for now. Is this possible? Anything is possible. First, you must understand something¡ªthere is not merely one Spirit of Vengeance, as there is not merely one Spirit of Time or Protection. These are merely titles that different spirits have taken on or been assigned through the eons. You have made a connection with this Spirit of Vengeance, and every time you summon it, you will be dealing with the same one.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I make this clear simply so you know that when you find a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance, you must ensure you are calling upon the right soul to inhabit it. Xavier took in the spirit¡¯s words. He wasn¡¯t surprised there was more than one Spirit of Vengeance. He doubted he would be the only Denizen around who could use these spells, and he now recalled the fact that the Otherworld was a place between universes¡ªthese spirits were likely being summoned all the time, and he doubted they were outside of time, with the Ability to be in multiple places at once. How do I acquire a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance? And what do I do when I acquire one? Ah, that is a fine question. A vessel for such a powerful spirit must be three things¡ªyoung, soulless, and a match. I cannot tell you where to locate such a vessel. I have been summoned with the intention of providing personal insight, and that does not fall under my immediate purview. I can tell you, however, that as a reaper of souls, you are in a unique position. You may not currently have the ability to create a soulless vessel from a beast or Denizen, but the possibility lies in your future. Now, Denizen, your time is up. Time slipped back into its infinite forward march as the spirit disappeared. Xavier took a breath. The air was crisp. Fresh. A little cold. Night would be falling soon. He lowered his head in thought. A young and soulless vessel¡­ beast or Denizen. It wasn¡¯t every step. He didn¡¯t know how to pull the spirit into the vessel¡ªor even how to -create this vessel¡ªbut it set him in the right direction. He smiled, liking this plan. He might not be able to bring his party along with him¡ªand he knew they would never be able to catch up to him and match his power¡ªbut the Spirit of Vengeance in a physical vessel¡­ it had potential. A lot of potential. Even if he didn¡¯t fully understand it yet. Xavier had more questions he wanted answers to. He wondered if summoning the spirit again would get answers to those questions. He checked the cooldown, knowing what he would find. Otherworldly Communion currently has a cooldown of 1 month. It cannot be used for another 29 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes. That is far, far too long. -But he knew he wouldn¡¯t have to wait that long¡ªit wouldn¡¯t be that long until he reached his next level, after all. He could use Restorative Spirit, but he didn¡¯t think that would be wise to use just yet. It again made him wonder how long it took other Denizens to reach new levels in the E and D Grade if cooldowns like this existed. He gained a small number of Mastery Points from each of these fights, given the discrepancy between his level and the levels of his opponents, so for someone who was D Grade, it must take them a long, long time to level. Cooldowns like this will have far more of an impact if it takes months or years to level up. On his return to Hunter¡¯s Home, Xavier, thinking about the vessel, contemplated what young might even mean in the context of universes where some beings lived to be billions of years old. Hunter¡¯s Home looked exactly as it had when he¡¯d left it, except much of the clientele appeared to have changed. The dwarf Gimble and the rest of his party had left, off to train or finish off their next Hunt Quest. He doubted they would have taken a break from this floor, but if they had, he supposed he would never see them again. Felicia, the barkeep, was still at her post. Xavier wondered if the woman ever slept or took breaks¡ªhe wondered that about Sam, sometimes. The tavern back in his instance of the Tower of Champions never seemed to be closed. I suppose the System doesn¡¯t bother restricting people to forty-hour work weeks¡­ Xavier didn¡¯t dawdle. He may have gotten ahead of himself when he¡¯d faced his last opponent, the Magma Bull, but he had defeated the beast¡ªeven if it had been with the help of the Spirit of Vengeance. Though doing so had been a tremendous risk, it had also come with quite a reward¡ªtwenty-four ranks in his Summon Otherworldly Spirit spell. That hadn¡¯t been the only spell of his to rank up¡ªhe¡¯d barely skimmed over the other ones after the fight had concluded¡ªbut it had been the most significant. He again wondered why Otherworldly Communion hadn¡¯t ranked up, considering he¡¯d just used it, but he supposed he¡¯d only used it to gain information¡­ but wasn¡¯t that what the spell was for? He strode to the wall with all the notices, his gaze flicking across it until he found the one he was after¡ªa Stone Bear. He grabbed the notice, and a notification appeared. Do you wish to accept the Hunt Quest for the Stone Bear? One must be on a hunt for at least two days before going back on a quest and choosing another hunt. No Champion can be on two hunts at the same time. Xavier instantly accepted the quest. Only then did he head to the bar. He had a feeling Felicia was the one he needed to go to if he wished to claim his reward. Felicia¡¯s eyebrow raised. ¡°You returned.¡± She looked him up and down. ¡°And you look¡­ unharmed.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°Did you not expect me to return?¡± The woman tilted her head from side to side. ¡°Well, truth be told, there was a bit of chatter about that¡­¡± Xavier leant on the bar. ¡°Was there, now?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been behind this bar for¡­¡± She smirked. ¡°Let¡¯s just say a lady doesn¡¯t like to announce her age when it comes with as many digits as mine does, and it¡¯s rare to see a Champion come in and successfully solo this floor.¡± Xavier made a hmm noise. ¡°And when unusual things like that happen, some people like to make bets¡­¡± The woman summoned a ledger to her hand, which she placed on the bar. She pulled on a ribbon that had been keeping her place, using it to lever open the book. There were different notations he couldn¡¯t read written on the pages. ¡°And you¡¯re the one people come to to take these bets, are you?¡± Xavier said. ¡°Let¡¯s just call it a hobby,¡± Felicia replied. ¡°And a second stream of income. I took the liberty of placing a small bet for you on your behalf. I figured it was only fair.¡± Xavier shook his head and chuckled. Perhaps he should have been offended or angry, but he found it more amusing than anything else. ¡°Were the odds in my favour?¡± Felicia smirked. ¡°No. They really, really weren¡¯t. But in this context, that¡¯s actually a good thing.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s only a good thing because I came back alive.¡± Xavier looked around the bar. A few of the Champions who¡¯d been there the last time he¡¯d popped in that he recognised avoided his gaze. ¡°Did Gimble bet?¡± ¡°The dwarf? Oh, he put money on you. Not much, but some.¡± Xavier wondered how much money the woman had bet on his behalf. ¡°There aren¡¯t going to be more bets on this, are there?¡± The woman drummed her fingers on the bar. ¡°That depends entirely on what beast you end up going after next. A Stone Bear?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to get anyone¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you just hold onto those winnings. The next time someone wants to bet against me, you put them down on me, yeah?¡± ¡°I like your style.¡± Felicia rapped the bar with her knuckle. ¡°Now, are you ready to receive your reward?¡± Xavier nodded. He waited for a notification to appear, but instead, the woman simply kept speaking. ¡°There are three options: monetary, Mastery Points, or ability acquisition,¡± Felicia said. Xavier considered the options for a moment, drumming his own fingers on the bar as he did. Money, experience, or powers¡­ Money was always good, but without a System Shop here, he wasn¡¯t exactly sure what he would spend it on. And Mastery Points seemed like a good thing for him to go after, but he didn¡¯t think it would be worth it. While he did want to push his levels forward, he wanted to do it through meaningful combat, not through quest rewards. He¡¯d done enough of that when he¡¯d been clearing all those dungeons. ¡°What might I get for ability acquisition?¡± Xavier asked. The woman shrugged. ¡°That depends on few different factors. The System is the one that decides what rewards to hand out, and it is all based on your performance during the Hunt Quest. ¡°For instance, if you were in a party of four and utilised only healing spells, then the System would offer you ranks to those spells, or ranks in skills that help those spells. If someone were not to have participated in the battle much at all, but just been on for the ride, their reward would be considerably smaller. ¡°Sometimes, an ability acquisition reward will be gaining a spell or a skill, as well.¡± Xavier contemplated that for a moment. The ability acquisition reward would be based on his performance in the fight, and could even offer him a new spell¡­ He could see how this could be used to one¡¯s advantage. A Denizen could shape a fight purely based on what kind of reward they wished to receive, even if they would only be able to push it in the right direction and not control it completely. ¡°So, which one will it be?¡± Felicia asked. ¡°Ability acquisition,¡± Xavier said without hesitation. Book 4: Chapter 40 - Ability Acquisition The barkeep smiled. She made a motion with her hand, interacting with something Xavier couldn¡¯t see, though he had an idea of what it must be. It was the first time Xavier had seen anyone interact with the System in that way¡ªhe wondered if, perhaps, she had a different interface than he did, as she appeared to work for the System. If my destiny plays out as I plan it to, I¡¯ll work for the System one day. As the Weapon of the System.- A notification popped into his vision. Magma Bull Hunt Quest Reward: Ability Acquisition You may receive: - Two ranks in the skill Evasion - Two ranks in the skill Physical Damage - Two ranks in the spell Willpower Infusion Or: Do you wish to trade these ranks to receive an unknown spell reward? Xavier¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He didn¡¯t much care about the ranks¡ªhe could gain those again¡ªbut it was interesting to see the System tempt him in such a way. The barkeep chuckled. ¡°Is it making you choose?¡± Xavier bobbed his head in a nod. ¡°It¡¯s offering me ranks, then asking if I wish to trade them for an unknown spell reward.¡± Felicia whistled. ¡°A spell reward, for your first Hunt Quest. Maybe the System thought the odds were against you too. The higher the risk, the bigger the reward, after all.¡± Spell rewards must have been rare. Xavier wasn¡¯t going to pass it up. He willed the System to give him the unknown spell, and another notification appeared. You have gained the spell: Hover Dodge Xavier mouthed the words, Hover Dodge as he read the name of the spell. That certainly hadn¡¯t been what he¡¯d expected¡ªhe¡¯d thought he might receive some sort of spell related to Summon Otherworldly Spirit. In fact, that was exactly what he had been hoping to receive. But, he supposed, considering how he had been dodging the Magma Bull¡¯s attacks while he was falling through the air, using his Heavy Telekinesis spell to yank him left and right, this spell wasn¡¯t such a strange thing to get¡­ ¡°So,¡± Felicia said, cleaning a mug with a rag. ¡°What spell did you get?¡± Xavier smirked. ¡°Does every Champion tell you that information?¡± ¡°Well, no, not every Champion, but¡­¡± She gave a one-shoulder shrug. ¡°Let me guess, the more information you have on a Champion, or a party of Champions, the more accurate the odds become in that little ledger of yours?¡± Felicia gave a wry smile. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve got me all figured out. If you would rather remain a mystery, that can be arranged. Though I already know you have some sort of ability to control time.¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t going to tell her what spell he¡¯d acquired. It wasn¡¯t that he was worried about what she might or might not know about it, it was simply that he didn¡¯t want knowledge of his abilities to find its way to the wrong people. If he had enemies out there¡ªand he knew that he did¡ªhe didn¡¯t want them having a more complete profile of his powers than they already had. He sat on one of the stools and brought up the information on the spell he¡¯d just gained. Hover Dodge ¨C Rank 1 Hover Dodge gives the ability for a Denizen to dodge attacks while they are in the air. It doesn¡¯t give the user the gift of flight, but it does help them fall with style. This spell¡¯s primary attribute is Speed, while its secondary attribute is Intelligence. That¡¯s about what I thought it might be. Xavier wondered exactly how the spell functioned. How long the cooldown might be. How fast it might get him out of the way. Heavy Telekinesis had gotten the job done, but it was hardly the most appropriate spell for what he¡¯d been doing. The fact that he¡¯d managed to gain this spell made him wonder what other spells he might be able to gain in the future. Could he somehow cobble together the ability to fly? Justin had been given wings because he¡¯d upped a particular skill that helped him manoeuvre in the air¡­ Which gave Xavier an idea. He still had another skill point at his disposal. Giant leaps up into the air weren¡¯t exactly flying, but after the way he¡¯d been able to launch so many spells down at the Magma Bull while he¡¯d been in the air avoiding its attacks, then come down to strike it with his Midnight Scythe¡­ He brought up the list of different skills he had access to, searching through them until he finally came upon the one he was after. You have learnt the skill Aerial Combat! Xavier smiled. With the spell he¡¯d just gained and the skill he¡¯d acquired, he could see his melee game was about to be a hell of a lot better¡ªespecially when he completed his spell quest and got the Telekinetic Enhanced Strike spell. He took a moment to contemplate all the different goals he had since coming to this floor. The new style of melee fighting that he had adopted, the spell quest he had going, the will to better his otherworldly spells, and his Time Alteration spell.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Not to mention his newfound desire to use Assimilate Properties again¡ªeven if he shouldn¡¯t assimilate D Grade properties into his body quite yet. He remembered what had happened when he¡¯d assimilated the properties from E Grade enemies into himself when he was only F Grade. That could have gotten me into a hell of a lot more trouble than it did. At least that would mean he would have plenty of time to learn how to use the Dismantle skill, ranking it up before he reached D Grade and was able to utilise properties from the corpses he¡¯d collected¡ªand would collect. Then there was the vessel he wished to find. Something that could hold the Spirit of Vengeance¡¯s soul in the mortal realm¡­ He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought about all this. I¡¯m going to return to the Staging Room a completely different person, once I eventually complete this floor. Especially since I want to reach D Grade while I¡¯m here. He might take breaks from this floor long before he completed it, but he wasn¡¯t sure he saw a reason to, except for perhaps using the System Shop. Right now, he didn¡¯t want too much time to pass here while he was gone. That might change in the future. The future¡­ Xavier had jumped in power several times since he¡¯d been integrated into the System. He was becoming more and more used to the sensation. And more and more addicted to it. ~ The Hunt Quest for the Stone Bear gave Xavier the ability to head exactly where he wished to find the Denizen he was after, though as he recalled finding himself in a different instance when he¡¯d been fighting the Magma Bull, it made him wonder if he would even be able to find this person. I¡¯ll just have to keep an eye on whether I enter any instances. That wasn¡¯t the only thing Xavier kept an eye on. The hundredth floor¡¯s exit back to the Staging Room was in Hunter¡¯s Home, which meant anyone that wanted to take a break from the floor would be leaving from there. Felicia informed him that the Denizen he was after had yet to return from their current Hunt Quest. Another Denizen soloing the hundredth floor. I hope they don¡¯t die out there¡­ Though he wasn¡¯t too worried about them dying. He was, however, worried they would head back to Hunter¡¯s Home while he was out searching for them, and he would miss them. That¡¯s why he was pushing out his senses as far as he could. His ability to sense auras wasn¡¯t helpful here¡ªall the different beasts and Denizens in the area had the ability to resist that easily enough, just as he did. He couldn¡¯t sense as much out here as he wished. He wasn¡¯t any sort of hunter or tracker, and he didn¡¯t have any skills or items that would help him in that department, either, so he had to make do with his ¡°normal¡± senses. And while his normal senses were enhanced far beyond that of what a pre-integration human would ever possess, that didn¡¯t mean they were strong enough to sense a D Grade who was trying to remain hidden. Perhaps that was yet another thing he should work on in the future. Xavier wasn¡¯t moving as fast as he had when he¡¯d travelled to fight the Magma Bull, but he was moving at a rather swift pace. While a part of him wanted to engage with the beasts in the area and earn himself more Mastery Points, there would be plenty of time for that later. He could see the Dark Mountains clearly on the mini-map. The Stone Bear¡¯s territory was within the area of the Dark Mountains¡ªprobably a cave of some sort. Xavier slowed down as he neared. It hadn¡¯t just been beasts that he¡¯d came upon, he¡¯d encountered two separate parties of Denizens on his way here too, though as he was looking for a lone Denizen, he hadn¡¯t felt the need to interact with the parties, and the parties had ignored him in return. The mountains were so tall he had to crane his neck to see their tops, and the mountains were indeed dark. They were filled with trees whose colour almost appeared to have been drained out of them. The leaves, the branches, the trunks¡ªthey were all dark grey and black. Could a fire have caused this? Or some sort of magic? Or do the plants here simply grow differently? Xavier kept vigilant, watching for a sign that he was stepping into a different instance, like the one he¡¯d missed before when heading to face the Magma Bull. So far, he hadn¡¯t seen one. But what he did see was the mouth of a cave maybe a quarter up the mountain. It was in the exact place that his mini-map indicated as the Stone Bear¡¯s territory, and there was a slight shimmer in the air there. Another instance. But facing the Stone Bear wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d intended to do by coming here. He looked around the area, wishing for the first time that he was some sort of ranger with the ability to track. He didn¡¯t have any forest craft whatsoever¡ªhe couldn¡¯t tell a human¡¯s tracks from that of a beast¡­ As he recalled his conversation with Felicia, the barkeep, when he¡¯d enquired about this Denizen, he couldn¡¯t help but remember the fact that she hadn¡¯t described who it was that he would be looking for, only the rough area of where they would be. In fact, she¡¯d simply ignored that question completely when he¡¯d asked it. Xavier sighed. There was nothing to be done but search. The area was vast. He could speed through it quickly enough, but he didn¡¯t want to miss anything. Xavier started his search by jogging around the mountain. As he wasn¡¯t going all that fast, he started to encounter enemy beasts. The beasts here at the foot of the Dark Mountains were different to the ones he¡¯d faced back in the forest. The first he came upon was a stag. The stag, like the mountain itself, looked as though its colour had leaked out of it. It wasn¡¯t black, just a dull grey. It reminded him of what happened when he connected with the Otherworld, though it wasn¡¯t quite the same. Fighting the dark stag gave him the opportunity to test out his new abilities. Xavier contemplated using Time Alteration as the beast approached¡ªit was barrelling across the ground with a fierce, dark look in its eyes and he momentarily counted the prongs on its horns and found it to have twenty, and each one of them produced a black, oozing substance¡ªbut he doubted he would need to freeze time to kill a single beast. Besides, he wanted to keep that spell¡¯s cooldown fresh for when he came upon the other Denizen with time magic. Xavier didn¡¯t have any soul puppets in use anymore¡ªthey hadn¡¯t helped him enough in his past fights, and much of them had been destroyed. Those that hadn¡¯t been destroyed had been damaged too much and were no longer useful to him. He would rebuild his little army when the time came, but that time was not now. The stag made a strange, strangled gurgling noise as it was almost to him. Xavier hadn¡¯t cast a single spell, yet. He¡¯d wanted to see how fast this thing was¡ªgauging its speed would give him a good idea of how powerful the beast was, even if it wasn¡¯t the most accurate measure. Not even as fast as the wolven. When he deemed the enemy beast was close enough, Xavier leapt directly up into the air. The dark stag wasn¡¯t about to be avoided, however. It leapt into the air after him, as though to take him by surprise. His Farscope ability coupled with Evasion alerted him of the move instantly. He almost used Heavy Telekinesis to get himself out of the way¡ªinstead, he cast Hover Dodge. His first usage of the new spell. Xavier had expected to be roughly yanked out of the way of the dark stag¡¯s twenty pointed prongs, but that wasn¡¯t what happened. Instead, for a brief moment, he felt as though he was in full control of his movement in the air. Though there was nothing whatsoever to push against, and nothing pushing him, it was as though the rules of gravity had been altered. Xavier moved laterally, avoiding the stag¡¯s attack with ease. It was a smooth movement, rather than a yanking sensation. As he moved, and the dark stag came up, its prongs hitting nothing but air, making that strange gurgling sound in its throat, Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe came down. Heavy Telekinesis reinforced the strike, pushing hard against the back of the blade like a hammer on a chisel. The attack pierced the stag¡¯s skull. Its eyes widened. Instead of blood pouring from the wound, or brain matter being exposed, the dark stag¡¯s head burst like a bubble¡ªor, rather, a balloon. A balloon filled with the same dark oozing substance that had been on the beast¡¯s prongs. It covered Xavier. He felt the sting from its impact. The substance crept across his robes, as though it had a life of its own. The stag was dead. A single hit to the head had been enough to take it down. Xavier¡¯s upward momentum, strangely enough, had been unaffected by the Hover Dodge spell. He kept shooting upward into the sky until he reached the apex of his jump, while the force of his strike against the stag made it flip in the air and fall back down to the ground with a crunch as it hit a clump of boulders. Xavier watched as the black substance crawled over to the palm of his hand. It seeped into his skin. He frowned. And felt something attack his mind. That¡¯s when he read the kill notification. You have defeated a Level 210 Infected Stag! You have gained 260 Mastery Points (E Grade). Infected? Infected with what? Book 4: Chapter 41 - Insidious Xavier landed on the ground in a crouch, the dead Infected Stag nearby, the dark oozing substance still flooding out of it, crawling across the ground toward him with a life of its own. It wasn¡¯t crawling very fast, but Xavier found he had to take a few steps backward lest it reach him. He didn¡¯t want more of whatever that was trying to infect him. He tried to use Identify on the substance, but his skill simply wasn¡¯t strong enough. I really need to do something about that. The instant the stuff had seeped into his skin, he¡¯d felt an influence pushing at his mind. Xavier resisted the influence. He had tremendous mental fortitude given how many attributes he¡¯d sunk into Willpower to help strengthen his Willpower Infusion spell. Still, whatever this force was, it was insidious. He could feel it breaking down whatever defences he had built up. This feels like a boss all by itself¡­ He looked up at the Dark Mountains, with its trees and other flora completely devoid of colour, even the leaves a dull grey or black¡­ That¡¯s when things became clear¡ªthe whole of the Dark Mountains had been infected by whatever this was. That beast¡ªthe Infected Stag¡ªhad been Level 210. The beasts in this place, even those around that level, had been far tougher than this one. He knew his melee attacks were growing in power, but that¡­ it seemed almost like its head was softer, more pliable¡­ Like it wanted to burst¡ªwanted to spread. That can¡¯t be good. Xavier had received a few ranks during the fight. He split his mind, dedicating one part to look at those, while the other part fought against the mental attack. And, looking at his skin, seeing the dark marks the oozing substance had left, and feeling the stinging pain it caused, he noticed his health was starting to slowly tick down. Your health is at 99%. It¡¯s not going down fast¡­ not yet. He had gained ten ranks in his new spell, Hover Dodge, bringing it to Rank 11. Not a tremendous feat, considering it had only been Rank 1. He¡¯d also gained a single rank in Evasion. He hadn¡¯t gained a rank in Heavy Telekinesis or Physical Damage, however. Maybe this beast wasn¡¯t powerful enough to warrant that¡­ At the rate his health was dipping, Xavier had enough health potions to cover the damage he was taking. At least for now, if it didn¡¯t speed up¡­ It wasn¡¯t a health potion that he summoned to his hand, however. It was a Cure Affliction Potion. He didn¡¯t have many of these¡ªmaybe ten. He¡¯d never felt like he¡¯d had a use for them. Still, Siobhan had insisted he stock them into his Storage Ring. It had been easier to simply do it, rather than argue. He ripped the cork off with his teeth and downed the potion. It tasted strange. Like¡­ toffee? The purple substance slid down his throat and gave him a warm feeling in his stomach. The mental intrusion, however, didn¡¯t stop, and now a pain was starting to blossom inside his head. The mark on his hand where the oozing substance had seeped into his skin hadn¡¯t disappeared, either. If anything, it had gotten bigger. ¡°This is bad,¡± he muttered. Your health is at 97%. He took a step toward the corpse of the Infected Stag, then stopped. Blinked. Looked down. He¡¯d been moving closer to the strange substance on the ground. Why had Xavier stepped toward the corpse? He didn¡¯t want to touch that thing¡ªdidn¡¯t want to put it in his Storage Ring like he might other corpses. He had thought to step toward it, but as he examined his own thoughts he couldn¡¯t figure out where the thought had originated¡­ The infection. His mental block wasn¡¯t fully preventing it from influencing his mind. ¡°This is very bad.¡± The black substance continued to make its way toward him, but now Xavier had an urge to move toward it. His mental barrier should have been strong enough to resist, but it was like¡­ like the attack was coming from a thousand different places in his mind. Each drop of the substance is its own attack¡­ Which meant if he touched that stuff again, the mental attack would only get stronger¡ªor at least, more numerous. He could easily block each of the instances of the attack, but when it was coming from so many directions¡­ He shook his head. Instead of stepping away from the dark substance, he was standing still as it crept toward him. He was fighting the control, but he wasn¡¯t fighting it enough.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Xavier forced himself to take a step backward. Forced himself to move. But he hadn¡¯t gotten very far. Whatever this thing was, the substance was alive. Hooves sounded nearby. And there were other noises. The snap of a twig. Wings cutting through the air. Xavier spotted a beast heading toward him. Another Infected Stag, this one larger than the last. It¡¯s calling the other beasts it controls toward me. And they were coming from every direction. Xavier finally gained control of his body. He took a few swift steps backward, making sure the substance on the ground was far enough away, then he used Time Alteration. The time bubble came up instantly. The stag he saw barrelling toward him in the distance stopped. Everything around him was frozen. The substance on the ground ceased its crawl toward his feet. Xavier took a breath. The only problem was, he was still being infected. Whatever was assaulting his mind hadn¡¯t gone anywhere. He dropped his head forward. Now that there were no threats around him, he shut his eyes and concentrated the full strength of his mind against the foe that was trying to take control of it. It felt weaker, now. More feeble. He squashed more of the mental attempts even as he found himself coming into stronger control of his mind. When there was only a single intrusion, he stopped fighting it. It¡¯s weaker¡­ A moment ago, before throwing up the time bubble, Xavier had theorised this thing was connected. A single entity. How else would it have been able to call on its friends so quickly? Opening his eyes, he spotted another beast, in the air. It was dark, here, but his night vision was strong enough to see that it was some sort of giant owl. There were other beasts around him, out of sight, heading his way, he was sure. He breathed deeply, in and out, closed his eyes once more, and wondered if air was trapped in the bubble of time, and if he would run out if he stayed within it long enough¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t his main concern. If the ooze is connected, that means I¡¯ve cut it off from¡­ the rest of itself, when I cast Time Alteration. That¡¯s why it became so much easier to fight. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure if it was a conscious entity, or some sort of virus, but he had an idea. As he had left one single drop of the ooze within him, pressing up against his mental barrier but unable to push past it, he focused on it. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure if what he was about to attempt would work, but he figured there was no harm in trying. He cast Willpower Infusion on the drop of ooze. Instantly, he felt its own mental defence snap up. At first, it seemed as though it would be immeasurably powerful¡ªbut it was¡­ weak. Just a drop. Mist didn¡¯t flow from Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe. It didn¡¯t have to. The entity that he was facing was inside of him. He felt himself take over the drop of ooze. He split his mind, like he sometimes did, and pushed that part of his consciousness into the entity. Xavier felt his mind try to expand outward. As though there were infinite nodes that he could tap into around here. Infinite nodes that he would be able to access, flow into, control. But every one of those nodes was cut off, inaccessible. At least, they would be, until he dropped the Time Alteration spell. Now that Xavier was no longer fighting the entity, he paced around the circumference of the time bubble, stabbing the butt of his scythe-staff into the ground every few steps, trying to think of what he should do next. When he had defeated the entity, the black substance on his hand had disappeared. All but a single pinprick¡ªthe drop of ooze he was controlling. Though cooldowns didn¡¯t move forward when he froze time, apparently his health still regenerated. It was ticking back up to one hundred percent and would be there soon. Xavier didn¡¯t think fighting these enemies with melee attacks would be the smartest way to go, even if he was trying to develop his newfound ones. The ooze would simply hit him. But if he were to be controlling the ooze¡­ I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll be able to. It might be too powerful, once it¡¯s reconnected. Xavier paused his pacing and looked over at the stag. He could only cast so many spells while inside the bubble. Spirit Break! The spell launched out but was stopped short when it reached the bubble. He turned his attention toward the dark owl swooping down toward him. There was a half-moon dangling in the sky behind it, giving its grey feathers a silver sheen. Soul Shatter! Xavier turned back to the Infected Stag he¡¯d just cast Spirit Break on and cast Core Burn onto it for good measure. Even with Farscope and strong eyesight, he couldn¡¯t see the other enemies nearby. Though he knew they would be on their way. If Soul Strike becomes necessary, then I shall use it. But only then. That was one thing he found interesting about the infected beasts¡ªthey still had their souls. He had reaped a soul from the stag the moment it had died, and he wouldn¡¯t have bothered using Soul Shatter on the owl if it didn¡¯t have a soul as well. Xavier released a long exhale, then he shut his Time Alteration spell down. The bubble around him disappeared. The ooze on the ground continued to crawl forward once more. The larger Infected Stag headed his way in leaping bounds. The owl swooped down. And other noises could be heard¡ªthat strange, strangled gurgling, like he¡¯d heard from the first stag. Only this time it sounded more like a growl. Infected wolven¡ªcoming from behind me. His spells impacted the enemies. The large Infected Stag staggered as Spirit Break and Core Burn slammed into it. It appeared to lack any mental defences, as Core Burn broke through and started doing its work the instant it hit. Still, the Infected Stag caught itself and kept running¡ªsomehow ignoring the intense pain it must have been in. But that run wasn¡¯t as swift as it had been before. It was faltering, fading fast. The dark owl¡¯s soul shattered, shards falling to hit the stag and impact other beasts that had made their presence known. The Infected Stag fell limp to the ground. It shuddered, died. Xavier was impressed by the large area the Soul Shatter spell impacted, but it hadn¡¯t been enough to take down the owl. And more beasts were coming. He didn¡¯t know how many. Felicia could have warned me about this! This isn¡¯t even a part of a Hunt Quest! She must have known creatures like this were here in the Dark Mountains¡­ It was now or never. He had to act. He might be able to kill these things, but not fast enough. Once again, Xavier leapt. Though he was surrounded, only a single one of those attackers was airborne. While in his leap, the owl shifted direction and came for him. Xavier would use Hover Dodge¡ªfor the spell¡¯s cooldown was short¡ªbut even as he was moving through the air, the part of his mind controlling the drop of ooze stretched itself. Now that the time bubble had dropped, the drop of ooze connected back to its brethren¡ªor other parts of itself. Xavier hadn¡¯t decided exactly how it worked. Some sort of networked, hivemind consciousness, he supposed. Perhaps each drop of ooze was that of another neuron firing in some giant dark brain. Xavier felt his awareness expand. The larger part of the strange, dark entity did not fight his control¡ªit did not see his control, for he had come at it from within. Now who¡¯s insidious. Xavier could suddenly see from dozens, hundreds, thousands of perspectives at once. He could feel that his control over the entity was weak, tenuous. If it discovered him, it could shrug off his control in an instant for all he knew. But his control kept spreading and spreading. He could feel it¡ªsoon, he would be able to influence the dark entity. Soon, he would be the one in control of these infected beasts. That was when his mind zeroed in on something. A woman, surrounded by dark beasts. Dozens of them, half of them dead around her. The dark, oozing substance crawled across her pale skin, reaching for her eyes, her mouth, her nose. There was no sign of her party, for she was alone. The woman cried out in pain. Another Denizen, soloing the floor. It was the one he¡¯d been looking for, and if he didn¡¯t do something fast, she was going to die. Book 4: Chapter 42 - The Nightmare Xavier¡¯s mind worked swiftly. He was high up in the air, mid-leap, his consciousness expanding through the insidious dark substance that had just tried to take over his mind. He had taken over its mind in kind, but his control over the strange, interconnected entity was not full. Not complete. If the entity discovered him, his control would snap like a twig underfoot. If I influence it, will it push back? He didn¡¯t know, but he had to try¡ªsomeone¡¯s life was at stake. My life might be at stake too, if I don¡¯t get a handle on all this. Even with his mind split into multiple parts, it was difficult for him to spread his attention everywhere it was needed. He had taken over many minds since he¡¯d gained his Willpower Infusion spell. It had made the difference in countless battles he¡¯d been in. Without it, he never would have gotten this far. But he¡¯d never touched a mind as powerful as this one, and being able to control such a mind? It was difficult to believe. His mind turned over and over in the split second since he¡¯d seen the woman in danger¡ªthe black oozing entity had spread all across her skin and looked as though it was about to take her over completely. Xavier didn¡¯t know if she would die right away, or if she would simply become this being¡¯s slave¡ªlike all the infected monsters he was currently facing. Xavier pushed his will, uttering a single command to the substance. Release her. He had expected push back. Expected the entity to fight him¡ªto even notice him. But it didn¡¯t¡ªit pulled back from the woman in an instant. The woman was surrounded not just by the oozing substance, but by countless infected beasts. Some of them lay dead on the ground, while others stood, making that strange gurgling sound. The oozing substance receded. More of the woman¡¯s pale skin was revealed as the dark substance dissipated, leaving her, flowing down her body until it pooled into a puddle on the ground and became seemingly inert. The beasts ceased their odd gurgling and turned from her, walking away as though she wasn¡¯t there at all. Xavier activated Hover Dodge, slipping away from the dark owl¡¯s attack with ease while he was still in mid-air. His mind was in two places at once¡ªobserving the woman and fighting these infected beasts around himself. Xavier, feeling suddenly confident, instructed the entity to ignore him. The owl, which had been swooping back toward him, suddenly turned and flew away, off into the night, becoming almost invisible against the inky black sky. Xavier landed in a crouch, a dust cloud forming as the impact of his landing created a small crater. He held his scythe-staff before him, ready to fight¡ªbut he didn¡¯t need to. The large, Infected Stag just stood there, its black eyes staring blankly into nothing. The dark wolven pack that had been approaching lost interest in him completely. They sniffed the ground and walked back into the nearby cover of the trees. Xavier tilted his head to the side for a moment and examined his connection to the dark, oozing entity he¡¯d been controlling. How was it he was still in control? He could feel how weak his control should be. Normally, if he were to have taken over something with a control that felt at the same level as this, then he wouldn¡¯t have been able to pause the enemy for more than a mere moment. Perhaps only a split-second¡ªperhaps less. Yet the connection was still there. The strength of this thing¡¯s mind had been immense. The mind itself was immense. It spread across the entire mountain¡ªhis awareness wasn¡¯t large enough to take it all in, yet it hadn¡¯t broken his control yet. What the hell is this thing? He blinked, wondering. Could the mind not truly be a mind? This entity was connected, through everything it controlled¡ªand it controlled the very trees, the grass¡ªyet did it even think? Xavier shook his head. This was a puzzle he wished to solve, but it wasn¡¯t the most important thing right now. He could see the woman¡ªthe lone Denizen somewhere up in the mountain. She stood, staring around at the infected beasts that had abandoned her, at the dark oozing substance that had flowed off her skin, her forehead creased. She breathed heavily, summoning a health potion to her hand and quickly downing it. He needed to find this woman. It didn¡¯t take him long to reach the clearing. The woman hadn¡¯t left. She had been staring into nothing¡ªperhaps looking at her status¡ªand periodically glancing around the area. But she hadn¡¯t moved, almost as though she¡¯d been afraid to. Xavier, still connected to the dark entity, realised that having his mind expand into it had filled out the mini-map of the entire mountain. He had simply flagged her position then headed toward her. The woman heard him before he appeared. That had been his intention. He didn¡¯t want to freak her out and take her by surprise. Denizens would be punished for fighting on this floor, but she might not realise he wasn¡¯t an enemy if she thought he was sneaking up on her. He stepped into the clearing with his hands raised. His Midnight Scythe was tucked safely away inside his Storage Ring¡ªhe wanted to appear as harmless as possible. The woman relaxed when she saw her, though not completely. ¡°Are you lost?¡± Xavier chuckled. ¡°No. I¡¯m exactly where I mean to be. Felicia told me I might find you around the Dark Mountains.¡± The woman¡¯s forehead creased. Xavier wished he knew what her name was. That might make this a little easier. ¡°Did she, now? That woman does like to spread information.¡± She narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Why, exactly, are you looking for me?¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I recently acquired a spell that can alter time. Felicia told me you are quite skilled in that area. I was hoping, perhaps, you might be willing to instruct me.¡± The woman laughed. ¡°You want me to teach you? Why would I ever want to do something like that? I didn¡¯t come to this floor alone for company¡ªand I certainly didn¡¯t come here with the intention of teaching someone.¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. He supposed he¡¯d have a similar reaction if someone came up to him, wanting his help reaping souls or controlling minds¡ªhe didn¡¯t have time for such things. It was a good thing he¡¯d just saved this woman¡¯s life. ¡°Did you happen to wonder why you¡¯re still alive?¡± Xavier asked. The woman blinked. ¡°What?¡± Xavier looked over at the seemingly inert puddle of black ooze on the ground. The woman had taken a few steps away from it, but it was still close by. ¡°Mere minutes ago, that thing almost killed you. Then it just¡­ stopped.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°Why do you think that is?¡± The woman tensed. She carried a staff that looked to be made from a wood much like oak. Crystals were embedded along the shaft in a swirling pattern that curled around the staff until they reached the largest crystal at its top. Each of the crystals were clear, with a smoky energy coalescing inside of them. The pale woman pointed her staff toward the dark puddle. ¡°Do you mean to say you had something to do with this? Did you somehow influence the enemy to attack me? Are you not a Champion of your world? Fighting on this floor is punishable by the System!¡± ¡°You misunderstand.¡± He raised his right hand, slowly as so not to look as though it were in any way a threat and showed her the black dot just below his knuckle. ¡°The entity tried to kill¡ªor, I suppose, infect¡ªme as well.¡± He lowered his hand and looked curiously at the black dot. ¡°I have the ability to control an enemy¡¯s mind. It isn¡¯t always effective, but when it is¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°I took control of the entity. When I saw you were in danger, I pulled it away from you.¡± The woman looked taken aback. She gave him a thorough once over, her gaze crawling up and down him. ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± He frowned. His control over the beast still felt tenuous, but as it wasn¡¯t being fought, it also didn¡¯t feel as though it was about to break. With that in mind, he instructed the oozing puddle to crawl along the ground toward the forest. When it did so, he smiled. ¡°It¡¯s strange. The entity seems to be in thousands of different places at once. Its mind is interconnected, almost like a computer network.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a computer?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°Not important. Do you believe me now?¡± The woman stepped over to the puddle as it crawled across the ground. She motioned to it with her staff. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that you¡¯re able to do this, yet you¡¯ve come to me for instruction?¡± Shock was written across the woman¡¯s face, and she was looking down at the puddle in complete awe. Xavier thought what he¡¯d done was significant, but as every Champion on this floor was D Grade, he didn¡¯t think it was that much of an accomplishment in the grand scheme. He explained the reason he was able to control its mind wasn¡¯t his power, but rather that he was able to cut a small portion of the entity away from the greater whole. The woman still stared at him funny after his explanation. ¡°You don¡¯t realise what you¡¯ve done, do you?¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you enlighten me?¡± ¡°This beast, this entity, the black ooze? It¡¯s called The Nightmare.¡± The woman motioned toward the mountain around them. ¡°It turned these mountains dark.¡± Xavier dipped his head in a nod. ¡°I had figured that part out¡ªnot its name, but what it had done to the mountain.¡± ¡°Did you also happen to notice that it¡¯s a beast from the noticeboard? There is a Hunt Quest for it.¡± Xavier hadn¡¯t noticed that. ¡°I thought beasts from the noticeboard appeared in separate instances?¡± ¡°That is purely dependent on how strong the beasts are¡ªC Grades, for instance, as multiple parties are expected to take them on, aren¡¯t trapped in instances.¡± Xavier nodded along as the woman spoke. Then, as the significance of what she was trying to tell him sunk in, his head stopped mid-nod. ¡°Wait¡­ are you trying to tell me The Nightmare is a C Grade beast?¡± She couldn¡¯t be telling him the truth¡­ But why would she lie about something like that? What in the world would she have to gain? ¡°Yes. And you¡¯re in control of it.¡± After Xavier had stood there in shock for far too long, the woman took him to a small cave she said was protected from the infected beasts, and the entity that controlled them. The cave walls were made of salt¡ªapparently that was something the entity couldn¡¯t tolerate, which was why it was easy enough for Denizens to travel through the Dark Mountains when off to face things like the Stone Bear. Why this woman had been caught unawares, he did not yet ask. ¡°It can¡¯t stand salt? What, is it some kind of demon?¡± Xavier said, smirking at he spoke the words. ¡°Yes,¡± the woman replied. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The woman summoned a comfortable armchair from her Storage Ring and plopped down onto it. She let out a contented sigh, then held her head as though it were in pain. Xavier remained standing. He had furniture of his own that he could summon, but he didn¡¯t feel the need to sit. He was still absorbing the fact that he was currently in control of a C Grade entity. He was also even more annoyed with Felicia than he already had been¡ªthe woman hadn¡¯t seen cause to warn him about The Nightmare when telling him this was where he¡¯d find the time mage. Xavier examined his control over The Nightmare. It still felt weak, and it wouldn¡¯t last forever¡ªmaking the connection was draining his Willpower Energy. He hadn¡¯t noticed it at first, but whenever he sent a command to the thing, he pulled deeply from his Willpower Energy reserve. Very deeply. He should have noticed that. He hadn¡¯t been paying close enough attention. Xavier closed his eyes. He split his mind again, into yet another part, so one part of him could think of the consequences of controlling an enemy two grades higher than himself while the other did what he¡¯d come to do and spoke to the woman. ¡°My name is Xavier.¡± He paused. If he was going to ask for this woman¡¯s instruction, he supposed he might as well tell her his full name. If it spread, he would deal with the consequences then. ¡°Xavier Collins. Felicia didn¡¯t actually grant me your name¡ªall she said was that you came to this floor without a party, same as I did.¡± ¡°Liana,¡± the woman said. She heaved a long sigh. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m in your debt. What do you wish to learn from me?¡± Xavier had never been in a position to learn from a D Grade. There were gaps¡ªmany gaps¡ªin his knowledge and training. And while he¡¯d gotten this far without proper tutelage¡ªand mostly, no tutelage at all¡ªhe was finally in a position where he could slow down and actually focus on bettering himself. Since the moment the System had come to Earth and integrated them into the Greater Universe, he¡¯d been like a man possessed, pushing himself harder and harder, with barely a pause to catch his breath. There were countless fundamentals that he knew he¡¯d missed, simply because he¡¯d always fallen back on what had worked for him, only having to improvise when his life was at stake. If he¡¯d known better, he could have been using Heavy Telekinesis to help him move around in the air a long time ago, or to help enforce his physical attacks¡ªhe wondered how many other things he¡¯d missed simply because he¡¯d been going too fast. ¡°I want you to teach me how to rank up my Time Alteration spell, and¡­¡± He frowned, swallowed, looking down. It felt strange, asking another for help in this way. It didn¡¯t feel right, but he knew that was his pride at work. ¡°You¡¯ll need to sign a contract with me,¡± the woman said. Xavier blinked. He¡¯d been about to ask Liana to do the same. ¡°You will keep secret everything you learn of me,¡± Liana said. Xavier slowly nodded. ¡°Agreed. And you shall do the same for me.¡± They negotiated the particulars of the contract, and Xavier couldn¡¯t be happier about the terms. It was clear this woman was hiding something¡ªor perhaps simply hiding¡ªand it turned out she wanted a contract even more than he did. He found that he respected the woman¡ªhe may have saved her life, but that didn¡¯t obligate her to train him. And yet, here she was, signing a contract to that affect. Once they¡¯d signed, Xavier cleared his throat. Every single one of their conversations was now protected¡ªwhich meant that whatever he said now, she would never repeat for fear of losing all of her levels. ¡°There is something else I need to ask of you.¡± Book 4: Chapter 43 - Patience ¡°You want me to train you in everything?¡± Liana spluttered. She¡¯d jumped up from her comfortable armchair in the small salt-cavern when he¡¯d asked the question. ¡°That is not what I agreed to, Xavier Collins. You saved my life, and I¡¯m grateful. Honour requires that I¡¯m in your debt, and teaching you how to properly utilise your Time Alteration spell more than covers that debt, I should say.¡± Xavier smiled. Considering how Liana had first reacted to him asking her to teach him, he¡¯d expected something like this. Perhaps he was pushing her too far¡ªshe was not the roaming master he was looking for, nor he the bright-eyed, young apprentice. Still, she was currently his best option. ¡°I agree. That does more than cover the debt. But perhaps you might wish me to be in your debt?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need your money,¡± the woman said, though she sounded less sure than she had a mere moment ago. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good.¡± Xavier opened his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t really have any money.¡± ¡°Then what exactly are you offering?¡± Xavier looked out of the cave¡¯s mouth, back into the depths of the forest climbing up the Dark Mountains. ¡°I will owe you a favour.¡± Liana returned to her armchair, though she didn¡¯t relax and lean back like she had the first time she¡¯d sat in it. ¡°You make that sound as though it¡¯s worth a great deal more than I can currently ascertain. Are you from a particularly powerful family?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I come from a newly integrated world.¡± Liana suddenly broke out into laughter. It was the most relaxed Xavier had seen the woman since they¡¯d met. She wiped a tear from her eye. ¡°You¡¯re from a newly integrated world? A baby world? Really? You must know little of the Greater Universe if you think a favour from you is worth something, let alone something as valuable as my time.¡± The humour in her words slowly turned to frustration, until finally she¡¯d said the last words in anger. ¡°I will teach you what we bargained, and no more.¡± ¡°We have signed a contract of secrecy.¡± Xavier took his eyes away from the dark forest beyond their cave and looked at the woman. He could see her through his Farscope ability, wherever his head was turned¡ªthat¡¯s how he knew she was the most relaxed she¡¯d ever been a moment ago¡ªbut there was something impactful about looking someone in the eye. ¡°And so I will share with you who I am, and why a favour from me might mean something to you if not today, then in the future.¡± He raised his chin. ¡°I am Level 162.¡± Liana laughed again. Then she froze, staring at him. Xavier¡¯s face was blank, and there was no hint of mirth in her eyes. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re serious? You honestly think I could believe that you are E Grade? And not even the peak of E Grade?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Did that damned barkeep back at Hunter¡¯s Home tell you I was some sort of fool?¡± Xavier did something he wasn¡¯t sure he should do¡ªhe shared his status window with the woman. While it was something he¡¯d heard one could do, before today he wouldn¡¯t have thought to do it with someone not in his party, or otherwise under his influence. The woman¡¯s eyes glazed over. And¡ªthough Xavier hadn¡¯t thought such a thing would be possible¡ªher face became even more pale than it already was, almost corpselike in its pallor. ¡°Level 162¡­¡± Liana breathed. ¡°You are an E Grade on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, and you¡¯re still alive. These stats¡­¡± She motioned frantically outside the cave in an expansive gesture. ¡°T-t-the Nightmare,¡± she stuttered. ¡°You controlled The Nightmare!¡± ¡°I am more than I seem, Liana,¡± Xavier said. He wasn¡¯t intending to sound ominous, but it was hard not to given the situation. ¡°The System has chosen me for something, and I feel as though I have much to learn if I am going to accomplish it.¡± ¡°T-t-truth contract. Binding and private. Now,¡± Liana sputtered. Xavier obliged. ¡°Repeat what you said, about the System,¡± Liana said. Xavier did so. Liana sunk as far back into her armchair as she could. ¡°Chosen by the System. I have heard myths of such things, but to know it for truth?¡± She spoke as though in awe. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is you¡¯ve gotten me caught up in, Xavier Collins, but if this is how powerful you are now, and you¡¯re truly chosen¡ªnot that you could have lied¡ªthen¡­ Perhaps a favour from you is worth something to me.¡± The woman glanced around the cave. ¡°First thing¡¯s first, we cannot train here. The Dark Mountains are not suitable for what we need.¡± ¡°Why were you here?¡± Xavier asked, remembering his first sight of the woman¡ªthe dark ooze crawling over her skin, almost having taken her over to its fullest. There had been no salt around her to ward off The Nightmare. ¡°I have my reasons.¡± Liana¡¯s head dropped. Her black hair fell over her eyes, and she had a dark look about her. ¡°And they are not for you to know.¡± ~ At first, Xavier was hesitant to leave the Dark Mountains. He had barely explored the control he had over the creature there¡ªThe Nightmare, as Liana had told him it was called¡ªbut he realised the wisdom in it.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As much as he didn¡¯t wish it to be so, his control over the C Grade entity was slipping the more of his Willpower Energy he lost. From what he could ascertain, the beast¡ªif it could truly be called a beast¡ªdidn¡¯t have a mind, but if it did, and it knew what he had done¡­ he may not be able to repeat the feat he had just managed if his Willpower Energy reserve was depleted. In fact, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. He replenished his reserve through cultivation and the use of potions, but it drained faster and faster the longer his mind expanded into that of The Nightmare. It¡¯s too powerful¡ªtoo large to hold onto for long. Perhaps he might be able to use his control over it to his advantage in killing the entity, but now was not the time for him to face a C Grade being, let alone one he barely understood. The two Champions did not return to Hunter¡¯s Home. Instead, Liana led Xavier through the forest at a sprint. The woman moved faster than him. It felt strange, struggling to keep up¡ªeven stranger when the woman waited for him to catch up to her. The woman¡¯s confidence seemed to grow at finding out that he was slower than her. She seemed to take pride in her Speed. That shouldn¡¯t have been too surprising, given her supposed mastery over time¡ªhis Speed Core was what had gotten him his Time Alteration spell, after all. They encountered a few beasts on their way, but Liana breezed past them. Any that got too close and seemed to pose a threat, she somehow froze with a swish of her staff¡ªthey appeared to be stuck within bubbles of time dilation. Just like the bubble that he used. Only she was able to use this multiple times. Her cooldown was minimal, especially compared with what Xavier had to work with. Liana eventually stopped in a small forest grove that was open to the night sky. The grove seemed peaceful. A breeze rolling in, swaying branches, rustling leaves. There wasn¡¯t a single beast in sight. Though Xavier knew the peace was simply an illusion¡ªdanger could strike at any moment on the hundredth floor. The woman summoned her armchair from her Storage Ring for a second time and sat down on it. She didn¡¯t lean back, as she had before. This time, she was perched on its edge, her hands folded in her lap¡ªshe¡¯d deposited her staff into her Storage Ring for the time being. ¡°Show me what it is you can do.¡± And so Xavier did. He cast Time Alteration. He contemplated the two options for the spell at his disposal¡ªhe could slow down time in the bubble, meaning time would move faster outside of it, but he¡¯d never seen the utility in that. Or he could speed up time in the bubble¡ªwhich was the only thing he¡¯d used it for so far. Xavier did the latter. Liana stood. She walked directly to the edge of the time bubble, then stopped. Xavier blinked. ¡°How are you able to discern the edge? I¡¯ve used it with others inside it before, and they were not able to.¡± Liana looked over her shoulder at him. ¡°Were they D Grades?¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°No. They were not.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s your answer.¡± Xavier walked over to the edge of the bubble. He folded his hands behind his back. He had questions¡ªmany of them¡ªbut he wanted to see what this woman would do first. ¡°How long have you had this spell?¡± Liana asked. He told her. ¡°How long does it last?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t tested¡ªI feel as though it could last a very long time, however.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Liana asked him several more questions¡ªwhat rank the spell was, did his cooldowns work while it was up, how long did it take to cool down, could he slow down time within the bubble if he wished. Could he switch how the bubble functioned once it had been summoned¡ªspeed up time if it had been slowed, expand or contract the bubble. Xavier answered these questions patiently. Liana nodded. Once she seemed satisfied he¡¯d answered everything she wanted to know, she sat back down on the armchair she¡¯d summoned. She was silent for an entire minute before Xavier cleared his throat. ¡°Should I end the spell?¡± Liana shook her head. ¡°We will wait.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For the spell to end on its own.¡± Xavier was taken aback. ¡°But we have no idea how long that might take. We could be inside the bubble for hours, maybe days.¡± Liana examined him with a tilt of her head. Her hair fell back over her face, covering her left eye. She didn¡¯t bother brushing it out of the way. ¡°Do you have somewhere you need to be?¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°No.¡± He considered arguing with the woman. Wasn¡¯t it a waste of time, keeping the spell up for the entire duration? There were other things they could be doing, weren¡¯t there? ¡°Should I try and contract or expand the bubble?¡± Liana smiled. ¡°You are not familiar with patience, are you?¡± Xavier blinked, looked away. He thought of how he had gotten to where he was in the first place. Then he smirked. ¡°No. I suppose I¡¯m not.¡± Liana nodded. She sunk back in her armchair and summoned a book to her hand. ¡°Is that book about time magic?¡± Xavier asked. Liana looked at the book, then showed him the cover. Xavier blanched. It was a shirtless, muscular male elf with long, flowing silver hair. ¡°No, but it sure does help pass the time.¡± She gave him a wink and flipped the book open. ¡°If there¡¯s one thing I can teach you first about being a time mage, it¡¯s that things work rather differently for us than they do for other Denizens. You feel a sense of urgency¡ªI can see it in the way it seems impossible for you to relax. That urgency never leaves you, does it?¡± ¡°There are reasons I feel this way. Responsibilities I have, to my world, to my sector¡­¡± He trailed off, thinking, to the Greater Universe. ¡°Yes, I did gather something to that effect, considering you told me you were chosen by the System. But think about where you are right now.¡± She raised her index finger and motioned in a circle. ¡°A bubble of time, with everything outside of it moving so slow it looks frozen. Then, think about the floor you are on. The hundredth floor, notorious for its manipulation of time. An hour here, a mere minute back in our own universe. Liana leant forward. ¡°So tell me, right now, where you are, what exactly is so urgent?¡± She sunk back in her armchair and turned her gaze to her book. ¡°Patience¡ªyou must cultivate it as though it were any other energy you bring into yourself.¡± Xavier contemplated the woman¡¯s words and found no fault in them. It made perfect sense that they could remain within this bubble for as long as it took to test his limits¡ªbut he still chafed at the idea, and the execution of it. He found it difficult to sit still. He thought about practising his meditation¡ªat least he would be doing something useful¡ªbut when he closed his eyes to do so, Liana clicked her fingers. ¡°Meditating might throw off the results. Find something else to do.¡± Xavier glared at her. Was she telling the truth? Could his Meditation skill really throw off the results, or with this simply a lesson in patience she was trying to teach him? He sighed¡ªinwardly¡ªand tried to think of something to do while he waited. Liana seemed more than content to continue reading her book, every now and then letting out a flutter of giggles. Xavier stared at the woman he¡¯d chosen to be his teacher, and wondered if he had made the right decision. Book 4: Chapter 44 - Attunement Time in the forest grove passed more swiftly than it did perhaps anywhere else in the Greater Universe. Slowly, Xavier¡¯s ability to be patient grew with each use of his spell. The longer the Time Alteration spell remained active, the more he saw that time truly did move outside of it. If he stared outward at the trees long enough, he could see the leaves rustled by the wind. It was another exercise in patience that Liana had given him on his second usage of the Time Alteration spell. Without even trying, while he¡¯d been staring at the leaves for hours within the bubble, he had gained several ranks in his Meditation skill, something which when he told Liana, the woman had simply waved it off, saying, ¡°That can happen.¡± Xavier¡¯s doubt in the woman slowly disappeared the longer he spent with her. She had a remarkable command over time magic, to the point where he wondered how she¡¯d ever been in danger in the first place. Unfortunately, cooldowns could never be affected by time spells¡ªit was, according to the woman, impossible to speed up or slow down a cooldown as spell cooldowns worked with the clock of whatever universe one was currently residing within. Which meant he would have to wait the full length of his cooldown between every single usage of his Time Alteration spell. Soon, Xavier learnt how to expand and contract the time bubble while it was active¡ªsomething that, to his surprise, garnered him several ranks. ¡°Time magic spells often differ to other spells¡ªthey receive ranks when one has mastered different aspects of them, not simply because you have utilised them in combat, though combat can certainly push forward innovation,¡± Liana had said after he¡¯d asked about it. Things went on like this for a while. With the ranks he gained, his cooldown became shorter. At first, each rank gained him half a minute. Then, when he got to Rank 20¡ªand his cooldown had been reduced to twenty minutes from thirty¡ªranks began to reduce his cooldown in smaller increments. When Xavier had asked Liana about this, she¡¯d raised an eyebrow. ¡°With how powerful this spell is, you didn¡¯t expect to be using it once per minute right away, did you?¡± Xavier hadn¡¯t expected it, but he¡¯d certainly been hoping for it. The first few times Xavier used the spell, all Liana would do while inside the time dilation field was read her books. She read several dozen while in the bubble, until she finally closed one of the books with a snap and stared at him. ¡°All right. Time for me to earn that favour of yours.¡± She raised her chin. ¡°You said there¡¯s more you wish for me to teach you?¡± Xavier, who had been focusing his energies on speeding up time even faster within the bubble to see how that affected how long it lasted, looked over at the woman with excitement. He explained to her the position that he was in¡ªall the things that he had learnt, and all the things he undoubtedly missed. When he was done, Liana simply stared at him. ¡°How is it possible you¡¯ve gotten this far, knowing so very little?¡± Liana finally asked after a long pause. Xavier narrowed his eyes at her. She raised her hands in a placating gesture. ¡°I¡¯m not meaning to be rude, but¡­¡± She trailed off, resting her hands on her knees, and gave a slight shake of the head. ¡°You¡¯ve been going all out, and you haven¡¯t even scratched the surface of what you should be capable of.¡± A smile swept onto her face. ¡°If you¡¯ve gotten this far through blindly blundering around, imagine how far you¡¯ll get after a few solid years of training.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Years?¡± She frowned. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect to learn everything you needed in a few days or weeks, did you? There are gaps in your knowledge larger than some planets, Xavier Collins. I think it¡¯s time you suffered some tutelage.¡± She bit her lip. ¡°But I can only teach you so much¡ªour skillsets only truly intersect when it comes to time magic, and there seems to be a lot more that you¡¯re capable of doing than just that. I saw your list of spells when you shared your status. Soul reaping? Summoning spirits from the otherworld? Controlling minds? And now, altering time on top of that? Do you know how unique a spellset you¡¯ve stumbled upon?¡± Xavier smiled. He had to say, he was starting to like where this conversation was going. He¡¯d had more than a sneaking suspicion that something had been missed in his training¡ªeven if he hadn¡¯t realised exactly how much. Xavier opened his hands. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t encountered anyone else who can do what I can do.¡± ¡°Well of course you haven¡¯t! You¡¯re rarer than a land without strife, you are.¡± ¡°Are you saying I need to find another teacher?¡± Liana waved away his question. ¡°Not yet. There¡¯s plenty enough I can teach you for now. But I alone won¡¯t be enough. When it comes to your time magic, at least I¡¯ve gotten to you early¡ªother instructors might have difficulty if you¡¯ve built up bad habits around your reaping or mind control spells.¡± Xavier wanted to argue. Bad habits? Those spells had gotten him where he was¡ªhe was using them perfectly fine, thank you very much. He was using them well, even. But how could he know that for sure? ¡°Your forehead has more lines than a wrinkled perin fruit. What¡¯s the matter with your face?¡± Xavier shut his eyes, chuckled. He didn¡¯t know what a perin fruit was, but he supposed he was using what Siobhan would call his stink-face. ¡°Just coming to terms with how much I may have to learn.¡± Liana offered him a genuine smile, then. ¡°Learning is the greatest thing to be done in life¡ªwhy ever would you feel bad about it? Our lifespans are such that we could very well have the opportunity to learn every single thing we could ever wish, and with the ability to freeze time? We can learn some things faster than others¡­¡± She looked away, her eyes unfocused. ¡°Though, sometimes, we may learn things we would rather not.¡± The woman shook her head, seeming to come back into focus again. She clapped her hands together. ¡°All right, why don¡¯t we get started? First things first, how is your connection to your attributes?¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Xavier frowned again. ¡°Connection¡­ to my attributes?¡± ¡°Your attributes are staggeringly high for someone of your level, I will concede, but the way you moved on your way here¡­ You shouldn¡¯t have had so much trouble catching up to me.¡± Xavier repeated the question, phrasing it differently. ¡°When you say ¡®connection to my attributes,¡¯ what exactly do you mean? What connection are you talking about?¡± The woman threw her head back and laughed. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡± Liana wiped a tear from her cheek, then stopped. ¡°You¡¯re serious? You don¡¯t know what I¡¯m talking about?¡± Xavier looked at her blankly. ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue.¡± ¡°Oh, dear. You really are from an unintegrated world,¡± Liana muttered. Xavier didn¡¯t deign to respond. Liana paused for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts. ¡°There are more reserves of power within yourself than your cores.¡± The woman put a hand to her chest. ¡°We each have six cores, though it is some time until they are all revealed to us. But our cores are not the only thing we can draw strength from.¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°You are from an unintegrated world, so perhaps this is something you can understand. Before humans are integrated, they are weak and frail. Their strength has a hard limit that is almost impossible for them to even reach. But, can you recall ever seeing a non-integrated human perform something they shouldn¡¯t be capable of?¡± Xavier thought about that for a moment. ¡°The proverbial mother picking up a car their child is stuck underneath.¡± When Liana looked at him blankly, Xavier explained what a car was, and how heavy it was. The woman clicked her fingers. ¡°Exactly. That is exactly what I¡¯m talking about. Our bodies and minds are capable of more than is always evident. That power is restricted from us, because it can come with¡­ issues, if one is not careful. That mother you spoke of, when her child was in trouble, she was able to tap into her absolute maximum level of Strength¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t have a visible attribute for it. If she did that all the time, it could easily lead to her injuring herself. ¡°When we add or gain points in our different attributes, we are raising our absolute maximum potential in those attributes, but if we don¡¯t hone our connection to the different attributes¡ªto the trinity that is our body, mind, and spirit¡ªwe will never be able to fully reap the rewards of higher stats.¡± Xavier contemplated that for a moment. In a way, he thought he could understand what she was saying. ¡°You¡¯re saying we all have untapped potential without honing these connections?¡± Liana nodded. ¡°The beasts of this world, for instance, are highly attuned with their attributes. That¡¯s why some Denizens struggle to fight them¡ªthey¡¯re stronger than they appear from their levels alone.¡± Xavier leant back. ¡°Huh,¡± he said. ¡°I was wondering why they were more difficult to face than other D Grades I¡¯ve come up against. I had no idea that was the case. That¡­ that changes a lot.¡± The woman nodded again. ¡°For someone from an integrated world, these things are second nature. You may well have encountered people who simply didn¡¯t know to teach it to you.¡± Adranial certainly never brought anything like this up. Xavier grew more excited about his training the longer this conversation stretched. He¡¯d known he had a lot to learn, but he didn¡¯t realise there were things this fundamental that he had totally missed. He rubbed his hands together. ¡°How do I get started, then? How do I better attune myself to my attributes?¡± Apparently, the answer to that was training. Lots, and lots of training. But this wasn¡¯t the type of training that Xavier was familiar with. To unleash his hidden Strength and better attune with that attribute, Liana didn¡¯t wish for him to simply blindly do lots of exercises with increasing difficultly. She needed him to focus in a way he wasn¡¯t sure he ever had. ¡°Your Meditation skill will come in handy, here. To attune yourself with your different attributes, you need to be able to observe everything your body, mind, and spirit is doing. This is easier said than done, and there is a reason that such a thing isn¡¯t plausibly possible to tap into until someone has been integrated into the System. ¡°There are some non-integrated people who have trained toward this end, but as they become integrated at the age of sixteen, there is never enough time for their skills to truly come into fruition until after they¡¯re integrated¡ªit¡¯s not possible to see if one could achieve this without the System, but we definitely know it can be achieved with it.¡± Xavier thought for a moment about people who may have tapped into these sorts of abilities. He thought about the strongest and fastest people back on Earth pre-integration¡ªpowerlifters, strongmen, Olympians. He thought about those who pioneered the mind¡ªmonks and true academics who could stare at a problem for hours on end. And then he thought about the myths, wondering if there really had been people capable of magic before the System came down. Could people have walked on water, healed the sick, seen the future? And if so, had these people managed that by doing what she was speaking of? Even if they had, everything they¡¯d been capable of paled in comparison to someone who¡¯d gained a few levels in the System. He didn¡¯t bother bringing these examples up to Liana, he simply contemplated them on his own. Full awareness. Liana had Xavier expand the time bubble until it filled up more of the glade. She wished for him to practise his Speed attribute. Though Xavier was better able to expand the time dilation field now that he had gained several ranks in it than he ever had before, it didn¡¯t seem like a whole lot of room for running. When he told Liana this, the woman explained that Speed wasn¡¯t only about running in a straight line¡ªit was about changing direction, too. According to her, he could learn plenty from simply running back and forth over and over again. And, again according to her, he had a lot to learn. So Xavier ran. He slipped himself into a meditative state, trying as hard as he could not to focus merely on his breathing, but every movement of his body. It was strange, trying to be so aware of his every action. When he ran, unless he was trying to improve his technique, he didn¡¯t often think about how he was running. Running was a habit, and then a skill, that he had developed. It was second nature. To think about it in detail all the time would be detrimental. Hours passed for him in this state. He wasn¡¯t doing enough running to gain another rank in his Running skill, and he wasn¡¯t training hard enough to gain any attributes in Speed from what he was doing. Honestly, much of the time, it felt like a waste. He wasn¡¯t doing anything unique by running back and forth like this, turning just before he reached the edge of the bubble¡¯s barrier. Liana wasn¡¯t observing him during this time. In fact, she¡¯d returned to reading her books. Despite all he¡¯d learnt from her so far, Xavier had to admit he was growing frustrated. That was when he remembered one of the first things she had told him¡ªhe needed to cultivate patience. Considering how antsy he felt, doing this one task, he supposed that was true. He had never had much patience for waiting. Perhaps part of that came from the world he¡¯d lived in¡ªa world of smart phones and instant gratification. A world where even when one was waiting for something they wouldn¡¯t dream of doing that while not being entertained. The System had only heightened that with all the dopamine hits he¡¯d received when he¡¯d first began¡ªgaining ranks and levels and titles as fast as possible. Xavier thought he¡¯d learnt how to acquire laser-like focus and a steel will from everything he¡¯d been through, and everything he¡¯d accomplished, but there were gaps. Many gaps. He wasn¡¯t yet the person he knew he could be. Case in point, his mind having wondered so much during the exercise. Full awareness, Xavier thought, now repeating the mantra any time his mind wondered. He spent a full day within the time dilation field, running back and forth, back and forth, changing direction over and over and over. He was aware of how he breathed, how his muscles worked, how the dirt shifted as he spun on the ball of his foot then kicked off back in the other direction. Of how he sped and slowed his momentum. At some point, he wasn¡¯t sure when, he fell into a trancelike state, one different to that of his normal Meditation skill. He wasn¡¯t just aware of his body¡ªhe felt as though he was more in control of it than he ever had been before. Time passed, and with it the ground changed. A path formed where he had been running, the indentations of his boots and the impact of every footfall changing the very terrain where he trained. Until finally, something clicked. Then something happened. You have Attuned 0.1% with your Speed attribute. Book 4: Chapter 45 - Order Your Thoughts, and Your Mind Will Follow Xavier stopped running, skidding to a halt in the middle of the forest glade, right in front of the armchair the pale-skinned, darkhaired Liana lazed back on, reading one of her seemingly infinite number of books. ¡°I¡¯ve done it!¡± Xavier announced. If Xavier were honest, there had been a part of him that hadn¡¯t believed what the woman had been telling him¡ªthat there was a way to better connect to his different attributes. Well, it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t believe her, but rather that he thought he must have done it on some natural, instinctual level. How could he have gotten so far without doing something that was apparently so fundamental? The appearance of that notification showed just how wrong he had been. Liana closed her book and looked over at him. ¡°You¡¯ve done it, have you?¡± She raised an eyebrow, giving him a sceptical look. Xavier shared the notification with her, so she wouldn¡¯t have to spend another split-second doubting him. Liana¡¯s eyes glazed over for a brief moment as she read the notification he had received. ¡°You attuned your Speed attribute by .1 percent?¡± Xavier¡¯s shoulders drooped. ¡°I know it¡¯s not much, but it¡¯s a start, right?¡± Liana shook her head, sighed, and stared over at him through narrowed eyes. ¡°You misunderstand. When a Denizen first starts their attunement, they usually only gain, perhaps, .01 percent for their first notification. You have achieved something ten times that.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°I have? Perhaps it¡¯s because I¡¯m starting so late?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Liana said. ¡°Perhaps.¡± She opened her book again. Xavier kept staring at her. She peered at him over the pages of her book. ¡°The first attunement is the easiest. Keep going. You have plenty more training to do.¡± Xavier heaved a sigh, then kept running back and forth in the forest glade. He noticed the change immediately. When he brought up his attributes and looked at his Speed, it remained exactly the same as it had before. The number hadn¡¯t changed at all. What had changed was that there was no bracketed percentage next to it. (Attunement: 0.1%.) The difference was more significant than he had imagined such a small percentage would have been¡ªit was only one point out of a thousand that he could possibly gain for his attunement, yet his body¡­ It moved more efficiently than it had before. It was a difficult thing for him to explain, but an easy one for him to feel. Xavier gained another .2 percent to his Speed attunement before the time bubble finally came down two days later. Well, it had been two days within the time dilation field¡ªoutside of it, mere minutes had passed. He¡¯d gained another two ranks for Time Alteration as well, having held the bubble up for his longest time yet. ¡°This is incredible,¡± Xavier said as the breeze started rolling in at a normal speed, and the forest around the glade was no longer frozen in a crawl of slow-time. ¡°Being able to use the time bubble to train like that¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°When I first received this spell, I knew it would be powerful, but I hadn¡¯t yet thought of all the possibilities.¡± Liana smiled. ¡°Time mages are often considered an overpowered lot.¡± She tilted her head to the side. ¡°At least, in some ways. It is rare for a time mage to be able to specialise in other areas¡ªour damage dealing capabilities tend to be limited compared with other magic users. Time mages are often better in a party. Though that doesn¡¯t appear to be the case with you. You lack those same restrictions. Not that I would consider you a full-fledged time mage with only that one spell at your disposal.¡± Xavier opened his mouth to ask why she wasn¡¯t in a party herself, but the look on her face told him she wasn¡¯t in a mood to answer personal questions¡ªit was a look he was becoming familiar with, the more time he spent with this woman. He was surprised by how he felt after all that seemingly mindless running back and forth within the time dilation field. From all appearances, what he¡¯d done would be considered extremely tedious and boring. But, as he¡¯d fallen into a trancelike state and had been running so long because he was trying to achieve a goal, he actually felt more energised than he had before¡ªthough that could have something to do with the fact that he was successful at attuning his Speed attribute, even if it had only been for .3 percent. ¡°How long will it take me to bring the attunement to 100 percent?¡± Xavier asked. He didn¡¯t know if he had the patience to do that all at once. It would be¡­ a lot of days stuck inside that bubble, doing the exact same thing, over and over again. He wondered if it would still invigorate him after a week, a month¡­ maybe even a year. The woman pursed her lips. ¡°You expect your attunement to grow to 100 percent, as an E Grade?¡± Liana sighed. ¡°An F Grade would be lucky to attune their attributes by 10 percent after years of training. An E Grade might reach 20 percent, after even more years of training. I¡¯ve heard of Denizens drawing on more than that, in times of great need¡ªbut not in regular fights, even those that are life and death, as many of the fights we Champions get into turn out to be.¡± Xavier frowned. That wasn¡¯t the answer he¡¯d been expecting or hoping for. Those percentages¡­ considering how much some of his skills boosted his attributes, it didn¡¯t seem like the greatest amount. Then again, there was something more pure about attuning his Speed¡ªsomething different in the way he moved. Something altogether better. Xavier had thought he¡¯d been one with his body before all this, but he was beginning to realise just how shut off he¡¯d been. Just how blind he was to¡­ well, himself. ¡°We should begin attuning some of your other attributes, now that you¡¯ve got the hang of attuning Speed,¡± Liana said. She stood from her armchair and paced around the glade. The time bubble was still down¡ªit would be another fifteen or so minutes until he was able to cast it again, after the cooldown had ended. The cooldown wasn¡¯t yet where he wanted it to be, but he couldn¡¯t fault Liana for that. Xavier tapped his foot on the ground until Liana gave him a sharp look, the noise clearly intruding on her thoughts. ¡°We should work next on attuning your mind¡ªspecifically your Intelligence. Those are the two attributes that have benefitted me greatly in my time magic. They should benefit you as well. Xavier nodded his ascent. He didn¡¯t particularly mind which order her training came in. He worried about trying to figure out these things alone. He felt like he would be clawing around in the dark. He could spend days trying to meditate his way to attuning Intelligence and not make any progress. It was so much easier with guidance. More days passed, not just within the time dilation fields Xavier summoned into being, but outside of them as well. Attuning the mind didn¡¯t come naturally to him. Despite intelligence being one of Xavier¡¯s strongest attributes, and despite his ability to meditate and even split his mind into different portions, there was something difficult about the process he had trouble grasping.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. When he¡¯d explained this to Liana, she¡¯d nodded understandingly. ¡°Your mind is fractured. Your life before the System, and your life since, has left your thoughts and desires unordered. This is more common than you might imagine. There are worlds of people who never learn how to attune the Intelligence attribute, simply because they don¡¯t have the discipline to rein in their thoughts and their will.¡± Xavier had absorbed her words without questioning them aloud, but they unsettled him. He remembered often feeling as though his mind was fractured back before the System had come. As though his mind were an internet browser with dozens, even hundreds of different tabs open¡ªwith several of them playing music that he could never seem to turn off¡ªand the chaos of finding what he needed often stopped him from moving forward. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d gotten past that since being integrated into the System. His mind had felt a lot more clear with each attribute point he¡¯d fed into Intelligence and Willpower. Yet here Liana was telling him his mind was still fractured. When Xavier had asked this woman to teach him, he¡¯d decided to listen to what she instructed him to do without fighting back too hard, and this was only further driven into him after she¡¯d taught him to attune his Speed in a way that he had doubted would ever work. Like Mr Miyagi and the karate kid, it might not always make sense, so I have to trust the process. So when Liana told him that to order his thoughts, he couldn¡¯t simply meditate how he might normally¡ªletting thoughts drift into his mind and then out of it again as he focused on a single point, whether it be his breath or the beating of his own heart¡ªbut, rather, he had to focus on his thoughts, he did as she said. Even if it didn¡¯t quite sound right. Order your thoughts, and your mind will follow. It was the mantra she had him repeat whenever he drifted from the task at hand. Ordering his thoughts was another thing that proved more difficult than he¡¯d imagined. Once he stopped to observe what was running through his mind, it made him realise just how much was going on in there. Slowly, he made a list¡ªone that didn¡¯t feel exhaustive in the least. Xavier needed to protect Earth¡ªto build up the fighters and resources of the entire planet so it had a chance of defending itself when the restrictions on the world were lifted. He needed to become strong enough himself so the threat he¡¯d given to the other sectors would be taken seriously when the time came to act on it, should any of the planets have ignored it. And that was just the beginning¡ªthere was so, so much more on his plate. The Silver River sector itself was facing annihilation¡ªa cleansing of every planet that had occurred in the past and was foretold to soon occur again. ¡°Soon¡± was a relative term that had little to no practical meaning to Xavier¡ªhe didn¡¯t know when the threat would come, only that it would. Then there was the Greater Universe at large¡ªand whether he would one day become the Weapon of the System, and saving time itself from coming to an end. That was a goal so big it was hard to see it clearly. There were other goals, too. The ones he had along the way¡ªfinding a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance, gaining Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, mastering his Time Alteration spell, ranking up his otherworld spells, and now attuning all his attributes. Not to mention dealing with The Nightmare¡ªfiguring out how it was he could control a C Grade beast. And reaching D Grade before leaving this floor. Xavier opened his eyes and released a breath. There was indeed a lot on his mind that needed ordering. But how could he put it all in place? How could his mind stop wandering from one task to another? Was that even something he wished to stop? Xavier contemplated this in silence for hours, the track that his footsteps had worn into the glade in front of him, cutting a line between where he and Liana sat. He felt a block in his mind¡ªsomething that was stopping his thoughts from reaching true clarity. Order your thoughts, and your mind will follow. Days past as he sat there. Xavier didn¡¯t move in inch, and yet the activity in his mind never slowed. It was more active than ever. It seemed as though the more he tried to bring order to the chaos that was in his mind, the more that chaos wanted to run free. The patience that he had been so diligently cultivating was slowly wearing thing as his frustration mounted, coming to the fore, until finally he opened his eyes and stared at the darkhaired woman reading her book in relative peace on the comfortable armchair a few feet away from him. ¡°This is impossible,¡± he said. Liana lowered her book. A smirk twitched up one side of her lips. ¡°So it¡¯s true, then.¡± ¡°What¡¯s true?¡± Xavier snapped. He knew he shouldn¡¯t be frustrated¡ªthat was the whole point of cultivating patience, wasn¡¯t it? But he had been sitting there for a very long time. He had grown hungry. Thirsty. And this seemed like a complete waste of time¡ªthere must be another way for him to attune his Intelligence attribute, or something that the woman had left out. Because this clearly wasn¡¯t working. ¡°There is something that the Great Xavier Collins isn¡¯t instantly capable of doing,¡± Liana replied, sounding a little smug. ¡°Instantly capable of? I wasn¡¯t instantly able to attune Speed!¡± ¡°It may not seem that way, but I¡¯ve never seen someone else manage it as swiftly as you did. That might have something to do with the fact that you are already E Grade, and a very, very powerful E Grade at that¡ªyour body was primed for it, no doubt.¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°Then why am I having so much trouble with this? Shouldn¡¯t my mind be primed for it?¡± He took a deep breath. His voice still betrayed his frustration. Liana closed her book and placed it on her lap, and the smirk fell away from her face, an indication that she was taking him seriously. ¡°What are you struggling with?¡± ¡°Ordering my thoughts,¡± Xavier said, controlling his voice. ¡°There is a chaos within my mind¡ªone that never slows, never wavers. There is so much on my shoulders, and so much to be done, that I don¡¯t know how to slow down. I chafe at having to sit for such long hours without gaining anything in return.¡± He looked at the edge of the time bubble they were within, at the trees frozen outside of it. ¡°There are beasts I could be killing, souls I could be reaping.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± was all Liana said at first. She didn¡¯t chide him about cultivating patience, as she had in the past. She simply stared at him for a moment that stretched beyond what was comfortable, until she finally spoke. ¡°One can never truly order one¡¯s thoughts¡ªnot completely. But your mind is not a chaotic thing, it is a powerful tool that has brought you to where you are right now. But like all tools, it is best to learn how to use them properly. Any fool can swing a sword and cause some damage, but to wield a sword is a different matter entirely. ¡°Wield your mind, Xavier Collins. Remember, you are at a unique advantage¡ªyou lose no time in here. There is no waste in the hours that pass you by, for we have frozen those hours in this moment. The world is not moving forward without you.¡± Rather than respond, Xavier shut his eyes, remembering his rule not to push back against her guidance. This was exactly the reason why¡ªhis frustration grew from his lack of perceived progress. He took two deep breaths, then replayed her words within his mind. Once he was a moment removed from them, he could see the wisdom in them. He was chafing at the bit, trying to get to all the things he needed to get done¡ªall the things he knew he needed to achieve. Xavier opened his eyes and looked outside the time bubble again. There was an ant-like insect on the ground, one that he had watched before casting Time Alteration. The creature had barely made it an inch along the ground in the time that had passed while he¡¯d been inside the time dilation field. The world isn¡¯t passing me by. It was such a strange concept for him to absorb. Xavier shut his eyes once more and returned to the task. Wield your mind. It sounded like something Morpheus would tell Neo. Free your mind. If only it were that easy. A week passed for Xavier and Liana while he focused on this task. He took short breaks to eat, and to chat with the woman across from him, but then he always continued in his diligence, his mind toward this singular task. Still, no progress came. Another week passed. Xavier would recast his Time Alteration spell whenever he needed to, and so not much time passed outside of it¡ªit would still be a while yet until either of them needed to hunt and kill a beast from the notice board in order to stay within the hundredth floor. There was no sense of urgency. None whatsoever. That was perhaps the hardest thing for Xavier to come to terms with. The waiting. But finally, after the third week had passed and Xavier had been putting all his energies toward this one task, something clicked within his mind. A notification appeared and a smile spread out across his face. You have Attuned 0.1% with your Intelligence attribute. Xavier released a long, contented sigh, for it wasn¡¯t just the attunement with his Intelligence attribute he¡¯d gained¡ªit was a new way of thinking. He tilted his head to the side, glanced over at Liana, then looked up through the top of the time bubble and at the sky high above them, contemplating the System and its motives for sending him here. The System had sent him here because he needed to face challenges that would help him adapt¡ªXavier had thought those challenges would be fights against beasts, and they certainly were¡ªbut perhaps there were other challenges the System had in mind for him. If the Empress Larona has the ability to see the future, then the system must as well, especially as it has access to an infinite number of alternate universes. Did it know I would seek Liana once it sent me to this floor? Did it know she would teach me these things? The thought that drifted through his mind as he stared up at the sky brought other questions¡ªlike the nature of freewill, and if he even possessed it with the System meddling so heavily in his life. He ordered those thoughts, placing them somewhere in his mind that he could come back to. ¡°I did it,¡± he told Liana. ¡°Now, what¡¯s next?¡± Book 4: Chapter 46 - Sword of Damocles Xavier launched himself through one breakthrough after another, performing feats of the body and mind he hadn¡¯t known he was capable of before¡ªperforming feats he hadn¡¯t been capable of before. In all his time levelling up, gaining titles, getting powerful, he hadn¡¯t realised the gaps he was leaving in himself. Now, they were being filled. He sped from one side of the time bubble to the other, or ran around it in a circle, or dodged the spells that the darkhaired time mage Liana tossed at him. He focused his mind, ordered his thoughts as they came¡ªand he moved beyond that. He did complex mathematical problems in his head, or held several chessboards in his mind, splitting it in several ways in order to have different parts of his consciousness play chess against one another. He did this again and again, over and over, until he was sure he¡¯d be able to give Kasparov or even Magnus Carlsen a run for their money. Willpower was a difficult one to advance. Xavier knew he could endure much¡ªand he knew he could assert his will over others. His Willpower attribute was one of his strongest. It should have been easier, but it was more abstract. At least, it felt that way. Liana kept telling him not to actively focus on Willpower, but rather to actively push through on attuning all the other attributes. Doubts crept up along the way¡ªsome attunements were harder to grasp than others, such as his Spirit attunement. Xavier was used to strengthening his soul with a spell, and his Spirit attribute was his strongest asset¡ªbut what in the Greater Universe did he need to do to attune it? ¡°It¡¯s not about strengthening the attributes¡ªthat would be a different kind of training. This is about aligning yourself with them, about experiencing them, and being able to draw from more of the power you already possess.¡± Liana¡¯s words sounded helpful, but they also felt too wishy-washy for him. Xavier liked practical solutions to concrete problems, not vague, Zen-like answers to abstract dilemmas. But, whenever doubt crept in, he pushed through it. This woman had yet to steer him wrong, and he wasn¡¯t about to quit. He would keep pushing. And that was, eventually, how he attuned his Willpower attribute¡ªhe hadn¡¯t even been intending to, it had simply happened while he was focusing on another difficult task. After the fact, he could see the sense in it¡ªhe had pushed through even when he didn¡¯t want to. Isn¡¯t that what Willpower was all about? Xavier quickly lost track of the time that passed within the bubble, instead focusing on the time that passed outside of it. He was sure that months must have gone by for him, while six days had passed outside the bubble. It was time for him to step outside of the time dilation field and the glade and defeat his next monster for his Hunt Quest. Liana had completed her own Hunt Quest already during the week, stepping away while he was locked in his training¡ªfrom his perspective, she¡¯d been gone for days, and a part of him had wondered if she would ever return. Xavier hadn¡¯t completed his training with the woman, but he had attuned all of his attributes up to 5%. A feat that, when he had attuned them each to 0.1 percent at the beginning, had barely even seemed possible. His patience was a lot more ingrained now. Time seemed to pass¡­ differently for him, and his body and mind were both relaxed and focused in a way that he hadn¡¯t experienced before. Since his journey within the System had begun, it hadn¡¯t been long until Xavier felt powerful. When he first gained his Soul Reaper class, the strength of it had amazed him. That power had only grown and grown over time. But he hadn¡¯t realised how much of that power had still been hidden under the surface, and he knew he was even now only dipping his toes in. He had yet to dive right down into the depths of the well of power within him. But he would, in time. It hadn¡¯t only been attuning attributes that Liana had taught him how to do. His Time Alteration spell was far more powerful than it had been before. Xavier had managed to push it all the way to Rank 50¡ªand there were other things he had worked on along the way. Xavier looked at his Hunt Quest¡ªthe one he¡¯d chosen from the board so he could more easily find the Dark Mountains, and in so doing find Liana. He wondered if it was wise to venture toward the Dark Mountains again, after what had happened their last time. His control over The Nightmare was long gone, and while the creature, beast, or whatever it was, didn¡¯t venture outside of its domain, stepping back into it¡­ Would the entity be conscious enough to hold a grudge? Liana told him there should be nothing to worry about. She provided him with a good amount of salt, so that he could ward off the Infected Beasts without having to do battle with them, or have a repeat of what had happened last time¡ªthough taking control of all the Infected Beasts once more would certainly make taking on the Stone Bear easier. Now is not the time to risk going after a C Grade entity. No need to be impatient on that matter. Xavier once more wondered how it was Liana had gotten herself in the position she had when he had first encountered her¡ªbesieged by infected beasts all around his, The Nightmare¡¯s dark, oozing form crawling around her skin, ready to claim her as one of its own. If she¡¯d had all this salt, she should have been able to fight it. He ordered that thought, placing is somewhere he could come back to later, and focused entirely upon the task at hand. If the Stone Bear was anywhere close to the strength of the Magma Bull, Xavier would need to have hit wits about him. Xavier moved swiftly through the forest until he made it to the Dark Mountains. He couldn¡¯t help but grin as he ran. He could feel his Speed attunement at work¡ªfeel the extra edge it gave him, how the muscles in his legs tensed and relaxed as he ran. There was something pure about running, about being in motion, that he had never fully appreciated before. Now, he felt it more deeply than ever. The Dark Mountain looked exactly as it had his first time here, and the mark on his mini-map clearly showed him where his quarry was¡ªhe spotted the cave entrance, the shimmer of the instance, a little ways up the mountain, from miles away. He sped forth, moving too fast for the beasts in the area to bother him. Liana had told him that once he was within the instance, nothing else would be able to enter¡ªit would be him alone with the Stone Bear.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Liana had faced a Stone Bear before, but she refused to tell him anything about it, saying that if he utilised his spells and skills and wit properly than he wouldn¡¯t have any trouble facing the beast. Xavier took this as another lesson, and instead of growing frustrated with the fact that she wouldn¡¯t tell him anything about the beast, he took it as an opportunity. While he¡¯d been training with Liana, and his Time Alteration spell had been in cooldown, he¡¯d been pushing his Identify skill forward. He¡¯d never had much opportunity to focus on it and truly push it up as far as he could. When he started doing this, the skill was only at a measly Rank 50. During those cooldowns, he ventured out of the glade and used the skill on everything he could think of. It had still been too weak to use on the beasts in the area, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t use it on other things. And so he did. He used it on the trees, every single species that he encountered. He used it on the grass, on the weeds, on the flowers, on the different herbs that called the forest floor home. He was sure that if he were an alchemist, he would wish to gather up all of those ingredients. But he didn¡¯t intend to slow down to do so. It took a lot of time, and much of the things he identified he found of little to no interest, but eventually he was able to push the skill high enough that he managed to use it on the beasts that were around him¡ªthat was when it truly pushed forward. And thus, Identify was the first of his skills to reach Rank 100. Rank 100 was the limit anyone of E Grade could reach. It wouldn¡¯t be possible to take his skills and spells higher than that until he made it to D Grade¡ªor so he¡¯d been told. He still wondered at the truth of that, and now that he had discovered attunements, he didn¡¯t want to push to D Grade until he¡¯d made enough progress in all of them. As swiftly as he¡¯d been moving through the levels, he hadn¡¯t wanted to slow himself down and optimise everything. He hadn¡¯t had the time to do anything like that. It had felt too¡­ indulgent. Now, things were different, and he was glad for that. He knew there were only so many things one could advance within a time bubble¡ªit wouldn¡¯t be an advantage to him in every part of his training, but right now it was a particularly strong one. Xavier climbed up the mountain until he stood before the entrance to the cave. He paused, reached out to touch the shimmer that showed him where the instance began. He could see through the shimmer almost as though it wasn¡¯t there. The cave was dark. Pitch black. Though he knew his eyes would soon adjust to it, he couldn¡¯t see much of anything inside yet. He stood there until he could make out the cave better, but it was taking far longer than it should. There was something strange at work. Usually, his night vision would kick in almost instantly. Yet the longer he stared within the cave, trying to discern where the walls were, the more he realised the blackness wasn¡¯t entirely natural. Even his Farscope ability, something which he¡¯d grown rather reliant on of late, couldn¡¯t penetrate the gloom. Xavier tilted his head to the side. Within his Storage Ring, he had a myriad of supplies that he didn¡¯t really think he would ever need¡ªrope, being one of them. What exactly was he going to do with rope? He also had enchanted torches, whose fire would burn for weeks without being exhausted. He¡¯d never had need of them in the past. Xavier summoned one of those torches to his hand now. They had a clever little enchantment that let the user simply will them to be lit, and they couldn¡¯t be blown out by the wind. He lit the torch, and smiled at the flickering flames, appreciating the moment. It felt rather adventurous, stepping into a dark cave with a flaming torch. He couldn¡¯t help but take a childlike glee in what he was about to do. He pointed the torch¡¯s flames toward the inside of the cave, trying to see if the light would push back the oppressive, unnatural darkness found within. The flames illuminated the darkness, but only a few feet around¡ªfar less than the flames¡¯ light should have stretched. Curious. Though Xavier¡¯s patience had grown considerably since meeting Liana, he knew there was no point standing there any longer. He had a full day before he needed this thing killed, but he didn¡¯t want to take that time for granted. One needed to know when to be patient, and when to act. Xavier stepped over the threshold and entered the cave of the Stone Bear. He held his scythe-staff in his right hand, and the enchanted torch in his left. He couldn¡¯t hear anything stirring within the cave, even though he stretched his senses forward as far as he could, straining his ears. Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis on the torch, hovering it in mid-air. His usage of the spell wasn¡¯t near as precise as someone who had chosen a different telekinetic path, but he could still manage this well enough. Someone on a different path would no doubt be able to hover a dozen or more torches, holding them up all around them to illuminate more of the cave. Xavier would make do with what he had. And there was another thing he¡¯d gained during his time training with Liana¡ªidentifying things during the cooldown breaks wasn¡¯t the only extracurricular training he¡¯d partaken in. He¡¯d hunted down beasts as well. The forest had been full of them. Sometimes, they wandered into the glade by themselves, other times he had to seek them out, but always he tried to kill at least one during those cooldown breaks¡ªfor if he needed rest, he could simply take it within the time bubble, when the world outside was all but frozen. And so, in that time, he had managed to complete the spell quest for Telekinetic Enhanced Strike. His Heavy Telekinesis spell was no longer tied up with his physical attacks. After he¡¯d taken a few steps into the cave, careful to keep his boots silent on the coarse stone floor, he halted and hovered the enchanted torch farther ahead of him. As the torch reached more than a few feet away, Xavier was consumed by the darkness, so pitch black he couldn¡¯t even see his hand if it were right before his face. It was rather unsettling. He focused on what the torch illuminated. The cave was too wide for the light to reach the walls on either side, so Xavier had to make it zigzag left and right so he could cover everything. He didn¡¯t want to leave an inch unseen, for who knew what might be lurking in the darkness. All he saw was the jagged rock of the cave walls, and the stalagmites and stalactites that shot up from the ground and hung down from the ceiling like the sword above Damocles¡¯s head, tied to nothing but a thin strand of horsehair, as he sat Dionysius II¡¯s throne. Xavier paused the torch¡¯s forward movement as he considered those stalagmites and stalactites. He recalled his fight with the Magma Bull¡ªhow it was able to not only control lava, but the very rock and dirt of the volcano itself. Then he thought of another beast from the noticeboard¡ªThe Nightmare, who lay claim to the mountain he stood upon. Though for some reason it had not made its way into the Stone Bear¡¯s cave¡ªperhaps the instance it resided within was protection from that. The Magma Bull and The Nightmare are able to control the environments they reside within¡ªcould that be something the Stone Bear is capable of? Though he had won his encounter with the Magma Bull, he still wondered if he would have been able to do such a thing without the help of the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªand he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to call upon it again. Not until the situation truly warranted it. This was not one of those times. He tilted his head to the side and used Identify on one of the stalactites hanging above. Stalactite Stalactites are icicle-shaped deposits that form in primarily limestone caves¡ªthough they have been known to form in other types of caves around the Greater Universe. Stalactites are typically naturally occurring phenomenon, though there is something strange about this one¡ªits form is too pure, and there is no stalagmite beneath it. Take care, for this stalactite may be controlled. Xavier blinked. That was what he¡¯d noticed¡ªthat was what was strange. His subconscious mind must have latched onto it. Stalactites dropped water as they formed, creating a mound-shaped stalagmite on the ground beneath them. If this went on long enough, they would meet in the middle and form a column. The things you learn reading fantasy books. But none of the stalagmites had grown beneath the stalactites, and there was no column formed in sight. He couldn¡¯t help but grin at his finding. Xavier couldn¡¯t see the stalactites directly above him, for the light of the torch he hovered was too far ahead of him. He was blanketed in the eerie darkness of the Stone Bear¡¯s cave, but he was sure he would hear the slice of a stalactite¡¯s fall and be able to dodge out of the way in time. He stepped forward, hovering the enchanted torch deeper into the cave as he went, still seeing no sign of the Stone Bear. Until something in one of the rock walls shifted, and he found a new meaning to the word rockface. The Stone Bear inched out of the wall, almost as though it were being formed as he watched it. The surface of its skin was undulating and smooth all at once until it solidified, as if it were made from liquid rock¡ªthough it radiated no heat like lava would, and it looked as grey as any other rock. Xavier was about to use Identify on the Stone Bear, which had just taken its first step out of the wall, when his enchanted torch was snuffed out. The enchanted torch which had protection from being snuffed out by the wind. The entire cave fell into complete darkness. Well, this isn¡¯t good. Book 4: Chapter 47 - All I Can Wish You Is a Swift Death Once, when Xavier was young, he and his mother were staying at their cousin¡¯s farmhouse out of state. The room they stayed in was detached from the main house¡ªan old, renovated shed¡ªand it didn¡¯t have a bathroom. He distinctly remembered a time when the power had been out, and he couldn¡¯t find a torch. There had been heavy cloud cover during the day which had stretched into the night, and when he¡¯d stepped outside, he couldn¡¯t see a damned thing. He¡¯d never felt more vulnerable in his life, standing in that utter darkness, trying to find his way. The darkness of the Stone Bear¡¯s cave was a thousand times worse than that. Xavier was always infused with a silver glow from his Spiritual Trifecta spell, but just as the flames from the torch had been diminished here, the glow about him had no impact on the strange darkness¡ªthis was worse than the floor with the wyverns in that pitch-black, expansive cavern. But Xavier wasn¡¯t a child stumbling around in the dark any longer, nor was he the same man who¡¯d faced the wyverns, still new to his craft. He was the man who was well on his way to becoming the Weapon of the System. This was something he could fight. Xavier cast Time Alteration. He hadn¡¯t expected to use the spell so soon after first encountering the Stone Bear, but circumstances warranted he approach this fight with an abundance of caution. The spell had been cast the instant his torch had been snuffed out, a millisecond after he¡¯d watched the Stone Bear climb out of the wall. His body and mind relaxed within the safety of the bubble. He could stand in that time dilation field for days and not be in any danger until it fell. He could summon a comfortable armchair and have a nap, if he really wanted to. Instead, he summoned another torch from his Storage Ring. For a moment, he worried about the speed of light. That was one thing he hadn¡¯t tested while he was in one of his time bubbles¡ªhe¡¯d had no need to. With a thought, the torch was lit. The flames flickered, and the space around him was illuminated. It didn¡¯t push far¡ªthat oppressive darkness was still there, even within the bubble of time he¡¯d created. He walked over to the edge of the barrier, in the direction the Stone Bear had been. He¡¯d ensured that there was a gap of at least two feet between the edge of the barrier and the Stone Bear when he¡¯d cast the spell. Two feet would mean two things¡ªfirst, that even if this Stone Bear was incredibly fast, it would still take a long time for it to reach the time bubble. And second, that it would be close enough for his torchlight to illuminate it from the edge of the bubble. As Xavier stepped toward the edge, he contemplated the speed of light. He remembered once reading that the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second, or 300,000 kilometres per second. In a millisecond, it would travel 186 miles. And in a nanosecond, it would travel a single foot. Xavier perceived the slightest of delays as the light reached the barrier and went beyond it, though for the life of him he couldn¡¯t figure out what that delay meant. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure how swiftly his perception worked, so doing any reliable calculation with how fast that light moved outside the bubble in relation to the passage of time within it was impossible for him. Either way, it moved fast enough that he could see it illuminate the Stone Bear without having to alter the speed of the time dilation field. The Stone Bear was a fifteen-foot-tall beast carved from solid rock. Though perhaps carved wasn¡¯t the right word, considering he¡¯d seen it somehow form from the cavern¡¯s stone wall. Xavier examined the beast in the flickering torchlight, tilted his head to the side, and used Identify on it. {Stone Bear - Level 280} The Stone Bear is created of rock and darkness. They live in seclusion, very rarely venturing out of their caves to hunt. Though their caves don¡¯t look particularly inviting, there is a quality about them that attracts other beasts into the Stone Bear¡¯s domain, where its darkness disorientates them so the Stone Bear may feed on their energies. Along with the oppressive darkness a Stone Bear can conjure in its own domain, it has the ability to create offensive traps in the form of stalagmites and stalactites. These attacks can come from above or below at any moment. A stone bear can swiftly move through solid rock, and has the ability to teleport anywhere that stone resides, this means that when facing a Stone Bear it is wise not to do so on their own turf, as not only will you not be able to see the Stone Bear coming, you will have no idea where it will come from. If you¡¯re reading this while standing in its cave, all I can wish you is a swift death. Xavier swallowed as he read the last line. Thanks, System, that¡¯s real helpful.` Xavier was frustrated that the Identify skill hadn¡¯t offered any hints about the stone Bear¡¯s weaknesses. That was one of the main things the skill was useful for, but when it was used on stronger beasts, the skill didn¡¯t tend to be powerful enough to offer him such insights¡ªwhen it was on such beasts that those insights were the most needed. He looked up, raising the torch, and saw that behind him¡ªwhere he had been standing but a moment ago¡ªa stalactite had begun falling from the ceiling. He looked at the jagged, sharp point and wondered how much damage it could do to him.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. He didn¡¯t recall hearing it fall¡ªnor sensing anything from his Evasion skill¡ªbut perhaps he had been too focused on the bear. Felicia said facing this Stone Bear wouldn¡¯t be worth betting on, but she also didn¡¯t warn me about the C Grade beast that resides in the Dark Mountains¡­ something tells me that woman doesn¡¯t have my best interests at heart. It was time for Xavier to devise a plan. This Stone Bear¡¯s level was on par with that of the Magma Bull, but it had several advantages the Magma Bull lacked¡ªthe darkness being one of them, and the fact that Xavier wouldn¡¯t be able to summon the Spirit of Vengeance was another. Of course, just because its level was the same as the Magma Bull, didn¡¯t mean its strength would be. But the last thing he wanted to do was assume that it was weaker. Xavier thought through his options and looked through his different spells. He had defeated well over a hundred D Grade beasts during his training in the past week, during times when he was waiting for the cooldown for his Time Alteration spell to end. In that time, he had gained several levels¡ªfive of them to be exact. Which meant that Xavier was now Level 167. It also meant that none of his spells were currently in cooldown¡ªexcept for the ones he had just used. He could use Summon Otherworldly Spirit. And just because he wasn¡¯t able to summon the Spirit of Vengeance to him, didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t possible for him to utilise the spell at all. In fact, he had been selling the spell short¡ªit had other features that he¡¯d neglected. Xavier cast Summoner Otherworldly Spirit. Time froze. Even within his bubble, the flickering flames from his torchlight paused, as though stuck on a single frame of high-resolution, slow motion camera footage. Colour drained from the world once more, not that there was much colour in the cave beyond that which the torch¡¯s light was able to reach. A humming sounded, one that was beginning to become familiar to him. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier smiled. The last time he summoned the Spirit of Protection, it hadn¡¯t gone well¡ªthe spirit hadn¡¯t been happy with him. This time, it was rather different, and he¡¯d be remiss if he didn¡¯t utilise every tool at his disposal. Xavier chose the Spirit of Protection. In a bright flash of light, the spirit materialised before him. As before, the spirit seemed to contain every colour imaginable. The brightness diminished until Xavier was able to see the creature more clearly. The Spirit of Protection appeared in front of him. It was different to the last time he had summoned it. Last time, its face had been hidden behind a dark cowl that wreathed its features in an impenetrable shadow. This time, the hood was down. The spirit wore full-plate armour, but it was in a different style. The spirit was clearly human, though he was seven feet tall and built like the biggest bodybuilder imaginable, with wide broad shoulders that stretched farther than seemed possible. Xavier frowned. You are not the same Spirit of Protection I summoned last time, are you? The man tipped back his head. A loud, rumbling chuckle sounded in Xavier¡¯s mind. That spirit did not wish to be summoned by the likes of you, Denizen. Apparently you¡­ wasted its time? Though that is a strange thought, considering all we really have in the Otherworld is time¡­ The spirit sighed in Xavier¡¯s mind. I thought I would always summon the same spirit? Only if that spirit has been in your service. The last spirit does not qualify. Ah, Xavier thought back to him. No, I suppose it didn¡¯t. Now, Denizen, tell me why you have summoned me to this dark place. The Spirit of Protection¡¯s head turned. It looked toward the Stone Bear. Do you wish me to protect you from that beast? I do not know how powerful it is. Xavier paused. Wondering. I have never before experienced the powers of a Spirit of Protection. Before the fight begins in earnest, can you explain to me what you are capable of? I was once a great and powerful tank, before my life was forfeit¡­ many years ago. I do not fight like the Spirit of Vengeance. Indeed, in this form I cannot fight at all. The man did not possess any visible weapons, only a tower shield that was almost as tall as himself. My powers move through you. For a brief time, you will gain several new abilities. Spells that I once possessed in life. These spells will have a limited usage, and the more of them you use, the longer your next cooldown will become. If you expend them all, the cooldown will be the longest time possible. I¡¯ll gain access to spells¡­ Well, this certainly seemed like it would benefit from me practising with the spell while outside of combat. The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. He wore a great big helm with a smooth top¡ªit looked to be designed for strikes to glance off it rather than find purchase. Indeed, but such a thing is not possible for the spirit you summon from the Otherworld¡ªyou must use us for a worthy purpose, or not at all. The Spirit of Vengeance told me something similar¡­ The Spirit of Protection chuckled again. No doubt with a threat of violence thrown in the mix. One you oughta take seriously. The Spirit of Protection didn¡¯t speak as Xavier had expected¡ªthen again, neither had the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. Once the spell is active, and time once more moves forward, you will see what will be at your disposal. Be warned, the spells can only last for so long¡ªa timer will be activated, so do not take too long contemplating the spells you have on offer. The Spirit of Protection tilted its head to the side, looking around the dark cave. It took a step forward, examining the time dilation field. Although, if this is what I think it is¡­ you may have far more time than I thought. The spirit grinned. You are indeed as unique as the dragon said you were. Xavier found the idea of this man speaking to the Spirit of Vengeance about him to be particularly strange. He had the absurd vision of them sitting in a tavern, if those even existed in the Otherworld, conversing over ale¡ªnot that the dragon would be able to fit in a tavern, though he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the beast had a taste for ale¡­ Xavier was glad to find the fact that cooldowns¡ªand apparently other sorts of timers¡ªwere connected to the flow of time that the universe he abided within set, rather than the time as it moved within his time dilation field. Usually, this was something that was frustrating, but apparently, in unique circumstances, it had its advantages. Before Xavier signalled the spirit to be fully activated, he asked it another question. Will I be able to converse with you, while I have access to the spells you grant me? Indeed. I will be a voice in your mind, there to guide you, and warn you of the danger I perceive. Though know this, my perception will only be as swift as your attributes allow it to be, and the spells at your disposal are also based upon the strength of your Spirit attribute. Were I able to access my full powers from before my fall¡­ you wouldn¡¯t be scratched, even facing a thousand such beasts as the one before you now. The spirit sounded proud of that, yet also somewhat sorrowful that it wasn¡¯t something he could do. I am sure whatever powers you bestow on me will be more than enough for now. The Spirit of Protection inclined its head. Time flowed forward once more, and a notification displaying the different spells on offer appeared before him. He smiled as he read them. Book 4: Chapter 48 - What Now, Denizen? The Spirit of Protection is working its power through you. You have gained access to 5 limited use spells. Bulwark - 3/3 uses remaining A protective barrier against both physical and magical attacks that protects those within it. Shield Wall - 3/3 uses remaining A temporary barrier that will prevent enemy access. Typically used to block gates, hallways, or other passageways during combat. Karma Armour - 3/3 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing suit of armour around the user that reduces 50% of damage received and returns that damage to the enemy. Saving Grace - 1/1 uses remaining This spell prevents all damage on the user from a single attack, unless that attack is beyond the damage threshold. Floating Shield - 10/10 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing shield the user can control with their mind, able to block attacks. Multiple floating shields can be controlled at once, however this takes a mental toll on the user. Time until spells become unavailable: 5 minutes Xavier looked through the different spells, his smile growing as he read each one. The Spirit of Protection had warned him that the more of the spells he used, the longer his cooldown would become¡ªthat might be a problem for someone who struggled to gain a level or two each year, but for him, right now, it wasn¡¯t even a part of the equation. In fact, it might be better for him if he were able to test exactly how long that cooldown would be. The five-minute timer was also much more time than he had anticipated. He knew that there was a consequence of using summoning spells to bring forth spirits from the Otherworld¡ªthat doing so was damaging his soul¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t something he knew how to quantify, and his soul was tougher than most with his usage of Soul Harden. Five minutes will be plenty of time. He turned to the Spirit of Vengeance. The Saving Grace spell. It says there is a damage threshold it can¡¯t go over? The full-plate armoured spirit inclined his head. Indeed. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to have a spell that allowed an F Grade to effectively defend against the attacks of an A Grade, would it? Xavier tilted his head to the side. No. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t. Do you have any other questions about the spells? Xavier smiled. He had many. He spoke to the man for a time, until he figured he knew all he would need to know about the spells to get him through this fight. The main thing he was worried about was his lack of sight. Xavier had developed his other senses, but he¡¯d never anticipated being completely without sight the way he was now. After he obtained the Farscope item, seeing literally everything around him had become normal. He¡¯d grown to rely on the ability more than he had realised. The torch he¡¯d lit, he knew wouldn¡¯t last long. The moment he stopped the Time Alteration spell, the Stone Bear would be able to snuff it out again. Xavier came up with a plan of attack as he stood within the time bubble, staring through the barrier over at the visage of the Stone Bear. The name of the beast had been so innocuous, he hadn¡¯t expected it to be capable of everything it was. Once Xavier had turned all his options over in his mind, he let out a breath. He had a plan. A rather clever one, he thought. He took a few steps back from the edge of the barrier, until he was standing in the centre of it, that falling stalactite over his head. There were things that Liana had taught him how to do during the past week that he wouldn¡¯t have thought possible, and now he was beginning to realise just how useful her instruction on his Time Alteration spell had been. Xavier pushed the time bubble open wider around him. The larger the time bubble, the less time it would last, but even at its largest Xavier could still hold it for as long as he would need. One thing Liana had taught him was that the time bubble didn¡¯t need to be a perfect circle¡ªhe could craft it. The more he crafted it, the more toll it took on the spell, and the less time it would last. He pushed the time bubble as far as he could manage, planting enchanted torches into the ground as he went, illuminating the space. Definitely glad I got a bunch of these torches. Never thought I¡¯d have a use for them. The Spirit of Protection tilted his head to the side, watching closely what Xavier was up to. Xavier wasn¡¯t used to taking his time to prepare for a fight like this¡ªusually he would go in, spells flaring. There was still room for that, and it would happen soon, in a manner of speaking. But this was a more methodical approach, one that he knew would serve him well. He carved the time bubble, making the fighting area as large as he could. Xavier¡¯s cooldowns were not the only ones that would suffer whilst inside the time bubble, and that was something he would take into account. The spells that he had at his disposal from the Spirit of Protection? They didn¡¯t have cooldowns at all¡ªhe could use them, one after the other, even inside of this space. Xavier was careful to avoid the stalactites and stalagmites that had been formed around the cavern, carving his time bubble to avoid them. When he deemed that his time bubble was large enough, Xavier released a breath. He walked back a little ways, coming closer to where the Stone Bear was. What is it you are doing? The Spirit of Protection asked within his mind. Just a little experiment. I¡¯m not sure how well it will work. If it fails, well, that¡¯s when I¡¯ll be in true need of your protection. But if it works¡­ He grinned, letting the words sit. Xavier had been collecting more souls as he fought beasts over the last six days. His soulkeeping reserve was nowhere near full, but it should serve him well enough in this battle. Next, Xavier cast Floating Shield. Being able to converse with the Spirit of Protection had diminished his need for experimenting with the spells, as the full-plated warrior was able to tell him the specifics of the abilities. The shield that the Floating Shield spell created had a minimum runtime. They could only last for a minute each, and they could only take so much damage. Xavier didn¡¯t think the battle with the Stone Bear would take very long, so he decided he would use multiple floating shields at once.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The first materialised before him. As time wasn¡¯t of the essence within the bubble, Xavier practised with the shield until moving it felt natural. He split his mind, making one part entirely control the shield so he wouldn¡¯t have to focus on it. Then he cast the spell for a second time and repeated the process¡ªover and over until he had five shields surrounding him. This would give him the opportunity to summon more if the need arose. With that done, Xavier checked the number of uses he had for Bulwark and Shield Wall. Three each. That, too, would serve him well. The Shield Wall spell, he thought would come in the most handy. Xavier was attempting to control his environment as much as possible, but he was still within the Stone Bear¡¯s domain¡ªand the Stone Bear had the ability to teleport wherever it wished as long as there was rock. Xavier knelt on the ground before him and created a Shield Wall that covered the ground¡ªthis would prevent the Stone Bear from teleporting up beneath him, or from creating a stalagmite to skewer him from below. Once that was covered, he cast two behind him at a right angle, effectively blocking the way. While it appeared to box Xavier in, he had discovered that the user of the spell was able to move through a Shield Wall freely. Ah, I see what you¡¯re doing. Clever. Very clever. Xavier glanced about inside the Time Alteration bubble, wondering if there was anything he was missing. He nodded when he felt satisfied. There were more spells yet for him to cast. He cast Karma Armour on himself. He looked down. It was strange to see the glowing purple armour over his dark robes. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t take too much damage from the enemy, but if he did, at least this spell would serve him well. He lamented at not having something like it when he¡¯d faced the Magma Bull. Xavier started casting offensive spells against the Stone Bear, which was still clearly visible outside of the bubble. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! Core Burn! Willpower Infusion! And, for good measure, he cast Soul Strike. He used five hundred souls in the spell. While he worried about reducing his reserve too much, he would still have well over 3,000 souls in it. This was but a fraction of his power. On this floor he¡¯d only used Soul Block once¡ªusing 200 souls in the spell. He had since replenished his reserve, even if it had taken a while. The Soul Strike was targeted against a single enemy, and the soul apparition that appeared was an amalgamation of a wolven and a boar, with hints of bullish features. The Spirit of Protection seemed to take an almost imperceptible step back at the sight of the soul apparition. His eyes opened wide, very slightly, but only for the barest fraction of a second. The soul apparition froze after if reached the other side of the barrier. What now, Denizen? Will you drop the barrier? Xavier smiled. Not exactly. This cave was the enemy¡¯s turf¡ªthe beast¡¯s domain¡ªbut Xavier was about to turn it to his own advantage. He pushed the time barrier forward until it engulfed the Stone Bear. The spells slammed into the Stone Bear seemingly all at once. It shuddered from the pain. It did not roar¡ªit did not make a single sound. The torches were not yet snuffed out¡ªthe bear¡¯s attention had been too strongly grasped by the spells. The spells Xavier had just cast had never held so much power¡ªhe had gained not only levels, but attunement in each of his attributes, making everything he did stronger and more powerful. He saw that newfound strength at work. The Stone Bear faltered as it came forward. As Xavier had cast Willpower Infusion, he felt the bear¡¯s mental barrier snap up. It was powerful, but there was a crack in it. The bear was too focused on the pain it was feeling, while trying to shrug off the effects of the Core Burn Spell, for it to be able to defend against this entirely. But Xavier knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold the enemy in his thrall for long¡ªnot something as powerful as this. When his control solidified, it was time to move. He leapt forward and cast Telekinetic Enhanced Strike as his Midnight Scythe came down on his enemy¡¯s head. The blade pierced the rock skull, but it didn¡¯t go in deep¡ªthat was something Xavier had been afraid of. Still, at least he¡¯d been able to get a hit in before the beast disappeared. The Stone Bear wrenched control of its mind back and flitted out of existence, materialising somewhere else within the time bubble. Xavier smiled, for all was going to plan. The beast collapsed down to one knee, clearly hurt. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder exactly how much damage he¡¯d done to his enemy¡ªhe wished the beast had some sort of health bar that was visible to him. Xavier had exhausted the use of all his offensive spells, and not a single one was going to reach the end of its cooldown while he was still inside that time barrier. Except, that wasn¡¯t truly the case. Xavier cast one of the three Bulwark spells as the torches were snuffed out, and the cave was once against plunged into that strange, oppressive darkness. Cooldowns were tied to the clock of the universe he currently resided in. Xavier was able to both speed up time and slow down time in a bubble he had created¡ªand with Liana¡¯s help, he had learnt to alter that flow. He did so now. He altered the flow of the time bubble, making it move more swiftly than the time outside of it. He only did this for a short period of time, for he did not wish to lose the floating shields, and the majority of his cooldowns were rather short. A measly ten seconds went by outside of the timbe bubble. The stalactite that had frozen in mid-air as it had tried to fall on Xavier¡¯s head did so now¡ªhe heard its whoosh as it moved through the air. And Spirit Break, Soul Shatter, Core Burn, and Willpower Infusion all reached the ends of their cooldown. Though ten seconds passed by outside of the bubble, within it, only a fraction of a second went by. The stalactite had yet to even reach the ground. The bear would have barely a moment to respond to what was happening. Xavier reversed the flow of time within the bubble, speeding it up once more, then he contracted the bubble, locking the bear outside. He released a breath, and touched a hand to the nearest enchanted torch, relighting its fire. The Spirit of Protection looked over at the bear. Ingenious. It was only possible because we¡¯re stuck within an instance, and I¡¯m facing a single opponent, if I did that on a battlefield, with more enemies in play¡­ Xavier walked around his time bubble with the torch, pushing back the darkness. His body and mind relaxing once more. You would have been hit with countless enemy attacks. You would have died. Xavier cancelled the Bulwark spell¡ªit turned out it hadn¡¯t even been necessary. The bear was fast, but still recovering from all the spells that had been cast on it. It hadn¡¯t had enough time to attack Xavier¡ªXavier hadn¡¯t given it enough time. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but smile at what he¡¯d just done. He had turned the fight on its head¡ªand he hadn¡¯t even been struck by the enemy. Xavier had expanded the time bubble large enough to give the Stone Bear somewhere to teleport to, knowing from his Identify skill that it was the beast¡¯s nature to do so. He also knew that the beast, being Level 280, would be incredibly intelligent. As a D Grade, it would no doubt be able to discern the barrier around the time bubble, and figure out what it was, even if it didn¡¯t have much time to do so. And so when it did teleport, Xavier knew it wouldn¡¯t risk teleporting back outside that barrier. The only problem was, he was now on a time limit. The Time Alteration spell could last a long time, but the way he was using it, each time he expanded, contracted, or altered the flow of time within it, he cut that time down more and more. Xavier cast his spells for a second time, all but Soul Strike¡ªthat spell suffered from a longer cooldown than the others. You don¡¯t even need me. The Spirit of Protection¡¯s glowing form walked up to the edge of the barrier. It did not sound offended. This beast will die before it ever has a chance to hit you. Maybe, Xavier thought in reply. Maybe not. That isn¡¯t a risk I¡¯m willing to take. He hadn¡¯t known if this experiment would be a successful one. The spells the Spirit of Protection granted him were his back-up plan¡ªsomething to keep him safe while he fought his enemy. With Spirit Break, Soul Shatter, and Core Burn cast once more, Xavier expanded the time dilation field to encompass the Stone Bear for a second time. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead at the effort. He felt the spell straining, something he was only able to identify because of Liana¡¯s training, and wondered just how much more of this it could take. Again, the spells slammed into the bear. Again, it was rocked, frozen by Willpower Infusion. Its mind was weaker than it had been at the first, and Xavier¡¯s control felt stronger. He slammed Telekinetic Enhanced Strike into the exact same wound he had created in its skull the last time. Then, he had time to strike the beast again, using Heavy Telekinesis to enhance his physical strike, just as he had before he¡¯d gained the new spell. The crack widened. The bear weakened. Xavier could feel it. It wrenched control of itself back, plunging the cavern into darkness. But this time, it didn¡¯t teleport. Xavier felt it move. His Evasion skill warning him. Xavier couldn¡¯t see the blow coming, but he knew where it would land. It felt powerful, dangerous. He summoned all five floating shields up to block the strike, and felt three of them instantly obliterated. Xavier leapt backward. He had familiarised himself with the environment and knew where he was, and where he was going. He landed behind the protection of his shield walls, then¡ªwith great effort¡ªreversed time within the bubble. His cooldowns reached their end. He forced the bubble to contract. More beads of sweat formed on his forehead, dripping down into his eyes. He breathed heavily. He was having to push to keep the time bubble up¡ªit would falter at any moment. One more time. He lit the torches. Saw the beast. Cast the spells. The time barrier fell. The spells hit. He launched himself forward with a shout as his Willpower Infusion spell took control of the Stone Bear for a third time. Slam! He combined his strike¡ªTelekinetic Enhanced Strike backed up with Heavy Telekinesis, making the strongest physical attack he could muster, combined with his newly attained attunement with Strength. The Stone Bear crumpled. The kill notification came. Xavier breathed a sigh of relief as the darkness in the cave was finally pushed back for good. Book 4: Chapter 49 - Powerful Beastie You have defeated a Level 280 Stone Bear! You have gained 2,000 Mastery Points (E Grade). Congratulations! You have completed your second Hunt Quest on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. Return to Hunter¡¯s Home to claim your reward and start on your next Hunt Quest! Hunt Quests completed: 2 Hunt Quests needed to pass to the next floor: 10 Xavier smiled as he finished reading the notification and looked around the cave. It was no longer so dark. The last enchanted torches that he¡¯d lit still burned, and his vision was now able to penetrate even the farthest corners of the cavern. When the Stone Bear had died, the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave had all crumbled into dust, and it looked as though they had never been there in the first place. The Spirit of Protection was still there¡ªthe five minute timer was nowhere near up. In fact, only thirty seconds of it had passed when the Stone Bear had died, and that time had passed outside the time barrier when Xavier had slowed down time within it. The full-plate armoured, massive hulk of a man looked down at Xavier with naked awe. Though that expression was quickly restrained. The Spirit of Vengeance was right about you. Xavier wiped the sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his dark robes. The time dilation field had fallen the instant after he¡¯d killed the Stone Bear. He¡¯d been pushing himself hard to keep that thing going, and the moment he didn¡¯t need it anymore it had seemingly dropped away of its own accord. There is still over four minutes left on the timer. Are you going to disappear, now the battle is done? The Spirit of Vengeance had always disappeared after a fight. No. I will not disappear until the timer is through. You may still use the spells until then. Xavier nodded, then he contemplated what would greet him outside the cave¡ªthe infected beasts controlled by The Nightmare. That wasn¡¯t something he wished to deal with right now. He would simply let the timer run out. Besides, he hadn¡¯t really needed the spells in the end. Xavier had thought that if the System had sent him to this floor to learn something of humility, it had only been partially successful. After that fight... well, he was only feeling more and more overpowered than he had before. He stepped over to the Stone Bear and placed a hand over it, then brought it into his Storage Ring. It would be difficult, using his Dismantle skill on beasts that were a whole grade above him when the skill was only at Rank 1. It wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d yet tried, despite his desire. Though it was something that he would be able to do while he was in the time bubble, so that, he was glad for. He could easily expedite the process. It was a shame he didn¡¯t have access to E Grade beast properties anymore. The Spirit of Protection was still staring at him. Xavier turned and faced the man. What is it? There is something different about you, Denizen. I feel... a pull. A desire to help you. The Spirit of Protection shut his eyes. Shook his head. It is a strange feeling. Were I corporeal, I might have thought you had some skill that was influencing me. But that¡­ should not be possible. A desire to help me? Xavier felt that to be very strange. He approached the Spirit of Protection, standing a few feet away from him. Is that not why you have been summoned? Could it simply be the spell at work? I have been summoned by those far more powerful than you, young Denizen. The spirit raised its chin proudly. Though even so, none of them have risen to power as swiftly as you have. And you hold a power far beyond your level... it is terrifying to behold, yet tantalizing at the same time. Xavier tried to take in what the spirit was telling him. He didn¡¯t understand it. What kind of pull could he have that wasn¡¯t accounted for by the spell he¡¯d cast? Perhaps it has something to do with the System... Xavier trailed off. This got the Spirit of Protection¡¯s attention. The System? To what are you referring? Xavier bit his lip. He had told more than one person about what the System intended for him¡ªor at least, what it hoped he would become¡ªand what it had done to him to try to help get him there. But part of him still felt as though it wasn¡¯t information that he should be sharing around. Can spirits create contracts? The Spirit of Protection¡¯s serious mood cracked. The hulk of a man chuckled. Of course spirits can create contracts. We make contracts with mortals all the time, though the sacrifice... There was an odd gleam in the spirit¡¯s eye, a hunger that Xavier hadn¡¯t seen there before. Well, let¡¯s just say that it can be... soul-destroying. Xavier knew that summoning spirits from the Otherworld had an effect on his soul, though he didn¡¯t know how significant that effect was. Seeing the hunger in the spirit¡¯s eyes... now he wondered if the damage to his soul had something to do with the spirits feeding off it. How about a simple privacy contract? What will that cost me? The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. Nothing, for my curiosity is piqued. The contract was made and signed by the Otherworldly Reaper and the entity that had been summoned from the Otherworld. Xavier spoke of what had happened to him¡ªnot all of it, but the general gist. He only had a few minutes left with the spirit, after all.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The Spirit of Protection did not interrupt Xavier¡¯s telling, but the man¡¯s expression shifted. Xavier couldn¡¯t see the man¡¯s entire face with his helm obscuring it, but what he could see showed him a worried expression. Could that explain what you are feeling? The Spirit of Protection turned his head to look at the cave¡¯s ceiling, though it seemed to be looking beyond that. Xavier recognised the gesture. It seemed to be universal, as if the person or entity was checking if the System was watching, or worried about what they were about to say¡ªor wanted to say. Sam, back in the tavern at the bottom of the Tower of Champions, had used that gesture a lot. You have not summoned me for insight, but that does not mean I can¡¯t converse with you. There are things that spirits from the Otherworld are aware of that most from the Greater Universe are not. The Otherworld, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware, is a place that stands between universes. The flow of time moves differently there. Everything is different there... The Spirit of Protection dropped his head in thought. There are things I cannot say, not to you. But I will say that... I know something of the ending of universes. I know something of the threat you may one day face, that is, if you become successful in your journey toward becoming the Weapon of the System. Xavier frowned. He had known something of the Otherworld being between universes, though it wasn¡¯t something he understood. The Spirit of Vengeance. It spoke of revenge it one day wished to seek... revenge in my universe. How could that be possible if you are from another? Some spirits from the Otherworld choose only to operate in universes they are familiar with. Others operate wherever they wish. And still others... we do not have the option to operate in our own universe, for our universes no longer exist. Xavier blinked. You... you were there? At the end? He took a step forward. The end of your universe? A pleading note crept into his voice. This was his future¡ªit may be far into the future, but it was something he needed to know. Please, tell me something of what I will face. The Spirit of Protection shook his head. I cannot. Though, perhaps, one day that will change¡­ The timer was running out. Only a few seconds remained. Call upon me again, Denizen. I will always willingly aid you however I can. The Spirit of Protection disappeared, and Xavier stood alone inside the cave that had once belonged to the Stone Bear. He sighed. He looked up, as though looking at the System itself. It was no coincidence that one of the spirits he¡¯d summoned from the Otherworld happened to have experienced the end of a universe. At least, he didn¡¯t see how it could be. ¡°You set this up, didn¡¯t you?¡± Xavier said. ¡°You set all of this up.¡± He sighed once more, and remembered what he had been learning from Liana¡ªpatience. It would be a great many years before he understood what this threat was, and a great many more before he finally faced it. And he had a very, very long way to go in that time. Xavier shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He ordered his mind, placing the information he had just gained from the Spirit of Protection where it needed to go¡ªnot that there was much information there to begin with. But he did know that in the future, he would most definitely be resummoning that spirit. There was more he could learn from it in the future. Xavier moved through the Dark Mountains at speed, avoiding the infected beasts that called this cursed place home. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he made it back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He had gained a few ranks from the fight, but not as many as he¡¯d hoped¡ªfighting so many beasts while he waited for his Time Alteration spell to reach the end of its cooldown during his training with Liana had meant he¡¯d brought forward the majority of his spells and skills already. But he did happen to gain several ranks in Soul Stike. Now I just need to gather another five hundred souls... not as easy here as it was back on Earth. Liana said she would meet him back at the tavern after he completed his Hunt Quest. While he was there, he could claim the reward for killing the Stone Bear, and perhaps figure out where he might acquire access to E Grade beast parts... It would be easy enough for him to return to the Staging Room and use the System Shop for something like that, but then he couldn¡¯t guarantee that Liana would still be there when he returned. Maybe she¡¯ll want to take a break from this floor as well. There might be things she wants to get done back in our universe. If we both agree to return after the same amount of time has passed, and we leave here at the same time, then we should get back at the same time, too. We wouldn¡¯t have to wait long to see the other on the floor... He had made some contacts here¡ªGimble, and the dwarf¡¯s party members¡ªthey certainly wouldn¡¯t stick around. But did he really need them to? The dwarves weren¡¯t even from his sector. He contemplated all of this on his run back through the larger forest on his way to the tavern, and stopped short, standing outside of it as he realised something. He chuckled to himself and shook his head, realising that time, indeed, did wait for some men. Him being one of them. Xavier could very easily return to the Staging Room. And, the instant that he materialised there, he could cast Time Alteration. He could push the bubble of time forward to expand it to reach the System Shop¡¯s pedestal, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about how much time passed while he was gone, as barely any would... He wasn¡¯t sure why he hadn¡¯t thought of that earlier. I¡¯m still new to being able to control time, even in the limited capacity that I¡¯m able to. Of course something like that wouldn¡¯t occur to me right away... That meant that once he attained his reward for killing the Stone Bear, it would be time for him to return to the Staging Room, and finally purchase the things he wanted from the System Shop. He stepped into the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern with a great big grin on his face. Liana was leaning against the bar, glaring at Felicia, the barkeep who seemed to free with other people¡¯s secrets. I¡¯ll definitely be having a word with her myself soon. Liana turned. When she noticed Xavier come in, she frowned. ¡°Xavier?¡± she said, sounding oddly surprised to see him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be facing the Stone Bear? Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be one for taking a drinking break before doing such a thing¡ªyou know you only have so much time before you need to complete another Hunt Quest on this floor, don¡¯t you?¡± Xavier scratched his head, feeling a little confused himself. Did she really think he¡¯d come here first? I suppose it only took me roughly thirty seconds in real time to defeat the beast. Then I spoke to the Spirit of Protection for a few minutes before coming here at speed¡­ ¡°I already defeated the Stone Bear. Thanks for not warning me about that darkness ability, by the way.¡± Liana blinked, then smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll have to tell me exactly how you defeated it. I expected the encounter to take you... well, a lot longer. I¡¯ll order us some drinks.¡± Xavier nodded. He spotted Gimble standing by the notice board. His body and mind felt more relaxed than ever, and after how easily he¡¯d dealt with the Stone Bear... he figured it would be nice to have a bit of a break in this place. ¡°I¡¯ll join you in a moment,¡± he told Liana. Then he looked at Felicia, behind the bar. He pointed at her. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t mind a word with you later. I¡¯ll also be back for my quest reward.¡± Liana looked a little taken aback by how he pointed at her, but then she smirked. ¡°You know where to find me.¡± He walked over to the dwarf. Gimble glanced up at him and smiled through his bushy beard. ¡°Still around, aye? That¡¯s good ta see. When I didn¡¯t spot ya the past few days, I thought ya might¡¯ve taken a break. Or...¡± Gimble scratched the back of his neck. ¡°Somethin¡¯ worse.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been training.¡± The dwarf gave him a once over, taking in his robes. ¡°Gotta wonder what sorta training someone of your, ah, class, does.¡± The dwarf sniffed. Xavier wondered what class he thought he was¡ªthey¡¯d never discussed that, and like most Denizens, Xavier had something that stopped his class¡ªand other information¡ªfrom being visible to others. But he supposed the scythe and the dark robes were a dead giveaway. He returned his Midnight Scythe to his Storage Ring. ¡°Looking for another Hunt Quest?¡± ¡°Aye. Starting to get restless. Can¡¯t drink all the time. Been itchin¡¯ for a fight.¡± Xavier spotted something on the board. His eyes widened briefly. It was a C Grade beast called an Elemental Dragon. ¡°Gimble,¡± he said, motioning toward the notice with the beast. ¡°Do you know anything about that beast?¡± The dwarf chuckled. ¡°Aye. Some. Dwarfs and dragons, we tend to occupy the same spaces more often than not. We¡¯re both fans o¡¯ mountains, for one. But why anyone would ever want to go up against that thing, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s the most powerful beastie on the board¡ªI heard tell of a raid, before my time here, of hundreds of Champions who went after it.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Only one of ¡®em survived. That thing¡­ it¡¯s more dangerous than most dragons.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Why is that. Because it¡¯s C Grade?¡± The dwarf shook his head. ¡°Not only that, lad. It¡¯s more dangerous because it¡¯s been protecting its egg. Dragons are long-lived¡ªeven by Greater Universe standards¡ªand they¡¯d incredibly intelligent beasts. They rarely mate, and well, that egg? It¡¯ll probably take a total of a hundred years for it to hatch, and until it does, that beastie will guard its mountain with acute ferocity.¡± Xavier raised his chin. A smile slipped onto his lips. He remembered what the hamster spirit had told him when he¡¯d used Otherworldly Communion, asking about bringing the Spirit of Vengeance into this world: A vessel for such a powerful spirit must be three things¡ªyoung, soulless, and a match. A dragon egg sounded as though it would fit that description perfectly. Book 4: Chapter 50 - Dragon Eggs, Gold-Gaze, and Sure Bets Xavier stared at the noticeboard. At the dragon that was described on one of the notices. Am I really contemplating something this insane? Do I really want to steal an egg from a C Grade dragon? One that hundreds of powerful D Grade denizens weren¡¯t able to defeat? Xavier smiled. Gimble frowned over at him. The dwarf looked from Xavier, to the notice, then back to Xavier, his beard swaying side to side as he turned his head. ¡°Oh, lad. You aren¡¯t thinking of doing what I think you¡¯re thinking of doing, are you?¡± Xavier looked down at the dwarf, still wearing the same smile. ¡°Whatever do you mean, Gimble?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got gold-gaze if I ever did see it, since the moment I mentioned the dragon egg.¡± Xaver blinked. ¡°Gold-gaze?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard that expression before.¡± ¡°Aye. Not surprising, that. It¡¯s an expression among dwarves.¡± Gimble tugged at his long beard, looking somewhat sheepish, which¡ªin the short time that Xavier had known him¡ªwas a bit unusual for the dwarf. ¡°There is a stereotype about dwarves that we can be¡­ a little greedy at times.¡± Gimble shrugged. ¡°There is much truth to that. Gold-gaze is when one of our kind finds an obsession. Whether it be a whisper of an ancient treasure heard in a tavern tale, or word of a rare ore buried deep under a mountain where a dangerous beast lies¡­ dwarves have gone to the ends of the universe because they¡¯ve been caught by the gold-gaze.¡± Xavier looked at the notice again. The dwarf sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea why this beastie has caught your attention, lad, but I hope you heed my warning¡ªno good can come from going after that.¡± The usually good-humoured dwarf grabbed a notice from the board and stalked back to his party, giving Xavier a disapproving look over his shoulder. Xavier scratched the back of his head. Was the dwarf¡­ concerned about him? Based on Gimble¡¯s actions, it certainly seemed that way. Xavier could see from the dwarf¡¯s point of view how insane he must look, eyeing a goal that was¡ªto the dwarf¡ªabsolutely impossible. Xavier stared at the notice for a little bit longer. He wasn¡¯t about to take the notice down from the board. He might be ambitious, but he wasn¡¯t crazy enough to think he could take on a C Grade beast yet. Maybe I could steal the egg without having to engage the dragon. I do have the ability to manipulate time, after all¡­ No, that would be foolish. Xavier wasn¡¯t even D Grade himself yet, the last thing he needed to do was go and get himself killed. Even if he could get his hands on the egg, there was no guarantee he¡¯d get out of there alive. Besides, as far as he could tell, the C Grade beasts from the board weren¡¯t relegated to instances like the other beasts he¡¯d faced. The Nightmare certainly hadn¡¯t been. Patience, Xavier thought. Summoning the Spirit of Vengeance into a corporeal form wasn¡¯t something that was going to be quick and easy. It was something that he could wait for¡ªsomething that he could work toward. He filed away the information about the C Grade dragon and the egg it was protecting into his mind, keeping his thoughts as ordered as possible. It wouldn¡¯t do to dwell on something he couldn¡¯t change right now. An ordered mind is a free mind. Instead, Xavier focused on his next step. Having a drink with Gimble and his party wasn¡¯t on the cards at the moment, as the dwarf¡¯s party was currently heading out the door. Xavier could use a short training break, but he wasn¡¯t going to find it with them. Xavier walked back to the bar, nodding at Liana and Felicia, who were deep in conversation. Xavier had seen them chatting with his Farscope ability, but hadn¡¯t heard a word they¡¯d said¡ªeven their mouths had been blurred, to stop others from being able to read their lips. Xavier had seen the same thing before in this place. He supposed with everyone having superpowered hearing, there was little chance of privacy just from whispering alone. He frowned, stopping short as he looked at the two of them. They glanced at him conspiratorially. ¡°What are you two up to?¡± Xavier asked. Felicia drummed her fingers on the immaculately clean bar. ¡°That¡¯s our business, not yours.¡± Xavier looked at Liana. ¡°I was¡­ placing some bets.¡± Liana winked at him. Xavier¡¯s frown only deepened. ¡°And what exactly were you betting on?¡± ¡°You, of course.¡± She quirked her head to one side. ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± Xavier sighed. Part of him wanted to know what exactly it was that the woman had betted on him¡ªor against him¡ªabout. The rest of him didn¡¯t much care one way or the other. It was just some harmless fun, after all. ¡°You have some more winnings,¡± Felicia said. Xavier raised an eyebrow at the barkeep. ¡°What do you mean? How can I have more winning? You told me the Stone Bear wasn¡¯t worth betting on.¡± Liana stared at the barkeep a little open mouthed. ¡°Did you really tell that to him?¡± Felicia shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t want him to shy away from the fight. You know how rare it is for someone to go after a Stone Bear as their second kill? Especially someone doing it solo?¡± She shook her head. ¡°If I¡¯d told him more he wouldn¡¯t have done it.¡± Liana put her head in her hands. ¡°If he¡¯d been someone else, you could have gotten him killed!¡± Felicia nodded. ¡°Yes, the odds on that were actually rather high.¡± She gave Xavier an appraising look. Though it seems I keep underestimating him.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Xavier gazed at the barkeep. He¡¯d clearly been wrong about this woman. He¡¯d gone to her for help in finding someone to teach him how to use his Time Alteration spell, and the woman had certainly sent him in the right direction. But this barkeep wasn¡¯t someone who had his best interests at heart. He was used to dealing with Sam, and although the man had ulterior motives, he definitely wanted Xavier to live. ¡°You would send me into unknown danger for the sake of a bet?¡± Xavier asked, his voice flat. ¡°Every time you step out that door you¡¯re in unknown danger.¡± Felicia nodded at Hunter¡¯s Home¡¯s door. ¡°There¡¯s no knowing what you will find on the other side. I¡¯m merely¡­¡± ¡°Profiting from it,¡± Liana muttered. She sighed. ¡°I almost feel guilty about the bets I just made with you.¡± ¡°Almost?¡± Xavier asked. Liana shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m confident in the bets I made.¡± Felicia placed her hands on the bar and leant forward. ¡°You do seem rather confident. Looks like you know something about this man that I don¡¯t. Care to share it?¡± Liana smiled. ¡°Not my secrets to tell.¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t worried about what Liana may or may not say about him. She was tied to a privacy contract, after all. Xavier slid onto one of the stools at the bar and ordered a mug of coffee. Ever since he¡¯d had that coffee given to him by¡­ himself¡ªor, well, an older version of himself from an alternate universe¡ªhe¡¯d been craving the stuff, but also hesitant to drink another cup, as he knew it would never be able to live up to the best coffee in the Greater Universe. But he had spent far too long without drinking coffee. Felicia produced a mug of the beautiful, dark liquid and¡­ it wasn¡¯t half-bad, if he were honest. Actually, it was pretty good. He sipped at his coffee and wondered if now was a good time for him to accept his Hunt Quest reward. No point waiting around for it. Though before he did that, he tilted his head to the side. ¡°I think I know how to make these bets a little more interesting,¡± Xavier said innocently. He hadn¡¯t even seen the winnings he¡¯d made, as the barkeep had been making the bets on his behalf, but he figured it mustn¡¯t be a bad sum. Felicia waved a hand. The sounds around them, of the other patrons in the tavern, became a little muffled. The barkeep had a gleam in her eye. ¡°Do you now? And what, pray tell, would make the bets more interesting? I would have thought you¡¯d be annoyed at me. You¡¯re not playing some trick, are you?¡± Xavier thought he would be annoyed at the woman too. She¡¯d said the Stone Bear was one of the weaker beasts on the board¡ªclearly, that little bit of information hadn¡¯t been¡­entirely honest. But in a way, looking at the board, he knew it hadn¡¯t been a total lie. It certainly was one of the weaker beasts. Especially if you took into account that there were C Grades on there. All she¡¯d really lied about was that it wasn¡¯t worth betting on it. She was a sly one, but that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t still be useful. ¡°I would have gone after the Stone Bear even if you had warned me about it,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t tend to be one to back down from a fight. Though a little warning about The Nightmare would have been nice. I hadn¡¯t expected to encounter a C Grade beast on my travels.¡± Felicia chuckled. ¡°I was wondering if you were going to bring that up. The Dark Mountains are a treacherous place¡ªpeople were betting on whether or not you¡¯d even make it to the Stone Bear.¡± She inspected her fingernails. ¡°They were going to start looking for you among the infected soon.¡± Xavier shook his head. Were there really that many people in this place invested in the bets? And so uncaring about whether he lived or died? Then again, when he¡¯d walked in, he had noticed a few more looks than usual¡ªsome disappointed, some with guarded smiles. It wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d been focusing on, so he hadn¡¯t thought twice about it. They must have been thinking about the outcome of the bet¡­ Gimble might have even made a bet on it. ¡°Well, no need for anyone to look. The Nightmare didn¡¯t pose much of a problem,¡± Xavier said, thinking, except for when it nearly took over my mind. Felicia had a half-smirk on her face. ¡°You want to tell me what you had in mind? How you might make things more interesting?¡± Xavier leant forward. ¡°Have you ever encountered an E Grade Champion on this floor?¡± Felicia laughed. ¡°An E Grade Champion? That would be impossible. This is no place for someone so weak!¡± Xavier stared blankly at her, waiting to see if she would put two-and-two together and realise why he¡¯d asked that question. He¡¯d been mostly guarded about his identity on this floor, but the more he thought about it the more he realised he didn¡¯t really need to be. The more he learnt, the more he fought, the more his confidence was returning. It had been stripped away when the System had sent him forward through the tower and dropped him straight into the one hundredth floor. But now, after he¡¯d seen what he could do even here¡­ If word gets back to my sector that I¡¯m on the hundredth floor already, that¡¯s only going to do more to aid in the protection of Earth. Earth is only protected based on the future threat I pose, if they know I¡¯ve been holding my own on his floor, that will only increase my potential threat in their eyes. Why should he hide his accomplishments? He wasn¡¯t about to tell the woman his specific level, but he could share this¡­ Felicia stopped laughing as Xavier¡¯s face remained blank. She looked at Liana. Liana gave a slight nod. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re kidding me?¡± Liana said. She ran her fingers through her hair. ¡°You mean to say¡­ that you... you¡¯re E Grade?¡± The woman shook her head in total disbelief. ¡°Yes,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I¡¯m E Grade.¡± Felicia was still shaking her head. ¡°No. You¡¯re lying. That¡¯s a stupid lie, too, because no one around here is going to believe that you¡¯re E Grade. They aren¡¯t going to keep placing bets for or against you if you just make up lies¡ªthey¡¯ll stop trusting me, too. I¡¯ll lose all my credibility! I may have lied to you about the Stone Bear, but I never lie to my clients about the information for a bet.¡± The barkeep straightened as she spoke, as though she took pride in that. ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth, Felicia,¡± Liana said. She nodded at Xavier. ¡°Make a truth contract. Show her it isn¡¯t a lie.¡± Felicia looked a little bit stunned. ¡°A truth contract. That¡¯ll¡­ that¡¯ll prove you¡¯re lying.¡± They went through the motions, drawing up the contract with the System with each of them accepting it. Xavier repeated what he¡¯d said before¡ªthat he was E Grade¡ªand now he had the System backing him up that it was the truth. The woman went through a whole series of emotions all at once. Stunned disbelief mixed with sheer shock. Denial even though she could no longer deny it. Then, slowly, the gleam returned to the woman¡¯s eye and more than anything else she looked¡­ hungry. ¡°You¡¯re E Grade,¡± Felicia said with a predatory grin. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to tell you.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side innocently. ¡°Do you think that will make a difference to the bets?¡± Felicia thew her head back and laughed. ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll make a difference? Betting on you was already an attraction as a solo Champion, now¡­¡± She steepled her hands together, and despite the fact that she looked nothing like the character, all Xavier could think of in that moment was Mr Burns from the Simpsons. ¡°Excellent,¡± Xavier muttered. Bets, on himself. It was the perfect way for him to boost his funds back up to where they¡¯d been before¡ªactually, it was the perfect way for him to boost them far beyond what they had been. Besides, he¡¯d been making bets on himself since the moment the System had come down to Earth. Why should he stop now? He was sure he would have earned a good deal of money if he sold off all the D Grade corpses he¡¯d collected from the beasts he¡¯d slain on this floor, but he was saving those corpses for¡­ other uses. Damn, that sounds sinister. All he meant was that sometime soon, he would be getting his hands dirty working on his Dismantle skill. He didn¡¯t know how long he¡¯d focus on these bets for. He wanted to make his way to D Grade while he was on this floor, especially if he was going to start going after C Grade beasts¡ªwhich was most certainly a goal for him. There has to be some sort of title for a D Grade taking out a C Grade, and there are probably even better titles for them doing it on their own. And if that dragon is as powerful as Gimble says, there¡¯s a chance that it has never been defeated before¡­ He added defeat the dragon to his ever-growing list of goals, then decided it was finally time to redeem his Hunt Quest. He wondered if he would be able to gain another spell, like he did from the first Hunt Quest he¡¯d completed. Hover Dodge had certainly come in handy. The spell I received was based on how I¡¯d fought against the Magma Bull. Against the Stone Bear, I heavily relied on Time Alteration. If I do get a spell, maybe it will have something to do with that¡­ Book 4: Chapter 51 - An Unknown Spell Reward Felicia drummed her fingers on the bar. Despite the hunger that still lingered in her eyes from learning that Xavier was only E Grade on a floor that an E Grade shouldn¡¯t be able to survive on, he could sense that there was still a hint of general disbelief lingering in her about him, and the things he might be capable of. ¡°Right,¡± she said after Xavier had told the woman he wanted to claim Ability Acquisition for his Hunt Quest. ¡°Your Hunt Quest.¡± She waved a hand, and a split-second later, a notification appeared in Xavier¡¯s vision. Stone Bear Hunt Quest Reward: Ability Acquisition You may receive: - Three ranks in the skill Physical Damage - Three ranks in the spell Telekinetic Enhanced Strike - Three ranks in the spell Time Alteration Or: Do you wish to trade these ranks to receive an unknown spell reward? Xavier rocked back on his heels and released a breath. The quest was offering more ranks than last time. For his first Hunt Quest, he¡¯d been offered two ranks for two skills and one spell¡ªthis time it was three for one skill and two spells. A much better offer. But ranks still weren¡¯t something he felt as though he needed from a quest. He could get ranks on his own. Perhaps if he were D Grade and a much higher level, and different ranks were harder to come by, rewards like this would have more meaning. The offer of a new spell, however, couldn¡¯t help but grab his attention. He felt as though he¡¯d added a fair few spells to his repertoire lately¡ªHover Dodge, Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, Time Alteration¡ªand each one of those new spells had become an invaluable asset. Especially Time Alteration. He didn¡¯t hesitate, choosing to receive a new spell rather than the ranks on offer was a no brainer. You have gained the spell: Time Prison Xavier¡¯s face lit up in a smile as he read the name of the spell. Time Prison¡­ He didn¡¯t have to read the description to know that he was going to love whatever this spell would be able to do. Considering how important using his Time Alteration spell had been during his fight with the Stone Bear, receiving a time-related spell was exactly what he¡¯d been hoping for when he¡¯d chosen this as a reward. ¡°What did you get?¡± Liana asked. She wasn¡¯t looking at him. Instead, she was staring down at one of her many books. There had been a lull in conversation and she hadn¡¯t hesitated summoning it from her Storage Ring. Xavier, as a fan of reading himself, had to hand it to the woman¡ªshe certainly seized any opportunity she could to read. It was perhaps one of the things about her he liked the most. I haven¡¯t had a chance to read anything since the System came down. It doesn¡¯t seem important anymore. Perhaps that could change now he had the Time Alteration spell¡ªhe might actually be able to pursue things for himself without guilt. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later,¡± Xavier said. ¡°When we¡¯re outside the tavern.¡± Felicia blinked. Sighed. ¡°You received another random spell, didn¡¯t you?¡± Liana looked up from her book and frowned. ¡°You can receive spells for redeeming Hunt Quests?¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I told you it was pretty rare to receive them,¡± Felicia said. ¡°They certainly aren¡¯t the standard. For it to happen for you twice in a row¡­¡± The barkeep shook her head. Stopped, then nodded. ¡°I suppose the System is favouring you. An E Grade soloing these enemies on the hundredth floor¡­ that definitely seems reward-worthy. I suppose the System is favouring you. Xavier kept his emotions in check, not showing anything on his face. The barkeep didn¡¯t know just how close to the truth she¡¯d come with that statement. Liana exchanged a look with him¡ªshe¡¯d signed a binding privacy contract with him about this, so she knew exactly how true what the woman had said was. Xavier didn¡¯t want to wait another moment. He opened the spell¡¯s description. Time Prison ¨C Rank 1 Time Prison allows the user to imprison a target in a small time dilation field. The field only affects the target of the spell, leaving them suspended as though they were frozen in time. The target, while in this time prison, will be immune to any and all attacks as they have been placed in a pocket of time that does not align with the user¡¯s universe. This spell¡¯s primary attribute is Speed, while its secondary attribute is Intelligence. ¡°That¡¯s awesome,¡± Xavier said after reading the spell¡¯s description.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Felicia leant forward on the bar. ¡°You really aren¡¯t going to tell me what the spell you just gained is? You just told me you were E Grade!¡± Xavier didn¡¯t bother to respond to the woman. Felicia sighed, threw up her hands, and walked down the bar to serve another customer. ¡°Are you ready to head out?¡± Liana asked. ¡°Ready to leave this place already?¡± Xavier felt as though they¡¯d only just gotten to the tavern. Besides, he was usually the one who would suggest moving forward well before Liana had. Her abilities as a time mage had taken much of her need for urgency away from her. Xavier drummed his fingers on the bar much as Felicia had earlier. He was feeling a little antsy, if he were honest. Besides, he wanted to test out the spell he¡¯d just gotten. He was pretty sure he¡¯d seen Liana use the exact same spell on beasts as they¡¯d ran through the forest together. She used it incredibly efficiently. But he wasn¡¯t sure about the drawback that the spell had¡ªthat whatever target he put inside a Time Prison wouldn¡¯t be able to be harmed. Then again, ideas were coming to him¡­ the spell wouldn¡¯t have to be used on only enemies, would it? What if he was able to save someone by using the spell. If one of his party members¡ªnot that he could be with them on the floors anymore¡ªwas in danger, could he simply freeze them in time so no harm would come to them? At first glance this spell only has a single use, but if I¡¯ve learnt anything on this floor it¡¯s that almost every spell can be more versatile than I first think. ¡°Uh, Xavier?¡± Liana waved a hand in front of his face. ¡°Heading out?¡± Xavier blinked. Considering the speed at which his mind worked, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d been lost in his thoughts for too long. He nodded. ¡°All right, let¡¯s head out. I just need to find another Hunt Quest first.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to go on the hunt right away, but he wanted to have one chosen and ready for when he did. He stalked over to the board again. He couldn¡¯t help but look at the notice for the C Grade dragon. He thought about the egg¡ªhe couldn¡¯t help himself¡ªand wondered if he had gold-gaze like that dwarf Gimble had said. Xaver tapped a finger on his chin as he looked at the different beasts. He wasn¡¯t about to ask anyone for advice on which beast to choose, especially when the majority of the Champions in the room would no doubt walk straight to the barkeep after he¡¯d left to make a bet on him. He smiled when he found the one he wanted. ¡°This sounds interesting.¡± Xaver grabbed the flyer from the noticeboard. Do you wish to accept the Hunt Quest for the Scorpion King? One must be on a hunt for at least two days before going back on a quest and choosing another hunt. No Champion can be on two hunts at the same time. He nodded to himself and mentally accepted the quest, depositing the flyer into his Storage Ring. He¡¯d been careful to gauge the reactions of the different patrons around him with his Farscope after he¡¯d taken down the flyer. Most of them guarded their feelings well, while a few of them¡­ it was etched on their face that they thought facing this beast would be suicide for him. Good. That means it will be a worthy challenge. Facing the Stone Bear had been¡­ well, with the strategy he¡¯d devised, it had been almost easy, and easy wasn¡¯t something that he was after. Though as he contemplated fighting this Scorpion King, Xavier had to remind himself to be cautious¡ªto not be overconfident. He might have been able to take down the Stone Bear fairly easily given his spellset and strategy, but if he hadn¡¯t been so careful in the way he¡¯d fought¡­ the Stone Bear likely could have ripped him to shreds in only a few strikes. There was one more thing he wanted to do before leaving the tavern, something he didn¡¯t want to keep putting off. He walked over to the bar and got Felicia¡¯s attention. The woman cocked an eyebrow, cleaning a glass with a rag. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°If I tell you what spell I just gained, will you share some information with me?¡± Felicia smiled. ¡°Now you¡¯re talking.¡± ¡°First, I need confirmation that this is actually something you know.¡± ¡°I do know a lot of things.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t deign to respond to that. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a large number of low-level enemies.¡± Felicia smirked, clicked her fingers. ¡°I knew it. The scythe was a dead giveaway. You are a reaper.¡± Xavier straightened. ¡°I suppose there¡¯s no need to hide that anymore.¡± Word was definitely going to get out that he was on this floor. He already knew that there were people outside of his sector that were aware of him¡ªAdranial was proof enough of that. He didn¡¯t know if anyone in the tavern was from the Silver River sector, but even if they weren¡¯t, he had a feeling the information would make it back to his enemies soon enough. Felicia leant forward over the bar. ¡°I think I have just the place for you.¡± Xavier left the tavern with a new spell, a new Hunt Quest, and the knowledge of how to finally get an abundance of souls for his soulkeeping reserve. Not only that, he also had a way of making money¡ªbetting on himself. He hadn¡¯t come to the floor with any spirit coins to his name after buying his new gear, but he was damned sure he was going to be walking out of this place a rich man. Xavier smirked. Betting on himself wasn¡¯t the only way he could make money, either¡ªhe could always spend some time creating spirit coins. And doing that while in a time dilation field¡­ why hadn¡¯t he thought of that before? He frowned, wondering if there might be any restrictions to doing that. It seemed far too overpowered if there wasn¡¯t¡­ He also came out of Hunter¡¯s Home with a new goal¡ªto fight and defeat the C Grade dragon and steal its egg to use as a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance¡¯s soul. It was ambitious, that was for sure, but Xavier never shied away from ambitious and seemingly impossible goals. He wouldn¡¯t be here if he had. Liana didn¡¯t seem at all interested in facing a bunch of low-level enemies. Xavier couldn¡¯t blame her. He knew what he was about to do wouldn¡¯t be a challenge¡ªit was essentially just farming souls. They parted ways and agreed to meet up later back in the grove. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but notice that the woman became far more at ease the moment they stepped out of the tavern. Considering she¡¯d come to the floor by herself¡­ he was beginning to get the idea that like Xavier, the woman was quite the introvert. Probably why she suggested leaving the place so early, and why she only talked to me and Felicia while we were there. Xavier moved as swiftly as he could through the forest. Felicia had given him a token, one that he¡¯d never seen before. It was called a Locator. The second he activated it, it dissolved into a mist-like substance and shot straight through his nose, giving him a weird feeling of warmth. At first, he¡¯d thought it was some sort of weapon¡ªa trap the woman had had him activate¡ªor maybe something she would use to track him. But he¡¯d made sure it wasn¡¯t something dangerous when she¡¯d given it to him, so those were just the slightly panicked thoughts of a paranoid mind. A split second after it had shot through his nose, an arrow appeared on his mini-map. The arrow pointed toward where he would find these low-level beasts. He¡¯d opened up a contract with the woman making sure she wasn¡¯t sending him into some sort of trap that she could have people bet on, but even so he was still suspicious. When he made it close to the destination¡ªa little green flag on the mini-map showed him it was nearby¡ªhe slowed to a stop and looked around the area. His Farscope could only stretch so far, one more thing to add to the list of things he needed to upgrade. It¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t see beasts¡¯ auras anymore. Xavier walked toward the green flag. He was still inside the forest. The area didn¡¯t look much different to where he¡¯d been training with Liana. Except¡­ it was quiet. Incredibly so. He couldn¡¯t hear any insects, or birds in the trees. He stopped walking, licked his finger, and raised it into the air, realising his suspicion was true. There wasn¡¯t even any wind. Well that¡¯s ominous. He started walking again, feeling wary. He was here to face low-level beasts, but that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t something else lurking around the area. Felicia hadn¡¯t told him what he should expect here. He didn¡¯t like how suspicious his mind had become. He kept trying to think of ways that she might have tricked him into coming down here. Does it matter? Whether it¡¯s a trick or not, I¡¯m here now¡­ Xavier heard a noise, in the distance. At first, he couldn¡¯t really discern what that noise was. Then he felt vibrations in the ground. It was a stampede. A big one. And it was headed his way. Book 4: Chapter 52 - Hack, Slash, Kill Xavier summoned his Midnight Scythe to his hands, his fingers curling around the shaft in a loose grip. The rumbling became louder and louder. It was still a ways away yet¡ªhe couldn¡¯t see what manner of beast the incoming stampede was comprised of¡ªbut it was travelling at a good speed. Loud cracking noises sounded among the rumbling. He squinted, trying to tell what was happening through the scant gaps in the trees. Then he saw it¡ªthe trees were being snapped, broken from where they stood. He was starting to get his first glimpses of the beasts as well, though he was struggling to make out the details. They were just grey blobs at this point. From this distance, he should have been able to see them very clearly, but with all the dust and debris that was being kicked by the beasts¡¯ passage, it was close to impossible. But even if he couldn¡¯t see them at this distance, that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t use his Identify skill on them. {Rhinoceros Monkey - Level 195} The Rhinoceros Monkey is a herd-pack animal that moves and hunts in large groups. Though these beasts don¡¯t tend to be formidable opponents on their own, if you happen to be caught in the middle of one of their stampedes they can be one of the more difficult beasts to face, as their stampedes are known to number in the thousands, and often have a higher level protector among them¡ªan alpha of their species. You will know the alpha by its size, and the screech of victory it makes when it runs its horn through your chest and into your heart. Xavier raised an eyebrow. These beasts were called¡­ Rhinoceros Monkeys? They didn¡¯t sound like a real thing at all. Also he could swear some of the descriptions that his Identify spell was throwing up were beginning to become more personalised. He supposed that could very well be true given the fact that he¡¯d been singled out by the System itself. Xavier tapped a foot on the grassy ground. Thousands of beasts, and a higher-level protector¡­ Felicia had certainly neglected to mention anything about stampedes or alphas. That still didn¡¯t mean this was a trap to test his abilities¡ªsomething for the patrons of Hunter¡¯s Home to bet on¡ªbut he supposed that didn¡¯t really matter. He put his mind toward the task at hand. The beasts were getting closer and closer. He still had a fair few souls in his soulkeeping reserve, though he hesitated to use them. The whole point of facing these enemies was so that he could gain more souls, not use them all up. For his Soul Strike spell to be worth it facing the stampede, he would need to be able to kill at least two of the Rhinoceros Monkeys using a single soul. If he only killed one, then he could only replenish his reserve at the speed he expended it. Using the spell wouldn¡¯t be worth it at all. There¡¯s an easy enough way for me to test if the spell¡¯s strong enough. Xavier cast Soul Strike with a single infused soul toward the mass of enemy beasts stampeding toward him. The closer they became¡ªand they were moving faster than he would have expected Level 195 beasts to be moving¡ªthe easier they were able to see. When Xavier had read the name of the beasts, he hadn¡¯t been exactly sure what to expect. A coupling of those two species was nothing more than comical to him. But these beasts didn¡¯t look comical. They were grey-skinned, and their heads were that of a rhino¡¯s, with massive horns jutting from their forehead glowing an ominous red. Some of the beasts ran on four legs¡ªor were two of those limbs arms?¡ªwhile others ran on two legs. Every single one of them was built like someone competing in a Mr Olympia bodybuilding contest, except they were twice as muscular. The only comical thing about them was the tail that trailed behind them, swishing this way and that as they ran. That tail looked so out of place that Xavier wondered if the beasts would be better without it. White lightning flashed from Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe as a soul apparition of a Stone Bear soared forward through the air and slammed into the enemy lines. Xavier waited for the kill notification. He waited for several kill notifications. He should be strong enough to one-hit these beasts¡­ But no kill notification came. These beasts aren¡¯t even D Grade! I should be able to one-hit them! Xavier gritted his teeth. The beasts were of a far lower level than the ones he¡¯d been facing, but that didn¡¯t mean they were weak. They must have a strong toughness attribute. Perfect. The beasts he wanted to farm just happened to have high health for their level. Xavier grinned. He found he was glad for that. This little side-mission to gain more souls for his reserve had seemed like a boring thing until this moment. If he were simply able to smash these enemies with a single spell, taking out whole swathes of them and gaining his soul reserve with no effort whatsoever¡­ it would feel like a waste of time, even if he did get the souls he was after. He looked at the enemies in front of him and wondered what his best approach to defeating them all would be. Usually, he would be utilising Soul Strike heavily¡ªthat was how he¡¯d gotten through most of the waves of the Endless Horde, after all¡ªor he could simply cast Willpower Infusion and make the enemies fight each other¡­ But this was going to go a bit different. This, he thought, would be a chance for him to get his hands dirty. He sprinted forward, moving far faster than any of the enemies in front of him. He weaved through the trees until he was at the stampede¡¯s front lines. He had a fair few long-range spells at his disposal, but this necessitated a more personal touch. Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe cut straight through the neck of one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys. He blinked as the blade didn¡¯t make it all the way through. He¡¯d been expecting a one-hit kill by his scythe, but when Soul Strike hadn¡¯t managed that, he supposed he should have realised it wouldn¡¯t work. With all the souls in my reserve I could probably still take out a thousand of these bastards in a single spell, but that would be a waste¡­ He hadn¡¯t enhanced the scythe¡¯s strike. That had clearly been a mistake, but he¡¯d needed to get a baseline for how powerful these things were.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Xavier cringed at the sight of the Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s neck. It had been half hacked through and was hanging off by bone and sinew alone. Blood spurted from the wound, but it was evident that it was already trying to heal. He could see the fibres growing and twisting back together. He slammed his Midnight Scythe into the beast¡¯s neck a second time¡ªstill without enhancing the attack¡ªand the neck came clean off, gaining him his first kill notification of the fight. The problem was, he was already being overwhelmed by the enemies around him. The stampede hadn¡¯t simply stopped. The enemy beasts were trying to bowl him over. If he let them take him to the ground¡­ it wouldn¡¯t matter how overpowered he was for his level, he doubted he¡¯d be able to withstand that many attacks at once. But Xavier had an easy answer to this. He activated the imbued ability that his Dark Steel Bracers offered. Buffer! The Rhinoceros Monkeys around him were all thrown back twenty feet. He knew it wouldn¡¯t work on the other enemies that were heading his way, only the one that had already been close¡ªit wasn¡¯t a shield, after all. Just a knock-back spell that kept the enemies it hit away for ten seconds. Xavier cast another spell¡ªTime Alteration¡ªcreating a time dilation bubble around him. He expanded it, making it large enough to cover a fifty-foot radius around him. Xavier grinned once more. Again he was glad that these enemies weren¡¯t going down so easily. Honestly, he knew he would get bored facing low-level enemies. He had been getting bored facing low-level enemies. Coming up through the floors after returning from Earth to the Tower of Champions had been an absolute grind. Even attaining the titles for the floors hadn¡¯t posed enough of a challenge for him. The time dilation field trapped in over a hundred of these beasts. And while that sounded like a lot, it was a hell of a lot better than what he¡¯d have to deal with if he didn¡¯t bring the spell up. He hadn¡¯t been able to count them, but he was sure there were at least over five thousand of these things in the area. His grin was quickly plastered with blood as he closed the gap made by his Buffer ability and swung his scythe around this way and that, slicing through one enemy after another. He threw a few spells left and right, hitting one enemy with Core Burn and turning as it quickly died, and another with Spirit Break. Xavier took a moment to assess the battlefield as he fought. With Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, he could one-hit these enemies. Core Burn could one hit them as well, which made him feel a little disappointed in his Soul Strike spell, considering it was his most powerful spell¡ªthough he supposed that wasn¡¯t the case when he was only using a single soul with it. But, within the time dilation field, he could only use each of his spells once, as the cooldowns for them were effectively frozen¡ªthis meant he had to kill the beasts the old-fashioned way. With brawn and blade alone. Without enhancing his strikes, he could take these things out in between two to four hits, depending on where he hit the enemies. Though he was enjoying that these beasts didn¡¯t go down too easily, he also knew he had places to be after this¡ªthings to do. He could enjoy the battle as much as he liked, but that didn¡¯t mean he was going to make it last any longer than it needed to. He¡¯d been putting off using Willpower Infusion, but now felt like the right time. I don¡¯t even need to kill the entire stampede worth of beasts¡ªjust enough to refill my soulkeeping reserve back to its fullest. I¡¯ve had my fun. Now it¡¯s time to finish this. Xavier cast Willpower Infusion, pushing it toward the largest number of the enemies that he could. Back when he¡¯d faced the Endless Horde, he¡¯d been able to control large numbers of the enemy forces with this spell. The purple mist flowed out of him, engulfing the enemies within the field. By the time he¡¯d cast the spell, he¡¯d already taken out half of them, so there was just a little over a hundred Rhinoceros Monkeys left within the time bubble, and his mist wouldn¡¯t hit the ones outside of it until the bubble came down. Xavier¡¯s Willpower Infusion spell came up against a wall. A mental barrier so hard and strong he knew it couldn¡¯t have come from one of these creatures¡ªthey were simply too weak for something that powerful. They were being strengthened by something else¡ªor, by each other? These aren¡¯t just herd or pack animals, their very minds are connected! How else would they be able to resist this spell? He¡¯d encountered something like this before, with The Nightmare, though this¡­ this was different. The beasts were still being enhanced by the collective even though they were within the time dilation field. How could that even be possible? Did it have something to do with the fact that they were more of a conscious entity than The Nightmare had been? He didn¡¯t know how to answer that question. And frankly, he didn¡¯t need to answer it to complete his task. He¡¯d already reaped over a hundred souls in the short time he¡¯d been here. Xavier threw himself back into the fray, cutting down enemies left and right with his blade alone. It wasn¡¯t long before every single one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys lay dead within the time dilation field. Xavier hadn¡¯t even worked up a sweat. He wasn¡¯t injured, either. His Speed attribute and his Evasion skill were both too high for him to get hit by these things, no matter how many times they¡¯d tried to skewer him with those horns. Though he knew that would be different once he dropped the time dilation field, at least out there he would have different levers to pull with his cooldowns no longer frozen in time. Xavier tilted his chin up, looked around the bubble he¡¯d created. He only had a few hundred more beasts to slay before he could leave this place. I guess this has been fairly easy after all. The fact that they couldn¡¯t be mind-controlled had thrown him, but that was only one of many ways that he could deal damage to his enemies. Xavier walked forward to the edge of the time dilation field in the direction the stampede was coming from. He stared at the beasts that were on the other side of the barrier. If he waited an hour, a few of them would get through on their own with how fast they were moving. He didn¡¯t need to rush this, as time outside the barrier wasn¡¯t moving forward. It was a strange way to fight, one he was still getting used to. Patience. He paused for a moment, tapping his foot, looking around at the different enemies. There were several ways that he could play this. If he dropped the barrier, chaos would resume, the stampede would move forward. He could still take out his enemies, but it would be more difficult. He didn¡¯t think he was in true danger here, but if he wasn¡¯t careful, he could be¡­ Best to play it safe. He wasn¡¯t here to prove anything, after all. Xavier expanded his time dilation field. This way, he could let the beasts inside only a few at a time, controlling the volume at which he fought them. This definitely feels like cheating. Of course, it meant he had to take out every single one of his enemies with melee attacks alone. His Spirit Infusion spell, something he always had active over himself, had run out, too. That was a strange thing to experience during a fight. He would usually recast it, but he wasn¡¯t able to in here. It only made a slight difference in how many strikes he needed to kill these tough ¡°low level¡± enemies. Xavier had to wonder how many strikes it would have taken him to kill them if he hadn¡¯t attuned his Strength attribute up to 5%. He wondered a similar thing about his Speed. Xavier got into a rhythm. Expand bubble. Hack, slash, kill. Repeat. The beasts tried to grab his scythe with their tails. Tried to skewer him with their horns. A few times he saw the hints of a spell about to activate, but the beasts died too swiftly to manage it. The other beasts he¡¯d initially killed had tried to strike him with a beam of red light, but he¡¯d always dodged it, never letting it land. It wasn¡¯t long before he¡¯d defeated enough enemies that his soulkeeping reserve was back to full again. He was a little disappointed about how easy it had been, but he hadn¡¯t come here to be challenged, so what should he have expected? Xavier turned around, facing the direction of the grove. When he dropped the time dilation field, he was going to swiftly run back through the forest. He knew he was fast enough that these beasts wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up¡ªhe¡¯d easily be able to lose them. He could defeat the entire stampede, but it didn¡¯t feel like a worthwhile endeavour now his reserve was full. Xavier dropped the spell. The bubble burst. The stampede began moving again. He sped ahead, leaving them in the dust. Then¡­ something strange happened. An odd reg glow surrounded him, and a notification appeared in his vision. You have trespassed on the stampede and have now been marked by the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. As long as you remain upon this world, it will have the ability to track you. Book 4: Chapter 53 - Goku With His Spirit Bomb Xavier stared at the notification he had just received. You have trespassed on the stampede and have now been marked by the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. As long as you remain upon this world, it will have the ability to track you. The red glow around him that had just flared receded until it was gone completely, but he was being tracked now. He wouldn¡¯t be able to use his Time Alteration spell for almost another fifteen minutes. With the ranks he¡¯d gained, he¡¯d reduced it by more than half down from its original thirty minutes, but that was still a good long while in the middle of a fight. It¡¯s an eternity. Xavier kept running, trying to think what his next move should be. He hadn¡¯t yet laid eyes on the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, but something told him that it was this alpha¡¯s mind that was the reason he wasn¡¯t able to use Willpower Infusion on any of the beasts in the stampede. He hadn¡¯t been feeling as though the stampede was a threat to him, but if he didn¡¯t have the ability to leave it behind¡­ Xavier could keep running until his cooldown for Time Alteration reached zero, then he would be in a better position to fight the stampede, using the same tactic that he¡¯d been using only a moment ago, but¡ªeven though he¡¯d developed his patience¡ªhe wasn¡¯t willing to simply keep running from a fight he knew he could win. He skidded to a halt, the heels of his boots cutting a trough through the soft ground of the forest floor. He whirled around and got a good look at the stampede heading his way. There were still trees blocking his vision, and it was no less difficult to make out the enemies from this distance than it had been the first time he¡¯d seen them. But there was one enemy that stood out from the rest. A beast that had come to the front of the pack¡ªor herd, whatever a group of these things was called. It was massive, far larger than the nine feet of its brethren. It wasn¡¯t as large as many of the beasts Xavier had fought in the past, but he knew that size, uh, wasn¡¯t everything. This beast ran on two legs. Its horn glowed red, and so did its eyes, which were laser-focused on Xavier. It was unmistakable that this was the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡ªthe beast that had marked him with the tracker. Learning what level this beast was would help Xavier decide his next move. He used his Identify skill on the beast. {Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey ¨C Level 290} The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey is the head of the pack, the leader of the herd. It is responsible for the safety of the entire stampede and holds a grudge like few other beasts in the Greater Universe. If its herd has been disturbed, it will go to great lengths to seek revenge. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey is immune to mental attacks and has the ability to bestow that immunity upon its brethren. It also has an incredibly high toughness, and is able to conjure defences to many different attacks. If one is alone when they face a Rhinoceros Monkey herd, then they have made a great tactical error. Thanks, System, for that wonderful little insight. Xavier took in the sight of the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, a D Grade beast more than a hundred levels higher than himself, the highest-level beast he¡¯d ever faced. It was ten levels higher than the Stone Bear, and that bear¡­ well, he¡¯d been able to defeat it in quite an amazing way, but that was a unique situation. He¡¯d been inside an instance, with no other enemies around¡­ If things had been different? He wasn¡¯t sure what would have happened. This must be a beast from the board, and now I won¡¯t even get the Hunt Quest for it¡­ That was, of course, assuming he could defeat the beast. He was sure that if he had the beast alone, it likely wouldn¡¯t pose a huge threat to him if he was careful. But the Level 290 Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was surrounded by five thousand of its closest friends, and every single one of them was headed his way. Briefly, he rethought his strategy of simply fighting this thing. Perhaps that wasn¡¯t the best choice that he could make in this situation. I must always remember to be humble¡­ Xavier smiled. Being humble wasn¡¯t what had gotten him this far. He may have cultivated a great deal of patience working with Liana, but his ambition had not gone away. Not in the slightest. He tilted his head one way, then the other. He decided that he might as well deal with this beast swiftly. There was no reason to delay the inevitable. Without knowledge of just how strong this beast was, he knew it could pose a serious threat to him if he didn¡¯t take it seriously.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. And that was why Xavier cast Soul Strike. He wasn¡¯t being subtle, either. He didn¡¯t start slow, by putting a dozen, or a hundred, or even five hundred souls into the spell. He dumped two thousand souls straight into it. It would take out a massive chunk of his reserve, but he was going to deal with the entire herd now. He¡¯d been willing to leave it alone as he hadn¡¯t needed any more souls from them, but now that this beast was tracking him¡­ well, that signed the death warrants of the alpha¡¯s entire herd-pack. You shouldn¡¯t have come after me. Xavier took a step forward and angled his Midnight Scythe toward his enemy. The enemy barrelled through the forest, snapping trees straight from the ground, making a beeline for the one that had trespassed against its brethren. A crackle of white lightning surged from Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff. It had been some time since he¡¯d used the spell with so much power. He certainly hadn¡¯t attuned his Spirit attribute the last time he¡¯d cast this spell with that many souls. Xavier gazed at the soul apparitions that sprang into life. Among them were the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys, heading straight toward their kin to attack them. There were hundreds of other beasts, too. Wolven and boars that he¡¯d faced in the forest, and other beasts he¡¯d fought on previous floors. They all glowed in a silvery white light as they raged across the forest toward their enemy. The Rhinoceros Monkeys in the stampede didn¡¯t even flinch at the sight of the soul apparitions¡ªneither did their alpha. If anything, it increased the speed at which the alpha was heading toward him. Xavier stood there, watching, waiting for the soul apparitions to hit. He knew it didn¡¯t take them long to travel to their target, but standing there it seemed like an age. Something strange happened then. The alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s horn glowed brightly. At first, Xavier thought it was some kind of spell. A counterattack to the one that he¡¯d just cast. But it was something else. Every single one of the horns in the entire stampede glowed red. At least, that¡¯s what he thought must have happened, he couldn¡¯t discern the entire herd from here, but an eerie red glow emanated from the forest where they were, as though the very trees were bleeding. To his eyes, it could have only been made by thousands of the beasts. Xavier took a step back, gripped his Midnight Scythe, readying himself to throw up a Soul Block. Was this some kind of joint attack? If so, he could only imagine how powerful something like that would be. Maybe the alpha was drawing energy from herd, like Goku with his spirit bomb¡­ It would be devastating. There¡¯s no way that I would be able to survive something like that. Xavier was wondering if the System¡¯s words had some merit to them¡ªperhaps he had made a tactical error after all. Hopefully the Soul Strike interrupts whatever the hell this is. The soul apparitions slammed into the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. Xavier waited for the kill notification to come up¡ª Hundreds of kill notifications crowded his vision, constantly streaming down. He instantly split his mind so he could identify what had just happened. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡­ it was still running toward him. It hadn¡¯t faltered a single step in its stride. What the hell? It wasn¡¯t clear to Xaver what had happened until he¡¯d gotten a chance to look at the kill notifications, and the alpha was closing the distance faster than he¡¯d expected. How in the world is that thing still alive? The kill notifications¡ªthey were all for Level 190 Rhinoceros Monkeys. But that¡­ that shouldn¡¯t have been possible! He hadn¡¯t targeted the other enemies¡ªhe¡¯d targeted their alpha. Even if the attack, somehow, hadn¡¯t done any damage to the alpha, it shouldn¡¯t have hurt the other enemies in the slightest. This is strange. Very, very strange. There were other notifications, too, after all of the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys¡ªhe¡¯d gained a single level from his efforts, bringing him to Level 168. And Soul Strike had gained three ranks, bringing it up to Rank 63. That was the first time the spell had gained a rank in a while. Maybe I can get something more out of this. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate to reap the souls of all the enemies that fell. He had used two thousand souls in that attack, but he hadn¡¯t killed two thousand of the enemies. He¡¯d only killed about a thousand of them, making his soulkeeping reserve even smaller than it had been when he¡¯d gotten to this place. Xavier was pretty sure he knew what had just happened. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey had glowed red, then so had all the other beasts under its command. Somehow, through whatever connection it held to all of them, it had been able to disperse Xavier¡¯s attack into its brethren, not coming to any harm itself. It would have been nice if the Identify spell had told me a little something about that¡­ The spell, unfortunately, had completely left that out¡ªalong with any way that this thing might be vulnerable. Though he supposed it did say that it was able to conjure up defences. Maybe this is what that description had been referring to. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey appeared to grow in its rage. There was a glow about it now that hadn¡¯t been there before. It got even faster as it ran. The damned thing is going berserk, isn¡¯t it? Xavier felt like a fool. He¡¯d expended more souls than he¡¯d gained in this place, and he hadn¡¯t even harmed the alpha. He gritted his teeth. Not was not the time to feel down on himself. He needed to act. He still had the option to run, even if he didn¡¯t want to use it. But he dismissed that. This thing could follow him wherever he went¡ªhe needed to deal with it now. It¡¯s strong because of its herd. Without it, it wouldn¡¯t have been able to disperse that attack. All Xavier would need to do was kill every single one of its brethren, perhaps before he could deal any damage to the alpha if it was able to constantly disperse his attacks. Yeah, that sounds easy enough. But Xavier wouldn¡¯t know that until he had thrown a few more spells at it. He grinned, feeling a sudden burst of energy. There was a wonderful thing about gaining levels, and he wasn¡¯t referring to the attribute points he got. Gaining a level meant he restored every single one of his spells from their cooldowns¡ªwhich meant not only could he use Soul Strike again if he wished, he could also use Time Alteration. But first, he wanted to test out the new spell he¡¯d just acquired¡ªTime Prison. Having thought everything through, Xavier sprinted forward to meet the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey head on. The gap swiftly closed. Xavier had an intuitive understanding of the spell he was about to cast. Even though the description hadn¡¯t mentioned it, he knew he needed to physically make contact with his enemy for the spell to have an effect. Though the spell was most definitely an otherwise powerful spell from what he could tell, it certainly had its drawbacks. He met the enemy head on¡ªand underestimated it. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was faster than he¡¯d expected it to be, even though he¡¯d just seen the damned thing sprinting toward him, he hadn¡¯t anticipated this. Before Xavier could lay a hand on it, its tail whipped out at him and grabbed for his Midnight Scythe. The beast tugged on the shaft. Xavier held on with all his might. Then another tail appeared. The damned beast had two tails! Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe was ripped from his hands¡ªin a rage, he grabbed for one of the receding tails, trying to get a hold of it. That¡¯s when he cast Time Prison¡ªtrapping both the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey in time, along with his Midnight Scythe. The beast and his scythe-staff were trapped in a pocket of time that Xavier wasn¡¯t able to make contact with. He didn¡¯t have a spare weapon on him. The stampede was upon him. Book 4: Chapter 54 - Unarmed Xavier swallowed at the sight of thousands of beasts trampling through the forest, destroying everything they touched, trying to get to him. And he had trapped his Midnight Scythe¡ªthe only weapon he had¡ªwith the damned Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. The weapon offered him much¡ªhigher attributes, something in which to channel his magic, and the imbued ability Restorative Spirit. But that didn¡¯t mean he was weak without it. He swiftly went through his options. There were several things he could do. Technically, he could still run, but that didn¡¯t feel right¡ªnor did it feel necessary. He wasn¡¯t going to turn away from a battle he knew he could win. He just had to use a different strategy. If I free the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey from the Time Prison spell, I could get my weapon back off it¡­ But that didn¡¯t seem like the smartest thing for him to do. The alpha was the strongest beast he¡¯d ever faced. He didn¡¯t fancy facing it with several thousand of its closest friends around it. Xavier glimpsed his soulkeeping reserve. He¡¯d used two thousand souls just now, and only recouped a thousand of them. He still had a good number of souls remaining in his reserve, but if he were to rely on them to kill all of these beasts¡­ Xavier came to a decision. He leapt backward into the air. Beams of red light shot upward toward him. He cast hover dodge as thousands of energy beams tried to incinerate him. The beams were solid things that tracked him just a tad slower than he could move. If he didn¡¯t have the hover dodge skill, leaping in the air would most certainly have gotten him killed, but he wanted to make some distance between himself and the enemies below. Xavier wanted to preserve his soulkeeping reserve unless it became absolutely necessary to use it, so Soul Strike was off the table. Soul Shatter, on the other hand, was not. Soul Shatter did destroy the soul of the one he cast it on, but it was also an area-of-effect spell, one that hurt all those around it¡ªbut even if it killed those around it, it didn¡¯t destroy their souls. It will have to do. That wasn¡¯t the only spell Xavier cast while he was in the air. He cast Willpower Infusion as well, hoping that now their alpha was stuck in a Time Prison, where he was physically no longer in their flow of time¡ªhowever in the hell that worked¡ªthat whatever influence, whatever protection, the alpha offered its brethren, it wouldn¡¯t be able to offer that in its current state. Purple mist flowed out from him. It didn¡¯t flow from Xavier¡¯s scythe, for right now he had no scythe. Instead, it flowed out of his hands. Xavier was met by the same mental barrier as before. He gritted his teeth. It wasn¡¯t the only lever he had to pull in this fight, but he¡¯d been hoping¡­ Xavier cast Soul Shatter on one of the beasts in the middle of the pack. It wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill it, but Xavier kept his eye on the beast. Soul Shatter didn¡¯t have a long cooldown. He cast the spell again. The beast died, and all those around it were injured. It¡¯s a start. Xavier managed to cast Soul Shatter twice more before he fell back to the ground. He cast it in the same area, and on the fourth cast, he received over twenty kill notifications. Xavier grinned as he landed back on the ground. Four spells for twenty kills wasn¡¯t exactly amazing, but as he¡¯d thought before, he had other levers he could pull¡­ And he started doing that right now. He might not be able to control these beasts while they were living, but once they were dead? The tables turned. The stampede closed upon him. Xavier wasn¡¯t confident that without the ability to strike the enemies around him down with his scythe staff that he would be able to effectively avoid their attacks while he was still on the ground, so he had to keep on the move, leaping back into the air every time he touched down. Hover Dodge has taken a step forward on the path! Hover Dodge is now a Rank 20 spell. Hover Dodge is now a Rank 21 spell. Hover Dodge is now a Rank 22 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Aerial Combat has reached Rank 15! Aerial Combat has reached Rank 16! Evasion has reached Rank 70! Well, that¡¯s certainly something. He had been steadily gaining ranks in skills and spells as he¡¯d fought beasts in the forest when he was waiting for Time Alteration to reach the end of its cooldown, but none of his ranks had gone up this fast in while. This fight, the ¡°low-level beasts¡± that Felicia had sent him to, he hadn¡¯t expected to get much of anything from it but a few souls. Now, it seemed as though he was about to get a hell of a lot more. Xavier cast Soul Shatter over and over, every time it reached the end of its cooldown he hit the herd with it once more. Then he cast Soul Puppet. He was careful, though. Soul Puppet used a single soul every time he cast it. The main thing that he didn¡¯t want to do was use up too many souls. Well, actually, the main thing he wanted to do was not die, but not using too many souls was high on his list. Xavier slipped left and right through the air as beams of red light shot toward him. The pack-herd were becoming more and more frantic as time went on. As the soul puppets began attacking them, they made weird, screaming, screeching noises. The beasts had always worked as one¡ªhad always worked as a unit. To have its own start attacking it¡­ Xavier couldn¡¯t imagine how distressing that must be. But he relished the chaos his spells were causing. He reaped souls left and right, making sure that for every beast he killed with Soul Shatter, and every beast he brought back as a Soul Puppet, he consumed two souls for each soul he used. Slowly, his reserve was creeping up. More spell notifications came as he fought as well.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Shatter is now a Rank 72 spell. Soul Shatter is now a Rank 73 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Puppet has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Puppet is now a Rank 65 spell. Soul Puppet is now a Rank 66 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Harvest has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Harvest is now a Rank 61 spell. Soul Harvest is now a Rank 62 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. With each rank that his soul spells gained, his soulkeeping reserve grew larger and larger. I guess I¡¯m farming more than souls here. He¡¯d thought the loss of his weapon would have caused him more difficulty, but this¡­ this was child¡¯s play. Then a massive roar sounded. It was like nothing he¡¯d ever heard before. In that moment, he felt something click¡ªthe Time Prison spell had¡­ started its cooldown? Xavier had been so focused on the fight that he hadn¡¯t even realised his Time Prison spell hadn¡¯t started its cooldown timer. He was able to sense when a spell hadn¡¯t reached the end of its cooldown, but he only now just realised there was a different feeling for when a spell wasn¡¯t cooling down at all. Which meant that roar was¡­ Xavier was currently above the stampeding pack-hard of Rhinoceros Monkeys when a figure began hurtling toward him from on the ground. The roar was coming from that figure, and there was no mistaking it. It was the Alpha Rhinoceros Beast. The Time Prison that Xavier had cast on the beast clearly hadn¡¯t lasted very long. Xavier gritted his teeth. The damned beast¡ªit was holding his Midnight Scythe! As the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey came closer and closer, Xavier still slipping left and right with his Hover Dodge skill, evading the countless beams of red light that were streaming toward him, stared hard at the Midnight Scythe in the beast¡¯s hand. The Midnight Scythe looked incredibly heavy in the alpha¡¯s grip, and it took Xavier a split-second to realise why¡ªthis beast didn¡¯t have the requisite attributes to wield such a weapon. And whatever class the beast had, if indeed beasts even had classes, wouldn¡¯t be compatible with the weapon, either. Wielding that thing will be a hindrance for the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, but even with the drawbacks, it¡¯s still holding it¡­ There was a look of manic glee mixed with anger plastered on the beast¡¯s face. It was holding Xavier¡¯s weapon as though it were a trophy¡ªit was wielding it to piss Xavier off. Xavier was sure of it. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! Core Burn! Xavier cast the three spells before his enemy had a chance to reach him. The spells hit the beast. Spirit Break made it roar ever louder. Soul Shatter made it call out in pain. Core Burn¡ªCore Burn did nothing. This was the beast that was responsible for stopping him from using Willpower Infusion on the entire pack-herd. It had an incredibly strong resistance to mental attacks, even with Spirit Break softening it up. When the beast was close enough, Xavier used Hover Dodge to slip to the left. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was too fast, however. It grabbed him with one of its tails, wrenching him toward it. Then it slashed out with Xavier¡¯s weapon. Xavier couldn¡¯t dodge out of the way with the alpha¡¯s tails wrapped around him, and everything happened too fast for him to use Soul Block. He got hit with the full force of his own weapon. The Midnight Scythe cut through Xavier¡¯s Midnight Robes. A red-hot line of pain spread from Xavier¡¯s right shoulder down to his left thigh. He cried out in pain. This close, he was able to grab onto his Midnight Scythe, but he wasn¡¯t strong enough to take it back. Just as before, he could tell the beast was struggling to hold the thing, and yet it had been able to swing it with such power, such force, if it had been a few inches closer it might have cut Xavier in two. God, what in the hell was Xavier going to do? He couldn¡¯t fight this thing with his bare hands, and his spells had done barely anything to it! Time Prison wasn¡¯t an option for him to use¡ªnot right now. It was still in cooldown for another [x minutes!] Willpower Infusion and Core Burn were completely ineffective against the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, and on top of that, his Soul Strike spell wasn¡¯t effective either. Think, think, think. Xavier was trapped. One of the beast¡¯s two tails had his right arm, the other his left leg. He wasn¡¯t able to move out of the way. Using the swiftness of his mind, he went through all the spells he had, and the Imbued Abilities, trying to come up with an answer. Spiritual Trifecta, Spirit Break, Spirit Infusion, Soul Harvest, Soul Strike, Soul Block, Soul Harden, Soul Shatter, Soul Puppet, Summon Otherworldly Spirit, Otherworldly Communion, Willpower Infusion, Hover Dodge, Time Alteration, Enhanced Telekinetic Strike, Time Prison, Core Burn¡­ His mind turned through all of the spells, until finally he came up with a combination he hoped would help him. Heavy Telekinesis and Hover Dodge! It wasn¡¯t much, but it felt like his only option. As the second strike from Xavier¡¯s own weapon came at him, Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was pushed backward with so much force that its tails both lost their grip on Xavier. With the use of Hover Dodge, Xavier was able to throw himself in the opposite direction. This was the only reason the gambit worked. Xavier sighed in relief as the thing soared back to the ground. Xavier was falling too, though not quite as fast. He also had much better control of himself in the air than the enemy beast did, what with Hover Dodge and his Aerial Combat skill. He looked forward to meeting back up with Justin in the future and showing him what he could do¡ªthough it wasn¡¯t like Xavier had the ability to fly. Though if he were to ever gain the ability to fly, he couldn¡¯t help but imagine himself with large, bat-like wings¡­ the robes, the scythe, the wings, that would be quite a sight. As Xavier was falling back to the ground he cast Time Alteration, glad he was able to use the spell once more since gaining his last level. He made sure he was far enough away that the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey wasn¡¯t near him¡ªthat it wouldn¡¯t be within the sphere of influence of his time bubble. Xavier did, however, ensure that he captured quite a few of the Rhinoceros Monkeys. It was harder to fight the monkeys this close without his scythe, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. Xavier dodged this way and that. He gritted his teeth. Without his scythe¡­ He counted the number of Rhinoceros Monkeys he¡¯d trapped within his time bubble¡ªthere were three hundred cramped within it¡ªthen he cast Soul Strike, packing six hundred souls into it. White lightning erupted from Xavier¡¯s hands. Soul apparitions¡ªevery single one of them of a Rhinoceros Monkey¡ªsprang to life and hurtled toward the beasts. The beasts died in an instant. Xavier landed back on the ground. He was surrounded by corpses. Lots and lots of corpses. He sighed and sat in the dirt after making room for himself, then promptly put his head in his hands. This wasn¡¯t the way things had been supposed to go. He looked at the cooldown for his Time Prison spell. Time Prison has a cooldown of 15 minutes. It cannot be used for another 14 minutes and 54 seconds. Six seconds? Only six seconds had passed since that damned thing had gotten out of the Time Prison? Xavier took the time he had in the bubble to think things through. It was nice and quiet in here. Calm. Still. An illusion, given all that was going on outside of the time dilation field. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey is damned strong. At Level 290, it¡¯s the most powerful beast I¡¯ve ever faced. It must have been able to break out of the Time Prison so quickly because of that. Xavier had only just gotten the Time Prison spell. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to experiment with it. He hadn¡¯t expected to need to use it farming low-level beasts. Felicia clearly knew about the alpha¡­ But now wasn¡¯t the time to get mad. Now, he had to think and devise a plan. He didn¡¯t have his weapon. First thing was first, he needed to get his damned weapon back! But that was easier than it sounded. I still need to kill all of the alpha¡¯s brethren. I can¡¯t fight it with them around. I can barely fight it at all, with it being immune to so many of my spells¡­ He raised his chin and looked around at the corpses within the bubble. There was¡­ something, itching at the back of his mind. An idea slowly forming. He titled his head to the side. The Rhinoceros Monkeys. They were E Grade, like he was. They were tough for E Grades. But, regardless, the beasts were E Grade¡­ Which meant he could use their parts with his Assimilate Properties skill. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened and he perked up for... about half a second, until he realised that even though he had the Dismantle skill, the skill was only Rank 1. And he didn¡¯t have his Midnight Scythe, or any other blade for that matter. How was he supposed to cut through these things? Xavier almost dismissed the plan altogether, but he had time to explore his options while he was within the Time Alteration spell. There was no point dismissing it when he literally had hours to investigate if it could work. Patience, Xavier told himself. Order your thoughts. He let out a breath and did just that, allowing him to better focus on the task at hand. He stood and stepped over to the nearest Rhinoceros Monkey. He tilted his head to the side, looking at it in detail. The beast had ferocious looking claws, a single tail¡ªunlike the alpha¡ªand the horn at its head. Xavier tapped a foot on the ground. If he were able to take off that horn¡­ He grabbed the horn, put a foot on the beast¡¯s chest, and pulled. Xavier was strong. Damned strong. He would be able to crush a normal human¡¯s bones with his bare hands. But the horn? It wasn¡¯t budging. He wasn¡¯t able to pull out any of the beast¡¯s claws or teeth, either. Not with nothing but his bare hands. Still, he kept trying, for lack of anything better to do right now. Then an idea occurred to him. He laid the Rhinoceros Monkey onto its back. He stood on its shoulders and found a rock that he put under the base of the horn. Then he cast Heavy Telekinesis on the top half of the horn. Snap. The horn broke off. Xavier¡¯s plan might just work. Book 4: Chapter 55 - Horn, Tooth, Claw, and Tail Xavier gripped the Rhinoceros Monkey horn in his hand. Dismantle has reached Rank 21! Dismantle has reached rank 22! He grinned. The horns were sharp. Sharp enough that he could use them to cut through the beasts. He was working on cutting through the tenth beast now, gaining roughly two ranks for every beast he carved through. The properties were gathering beside him in a pile. Horns. Claws. Teeth. Tails. Eyes. Bones. It was gruesome work, but each time he gained another rank, with that rank came something else¡­ understanding. Not just of how to cut and where to cut, but of the beast¡¯s anatomy. This is a strange feeling. He kept at it. Hours must have passed within that bubble as he dismantled every single one of the three hundred beasts he¡¯d slain. The Dismantle skill¡¯s ranks started to slow right down once he¡¯d reached Rank 50, to the point where he didn¡¯t know how he was going to keep pushing it up. Something told him the skill would need to be used on different beasts for it to get stronger than it was. But to have gained forty-nine ranks in a single skill while he was in the time bubble? Well, that seemed like an amazing enough feat on its own. The pile of fragments and parts only grew until it was something that looked¡­ rather unmanageable. He didn¡¯t know how many of the things he wanted to keep and sell to the store. He supposed all of it. There was no point letting any of it go to waste. He had two of the more perfect horns on the ground near the pile, stuck fast in the earth. He would have a use for them soon. But now that he had dismantled every single beast corpse he could reach, there was something else he needed to do. He needed to use his Assimilate Properties skill. He ground down one of the horns, using another horn to do so. It was painstaking work, but it was something that he relished. When he had created a thin powder of the stuff, he withdrew a bottle of water from his Storage Ring and put the powder inside of it. He swirled it around and tried to pretend it was some kind of protein drink. Aren¡¯t rhinoceros horns considered an aphrodisiac? he thought before downing the bottle, wincing as the contents hit his taste buds. It didn¡¯t go down easy. God, it tasted terrible. But he¡¯d consumed it. He tilted his head from side to side and felt the skill work. Felt his body adapting to what he¡¯d just done. Eating the fragments tended to be the easiest way for him to assimilate them. He¡¯d done the same thing on multiple occasions when he¡¯d been fighting the Endless Horde back on the fifth floor. Xavier frowned as time passed with nothing happening, until¡­ Attempting to assimilate Rhinoceros Monkey horn into muscular structure. The material you are assimilating has various properties. You may only draw from one. Choose from the following:
  1. Piercing Damage
  2. Headbutt Damage
Xavier frowned. Headbutt damage? He shook his head and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the thought of him using such a tactic in a fight. He didn¡¯t think it was normal for Denizens with a class in the Reaper line to fight with their head¡­ at least, not literally. No, Headbutt Damage didn¡¯t seem like something that would come in handy for him. But Piercing Damage¡­ that would definitely help him, especially when he had his Midnight Scythe back. Xavier chose the one he wanted. Assimilation is complete. Biological impurities of Rhinoceros Monkey Horn have been assimilated into muscular structure. You have gained the trait: Piercing Damage You have gained +20 Strength! You have gained +20 Toughness! You have gained +20 Willpower! Assimilate Properties has reached Rank 26! Xavier took a step back. Shook his head. That felt good. Really good. He hadn¡¯t gained as many attribute points as he wished he could gain, but those points had been essentially free, and there were still more different properties from the beast that he could use to infuse into himself. He could also infuse the same property multiple times. When his skill had been Rank 25, he¡¯d been able to assimilate the same property ten times. The Elemental Hydra Fang had given him +4 to each attribute it boosted every time he assimilated the property again. Xavier grinned, and kept working. He assimilated the Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s claw, its tooth, and finally, its tail¡ªand he assimilated each of them up to his current cap of ten.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The claw and tooth provided him with the same bonus as the horn¡ªwith each part he gained that gave him piercing damage, it strengthened the bonus that trait had. And more Toughness and Strength was always welcome. The tail, however, was different. It had only one quality to choose from¡ªGrip Strength. It wasn¡¯t on the top of Xavier¡¯s list of things he thought he needed to improve about himself, but something told him it would come in handy¡­ Especially when it came to tearing his Midnight Scythe out of the hands of that damned Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. Unfortunately, once he had assimilated the different properties from the Rhinoceros Monkeys ten times each, he couldn¡¯t keep using the Assimilate Properties skill. He didn¡¯t have any more properties to assimilate. It had gained ten ranks, bringing it to Rank 35, and that he was grateful for, as with each rank of the skill he gained, it strengthened all of his assimilated properties, giving +2 to every attribute that was boosted with each rank. He took a moment to stop and look at his Assimilate Properties skill. Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 35 This is an epic skill that grants you the ability to assimilate foreign properties into your body, mind, and soul if the perfect conditions are met. List of Current Assimilated Properties: F Grade - Wolven Fang - +96 Strength F Grade - Wolven Claw - +96 Speed F Grade - Crucible Steel - +96 Toughness F Grade - Sandstone - +96 Toughness F Grade - Winged Bear Fang - +96 Strength F Grade - Winged Bear Claw - +96 Toughness F Grade - Winged Bear Feather - +96 Speed F Grade - Giant Spider Pincer - +96 Strength F Grade - Giant Spider Eye - +96 Intelligence F Grade - Chimera Fang - +96 Strength F Grade - Chimera Tooth - +96 Speed E Grade - Elemental Hydra Fang - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Tissue Regeneration E Grade - Elemental Hydra Claw - +124 Intelligence, Willpower, and Speed Trait: Passive Elemental Damage (Fire) E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Horn - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Piercing Damage E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Tooth - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Piercing Damage E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Tail - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Grip Strength E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Claw - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Piercing Damage Reading through all of the attributes he¡¯d gained from the skill, Xavier couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. The skill, for sure, was overpowered. Why he¡¯d ever stopped using it¡­ But as he¡¯d assimilated the properties, and as the skill had ranked up, he¡¯d felt changes in his body¡ªnot just the changes that came from gaining more attributes, though they had been there as well. When he had first used this skill, it had changed him. His fingernails had grown longer and sharper, as had his teeth, and his skin had gained a grey tint. Much of those changes had been smoothed out when he¡¯d advanced to E Grade, but now that he was using the skill again¡ªand with E Grade components¡­ it felt like something was changing within him once more. He looked down at his fingernails. Had they grown longer? Tougher? Sharper? He ran his tongue over his teeth. Did they feel different? He was struggling to tell. Xavier looked at his hand. The skin¡­ it did look more grey. The older version of Xavier he¡¯d encountered had looked perfectly human. Did that mean this would not ultimately change him, or did it simply mean that version of himself had walked down a different path? If it¡¯s the latter, whatever path he walked down led him to seeking me out because he failed. If this path is different, then I should walk it. He turned to the pile of dismantled beast parts, pushing away thoughts on how he might be changing. He could address those later. Right now, he had a job to do. As all of the items in the pile were touching each other, he was able to gather them into one of his spare Storage Rings with a single touch. With that done, Xavier walked toward the edge of the time bubble. When he¡¯d dropped to the ground, he¡¯d fallen into the middle of the stampede. There were still many hundreds of Rhinoceros Monkeys left. He could see his soul puppets among them¡ªevery single one of them was frozen. Xavier contemplated his plan. As he¡¯d been dismantling all of the beasts and assimilating their properties into his body, he¡¯d also been thinking about how he was going to get himself out of this mess. Hours had passed within the bubble, but his Time Alteration spell was strong enough that he still had many more at his disposal. He would have to use them wisely. He tilted his head from one side to the other, cracking it sharply. He¡¯d used Soul Strike to kill the beasts within this bubble, but that wasn¡¯t something he wanted to keep doing. That Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡­ Soul Strike might end up being the best spell for Xavier to use on it, even if it did mean depleting much of the reserve he¡¯d been trying to regain. Better to deplete my reserve than die trying to guard it. The two horns that he¡¯d left stuck in the ground were still there. He grabbed them now, pulling them out of the dirt. He held them tightly, one in each hand. He tested his grip on them. It felt strong. Stronger than before? He couldn¡¯t tell¡ªbut it must have been with the Grip Strength trait that he¡¯d gained, not to mention all the extra points in Strength. Stepping back to the edge of the bubble, Xavier mentally prepared himself for what he was going to do next. It certainly wasn¡¯t what his class was designed for, but what else was he going to do right now? He needed to kill every single one of these damned Rhinoceros Monkeys, and he needed to do it without the alpha¡¯s interference. This was the only way that he could think to do that. Xavier expanded the bubble of time. Only slightly¡ªjust enough to let in the nearest pair of Rhinoceros Monkeys. The Rhinoceros Monkeys charged at him. Up this close, he could see the unmitigated fury written on their faces. There was a deep anger in the beasts, one that the Alpa Rhinoceros Monkey had shown the most. Xavier had had the audacity to disturb them, and now every single one of their number wanted him dead. Xavier met the anger with a grin. His fingers wrapped around the horns in his hands, he burst forward, using his superior speed to easily dodge the beasts¡¯ joint attacks. Tails whipped toward him; horns tried to skewer him. He avoided it all, and he did it with ease. With his right hand, he plunged the horn into the head of the first beast. The horn pierced the beast¡¯s tough grey skin, driving through its skull and sinking into the brain hidden within. The beast¡¯s death was not instant¡ªXavier wasn¡¯t able to one-hit these things with physical attacks. Not yet. Xavier drove the second horn into its skull, piercing its brain once more. That¡¯s when the beast died. Xavier watched the light in its eyes dim and widened his own. Two hits? He had killed this beast in two hits? He hadn¡¯t expected such a thing to be possible. He didn¡¯t currently have his Spiritual Trifecta spell active, so it wasn¡¯t boosting his attributes. He also hadn¡¯t used Telekinetic Enhanced Strike. He didn¡¯t see the point in using either one of those skills. Stuck within the time bubble, neither of them would be able to cooldown. He would only be able to use each of them once¡ªit wouldn¡¯t be worth it unless he was in some kind of trouble, and using the spells got him out of it. He didn¡¯t have time to stare at the beast and ponder what he¡¯d done. He moved swiftly, taking out the other Rhinoceros Monkey. He¡¯d only let two of the beasts into his bubble of time. He¡¯d needed to test how effective these horns were. The two beasts dead on either side of him, Xavier¡¯s chest rose and fell, his breathing heavy despite the fact that he wasn¡¯t out of breath. Even with his scythe staff, his physical attacks hadn¡¯t been that strong unenhanced. He had gained many attributes¡­ but was it the Piercing Damage trait that had changed so much for him? Or was there something else going on here? His heart thudded in his chest. His blood surged through his body. He had a lust for battle, one he hadn¡¯t felt in a long while. It was threatening to take him over. There was a part of him that wanted to drop the time bubble altogether, so that he could face the entire herd at once. These beasts were beneath him. He could crush them all. Patience. Order your thoughts. Xavier took a deep, intentional breath, and instantly felt calmer. He looked down at his hand. At his fingers. His eyes widened at what he saw¡ªhis nails had¡­ turned into claws? But right now, they were shortening, almost retracting. What¡¯s happening to me? He¡¯d definitely gained more than he¡¯d bargained for with the Assimilate Properties skill. Book 4: Chapter 56 - Transmogrification Xavier stared at his fingernails. Once they¡¯d gone back to normal, they didn¡¯t change back again. The fight¡­ it had brought something out in him. It had altered his thoughts, his emotions, even his body¡­ because of how he had been changing it. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but remember the description of the werewolf he¡¯d used Identify on back on a previous floor. Some believe that a Denizen studying transmogrification, the art of changing one''s form, accidentally created the first werewolf by making an irreversible change to themselves. He¡¯d wondered if that meant his Assimilate Properties skill could do something similar to him¡­ would that be considered transmogrification? It certainly seemed to be changing his form right now. His breathing was no longer heavy, his heart no longer thudding in his chest. He had chosen this path knowing there might be consequences, unlike the first time he¡¯d walked it. And this time, he wasn¡¯t going to shy away from it. If this was something that was going to change him, then he would let it change him, as long as it brought him power¡ªand as long as he was able to keep those changes in check and remain, essentially, himself. Right now, without his weapon, without his spells being able to cooldown inside the time bubble, he needed to use his physical strength to the best of his ability. He didn¡¯t intend to drop the Time Alteration spell any time soon¡ªwhat he did intend to do was carve a path with his time bubble all around the battlefield until he¡¯d taken out every single one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys and only the alpha remained. He didn¡¯t know if he was powerful enough to make the spell do such a thing. Didn¡¯t know if he could push it that far, or if it would last that long. But he had to try. Xavier pushed the time bubble forward. This time, he didn¡¯t just open it up to two beasts¡ªhe opened it up to ten. Xavier tore through them, a roar escaping his lips as he fought. He embraced it. He didn¡¯t fight like an animal, but nor did he fight like himself. He fought like some combination of man and beast. And as he moved through the enemies, expanding the bubble more and more, he felt changes in his body manifest. His fingernails grew once more into claws. His teeth sharpened. His skin toughened. At one point, he dropped one of the horns from out of his right hand. Instead of using the horn to attack his enemy, he slashed his claws across one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys necks. Blood pumped out of the wound. Xavier was conscious of what he was doing. He had split his mind and was observing himself fight using his Farscope ability. With his mind split, he could keep part of himself in check, ready to rein himself in if he ever needed to. Xavier dropped the other horn. When hundreds of beasts lay dead around him he enforced a pause. He had gained several ranks in Time Alteration as he¡¯d pushed the time dilation field to its limits, moving it around the area¡ªsomething he was glad for. He needed that spell to become more powerful. It was fast becoming one of his most valuable assets. During the fight, Xavier had become a whirlwind of death and destruction. Since coming to this floor, more and more Xavier had been embracing his melee fighting abilities, strengthening his physical attacks¡ªthat was how he¡¯d earned the spell Telekinetic Enhanced Strike in the first place. Without that ability to fight with his scythe, he would not have been able to inflict near as much damage on the Stone Bear as he had. But despite how well this fight right now was going, he was a little wary about walking farther down this path. He had dropped the horns sometime during the fight, killing his enemies with¡­ nothing but his bare hands. Or rather, his bare claws. He¡¯d tore throats, ripped out eyes, snapped necks. At one point, he had even driven his teeth into one of the Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s arms. With his mind split, he¡¯d been able to observe himself in a detached way. But he had also experienced every second of it. He hadn¡¯t felt like himself¡ªhe had felt like something else. Something more primal. And¡­ something powerful. How will my journey toward power change me? He had always chosen whatever would bring him more power, whatever would make him more deadly. At least, he had for the most part¡ªthere were certain classes early on that he had avoided. I said I would embrace this. He looked down at his hands. At the claws. They were retracting, like they had the first time. But it was happening slower. How would he fight once he regained his scythe-staff? He would never let go of that if he could help it. He tilted his head left, then right, making it crack. He dropped his hands and clenched them into fists. He was aware of how¡­ confused he was in taking this path, how he kept teetering one way and then the other, saying he would embrace it, then questioning his actions moments later. He didn¡¯t like the indecision that was taking hold of him. A notification had popped up as he¡¯d fought. He had read it, then promptly tried to ignore its implications, but now he was staring at it once more. You have activated a Racial Shift. You have embraced properties of other races into that of your own as a human. There are shifts happening under the surface of your being. If you continue walking down this path, there will be permanent consequences. One cannot walk backward on the path. He tapped his foot on the ground, felt the claws from his toes brush up against the front of his boots. Xavier stared down at his boots. He bit his lip, felt blood drip into his mouth. His teeth were still sharp¡ªelongated, almost like vampire fangs. The last time he had experienced this, fighting the first two Rhinoceros Monkeys after heavily using the Assimilate Properties skill, his claws had retracted significantly faster. Now, he was sure they were taking much longer. And he was beginning to wonder if they would retract at all. He sighed. I have activated a Racial Shift? He had known, for a while now, that the skill had been changing him. There had been that symbol beside his race in his status for a long time. But he had no idea what he might change into.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. One cannot walk backward on the path. He¡¯d always known that was true, but now it felt truer than ever. Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it right now. He needed to keep fighting. Needed to keep killing these Rhinoceros Monkeys until only the alpha was left, and while he was standing inside a time dilation field, he did not in fact have all the time in the world. The more he pushed the spell, altering the parameters of the time bubble, carving his way through the battlefield, the less time the spell would last. He wouldn¡¯t be able to keep it going forever. Every second counted. Xavier pushed forward. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that this time, his claws didn¡¯t retract at all. If anything, they appeared as though they were getting longer. Sharper. They were certainly becoming easier to use. At some point during the fight¡ªhe lost count of how many of the enemy he had slaughtered¡ªyet another notification appeared in his vision. This one was for a skill. It wasn¡¯t a skill quest, either, like he¡¯d received in the past. He had simply been bequeathed the skill instantly. You have learnt the skill Red In Tooth And Claw! Red In Tooth And Claw ¨C Rank 1 You fight like the beast that you are. You have resorted to fighting like a primal animal, attuning with a power deep inside you that is lost to many naturally sapient races. +20% damage while unarmed. +5% Strength while unarmed +5% Speed while unarmed +5% Toughness while unarmed Xavier blinked as he swiftly read through the description of the skill. This¡­ this was interesting. Again, he didn¡¯t want to abandon the idea of using his scythe-staff¡ªand his Scythe-Staff Mastery skill was stronger than what this offered, but he could see how this would come in handy¡­ He felt the difference instantly. Xavier¡¯s attacks packed far more of a punch. His enemies went down more easily. It wasn¡¯t long before the path he carved through the battlefield reached its end, and the only beast left upon it was the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, still gripping Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe in its grubby little hands. Xavier gritted his teeth at the sight of the alpha. An anger boiled up in him, one that took him by surprise. He didn¡¯t think he would feel anger against this beast. Anger wasn¡¯t rational in this situation¡ªXavier had come to fight the pack-herd. He had disturbed it. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey had every right to be angry with Xavier, and the opposite wasn¡¯t true. And yet the anger within him burned. He was itching for a fight with this thing. Itching to dominate it on the battlefield. Itching to kill it. That battle lust had been in him from the moment he¡¯d began fighting after using Assimilate Properties, and it didn¡¯t seem like it was going anywhere. The Time Alteration spell was still active, but he could feel it crumbling around him. Could feel that soon, it would be coming to an end. There was nothing he could do about that. He had mere seconds before he would be fighting this beast. Fortunately, all of the killing had given him something¡ªnot just boosts to his spells or his skills, though he had received a fair number of ranks. Especially in his newest skill, Red In Tooth And Claw. Fighting so many of these beasts had also given him another level¡ªjust the one, to his surprise and dismay. But one more level? That was enough to restore all his spells. Soul Strike was no longer on cooldown, as it had been after he¡¯d killed the initial three hundred Rhinoceros monkeys. Time Prison was also no longer on cooldown, which meant he would be able to use it again in his fight with the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, even if the spell didn¡¯t last all that long on the powerful beast. Xavier still had no weapon, but he didn¡¯t need one. He was going to tear the alpha to shreds. The Time Alteration spell ended. The bubble burst. Time outside the field moved forward at a normal pace once more. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, which was currently forty feet away from Xavier, grinned maliciously as it saw him. Then the reality of its situation dawned on it. It noticed what had happened around it. Noticed all the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys¡ªits brethren, its kin, those it had been sworn to protect. Every single one of them was dead. If the rage this beast had felt before had been intense, that intensity had been amplified a thousand-fold by the realisation that every single one of its pack-herd was now nothing more than a corpse lying on the ground waiting to rot¡ªthat was, of course, assuming Xavier hadn¡¯t dismantled the corpses and gathered up anything useful into his Storage Ring. Something told him the alpha wouldn¡¯t appreciate Xavier¡¯s desecration of their bodies. The beast surged forward on powerful legs. There was something about the way it moved that Xavier couldn¡¯t help but admire. There was something familiar in it¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t noticed before. His perception of the world was changing. It was subtle, at first. When he had been fighting the Rhinoceros Monkeys, he¡¯d slowly began to realise what it was he¡¯d been seeing. He could anticipate how the beasts were going to move. It wasn¡¯t just his Evasion skill at work that had meant he had left each encounter not only unscathed, but growing more and more efficient at slaughtering the beasts in battle. He¡¯d had almost a sixth sense for where the enemy would be, and it had taken him far too long to realise why¡ª He was becoming like these beasts. He had assimilated much of them into his own body. There wasn¡¯t time to contemplate the consequences of that. All he could do was brace himself for the fight that was about to happen. He let the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey come to him. He could almost feel the beast¡¯s rage. There was something to that, as well¡ªthe mental strength of the beast was high, and now that Xavier had assimilated much of its qualities¡ªor, at least, the qualities of its lesser kin¡ªhe felt as though he could almost feel the beast¡¯s mind. A moment before the beast reached him, Xavier leapt into the air on powerful legs. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey leapt up after him, but this time Xavier was ready. He cast Heavy Telekinesis on the beast, pushing it back down to the ground. It slammed into the dirt, the force of the spell and the dense weight of the beast forming a crater in the dirt. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! The two spells hit his enemy in quick succession. Like the first time he¡¯d used the spells on the beast, they barely seemed to do much at all. A Level 290 D Grade¡­ Gods, this thing is tough. Fighting the Rhinoceros Monkeys the way that he had, Xavier had been able to replenish his soulkeeping reserve entirely. He was tempted to use his entire reserve on this beast, just to teach the damned animal a lesson¡ªthat no one messed with Xavier Collins and came out alive. But that would be a waste of his resources. Besides, at this point, he didn¡¯t think he needed it. The alpha Rhinoceros Monkey didn¡¯t take long to regain its feet. It was soon staring up at Xavier with unabashed hatred. Xavier knew what it was going to do next. The horn on the beast¡¯s head glowed red a fraction of a second before a beam of energy burst forth, striking up for Xavier. Xavier used Hover Dodge to easily slip out of the way of the trajectory of the beam. The beam, however, was lasting a lot longer than the inferior Rhinoceros Monkeys¡¯ beams had lasted¡ªhe supposed that shouldn¡¯t have come as a surprise, considering all of those beasts had been a whole one hundred levels weaker than this one. The alpha turned its head, and the beam followed. Xavier, despite his ability to manoeuvre in the air, was unable to move fast enough to dodge the hit. Pain seared through him. The sheer power of the strike threw Xavier backward. Xavier felt panic thrum through him. He had been hit by attacks from D Grades of a lower level than this one and had half of his health instantly taken away from him. With trepidation¡ªeven as he tumbled through the air, trying to regain control of himself¡ªhe looked at his health status. Your health is at 71%. Xavier blinked. The attack had taken 29% percent of his health? While it was still a lot, Xavier had been expecting the damage to be significantly more severe than that. If he were able to see hit points¡ªif such a thing like that even existed within the Greater Universe¡ªhe was sure that that attack was the most powerful attack to have ever struck him in the entire time since he had been integrated. Xavier grinned. He regained his control¡ªhis composure. He flipped in the air and landed on the ground in a crouch, surrounded by the corpses of the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys that he had slain. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey made its way toward him at an impossibly fast sprint. The anger in its eyes had not diminished. Xavier stood his ground. He slammed the same two spells into his enemy that he had used before as he¡¯d leapt¡ªSpirit Break and Soul Shatter. He knew they didn¡¯t do enough to this beast, but all he was trying to do was soften it up. Now that Xavier knew he could take a hit from this thing, he was more willing to let it engage him in a physical confrontation. He wasn¡¯t going to leap away this time. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey closed the gap between them incredibly fast. When it was a mere six feet away, Xavier burst forward in a flash of speed. The beast¡¯s tails whipped out, as though they were going to grab him. This time, Xavier was prepared. He dodged one tail and grabbed the other tight in his hand. His Grip Strength trait made it so that the beast couldn¡¯t take back its tail, but it didn¡¯t look as though it was worried. It had gotten as close as it needed to. It swung Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff directly at him. Xavier didn¡¯t move to dodge¡ªhe could see the surprise written on the beast¡¯s face at that. Instead, Xavier used an ability he rarely used, but one that he valued. Xavier activated the imbued ability of his Midnight Robes¡ªOtherworld Phase. His Midnight Scythe sailed straight through him as though he wasn¡¯t there at all. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but grin at the sight of the utter bewilderment written on his enemy¡¯s face. The Otherworld Phase didn¡¯t last long. Xavier took the beast¡¯s shock as an opportunity. He gripped onto his scythe-staff as the beast pulled it back toward himself. His fingers wrapped around the shaft of his scythe-staff and held fast. A tug of war began. Xavier¡¯s grip was strong¡ªstronger than it had ever been¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t as strong as the beast he faced. Neither Xavier nor the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey were willing to let go of the scythe-staff. There was a loud creaking sound. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. He knew what that was¡ªbut before he could do anything about it, his Midnight Scythe snapped in half. Book 4: Chapter 57 - Battle Lust Snaaaaaaap! Xavier¡¯s eyes widened in shock. In the tug of war between himself and the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, his Midnight Scythe had snapped clean in half. Shock was written on the alpha¡¯s face just the same. It was strange seeing shock after so much rage had been etched on it since Xavier¡¯s first glance of the beast. The sound was a terrible one. Fragments of the staff¡ªdark splinters from the break¡ªflew through the air like shrapnel from a dirty bomb. Bits of the staff embedded themselves into Xavier¡¯s robes, going so far as to dig into his skin, though they didn¡¯t do him any damage. The splinters of the scythe-staff didn¡¯t harm the D Grade beast Xavier faced. A yawning pit seemed to open up in Xavier¡¯s stomach. He hadn¡¯t wielded the Midnight Scythe long, but it had been the strongest weapon he¡¯d ever possessed. Strange, how he felt this loss so acutely for something he simply picked up at the System Shop. There wasn¡¯t time for him to dwell on the loss, however. Xavier took the opportunity of the alpha being in shock to strike out with his newly acquired claws. He cast Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, wondering if the spell would even work now that he didn¡¯t wield an external weapon¡ªhe certainly wouldn¡¯t have been able to use Heavy Telekinesis to help him in this situation like he had used it with his scythe-staff. The spell worked. Xavier¡¯s strike was strengthened. He had aimed his attack at the beast¡¯s exposed neck. His reach wasn¡¯t near as long as the long-armed monkey-beast, but up this close he didn¡¯t need it to be. A gash opened up on the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s neck. Four long gouges spurting blood. The beast had yet more shock on its face as it clutched a hand to the wound. But its counterattack came swiftly. The two tails gripped onto Xavier with such force that he wasn¡¯t sure he would be able to budge them in the same way as he had before¡ªto the point where he thought some sort of spell must be involved. The fact the tails glowed a harsh orange only supported his assertion. Xavier didn¡¯t struggle. He didn¡¯t cast Heavy Telekinesis and Hover Dodge like he had before. And he was no longer in a position to use Otherworld Phase, as that imbued ability was still in cooldown. Instead, he clamped his teeth into one of the beast¡¯s tails and chomped down with all his might. The skill, Red In Tooth And Claw, had gained several ranks during the fighting, only further enhancing every single one of Xavier¡¯s unarmed attacks. Like the one he had just performed. A screeching scream came from the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey as Xavier¡¯s teeth dug into his prey. The tail, though strong and tough, was cut clean through by Xavier¡¯s teeth. It came off, and the grip it had on him loosened, but there was still one more tail on him. Xavier took that moment to cast more spells. He used Spirit Break on the beast yet again, and after the physical attacks it had just suffered, the spell appeared to have more of an effect than it ever had on the beast in the past. It¡¯s becoming vulnerable. Xavier thought the beast¡¯s rage would somehow make it drop its mental guard, but he had quickly realised that this beast¡ªmuch like its brethren that Xavier had slain¡ªused anger as fuel. It wasn¡¯t something Xavier could goad it into in the hopes that the beast would have cracks in its mental defence. But apparently hurting it physically had a different effect¡­ Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the beast once more. He didn¡¯t know how much damage the spell did, but it was enough to make the alpha stumble backward in pain. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey did not remain idle. With its remaining tail still gripped around Xavier, it pulled him close and tore a claw straight at his robes¡ªor, at least, it tried to. Xavier cast Soul Block. He used five souls in the spell¡ªnot a massive amount, but enough, he hoped, to blunt this attack. Soul Block had a similar problem to Soul Strike¡ªits cooldown was calculated based on how many souls one infused into it, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the spell for another five seconds. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s claw was blunted by the soul apparitions that appeared, but the attack was not fully thwarted. It still thudded into his chest and knocked the air straight out of him, taking away 5 percent of his health in the mix. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but grin back at the beast, however, as 5 percent of his health wasn¡¯t a great deal. Xavier grabbed at the beast¡¯s arm before it was out of his reach and dug his claws deep into the alpha¡¯s flesh. Heavy Telekinesis! Xavier¡¯s feet were dug deep in the ground. Not just his feet, either¡ªthe claws that had grown from them. He¡¯d managed to tear through the front of his boots, and now he was clinging to the ground as strongly as he could manage. The Heavy Telekinesis spell pushed the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey backward. With only a single tail holding onto Xavier, it wasn¡¯t enough for the beast to keep its grip on him. The alpha was thrown backward through the air. As it was thrown backward, Xavier¡¯s claws gauged a long line through the beast¡¯s arm. Core Burn! The spell slammed into his enemy midair. Previously, the spell hadn¡¯t had any effect on the beast. Its mental toughness¡ªits Willpower¡ªhad simply been too strong. It had resisted his attack easily. This time, however, Xavier was sure there were cracks in that mental barrier. The Core Burn spell didn¡¯t appear to hurt it, but it did appear to occupy some of the beast¡¯s attention. Xavier stepped forward as two of his spells reached the ends of their cooldowns. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! Once more he slammed the spells into his enemy, once more he saw the damage they wrought. It wasn¡¯t enough¡ªnot nearly enough¡ªbut it was a start. Xavier stepped over one of the broken halves of his Midnight Scythe as he headed toward the beast that had been responsible for destroying it. All around them, his enemies lay dead. Thousands of corpses left to rot in the sun. Soon, he was sure, the carrion eaters would be there to clean the area of the beasts. Time would go by, and at some point in the near future it would look as though the beasts had never existed at all. That was the fate he wished the alpha to suffer. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey flipped through the air and landed easily on the ground. It roared and leapt straight back at Xavier. There was something different in the way that it moved. Something more¡­ violent than before. Xavier had seen this beast¡¯s rage. Now he was seeing what the beast was like when it was wounded¡ªwhen it felt cornered. Something glowed about the beast¡¯s horn. It wasn¡¯t the red, now-familiar glow of one of these beast¡¯s energy beams. This was altogether different.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A wall sprang up around the beast. A translucent barrier that didn¡¯t stretch more than half a foot in front of it. Xavier stared at the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey as it bounded toward him, wondering what this defence was. He cast another of his spells against the beast¡ªthe barrier, however, stopped the spell from working at all. Xavier blinked, a little awestruck by that fact. The description of the beast did say that it was able to conjure defences. He supposed that wasn¡¯t limited to dispersing attacks onto its brethren like he might have thought. Another glow appeared, this time it was green and surrounded the beast entirely. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey began to move even faster than before. Speed Infusion. Its D Grade, of course it would have multiple cores unlocked. Xavier wanted to stand his ground, but he worried that even with all the physical strength and power he¡¯d gained from his Assimilate Properties skill, he was still no match for this beast up close. If I had my scythe-staff¡­ But he didn¡¯t have his scythe-staff. Xavier had a decision to make. A grin alighted on his face. He mourned the loss of his weapon¡ªfelt it more deeply than he¡¯d expected. And he wished revenge against the beast that had taken it from him, then subsequently let it be destroyed. Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. It was time for him to call upon the Spirit of Vengeance once more. He simply hoped his reason for revenge would be enough this time. He knew he could have called upon the Spirit of Protection¡ªthe spirit¡¯s defences would have helped him in this situation quite well. He would likely be able to duke it out with the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey until he¡¯d broken down its mental defences enough for not only Core Burn to hurt it, but for Willpower Infusion to work on it. But he couldn¡¯t help but want to summon the dragon once more. Colour drained from the world as a now-familiar humming sounded in his ear. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier chose the Spirit of Vengeance. A bright light formed, and soon, the dragon could once more be seen standing before Xavier. It moved its massive head from side to side and let out a large sigh of relief. Young Denizen, it is good to see you once more. The giant dragon cocked its head to one side. Though I do hope that you have summoned me for a legitimate reason. It leant forward, so that its teeth were only a scant few feet from Xavier¡¯s head. Xavier could not smell its breath¡ªthe beast was not entirely corporeal¡ªand for that he was grateful. I would hate to have to rip you to shreds and devour you where you stand. It¡¯s been many years since I¡¯ve tasted the blood of a reaper. Xavier narrowed his eyes. You don¡¯t sound all that cut up about the prospect of killing me. Death comes to all things. I enjoy being the one to deal it. Right. Xavier scratched his head. Well, there will be no dealing of my death today. He bobbed his head toward the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. That beast¡­ A scowl took up residence on Xavier¡¯s forehead. It stole my weapon, then the weapon was broken in two as I tried to retrieve it. The Spirit of Vengeance threw back its head and laughed. You call upon my revenge for a broken weapon? You play a dangerous game, teetering on what is possible with these spells, young Denizen. Were I another spirit, I might deem that it wasn¡¯t enough. That weapon meant a great deal to me. There was resolve in Xavier¡¯s words, but¡­ they were thin. And¡­ I have a link on a vessel for your spirit. This got the dragon¡¯s attention. Its gaze locked on Xavier¡¯s like a snake staring at a mouse. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he liked that gaze. You wish to summon me into the mortal realm? The dragon¡¯s voice sounded different than it had before. There was a seriousness to the tone that Xavier hadn¡¯t heard from the spirit from the Otherworld. And something else. A hint of¡­ hope? I do not simply wish it, dragon. I will do it. Mark my words. The dragon tilted its head up, looking down at Xavier through half-slitted eyes. Do you know, I actually believe you. The dragon turned toward the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. I sense this beast is even more powerful than the one you had me face before it. But I also sense you have grown much in power since then¡­ A pause. And yet, not much time has passed. Xavier nodded. He took that moment to look about the battlefield. Discarded, almost forgotten, were his soul puppets. They had been stuck outside the time bubble as he¡¯d fought, but now that the time bubble was down, perhaps there could be a use for them once more. He had created a hundred of them¡ªfar more than he had ever managed in the past. Once time started moving forward again, Xavier would ensure that he sent them a mental command so that they would once more join the fray. I shall fight for you once more, young Denizen, and hope that you hold yourself to your words. Us spirits have long memories. I will not be lied to. Xavier hadn¡¯t heard such venom in the dragon¡¯s words before. It made Xavier wonder if perhaps the Spirit of Vengeance had been through this before. When he had used Otherworldly Communion, the spirit he had spoken to had told him that many spirits from the Otherworld wished to gain passage back into the mortal realm. How many times had the dragon tried just such a thing with a Denizen who had summoned it, and only ever been met with false hope? Xavier had renewed vigour in his plan to secure a vessel for the dragon, even if it wasn¡¯t something that he could do at present. Time moved forward once more. Colour returned to the world. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey faltered in its run as it saw the dragon appear as though from nowhere. The dragon swooped into the air then curled its wings at its side as it plummeted straight down toward the beast. A beam of red light shot from the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s horn, but the beam simply went straight through the dragon as though it wasn¡¯t there at all. And, in a sense, it wasn¡¯t there. The dragon opened its giant maw and let forth a stream of ice and fire as it had in the past. The attack struck the alpha head on, and¡ªunlike the Magma Bull¡ªit did not appear to have any resistance to the spell. Ice spread over its body even as the fire burned through it. Xavier didn¡¯t know how both elements could work as one without cancelling each other out, but if he was going to start asking how things worked in the Greater Universe, he¡¯d never run out of questions and never get anything else done. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkeys movements slowed as the ice overtook its body. The effects, Xavier knew, wouldn¡¯t last long, so he had to make the best of them as swiftly as possible. Xavier burst forward in a sprint. On each step, his claws clacked against the forest floor. It was a strange sensation; one he wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to get used to. The dragon swooped back into the air after its attack. It was turning back around fast for another strike. Xavier reached the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey first. He felt a deep rage well up within. A primal force. The battle lust was upon him, and his enemy was more vulnerable than ever. Telekinetic Enhanced Strike! Xavier cast the spell as he slashed his claws across the beast¡¯s chest, tearing through its tough skin and making the alpha bleed once more. Power welled up within him as the blood dripped from the wound. Something in him wished to lap it up, but he fought that instinct¡ªhe was not a beast. He was still himself. Slash! He went for the neck, reopening the first wounds he¡¯d made on this beast. Xavier tore, and gouged, and cut, and slashed, and maimed. His mind was split in two. He observed himself and all that he was doing to his enemy. There was a ferocity to the movements that surprised him. He was not moving like a reaper¡ªhe was moving like someone, something else. And even the mind that was not connected to what was happening enjoyed it. This battle lust¡­ this blood lust, it was infecting every part of him. Not once had his claws retracted again. There was an odd noise happening somewhere near him. A strange hacking-coughing sound. It was deep and powerful and filled the entire battlefield. Sometime during Xavier¡¯s strikes a notification popped up into his vision. A kill notification for the beast he was fighting. Xavier ignored it. He kept striking the beast. It took a moment for the other part of his mind¡ªthe one that was supposed to be observing using his Farscope ability, keeping detached¡ªto rein him in and stop the attacks. His chest was rising and falling even more swiftly than before. Blood thrummed through his veins. The corpse of the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey lay at his feet. Another notification had popped up¡ªhe had just reached Level 170¡ªbut Xavier ignored it. He was too busy staring down at the pool of blood that was soaking the dirt beneath the dead beast. That¡¯s when he realised what that strange, deep, coughing sound had been. It was the Spirit of Vengeance¡¯s laughter. The dragon had been watching the fight, laughing its head off. You summoned me to fight and yet you deal death to the enemy so swiftly. I do not often notice the details in humanoid Denizens, for you all¡ªno matter the race¡ªlook so similar to me, but something tells me there has been a change in you, young Denizen. I did not think you possessed claws in the past. Xavier was still staring down at the blood, wanting nothing more than to lap it up. He took a step toward it before he stopped himself and blinked. He shook his head. Some of the battle lust he¡¯d been feeling was leaving him. He looked down at his hands. At the claws that had formed. The Spirit of Vengeance had been summoned to fight the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, and with its prey dead it disappeared back to the Otherworld. Xavier stood alone on the battlefield, wondering what was becoming of him. And wondering why it was he liked it so much. He knelt in the dirt, blood touching his robes, and placed a hand on the alpha. Xavier deposited the corpse of the beast into his Storage Ring. When he was D Grade, he would be able to use Assimilate Properties on parts dismantled from the beast. And right now, he wanted nothing more than to do that. Book 4: Chapter 58 - The Beast Xavier sped back to the grove where he knew Liana would be waiting. The further removed he was from the battle he¡¯d just been in, the more doubt crept into him. That was not how one such as him fought. He reaped souls. Used spells. He did not tear and rip and claw. It made him wonder what would happen when he reached D Grade and was given his next class choice. What kind of options would he unlock if he continued down this path? He had contemplated returning to Hunter¡¯s Home and slipping back into the Staging Room to purchase a new scythe-staff, but he had been hoping that his next weapon would be a soul bound one¡ªand with his newly acquired unarmed combat skill¡­ he was confused about what path to walk. On his return to the grove, Xavier had slain several beasts, ensuring that his soulkeeping reserve was at its fullest after having used those five souls in Soul Block. He returned to the clearing to find Liana sitting on her favourite armchair, flipping over to the next page in the book she was reading, with a scattering of different beast corpses around her. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve returned.¡± Liana snapped the book shut. ¡°I thought you would be a bit faster than¡ª¡± The time mage stopped her words short as she got a look at him. ¡°What the hell did you do?¡± Xavier cast Time Alteration. There was something comforting about being inside of that spell, inside of one of his time bubbles. He felt better having long conversations in one of them too. A time dilation field now around them, Xavier stepped over to the middle of the grove and summoned a chair of his own to sit on. He sunk into it and let out a sigh. He only considered for a moment whether he should lie about what he¡¯d been doing, or simply hold back from saying anything about it at all. But he had no reason to keep this from Liana. Besides, she knew far more about, well, everything, in the Greater Universe than he did. So Xavier explained to the woman exactly what he had done, and exactly what predicament he had found himself in. ¡°Is this a dangerous path to walk?¡± he said, once he¡¯d gotten to the end. Liana had been peering at him was a blank face for the time that he had spoken. Considering the nature of the way that Xavier trained within the time dilation field, he¡¯d actually spend more time with this woman that anyone else since he had been integrated into the Greater Universe by the System¡ªan odd thing to contemplate. It was rare the woman remained so quiet¡ªrare she looked so serious. She did not respond right away. She took her time. Their conversations went like this, on occasion. Time was not an issue here, and so sometimes their responses stretched. As they were both practiced in the art of patience¡ªLiana far more so than Xavier¡ªit hadn¡¯t bothered him. Until now. When she finally responded, Xavier felt as though hours had passed, though he knew it been a scant few minutes. ¡°I have heard of Racial Shifts before, but this¡­ this is an unusual way to activate one. And the skill is an epic skill¡­ Those are more rare than you might think. The more I get to know you, the more layers I peel pack and find something even stranger lying beneath.¡± ¡°Uh, thanks,¡± Xavier replied. Liana shook her head. ¡°There is nothing wrong with being strange.¡± She lowered her head. ¡°I wish I knew what advice to give you. I don¡¯t have any experience with what you¡¯re doing, and I have no idea how it will affect you or your class choices in the future.¡± Xavier nodded. If he were honest with himself¡ªand he always tried to be-he hadn¡¯t expected the woman to magically come up with an answer for him. This was outside of the realm of normal, even when ¡°normal¡± had an incredibly broad definition. There was someone¡ªor rather, something¡ªhe could ask insight from, however. Otherwordly Communion was not in cooldown. He could easily summon a spirit to speak his questions to. He lowered his head in contemplation, wondering how he would even phrase his question. ¡°Is this a good idea?¡± sounded like too vague a way of doing it. He imagined asking a spirit from the Otherworld for insight was much like getting a wish from a genie¡ªif he wasn¡¯t specific enough, what he got in return might not be what he was after at all. Xavier clasped his hands together, looking at the claws. He had been out of combat for a little while now, and still they remained the same. He ran his tongue over his teeth. Shifted his feet, his claws clacking on the floor of the grove. Xavier had several paths that he was walking. He considered his main path to be that of a reaper. He took souls from the dead and he used them in battle¡ªeven if that hadn¡¯t been his primary means of attack since coming to this floor. He also had the ability of mind control with Willpower Infusion, with that path came the spell Core Burn. This had allowed him to deal tremendous blows against enemies, rendering them helpless against him, or even briefly turning them into his allies. He also had the path of melee fighting, which had recently become more powerful with the addition of Telekinetic Enhanced Strike. Though this path had grown stronger, he still considered it to be his weakest asset. Finally, there was the path he was walking the most on this floor¡ªthat of a time mage. He now had two spells for this path¡ªTime Alteration and Time Prison. Xavier was sure that it was unusual for a single Denizen to be able to walk so many different path toward power. Liana had spoken to him of this already, saying what an oddity he was, even before he¡¯d told her about Assimilate Properties and how it was currently changing him. Could I walk down yet another path? Or would this path simply be the path of melee fighting, enhanced and changed dramatically? He had wanted to find a soul bound weapon. Something that could grow in power with him, so that he would not have to keep finding new weapons what felt like every single week. He outgrew every single piece of gear that he attained. Xavier remembered looking at the Stave of the Otherworldly Reaper in the System Shop, staring at the price of the thing, wondering if one day that could be a weapon that he wielded. Scythe-staff weapons had become a part of his identity, and yet¡­ Could this be the solution to me outgrowing gear? Instead of finding gear that grows with me, could I not simply grow myself? He looked down at the Dark Steel Bracers about his forearms, and thought of the imbued abilities that items could offer him. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think gear would help him, just that¡­ this could be a way to circumvent his need to always gain more items. But it wasn¡¯t just the practical aspects of this path that he needed to consider. He also had to consider the fact that during that fight, the battle lust had taken over him to such a degree that he had almost lost his own will. He had stared down at the blood on the ground and a part of him had wanted to¡­ lap it up. He only now wondered at what would have happened if he¡¯d given into that urge. What if drinking the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s blood had activated his Assimilate Properties skill? He shook his head. That would not have been good¡ªbut that didn¡¯t happen. He hadn¡¯t let the bestial part of him that was growing take over. He had used it to his advantage. His Time Alteration spell was incredibly powerful, but it had its drawbacks. One of those drawbacks was that he couldn¡¯t reliably use spells within the time dilation field.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He could use spells within it¡ªbut only a single time, unless he had some way of cooling down his spells, like gaining a level, or the imbued ability that he¡¯d lost when his scythe-staff had been taken from his grasp then split in two. Or even slowing time in the bubble down so time outside of it moved faster like he had with the Stone Bear. But the way he had fought the pack-hard of Rhinoceros Monkeys, he hadn¡¯t needed any spells¡ªhis physical fighting abilities had won out. He pondered different situations in which he could use that to his advantage. He could trap mages, whose power was in their spells, within a time dilation field. That way, there would be a hard limit on what they could do inside the time bubble. And he could tear them apart with claw and tooth. He found himself grinning at that and noticed that his teeth stabbed into his bottom lip. ¡°Well, that looks sinister,¡± Liana remarked. She opened her book back up and began reading. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re deep in thought. Let me know when you wish to continue your training.¡± Xavier remained silent. The woman didn¡¯t need for him to respond to know that he had heard her. Contemplating walking down this path of power made Xavier aware just how many paths he was walking. He had never really stopped to think about how versatile his spellset was, even if he had been told that in the past. He had simply been gathering spells and skills as he went along, embracing that which he found useful and building upon them, like he imagined any other Denizen in the Greater Universe would. But Xavier was clearly unlike other Denizens in several respects¡ªone of those being that he had been visited by the Voice of the System. Could the System have something to do with why I¡¯m able to walk so many paths? Could it have changed me, somehow? Or is this all me? He didn¡¯t really like the idea of the System giving him an edge like that, and he didn¡¯t really think that was what was going on here, either. The older version of himself had said that the System didn¡¯t give people levels and titles¡ªthat it just facilitated them. That was still something Xavier didn¡¯t understand. The System could put him into difficult situations that forced his growth¡ªlike how it threw him into the hundredth floor¡ªand it could reward him for his actions, but it couldn¡¯t force him to walk down any particular path. Every single choice that he had made had been his own¡ªeven if he was wrong about that, he didn¡¯t want to think otherwise. He turned away from that train of thought. He tapped his clawed foot on the ground as he contemplated his next move. He could call upon a spirit from the Otherworld to ask them advice on this, but a part of him worried about what answer he would receive to his question. He sighed. It was a question that needed to be asked. And so, Xavier cast Otherworldly Communion. Once more the world bled its colour. Once more time froze for him and him alone. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. Xavier chose Personal Insight and, as instructed, held the question he had for the spirit in his mind. A bright light blossomed in his vision, one that quickly dissipated to reveal the spirit he had summoned to answer his question. He¡¯d half-expected to see the spirit he¡¯d seen the last time that he¡¯d used this spell¡ªthe one that had been, well, a hamster. But this was something altogether different. It was humanoid, that much was clear, but it had the head of a tiger, the tusks of a boar, the legs of a goat, and the wings of¡­ well, he wasn¡¯t quite sure what creature¡ªother than this one¡ªmight possess wings like that. Perhaps they were that of an eagle? Xavier blinked at the sight of the strange creature. Why have you summoned me here, Denizen? The voice was a deep rumble, though not near as deep as the Spirit of Vengeance. I wish to ask a question. Xavier detailed his Assimilate Properties skill, what it had been doing to him and how it had influenced his mind, along with the Racial Shift notification that he¡¯d received. I wish to know if walking down this path will cause the beast to take over. Above all, I wish to remain myself. The strange creature stared at him. It stood tall at eight feet in height and looked down at him through snake-like eyes. It was a long moment before the beast replied to Xavier¡¯s question. The moment stretched so long that Xavier almost asked the question a second time, and was starting to wonder if this odd-looking creature could understand him at all. You are mistaken, the creature finally said, its voice a deep rumble in Xavier¡¯s mind. Mistaken? Xavier frowned. What do you mean? The creature tilted its head to one side. You speak as though there are two entities within you. He motioned toward Xavier¡¯s chest, pointing with two clawed fingers. The claws looked far sharper than Xavier¡¯s own. But that is simply not the case. Whether you embrace this path or not, the parts of you that you have assimilated are not other¡ªit is not you and the beast. You are you, and you are the beast. By adapting your body in this way, you are altering not just your mind, but your very soul. Xavier blinked, contemplating what the creature had just said. He looked at the ground, his forehead creasing in thought. I think my question remains. You must be careful what you do. That is all the advice that I can give you on this matter. Walk the path you choose¡ªdo not let the path choose you. If this is what you are going to do, always ensure you are taking in things that do not change you in ways you do not wish to be changed. As you grow, you will better learn how to harness and influence these changes within yourself. He put a hand to his chest. Just as I eventually learnt the same my own journey. Xavier stared at the creature with the odd amalgamation of body parts. He had thought, the moment he had seen this spirit from the Otherworld, that perhaps it had done similar things to what Xavier was doing now. Looking at the beast¡ªor, he supposed it wasn¡¯t a beast, but a Denizen¡ªmade him worry about his own future. I can¡¯t ask any more questions, can I? Not until the next time you summon me. The creature disappeared. The conversation ending before Xavier was ready for it to end. Apparently whatever controlled this spell¡ªperhaps the creature he had just spoken to¡ªhad deemed his conversation over. The world shifted, time began to move forward again. Though that wasn¡¯t strictly true, as he was still within the time dilation field. Liana was staring at him intently. ¡°What is it you just did?¡± Xavier looked over at the time mage. ¡°What do you mean? What do you think just happened?¡± The woman shook her head, a slight look of doubt on her face. Her gaze turned downward. ¡°I thought I had sensed¡­ a shift in time, as though something powerful was exerting its influence upon it in this area.¡± Xavier leant forward. ¡°You sensed that?¡± ¡°That?¡± Liana asked. ¡°What do you mean by that? What exactly is it that you did?¡± Xavier explained his Otherwordly Communion spell to the woman, telling her the question he¡¯d just asked. ¡°You are the beast¡­¡± Liana trailed off. Blinked. Then stared at Xavier. ¡°I wish I could offer some kind of insight on this. Honestly, that¡¯s a dumb way to answer your question.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ve learnt anything. It was a waste of the spell.¡± And, as with every other time he had used an Otherworldly spell, he knew that it would have hidden effects¡ªknew that it could cause damage to his soul. Though Xavier had been honest to Liana about many things, that was one thing that he had decided to keep to himself. ¡°So, what are you going to do?¡± Liana asked. ¡°From what I hear, this is a powerful skill you¡¯ve got.¡± Xavier looked down at his claws. ¡°It is. Though I¡¯m not sure about how it¡¯s changing me.¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°Every skill and spell that you gain, every experience you have or person you meet, will change you in some way. This is just something that will change you in a different way.¡± Xavier scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s not helpful.¡± Liana shrugged again. ¡°I did say I couldn¡¯t offer any insight.¡± Xavier took a moment to think. Liana turned back to her book. She could tell when he needed some silence, which was something Xavier was grateful for. He wasn¡¯t good at asking for such a thing¡ªhe never knew what the right words to make sure the other person he was with wasn¡¯t offended was. He stood up and paced around the inside of the time bubble that he¡¯d created. His claws clacked against the ground. That was something he was already getting used to, even if the sensation was a strange one. He wondered if there was a difference in his gait, in the way that he walked, to before he had taken in all of these different properties. I am the beast. It sounded like the spirit thought that realisation would be some mighty revelation. To Xavier, it felt¡­ flat. I am the beast¡­ The way he had ripped into the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡­ if he was to believe the words of the Otherworldly spirit, and he didn¡¯t doubt the spirit¡¯s truthfulness, it would mean that what he¡¯d done back there¡­ it had all been him. He¡¯d been the one to rip out its throat, one strike with his mighty claws at a time. He¡¯d acted like¡­ an animal, the way that he had lost control. Or, well, that wasn¡¯t strictly true. He hadn¡¯t entirely lost control. He had performed the exact task that he had set out to do¡ªkill the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. He¡¯d just done it more viscerally than he¡¯d expected. If I am the beast, then I can control it. He stopped pacing and looked down at his claws. He tilted his head to one side and truly examined them. Patience. Order your thoughts. I am the beast¡ªI am in control. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how long he stood there, staring down at his claws. It didn¡¯t truly matter how much time passed, something far more important was passing in his mind. An understanding of himself that he hadn¡¯t had before was developing the deeper he delved into his unconscious. Eventually, something clicked. Xavier discovered the mechanism he was after. It existed within him, and he exerted his will upon it. The claws retracted. The beast could not take over, for Xavier was the beast. Book 4: Chapter 59 - Predator’s Gaze Xavier punched his clawed hand straight into the wolven¡¯s chest. He tore through muscle and sinew, cut through fat and bone, until he reached what he was after, grabbed hold of it, and ripped. He grasped a chunk of the wolven¡¯s heart, holding it gripped tight in his hand. A kill notification sprang into his vision the instant he¡¯d ripped it out. Xavier tilted his chin up, staring through half-slitted eyes at the heart. Blood poured through his fingers, its slow trail staining his skin red, but it slid straight off hid Midnight Robes, unable to cling to the self-cleaning surface that they maintained. There was a thrum in his chest as his own heart beat hard, pumping blood through him at a rate quicker than was usual for his body. As was normal for him since his transformation had begun, his heart was not beating faster from the fight. No, it was beating faster because he wanted to tear through the chunk of the wolven¡¯s heart he held in his hand. He wanted to devour it. I am in control. Xavier¡¯s breathing¡ªwhich had been ratcheted up to twice what was normal¡ªslowed. He tossed the heart off to the side and looked through the barrier of his time dilation field. He was standing in the middle of a clearing not far from the grove where he¡¯d been training with Liana, surrounded by a pack of wolven. Well, it was only half a pack of wolven now that he had dealt with the first four members. Their corpses were strewn across the grass around him within the time bubble, but the rest of their kin¡ªincluding the grey-furred, stocky beast that was their alpha¡ªwere awaiting him outside of it. The moment he popped the time bubble they would be upon him. And he relished the moment. Xavier looked through his notifications. It wasn¡¯t just kill notifications that he had received. Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 31! Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 32! Red In Tooth And Claw has reached Rank 49! Iron Grip has reached Rank 17! Xavier smiled. He was making good progress. He hadn¡¯t gained any new spells since assimilating the properties from the Rhinoceros Monkeys, but he had gained several new skills that were proving to be quite useful in his new path. He was also gaining better control over himself while he was in this¡­ bestial state. He still felt like an unchained, wild beast¡ªbut an unchained, wild beast that he knew how to push the buttons of. One he knew how to guide toward the right actions. Xavier came to stand right at the edge of the time barrier. Two parts of him warred, as they often did now. The new bestial part of him wanted to bring the barrier down and charge the grey-furred wolven before taking on any of the others. Taking out the alpha would show his strength, and it would take out the enemy¡¯s biggest threat. The bestial part of him had no regard for strategy. It did not look at the situation in that way. It knew it was strong enough to rip through that alpha¡ªknew that it would be able to survive. But it did not think much beyond that. It¡¯s right, Xavier thought. Then, he corrected himself. I am the beast. I¡¯m right. He would survive the fight if he took it that way, but he didn¡¯t wish to. The other part of the two sides that warred within him wished to take a more measured approach. The way taking on these beast parts had affected him¡­ it gave him the will to act even more profoundly than he¡¯d experienced in the past. Xavier had always pushed forward¡ªalways moved before thinking too hard on something. It had been an asset to him. It was also, perhaps from a different perspective, his biggest flaw. The bestial part of him brought that out in him even more. But if he¡¯d learnt anything since coming to this floor it was that a degree of caution was a wise thing for him to cultivate, so even though he did know he could tear the alpha limb-from-limb, he prevented himself from acting upon that impulse. Instead, Xavier pushed the time barrier forward, making a bridge to the next of the wolven, allowing him to fight the beast one-on-one. Xavier left the grey-furred wolven last. He didn¡¯t continue carving a path with his Time Alteration spell. Instead, he deactivated the spell. The time bubble came down, and the alpha saw the dead wolven around him. One moment his kin had been alive¡ªthe next, they were all lying dead on the ground. Xavier had done a similar thing to the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. He had been expecting the grey-furred wolven to react in the same way as that beast had¡ªwith rage. With an attack. Instead, it yelped, turned, and bolted through the forest. Xavier blinked as he stared at the wolven that was running from him. Beasts were many things, but he had never known them to be cowards. There had only been one beast in his experience that had ever run from a Denizen, and that had been the beast¡ªthe kraken¡ªthat he had encountered on the floor where he¡¯d met the older version of himself. According to Adranial, beasts like that¡ªones that know they are both predator and prey¡ªare rather rare in the Greater Universe. The thing was, he had faced beasts like the fleeing grey-furred wolven before. The other wolven had most certainly not been cowards. They had fought to the bitter end, even when it was clear that their efforts would be futile. Even after he had obliterated their kin. They fought more ferociously, not less¡ªand they certainly didn¡¯t run away. Does this have something to do with the change that I¡¯m undergoing? Xavier barely hesitated. All these thoughts zipped through his mind as he tore through the forest in a sprint, pursuing the grey-furred wolven that had fled from him. His instincts had kicked in. The beast ran, and so he made chase. The beast barely put up a fight. There was so much fear in its eyes. That¡¯s something he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever really seen in a beast¡¯s eyes before¡ªfear. Beasts weren¡¯t known to let their fear get the better of them. Not in his experience. The grey-furred alpha died swiftly. Xavier stood, staring down at the corpse of the alpha. Fear was still written on its face, even in death. As the experience of seeing fear in a beast was so alien to Xavier, he sat, cross-legged on the ground, just a few feet from the dead wolven, and contemplated what it was that had happened.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. That was when a notification popped up in his vision. No¡ªit wasn¡¯t just one notification. It was two. You have learnt the skill Predator¡¯s Gaze! Predator¡¯s Gaze - Rank 1 You have the gaze of a True Predator of the Greater Universe. Enemies quiver in fear at the sight of you. There is a small chance of making an enemy flee in fear from you, or freeze up at the sight of you. This chance is higher or lower depending on the relative power level of the enemy compared to that of your own. Xavier tilted his head as he read the description for the skill. Predator¡¯s Gaze? Well, that was interesting. He¡¯d gained a fair few skills since using Assimilate Properties so heavily, and embracing the bestial part of himself as best he could. This would definitely be something that would work to his advantage in the future. He wondered if this skill would work against other Denizens, or if it was something that would only work against beasts. The description hadn¡¯t specified, so he wasn¡¯t sure why it wouldn¡¯t work on Denizens, too. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. He imagined himself walking through a busy, peaceful area¡ªperhaps back in his own city, that the citizens had dubbed Collinsville, much to his dismay¡ªand having people flee from him in fear just because they looked at him. He paused for a moment. Was that something he should be laughing at? Striking fear in the heart of his own people, people he wished to protect? He shook his head. He couldn¡¯t help but find it a little funny, even if he didn¡¯t truly want to frighten his people. The second notification that had popped up was a Spell Quest. Spell Quest Unlocked: Fear Dominion To unlock Fear Dominion, you must strike fear into the hearts of a thousand enemies. Progress: 1/1000 Fear Dominion. Well. He had to say he liked the sound of the spell¡¯s name, even if it didn¡¯t describe anything about what it did. Striking fear into a thousand beasts¡­ that sounded at once like a difficult thing to do, and also like an incredibly easy thing to do in the long term, now that he¡¯d gained his new Predator¡¯s Gaze skill. Statistically, he would eventually unlock this spell even if he wasn¡¯t trying very hard to do so. Xavier interlocked his fingers where he still sat on the forest floor and pondered how he might be able to speed up the process. If he could encounter another stampede like that one he had just faced, the chances of him striking fear into lower-level beasts went up¡­ Or, he could be patient. There were other goals he wished to pursue, after all. Xavier stood up and stretched. He placed a hand on the corpse of the wolven he had just killed and deposited it into his Storage Ring, then he returned to the clearing where he had killed the other members of the pack, and repeated the process with the corpses he¡¯d left behind. Xavier was pushing himself harder and harder to take out as many beasts as he could in the time between his lessons with Liana. Part of the reason for this was because facing D Grade beasts was the easiest way for him to rank up his spells and skills¡ªthe other part of this was because he wished to gain the rank of D Grade himself. He felt as though he had spent far too long stuck as an E Grade Champion, and though he had cultivated a fair amount of patience under the tutelage of Liana, there were things that he wished to accomplish on this floor¡ªand beyond it. Things that he desired to come closer to. While the manner of this floor along with his newfound Time Alteration spell meant that he wasn¡¯t technically in any sort of rush, he still felt the need to act. The need to constantly keep moving forward. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to become strong enough to take on that C Grade dragon as an E Grade. And so he pushed, and pushed, and pushed, gaining as many levels as swiftly as he could. Over the next few weeks¡ªweeks in the time of the hundredth floor¡ªLiana¡¯s lessons became less frequent. There was less and less that the woman was able to teach him. He had already mastered his ability to use the Time Alteration spell, pushing it beyond even what Liana herself was capable of. The time mage showed more and more respect for Xavier as time went on, becoming more attentive in his lessons than she had at the outset¡ªthough that didn¡¯t mean she¡¯d stopped reading her books. He¡¯d also pushed his Time Prison spell forward, but he was quickly finding that even though the spell was powerful, it wasn¡¯t near as versatile as his Time Alteration spell. The spell had jumped up considerably in rank, all the way to Rank 32. He was now able to use the spell on multiple opponents¡ªof a limit of three¡ªbefore its cooldown was activated. He could also activate the cooldown manually with a thought if he only wished to use the spell on a single opponent. While trapping three enemies in a Time Prison where they could not escape was quite a wonderful ability, there wasn¡¯t much more to it than that. Though it was helpful that he didn¡¯t need to trap those three enemies at the exact same time. For instance, if he were fighting a pack of wolven, he could slip through them, touch one on the back and freeze it in time, then later touch one of its kin, and so on. This was exactly what Liana was doing the first time they¡¯d run together¡ªshe was using the Time Prison spell. But it wasn¡¯t reliable against stronger enemies. The biggest drawback of the spell was that he never knew when the spell would end. The cooldown worked like this: If he cast it on a single opponent, deciding not to use it on three different opponents, he could manually activate the cooldown. But the cooldown wouldn¡¯t actually start until the enemy he had frozen broke free from the Time Prison, or Xavier freed it from the prison. In that case, he would be able to feel when the cooldown began¡ªand thus know the instant the enemy broke free of it. But if he decided to use it on multiple opponents, he needed to wait until all three of them were freed from the Time Prison. So, if one broke free he wouldn¡¯t be able to feel it at all, as his cooldown would not yet begin. Still, he was better off with the spell than without it. While Liana had taught him to be patient, he was beginning to notice some impatience in the time mage herself. Xavier had spent months with the woman in the time bubbles he¡¯d created. He was beginning to get to know her moods, and he was starting to realise that within the time dilation field the woman was¡­ well, hiding from something. Xavier had never been the best at reading people, and if he were honest, he still wasn¡¯t. But he thought he was beginning to be able to read Liana. Sometimes, there was a darkness in her eyes. They became flat, emotionless, and it seemed as though when she looked at him, she was looking right through him¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t the same glazed over expression that people got when they looked at their status screens. This was definitely different. Every time he saw that look, he thought that it was familiar somehow. It took a while for him to put two-and-two together. The woman had worn the exact same look when she¡¯d been attacked by The Nightmare. When its dark tendrils had been wrapped around her body, crawling over and through her skin ready to take over her mind and make her nothing more than one of its infected minions. Xavier had struggled to make sense of that day. The day that he¡¯d found her and saved her from The Nightmare¡¯s clutches. The woman had made a deal to train him because of that¡ªbut she had never seemed¡­ entirely grateful. Liana had known about The Nightmare¡ªthe C Grade beast that called the Dark Mountains its home¡ªwell before she¡¯d made her way to the mountain. Unlike Xavier, she¡¯d done her research and come in prepared. She¡¯d had plenty of salt within her Storage Ring to repel the beast¡ªthe demon¡ªfrom ever getting as close as it did. Yet whenever he scoured his memory, he couldn¡¯t for the life of him remember the woman having any salt on the ground around her at all. She¡¯d known exactly what to do, but it was almost as though¡­ His mind kept coming to the same, dark conclusion. The woman had gone to The Nightmare with the intention of being taken. With the intention of succumbing to its will and becoming one of its infected minions. Every time his mind came to that conclusion, he didn¡¯t know what to do with it. To him, it made little sense. Why would a Denizen of the Greater Universe ever wish to throw their life away, especially someone with a gift for time magic like this woman? It was a subject he didn¡¯t know how to broach, and one he wasn¡¯t even sure he wished to broach with the woman, but as their lessons together were swiftly coming to an end¡ªLiana wished to be done with this floor¡ªhe didn¡¯t know if he would ever have another opportunity. He didn¡¯t know where in the Greater Universe this woman resided. That, too, was something that he wished to learn. He was playing the long game, there. He knew that his goals were far reaching. That it would take what amounted to an eternity to achieve his ultimate goal of saving the universe from destruction¡ªor whatever it was that would cause the end of it¡ªand he wanted to have as many allies in as many places as he could manage to help in him in his goals. And the best way to make a true ally was through mutual understanding. At least, that¡¯s what he hoped was the case. So when they were back within the time bubble, alone in the grove, not a soul able to hear the contents of their conversation, Xavier cleared his throat and asked the question he wished to pose to her. ¡°Why did you let The Nightmare take you?¡± Liana had been eating some sugary cake-like snack. Her hand was halfway to her mouth when the question had been asked. It froze along the way. Her hand, like the question, simply hang there for a long moment. ¡°What are you asking me?¡± Xavier leant forward. He was sitting on the ground, cross-legged. He¡¯d been working on further attuning his Intelligence attribute, but he was fast hitting a plateau he didn¡¯t know how to break through. ¡°I think you know.¡± The woman¡¯s hand dropped. She looked at him. That same dark look was back in her eyes. But there was something else there, too. Like¡­ a flicker of flame. ¡°There¡¯s someone on that mountain I wish to save.¡± Book 4: Chapter 60 - Looking Forward Xavier stared back at Liana, sitting in the grove within the bubble of time. ¡°There¡¯s someone you wish to save?¡± The woman bit her lip and turned away. ¡°My husband.¡± Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You have a husband?¡± he said, surprised. Liana glared at him. ¡°Of course I have a husband. Why wouldn¡¯t I have a husband?¡± Xavier put his hands up. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that you wouldn¡¯t, I just.¡± He gestured toward her. ¡°You look so young, and¡­¡± Liana sighed. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you meant. Well, of course you would think that. You¡¯re from an unintegrated world. You people age fast, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not anymore,¡± Xavier muttered. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m married. I have been for three years now. We met in the tower, back on the first floor.¡± Xavier kept his astonishment to himself that this woman could have been married for three years. If she met the man in the tower¡­ how many years, exactly, had it taken her to get to the one hundredth floor? Unless they married the moment they met, he had to imagine it had been more than three years¡­ ¡°Were you in the same party?¡± Xavier asked. She shook her head. ¡°No. He was partied with his twin brother, and, well, there are reasons it wasn¡¯t wise for us to party up together.¡± Xavier nodded, as though he understood what those reasons might be, even if he really didn¡¯t. ¡°We met in the tavern at the bottom of the tower. He was in my cohort. Whenever there was a break between floors, we would meet up there. Our parties got to know each other, always hanging out with one another. We eventually started to sync our clearing of floors, never clearing a floor before the other party was ready to if we could help it. When we returned to Ronaran¡ªmy world¡ªwe found each other. Apparently, we had lived only a few streets away in the same city for our entire lives. Born on the same day, yet we¡¯d never met each other. This is rare, considering on my world people born on the same day tend to get to know each other early on, as the chances of them being in the same cohort¡ªespecially if they are in the same area¡ªis incredibly high.¡± Xavier nodded again. This he knew a little something about. He wondered how long it would take people back on Earth to start thinking in this way. He supposed if he steered their thinking toward the goal of creating more Champions for the tower¡­ but with the knowledge that only half the people that tried and make it to the tower actually survived, he couldn¡¯t imagine a great deal would wish to enter. And yet, there are billions upon billions of people in the Greater Universe who do¡­ God, it was a dangerous thing. He still wondered why the System would do something like that¡ªwhy it would test people in such a way. Maybe one day he would find out. Liana shook her head. ¡°It didn¡¯t take us long to tie the knot. Then¡­¡± She looked away, that same dark look upon her face. ¡°Then¡­ what?¡± ¡°I lost my entire party on the ninety-eighth floor.¡± Xavier gasped. ¡°You lost your entire party? And¡­ you knew them well, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°They were the closest thing to family that I ever had. I was raised to become a Champion. I know what it is to lose people. Half of all my friends were lost when they tried to make it to the tower¡­ but I never thought I¡¯d lose my party. Adron¡ªmy husband¡ªand his party kept pushing through the floors. They couldn¡¯t delay for long enough to wait for me to find a new party and catch up. The System doesn¡¯t allow such a thing. There are consequences for dallying, though they don¡¯t apply in the same time frame if you¡¯re outside a party, as it can take far longer to solo tower floors.¡± Liana took a breath. ¡°When Adron entered the one hundredth floor¡­ it was only a blink of an eye and his party were back. Without him.¡± Xavier hung his head. ¡°They lost him to The Nightmare?¡± Liana simply inclined her head. Xavier frowned. He gestured around, motioning to the forest, but meaning to take in the entire one hundredth floor. ¡°How do you know this is the right version of the hundredth floor?¡± Her eyes flashed away. ¡°There are ways to ensure such things. Secret ways. Expensive ways. Originally, both our parties had been planning to meet up on this floor. But¡­ it never happened. Adron¡¯s party, even his twin brother, moved on after his loss. It was only after getting Adron¡¯s brother drunk that he confessed Adron didn¡¯t strictly die.¡± ¡°He was taken by The Nightmare,¡± Xavier whispered. ¡°Yes. He was taken by The Nightmare.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you were there¡­¡± Xavier¡¯s face scrunched up. ¡°But¡­ how could succumbing to the nightmare save him?¡± She looked away again. ¡°I realised saving him was impossible. So, in a moment of weakness¡­¡± ¡°You were going to join him.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t until it was too late that I realised it wasn¡¯t what I wanted. The Nightmare already had me in its clutches, I could feel my own mind, my personality, drifting away. Adron¡­ he never would have forgiven me if he knew that I threw my life away.¡± ¡°You said you were eager to move on from this floor,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Have you given up on saving your husband?¡± Liana stared at him. ¡°The Nightmare was destroying my mind. Even if Adron¡¯s body remains alive¡­ I don¡¯t think there will be anything left of who he was. I¡¯ve spent enough time dwelling on this. Enough time wallowing in my pain. He was a Champion¡ªhe knew the risks as well as I.¡± There was a fire in her voice that Xavier had never heard before. Xavier thought hard about what he was going to say next. Perhaps Liana was right. Perhaps there would be nothing left of this Adron after The Nightmare had infected him. Perhaps there was¡­ no one left to save. But something told him that Liana would wish to find out for herself if she could. ¡°You don¡¯t know that his mind is gone. Maybe we can save him together,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to give you false hope¡­ but there could be a chance. I was able to control The Nightmare, maybe I could force it to release him, like I did for you¡ª¡± ¡°The Nightmare didn¡¯t fully have me in its clutches. What you did for me is different. That control you had? It was fleeting. You told me so yourself! Do you really expect me to believe that you¡¯re strong enough to do this?¡± She shook her head. ¡°The Nightmare¡­ it would need to be killed to free him. I know you walk a path to power that I cannot begin to understand, but that doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re strong enough to do something like that. Not yet. Not now. Not here.¡± Liana crossed her arms. Looked away. ¡°Adron is dead. This floor¡­ I¡¯ve had enough of being here. I¡¯m glad I was able to teach you what I could, Xavier, but I¡¯m not sure I ever want to see you again¡ªdoing so would only remind me of what happened in this place.¡± Xavier looked at the ground. He supposed he could understand where this woman was coming from. She had already lost so many people in her life. First her party, then her husband¡­ She was used to moving on and had already lingered more than she wished. Why would she keep putting herself through being somewhere that hurt so much? ¡°No,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t accept that you¡¯ve given up.¡± Liana blinked. ¡°Are you trying to tell me that you know my thoughts better than I do?¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s a reason you spent so long training me, so long still on this floor, and it wasn¡¯t that you were in mourning. It was because you hadn¡¯t let go of hope yet. You saw what I could do¡ªyou knew you might be able to use that.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Facing The Nightmare¡­¡± The woman shuddered. ¡°It was the most terrifying feeling I¡¯ve ever had. I¡¯m not going to make you go through something like that. You want to save the damned universe, Xavier. You were chosen by the System. Why would you risk your life to try and help me?¡± Xavier thought on that for a moment. She was right. He had bigger fish to fry. More lofty goals to attain. He couldn¡¯t throw his life away facing some C Grade beast before he was ready to. Then again¡­ Xavier shrugged. ¡°I always planned to face The Nightmare before I left this floor.¡± Liana blinked. ¡°You¡ªyou did?¡± There was a tone in her voice that he hadn¡¯t heard before. Something he couldn¡¯t place. She spoke haltingly. ¡°Are you joking? Because¡­ because that wouldn¡¯t be funny, Xavier.¡± Xavier lifted his chin. ¡°It¡¯s not the only C Grade beast I want to face before leaving this place.¡± Xavier told the woman about the C Grade dragon, and the egg that it was protecting. ¡°You want to steal the dragon¡¯s child?¡± The woman looked aghast. ¡°That¡¯s terrible! And also absolutely insane. You¡¯re going to get yourself killed.¡± Xavier inclined his head. ¡°Maybe. But I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯ve been facing D Grade enemies as an E Grade for a long time now. I can defeat a C Grade when I¡¯m D Grade.¡± Liana did not look convinced. ¡°The gap between E Grade and D Grade is far smaller than the one between D and C. It¡¯s not an equal comparison.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right. You know far more about all of this than I do. But you also know what I¡¯m capable of. I don¡¯t speak this way out of arrogance.¡± Liana looked away. ¡°No. Even if you sound arrogant.¡± ¡°You taught me how to be patient, Liana. Right now, I need you to be a little more patient too. If there¡¯s any way to save your husband, I promise I¡¯ll help. But it¡¯s going to take a little time.¡± The woman looked away. Xavier could have sworn that her eyes were shining, but not a single tear fell from them, as though she was willing them not to fall. After a pause that stretched for several minutes, as their pauses sometimes did, Liana sighed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll stick around a little while longer. I just hope I won¡¯t regret it.¡± I hope so too, Xavier thought, but didn¡¯t say. There was no way that he could guarantee that this woman¡¯s husband was okay, but if it was someone who he cared about? He would do his best to save them. ¡°How long until you reach D Grade?¡± Liana asked. Weeks in floor-time had passed since he had defeated the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. Since then, he¡¯d gone up against several of the floor¡¯s boss-beasts for his Hunt Quests. He had been disappointed to find that the bartender, Felicia, had been right. He wouldn¡¯t always gain random spells from every enemy he killed, especially as the encounters were beginning to grow easier for him. He had a feeling the System was altering its parameters for giving him such a reward as it saw how relatively easy the challenges had become. While training, Xavier had been focused on making his transition to D Grade as effective as possible. Before reaching D Grade, he wished to bring every single one of his skills and spells¡ªor as many of them as he reasonably could, as not all of them were strictly cooperative¡ªup to Rank 100. This was, however, proving more difficult than he¡¯d imagined it would have. He brought up his status screen and looked at all his attributes and ranks. XAVIER COLLINS Age: 23 Race: Human (?) Grade: E Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Class: Otherworldly Reaper (Legendary) Level 195 Strength: 7,717 (22,765) [Attunement: 10%] Speed: 6,707 (23,139) [Attunement: 10%] Toughness: 7,209 (20,546) [Attunement: 10%] Intelligence: 7,746 (21,689) [Attunement: 10%] Willpower: 8,436 (28,682) [Attunement: 10%] Spirit: 9,000 (31,950) [Attunement: 10%] Mastery Points (E Grade) until next level: 15,000/100,000 Available Spirit Energy (E Grade): 324,250/324,250 Available Willpower Energy (E Grade): 250,600/250,600 Available Skill Points: 1 Free stat points remaining: 0 Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, All 100, First All 100, 1,000 Stats, First to 1,000 Stats, Greater Butcher, All 1,000, First All 1,000, Level 100, First to level 100, E Grade, E Grade Progenitor, E Grade Speedrun (Unmatched), Destroyer of Hordes (Unmatched), Ahead of the Pack 2, Goliath Killer 2, Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone), Homeward Bound, First Dungeon of Earth, Dungeon Diver 110, Dungeon ¨C First Clears, Dungeon ¨C Solo Clears, Dungeon ¨C Record Clears, 10,000 Stats, First 10,000 Stats, All 10,000 Stats, First All 10,000, Nineteenth Floor Climber, Nineteenth Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER, Solo Tower Climber 19, 1st Nineteenth Floor Climber Spells List: Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Rank 95 Heavy Telekinesis ¨C Rank 94 Spirit Break (All) ¨C Rank 90 Spirit Infusion ¨C Rank 91 Soul Harvest ¨C Rank 70 Soul Strike (Ranged) ¨C Rank 70 Soul Block ¨C Rank 65 Soul Harden ¨C Rank 65 Willpower Infusion ¨C Rank 85 Core Burn ¨C Rank 73 Summon Otherworldly Spirit ¨C Rank 30 Otherworldly Communion ¨C Rank 1 Soul Shatter ¨C Rank 75 Soul Puppet ¨C Rank 75 Hover Dodge ¨C 60 Enhanced Telekinetic Strike ¨C 75 Time Alteration ¨C 70 Time Prison ¨C 60 Skills List: Physical Resistance ¨C Rank 90 Magical Potency ¨C Rank 82 Magical Resistance ¨C Rank 75 Physical Damage ¨C Rank 92 Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 35 Scythe-Staff Mastery ¨C Rank 65 Meditation ¨C Rank 80 Aura-Control ¨C Rank 80 Core Strength ¨C Rank 80 Cultivate Energy ¨C Rank 80 Identify ¨C Rank 100 Split Mind ¨C Rank 90 Evasion ¨C Rank 90 Aerial Combat ¨C 75 Dismantle ¨C 50 Red In Tooth And Claw ¨C 70 Iron Grip ¨C 65 Close Combat Fighting ¨C 65 Predator¡¯s Gaze ¨C 40 Minor Spirit Coins: 5,542 Lesser Spirit Coins: 33 Xavier stood from where he¡¯d been sitting¡ªthe conversation with Liana had come to a natural end¡ªand paced around the time bubble. He had reached Level 195. This was, he supposed, something he should have been proud of, but more than anything he was frustrated. He¡¯d gotten there faster than he¡¯d planned to, at least in regard to how swiftly his spells and skills were ranking up. There was a problem when it came to ranking his spells and skills, something he hadn¡¯t realised until he¡¯d really started focusing on it. Xavier needed challenges to really push his spells and skills. He needed to fight enemies of a higher level than himself. That was easy to come by around here, though it was becoming rarer that the fights were actually challenging¡ªvery rare. The problem was he knew his ranks wouldn¡¯t be where he wanted them when he reached Level 200. While he wasn¡¯t gaining levels faster than he was gaining ranks, he was gaining levels faster than he wanted to. This wasn¡¯t ultimately the problem, of course. When he had reached Level 100, he¡¯d been put in a state which meant he could no longer gain Mastery Points, but he could still upgrade his spells, skills, and gain attributes. It was the perfect state to be in, he supposed, if one wanted postpone the inevitable for as long as possible and further develop themselves. But some of his inherent impatience seeped in at the idea of forcing himself to wait longer to evolve to D Grade than he strictly ¡°needed¡± to. He wanted the transformation to go as well as possible. There were very few times that he was able to choose new classes, and this would be one of them. The System would judge him on where he was, and base his class selection not only on the paths he¡¯d taken, but off of his level of power as well. He needed to be as strong as an E Grade possibly could be. It wasn¡¯t only the ranks of his spells and skills that he was trying to strengthen either. It was his attunements. Xavier tapped his foot on the ground as he looked at what he¡¯d achieved. He had attuned each of his attributes to 10 percent, and¡­ he was annoyed with himself. A 10 percent attunement was amazing considering how long he¡¯d been at this. Before this floor, he hadn¡¯t even known attuning attributes was a thing. Now, he had accomplished in a short time what took many Denizens countless years. And yet, he was disappointed. It was difficult to hold yourself up to incredibly high ideals. He knew that doing so would mean he would never quite measure up. Xavier blinked, then his eyes widened, as he scanned over the status screen a second time. There was something that caught his eye¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t noticed before. His age had changed. The status screen no longer said that he was aged 21. Now, it said he was aged 23. When in the hell had that happened? His eyebrows rose as he realised that he had been aging within the time bubble, and that the System had been keeping track of just how long he¡¯d been in there. And it wasn¡¯t just the time bubble¡ªit was the floor itself he¡¯d spent a lot of time on. But even so, had so much time really passed within the time dilation field? Had he been training with Liana for that long, and not even realised? He shook his head, feeling a little astounded, but no less motivated than before. In the grand scheme of the Greater Universe and the lifespan he now had access to, and would in the future have access to¡­ 23 years of age was absolutely nothing. Looking through his spells and skills, Xavier scrunched up his face, trying to figure out how he could push each one to their limit. Otherworldly Communion was the worst offender. He¡¯d used it multiple times, and yet it had stalled at Rank 1. It also wasn¡¯t a spell he could use all that often¡ªespecially when he stopped gaining levels that rejuvenated his cooldowns. I¡¯ll need to use the spell to learn how to upgrade the spell¡­ Summon Otherworldly Spirit had also resisted his attempts to push its rank higher, but perhaps that was because he didn¡¯t rely on it for too many fights. It was currently only Rank 30. He frowned, thinking on that. It was a pitiful rank, as far as he was concerned. The spell was incredibly powerful, and the power of it seemed to be based on his own power. But how much stronger would it be if the potential was truly unleashed? Besides, his class was Otherworldly Reaper¡ªhe needed to respect half of his class by ranking up the spells properly before D Grade, else he might lose the option to use them. Xavier had come to the conclusion that he needed to find another teacher. Someone who could instruct him in the ways of summoning from the Otherworld, and if he wanted to achieve his goals, he needed to do it before clearing this floor. He wasn¡¯t even sure if such a thing was possible. Book 4: Chapter 61 - Challenges and Faustian Deals Felicia stood behind the bar. She looked to be casually polishing the long wooden countertop without a care in the world, and certainly without caring about what was happening around her. Yet she watched the clientele like a hawk. It was easy not to make her observations obvious¡ªshe had a skill that let her observe everyone in Hunter¡¯s Home no matter where they were standing. Hunter¡¯s Home was her domain, and so she had complete control over it. The System had ensured that for her a long time ago. She smirked when Xavier Collins walked through the heavy door, letting a cool breeze roll in from the forest behind. When that man had come to the hundredth floor, it had been snowy out there. Now, it was spring, and the flowers were blossoming in the small garden she kept out front. Xavier didn¡¯t realise just how much she¡¯d already known about him when he appeared here. Felicia wasn¡¯t just a barkeep, or the owner of Hunter¡¯s Home. She was the steward of the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. She had a little pocket of an entire world that was under her purview, and she was far stronger than she looked. She had an inherent knowledge of anyone who was in her domain. At any one point, she knew exactly where each Champion was. On her mini-map, they stuck out like a pool of blood on a blanket of snow. ¡°Back so soon?¡± Felicia asked. She had a coffee brewed and ready for the man before he¡¯d stepped through the door. She brought it up from under the bar and placed it in front of him as he climbed onto a stool. The mugs were designed in such a way that the coffee never got cold. This appeared to be a novelty for Xavier. Xavier blinked, but didn¡¯t question the mug. Instead, he placed a few Minor Spirit Coins onto the bar and took a sip. He released a small sigh and visibly relaxed. Minor Spirit Coins. And this man thought I didn¡¯t already know he was E Grade. ¡°I have a question for you,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Of course you do.¡± The System had tipped her off about this man. That had never happened before. When Xavier Collins had entered Hunter¡¯s Home, she¡¯d received a notification. The notification hadn¡¯t just been text, either. It had contained recorded memories of what this man was capable of. It had piqued her interest¡ªthe System hadn¡¯t addressed her directly in this way since she¡¯d been tasked with the stewardship of the hundredth floor. It was a strange, strange thing indeed, but she didn¡¯t question it. She, like other stewards of other floors in the multiverse that comprised the Greater Universe, had a small awareness of the System¡¯s greater goals. And apparently this E Grade was a part of those plans¡ªwhat kind of part, Felicia didn¡¯t know. After the dossier on Xavier Collins she¡¯d been given by the System, the System had addressed two words to her: Challenge him. And so that was exactly what she¡¯d been doing, sending him off to fight difficult beasts he shouldn¡¯t be able to defeat easily. Honestly, she¡¯d thought she¡¯d been harsh with him that first time when she¡¯d sent him to the Dark Mountains without any warnings about what resided there. She hadn¡¯t expected the man to return. And yet, he kept coming back, and he always came back stronger. Though there was no System Shop in Hunter¡¯s Home, or anywhere on this planet, as the steward for this floor there were some things she was able to grant¡ªthis wasn¡¯t something the Champions that came to this place were made aware of, however. ¡°So, what is your question?¡± Felicia prompted. The man had just been sitting there, savouring his coffee. ¡°I need another teacher.¡± Felicia tilted her chin up. Another teacher? This man was capable of things no E Grade should ever be capable of, yet he still had things he wanted to learn? That thirst for knowledge will take him far. ¡°What is it that you wish to learn?¡± It was luck alone that there had been a time mage in the area the last time he¡¯d come to her. Time mages were rare¡ªthis was the only time she¡¯d seen two on the floor at once. Xavier motioned that he wished for the conversation to be private. Felicia made a gesture, then nodded for him to speak. ¡°I need someone to instruct me on my otherworldly summoning magic.¡± Felicia couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. Otherworldly summoning magic? She had seen what this man was capable of when he summoned the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªthat had been a part of one of the memories shown to her when he¡¯d arrived¡ªbut he was the only Denizen she¡¯d ever encountered that had actually used such spells. Felicia opened her hands and shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to help you with that.¡± She paused. ¡°Haven¡¯t you been able to gain any ranks in those spells from the Hunt Quest rewards?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to work for that.¡± Felicia nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the Otherworld, but if you need a teacher¡­ couldn¡¯t you summon one?¡± She smirked, half-joking, but the frown on the man¡¯s face said he took her seriously. The words entered her mind once more: Challenge him. She hadn¡¯t been able to do that lately¡ªthis man was simply far too strong for the D Grade enemies he was facing on this floor. She drummed her fingers on the bar as she came up with an idea. But, of course, she would need an incentive¡­ ¡°Where did your scythe go?¡± the woman asked. The man used to sometimes enter the tavern with the weapon in hand, something he hadn¡¯t done in a while. It got her curious. Though she could only see everything that happened within the tavern, she also had little helpers that could show her glimpses of what was happening to the Champions outside of Hunter¡¯s Home. Little birds that she could send out and about. She could channel their sight and observe battles happening. She often did this for the raids against C Grade beasts. It was a way to pass the time¡ªit also helped her with the odds when it came to people placing bets. She¡¯d sent one of these little birds to observe Xavier recently¡ªhe no longer fought with a weapon at all. He¡¯d become¡­ bestial in nature. It was frightening, but intriguing. ¡°Huh?¡± Xavier, who had been lost in thought, looked over at her. ¡°I lost it. It broke during a fight, and I couldn¡¯t repair it. I¡¯ve outgrown the weapon, anyway. Why?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Felicia leant forward on the bar, resting her elbows on the surface she kept pristine. She spoke in a whisper. ¡°Do you want to get your hands on a soul bound weapon?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think gaining one of those would be possible. Not here.¡± ¡°There are certain special rewards the System grants Champions for¡­ unique achievements.¡± She peered over at a group of Champions talking in the corner of Hunter¡¯s Home¡ªthey were organising a raid for later that week. ¡°If you were to be a part of the defeat of a C Grade beast, especially as an E Grade, you might be granted such a reward.¡± ¡°C Grade?¡± Xavier shook his head, then paused as though in thought. He¡¯s really considering it? He isn¡¯t even D Grade yet. ¡°I don¡¯t qualify to join a raid group,¡± Xavier said, matter-of-factly, as though that was the only thing stopping him from doing this insane thing. ¡°The Champions who raid take my recommendations seriously. If I say you¡¯re up to the task, they¡¯ll take me on my word.¡± Xavier shook his head again, though there was a spark in his eyes that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago. Once this man got an idea in his head, he went after it, no matter how dangerous it seemed. That was something that had been clear to her from almost the moment he¡¯d stepped into Hunter¡¯s Home. The man was seriously considering Felicia¡¯s words. Felicia stopped herself from shaking her head in dismay. Actually, she stopped herself from gripping the man¡¯s shoulders and shaking him. He was a fool if he was actually going to take her up on this. Facing a C Grade in a raid¡­ yes, it was technically a lot less dangerous than facing one alone, but just because you were in a group didn¡¯t mean you were safe.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The members of raid groups were uniquely insane. She had never really understood them. Risking their lives to try to take down a C Grade. The success rate was something like 3 percent, at least in her instance of the hundredth floor¡ªshe had no idea how well Champions on other instances had faired. It was still strange for her to imagine an almost unlimited number of versions of herself in other taverns on other worlds just like this one, doing the same thing she was doing now¡­ But that was just how the infinite universe was. Even if she hadn¡¯t agreed to be the steward for a tower floor, it would be the same¡ªthere would still be countless versions of herself out there, they¡¯d just be doing something else. Xavier paused. He seemed to fall inward whenever he took these pauses in conversation. The pauses weren¡¯t all that long¡ªat least, they wouldn¡¯t seem that long to someone who was E Grade or F Grade. But to someone like her? The gap was rather noticeable. A smile began to twitch one side of Xavier¡¯s lips. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll do it. I had given up on ever finding a soul bound weapon¡ªat least any time in the near future. And I plan to take some C Grade Hunt Quests when I¡¯m D Grade. Doesn¡¯t seem like a bad idea to go into the first one in a group, even if I tend to prefer working alone.¡± Felicia blinked. She couldn¡¯t help herself. This man¡­ he was actually going for the challenge she¡¯d just set for him. Hook, line, and sinker. She felt bad, once more, for doing this to the man. He seemed like a good kid. Honestly, Felicia wasn¡¯t sure how he had lasted so long. Then again¡­ he had lasted this long. The System was watching him, too. Not just watching him either¡ªit was having a clear influence on him. She¡¯d seen what the System had done for him¡ªor rather, to him¡ªto get him here. It had made him skip all the way to the hundredth floor because it felt like he wasn¡¯t being challenged enough. Then it had spoken directly to her and told her to challenge him. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to refuse what the System wants me to do. That seems like a very, very bad idea. She bit the inside of her cheek. Usually, even this hidden tick wasn¡¯t something that she would let happen, but she couldn¡¯t remember the last time she¡¯d felt this level of anxiety over something. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll set it up.¡± She nodded over at the group of Champions in the far corner of Hunter¡¯s Home who were currently discussing a C Grade raid as Xavier and her spoke. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take me long.¡± She was talking out of her ass, of course. She¡¯d never actually done anything like this¡ªno Champion in their right mind would want to go on a C Grade raid before they were deemed ready. But, she figured she¡¯d be able to get them to agree to this. And if she couldn¡¯t¡­ Maybe I can call in a favour from the System itself. It¡¯s the one who put me up to this, after all. ~ Xavier stepped out of Hunter¡¯s Home feeling energised. Not only did he have a line on how to obtain a soul bound weapon¡ªeven if it meant going up against a C Grade beast as an E Grade Denizen¡ªhe had an idea of how to find his teacher. He had considered asking the spirits for help on this, but his current idea took that a step further. Well, it took it a few hundred steps further. Earlier, he had learnt the spirits from the Otherworld made deals with Denizens from the mortal realm. He supposed it made sense, really. The idea of Faustian deals had to have come from somewhere. Summoning these spirits already did something to his soul. He wondered what making a deal with one of them would cost him. This wasn¡¯t something he wanted to involve Liana in. When he had left her in the grove, he¡¯d been able to sense that she wanted some time alone. That was something he could certainly understand, considering the wounds he¡¯d made her open up when he¡¯d spoken to her about her husband. I wonder if that¡¯s the C Grade beast the raiders will be going for¡­ if it is, then I¡¯ll need to make sure her husband¡ªassuming he¡¯s actually still alive¡ªisn¡¯t harmed during the battle. Her husband, Adron, would be among the enemies the raid group would be facing¡­ God, he hoped it wasn¡¯t The Nightmare they would be going after. That sounded like too much to deal with right now. Xavier sped through the forest. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure of what he was looking for¡ªhe figured he would know it when he found it. It wasn¡¯t long before he came upon a small clearing at the top of a cliff. A stream ran down one side, creating a waterfall at the cliffside that splashed down into a pool far below. The constant flow of water was rather soothing. He figured this would be an incredible place to work on his mediation. But that wasn¡¯t what he was there to do. There was a large, standing grey stone in the middle of the clearing. He touched a hand to it and smiled. In one of his favourite books, stones like this were said to be portals to the realm of faerie¡­ It wasn¡¯t a faerie realm he was about to make contact with, but he felt as though this area suited his intentions well. Xavier sat, cross legged, on a large boulder that faced the standing stone. The stream flowed. Birds chirped in the trees¡ªone, with a red tail, he could have sworn he¡¯d seen before. All in all, it was a beautiful day to make a deal with a ghostly entity. Xavier cast Otherworldly Communion, holding what he wished in his head. As always, time stopped, and the world looked black-and-white. The spirit appeared in a flash of light. It wasn¡¯t one he had encountered before. This spirit wasn¡¯t human, but it wasn¡¯t a hamster or some strange amalgamation of beast parts, either. It was an elf. The man had long, dark hair that looked like it had been professionally straightened. His ears were sharp as daggers and his eyes even sharper as his gaze pierced into Xavier. Why have you summoned me? The elf¡¯s voice was deep. Somehow, it was even deeper than the voice of the dragon had been. I need a teacher in the art of Otherworldly summoning. My spells have stagnated, and I cannot have that. I am willing to make a deal. The elf did not bother to hide the smirk that came onto his face. He stepped forward, his hands folded behind his back, those sharp eyes gleaming. I have heard of you. You have created quite a stir in the Otherworld. Xavier blinked. I have? The fact that the Otherworld existed between universes often threw Xavier for a loop. He wondered if there were other Xaviers out there, summoning spirits from the exact same place. And would those be the same spirits, or different ones? Could there be multiple versions of the dragon whom Xavier knew as the Spirit of Vengeance? He didn¡¯t see why there wouldn¡¯t be. Xavier shook those thoughts out of his head. They were not helpful right now. He needed to focus. Order your thoughts. Something told him that making a deal with a spirit would require all of his attention, lest he give away something he shouldn¡¯t be parting with. Indeed. It has been some time since someone like you has been encountered. The elf looked Xavier up and down, then raised his chin. Strange that a human should hold so much potential. I would have thought you were an elf, after all I heard about prowess. I also expected someone¡­ taller. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he should respond to that. He supposed racism¡ªspeciesism?¡ªwas alive and well in the Greater Universe. Now, as to this deal you wish to make with me, what are you offering in return? Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how to answer that question. He didn¡¯t want to just go out and say, ¡°My soul!¡± Because it wasn¡¯t as though he wanted to be offering that. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never made any deal like this before, Xavier replied. Hmm. Indeed. That much is abundantly clear. What would one usually offer for something like this? Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how else to pose the question. He wanted to put the negation squarely in the spirit¡¯s court. He knew if he was the first one to offer up a price, then he might have already showed his hand. Besides, he had no idea how any of this worked. I want a tenth of your soul¡¯s energy for a single year. Xavier blinked. He had no idea what that even meant. Do you mean spirit energy? The elf raised an eyebrow. You really are green. How have you come this far, be an Otherworldly Reaper, and yet know nothing about the soul? Xavier didn¡¯t look away from the elf. Perhaps the old version of him, before he¡¯d been integrated by the System, might have felt embarrassed about being made out to be a fool. But, well, he was ignorant, and that wasn¡¯t something he was about to hide or be ashamed of¡ªespecially with someone who could end up teaching him. Though he did wonder if he wanted this man¡ªthis elf¡ªto be teaching him. It wasn¡¯t as though he had made a good first impression. He seemed arrogant and self-important. But Xavier didn¡¯t have any other options at present. He could wait until his next level and use the spell again in hopes of summoning another spirit, but that just felt like stalling the inevitable. He could easily summon someone worse. Yes. I am green. Please, explain to me what you mean by soul energy. Soul energy is what living souls produce. It is something that exists on a different plane to that of spirit energy. The elf cocked his head to the side. It¡¯s not even something that you would miss, really, especially someone like you, who has such a strong soul already. Huh. Xavier didn¡¯t let his thoughts seep out. There was something in the shift in the way the elf spoke. There was a hint of mocking, but mostly it seemed as though the man was flattering him¡­ He wanted this deal. He wanted it badly. What does soul energy do for you? Something flashed on the spirit¡¯s face. A micro expression that was there for barely a fraction of a second. Xavier couldn¡¯t quite read it. If he had to guess, he would say it might have been sadness¡­ or perhaps longing. I suppose this is one of the things I would have to teach you, if we were both to make a deal. The dead elf sighed, which seemed unnecessary, considering he couldn¡¯t actually breathe. Soul Energy might exist on another plane, but it¡¯s what¡­ The elf swallowed visibly. It¡¯s what allows mortals to remain in the realm of the living. Without it, your souls would drift off to¡­ Other places? Xavier asked. The elf spirit inclined his head. Indeed. It keeps one centred in their own reality. Though there are other things that it does, things I could one day teach you. Each time you make a connection to the Otherworld and summon one of us to you, it eats away at your soul energy. Xavier felt a flutter in his chest. You mean to say that if I used too much of my soul energy, by using too many Otherworld spells, I¡¯d what, drift away? I would die? In a manner of speaking, yes. At least, your soul would. Your mortal body might still live. The brain might still be intact. Even your personality could remain with you. But you would be a heartless, cold thing without your soul. Certainly you wouldn¡¯t be anything like you are right now. Xavier considered that for a moment. He looked at the elf. The other spirits that he had summoned had other specialisations. This elf¡­ if he was to be Xavier¡¯s teacher, that must mean he had experience with summoning from the Otherworld. At least, when he was alive. Is that what happened to you? Xavier asked. No. I died in a more¡­ traditional way. My body is long gone. Xavier nodded. It seemed bad form to ask how the elf had died, even though he was curious. Xavier didn¡¯t see how this bargain could be a bad one. A tenth of his soul energy didn¡¯t sound like a large amount¡ªnot that he really knew much about it, anyway. Though that was exactly the reason he was wary. This felt too easy. How would you teach me? Xavier asked. With the soul energy you provide me, and as part of whatever deal we might strike, I would appear to you almost as a soul apparition until your studies are deemed complete. Only you would be able to see me. Xavier thought on that. So, he would essentially be walking around with a ghost? That¡­ didn¡¯t really sound all that bad, actually. He might look a little strange, talking to himself wherever he went, but he could endure looking strange if it meant giving him an opportunity to learn. He just needed to know a little more about soul energy before signing in blood. Book 4: Chapter 62 - Like Some Sociopathic Kid It turned out there was a lot more to soul energy than the spirit had first implied. As it wished to make a deal with him, it was compelled to answer his questions regarding everything to do with the deal¡ªliterally compelled. When Xavier asked about the spirit¡¯s honesty over this matter, a notification from the System popped up, telling him that during an Otherworldly Communion spell, a spirit was not able to lie. Xavier glanced at the grey stone nearby. He couldn¡¯t help but think of the fae again. Legend had it that the fae weren¡¯t able to lie¡ªbut that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t trick you. Not being able to lie didn¡¯t mean you couldn¡¯t obfuscate the truth or mislead someone. That was why he needed to be thorough in his questioning of the elf. He had discovered that soul energy wasn¡¯t just something that kept mortals rooted in this plane of existence, it was also a valuable resource in its own right. It wasn¡¯t something that Xavier had the ability to manually tap into¡ªat least not at this stage of his development¡ªbut it was what made his summoning of spirits from the Otherworld possible in the first place. Each summoning ate his soul energy. But it was more than that. Soul energy accumulated. It was what gave Denizens their long lifespans. Normal, unintegrated humans had a very limited amount of soul energy. No matter how well one kept their body and mind in good shape, without soul energy things would always degrade, and entropy would take place, placing a hard limit on human lifespans if one wasn¡¯t able to create more soul energy. Xavier tapped his foot as he considered what the spirit truly wanted from him. If it were to take a part of his soul energy, it was essentially cutting years from his ultimate lifespan away. That didn¡¯t sound like the worst thing in the world, especially when the lifespan of someone like him had already been drastically increased beyond his previous imagination. But it was still, well, his life. And something told him there was more to soul energy¡ªsomething that he was missing in this conversation. But he didn¡¯t know what questions to ask if he didn¡¯t know exactly what that was. The bargain still felt too easy, but Xavier wasn¡¯t going to fight it. He was sure the elf had his own reasons, his own agendas. And the fact that he was willing to reside in the mortal realm for the foreseeable future as a silent observer in his life¡ªat least, silent to everyone else¡ªmeant there must certainly be something important in it for him. Unless that¡¯s exactly what he wants¡­ He supposed if he was a spirit from the Otherworld, he would wish to return to the mortal realm too. In fact, he¡¯d claw his way back. But that wasn¡¯t something he would need to worry about. He wasn¡¯t going to die. At least, not if he could help it, and not for a very, very, very long time. All right, Xavier said to the elf. I will make your deal. The elf hid his expression of surprise and genuine pleasure fairly well, but not well enough. Xavier was able to see when the emotions slipped onto the elf¡¯s face. It didn¡¯t take long for the elf to draw up a contract. Xavier¡¯s attention wandered as the task was being performed. Colour was still drained from the world, time frozen where he sat. He looked to the stream, its water stuck, no longer flowing toward the cliff and the pool below. When the contract was finished, Xavier looked it over thoroughly, trying to discern if there was anything in there that shouldn¡¯t be. He even asked the elf if there was. The elf, having to be honest to him in this situation, assured him there was not¡ªthe contract included only what they had spoken of. The contract also had the elf¡¯s name. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Rhaalir. It took a long moment for Rhaalir to respond. Xavier thought he would respond with some quip. That seemed the elf¡¯s way. Instead, the elf bowed his head, and it was the most serious and sincere he had looked since Xavier had summoned him. Same to you, Xavier. This deal is an interesting one. I could not pass up the opportunity to do it, especially not with someone like you. Xavier, after having read through the contract three times and finding nothing amiss, finally signed it. The moment he did, he felt something. A minute tug, deep inside. Suddenly he felt sad¡ªas though he lacked something vital. As though he were missing someone that he didn¡¯t even know he¡¯d had to begin with. That must be the portion of soul energy Rhaalir is now entitled to. The moment Xavier had signed the contract with the elf, time had started moving forward again. But unlike the other times when this had happened after Xavier had cast Otherworldly Communion, the spirit did not disappear. Rhaalir remained standing exactly where he had been, and he remained transparent. The water started flowing down the stream, rushing off the cliff. The shadows from the trees behind him shifted, moving across the large standing stone. Can you still hear me? Xavier thought to the spirit. I can hear you. Xavier sighed. That was a relief. He was glad that he wouldn¡¯t have to speak aloud to the spirit-ghost-elf from the Otherworld. That would have made him look¡­ unique. Rhaalir folded his hands behind his back and raised his chin. First, share with me your ranks. In this state, all you must do is will that I have access to them. If I¡¯m able to see everything you¡¯re capable of, it will make me a far better asset. Xavier saw no reason not to comply. It took barely a moment for the permission to be granted¡ªall he needed was his own will. Rhaalir was quiet for a long moment. The spirit¡¯s eyes glazed over. He was clearly looking at Xavier¡¯s status sheet, nodding his head as he went down, until finally he came around to Xavier¡¯s spells. The elf let out a long sigh. Well, isn¡¯t that absolutely pitiful. Xavier blinked. Pitiful? He had been called a lot of things since being integrated, but pitiful wasn¡¯t one of them. I think I have accomplished quite a bit. Rhaalir sniffed. You have not once used the Otherworldly Communion spell properly. Xavier opened his mouth to protest. But, considering he hadn¡¯t gained a single rank in the spell, he didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on. Explain. The elf smiled. Had he been trying to goad Xavier to see what his reaction would be? To try and make him defensive? A defensive student wouldn¡¯t be receptive to being taught¡­ then again, an arrogant bully doesn¡¯t sound like the best teacher. To gain ranks in this spell, you need to obtain insight and then show that you have acted upon that insight¡ªonly then will the ranks accumulate. Huh. Xavier stepped over to the edge of the cliff. He thought about the times he had used Otherworldly Communion¡ªto gain information on his sector, or to gain information about how to bring the Spirit of Vengeance into this world. They had been important things that he¡¯d learnt¡­ but the elf was right, he hadn¡¯t acted upon them. He hadn¡¯t acted on any of the insight that had been given to him. Not really. Not in a tangible way.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He wasn¡¯t sure where to begin, considering he couldn¡¯t cast the spell again until the cooldown ended or he reached his next level. Then he realised¡ªhe had a teacher now. And he had gotten that teacher through the Otherworldly Communion spell. Everything this spirit taught him would count as using the insight, wouldn¡¯t it? Then let¡¯s put it into practice. What do you have to teach me about being an Otherworldly Reaper? First, you¡¯ve been absolutely wasting your class. The way you fight lacks finesse, and that¡¯s putting it mildly. You are an Otherworldly Reaper, for System¡¯s sake! Yet in truth, you have done absolutely nothing of use with that combination. So I shall teach you a great lesson¡ªthere is a spell available to you, one that you should be able to gain with ease. Today. Xavier tilted his head to the side. How do I just¡­ learn a new spell? He¡¯d gained Spell Quests before, and gotten spells as rewards or once choosing a class¡­ but this was different. Rhaalir began pacing around the clearing. At one point he paced right off the side of the cliff. Xavier had to restrain himself from moving to catch the elf¡ªnot that there was anything to catch. The spirit wasn¡¯t corporeal. The elf walked on air until he stepped back onto solid ground. You must offer up a sacrifice. There was a hunger in the spirit¡¯s eyes that Xavier hadn¡¯t seen before. What kind of sacrifice? Xavier shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Despite everything he had done, all the people and beasts he¡¯d killed¡­ he never wanted to kill a Denizen when it was seemingly unnecessary¡ªwhen another solution could be found. And he didn¡¯t like the hunger in the elf¡¯s gaze. Rhaalir looked at him through narrowed eyes. You must sacrifice a great deal of the souls within your reserve. Offer them up to the Otherworld, and see if they are deemed worthy. Offer up souls to the Otherworld? He shook his head. He had no idea how he would have stumbled on something like that naturally. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate. Didn¡¯t second guess. Show me how. According to Rhaalir, it was time for Xavier to perform his first ritual. He hadn¡¯t even realised rituals were a thing¡ªapparently, according to this elf, they were a staple of those in the Otherworldly and Reaper line of classes, though as the skills weren¡¯t learnt when the class was taken up, Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how he was supposed to have known that. Rituals aren¡¯t strictly a part of the classes, but they are supplementary. Being an Otherworldly Summoner, or a Reaper, or both, makes one a perfect candidate to perform rituals. Soul energy is also perfect for rituals, but that will come into your training later, the elf had told him. The first thing Rhaalir did was have Xavier learn a skill¡ªwhich was a good thing, because he still had a skill point he could use for that. He¡¯d been saving it, not being sure what he should use it on. He¡¯d done the same for the skill point that had gone to Dismantle, and he was glad he had. You have learnt the skill Ritual! Ritual ¨C Rank 1 The ritual skill grants a Denizen the ability to perform rituals of power. These rituals are wide ranging in scope, from performing a ritual that would light a candleflame, to performing a ritual that would siphon the lifeforce from an entire sector. Rituals are a dangerous path to walk. Be careful you know what powers you are working with. The last line of the skill¡¯s description made Xavier a little wary, but he would have to trust that it was in Rhaalir¡¯s best interests to steer him in the right direction. I don¡¯t have any candles. You don¡¯t need candles to perform rituals. You need symbols of power, time, and an energy source. There are other things that can help, but those are the three essentials. Rhaalir¡¯s arrogant air hadn¡¯t completely left him, but the elf seemed far more serious now that he was instructing Xavier. He paced around the clearing, tapping his chin with his index finger, glancing down at the ground, until finally the elf nodded. Yes, this area will work rather nicely. I am to understand that you have a Time Alteration spell? Xavier inclined his head. That will come in handy. Use it now. There was a part of Xavier that wanted to bristle at the man¡¯s command, and the tone he¡¯d used as he¡¯d said it¡ªthe elf sounded as though he was used to giving out orders, and always had them carried out¡ªbut he¡¯d cultivated enough patience while working with Liana to stop himself. He wanted to learn from this elf. He could endure the abrupt way Rhaalir spoke to him. At least for now. Xavier cast his Time Alteration spell. He made the bubble stretch into part of the stream, just to observe what happened with it. The water rushed to the edge of the bubble, but wasn¡¯t able to push through it¡ªthe water on the other side stopped it. It sloshed, as though it had hit a wall, and a bit of the water went over the top and out of the time dilation field. The water fell back down, and within the bubble, it was a little shallower than without. The stream¡ªeven inside the time dilation field¡ªstopped flowing. Perhaps you aren¡¯t as pitiful as I made you out to be, Xavier Collins, Rhaalir said, as the elf observed the same thing Xavier was. A spell like this¡­ it will be invaluable when performing rituals. Rituals are time consuming¡ªthere are ways to shorten them, with vast amounts of experience, but I have struggled to find a way in which to use a ritual in combat without adequate time to prepare for it. He opened his arms in an expansive gesture. This, on the other hand¡­ This could work. There was a hint of awe in the elf¡¯s eyes. After the way Rhaalir had spoken to Xavier, he couldn¡¯t help but be a little proud of that. What types of rituals will I be able to perform? The elf waved a transparent hand. All in due time. First, we put our minds to this task and this task alone. You have the required attributes to achieve something like this, and it seems as though your mind will be strong enough to endure the rigours¡­ Seems? Rigours? That sounds ominous. The elf smiled, though this one didn¡¯t look like the others. It was more companionable. Indeed. There are risks to taking this path, as I¡¯m sure the System outlined in the skill description for you. Xavier inclined his head. My entire life is comprised of taking risks. What¡¯s a few more? Rhaalir chuckled. Perhaps I could grow to like you, Xavier Collins. Thanks? Now, we move onto the ritual. The elf crouched close to the ground. You will need to use something to calve the symbols into the ground. A blade might be best. Xavier didn¡¯t have a blade. Not anymore. But there was something he did have. He summoned one of the Rhinoceros Monkey horns to his hand. Will this do? The man raised an eyebrow. Indeed. That should do nicely. He stood from his crouch and walked over to Xavier. Do you have more beast parts in that Storage Ring of yours? Different beast components can be used to strengthen rituals. Do I have beast parts? It was Xavier¡¯s turn to chuckle. He summoned a large portion of the dismantled Rhinoceros Monkey parts into a pile in the middle of the time dilation field. The elf blinked. It¡¯s almost as though you were preparing for this¡­ He stared at Xavier. His eyes glazed over. You possess the Dismantle skill. I almost forgot. Will these come in handy? The man nodded. There are several ways in which one can create a symbols of power. The simplest way is to draw one into the dirt¡ªas I was about to instruct you to do. But that is not the most powerful way. Another way is to use beast parts to create the symbol. It is a considerably more time-consuming method, but¡­ He gestured to the time dilation field. For you, time does not appear to be an issue. They got to work. Rhaalir instructed Xavier on exactly what he needed to do. For a little while, he felt foolish, and a little¡­ well, off. Like some sociopathic kid playing with animal parts, trying to make art. That wasn¡¯t too far from the truth. A lot went into the symbol of power, which Rhaalir said was called a Conduit. There were symbols within symbols. Some of them looked like shapes he recognised¡ªtriangles, squares, circles, rhombi¡ªand to Xavier¡¯s surprise, the entire symbol of power sat inside of¡­ A pentagram. When Rhaalir instructed him to make the pentagram from the beast horns, Xavier stood back and looked down at what he¡¯d done. What is it? the elf had asked. We have that symbol back on Earth¡­ pre-integration. In fiction, its often used as part of summoning rituals. That does not surprise me. The deep knowledge can be found even in the remotest, most backwater baby planets in the Greater Universe. You always say the sweetest things. Being sweet was not part of the contract I signed. When the symbol of power was complete, Rhaalir looked down at it with something akin to pride. The spirit pressed his hands together. It¡¯s time to activate it. How many souls do I need to sacrifice? Xavier asked. As many as you can spare. Better to ensure this ritual goes off without any¡­ issues. Besides, if your sacrifice is more than adequate, the spell you receive will be stronger for it. Xavier stared at the elf for a long moment. This ritual¡­ it¡¯s going to do what you say it¡¯s going to do, isn¡¯t it? The elf looked at him, then smiled. I have not tricked you into doing something sinister, Xavier Collins. As you might remember, part of the contract disallows me from doing such a thing. Rhaalir paused. Not that I would have done that without the contract stopping me. Xavier kept his gaze on the elf for a long moment before inclining his head. He had to trust Rhaalir, otherwise what was the point of taking him onboard as a teacher? Xavier contemplated just how many souls he could get away with using for this ritual. He looked at his reserve. Soulkeeping Reserve: 4,170/4,170 It still felt surreal to him that he currently had over four thousand sounds at his disposal. Souls of formerly living beings that he had plucked from their corpses. His threshold grew every time he raised his rank in a soul-based spell, and there was still plenty of room for it to grow. Especially if he gained more soul-based spells. Soon, he would be a part of a raid against a C Grade beast. He would need as many souls in reserve as he could muster. However¡­ there would be time to gather more before the Hunt Quest began. It wasn¡¯t until later in the week, after all. And, after facing that first stampede of Rhinoceros Monkeys, he¡¯d discovered that there were more out there¡ªit was the perfect source of souls. Xavier raised his chin. How does a sacrifice of four thousand souls sound? The elf looked over at him with wide eyes. That will do it, yes. Xavier grinned. It was time for him to perform his first ritual. Book 4: Chapter 63 - Soul Sacrifice The symbol of power¡ªthe Conduit¡ªlooked grotesque and¡­ oddly beautiful at the same time. There was a logic to the shapes, the way they connected together, that Xavier could almost intuit. Should I really be attempting this ritual? Xavier asked Rhaalir, the elven spirit from the Otherworld whom he¡¯d contracted as his teacher. Rhaalir raised his chin, his hands folded neatly behind his back. Normally, with a Rank 1 Ritual skill, performing this ritual would be incredibly dangerous. Only a fool would do something like this. There are stories of low-level Denizens obtaining high-level Ritual Manuals¡ªGrimoires. It rarely goes well. Xavier inclined his head. You, however, are far from normal. Your attributes should protect you. The elf had said similar things like that before. That they should protect him. Xavier ignored his doubts. He tiptoed over the symbol of power, placing his foot between the different shapes and lines he¡¯d painstakingly created using the beast parts he¡¯d dismantled. Squares made from teeth, circles from tails, and the pentagram itself from horns. He came to stand in the centre of the Conduit, where there was enough space for him to stand with his feet shoulder width apart. The Time Alteration spell was still active around him. This first ritual of yours will take time to perform, more time than a ritual of this level should. We could train you on weaker rituals, gain you a few ranks in the skill. We would certainly have the time. I don¡¯t believe such a thing is necessary. Moreover, there could be certain advantages to performing such a ritual at Rank 1. Xavier hadn¡¯t even considered gaining ranks in the skill before performing this ritual. Despite all the patience he¡¯d cultivated with his previous tutor, the time mage Liana, he wanted to jump straight into this. He was also intrigued by these so-called advantages the elf mentioned. What do I do next? Xavier had never sacrificed souls before¡ªhe hadn¡¯t known something like that was possible. This was an entirely new realm of magic that he hadn¡¯t realised had existed. There was no spell for him to cast. It was like stumbling in the dark without being able to hear. Clear your mind, then focus on what you wish to happen, much like when you cast Otherworldly Communion and keep a question in your mind. But this thought needs to be far more intentional. There must be no confusing it. You are sacrificing these souls in order to gain a spell called Soul Sacrifice. Keep it simple. Xavier shut his eyes and focused his mind. It took a moment for him to order his thoughts, then he lowered his chin and wrinkled his forehead as he concentrated on the thought. Soul Sacrifice spell. Soul Sacrifice spell. He wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed when the elven spirit roused him from the trancelike state he¡¯d induced. This thought is strong in your mind? Xavier did not open his eyes. He simply nodded. Now, you must reach into your reserve of souls. Reach into his reserve¡­ that was something he¡¯d never done before. Yet another thing he hadn¡¯t known was possible. He had only ever used his souls in spells. He had never thought of his reserve as a resource that could be used for anything else. Xavier, his eyes remaining closed, felt within himself. There, he could feel the different cores that he unlocked. The different energies they contained. He had become adept at cultivating those energies, for his Spirit Core, his Willpower Core, and his Speed Core. He could feel his soulkeeping reserve. He had an innate knowledge of whether it felt full or not, in the same way that he could sense his cooldowns¡ªthough the accuracy of those senses was nothing like checking the details using the System. He focused on that feeling of fullness. He had over four thousand souls in his reserve, and he intended to sacrifice almost all of them to this cause, even if that wasn¡¯t strictly necessary. Time passed. The air was still within the bubble. There was no sound but for the constant rhythm of his own breathing, of his heart thudding in his chest. The stream nearby did not flow, the small part of it that was stuck inside the time dilation field was a still, silent pool of water. Xavier pushed his mind toward this goal. Hours must have gone by before it happened. Xavier could more than just feel the fullness of his reserve¡ªhe was beginning to feel the souls within it. Not just that¡­ he could feel different things about the souls. Echoes of what they once were. Things flickered through his mind the more he focused on his reverse¡ªghost images of what the souls had looked like, of what their soul apparitions would look like. The weight of how many souls he had trapped within his reserve hit him hard. Made him feel¡­ strangely weighed down. But he could also feel how to pull those souls out of his reserve. He tilted his head to the side. There was a way to free the souls¡ªand there was a way to harness them. Once he had made this discovery, a notification appeared in his vision. What do you wish to do with the souls in your reserve?
  1. Release them.
  2. Harness them.
  3. Destroy them.
Focus on the souls and will your choice. Xavier¡¯s forehead become infinitely more lined. He had the power to destroy the souls, without even using them? Why would he ever want to do something like that? Once he had made this discovery and read the notification, he told the details of it to Rhaalir. The spirit paused, uncharacteristically, before responding. I thought it would take you a lot longer to make the connection to your reserve. Xavier opened his eyes for the first time in a long while. He looked at the transparent elf, standing a few feet away from him. The spirit hadn¡¯t moved. Rhaalir still stood in the same way, chin raised, hands folded behind back. I¡¯ve been at this for hours. Two days, actually, within the time dilation field. Xavier was a little taken aback. He hadn¡¯t realised two full days had gone by. He¡¯d known it had been a while, but not that long. And you¡¯re saying that was quick? It could have taken weeks. Xavier simply nodded. He wasn¡¯t surprised by this. Maybe he should have been, but he¡¯d been unlocking abilities such as this far faster than was expected since he¡¯d been integrated into the System, starting with when he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core. All right. I think I can do the next step without instruction.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The elf nodded and did not contradict him Xavier inhaled long and deep, then let it back out as he closed his eyes. He held the thought in his mind¡ªthat he wished to gain the Soul Sacrifice spell. He split his mind and focused on the souls within his reserve. He could pick them out individually, and he brought four thousand of them into focus. Four thousand personalities. Four thousand separate power signatures. Four thousand ghost images that flashed through his mind. He harnessed them. Ritual commenced. Connection to the Otherworld established. Ritual in progress¡­ Xavier no longer became in any way conscious of the passing of time as the ritual happened. All he had was the thought in his mind, a sense of connection to the Otherworld, and the feeling of four thousand souls leaving his body through that connection. Ritual intention has been heard. Sacrifice of {4,000 Souls} accepted. Ritual has been deemed a success. Results are forthcoming. Xavier opened his eyes. The connection to the Otherworld had snapped shut. The souls from his reserve, all but a few, had disappeared. Rhaalir stared at him, an expectant look on his face. More notifications streamed in. You have gained the spell: Soul Sacrifice Ritual has reached Rank 2 ¡­ Ritual has reached Rank 15! [Otherworldly Communion has taken a step forward on the path! Otherworldly Communion is now a Rank 2 spell. ¡­ Otherworldly Communion is now a Rank 20 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier released a breath. Did it work? the spirit asked. Xavier nodded. He hadn¡¯t experienced any of the dangers the elf had said there would be, but Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder what might have happened if his sacrifice hadn¡¯t been accepted. It did. Xavier frowned. He gazed down at his body, raising a hand to examine his skin. He looked unusually pale, and his palms were sweaty¡ªactually, his whole body was sweaty, and he felt strangely cold. And absolutely exhausted. In every single way. Physically, mentally¡ªeven spiritually. Like his soul was¡­ not damaged, but tired. Xavier raised his chin. Will I always be this drained after a ritual? Not as your rank grows. Rhaalir tilted his head to the side and grinned. Looks like you¡¯ve gained a few ranks already. Xavier frowned. It took him a moment to figure out how the spirit knew he¡¯d already gained ranks in the Ritual skill. Then he remembered he¡¯d given permission to the elf to do so. It was strange that another being always had access to exactly how powerful he was. It made him feel vulnerable in a way he hadn¡¯t felt before. Xavier looked down. His eyes widened instantly at what he saw. The symbol of power¡ªthe Conduit he¡¯d spent hours painstakingly putting together¡ªwas gone. All that remained of it was ash. The symbol was burnt into the ground where all the beast parts had been. The ritual consumed the Conduit? Xavier asked. It sounded right, and he realised he didn¡¯t have to ask the question¡ªhe knew it intuitively now that his skill had ranked up so much. Perhaps that was why the elf didn¡¯t reply. Xavier was thrilled that he¡¯d just gained so many ranks in Otherworldly Communion. It was hard to believe the spell was Rank 20 now. That was an absolutely dramatic shift¡ªbut it was also a long, long time coming. Xavier brought up the new spell that he¡¯d just learnt. He was eager to find out exactly what it did. Soul Sacrifice ¨C Rank 50 Xavier stopped reading the description the instant he saw the rank. He gaped, turned, and faced Rhaalir. How in the world is this spell Rank 50? I just gained it! Rhaalir smiled. It seems the spirits from the Otherworld you connected with appreciated your generous sacrifice. Xavier narrowed his eyes at the elf. You knew this would happen, didn¡¯t you? The elf shrugged. I imagined it would, yes. I didn¡¯t know how many souls you¡¯d be able to put toward the task. I really only expected you to gain five ranks, maybe ten¡­ but you impress me, Xavier Collins. And I am not one who is easily impressed. Xavier focused back on the description. Soul Sacrifice ¨C Rank 50 Soul Sacrifice is an epic spell and is specific to the Reaper and Otherworldly Summoner classes¡ªone must be a part of both lines to be able to use this skill, making it one of the rarest spells in the Greater Universe. This spell creates a connection to the Otherworld when it is cast. Souls are sacrificed through this connection, creating a bridge between the Otherworld and the Mortal Realm. For a short period of time, spirits can enter the Mortal Realm through this bridge. Warriors that will fight alongside the caster. This spell is powerful, one must be cautious. Though no spirit that comes through the bridge can harm the user of the spell, sometimes they are chaotic beings, and their actions are not always predictable. Xavier¡¯s forehead became increasingly lined as he continued to read through the spell¡¯s description. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about this spell¡ªhow confident he was in it. He would have to give up souls¡ªsouls he could use in his Soul Strike, Soul Shatter, Soul Block, and Soul Puppet spells, not to mention his ability to imbue souls into some of his other spells¡ªto summon warriors to fight alongside him¡­ And there would be no way to anticipate what those warriors would be like. An interesting spell. It has the potential to be far more powerful than it first sounds. Xavier inclined his head. He supposed he had to take the elf at his word, at least until he got a chance to test it. Though there was something about the spell that he didn¡¯t like the sound of. He¡¯d been hoping to find a spell that would help him with his Hunt Quest in the raid group against a C Grade beast, but if this spell wasn¡¯t safe to use with allies¡­ Just how chaotic are these spirits? The spell description exaggerates. It is rare that an unruly spirit would come through the bridge. Rhaalir¡¯s tone had shifted. There was something different in the elf¡¯s voice¡ªhe sounded more serious. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he liked it. He walked to the edge of the time dilation field. An unruly spirit. Xavier wondered what type of spirit might have attained such a title. He touched a hand to the time dilation field, deactivating the spell at the same time. As far as he was aware, there were no beasts in the immediate area. But he wouldn¡¯t have to go far to find one. The beast he came upon was something he¡¯d faced before. It was a little ways into the forest from where he¡¯d just been. He¡¯d heard the beast¡¯s racket from a mile away¡ªit had been devouring a pack of wolven that it had slaughtered. Xavier hadn¡¯t often seen beast-on-beast violence, but he¡¯d known that it existed. Seeing the torn-up remnants of the wolven pack, and the beast that still feasted on them, seemingly unworried about Xavier¡¯s approach, flared a hunger deep within him. The beast that he was slowly becoming stirred. It wished to feast like this beast feasted. The beast stood at twenty feet of height on its hindlegs. It looked much like the Rat King had looked on one of the early floors of the tower, but more savage. The Rat King had looked more and more humanoid as it had gained levels¡ªthis beast looked more monstrous. In fact, the more he looked at it, the more he doubted it looked like a rat at all. It had pointy, batlike ears that it could shift and control¡ªthey were facing his direction right now, the beast clearly aware of his presence but unconcerned. Xavier, unhurried, stepped into the clearing where the carnage had taken place. The beast was called Raphick. It wasn¡¯t a name he was familiar with. He supposed that was only fair, given how many worlds there were in the Greater Universe. Rhaalir appeared a few feet away from the Raphick, as though he¡¯d teleported there. Xavier was about to tell the ghost to get out of the beast¡¯s line of sight, lest it be provoked, when he remembered he was the only one who could see the elf. The last beast of this kind had put up quite the fight¡ªthough that had been before he¡¯d used Assimilate Properties on all those Rhinoceros Monkey parts. You¡¯re just going to let it keep devouring these other beasts? Rhaalir¡¯s nose curled up in evident disgust. I¡¯m in no hurry. Xavier rolled his head around his neck, making it crack. No matter how powerful he became, no matter how many points in Toughness, he always seemed to have a slight crick in his neck. Maybe it was psychological¡ªall in his head. The Raphick stared at him as it tore the flesh off the bone of some unfortunate wolven. Well, his Predator¡¯s Gaze skill certainly didn¡¯t work for this beast. Even so, there did appear to be some sort of recognition in the beast¡¯s eyes¡ªit knew another true predator when it saw one. And it felt no fear. With an unhurried air of complete calm, Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice for the first time. He had yet to replenish his soulkeeping reserve, so he currently had less than two hundred souls remaining. He dedicated one hundred of those souls to this spell. Xavier felt a rush of energy as the souls fled from his reserve and seemingly disappeared from existence. Though he knew they weren¡¯t being destroyed¡ªthey were being taken to the Otherworld. Briefly, Xavier wondered what exactly it was that spirits from the otherworld even did with the souls. Not my concern. You have cast Soul Sacrifice. {100 Souls} have been sacrificed to the Otherworld. A bridge has been established. Await the spirits at your leisure. At my leisure? He had been hoping for a spirit to come through the bridge instantly¡ªhe didn¡¯t expect to have to wait for them. And, truth be told, he didn¡¯t have to wait long. Xavier felt the presence before it appeared. There was a strange sense of anticipation vibrating through him that he had never experienced before. Even Rhaalir, the ghost, shifted where he stood, adopting an odd stiffness in his posture that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago. The Raphick sensed this as well. It threw the bone it had been nibbling to the grass and sprinted at Xavier with a speed that would be difficult to believe if he hadn¡¯t faced a beast just like this before. Xavier held his ground. He didn¡¯t move an inch. His fingernails turned to claws, his teeth elongated, his muscles shifted beneath his skin. His vision started to turn red. He was ready to take this beast on. But before the beast¡ªthat was now glowing green due to its use of Speed Infusion¡ªcould reach him, something appeared. It came from the bridge. Book 4: Chapter 64 - Volkarin Xavier took a step back as the beast¡ªthe spirit from the Otherworld which he¡¯d summoned through the bridge using Soul Sacrifice¡ªemerged into the Mortal Realm. A sinuous, scaled body came through the rift between planes at an almost unimaginable speed. There was a roar that shuddered the very trees around them, rustling the leaves and making birds high up in the branches take flight. Fire and ice streamed from the beast¡¯s giant gaping maw as it intercepted the Raphick. Xavier knew that roar, and he knew that spell. The spirit before him was one he recognised¡ªhe had summoned it to this world before, though he had never seen its form as corporeal as it was now. The first spirit that came from the bridge was the Spirit of Vengeance. A massive, deadly dragon that relished in the kill. There was a deep, guttural laugh as its teeth clamped over the enemy beast¡¯s head. Rhaalir, Xavier noticed, stood far off to the side, his eyes opened wider than he¡¯d ever seen them. There was fear in those eyes, Xavier was sure of it. Ever since he had assimilated all of those beast parts, he¡¯d been able to sense fear¡ªsee it, smell it, even taste it in the very air¡ªand despite the fact that Rhaalir wasn¡¯t technically in this world, Xavier could sense it from the spirit quite clearly. Why would Rhaalir be afraid of the Spirit of Vengeance? The fight did not last long. The Raphick had none of the advantages that other beasts who had faced the Spirit of Vengeance had possessed¡ªand the dragon was not the only beast to come through the bridge, though it was the most powerful. Four spirits tore the Raphick limb from limb. Each of those spirits were that of a beast. One resembled an incredibly lean, muscular bear. Another looked like a hyena melded with a finch. And the last was a beast Xavier recognised, a wolven. He wondered how common those beasts were in the Greater Universe, for him to keep encountering them. These spirits left the Raphick more shredded, destroyed, and feasted upon than the carcasses of the wolven that it had killed. Xavier¡¯s stomach did not turn at the sight of the carnage. If anything, it made his blood rush faster through his veins. A sense of excitement settled over him. When the Raphick died and the chaos abated, Xavier expected the spirits to return through the bridge. They did not. In the shock at seeing the Spirit of Vengeance emerge through the bridge, Xavier had neglected to consolidate the information in his split minds. He had one mind constantly reading and digesting the notifications that came through to him, but the two minds were so separate that the part of Xavier that was staring at the spirits hadn¡¯t known what the notifications were. He caught himself up on them. You have successfully attracted a spirit from the Otherworld! As you have sacrificed {100 Souls}, the bridge will remain open for 10 seconds. The counter had started the moment the first spirit came through. Ten seconds was stretched much farther when you could move as swiftly as Xavier and perceive the world that fast. The spirits you summon will remain in the Mortal Realm for as long as the bridge is open. The instant the enemy beast had been slain, the spirits fled through the forest. Xavier had no idea where they were going¡ªthey went in different directions, and they were already too far away for him to trap in his time dilation field. He tapped his foot on the ground and looked at the one spirit that had not fled. Though ten seconds was a long time in battle, it was an awfully short time for a conversation. Xavier cast Time Alteration, encompassing the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance inside of it. Ah, young Denizen, thank you for bringing me a meal of this calibre. The dragon¡¯s tongue shot out and licked its lips. There was a sinister grin on its face. The spirit looked so much more solid than any other time it had been summoned that Xavier almost felt as though it was actually here, but if he looked close enough he could see that the beast was transparent¡ªshards of sunlight that cut through the trees went in one side of the spirit and out the other. The beast cast a shadow, but it was a mottled, weak shadow. Xavier took a step toward the dragon. I did not expect to see you here. I felt the sacrifice of souls. Thousands of them streamed into the Otherworld and I was there to devour my fair share. The dragon took a deep breath, almost as though it could feel the air coming into its lunges. Ahh. It feels good to feast on such. The dragon tilted its head to the side. You have learnt the art of performing rituals. That is good. The dragon lowered its head, staring deeply into Xavier¡¯s eyes. Xavier saw the eyes of a true predator¡ªno¡­ something more. Something even deadlier. That skill will serve you well if you truly desire to bring me forth into your realm for good. Xavier hadn¡¯t considered that. He knew that there were abilities he¡¯d been missing that he would need if he were to bring forth the Spirit of Vengeance into the Mortal Realm for good. It wasn¡¯t just a vessel that he needed to acquire¡ªhe needed to ensure that he had other things, but those things were not yet clear to him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He supposed the Ritual skill was one of those things. Xavier raised his chin, looking up at the dragon. I did not realise you could come through the bridge. The Spirit of Vengeance glanced over at the corpse of the Raphick beast. When you open a bridge to the Otherworld, any manner of spirit could wonder through it. That was when the dragon¡¯s gaze settled upon Rhaalir. The spirit was standing outside of the time dilation field. Xavier hadn¡¯t intended to trap the spirit outside of the bubble, but it was interesting to know that he could freeze it in time if it was far enough away from him. The dragon¡¯s eyes narrowed. You made a contract with this spirit? There was something in the beast¡¯s tone of voice. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure what it was. I did. It was the only way I knew to progress my Otherworld spells. This elf¡ªRhaalir¡ªknows how to help me. The dragon gave a deep rumble. It took a moment for Xavier to realise that it was saying, ¡°Hmm.¡± If that is a step you need to take to bring me to this realm, then I applaud it. However¡­ The dragon swung its massive head back toward Xavier¡¯s, its piercing gaze skewering him. Be wary. Spirits are often only out for themselves. The dragon chuckled, as though he¡¯d made some kind of joke. Xavier looked over at Rhaalir. He wasn¡¯t at all surprised by what the dragon had said. He had felt that from the very beginning. But there wasn¡¯t anything to be done about it¡ªhe needed the elf¡¯s help. Xavier paused. Gazed at the dragon. Should I have made a contract with you for this purpose? The dragon shook its head. No, young Denizen. I know some of what an Otherworld Summoner can do, but that is only because they summon me, and their powers concern me. I would be no teacher. It would be like a boy apprenticing as a blacksmith with someone who¡¯d only ever watched another at work at a forge, and never participated in that work themselves. I simply warn you to be wary. Xavier inclined his head in thanks. You have a name, don¡¯t you? I keep thinking of you as the Spirit of Vengeance, but that is merely a title. The Spirit of Vengeance seemed to consider this for a long moment. It was strange, having a longer conversation with the beast. There usually wasn¡¯t time for such things. Now, time wasn¡¯t an issue at all. My name was once Volkarin. I have not used that name for many years. The dragon¡¯s head lowered. I have not even thought the name. It is a strange thing, giving up what you once were¡­ I still feel the urge for revenge, for what was done to¡­ The dragon drifted off, leaving something unsaid. But much of my life is a haze. Dreams of a dead beast and nothing more. Xavier had never seen the bloodthirsty dragon melancholy before. It made him uncomfortable. He shifted from one foot to another. May I call you Volkarin? If you summon me to the Mortal Realm in a corporeal form, you can call me whatever you wish. The spirit paused. But yes. You may call me Volkarin. Now, I grow weary of this conversation. Deactivate the field. Let me return to the Otherworld. Xavier had expected the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªVolkarin¡ªto hang around longer than that. He sensed he had brought back memories the beast did not wish to dwell upon in company. Xavier did not hesitate to bring down the barrier, deactivating his Time Alteration spell. Rhaalir glanced over at him, then blinked and frowned. It was clear the spirit noticed that something had changed. The elf also knew all about Xavier¡¯s abilities, so it likely knew what had happened¡ªwhy one or both of them were standing in different positions than they had been in a split-second ago. Rhaalir disappeared then reappeared a few feet away from Xavier. The spirit¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t as wide as they had been when he had been staring at Volkarin, but clearly the spirit knew something about the dragon. And Xavier still sensed fear wafting off the elf. The timer was swiftly ticking to zero. Soon, the bridge to the Otherworld would close and the four spirits that had come through it would disappear from the Mortal Realm and return to their domain. Volkarin turned and stared directly at Rhaalir. Rhaalir looked up at the dragon, and there was a spike in the elf¡¯s fear. The dragon chuckled, then disappeared like smoke in the wind. The elf shuddered. I did not expect a spirit like that one to have appeared. Xavier tilted his head to the side. A spirit like that one? What do you mean? The elf lowered his head for a moment. He seemed deep in thought. Then he tilted his head to one said and gave a small nod. He looked at Xavier. That was no ordinary spirit from the Otherworld. I know. It was the Spirit of Vengeance. I have summoned the dragon several times. I guess it somehow sensed that I had opened a bridge. The elf¡¯s eyes opened to their widest. He looked incredulously at Xavier. You have summoned that spirit before? Xavier shrugged. He didn¡¯t see what the big deal was. He turned his attention to the notifications that appeared in his vision, skipping past the kill notification and moving straight to the ranks he¡¯d gained. Soul Sacrifice has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Sacrifice is now a Rank 51 spell. ¡­ Soul Sacrifice is now a Rank 60 Spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Ten ranks, with a single usage of the spell. That seemed like a lot. Perhaps it was simply because the spell had been quite low rank, and he¡¯d used it on a high-level D Grade beast. Or, perhaps something else had been at play¡­ He turned his attention back to Rhaalir once more. Have you something to tell me about Volkarin? Rhaalir took a step back. You know the name of the beast? The elf shook his head. Xavier had never seen a spirit from the Otherworld distressed before. It was a strange sight. What could the spirit be afraid of? The elf was already dead, after all. The dragon told me its name. His name. And that does come as a surprise. The spirit you just summoned¡­ he is one of the Seven. Xavier frowned. One of the seven? The spirit released a long sigh, which must have been for effect, considering he couldn¡¯t actually breathe. You really know so little about the Otherworld. I think we¡¯ve established that¡ªthat is the whole reason you¡¯re here. The elf seemed to consider his next words. He licked his lips, nodded to himself, then Rhaalir spoke. The Otherworld is chaos. But it is an ordered chaos. There is a way of things. A hierarchy. That way has been thus for billions of years. And for billions of years there have been seven powerful spirits at the centre of the Otherworld, at the top of that hierarchy, who rule over all others. They, unlike many spirits from the Otherworld, have the ability to destroy other spirits, and they do so at their whim. The dragon you just summoned¡ªVolk¡ª The elf shut his eyes. Swallowed. I cannot say the name, even here and now where he cannot reach me. Xavier tried to take in what the elf was saying. There were seven leaders of the Otherworld, and the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªVolkarin¡ªwas one of them? He wasn¡¯t sure what the implications of that were. He had already been meddling with things he didn¡¯t understand. That fact was only exacerbated now that he had learnt this information. For a long moment he wondered if this changed anything¡­ then he came to the conclusion that it did not. If anything, he was even more keen to bring the dragon physically into the fold. If the dragon was one of the rulers of the Otherworld, then that must mean it was even more powerful and knowledgeable than Xavier had ever realised. That was something he could use to his advantage. He was sure of it. I¡¯ll take that under advisement. Xavier would be wary¡ªjust as Volkarin had said he should be. He didn¡¯t know if he should entirely believe anything one of these spirits said, but he would still take their words of advice and caution, even with a grain of salt. He drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. But this changes nothing. There are things I must do before the C Grade raid. Goals I must accomplish. We move on from here. Xavier walked over to the dead Raphick. He knelt by the beast and stared at its scattered remains for a moment. Then he gathered them up, bit by bit, into his Storage Ring. More parts for his Assimilation Properties skill¡ªall he needed to do was reach D Grade to use them. Book 4: Chapter 65 - The Raid Leader Xavier was high in the sky. He¡¯d leapt to the greatest height his Strength could take him, and was observing the oncoming stampede with an impassive look on his face. Seeing the Rhinoceros Monkeys stirred his blood, made the bestial part of him¡ªa part that was growing¡ªfill with anticipation. He was here, once again, to fill his soulkeeping reserve¡ªa reserve that was only becoming larger with each passing day as his soul spells continued to advance through ranks. On his way to the stampede, he¡¯d killed as many beasts as he could manage, growing his reserve until it held two hundred souls. It wasn¡¯t a great deal, but he knew it would be enough to cause some chaos. He grinned as he fell back to the ground. Offering up one hundred souls the last time he¡¯d used Soul Sacrifice had given him ten seconds with the bridge to the Otherworld open. According to Rhaalir, each unit of ten souls equalled a single second of the bridge being open. That meant he had the potential to keep the bridge open for an entire seven minutes if he were to use up his entire soulkeeping reserve. Xavier wondered if he would ever be in a position to do such a thing. There was a downside to the spell, however¡ªother than the chaotic nature of the spirits it summoned. It had a hard cooldown, one that never shifted. It could only be used once every twenty-four-hours. Xavier felt as though that was a rather severe drawback. It certainly made it difficult for him to rank the spell up. The only reason he could use it again so soon after the first time he had was because he¡¯d gained a level on his way here. He fell to the ground like a stone, landing with enough force to make a crater. Xavier¡¯s body was so densely packed with muscle that he was significantly heavier than a normal human being. He didn¡¯t know how heavy¡ªperhaps four or five hundred pounds. Maybe significantly more. Certainly more than would make sense when one looked at his build. But the Greater Universe did strange things to people, especially as they grew higher in power. The stampede did not slow. He could see it through the trees, trampling everything in its path. This stampede was much like the last, and like the last from what he could tell it held at least five thousand beasts. More than enough to refill his reserve. Xavier wasn¡¯t here to dally. He¡¯d fought a stampede exactly like this before, and he found no pleasure in delaying the fight. All right, that was definitely a lie. He couldn¡¯t help but find some pleasure in it. In fact, there was a part of him that wished to linger here¡ªto rip every one of the beasts limb from limb and feast on the marrow in their bones. God, I¡¯m beginning to sound like the dragon¡­ And he could feast on them, if he wished¡ªthese were E Grade beasts, all but their alpha. He would not be risking accidentally assimilating something from a being that he wasn¡¯t ready for. But he didn¡¯t wish to give into that part of him¡ªnot fully¡ªand he wasn¡¯t about to start now. Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice, using two hundred souls. The bridge opened before the stampede made it to him. Chaos ensued as the spirits flowed out from the bridge. Just like the last time, the Spirit of Vengeance was the first of the spirits to emerge, the great dragon releasing a roar of triumph at being summoned to this world once more. No. He¡¯s not the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªnot right now. Right now, he is Volkarin. One of the seven most powerful beings in the Otherworld. That was something he was still trying to come to terms with, but there was nothing to be done about it. He accepted that this spirit was close to him. It wasn¡¯t the first time someone powerful had taken an interest in him, after all. Though something he had observed was that the spirit wasn¡¯t as powerful as it was when he used Summon Otherworldly Spirit to bring it to this world. There were limitations for how strong the spirits he brought here through the bridge could be¡ªlimitations that hadn¡¯t been mentioned in the description of the Soul Sacrifice spell. But it was something that made a deep sense to him. Any spirit could potentially come through the bridge the spell created, which meant that even A Grade spirits could pass into this realm from his spell¡ªbut those spirits would be severely limited in power, a power that was relative to Xavier¡¯s. But, considering how powerful Xavier was¡­ A dozen spirits made it through the bridge. Three times as much as the first time he had utilised this spell. They tore through the stampede like a bull trampling through a rat warren. There was nothing the stampede could do to resist. Xavier relished in the destruction his spell was causing and looked for the nearest target. He wasn¡¯t worried about the alpha. He¡¯d defeated one just like it, after all. No, right now, his mind was consumed by the next task after this one. He had told Rhaalir there were things he must do before the C Grade raid, but that time was fast approaching¡ªonly a few days away. He didn¡¯t feel ready, not really, but he knew that this¡ªfighting a C Grade enemy while he was only E Grade¡ªwould be an astonishing thing to accomplish. What he needed to do before that was bring himself as close to advancing to the next grade as possible. He needed to be as strong as he could be. Which meant he needed to get to Level 200 before the raid. Xavier, having sighted his target, did not cast Time Alteration as he had the last time he was here. He wished to see his spirits wreak some havoc before he brought up the bubble, wanting them to do as much damage as possible in those twenty seconds. Xavier felt death after death, harvested soul after soul. He tore through the ranks of the stampede with claw and fang, slicing and tearing through the enemies before him. His mind was split, and a part of him was dedicated to one thing¡ªcounting the number of kill notifications. In the first five seconds, one hundred of the enemies had been killed, but that had been because it took a moment for his spirits and himself to reach the bulk of the enemies. In the next five seconds, over five hundred Rhinoceros Monkeys lay dead on the ground. Blood did not stain Xavier¡¯s robes, but it did stain his teeth and mar his claws. At one point in those first twenty seconds of the battle he heard a loud, terrifying roar. It was not the roar of one of the enemy beasts. His first thought had been that it must have come from one of the spirits who¡¯d entered this world through the bridge to the Otherworld. Then he realised it was he who was roaring¡ªthe sound had come from his throat, from deep in his chest. In the mere twenty seconds that the spirits from the Otherworld were in the Mortal Realm, almost two thousand of the Rhinoceros Monkeys met their end. The Soul Sacrifice spell ended. The spirits disappeared like smoke on the wind, returning to their natural domains. Xavier hadn¡¯t seen them fight, he had been too consumed with the carnage he caused, but he saw the aftermath of their passing. Another roar sounded the moment the spirits disappeared. This one, he knew, hadn¡¯t come from him¡ªit came from the alpha. Xavier finally cast Time Alteration, then he carved a path of destruction through the rest of the stampede, until¡ªjust as before¡ªthe only enemy still standing was the alpha. Their fight did not last very long. ~ Rhaalir stared at him. His expression was blank, yet at the same time intense. Xavier¡¯s eyes seemed to be playing tricks, because he could swear the elf looked more solid than he had before.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. You truly are something else, Xavier Collins. Xavier was sitting inside Hunter¡¯s Home, sipping a mug of coffee that Liana had brought to him. He was the only one who could see the spirit of the elf standing before him¡ªseveral times, other Champions had stepped through Rhaalir, and the elf would give them a sour look of disdain. In the time since he had made the contract with the spirit, Xavier had brought his ranks up even closer to 100. His Soul Sacrifice spell gained ranks far faster than he could have hoped. Rhaalir told him that the calibre of spirit the spell attracted often gave the spell more power¡ªand what spirit was more powerful than one of the Seven? Xavier didn¡¯t gain more time from the spell, despite how many ranks he¡¯d achieved in it, nor did the cooldown shorten. But he did attract more spirits each time he cast the spell¡ªthat seemed to be the main difference in the rank. That, and the fact that the spirits had access to more of their own power. Xavier savoured the taste of the coffee. Though as much as he loved what Liana brewed for him, it couldn¡¯t live up to the coffee he¡¯d been given by the older version of himself. I don¡¯t feel ready, Xavier replied with his thoughts to the spirit. Even though he had reached Level 200, and even though the majority of his ranks had reached 100, he simply wasn¡¯t feeling confident about this raid. He wasn¡¯t about to back down¡ªthe rewards on offer were simply too great¡ªbut he still had his doubts. He had asked Liana if she had any wish to participate in the raid. She hadn¡¯t completed the expected number of Hunt Quests the raiding parties wished for, but he might be able to get Felecia to vouch for her. The time mage didn¡¯t want to have any part of the fight. She had taken a room at the Hunter¡¯s Home, something Xavier hadn¡¯t even considered doing, and was lying on the bed in a time bubble of her own that sped the passage of time for her and her alone, meaning she was basically frozen there while time passed around her. Though she had been the one to counsel patience in him, she had reached the end of her rope when it came to remaining in this floor. She still believed Xavier might find a solution to her problem, and for this reason alone she didn¡¯t leave the floor. But that didn¡¯t mean she wished to spend an extra moment here than she had to. Xavier almost felt guilty, keeping the woman here. He¡¯d made a promise to her that he didn¡¯t know if he would be able to fulfill. Certainly the doubts were creeping in right now, when he was about to face his first C Grade beast. He didn¡¯t count The Nightmare. That beast had never been aware of his presence. If it had been, he was sure his control over it would have been short-lived¡ªthen his life would have likely been forfeit. When you told me of this goal of yours, I thought you were the most foolish, arrogant Denizen I ever had the misfortune of encountering in all the different universes. However, now that I have seen the way you fight, the way you excel, I think perhaps it was I who was foolish in my prejudgement of you. Even if you¡¯re not an elf. Xavier smirked and shook his head, then he sipped from his mug once more. Ah, coffee, glorious coffee. Perhaps this brew was better than he gave it credit for. I think that¡¯s the nicest thing you¡¯ve ever said to me, Xavier replied. There wasn¡¯t long for him to linger on these thoughts. Felicia had told him that today would be the day of the raid, and that the leader of the raid would be gathering everyone out the back of the tavern to talk about their Hunt Quest, and the strategy that would be used against it. Xavier had tried asking questions about who the leader of the raid would be. He didn¡¯t spend a whole lot of time at Hunter¡¯s Home, and didn¡¯t really know any of the Champions who were there. The barkeep was being oddly tight-lipped, simply stating that the Champion was a competent one. ¡°They¡¯re gathering now,¡± Felicia said. ¡°You can take that mug out back with you if you wish.¡± Xavier had been grasping the coffee mug with both hands. He¡¯d almost drank the entire beverage, but he wasn¡¯t about to abandon it. He gave the woman a curt nod then headed to the back door of the tavern. The door was propped open, and he was only one among many who were filing out of Hunter¡¯s Home. There was a large, tiled area here that Xavier hadn¡¯t seen before. A fence surrounded the area, and he sensed there was something magical about it. Perhaps it kept beasts from entering. This does feels like an extension of the Safe Zone. Several hundred Champions, each in groups of four, stood mulling around, facing the back of the courtyard. There was a small box on the ground, but no sign of the Raid Leader Felicia had mentioned. Xavier glanced about at the different Champions. When he had first heard about these raids, Gimble had told him that the raiding parties didn¡¯t accept a Champion unless they had completed at least one hundred Hunt Quests¡ªwhich meant that every single Champion before him had done just that. There was a general murmur and excited chatter buzzing around the area. A few people glanced his way with curious looks or frowns, but none tried to speak to him. The chatter died down, and an expectant silence reigned over the courtyard as someone stood on top of the box. Xavier blinked, then chuckled to himself. He knew the person standing there¡ªthe Raid Leader¡ªit was none other than Gimble the dwarf. Which meant the dwarf, for one reason or another, had lied to Xavier about who he really was. He¡¯d made it out like he¡¯d only made a few kills in this place. Xavier¡¯s curiosity outweighed his frustration about being misled. Why would the dwarf have cause to lie to him? There must be a reason, and Xavier was keen to find out what it was. Gimble¡¯s party, Tam, Elinae, and, Lilta, stood arrayed in front of him as the dwarf cleared his throat and spoke in a strong voice that could be heard by everyone in attendance. ¡°Welcome, welcome, to my fifth raid as Raid Leader of the one hundredth floor.¡± Gimble puffed up his chest, raising his chin in the air. The pride he felt at being here was evident. ¡°It is good to see so many eager faces. Some of you have been through these raids before, some of you have only just qualified. You all know the dangers we face, and the commitment you make by participating in this raid.¡± Xavier glanced around at the others. He wasn¡¯t sure what commitment the man was speaking of. He was beginning to feel out of place, standing alone. As far as he could tell, he was the only Champion there that wasn¡¯t actually in a party. Though he should have known that already. Liana was the only other Champion he¡¯d encountered soloing this floor. ¡°By joining this raid, you agree to follow the orders of me, the Raid Leader, during the Hunt Quest against the C Grade monster I¡¯m about to tell you of. This will mean every single Champion here will be signing a contract to that effect. Without a clear chain-of-command, a raid is utter chaos. I understand the reluctance many of you feel at doing something like this. It is a difficult thing for a Champion to follow the orders of one from another world, but if you wish to remain in this raid, there is no other option.¡± A moment later, a contract appeared in front of Xavier¡¯s vision. He narrowed his eyes as he read through it. Rhaalir, able to read Xavier¡¯s notifications, kept making hmm sounds in his mind. What is it? Xavier asked the spirit. He had read through the contract and not seen anything amiss. Though it did worry him that if he agreed to this, he would not be allowed to retreat without the order of the Raid Leader or one of his subcommanders should the Raid Leader fall. Just appreciating the contract. It is a sound one, and a wise one for the Raid Leader to have. It is a risk, bringing so many different Champions from different worlds and backgrounds together. There was a clause in the contract that said a Champion could refuse an order if they knew it meant throwing their life away, or if the order had nothing to do with the raid. That, Xavier was glad for. Still, he couldn¡¯t help feeling wary agreeing to this. He wasn¡¯t used to taking orders, he was barely even used to giving them. Though he knew he might just be being foolish. If there was no organisation in this fight, Gimble was right, it would be utter chaos¡ªthere would be no way they could take down a C Grade enemy if they weren¡¯t working in harmony. Which made him wonder if perhaps he should have been practicing fighting with these people earlier. Too late for that now. Gimble waited for the amassed Champions to sign the contract. As far as Xavier could see, none of the other Champions even blinked at signing the thing. Xavier supposed most of them must have signed something like this in the past. Xavier, biting the inside of his cheek, signed. He was committed to this fight. He might not wish to follow orders, but he supposed it would be better to face his first C Grade enemy within a group of experienced Champions than it would be to face one all by himself. Gimble rubbed his hands together and smiled broadly when everyone had signed the contract. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get down to business, shall we?¡± He gestured to the space beside him. A moment later, a transparent image of a beast appeared. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He hadn¡¯t seen a hologram like this since he had first entered the Tower of Champions and they had gone through orientation. He tilted his head to the side and got a good look at the monster they were all about to face. It was a wolven. He shook his head in slight surprise. A C Grade wolven. But this beast wasn¡¯t to scale. The dwarf explained that it was fifty-feet tall. A fifty-foot-tall beast? Xavier asked Rhaalir. It is not unusual. Beasts advance through the different grades in a way that is vastly different to how Champions do. They have a choice of becoming larger as they grow. Some Denizens have this choice, but it is much more restricted. A human could become ten, even twelve feet tall if they so wished, but they would have to change their race if they wished to become taller than that. Xavier nodded idly to what the spirit said and focused on Gimble¡¯s words. ¡°This is the Iron Wolf,¡± Gimble said. He sighed. ¡°Not a very interesting name for such a ferocious beast, I know, but as you¡¯ll see, it¡¯s not one to be underestimated¡­¡± The hologram became larger. The wolven was grey furred, like the alphas Xavier had faced in the forest, except the fur¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t strictly fur. It was metal. It reminded Xavier a little of the Stone Bear, but he knew as a C Grade beast, this thing¡¯s Toughness would be on an entirely different level. ¡°The Iron Wolf commands a host of D Grade beasts, roughly three hundred of them. At any time, it can call upon those under its command and teleport them to its location. This D Grade beasts will prove quite a nuisance if they are not swiftly dealt with. We do not want to be fighting a battle on multiple fronts if we can help it.¡± For a moment, Xavier wondered where the dwarf had gained this information. But he supposed Gimble had access to sources all over the Greater Universe¡ªsomething the System had barred Xavier from being able to do. ¡°I will separate the parties into several different groups. First among those groups is the Vanguard.¡± Xavier leant forward as the dwarf began to assign the different Champions amassed in the courtyard into these groups. Xavier wanted to be in that vanguard. Book 4: Chapter 66 - Support Group Xavier stood, fuming. He was struggling to contain his frustration. Rhaalir, the elf spirit, was giving him a strange look. Why so much anger, young Denizen? Gimble put me in the Support group. Gimble, the Raid Leader, had assigned all the Champion present into three different groups. The Vanguard. The Main Host. And Support. The Support group consisted of Champions who were there to stop the D Grade wolven packs from distracting the other Champions from their goals. Gimble had gone on to project a map of the area where they would be fighting, assigning the different groups and subgroups to their respective areas. Xavier was tapping his foot on the ground rather hard. So hard that there were cracks in the tiles beneath his feet. He looked around and saw that he was getting a few nasty glances at the noise he was making. He didn¡¯t much care. He needed to be in the middle of the fight. At the front of the Vanguard. He wanted to take the fight to the C Grade beast¡ªthat was the whole reason he was here in the first place. He might be a little wary of being a part of this raid, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to stand back as the others fought against the enemy. No. Certainly not. He could face D Grade enemies by himself¡ªhe didn¡¯t need to be a part of this raid to do it. Deep breaths, young Denizen. This Gimble does not know your strengths. To him, you are untested. Show him what you are, and things will be different in the next raid. The spirit was right, of course. Gimble didn¡¯t know how powerful Xavier was. How could he? He didn¡¯t know Xavier at all. Still, that didn¡¯t mean he was simply going to wait until the next raid¡ªif he waited that long, he would be D Grade by then. No, he needed to face the C Grade beast now so that he could get that soul bound weapon Felicia had been talking about. There was no other way to go about this. When the meeting had been adjourned, and the Champions were told where to be two hours from now, Xavier strode through the crowd and walked right up to the dwarf and his party. Xavier paused before he spoke. He felt the anger building up inside of him. This was something he was growing used to recognising within himself. Something that he¡¯d been trying to control. No, not trying, he¡¯d been succeeding. He reined in his emotions, ordered his thoughts, and spoke when Gimble gave him a nod. ¡°Why did you put me in the Support group?¡± Xavier thought he¡¯d controlled his tone rather well, but the fact that the dwarf rocked back on his heels and widened his eyes almost imperceptivity, made him realise he must have let some of his anger show. Or maybe that was because as he spoke, his claws had grown and sharpened, and the dwarf had noticed that. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you fight, lad. Do you really wish to be in the Main Host?¡± The dwarf blinked, clearly a little confused. ¡°No,¡± Xavier said. He took a breath. ¡°I¡¯d like to be in the Vanguard.¡± Gimble raised an eyebrow. ¡°Only those who¡¯ve been through a raid before are in the Vanguard, lad. You certainly don¡¯t fit that. No offence, but I wouldn¡¯t think you¡¯d want to jump into a fight like this without a bit of experience. And, as you don¡¯t even have a party¡­¡± The dwarf ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. ¡°I was trying to protect you.¡± ¡°Is that why you didn¡¯t tell me who you really were?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°You lied to me in the tavern¡ªI thought¡­¡± Xavier sighed. I thought we were friends. He didn¡¯t say those words aloud. He figured they¡¯d only make him sound like an annoyed child. But he had grown fond of the dwarf and their chats in the tavern. ¡°Ah, well, I was trying to feel you out, ya see. There aren¡¯t a great many Champions that come to this floor to solo it. And those that survive as long as you have¡­ well, that¡¯s something to pay attention to. If you stuck around long enough, I was going to tell you about the raid. I was even going to invite you to them¡ªthough not this soon. I figured someone soloing this floor would be up to the challenge, and even welcome it. Which, clearly you have.¡± Xavier took that in. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me because you didn¡¯t want me trying to prove myself?¡± ¡°Aye. Wanted to see the real you.¡± ¡°Ironic¡­¡± Xavier sighed. He was used to speaking his mind. Even before the integration, he may not have been the most social being, but he tended to tell things how he felt they were¡ªeven if that meant openly arguing with someone in authority. He realised that was, whether he meant to be doing it or not, something he was doing right now. He shut his eyes and ordered his thoughts once more. Apparently the first time he¡¯d done that, it hadn¡¯t actually worked. When he opened his eyes, Gimble was staring at him with a curious look. ¡°This means a lot to you, lad, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Gimble asked. ¡°What can I do that will make you put me in the Vanguard?¡± Gimble shook his head and shrugged his shoulders high. ¡°Do well on this raid, and maybe next time you come along you¡¯ll be ready.¡± I¡¯m ready now, Xavier thought. He knew responding like that would just make him sound petulant. There wasn¡¯t a time limit on what he wanted to do. Even so, he was itching to push forward, and being in the Vanguard would help him do that. Xavier swallowed his pride and inclined his head in a nod to the dwarf. ¡°Understood.¡± He almost added ¡°sir¡± to the end but figured doing so would definitely sound disingenuous. Gimble nodded curtly. ¡°Good lad. I¡¯m sure you have a lot to offer, assuming you don¡¯t wind up dead. There will be more raids than just this one. Besides, you wouldn¡¯t want to be up close and personal with this beastie. It¡¯ll tear you apart if you ain¡¯t careful.¡± Xavier watched the dwarf and his party depart from the courtyard, along with the rest of the Champions in the raid group. Rhaalir looked over at him. ¡°You must have anticipated something like that would happen.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t deign to reply to the spirit. Instead, he walked back into Hunter¡¯s Home and ordered another coffee. He knew he had to follow orders on this raid, but he was hoping he would find some way around what Gimble wanted him to do. That was when something occurred to him. The C Grade Iron Wolf could summon those under its command to its location on a whim. The wolven in the forest were most certainly the enemies who were going to be summoned. Those were the very same wolven he¡¯d been tasked with keeping away from the Main Host and the Vanguard. If there were fewer of those wolven to be summoned¡­ He skulled the remainder of his coffee, thanked Felicia for being able to brew the stuff, then headed straight out the door of Hunter¡¯s Home, on a mission. ~ An hour later, Xavier stood where he¡¯d been instructed to be. He¡¯d cleaned the blood off his claws, but there was still some stuck underneath, which he was working on prying loose as the other Champions began to gather around the area. Between leaving Hunter¡¯s Home and reaching this place, Xavier had gone on a killing spree, tearing the wolven apart limb from limb, locating as many as he could in the forest. Xavier could only move so swiftly, but an hour was a long time for someone like him. He managed to take out ten different wolven packs. Roughly sixty different beasts. It wasn¡¯t as many as he wished, but it would have to do¡ªit would at least minimise, in a small way, the number of beasts the Iron Wolf was able to summon to it.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. He had a plan, one that he was sure would let him face the C Grade beast even if he was in the Support group. He just hoped the C Grade beast didn¡¯t go down too easily, otherwise his plan wouldn¡¯t work at all. Xavier¡¯s plan was a simple one¡ªkill every single D Grade wolven the Iron Wolf summoned as swiftly as possible, allowing the Support group to join the Vanguard and the Main Host against the C Grade enemy. Before leaving Hunter¡¯s Home tavern, Xavier had ensured he¡¯d grabbed the Hunt Quest from off the noticeboard. An interesting thing happened when he did¡ªthe notice duplicated itself. Participating in this raid would benefit every single one of the Champions there¡­ But Xavier had to believe if he didn¡¯t personally damage the C Grade beast, he would get a far worse reward for his efforts. He imagined it was much like completing a floor of the tower with a party¡ªtheir participation would be noted by the System. You could always wait for the next raid, Rhaalir said. Time moves differently on the hundredth floor. You aren¡¯t in any sort of real rush here. Xavier ignored the elf. Though the spirit¡¯s words were true, and this was exactly the type of behaviour he¡¯d been trying to curb in himself since coming to this floor¡ªthe reckless behaviour of throwing himself at enemies he shouldn¡¯t be able to face¡ªit was also the very same behaviour that had gotten him here in the first place. So he was struggling to see a better way to do this. A horn sounded, far off in the distance. Gimble¡¯s signal that the fight was about to begin. Though none in the raid group had fought this monster before, information on where the beasts would appear was rife in the Greater Universe. Only a mere few seconds after the horn was blown, bright lights flashed around the area as wolven appeared left and right. Xavier got to work. He moved as swiftly as he possibly could. A part of him wondered if he should activate his Time Alteration spell¡ªit would be his most efficient way of carving through the enemies. But as good as his cooldown with the spell had become, he couldn¡¯t bet on this fight lasting long enough for him to use the spell a second time. He wanted to be able to use Time Alteration the moment all the minion wolven were dead. He had a plan there, too, one he would tell Gimble if he had the chance. I just hope this works. Xavier tore through the wolven that appeared, using spells and claws liberally. He cast Willpower Infusion on an entire pack¡ªthe spell now strong enough to pierce their minds¡ªand had them turn on another pack. All was chaos as he moved through the enemies, dealing death to every beast he passed. The other parties of Champions¡ªall of them D Grade¡ªmoved slower than he had imagined they would, struggling more than he thought they could. It appeared to take entire parties to face a single pack of these wolven. They dealt with them easily enough, but the fights weren¡¯t swift. Xavier could hardly believe what he was seeing. Since coming here, he had been surprised at how difficult the D Grade beasts he faced here were¡ªthey had almost killed him multiple times¡ªbut it hadn¡¯t taken him long to become stronger than them. The beasts that posed a threat to his life when he¡¯d first come to this floor were child¡¯s play to him now. He had always thought the Champions on this floor must be a great deal stronger than he was, but he hadn¡¯t observed any of them in battle except for Liana. These D Grade Champions were supposed to be the creme of the crop. They were supposed to be the strongest this floor could offer, else they wouldn¡¯t be in this raid. Then again, all he¡¯d seen were the Champions in the Support group, not the ones in the Vanguard. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed by how these people fought. It made him wonder how they¡¯d all survived so many enemy encounters and Hunt Quests to begin with. They probably have prior knowledge about all the different enemies on the noticeboard, knowledge they¡¯d gained before coming to this floor, helping them devise strategies to deal with each one. Xavier slaughtered wolven pack after wolven pack. He noticed that he¡¯d gained a few followers. Parties that appeared to be following him around as he tore through the enemies. There was even a healer who kept throwing healing spells at him, not that he had ever needed them. As he fought, he received several different buffs, attaining different colours glows¡ªbuffs that boosted his Speed, Toughness, and Strength. That was certainly something he wasn¡¯t accustomed to. In what felt like no time at all, every single one of the summoned wolven packs in the area had been slain. A horn blew, the signal coming from one of the Champions in the Support group, to inform the other Champions in the area of their success. Another horn blew in return, calling them to the front of the raid group, to help face the Iron Wolf. Xavier¡¯s grin spread across his face. As he ran forward, he couldn¡¯t help but see the gazes of others through his Farscope. A great many of the Champions were staring at him. Some had blank expressions on their faces, but they seemed like they were forced. Others were looking at in him open awe. Some, still, looked afraid. There had been several wolven as he¡¯d run through the area that had turned and bolted at the sight of him, his Predator¡¯s Gaze skill doing its work. That had happened a lot when he¡¯d been facing the Rhinoceros Monkey stampede¡ªthe second stampede¡ªas well. It was starting to become normal, seeing beasts flee from him. Every time it happened it made something inside of him want to pursue. He quickly checked his progress for Fear Dominion, remembering that he had been getting close to unlocking the spell. The more powerful Predator¡¯s Gaze became, the easier it was to progress toward unlocking the spell. To unlock Fear Dominion, you must strike fear into the hearts of a thousand enemies. Progress: 999/1000 God, I¡¯m so close. A part of him itched to turn around and venture back into the forest to find a single beast to strike fear into, so that he would come back with a new spell. But that wasn¡¯t something he had been ordered to do, and he couldn¡¯t go back on the orders he¡¯d received from the Raid Leader¡ªhe¡¯d signed a contract to that effect. I certainly won¡¯t be able to strike fear in the Iron Wolf. He pushed his attention away from that and glanced back at the parties of Champions that were trailing behind him on their way to the front line. It was strange, having so many allies around him when in the middle of a fight. He was so used to fighting on his own, even when he¡¯d been in a party. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about the way they were all looking at him. Part of him felt pride at how powerful he was, and at seeing that power be recognised. Another part of him just wanted to retreat back to the forest and fight beasts alone. Xavier flitted through the trees on his way to where the bulk of the Champions fought the C Grade Iron Wolf. The trees were taller here. Stolid giants with thick trunks, shooting high into the sky, their branches blocking out much of the sunlight. They were twice as tall as the C Grade Iron Wolf¡ªa beast that stood fifty-feet tall on all fours as it was. The beast loomed over the Champions down around it. The Champions looked like children up against a dinosaur¡ªespecially those among them who were dwarves. There were several corpses scattered about the ground. Champions that had already met their death at the hands of the C Grade beast. They each had devastating looking wounds. Some of them were missing half of their bodies. Xavier struggled to see how they had a hope of defeating this thing, especially as so many of them already lay dead. The Iron Wolf¡¯s muzzle was soaked in the blood of those from the Vanguard. The battle had barely begun, and yet already he counted twenty dead Champions. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder if all the raids went this poorly. Why would the Champions choose to return, knowing it might court their death? The rewards are high enough to take the risk, and no one ever thinks it is them who will die. Xavier saw this carnage when he was too far away to do anything. Spells and arrows and other projectiles were being flung and loosed and shot at the Iron Wolf, and yet none of the attacks appeared to do much at all to it. Xavier wondered how powerful this thing¡¯s Toughness was. The attacks only appeared to enrage it. And god, it moved fast. It seemed to be toying with the Champions beneath it. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but see a smile in its expression as it batted its paw down at one Champion who went flying¡ªin two pieces¡ªstraight into, then through, one of the giant trees. Gimble was at the front of the Vanguard, his warhammer moving fast as lightning, striking down as loud as thunder. Each time he impacted the enemy, the Iron Wolf shuddered¡ªat least one of these Champions was damaging this thing. They¡¯re all damaging it, just¡­ not enough. But the tide was turning. Spells were being cast. Chains appeared about every inch of the beast, immobilising it. These chains disappeared a second later, but were replaced with ice encompassing the beast, again stopping it from moving. None of these spells lasted long¡ªnot even for a single second¡ªbut there were so many being cast by so many mages that it was slowly making a difference to the fight. Xavier moved through the crowd of Champions, pushing his feet as fast as he could. As he ran, he cast spells¡ªSpirit Break, Soul Shatter, Core Burn, Willpower Infusion¡ªwatching what impact they had on the enemy. Spirit Break was shrugged off with nothing more than a hint of pain in the beast¡¯s eyes. Soul Shatter didn¡¯t even make it wince, but he had to believe it did something. Core Burn didn¡¯t penetrate the beast¡¯s mental defences, and Willpower Infusion had no hope of breaking through. But that wasn¡¯t all Xavier was capable of. He had some tricks up his sleeve¡ªhe just had to speak with Gimble first. The Raid Leader had to have complete awareness of Xavier¡¯s plan if it was going to work at all. ¡°Gimble!¡± Xavier yelled as he neared the Iron Wolf. Gimble grunted as his warhammer struck the beast¡¯s ankle. Something snapped, and the wolf snarled. A split-second later and Gimble was flying through the air¡ªstraight above Xavier. Xavier took in the battlefield. The cogs in his mind turned as he thought about what he needed to do next. Then everything clicked. He cast Time Alteration, pushing his spell forth to encompass the Vanguard around him¡ªalong with the dwarf who was currently flying through the air. Then he leapt up and caught the dwarf, bringing him back down to settle on the ground. The dwarf fought out of Xavier¡¯s grasp. He had far more strength in him after that attack than Xavier had imagined he would, but he was still incredibly injured. ¡°Gimble!¡± Xavier shouted at the dwarf, taking him by the shoulders and giving him a strong shake. The force and power of that shake seemed to snap his attention onto Xavier. Then he realised where he was¡ªthat he was in the middle of a time dilation field, and the Iron Wolf was outside of it, frozen in time. ¡°What is it, lad?¡± Gimble ran a hand through his hair. His forehead was beaded with sweat, his beard stained dark with blood. His eyes were wide, red veins standing out in the whites. And there was a gash through his chest that had broken through his armour and exposed the bones beneath his skin. ¡°Take a moment to heal, Gimble. Then, I¡¯m telling you me plan.¡± Book 4: Chapter 67 - This Plan of Yours Could Go Horribly Wrong Gimble sat on the ground. He did not look like he was in the pain that he should be in. He crossed his legs and lay his warhammer on top of them, then shut his eyes. Heals came from other Champions within the time dilation field as they realised what was going on, and it wasn¡¯t long before the dwarf¡¯s wound was no more, and his armour was as good as new. Finally, the dwarf stood and looked up into Xavier¡¯s eyes. ¡°I appreciate the time spell, Xavier. But what plan are you speaking of? I¡¯m the Raid Leader here. The plan has already been decided.¡± The dwarf didn¡¯t speak with a huge amount of conviction, but Xavier couldn¡¯t help but see the frustration behind his eyes. ¡°I think you¡¯ll like what I have in mind.¡± The dwarf hung his warhammer from his belt and crossed his muscled arms at his beefy chest. His expression was tight, but it relaxed the longer Xavier spoke, until finally there was a bit of laughter in the dwarf¡¯s eyes. ¡°This plan of yours could go horribly wrong for you,¡± Gimble said. ¡°I only sustained a strike from that beast because of the buffs I¡¯ve been given¡ªbuffs that I can¡¯t offer you right now. One hit from the Iron Wolf, and a lad like you would be more than dead.¡± Xavier inclined his head. ¡°It could go that way¡­ Or it could go perfectly right.¡± Gimble ran a hand through his bloody beard. Though his armour was spotless, nothing had been cleaned from his face. ¡°All right. We¡¯ll do it your way. Even if it does sound insane.¡± He glanced over at the Iron Wolf, and the fallen Champions. ¡°I¡¯ve never¡­ never lost this many Champions in a raid before. We all thought we knew what we were in for, but this Iron Wolf¡­ it¡¯s stronger than advertised.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°What do you mean, stronger?¡± Gimble shook his head. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m wrong, but there¡¯s something about it¡ªsomething different to how I heard it described, and it¡¯s five levels higher than the information I secured¡­ perhaps there was simply something wrong with that information. But I tell ya, lad, nothing like this has ever happened before.¡± Xavier shut his eyes. Nothing like this has ever happened before¡­ That made him wonder, and worry. The System, as far as he¡¯d known, had never exerted its control over a floor and changed anything. That would be incredibly unfair, wouldn¡¯t it? For the System to break its own rules? Then again, he was pretty sure it had never sent someone further through the tower, throwing them into a floor they were nowhere near ready for. So who knows what the System might have done. Xavier opened his eyes. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter if the System had changed anything. The plan didn¡¯t change. What he had to do next didn¡¯t change. ¡°That¡¯s very strange,¡± was all Xavier said in reply to the dwarf. Then, he looked over at the Iron Wolf. He could see the beast moving. It was the fastest thing he¡¯d ever seen, and if he¡¯d made the time dilation field¡¯s bubble any closer to the beast, he was sure it would have already reached it. ¡°No point in dallying. You know what to do.¡± Xavier strode forward, heading straight for the edge of the bubble where the Iron Wolf was. With his Farscope, he could see Gimble cajoling the other Champions, ordering them to head to the back of the field and step through. Confusion was written on their faces, but no arguments came. They had sworn to follow this man¡¯s orders, after all. Xavier paused at the edge of the time dilation field. He took a deep breath. Are you sure this is the wisest thing for you to do right now? Rhaalir asked. I will admit, the plan is solid. But¡ªand I hate to ever agree with a dwarf¡ªit does put your life at risk unnecessarily. Doing this raid at all puts my life at risk. Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The world shifted around him, turned a colourless grey. He didn¡¯t even glance at the notification that appeared, instead selecting the Spirit of Protection instantly. A part of him wanted to summon the Spirit of Time for this, but he still hadn¡¯t used that option before. He didn¡¯t know what it would do. Besides, he had control of time enough himself to make this work. Xavier had spent a great deal of effort strengthening his Time Alteration spell. He could easy encompass the entirety of the Iron Wolf. That wasn¡¯t the problem. The problem was what might happen when he did. The Spirit of Protection appeared before him. It was the same spirit that he had encountered the last time he¡¯d used this spell. The man in shining full-plate armour took a step toward Xavier. He paused when he noticed Rhaalir, another spirit from the Otherworld. He tilted his head to the side, and there was a curious expression on his face. Rhaalir¡¯s face lit up in fear, at least for a fraction of a second. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but find that curious. The elf had done the same thing when he had seen the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªthe dragon known as Volkarin. Is there something about the Spirit of Protection that is frightening to this elf? Xavier thought, containing the thought within his own mind so neither of the spirits would hear it.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I had heard you¡¯d made a contract. The Spirit of Protection frowned, then turned his attention to Xavier. But I imagine you did not summon me to discuss such things. No, I did not. I summoned you because I need your power to keep me alive¡ªand this time, I might have to utilise every one of the spells you offer me. This made the Spirit of Protection raise an eyebrow. It is good to know that you¡¯ll actually have use of my protection this time. The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. He turned and looked through the time dilation field at what was happening around him. The spirit¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the Iron Wolf standing above them. Do my eyes deceive me, or is that¡­? They don¡¯t, and it is. A C Grade beast. The Spirit of Protection shook his head and chuckled nervously. You can¡¯t seriously be thinking about going up against that thing? Oh, I¡¯m dead serious. Dead is exactly what you¡¯ll be. The spirit turned to face him. It is not my duty to give advice, but in this case, I cannot help but do so. You have potential¡ªI have seen that. Do not squander it. I implore you to turn away from this fight. Whatever it is that you are trying to prove, it is not worth losing your life. Xavier stared into the eyes of the Spirit of Protection with a tilt of his head. I won¡¯t be losing my life. Not with your protection. The spirit took a step toward him. There is only so much my spells can do. Xavier was standing right at the edge of the time dilation field, ready to push it forward, ready to make it encompass the C Grade beast. I might not even have to withstand a single strike, if things go well. And if they don¡¯t? Xavier turned his head, cracking it with a pop. He sighed. We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Before moving forward with his plan, Xavier brought up the different spells that were now at his disposal. The Spirit of Protection is working its power through you. You have gained access to 5 limited use spells. Bulwark - 3/3 uses remaining A protective barrier against both physical and magical attacks that protects those within it. Shield Wall - 3/3 uses remaining A temporary barrier that will prevent enemy access. Typically used to block gates, hallways, or other passageways during combat. Karma Armour - 3/3 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing suit of armour around the user that reduces 50% of damage received and returns that damage to the enemy. Saving Grace - 1/1 uses remaining This spell prevents all damage on the user from a single attack, unless that attack is beyond the damage threshold. Floating Shield - 10/10 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing shield the user can control with their mind, able to block attacks. Multiple floating shields can be controlled at once, however this takes a mental toll on the user. Time until spells become unavailable: 5 minutes Xavier tilted his chin up and looked at the C Grade beast that loomed over him. Even now, on the other side of the time dilation field, he could see the beast moving. It was hard to perceive, but he¡¯d spent enough time looking out from bubbles just like this one at what lurked outside of them. He knew it was moving. That thing is fast. Damned fast. He¡¯d seen it attack. Seen it kill. He took a deep breath, and let it out. For a moment, he considered the words of advice he¡¯d been given¡ªthe words that told him to turn around and give up. But that wasn¡¯t going to happen. He began casting the Spirit of Protection¡¯s spells. The first spell he cast was Bulwark. He doubted the protective barrier would blunt much of the damage he was surely about to take, but even if it only blunted a small portion of it, it would help him. The second spell he cast was Karma Armour. The glowing armour that appeared around him looked strange to his eyes, as its light blocked out part of who he was¡ªwho he had become¡ªbut if it kept him alive, then it didn¡¯t matter what he looked like. Next, he cast every single one of the Floating Shields, splitting his mind in several parts so that he could better control them. He used them to cover every inch in front of him that he could. Then, he cast the Shield Walls. And finally, he cast Saving Grace upon himself. It was the spell he was hoping would have the most impact. The one that would take away as much of the damage as possible. He knew that it wouldn¡¯t negate all of it¡ªit would be impossible for an E Grade to be able to cast something that could stop a C Grade from doing them any harm, but he had to believe that it would be enough. That the damage threshold the spell had would be high enough to stop him from getting killed. With all those defences enabled, Xavier cracked his neck once more, let out a long breath, and nodded to himself. He was ready¡ªwhether he felt ready or not. There was another spell he had, too. Something he hoped would be enough to protect him. Something he could put over four thousand souls behind. Xavier pushed the time dilation field¡¯s barrier forward. This was the most critical moment of what he was trying to achieve. He needed to trust himself to get it right¡ªand he needed to trust the people outside, the Champions whom he didn¡¯t even know but for the Raid Leader and his party. Good luck, Xavier Collins, Rhaalir said. There¡¯s still time to turn back, the Spirit of Protection said. The time dilation field¡¯s bubble stretched along the ground. At the same time, the bubble shrunk behind him. Xavier wished he had Speed Infusion. Right now, that was the only thing he knew that could help him turn the odds more in his favour. The time dilation field seemed to take forever as it crawled across the ground toward his enemy. Then, all at once, it reached the Iron Wolf. The instant a part of the bubble touched the beast, it sprang to life. Somehow, it already had its eyes on him. Those were the eyes of a true predator. There was no fear in those eyes¡ªnot a hint of it. Xavier put all of his tremendous mental faculties toward the next task. If he were to achieve this, the battle would be won¡ªand, most importantly, he would live to see this thing dead. Xavier stared down the Iron Wolf as he worked. God, the thing moved fast! He felt time began to shift as he manipulated the time dilation field that surrounded the two of them. All he needed to do was change the flow of time faster than the Iron Wolf could kill him. Being up this close to a C Grade beast made Xavier feel more vulnerable than he ever had in his entire life. It was as though, gazing up at that thing, he was facing his own mortality. The most powerful Denizen in the entirety of my sector is C Grade, and yet here I am thinking I can do something like this. And it turned out that he couldn¡¯t. Before he was able to full turn the flow of time around, making it so the Champions outside of the time dilation field could throw every single thing at this beast over hours¡ªmaybe even days¡ªwithout it being able to fight back or defend itself, the Iron Wolf was on him. Its paw snapped out toward Xavier¡¯s face, and he was sure it would take his head clean off. Book 4: Chapter 68 - Aura of Fear Xavier watched in idle fascination as the claws cut through every single defence he had. The Iron Wolf cut down the Bulwark spell. It cut through the Shield Walls. It destroyed every single one of the Floating Shields. In the fraction of a second that he had to respond to this attack, Xavier cast Soul Block. He did not hesitate to pour over four thousand souls into the spell. He had never seen so many soul apparitions burst into life, then be utterly destroyed. The Iron Wolf¡¯s attack made it through every single one of them. And finally, it cut into Xavier, coming up against his last two defences¡ªthe Karma Armour, and Saving Grace. They weren¡¯t enough to stop the strike from hurting him. Xavier felt pain blossom in his chest. Your health is at 99%. The Iron Wolf had just enough time to widen its eyes as a smile crept onto Xavier¡¯s face. The C Grade beast had hit him with everything it had, and it had only dealt 1 percent of damage toward him. That¡­ well, that actually frightened him a little. He had hoped, given all the defences that he had, that the beast truly wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt him at all. And yet it had. He wouldn¡¯t be able to muster up those defences for a second time¡ªand it was a good thing he didn¡¯t need to. The flow of time turned itself back around. As it did, Xavier couldn¡¯t help but notice something. There was something new in the eyes of the Iron Wolf he faced. Something that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago¡ªas though it had only succumbed to it the moment its attack had been seemingly so easily thwarted. Fear. Xavier had, somehow, struck fear into the heart of a C Grade beast. The Iron Wolf had attacked Xavier, and its attack had been taken without even so much as a flinch. Then Predator¡¯s Gaze had become free to do its work. Time did not stop for Xavier. That wasn¡¯t exactly how this worked. Right now, he was within the time dilation field, speeding time up within the bubble to its maximum capacity. He was manipulating the relativity of time within the space he occupied. Outside the bubble, everything was a blur. Xavier could make out some of what was happening with his Farscope ability¡ªbut it just looked like colour streaming past faster than his eye could discern. In less than a blink of an eye, the Iron Wolf was dead, succumbing to thousands upon thousands of spells and attacks doled out over what could have been hours or days for all Xavier knew. The plan had been a simple one. All of the wolven minions in the area were dead. All that remained to be fought was the Iron Wolf. With the support of the raid group behind him, Xavier didn¡¯t need to worry about his safety whilst in the bubble. He had done something like this before¡ªback when he had fought the Stone Bear¡ªand the only reason he¡¯d felt confident doing it was because he¡¯d been in an instance. The reason he¡¯d felt confident doing this was because he was being backed up by countless other Champions. Xavier could have deactivated the Time Alteration spell, but he wanted to take a moment for himself. So, instead, he switched the flow of time around. He was fast approaching the end of the spell¡¯s capacity¡ªhe knew it would run out rather soon. But he had enough time to take in what was going on around him. The Iron Wolf was still trapped within the time dilation field. It had died standing up. The moment Xavier had seen the kill notification, he¡¯d changed the flow of time and paused the time dilation field farther out so it would encompass the beast as it fell to the ground. Now, he could have the first opportunity to loot the beast. Xavier walked over to the dead Iron Wolf. He tilted his head to the side in wonder. He had seen Gimble resist an attack from this beast. Xavier had had to put up every single defence that he possessed to resist the same attack. He may have only taken 1 percent of damage, but he was sure if he had done anything less it could have killed him. Gimble had said he had some buffs on him. They must have been incredibly strong buffs¡ªfrom the looks of things, no other Denizen in the area had survived being hit by this thing. He¡¯s a tough little dwarf, that¡¯s for sure. Xavier stepped up to the corpse of the first C Grade enemy he had a hand in defeating. He was a little disappointed that he hadn¡¯t actually dealt the beast any damage himself. He¡¯d used his skills and spells to the best of his ability given the situation, and doing what he¡¯d done had seemed like the smartest course of action, but the gulf that separated how powerful he was with how powerful this beast must have been¡­ it was larger than he¡¯d expected.Stolen novel; please report. I have a lot do before I can take down a C Grade enemy on my own. It would be poor etiquette for him to loot this beast before any of the others had the opportunity. He imagined the Raid Leader would be the one to split the spoils. A part of him thought it would only be fair, considering the hand he¡¯d had in its destruction, but he couldn¡¯t have killed this beast alone¡ªhe knew that for sure, now. He refrained from looting the beast, but he did not take down the barrier. He had some notifications to look at. The first of which was the new spell he had just gained, for striking fear into the heart of the C Grade beast meant he had finished his Spell Quest for Fear Dominion. Congratulations, you have completed your Spell Quest and gained the spell Fear Dominion! Fear Dominion ¨C Rank 1 Fear Dominion is an epic spell only available to those Denizens who are truly worthy of being feared. Fear Dominion gives the user the ability to strike fear in their enemies. This fear can trigger them to flee or to freeze, and sometimes it can trigger an enemy to have a psychotic breakdown. Striking fear into an enemy greatly compromises their mental capacity and mental defences, and sometimes it can incapacitate an enemy completely, sending them into a state of shock. Fear Dominion had two paths: area-of-effect, or use against a single enemy. Choose your path wisely. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier tilted his head from one side to the other as he read through the description of the spell. It seemed like it was almost an evolution of his skill Predator¡¯s Gaze, except now he would be able to use it intentionally¡­ He quickly decided the path he would take¡ªhe would use it against a single enemy. While crowd control was important, he had other spells that could offer him crowd-control solutions. What intrigued him the most about the spell was that it could break down an enemy¡¯s mental defences. Coupled with Willpower Infusion, that could be rather powerful¡­ This was not the only notification Xavier had received. There was something else that had popped up that he had never seen before. Your skill Predator¡¯s Gaze has been upgraded and is now an epic skill called Aura of Fear. Aura of Fear - Rank 100 Aura of Fear gives the user the ability to strike fear into the hearts of those around them. It can be activated or deactivated at will, but who the user strikes fear in cannot be chosen. Unlike this skill¡¯s predecessor, Predator¡¯s Gaze, an enemy does not need to make eye contact with the user for the skill to work on them¡ªthey only need to be within the influence of the aura. The chance of striking fear in an enemy is higher or lower depending on the relative power level of the enemy compared to that of your own. Xavier raised an eyebrow. His skill had been¡­ upgraded? He hadn¡¯t even known such a thing was possible. He¡¯d come this far, an inch away from advancing to D Grade, and yet there were still so many gaps in his training. It was also interesting that Aura of Fear could be activated or deactivated. He hadn¡¯t encountered a skill that could be toggled¡ªand skills, unlike spells, didn¡¯t have cooldowns. So he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about when he could use it. Though some skills, like Running, might physically exhaust him¡ªhe wondered if this spell could exhaust him in some way. There were skills like Meditation that he could only activate when he was, well, meditating, but this felt a little different. He grinned. He liked the idea of the skill. More notifications followed. Title Unlocked! One Grade Up - Support You have been a part of the demise of an enemy at least one grade above your own. While you yourself are not fully responsible for the death of the enemy, your support in its demise was invaluable. You have received +20 to all stats! Title Unlocked! Two Grades Up - Support You have been a part of the demise of an enemy at least two grades above your own. While you yourself are not fully responsible for the death of the enemy, your support in its demise was invaluable. You have received +50 to all stats! Xavier waited a moment for more notifications to appear, but was disappointed when none came. What he¡¯d done felt more significant than only warranting two titles, but he supposed the description was right¡ªhe had only played a supporting role in this raid. He did, however, gain a huge amount of ranks in his Time Alteration spell. As he skimmed through the notifications, his smile broadened. He had finally reached Rank 100 in the spell! To trap a C Grade enemy within his field and survive¡­ it looked like that had been worth something. Staring down at the corpse of the C Grade Iron Wolf, Xavier deactivated the Time Alteration spell. Gimble was the first of the Champions from outside of the barrier to greet him. The dwarf came running with a massive smile on his face, one that could be seen even through his rather large beard. The beard swayed as he came to a stop. He slapped Xavier on the forearm. ¡°That¡­¡± The dwarf shook his head. ¡°That was like nothin¡¯ I¡¯ve ever seen, lad.¡± He had his warhammer still gripped in his hand, blood staining every inch of the head. Xavier had controlled the time dilation field in such a way that even melee attacks could get through, ensuring that it wasn¡¯t only the mages and other ranged fighters who were able to get a hit in. The barrier had been extremely thin and close to the Iron Wolf¡ªthis had required much concentration to achieve, but from his perspective he¡¯d only needed to hold it for a tiny fraction of a second. There was another notification that Xavier hadn¡¯t bothered to look at¡ªthe kill notification for the Iron Wolf. As he¡¯d been a part of the raid, even though he hadn¡¯t struck the beast, he¡¯d gotten a portion of the Mastery Points. Only, the problem was, right now he couldn¡¯t receive any Mastery Points. He was at Level 200 and hadn¡¯t yet made the advancement to D Grade, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to gain another level until he did. Still, gaining Mastery Points hadn¡¯t been the reason he¡¯d taken part in this raid to begin with. The only reason he¡¯d done this raid was so that he could have a chance at gaining a soul bound weapon, like Felicity had said he might be able to do. He glanced over his shoulder at the dead C Grade beast. With Farscope, he could see the mass of Denizens that were coming around, slowing surrounding him, every single one of them staring at him. Xavier could sense fear in more of them now than he could before, to the point where he mentally checked if his Aura of Fear skill was currently active¡ªit wasn¡¯t. These people were simply afraid of him because of what he¡¯d done. But more than fear, he saw awe in their eyes. That made Xavier wonder about something¡­ He still had several ranks in different spells and skills that he wanted to get up to Rank 100 before making the advancement to D Grade¡­ What if there was a way he could do that even faster than he¡¯d imagined? He had gained over twenty ranks in his Time Alteration spell from being a part of the kill of the C Grade beast. Just from being a part of it. He looked over at Gimble. ¡°What do you say about me being in the Vanguard now?¡± Gimble threw back his head and laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll do more than put you in the Vanguard, lad. I¡¯m making you one of the subcommanders of the raid!¡± Book 4: Chapter 69 - Crafty Dwarf Over the next few weeks, Gimble, the Raid Leader of their instance of the one hundred floor of the Tower of Champions, held a record number of raids against C Grade beasts. They went after the weakest of the C Grade beasts, for¡ªaccording to Gimble¡ªit would be suicide on a mass scale to go after something like the C Grade dragon. Xavier was glad for that. He wished to go after the dragon on his own¡ªeven if achieving something like that was feeling like it was farther away than he¡¯d first thought. Over these weeks, Xavier had not been idle between battles. He had focused as much of his attention as possible on advancing every single aspect of himself. He spent months and months within his time dilation field, alone but for the spirit Rhaalir to keep him company. In fact, he spent longer in there than even he realised, as his age pushed forward yet another year, making him twenty-four-years old. It had been so long since he¡¯d been back in the Tower of Champions, let alone back on Earth, that those places almost felt like dreams. The one hundredth floor, for now, was his home. Just as, once upon a time, the fifth floor had become his home¡ªthough with the waves of the Endless Horde coming at him every moment, he¡¯d had far less time to think. Within the time dilation field he worked on his attunements, pushing them harder than even he had thought possible. Liana said it was basically unheard of for a Denizen to reach more than 20 percent in their attunements at E Grade, and that was after years of training. But Xavier had to wonder how effective that training was. How much of those years were they truly dedicating to the betterment of their attunements? Because Xavier found he was able to push his own attunements even further than 20 percent. It took him a lot of effort. It pushed him to the very edges of his discipline and patience, but he felt each percentage point of attunement strengthen and empower him. Gaining a higher attunement wasn¡¯t just something he was doing to increase his chances of gaining a better class when he finally pushed his advancement into D Grade, nor was it merely something he prided himself in. There was another aspect to it. Like all things that increased his level of power, it was startlingly addictive. Xavier sometimes wondered if that addictiveness was something the System had engineered into a Denizen¡¯s progression, or if it had been there all along. The older version of himself had said that it wasn¡¯t the System that gave them these powers, after all¡ªit just helped them harness them and direct them. Whoever created this System is trying to cultivate stronger Denizens with each iteration of a universe, so that one day they will be powerful enough to combat the end of everything¡­ Xavier didn¡¯t let him think about that too much. When he did think about it, it all just felt too surreal. Because if he truly was to become the Weapon of the System, and if he truly was to one day stop the universe from ending¡ªto defeat whatever threatened its demise, and had ended it a near infinite times already in the past¡ªthen it would mean that the System had¡­ been invented specifically to create him. He chuckled to himself as he sipped his coffee at the bar in Hunter¡¯s Home. Felicia raised an eyebrow at him but didn¡¯t comment, as she was serving another customer. Liana was still nowhere to be seen. In the weeks since Xavier had become a subcommander in Gimble¡¯s raid group, she¡¯d still been hiding up in the room she had here at the tavern, in that time dilation field of hers. To Liana, it was likely that only seconds, perhaps minutes, had gone by since she¡¯d put herself in it. It was a strange way to move through life, and certainly one that he wouldn¡¯t opt for himself. But if it kept her on the floor until he was able to try and free her husband from The Nightmare, then so be it. He stopped chuckling and took another sip of his coffee. Thinking the System had been made for him¡­ that was probably the most arrogant thought that had ever crossed his mind. The System hadn¡¯t been made for him¡ªeven if he did end up saving the universe¡ªhe was just a lucky accident. He wouldn¡¯t even be here if not for Julian Myers. Xavier placed his mug on the bar¡ªhalf drunk¡ªand turned his attention to the party in the corner. Gimble and his people had just arrived and were already situated at their usual table. The Raid Leader of the One Hundredth floor gave Xavier a nod and smiled, raising his tankard in greeting. The dwarf motioned toward a free chair that they¡¯d pulled over and tilted his head to the side in question. Xavier walked over and took a seat. Though he¡¯d initially been a bit annoyed¡ªeven a little hurt¡ªwhen he¡¯d discovered the dwarf had lied to him about being the Raid Leader when they¡¯d first gotten to know each other, that was now water under the bridge. ¡°Subcommander Collins,¡± Gimble said. ¡°What brings you to the tavern? We haven¡¯t got a scheduled raid for another week.¡± Xavier blinked. It was still strange being called Subcommander Collins. Honestly, despite the fact that back on Earth Xavier was a leader, he never really felt like one. He was only in his position because of how powerful he was, not because he¡¯d proven that he could lead people. Before joining the raid group, he hadn¡¯t even been used to fighting alongside other Denizens. Not really. He didn¡¯t think that fighting alongside his party really counted, considering the great divide between his powers and theirs. Despite the fact that his party had always been helpful to him, fighting with them had always felt more like¡­ he was babysitting them. I¡¯ll be careful to never say that to their faces. I imagine they would be devastated¡ªespecially Justin. Xavier nodded at Gimble. It was true there wasn¡¯t another raid for a full week. Despite the fact that their raids had been incredibly successful since Xavier had taken charge as subcommander, adding his Time Alteration spell to the arsenal available to the raid group, Gimble thought that the Champions in the group were being pushed a little too hard, saying that they needed some rest between C Grade raids. Xavier didn¡¯t really understand that. These were supposed to be the top-rated, most powerful Champions on the entire floor. They were a part of the C Grade raid group¡­ yet they needed rest? But, it didn¡¯t much matter to him how long things on this floor took. He¡¯d already spent years in his own time here. What was a little longer? ¡°Lad?¡± Gimble asked. ¡°I, uh, asked what you were doing here.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Xavier, not having realised he¡¯d gotten lost in thought, looked over at the dwarf. ¡°Oh, well. I¡¯ve been training hard and¡­¡± He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m finally ready to advance.¡± Gimble blinked. ¡°Advance?¡± His eyes widened. ¡°What you mean, advance? You¡¯re sayin¡¯¡­ you can¡¯t be sayin¡¯¡­¡± The dwarf swallowed. ¡°You¡¯re about to become a C Grade? I knew you was powerful, we all know that¡­ but I can¡¯t imagine you¡¯re already advancing to C Grade!¡± Xavier threw his head back and laughed. He couldn¡¯t help himself. The idea of advancing to C Grade¡­ it just felt far too absurd not to warrant such a response. The dwarf frowned. ¡°So you¡¯re¡­ not advancin¡¯? That was just some weird, human humour? I like you a lot, lad, but I gotta say I¡¯ll never understand your kind.¡± Xavier wiped a single tear from his cheek. ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t humour. I am advancing. Just not to C Grade.¡± The dwarf¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°You aren¡¯t making any sense, lad.¡± Gimble looked inside Xavier¡¯s mug. ¡°You sure it¡¯s only coffee you been drinkin¡¯? Do I need to get Felicia to cut you off?¡± The other members of Gimble¡¯s party had been ignoring the two of them up until then, now they were attracted to the conversation. ¡°What¡¯s this about Xavier advancing?¡± Elinae asked. ¡°He can¡¯t be close to C Grade. I mean, I¡¯ve heard of some Champions grinding out this floor for that long¡­ but we were here when he first arrived!¡± Tam said. Xavier made a gesture, one Gimble knew well from when they were planning a raid inside of the tavern. Xavier pulled slightly at his own earlobe and Gimble gave a nod. The dwarf summoned a small device from his Storage Ring. A moment later, the table was shrouded. No one would be able to overhear what was said, nor would they be able to read their lips. Maybe Xavier should have done that a little earlier. ¡°As I said to Gimble here, I¡¯m not advancing to C Grade.¡± Xavier paused, licked his lips. ¡°I¡¯m advancing to D Grade.¡± Gimble laughed, then stopped himself when he looked into Xavier¡¯s eyes. The two of them were getting to know one another a little better in the weeks since Xavier had joined the raid group and been promoted to subcommander. He could tell when Xavier was being serious¡ªand Xavier wasn¡¯t prone to making jokes. Especially not about his own progression. ¡°You¡¯re serious, aren¡¯t you, lad?¡± Gimble said in a flat voice. Xavier nodded. ¡°I am.¡± He looked over at the bar, at Felicia standing behind it. ¡°You can ask her. She¡¯s been aware of my grade for a while. She knew I was E Grade when she recommended me for the raid group.¡± The dwarf ran a frantic hand through his beard. His head faced forward, but his eyes kept flicking back and forth as though he was trying to solve some sort of complex math equation. ¡°No,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°That can¡¯t be right. You¡¯re having a laugh.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not joking, Gimble. I¡¯ve no reason to lie about something like this.¡± ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth,¡± Elinae said. The woman¡¯s eyes were white and wide in surprise. Xavier tilted his head as he looked over at her. She was able to tell whether he was lying or not? Quite a skill¡ªor perhaps a spell¡ªfor her to be able to do such a thing without needing a contract first. ¡°There are things you don¡¯t know about me,¡± Xavier said. Gimble guffawed. ¡°Well, if that wasn¡¯t clear before, it certainly is now. Had I known you were E Grade, I never would have let you into the raid group! I never would have bloody believed you! That¡­ that is insane, lad!¡± Shock was written all over his face. But there was something else, too. Awe. And¡­ admiration. Gimble¡¯s expression slowly turned from one of surprise to one of pure delight, and there was even a hint of ambition somewhere in there. ¡°So, lad, you¡¯re telling me, that right now, you¡¯re an E Grade Denizen? A Champion of the tower who¡¯s come all the way to the hundredth floor without ever having advanced to D Grade?¡± He shook his head again. ¡°And the things that you are able to do. None of that makes sense for someone in E Grade. Hell, some of it barely makes sense for most D Grades!¡± Xavier chuckled. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m E Grade. And yes, I know it makes little sense what I can do.¡± He didn¡¯t delve any deeper into it. He didn¡¯t need to. He may trust this Gimble fellow more than he did before, but that didn¡¯t mean he wished to share everything with him. He¡¯d already seen that the dwarf could lie. Who knew what else he might be capable of? There was a gleam in Gimble¡¯s eye. ¡°Then that means¡­ you must be¡­¡± He glanced at his companions, then looked at Xavier. ¡°Are you a True Progenitor?¡± I¡¯m a hell of a lot more than just a True Progenitor, Xavier thought, but didn¡¯t say. Instead, he said, ¡°Yes. My planet was only just integrated into the Greater Universe recently. I¡¯m the first of my people to make it this far into the tower.¡± ¡°Aye. Well. No wonder you came in looking so doe-eyed and confused.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t doe-eyed,¡± Xavier replied. Gimble laughed. ¡°You certainly were, and it¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of, especially considering where ya come from. A True Progenitor. In my raid group. And an E Grade! There must be something we can do with this¡­¡± Xavier frowned and narrowed his eyes at the dwarf. ¡°What do you mean, something you can do with this? I didn¡¯t give you the information so you could profit from it. Besides, it¡¯s too late to somehow benefit from me being E Grade. I¡¯m about to advance.¡± He pushed off the table with his hands and stood, looking down at the dwarven party. ¡°I just wanted to see the look on your faces.¡± He¡¯d wanted to do more than that, truth be told. Considering that Gimble was actually the most powerful Champion on the entire floor¡ªsomething that had taken him by surprise when he¡¯d first learnt of it, but was quickly becoming abundantly clear¡ªhe¡¯d been hoping to make an ally out of him¡ªnot just an ally here as he already was, but outside of the tower as well. ¡°Sit back down, lad. Let¡¯s talk a bit, aye?¡± Gimble tapped the seat that Xavier had just left. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a mug of whatever that brown stuff is that you seem to like so much.¡± ¡°Coffee,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It¡¯s called coffee.¡± ¡°Aye, yes, that¡¯s what I said.¡± The dwarf signalled to the barkeep, and in moments a fresh mug of coffee had appeared in front of him. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s only fair, considering how many rounds you¡¯ve bought for us in the past.¡± The dwarf winked. Xavier found he was curious to find out what Gimble had to say, so he sat down and grasped the mug with both his hands. The warmth of it seeped into his palms, and he breathed in the sweet aroma wafting from the top, then let out a sigh. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll stay for this drink.¡± Gimble leant forward on the table, as though talking conspiratorially, which wasn¡¯t really necessary considering the table had already been hidden from eavesdroppers. ¡°So, I, uh, have been on this floor longer than any other Champion I¡¯ve ever encountered.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side. ¡°You have?¡± ¡°Aye, lad, I have.¡± ¡°But you only recently became Raid Leader, didn¡¯t you?¡± Gimble smirked. He glanced away, then looked at Xavier. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not exactly the first time I¡¯ve been the leader of a raid¡­ Just there are no longer any Champions around who served with me.¡± The dwarf nodded toward the bar, at Felicia. ¡°She¡¯s the only one who knows how long I¡¯ve been here. Other than my party, o¡¯course.¡± Xavier looked at Elinae, Tam, and Lilta ¡°You¡¯ve all been here longer than any other Champion in this instance?¡± Elinae shook her head. ¡°No. He¡¯s been here this long. He has other Champions rotate into his party every so often. We¡¯ve only been here as long as he¡¯s been the current Raid Leader.¡± Xavier leant back in his chair. That was definitely something he hadn¡¯t known. ¡°All right,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I¡¯m listening a little harder now.¡± He eyed Gimble. The dwarf looked more mischievous than ever. Apparently they were both sharing secrets today. Gimble inclined his head. ¡°Good to know, lad. Good to know.¡± He picked up his tankard and drew a long drink from it. ¡°So, I reckon I know this floor better than anyone. At least, better than anyone round here.¡± He made a vague motion. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are those in the Greater Universe, in more prominent sectors, who have a far better knowledge¡­ but that¡¯s beside the point, lad. You aren¡¯t sitting across from them, you¡¯re sitting across from me.¡± Xavier kept in a sigh, wondering when the dwarf would get to the point, even though he appreciated Gimble¡¯s enthusiasm, it felt as though he was building whatever this was up just a little too much. ¡°Right,¡± was all Xavier said in reply. ¡°Aye. Right. Well. As an E Grade, you¡¯ve been holding your own against C Grades, something which¡­¡± He trailed off, looking a little dumbfounded. ¡°I¡¯m still tryin¡¯ to wrap my head around.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat any of those C Grades if it weren¡¯t for having the raid group at my back.¡± Gimble nodded. ¡°Hmm. Right ya are.¡± He leant in again. ¡°But what if there was a C Grade monster on this floor you did have a chance of defeating on your own? Before you advanced to D Grade?¡± The man smiled more deeply. ¡°Is that something you reckon you¡¯d be interested in?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t have to think about that long. He leant forward in excitement. ¡°Of course that¡¯s something I¡¯m interested in.¡± Book 4: Chapter 70 - Gambler Gimble looked more than pleased with himself as he leant back in his chair and looked over at Xavier. He had him on the hook, knowing how much Xavier wanted the information. And so that was when Xavier asked, ¡°Something tells me you want something in return for the information about the C Grade beast?¡± Xavier was still wrapping his head around the fact that there might be a C Grade beast somewhere on this floor that he could face. Hell, he was still wrapping his head around who Gimble, the innocent looking dwarf, was. Someone rather crafty, that was for sure. Someone who¡¯d clearly spent many years in this place. Perhaps he was doing what his fellow party member had mentioned other Champions did¡ªgrinding the floor until he reached C Grade himself. Xavier had to say if that was the case, he was impressed with the dwarf¡¯s dedication. No wonder he was able to survive a hit from that first C Grade we fought. That wasn¡¯t the only time Xavier had seen the dwarf do something that none of the other D Grade Champions present were able to manage, either. Indeed, it was just the first of a long list. ¡°Ah, well, yes, there is something I want in return. But don¡¯t worry, it isn¡¯t much.¡± Gimble smiled. ¡°All I want is a contract stating that you owe me a favour in the future.¡± Xavier raised his eyebrows. ¡°That¡¯s all, is it?¡± He had to admit, that wasn¡¯t a bad deal. Of course, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the favour might be. ¡°Any hint regarding what you might be needing?¡± The dwarf shrugged with a shake of his head. ¡°Nah. Haven¡¯t the foggiest. But I know value when I see it, lad, and you have that in spades.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Xavier said, not sure what else to say. Was that what the dwarf saw in him? Simply something of value? It made him remember something the dwarf had said to him not that long ago, about the C Grade dragon and the way Xavier had been staring at it¡ªhe¡¯d told Xavier that he had gold-gaze. Xavier wondered if that was what Gimble had right now. ¡°All right, though I¡¯ll want to have a look at whatever contract you have in mind.¡± Rhaalir, the spirit from the Otherworld who was ever present, but not always visible to Xavier, popped into existence and stared down at the dwarves at the table. Do you really think that¡¯s a wise choice for you to make? Xavier didn¡¯t so much as glance at the elf. There were some secrets he didn¡¯t want to share. You¡¯ve never liked dwarves. Would I really trust your opinion on the matter? Rhaalir stood to his highest and sucked on his bottom lip. He looked down at Gimble from the top of his nose. This dwarf isn¡¯t so bad as others I¡¯ve met. Xavier thought there was a begrudging respect hidden somewhere in the elf¡¯s tone. And he should know, as he¡¯d heard that same tone when the elf had spoken to him. It wasn¡¯t long before the dwarf drew up the contract and the notification sprang up in Xavier¡¯s vision. The contract, as Xavier had feared, wasn¡¯t very specific at all. It simply stated that Xavier owed the dwarf a favour, one that he could cash in on at any point in the next one thousand years. ¡°A thousand years, really?¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow at the dwarf. It seemed like a long time to make such an agreement. The dwarf inclined his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hold you to it for all time, lad. Figured a thousand years would be enough time to claim it. Besides, it might be difficult to find you after this floor, so I wanted time enough for that at least. Xavier shrugged. He didn¡¯t much mind when the favour would be for, he was just surprised at how far ahead the dwarf was thinking. It made him wonder just how long he¡¯d spent here. Time moved differently on this floor than it did back in their universe, passing faster here, but the Champions still experienced every second of that time passing. How much had the dwarf experienced? What he was concerned about was that he was signing a contract promising he would do something that he¡­ well, didn¡¯t know what was. What if the dwarf asked him to kill someone who didn¡¯t deserve to die? What if he asked him for something even worse than that? Except that the dwarf seemed to have considered things like that. There was a veto clause¡ªXavier was allowed to refuse favours on ¡°reasonable grounds,¡± whatever that meant. The way the contract was phrased, it was clear that either this was a standard contract for such things that Gimble had pulled from somewhere else, or that the dwarf had most definitely used something like this before, refining it along the way. How many other people owed this dwarf favours? Xavier eyed Gimble. There was certainly more to the dwarf than it had first seemed. When he¡¯d met Gimble in Hunter¡¯s Home that first day he¡¯d been on the hundredth floor, Xavier hadn¡¯t thought he was anything special¡ªother than a friendly face, really. He had quickly realised he¡¯d been wrong about that. Xavier tapped his fingers on the table. He trusted the dwarf well enough. He didn¡¯t seem as though he was a bad person. He was crafty, a bit of a liar¡ªbut he didn¡¯t seem to do those things with cruel intentions. Xavier signed the contract with a sigh. Gimble¡¯s face lit up as he received the notification that the contract had been signed. ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret this, Gimble,¡± Xavier said. Gimble rapped his fist against the hardwood table. ¡°Oh, lad, I can assure you, you won¡¯t be regrettin¡¯ this.¡± He leant in and, in hushed tones, dtold Xavier about the C Grade beast. For just a moment, as the dwarf explained where this beast was and told him a little bit about it, Xavier wondered if there was any chance the dwarf could be leading him into some sort of trap. He could certainly get a contract with the dwarf to make sure such a thing wasn¡¯t happening, but he didn¡¯t want to have to rely on such things when it came to who to trust¡ªnot too heavily, at least. Besides, why would the dwarf want any harm to come to Xavier now that he owed him a favour? That wouldn¡¯t serve the dwarf well at all, would it? Not only was Xavier an asset as a subcommander in the raid group with the ability to alter time, which had dramatically changed the way the raid group had operated and the number of kills it had racked up, he was also not an investment. One that Xavier figured the dwarf knew would pay out big time in the future. No, there was no reason to think this was a trap. That was just Xavier¡¯s paranoid mind at work. He¡¯d learnt how to be trusting, back when he¡¯d first met his party in the Tower of Champions. He could have hidden how strong he already was, and what his intentions were, from Howard, Justin, and Siobhan. But he never did. He could have hidden who he was from Liana, as well, but telling her had only been good for her mentorship of him, and the burgeoning friendship they had developed stuck inside that time dilation field. Xavier wondered if there were other things that he should tell the dwarf. This could be someone who might end up being a true ally to him in the future. Perhaps, even, a true friend¡ªone he could trust as much as he trusted the members of his party. His¡­ old party, he supposed. But, then again, there was being trusting, and there was being naive. Though he didn¡¯t think the dwarf would betray him, knowing who he truly was¡­ well, that might just get the cogs in Gimble¡¯s head moving to see how he could use that to his own advantage. When Gimble had finished his description of the C Grade beast¡ªthe weakest C Grade beast he had encountered on the entire floor¡ªXavier leant back in his chair.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Well, lad, what d¡¯ya think?¡± Gimble asked, an expectant look on his face. Xavier shook his head. He wasn¡¯t sure what he thought, if he were honest. The beast sounded like a nasty one. Though Xavier was confident in his own abilities, one thing he¡¯d learnt during these raids was that it would be suicide for him to go after the beasts he fought in the raid group alone. That first one they¡¯d faced¡­ if it hadn¡¯t been for all of the precautions he¡¯d taken, all the defences he¡¯d had, there would have been no way that he could have survived being hit by it. That, he knew for sure. And there was no way he would have been able to kill it without being hit. But this beast? According to the dwarf it was newly C Grade, and by the sounds of it, it hadn¡¯t been a particularly powerful D Grade. Xavier weighed the risks and the rewards of facing this C Grade. He tilted his head to one side and wondered about something. Xavier wasn¡¯t one to go into a situation with backup, not since he¡¯d become a member of the raid group, and then a subcommander, at least. Having backup almost seemed like he was admitting defeat. But how foolish a way of thinking that was. When he¡¯d been helping the other members of his old party level or rank up their skills, he¡¯d always been there to step in if need be. Had that hindered them? He sat there, sipping the mug of coffee that Gimble had ordered for him, and wondered if having a safety net in place would mean he wouldn¡¯t give the battle with the C Grade his all. As foolish as the thought of him being a failure simply because he needed backup made him feel, he also knew that¡ªat least for him¡ªthere was some truth to it. I¡¯ve never had back up during every other big risk that I¡¯ve taken. Not back up that would actually help, anyway. Even with the raid group there when we faced the Iron Wolf, there would have been nothing they could do to protect me while I was alone in the time dilation bubble with the enemy. I had to survive the strike on my own. Still considering the risks of doing this, with an uncharacteristic spark of self-reflection, Xavier realised something about himself. He chuckled into his mug. Xavier always took risks, and as far as he could recall, every single one of those risks had paid off. He wouldn¡¯t be here if they hadn¡¯t. He would have died, a long time ago, skewered to death by a dozen goblin swords back at his old university, or killed by the pumas on the first floor, or by any number of things he hadn¡¯t been cautious enough around. Originally, when Xavier had come to this floor, he¡¯d thought the System was trying to help him become more cautious. He¡¯d thought the System wanted him to take fewer risks, and to take the threat of those he faced more seriously. Whether that was the System¡¯s intention or not, Xavier had only done the latter. But he hadn¡¯t stopped taking risks. And the reason he¡¯d chuckled was because he realised why¡ªhe was like a gambler, addicted to the thrill, only ever seeing what they could win, and never what they could lose. He was on a winning streak, and he had been ever since Julian Myers put down his weapon. Why would he stop taking risks when they all paid off? When they had made him what he was today? He had often contemplated going up against a C Grade enemy while he was still E Grade, but it had always sounded like the height of foolishness. Now that the possibility had been handed to him on a platter, there was no way he could walk away from it. It was as though someone had given him thousands of dollars¡¯ worth of free gambling chips, then seated him at a roulette wheel. It was time, once again, to put it all on black. ~ Xavier ventured out of Hunter¡¯s Home feeling as strong as he ever had. Every single one of his attunements had hit 21 percent. Though he wished to push them further, he knew what he had already achieved was a worthy accomplishment. He¡¯d pushed every single one of his ranks up too¡ªall of his skills, all of his spells, had reached Rank 100. Even his Assimilate Properties skill. That one had been the easiest and the hardest of his skills to rank up. There weren¡¯t many E Grade beasts in this place. In fact, he had only been able to find the Rhinoceros Monkeys, and he¡¯d done all he could with their parts. And so, one day, he¡¯d had to test out his theory on whether or not he could head back to the Staging Room, use Time Alteration to speed up time in his own field, then use the System Shop while time was altered. His test had succeeded. In the time it had taken him to cast the spell once he¡¯d returned to the Staging Room, then use the System Shop, only a minute had passed back on the hundredth floor. If anyone else were to take a quick break from the floor they would have lost a hell of a lot more time than that. Xavier had bought as many beast parts as he thought he would need. He hadn¡¯t intended to use his Assimilate Properties skill while he was still back at the Tower of Champions. All that would have done was potentially have more time on the hundredth floor pass, and now that he had made that promise to Liana, and was also a subcommander of the raid group, he didn¡¯t want to lose touch with anyone there. When he had returned, he¡¯d taken to the forest and gone somewhere to be in seclusion. There, he had used all the beast parts he needed to push the skill up to Rank 100. Every part that he put inside of himself made him stronger, faster, tougher, more powerful. And each of those parts threatened to change him in ways that he might not be ready for. In the time since he¡¯d begun using his Assimilate Properties skill again, he¡¯d come to rely on the abilities it granted him rather heavily, sometimes changing his entire fighting style because of what he could now do. Many months had passed since those transformations had begun happening, and he was finding he became more and more familiar with this new version of himself. It made incorporating new changes even easier to deal with. The attunements, rank ups, and levels he¡¯d gained weren¡¯t the only things that had made him stronger, either. He had finally gained a soul bound weapon. The System had given him the reward when he had returned from facing his first C Grade with the rest of the raid group, just as Feleicia had said it would. Xavier hadn¡¯t been able to choose the weapon. The System had simply rewarded him with something it seemed to think fit his needs. At first, Xavier had responded with confusion when he was presented with the weapon and its name, for it wasn¡¯t a scythe-staff like he had expected it to be. Though there were parts of him that had felt dubious about wielding a scythe again after all of the changes he¡¯d undergone. He had become quite the unarmed fighter, after all, with many new skills being solely reliant on that modality. But, considering how quickly he could summon and deposit things into his Storage Ring, he thought maybe it wasn¡¯t such a bad idea after all. The first strange thing about the weapon had been its name¡ªLost Bone of a Dead God. It didn¡¯t sound like a weapon to him, and when he¡¯d held it in his hand, his eyebrows had shot up. It was¡­ just as it had been described. It was¡­ a bone. Xavier wasn¡¯t exactly knowledgeable in anatomy, but if he had to guess he would say it was a femur, and quite a long one at that. Xavier had tilted his head at the weapon and wondered why it wasn¡¯t a scythe-staff, and in the instant he¡¯d had that thought, the weapon had shifted. The bone¡ªwhich had felt tough, yet slightly pliable¡ªhad turned almost into a liquid. The weapon had reformed itself in his hand. When it was done, the bone was still stark white, in complete contrast to the robes that he wore, but it was now¡­ a scythe-staff. It resembled the scythe-staff that he had wielded up until recently. The one the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey had stolen and then destroyed. The blade was as white as the rest of it, and the entire weapon was smooth. But the blade¡­ was sharp. Not incredibly sharp, for the soul bound weapon he¡¯d held in his hand had been at the very start of its life, which meant it was still an F Grade weapon, one that had yet to advance. In that form, it had been considerably weaker than the scythe-staff he¡¯d just lost. But Xavier had known a soul bound weapon wouldn¡¯t start off strong. After the weapon had shifted, he¡¯d stared at it for a long while. Then, he wondered how he would incorporate it into his fighting style. Would he simply deposit it into his Storage Ring whenever he fought unarmed? Was there a way that he could practice that before his next fight, or would it be better to do that in battle? All those thoughts had been running through his mind when the weapon had shifted in his hand again, turning to that strange liquid that helped it reform into something completely different. It had seeped down and covered his hands. Xavier¡¯s eyebrows had raised as this had happened. Then he¡¯d winced in pain as it didn¡¯t just cover his hands, and then his forearms¡ªit dug through his skin and entered into him. The pain was intense, but bearable, and so he bore it, staring at the strange weapon as it flowed under his skin, assuming that it must know what it was doing. When it had finished shifting, it reinforced his forearm¡ªa shield-like formation appearing on the outside of it, along with sharp blades that now ran between his wrist and his elbow. It didn¡¯t stop there, either, the Lost Bone of a Dead God reinforced the very bones in his hands, and the claws that grew from his fingers. It was the most strange sensation that he had ever felt, and he had been through a lot since being integrated into the System. Xavier simply stared down at his hands for a long while. This strange thing had happened while he¡¯d been alone in the forest. He hadn¡¯t wanted to look at the weapon while he¡¯d been in the bar. It hadn¡¯t seemed like the right time. It turned out that instinct had been the right one. Xavier had spent a long while testing the weapon. He discovered that when it reinforced his bones and claws, the System no longer counted it as him wielding a weapon, for he wasn¡¯t holding it, which meant his unarmed skills still worked when it was in this configuration. That must have been why the System had granted him the strange weapon in the first place, because it had known the exact right reward for him. It had known what he needed to function as both a long-range caster and a close-combat, bestial fighter. Since then, Xavier hadn¡¯t spent any time training with the weapon. Unfortunately, as he had been Level 200 when receiving the weapon as a reward, it meant that he hadn¡¯t been able to gain any Mastery Points¡ªwhich in turn meant that the soul bound weapon couldn¡¯t advance in power until Xavier advanced to D Grade and started gaining Mastery Points again. Though he did find it interesting that there was a way to speed up the process of giving the weapon Mastery Points. There was a way to allocate different percentages of the Mastery Points a Denizen gained to the weapon they held. That would be something that would come in useful to him later. As the weapon didn¡¯t change much for him, being so weak as it was, he¡¯d kept it in his Storage Ring and fought without it much of the time. That was one of the many reason he was so eager to make it to the next grade. Xavier contemplated all of the changes in himself as he made his way toward his target¡ªthe C Grade beast Gimble had told him about. The dwarf, along with the rest of his party, had offered to come along to observe the fight, and to even step in if that became necessary, but Xavier had declined the offer. This was something he wanted to do on his own. And so, Xavier entered the beast¡¯s den alone. Book 4: Chapter 71 - Fetid Forest Troll The great forest on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions became eerily quiet as he entered the area on the mini-map where Gimble had told him the C Grade beast held its territory. The birds in the trees that usually flittered from one branch to another were nowhere to be seen. No critters could be heard crawling across the forest floor. Even the breeze had stopped, as though wind couldn¡¯t touch this place. The trees were different to ones he¡¯d encountered in other parts of the forest as well. In a way, they reminded him of the trees in the Dark Mountains, where The Nightmare resided. Except these trees had an odd, putrid smell to them. The trees¡ªand every other plant that he could see¡ªwere rotting. Something terrible resided within this forest, and it was that very thing that Xavier had come here to find. Xavier tried not to focus on the oppressive smell. According to the dwarf, it was only going to get worse. At least Xavier wouldn¡¯t have to worry about any infected beasts in the area. Again according to Gimble, the only beast in the entire area was the C Grade beast that he sought. The only other thing that roamed within its territory was the pervading silence that seemed to blanket everything. Xavier supposed that should have been ominous, but if he were honest, he found it reassuring, and, well, convenient. The last thing he wished was for other enemies to get in the way of his battle. When Gimble and his party had been telling Xavier about the C Grade beast, Xavier had asked them why they hadn¡¯t taken the beast on themselves. The truth was, Gimble hadn¡¯t seen the value in the fight. He had apparently found the beast a long time ago¡ªat least, a long time ago from his own perspective. Gimble, though he had spent much of his life on this floor, never seemed to want to do anything that he couldn¡¯t quantify as having value to him, and so if a beast crossed his path and he wasn¡¯t forced to fight back, he saw little reason to engage with it unless it would actually serve his ultimate goals to do so. Xavier had asked the dwarf, jokingly, how spending so much time drinking in the tavern served Gimble¡¯s ultimate goals. The dwarf had answered him quite seriously, ¡°Leisure is one of the most important cornerstones of a good, long life. That is why I value my time so highly¡ªbecause there are always better ways in which I could be spending it.¡± Xavier wondered at the wisdom of those words as he walked through the fetid forest with the rotting trees. He had learnt a thing or two about taking it easy from Liana, during his time in so many time dilation fields, but if he were honest, he still found it difficult to actually relax. Xavier paused in his tracks and quirked his head to the right, ears straining. He could have sworn that he¡¯d heard something. A faint roar, somewhere far away. Though it was hard for him to judge distances in this place, so he wasn¡¯t sure how far away it had actually been. But he did know one thing for certain¡ªthe noise was getting louder, and it was joined by something else. A thump, thump, thump that reverberated through the very ground. Xavier could feel the vibrations coming up through is legs. He smiled. Whether he was truly ready for this fight or not, he didn¡¯t know. It didn¡¯t matter¡ªthe fight was about to begin. Xavier readied himself. He quickly surveyed the area that he was in. The rotten trees, the bramble bushes, the dangling vines. It all felt too close. Too claustrophobic. Not enough room to move. So he solved that with a use of his Heavy Telekinesis spell. He pushed it out in front of him, toppling the trees and pushing them out of the area. He managed to use the spell four more times before he finally saw the beast running his way. It was exactly as hideous as Gimble had described. The beast in question was a troll. From Gimble¡¯s information, it was a Fetid Forest Troll. It had strange abilities that the dwarf had observed, but Gimble had never actually faced the troll, as he hadn¡¯t seen the value in it. He¡¯d only observed it briefly. Xavier tried to scan the C Grade enemy, but even with Identify at Rank 100, he simply wasn¡¯t able to use the skill on something this high level. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to. Gimble had shared the description of the beast with him. {Fetid Forest Troll - Level 300} The Fetid Forest Troll is a beast commonly found on many planets within the Greater Universe. They tend to appear in large forests and infect the area around them with their Rot. They feed off the dying energy of the plants and other life forms that they infect and are strongest in their own territory. Do not let them infect you. These beasts are weak against Divine magic. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. When Xavier had first read the description, he had thought of Siobhan. Her class was called Divine Beacon. Though she had few offensive spells, he assumed that her Divine Guardian had attacks infused with Divine magic¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t even realised was a thing until now. Perhaps we should have experimented with her attacks in that dungeon with the necromancer. She may have been able to hurt necrotic enemies with her healing magic. Rhaalir appeared a few feet away from Xavier, standing where a tree had been only second ago. The elf crossed his arms and stared at Xavier. You are sure you want to do this, Xavier Collins? Facing a C Grade at your level¡­ I have never heard of such a thing going well. That was another thing Xavier was aware of. According to Gimble, and Felicia, and Rhaalir, and Liana¡­ basically, everyone he had talked to since entering this floor, none of them thought that an E Grade had ever faced and defeated a C Grade by themselves. Having that knowledge actually made Xavier want to do this even more. There were some accounts of E Grades surviving encounters with C Grades, but those were few and far between, and they were more like legends than anything else, for none in the sector Xavier was a part of, or the sectors around them, had accomplished such a feat. At least, not as far as he¡¯d discovered. Xavier pushed all of those thoughts from his mind as he watched the Fetid Forest Troll bound toward him. Though bound, he supposed, wasn¡¯t the right word. It had more of a lumbering quality to its steps. It was strange, because the beast was moving incredibly fast, but it looked slow and plodding. Xavier wondered how fast the beast would be when it was trying to be fast. The beast was large, but not as large as many he¡¯d faced in the past. Of course, Xavier had quickly learnt that size wasn¡¯t everything. The troll stood around fifteen-feet in height and hold a gnarled club that seeped some sort of black, oozing substance. That same substance oozed from the side of the troll¡¯s slack mouth. The Fetid Forest Troll looked, well, kind of thick-headed. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of the troll from Harry Potter. This one looked a lot like that one, except for all the rot. Its entire body was infected with it. This beast didn¡¯t wear traditional armour. Instead, its armour looked like it was made from wood, and it only covered its legs and torso. Its arms were free, and that was where Xavier could see the rot. If he didn¡¯t know any better, Xavier might have thought this beast was some sort of undead creature. He was glad it wasn¡¯t, for if it was, then his soul spells wouldn¡¯t have any effect on it. Xavier thought of the area they were in. Gimble had said there wouldn¡¯t be another beast for miles of this place, and as far as Xavier could tell, that information had been correct. Which meant he had the place all to himself. Though he was still hesitant to use certain functions of his Time Alteration spell out in the open, especially when he didn¡¯t have any sort of backup, he knew that it would at least be an option for him. And the area being deserted opened other avenues too him as well¡­ The first thing Xavier did was cast Soul Sacrifice. He dumped a thousand souls into the spell, meaning it would be active for 100 seconds. He had used this spell enough times to know that he would be guaranteed to attract some very powerful spirits¡ªespecially now that he had brought it all the way to Rank 100. But he had yet to use the spell when he was coming up against a C Grade. The spirits that came through the bridge were too unpredictable to be unleashed in an area where he had any allies around. He wasn¡¯t about to risk the safety of his raid group. The bridge opened in an instant, and before the Fetid Forest Troll had closed the distance between them, spirits from the Otherworld were streaming through, entering the Mortal Realm. As it often was, the first spirit that came through was Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. The dragon threw back its head and laughed as it saw the enemy before it. You have brought me a true enemy to face, young Denizen! It roared the words in Xavier¡¯s mind as it launched itself forward at the Fetid Forest Troll. Xavier took a few steps back as more spirits came through. At the same time, he sent a mental command to other things under his sway. As he¡¯d strode through the ancient, rotted forest in search of the Fetid Forest Troll, he hadn¡¯t come alone. Others were with him. Though not other Denizens. Soul puppets began to bound through the trees toward the clearing that Xavier had created. He had made more Soul Puppets than he ever had in the past. He had found there was a hard limit to the number of soul puppets he could maintain at any one time, a limit that he wasn¡¯t able to push forward until he gained more ranks in the spell. At Rank 100, that limit was five hundred soul puppets. And that was exactly the number that he had sought out before coming here. Though he wished to deal with this fight as swiftly as he could so he could finally advance to D Grade, he knew it would be foolish to rush things. It had taken him some time to gather this many soul puppets, and he was sure that the C Grade beast would be able to rip through each of them with ease, but even so, he needed to throw everything he had at this thing if he was going to have a chance at not just surviving this encounter, but triumphing. At the same time as the soul puppets entered the clearing, Volkarin roared louder than it ever had, and with that roar the dragon unleashed a torrent of fire and ice that slammed into the Fetid Forest Troll. More spirits from the Otherworld were joining the fray, sending spells of their own at the enemy, or else ripping into it with fang, claw, or blade. There were a myriad of different types of beings among these spirits¡ªbeasts and Denizens of all different variety. The Fetid Forest Troll found itself distracted by the spirits and the soul puppets. Originally it had been lumbering toward Xavier, but now it had its sights set on the nuisances around it. Xavier took a deep breath and let it out slow as he contemplated his next move. Though he¡¯d had time to prepare for the fight, that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d planned the whole thing out beforehand. It was difficult to know how something like this would go until you were in the thick of it, so it was often better to come into a fight with a rough plan, rather than a play-by-play order of attack. He still had thousands of souls in his soulkeeping reserve at his disposal. His strongest attack was still, and likely always would be, Soul Strike. But he was hesitant to play that card yet. He had to see if this thing was vulnerable to his other attacks, and he didn¡¯t want to exhaust his reserve only to get attacked and lack the use of Soul Block. There were three different spirits that he could summon directly from the Otherworld. Lately, he¡¯d been heavily relying upon the Spirit of Protection. That spirit had helped keep him alive in the other encounters he¡¯d had. But there was another spirit that he thought might be even more powerful than that one. A spirit that he had recently learnt about from Rhaalir, but one he had never summoned. Xavier smiled widely as for the first time ever, he was about to use Summon Otherworldly Spirit to bring forth the Spirit of Time. Book 4: Chapter 72 - Diverging Time Streams Time froze. The world around Xavier become a landscape of blacks, whites, and greys. Three choices were displayed before him¡ªto summon the Spirit of Protection, the Spirit of Vengeance, or the Spirit of Time. For the first time, Xavier chose the Spirit of Time. He did not know what to expect when a bright light blossomed into being before him, then slowly dimmed to reveal the figure of the spirit he had summoned. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened involuntarily, for the spirit was perhaps the most beautiful being that he had ever seen before. Xavier couldn¡¯t tell what race the spirit was¡ªshe was somewhere between an elf and a human, much as Felicia was, and her beauty was hard to deny. She had long, flowing golden hair that draped down her bare shoulders until it reached her midsection. Her eyes were the grey of a stormy sky. The woman wore a shift that revealed healthy portions of skin and Xavier had to stop himself from outright gaping at her, which made the spirit¡¯s first expression that of a smirk. The clothing she wore glittered in the light, and she held a simple wooden staff with a glowing green crystal at its top. She bent her head in greeting. I have heard of you, young Denizen. I was wondering when you would bring me forth. The spirit¡¯s voice sounded in his mind. It had a melodic quality to it, and the way she spoke it almost sounded like a song. Xavier bowed his head slightly to the woman, quickly composing himself. He¡¯d encountered plenty of beautiful women in the Greater Universe. It was difficult not to be beautiful when progressing changed one¡¯s form so dramatically, always inching toward perfection. He pushed those thoughts from his mind. I have a task for you, Xavier replied. The spirit turned and looked at the Fetid Forest Troll. She took in the scene. The other spirits that were already there, summoned forth from the Otherworld in a different way to how she had been, and the soul puppets streaming toward the enemy. Indeed. Her eyebrows rose and she glanced back at him with a look of obvious admiration. You are fighting a C Grade. I can see what it is you need from me. She held her staff lightly in her right hand. Do you wish this to be the moment of unfolding? Xavier inclined his head once more. Rhaalir had described, in depth, the capabilities of the Spirit of Time. According to the elf, it was often considered the most powerful of the three spirits that one could summon, for its powers could alter time in ways Xavier had no access to. The Spirit of Time could effectively turn back time itself. This meant that whenever the Spirit of Time did this, it created an entire new universe¡ªjust as when one entered a floor of the Tower of Champions. But there was something unique about the way in which this woman was able to alter time. Yes, each use created a different time stream, an alternate universe, but she could maintain the purity of the universe she had been summoned to. Despite the fact that Xavier had been aware of alternate universes for some time now, he still struggled to wrap his head around this. Basically, what it boiled down to, was that Xavier could follow through with this fight and even if he died, that death wouldn¡¯t happen to him. It would be a future that branched off from the unfolding point¡ªthis very moment¡ªbut it wouldn¡¯t be one that he himself lived. Right now, he was only the observer. Once a future unfolded that he wished to experience, he would have to live it himself, and if he wished that future to unfold exactly the way he had seen it, he¡¯d need to repeat the exact same actions. It was¡­ a spell he¡¯d been unsure of using, as each possible future that she created was actually a new universe, which meant if a version of him died, he was condemning an entire universe to him no longer existing. That would doom Earth, at least in that particular alternate universe. It was a lot to have on his shoulders¡­ but it was also something that he couldn¡¯t let bother him. What happened in other universes wasn¡¯t his concern. If he could change something, save someone, on a tower floor, and it didn¡¯t compromise his own universe? Then he would gladly do it¡ªthat was how he had always moved through the tower floors. With the safety of others being a priority. But their safety wasn¡¯t his top priority, and it wasn¡¯t a reality he could always indulge in. He didn¡¯t have that luxury. So, technically, the woman couldn¡¯t turn back time, but it would essentially work the same, because even though he wouldn¡¯t experience those possible futures as his original self, he would see them from the perspective of those that did experience it. Again, it was difficult for him to wrap his head around. The world shifted. No, not just the world¡ªthe entire universe shifted. Xavier felt himself appear in two places at once. He was standing there, with the Spirit of Time, in that colourless landscape with the battle scene before them¡ªand he was standing in the exact same spot, but in an entirely different universe. The feeling was mind-bendingly surreal. For a moment, the sudden sensation of being pulled in two threatened to break his brain.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But Xavier had been through something like this before, and it didn¡¯t take him long before his well-honed instincts kicked in. Though it was technically different, with his Soul Puppet spell he was able to put his consciousness into one of the soul puppets he had control over, letting him see from its perspective. This was also something he was able to do with Willpower Infusion, on Denizens or beasts under his control. And so Xavier had a highly developed skill to help him do this very thing. He split his consciousness into multiple parts. He found that where he stood¡ªin his original body¡ªtime was still frozen, yet the Spirit of Time was able to move. The beautiful woman stood with one hand resting lightly on her hip, while the other held her staff. She had a contemplative look on her pale face. You can see what¡¯s happening, can¡¯t you? Xavier asked. The woman blinked. She glanced over at him with a small smile. I am surprised you are able to focus enough to talk. This experience tends to be disorientating for people of your grade. She tilted her head to the side. Though it appears you might be uniquely suited toward this. One part of his consciousness continued on with the conversation, while the other observed from inside the body of¡­ himself. It was perhaps the strangest thing he had ever felt. He was inside his own body, able to feel every sensation¡ªthe breath entering his lungs, the beating of his heart¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t influence what was happening. He was locked in, not under control. Xavier wondered if this was how beasts and Denizens felt when he used Willpower Infusion on them. It was a terrible way to feel, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn¡¯t observe the thoughts of this version of himself, either, so all he saw were the actions taken. Time unfolded for this version of Xavier, moving forward at the same pace as it had before he had cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The spirits from the other world that had come when he¡¯d used Soul Sacrifice were ripping into the Fetid Forest Troll, but the Fetid Forest Troll didn¡¯t stand idly by and let them hurt it. It made a dull-sounding grunt as it slammed its massive club into one of the smaller spirits, a strange beasts somewhere between a mix of a white dove and a hyena. The spirit got hit in its beaked head. There was a devastating snapping sound, and its neck was wrenched fully one way. The spirits from the other world weren¡¯t entirely corporeal, but Xavier had seen beasts do damage to them in the past, so he knew they weren¡¯t always immune to attacks. But these spirits, the way they had entered the Mortal Realm, were more corporeal than the spirits that came to him when he used Summon Otherworldly Spirit, making them a little more prone to taking damage. Xavier, flicking between parts of his mind, turned to the Spirit of Time as the bird-hyena hybrid beast disappeared, its body turning to mist that slowly dissipated in the air. Did that troll just¡­ kill that spirit? The woman shook her head. I am not here to provide insight, Xavier Collins. She paused. However, I suppose there is no harm in answering you this one question. The spirit was not killed. It was returned prematurely to the Otherworld. So there are no consequences for spirits taking damage while they are in the Mortal Realm? On the contrary, that spirit will be out of commission for a very long time. It could be several centuries before it builds up the power to enter the Mortal Realm once more, unless somehow someone were to summon it directly. Even then, there¡¯s every chance it wouldn¡¯t work. Xavier inclined his head. That made more sense. There had to be some consequences, after all. He watched as the dragon, Volkarin, engaged with the troll. It swooped down and slammed straight into the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s chest. The Fetid Forest Troll looked somewhat pained. It flinched and took two stumbling steps backward. Xavier flicked back into the part of his mind in the other version of himself. The other version of himself paused for a moment, his eyes widening slightly. Xavier couldn¡¯t understand what he was trying to do, then he realised¡ªthis version of him would have also just cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit and brought forth the Spirit of Time, but he wouldn¡¯t get to profit from the spell¡¯s usage. Xavier¡¯s shoulders sagged. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not the original.¡± Xavier turned his head to one side, then the other, cracking it. He clenched his fists so tight the bones in his fingers creaked. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise how much this would suck.¡± Observer Xavier felt some remorse at having used this spell. He hadn¡¯t taken a moment to contemplate how the copies of himself would feel. Though calling them copies was¡­ making out as though they hadn¡¯t been him up until a moment ago. Alternate universes confuse the hell out of me, Xavier thought to himself. And he watched. Xavier took a few steps backward as the Fetid Forest Troll grabbed the dragon by the neck and yanked him to the left. Volkarin was one of the seven most powerful spirits from the Otherworld, yet he was being thrown around like a ragdoll. That was only because the spirit, in this form, had its power level capped by Xavier¡¯s strength, and the strength of the spell he had just cast. The Fetid Forest Troll threw the dragon into the air. It tumbled several times before its wings snapped out and it caught itself, almost frozen where it hovered. Then rumbling laughter was released from Volkarin¡¯s throat as the dragon swooped back in for another attack. At that moment, the soul puppets joined the fray. They reached the Fetid Forest Troll and tried to attack it, but they were nothing more than a distraction for it. They were thrown this way and that, kicked, backhanded, or crushed by the beast¡¯s club. Xavier began casting spells. Spirit Break was the first. The Fetid Forest Troll flinched. A flinch wasn¡¯t much, but it was something. Its gaze instantly shifted to Xavier. The troll threw its head back and roared, then it slammed one of its fists into its chest, the other hand still holding onto its club, and a shockwave of energy reverberated around it, knocking every single one of the five hundred soul puppets¡ªthose still alive, if such being could even be counted as alive¡ªto the ground. Some of the soul puppets didn¡¯t get up. Even the spirits from the other world were thrown, though they appeared to be far less hurt by the attack. The way clear once more, the Fetid Forest Troll began its lumbering run again and made a beeline for where Xavier stood. One spell after another was flung toward the beast. Soul Shatter made it flinch slightly more than Spirit Break had. Core Burn didn¡¯t do a damned thing, and Willpower Infusion¡­ well, Observer Xavier knew that had been wishful thinking, even if it was always worth trying. Nothing is working against this thing¡­ it¡¯s even more powerful than I thought. Xavier had been in several battles with C Grades by now, but he had never been the primary damage dealer. The damage had come from countless Champions. The raid group had worked as one, so even if their attacks didn¡¯t do a huge amount of damage on their own, cumulatively it had been enough. Especially when Xavier had used his Time Alteration trick. Xavier spread his arms to his sides and opened his fists. Claws began to grow from his fingers, sharper than they had ever been before. A rumble started deep in his throat then was unleashed in a roar of his own. The spells not having done their job, Xavier sprang forward. He had been observing the way this beast moved, and the way it took damage. Its Toughness was high¡ªhigher than anything Xavier had ever faced by himself¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t completely resistant to his attacks. Even now those spirits that had recovered were sending spells and arrows into the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s back as it lumbered toward Xavier. It flinched at every single attack. There were scratches all over its body, and even patches of blood where it had taken wounds¡ªthough those wounds had since healed. It¡¯s strong, and it¡¯s fast, but it¡¯s not invincible, thought Observer Xavier as he felt himself sprint forward. And there was something else very important about this beast. The speed at which it moved¡ªit might be fast. But it wasn¡¯t as fast as Xavier. Book 4: Chapter 73 - Worth the Risk Xavier came at the Fetid Forest Troll head on. Or at least, that¡¯s what it looked like he was doing. Observer Xavier might not be able to read his own mind, but he had a good idea of what was about to happen next. The Fetid Forest Troll stopped running long enough to swing its club. The club had an eerie, dark glow about it, and disgusting black liquid oozed from its head. Xavier, at the last second, sunk down into a slide and went underneath the beast¡¯s legs, slicing his claws into its thighs as he passed through. Then he whirled and instantly jumped onto its back. The spirits had re-entered the fray, the dragon being the first of them. He hoped their attacks would be enough to distract the troll, especially now that he was up close. Xavier wrapped an arm around the beast and dug his claws straight into its neck. The roar that had started when he¡¯d run was still ripping out of his throat. Not being able to feel the emotions involved in the fight, Observer Xavier felt strange watching himself become so bestial, but it was a sensation he¡¯d become to recognise. The Fetid Forest Troll whacked its chest again. A pulse of energy shock-waved out. Xavier was thrown backward. The pain was immense¡ªObserver Xavier could feel that. He flipped in the air and landed easily on the ground. The troll was already facing him by the time he got his bearings. It pointed its club at him and something shot from it¡ªthe black, oozing liquid. Xaivier dodged to the right, his Evasion skill kicking in, but the troll tracked him easily, the stream of black oozing goo shooting through the air as straight as a laser. Xavier cast Soul Block, infusing what looked like five hundred souls into it. He wasn¡¯t fast enough to avoid the attack. It was faster to point at someone than it was to dodge left or right out of the way. The souls weren¡¯t enough, however. Somehow, the attack rotted through the soul apparitions, then it went straight for Xavier. It hit him full on the chest and seeped through his robes. Observer Xavier watched the fight with great interest, and more than a little fear. And he could feel the pain the spell was doing do his body¡ªit was more intense than anything else he had ever experienced, and that was saying something, considering all he¡¯d been through since being integrated. The other version of him tried to fight off the effects. He downed several health potions and antidote potions, but they were clearly doing nothing. In the end he had to fling up a Time Alteration spell, keeping the Fetid Forest Troll outside of it, and sit in meditation for hours until the status effect had passed and the damage was healed. When the other version of him finally opened his eyes, he released a sigh. ¡°This thing is strong.¡± He stood. ¡°But I haven¡¯t used everything in my arsenal yet.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I know you¡¯re watching, and listening, and I just want you to know that I won¡¯t be dying for this. If this beast ends up being too powerful¡­ I¡¯m cutting my losses and getting the hell out of here. Maybe I¡¯ll come back another time to face it.¡± Observer Xavier felt a bit of relief at that. He didn¡¯t want another version of himself to die, especially not for something as small as this. When the Time Alteration spell dropped, the other version of Xavier re-entered the fray. He seemed like a man possessed as he moved toward the enemy troll, his reflexes incredibly fast. He slashed at the beast, cutting small wounds in it left and right. The spirits from the Otherworld were back in the fray again, as were the remaining soul puppets, but none of them seemed to be doing enough, especially when this troll was able to push them all away. Slowly, Xavier left cuts everywhere in the Fetid Forest Troll. He carved his claws through the enemy¡¯s legs, stomach, chest, arms, and back. The armour it wore was tough, but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop Xavier¡¯s claws from piercing through¡ªthat was mostly thanks to the Piercing Damage he had. The Fetid Forest Troll showed no sign of fatigue or flagging even with all of the damage it was taking. Xavier kept flinging spell after spell after spell at it, but he wasn¡¯t having any luck. Whenever the Fetid Forest Troll tried to use its knock-back attack, Xavier flitted out of range. He could see it coming now¡ªknew how to anticipate it. Observer Xavier was learning a lot from the fight, and he knew there were plenty of mistakes that he wouldn¡¯t make when it came to fighting this thing himself, but he still had hope that this version of him would be able to defeat the troll. Then something overcame the Fetid Forest Troll. It released a roar on par with that of the Spirit of Vengeance, and its entire body turned into a black ooze. By this point in the fight, the soul puppets he¡¯d painstakingly brought to the battle were all dead on the ground. They had been nothing more than a slight distraction for this thing. The spirits, too, hadn¡¯t been enough. They were gone now, their time in this world spent. Even the Spirit of Vengeance, in that form, hadn¡¯t been able to harm the troll all that much. Xavier supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been all that surprised. It was a C Grade beast, after all. Maybe he was biting off more than he could chew.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. But no version of himself was about to give up until they had tried everything. For the first time during this battle, Xavier cast Fear Dominion. Observer Xavier thought this Xavier must be feeling a little desperate, as he doubted something like that would even work on this beast. And he was right. There was a slight flicker of fear in the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s eyes, but it was gone in almost an instant as it seemed to shrug it off with ease. Xavier then leapt backward into the air. Hopefully, even up here, he would be able to dodge any attack that came, for if the Fetid Forest Troll used the rotted-beam attack that it had used earlier, Observer Xavier didn¡¯t know if he would be fast enough¡ªeven with his Hover Dodge spell¡ªto avoid it. Only one way to find out. That was when Xavier cast his most powerful spell¡ªSoul Strike¡ªthrowing thousands of souls into it. Powerful soul apparitions burst into life. White lightning shot forth from his fists as beasts of all manner and size appeared, all of them barrelling through the air toward the Fetid Forest Troll. The Fetid Forest Troll blinked dumbly at the display before it was hit full on by the attack. It stumbled backward, then fell down to the ground, releasing a scream of pure agony as the strike hit its soul. It didn¡¯t leave any physical sign of the damage it took, but it didn¡¯t need to. The troll lay on the ground, twitching. It wasn¡¯t dead, but it sure looked close. Xavier landed back on the ground. He didn¡¯t waste any time as he sprinted over to the beast. Its body was still covered completely by that dark, oozing substance. Whatever spell it had cast was still in full effect. Observer Xavier and the version of Xavier making the moves appeared to be in agreement about what that must mean¡ªit was a protection against physical attacks. If Xavier struck the troll, he would likely become infected. And so Xavier cast Soul Shatter. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Then, he cast Core Burn¡ªagain, it wasn¡¯t enough, though this time there were clear cracks in the beast¡¯s mind, ones that he might be able to take advantage of. Willpower Infusion was the next spell cast¡ªand it worked. For a fraction of a second, Xavier had been in control of the beast¡¯s mind. Observer Xavier could see the effect it had on the Fetid Forest Troll, even though he couldn¡¯t feel it, for that was something he didn¡¯t have access to, as the sensation was felt in the body and not the mind. But he could also see that the spell didn¡¯t last very long. Xavier winced as the attack was shrugged off. Xavier had expended all of the ranged damage dealing that he had. Soul Shatter simply wasn¡¯t a powerful enough spell, and the Fetid Forest Troll was quickly healing. If Xavier wanted to end this, he would need to do something else. Xavier sprang forward in a powerful leap and came down slashing straight for the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s head. It was already so damaged, surely it wouldn¡¯t take too many strikes before it was pushed over the edge into death. The instant Xavier¡¯s claws struck the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s head, they didn¡¯t do what was expected. Instead, they sunk through the troll¡¯s skull as though it were that oozing liquid, and not rock-hard, tough bone. The black oozing liquid crept over Xavier¡¯s arm and crawled up to his neck, infecting him once more. But that wasn¡¯t all it did. This time, it trapped him in place. The troll, which had been writhing and twitching in pain, burst into action. Xavier didn¡¯t think it had been pretending or faking the pain it felt. It was evident that it had been real. This was a last-ditch attack. An animal wounded, cornered, lashing out. It gripped Xavier by the neck. Unlike its skull, its hand was solid. And it squeezed. Observer Xavier didn¡¯t want to watch what happened next, but he forced himself to. He needed to see the consequences of his potential actions. The other Xavier wasn¡¯t out for the count, however. He cast Time Prison, The spell worked. Xavier was powerful enough to trap a C Grade beast in time. That alone was an achievement. Xavier took a few steps back. He stared at the frozen beast. There was no telling how long it would be trapped like that. No telling how long the spell would last. Get out of there, Observer Xavier thought as he watched. He had seen the other version of him strive and strive, and he had gotten so close¡­ but he didn¡¯t think there was a way, in this version of events, for the battle to be won. ¡°My health is at 5 percent and dropping fast,¡± Xavier said, speaking incredibly quickly. ¡°I know you¡¯re listening. The smart thing to do right now would be run, but I don¡¯t know how far I would make it. I can¡¯t use Time Alteration again. I can¡¯t heal the damage that is happening to me. Last time, it acted too quickly, and I was only just about to counteract it. This time¡­ it¡¯s like it¡¯s acting twice as fast, even though it¡¯s the same spell, as though the rot has some sort of cumulative effect.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°My health potions aren¡¯t enough, and in this condition, I won¡¯t be able to outrun it. Something tells me Time Prison it will only last another moment or two¡ª¡± The Fetid Forest Troll instantly came back to life. Xavier could have run. He could have made it far enough to be out of this thing¡¯s range. He would have been fast enough. Then, alone, he might have been able to heal himself. Why hadn¡¯t he run? ¡°I think I can kill this thing,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It¡¯s worth the risk.¡± Xavier snapped back to where he was standing with the Spirit of Time. He blinked. He¡¯d watched the last few moments¡­ that other version of him had been obliterated. Why didn¡¯t you run? the Spirit of Time asked. You might have survived. Xavier inclined his head, wondering the very same thing. But he didn¡¯t need to wonder to know. He thought he could win. He thought the risk was worth it. It always¡­ always has been in the past. Xavier stared at the Fetid Forest Troll in his own time stream. For him, the world was still frozen as he stood with the half-elf, half-human looking woman that was the Spirit of Time. Xavier had never expected to die. He had taken so many risks to become as powerful as he was. Taken so many risks to get where he was today¡­ He knew, deep down, that he never expected to fail. It wasn¡¯t that he was treating this like a game, it was just¡­ he was to be the Weapon of the System. That was something he truly believed, and even before that¡ªeverything he had done had paid off. Of course that other version of himself had thought that he could win. The situation hadn¡¯t been worth him throwing his life away, and yet he¡¯d gone and done it anyway. Xavier lowered his head and closed his eyes, thinking of that other version of him. He gave that person a moment of silence. ¡°You idiot,¡± he whispered. ¡°Why did you go and do that?¡± But he knew that¡­ he would have done the exact same thing, because that was him. He wondered if watching his own death would make him change. Book 4: Chapter 74 - The Final Unfolding Are you ready for another Unfolding? the Spirit of Time asked in a gentle voice. Xavier nodded meekly, coming out of his reverie. I¡¯m ready. This unfolding would be different to the last. This time, when he faced the Fetid Forest Troll, the second version of himself would have experienced what he had just experienced. Another strange thing to wrap his head around. This spell is powerful, he thought to himself. Incredibly powerful. He knew that the cooldown was a long one, and¡ªaccording to Rhaalir¡ªit was a locked cooldown. Xavier had never had a spell with a locked cooldown before, but it meant that it couldn¡¯t be influenced by a level up, or a spell, or an imbued ability. There was no way to alter how long it took to regenerate. He would be able to cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit again, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring forth the Spirit of Time. Not for another six months. To him, it seemed like a hell of a long time, but he knew that in the grand scheme of things it really wasn¡¯t very long. The problem was for his purposes, pushing forward as fast as he was¡­ well, he figured he would need to use it again before most Denizens. Xavier released a breath as he split his mind in two once more. ~ Five times, Xavier watched himself fail. The second version of himself that he watched had come into the battle with equal parts confidence and caution. He had seen how much damage he could do to this beast with Soul Strike, and so he had led with that attack, hitting the beast while the spirits from the Otherworld and the soul puppets were still in play, and his Time Alteration spell hadn¡¯t yet been used. But it wasn¡¯t enough¡ªthe beast hadn¡¯t suffered enough physical injuries. The second version of him hadn¡¯t taken as many risks as the first one had. Clearly, he was still reeling from watching his own death. Observer Xavier couldn¡¯t blame him¡ªhe was still feeling the same thing. Except it hadn¡¯t done him any good. He had been too cautious, to the point of being timid. The Fetid Forest Troll had used a spell that it hadn¡¯t shown the first time. Something that had trapped Xavier to the ground, making it impossible for him to move. He couldn¡¯t dodge. He couldn¡¯t run. And the enemy was too close for him to use Time Alteration without getting it inside the time dilation field with him. Once again, Xavier had had to watch himself die. Twice, as an E Grade, he had gone up against the weakest C Grade on the entire floor, and twice¡­ he had been killed. After that, Xavier had seriously considered walking away. The Spirit of Time had given him a sympathetic look, though she had not offered her opinion on what had just taken place, nor had she deigned to offer him any advice. He wondered how many things like this the woman had seen in her role as the Spirit of Time. How many Denizens had summoned her and watched themselves, or those they loved, die in different alternate realities and different, diverging time streams? He¡¯d shaken away those thoughts, and moved on with the spell, watching yet another Xavier go against the Fetid Forest Troll, equipped with the updated knowledge. This Xavier hadn¡¯t won, but he had escaped. As he¡¯d ran away, he¡¯d vowed to come back and finish the job. To persevere, to remain E Grade, until he was able to crack this. Xavier admired the perseverance, but hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to go through that himself. The fourth version of him to go up against the Fetid Forest Troll was the one to finally triumph¡ªbut it was a close shave. He lay on the ground after the fight, his flesh rotting, whispering that his health was at 1 percent. He had survived, but doing so had almost cost him his life. So, Xavier had used the spell one more time. The Spirit of Time had told him that was the last time that she could do this, and Xavier had thought he might as well move forward with it. Though he had seen every action that had amounted to the win, that didn¡¯t mean he would be able to move exactly as the other version of himself had. He couldn¡¯t see his own thoughts. There was a possibility that he might take a misstep. That the 1 percent health he¡¯d been left in would actually become 0. He couldn¡¯t afford to let that happen. He¡¯d felt what it was like to die now¡ªtwice¡ªand it wasn¡¯t something he was ever going to let himself experience for real. And he was glad that he¡¯d made that decision¡ªthe final battle had been spectacular. Now he just had to make sure he could do it again. Still frozen in time, with that beautiful woman from the Otherworld, Xavier looked over at her. He hadn¡¯t seen the titles he would gain from winning this fight, all he had seen was himself winning. He was eager to discover what he would gain.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Thank you, Xavier thought to her. I would not have been able to do this without you. You aim to achieve the incredible, Xavier Collins. The Spirit of Time gave him a wry look. That is something at which I excel at helping people produce. I do look forward to next time you call upon me. I imagine whatever situation you find yourself in will be interesting to observe. Fight well, young Denizen. The Spirit of Time drifted away, returning to the Otherworld. Slowly, and then all at once, time began to move forward again. Xavier¡¯s mind raced with everything that he would need to do. His memory of his actions was complete, and all he needed to do was reenact them. It was a strange way in which to fight, lacking some of the excitement he was used to, but he had more than enough excitement at the prospect of defeating a C Grade beast. He didn¡¯t need any more than that. Xavier took a deep breath, then released it. The spirits from the Otherworld and the soul puppets were still in play, even if they weren¡¯t doing much damage to this thing. He didn¡¯t dawdle. Xavier threw himself forward, sprinting straight at the Fetid Forest Troll. It was time to kill himself a C Grade. While the Fetid Forest Troll was still distracted by the spirits and the soul puppets, Xavier moved in. He flanked the beast and then came around at it from behind. This cost the lives of many of the soul puppets, and Xavier knew that in a moment from now, the troll would use its knockback spell. Before it did, Xavier struck it with two spells at once¡ªas he slashed down at the back of its head, mid-leap, with his claws, he cast Enhanced Telekinetic Strike and Spirit Break simultaneously. The pain this caused was enough for the beast to whirl around and pin him with its gaze. A roar sounded and it slammed its fist into its chest. Xavier was knocked back. The Fetid Forest Troll raised its club, about to cast a stream of rot that would slam into Xavier and infect him. But Xavier wasn¡¯t going to let that happen. He cast Soul Strike. He didn¡¯t use every single soul at his disposal. Instead, he used two thousand of them. It had been difficult to discern how many souls the other version of him had used. Fortunately, the other version of Xavier had been kind enough to say it aloud. The two-thousand-infused Soul Strike burst forth from Xavier¡¯s fists. Bolts of pure white lightning shot forth, forking through the sky as countless soul apparitions came into being, bearing down on the Fetid Forest Troll as its eyes widened at the sudden attack. The Soul Strike interrupted the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s rotting beam spell and made it stumble back a few steps. It wasn¡¯t enough to knock it down, but it didn¡¯t need to be¡ªall it needed to do was hurt. This was different to how the first few versions of Xavier had used the spell. They had cast the entire thing, as the cooldown on the spell was too long to use twice in a fight. That is, unless one was willing to use Time Alteration to quicken the rate of the cooldown, and the version of Xavier that had last fought this beast? He¡¯d been ballsy enough to do so. The area was deserted, after all. And so Xavier did just that¡ªhe cast Time Alteration, making the time dilation field large enough to encompass himself and the C Grade beast. The spirits from the Otherworld and his soul puppets were trapped outside the bubble. But that was by design. The spirits and soul puppets would see the time dilation field and to them it would look as though Xavier and the beast were frozen in time. Xavier had theorised different ways of working with his time dilation field, coupled with either a soul puppet or an enemy controlled with Willpower Infusion. Considering he had the ability to throw part of his consciousness into those he controlled, as he could split his mind into multiple parts, he wondered if he would ever be able to see what was happening¡ªin real time¡ªoutside of a time dilation field that he was within. But that wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d tried experimenting with yet, and he wasn¡¯t about to try it in the middle of a fight like this. Now that the time dilation field was up, his Soul Strike spell re-upped its cooldown in what amounted to an instant from his perspective. The Fetid Forest Troll didn¡¯t even seem to be aware of what was happening. Xavier didn¡¯t activate Soul Strike for a second time¡ªnot yet. Instead, he hit his enemy with a steady stream of Spirit Breaks and Soul Shatters. The Soul Strike had been enough to make the thing unsteady, and the stream of weaker spells was keeping it that way. Once Xavier knew it had strained its mental defences, he next hit the beast with Core Burn. When he saw the spell doing its work, he smiled. Almost there. Soul Strike! Thousands of bolts of white lightning came into being as soul apparitions appeared before him and launched themselves at his enemy. It wasn¡¯t just him doing damage to the Fetid Forest Troll, either. The spirits outside the time dilation field who possessed ranged attacks were flinging those attacks at the beast as often as they could. He had used that same technique when he had been fighting with other Champions. Though those spells had stopped coming in less than a second to Xavier¡¯s perspective, as the spirits disappeared back to the Otherworld, their time on this plane already up. As the second Soul Strike hit his enemy, Xavier moved in, using Willpower Infusion as he closed the gap between himself and the Fetid Forest Troll. He didn¡¯t deactivate the time dilation field. Instead, he reversed the flow of time, making sure the beast wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the end of any of its own cooldowns. Not that that would matter, as Willpower Infusion took hold of the beast. No matter how injured the beast currently was, it still had a strong mind. Xavier had managed to effectively blast his way through the beast¡¯s mental wall, but that didn¡¯t mean he would be able to control it forever. In fact, he could already feel that control slipping. That didn¡¯t matter. He only needed to control it enough time to stop it from casting the spell that turned its entire body into an oozing black mess. Xavier released a loud roar, a bestial battle cry, as he slashed his claws into the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s skin, piercing through its odd, wooden armour. The Fetid Forest Troll took countless dozens of hits in the span of a few seconds. With each strike, Xavier felt his control over the beast slipping further and further away. Soon, it would once more be in control of itself. Xavier attacked, right up until that moment, then he stopped as the beast came back to full awareness. And he cast Fear Dominion. The spell worked, as Xavier knew it would. Fear lit up the troll¡¯s eyes as Xavier delivered his final strike. His claws pierced the beast¡¯s eye, dealing the last little bit of damage he needed to take this thing down. The Fetid Forest Troll fell to the dirt. Xavier stood a few feet away, looking down at it. He hadn¡¯t taken a single strike, and the C Grade beast lay dead before him. Now, it was time to see just how many titles he would gain from this. Book 4: Chapter 75 - The Chances of You Dying Were Rather High Xavier deactivated the Time Alteration spell and took a breath of air. He blinked, looking around. The air smelled fresher than it had before. He gazed past the clearing he¡¯d created for the purposes of the fight with the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll and his eyes widened at what he saw. The rot that had infected every inch of this part of the forest was now gone. The trees were no longer oozing black liquid, the colour of the plants returned to greens and reds and purples. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter down on the area. ¡°Huh,¡± Xavier said. Rhaalir appeared, standing beside the dead Fetid Forest Troll. The elf-spirit looked a little dumbfounded as he stared at the downed beast. You¡­ you did it. Xavier tilted his head to the side, looking over at the elf. The elf hadn¡¯t been there when he cast the spell to see the Spirit of Time. He hadn¡¯t seen the woman appear. Hadn¡¯t been a part of what they had both seen. Xavier looked at the spirit. Did you ever doubt I would? Rhaalir shrugged his shoulders, almost as though the elf didn¡¯t care, but Xavier was beginning to think that the spirit was starting to care about what happened to him. I figured the chances of you dying were rather high. Maybe 95 percent. Xavier frowned. He was about to make some quip, when he thought back to the first two versions of him, and what this beast had done to them¡­ Two versions of me died facing this thing, he thought to himself. One version of me ran. And two, not including me, defeated it¡­ but only because they had learned from each iteration before them. He stepped over to the Fetid Forest Troll and wondered, not for the first time, if the risks he was taking would one day lead to his death. That version of him who had died the first time¡­ he had seemed as though he thought he was invincible. As though death couldn¡¯t possibly be visited upon him. And yet, that man was now gone forever. He wondered, for a moment, what that would mean for Earth, but¡­ he really didn¡¯t want to dwell on that. It¡¯s a whole other universe. There¡¯s nothing I can do about it, he thought to himself before he looked over at Rhaalir once more. It was a risk I was willing to take, and it paid off. They won¡¯t always, Rhaalir muttered in Xavier¡¯s mind, and Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel the truth of those words. Notifications popped up in his vision, and they held his interest far more than the conversation he¡¯d just been having. The kill notification came first. Unfortunately, he was unable to receive any Mastery Points until he triggered the advancement to D Grade, so everything he¡¯d gained from killing the beast just¡­ didn¡¯t do anything for him. But that was alright¡ªhe would have no shortage of Mastery Points once he advanced. Advancement¡­ that¡¯s right around the corner now. He smiled to himself and read the next notification. Title unlocked! C Grade Killer You have slain your first C Grade enemy on your own. Welcome to the big leagues. You have received +250 to all stats! Title Unlocked! C Grade Demolisher You have slain a C Grade enemy by yourself that is at least one grade higher than your own. It is rare that a Denizen of the Greater Universe can accomplish this feat. This is an epic title. You have received +500 to all stats! Title Unlocked! C Grade Destroyer You have slain a C Grade enemy by yourself that is at least two grades higher than your own. No other Denizen in the Greater Universe has achieved such a feat. This is a unique title. You have received +1,000 to all stats! The System is offering to grant you a boon and wishes for you to decide what option to take.
  1. Higher Value Race Upgrade
  2. Higher Value Class Upgrade
  3. Permanent Attribute Boost
Receiving such a boon is rare and almost unheard of in the Greater Universe. Make you decision wisely. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier read through the different notifications. There was a part of him that was a little surprised he hadn¡¯t received more than these, but then again, he knew was just getting greedy.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The rewards he gained from these titles were immensely powerful, and he could already feel the strength of them, the instant shift in himself as his attributes were raised. And something told him there would be more value in what he had just achieved than these titles. Doing something as he had¡­ it would gain him recognition around the Greater Universe that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to get without doing it. And that recognition started with Gimble. Actually, it started with Rhaalir. The elf might be from the Otherworld and not the Mortal Realm, but something told him that having his respect would help him in the long run. More interesting than the titles he¡¯d received was the boon from the System. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d gotten a boon. The last time he¡¯d been given the skill Core Burn, and that had been because of the way he¡¯d defeated the Lord of the Endless Horde. He wondered about the different options. A Higher Value Race Upgrade¡­ that was very intriguing. He had already started the journey toward altering his race from that of a normal human, something that he wasn¡¯t sure he could stop even if he wanted to. How much would having a higher value race upgrade help him? And what did that even mean? Perhaps Rhaalir would be able to offer some insights, or maybe he could use Otherworldly Communion to help him make the decision¡­ Xavier strode over to the corpse of the Fetid Forest Troll. He touched a hand to it and deposited the entire beast into one of his Storage Rings. He wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to incorporate beast parts from something that rotted into himself, but he knew the corpse of a C Grade would be considered incredibly valuable. I defeated a C Grade beast¡­ The empress, the most powerful Denizen in all of the Silver River sector is only C Grade. That was a realisation he¡¯d had before, that he was fast approaching her level of power. He supposed the woman had seen as much already. Though she was no doubt a True Progenitor. Her power was probably more akin to that of a B Grade than a C Grade, if one were to compare. I wonder how far away I am from that¡­ Xavier just stared around for a moment, taking in all he had done. The fight with the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll¡­ the first two versions of him had been destroyed by it. Yet here he stood, alive, without a single scratch. It wasn¡¯t just about power¡ªit was how one used that power, and how well prepared someone was. If he knew every move an enemy could make¡­ Xavier shook his head. It would rarely be possible for him to know every move an enemy could make. The only reason he¡¯d been able to do it in this instance was because he¡¯d summoned the Spirit of Time, and that was only something that he would be able to do every six months. Rhaalir looked over at him. You have achieved something remarkable here, Xavier Collins. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next. Xavier inclined his head to the elf. Rhaalir had been a good instructor. Their contract didn¡¯t have a specific end time, and Xavier wondered if he would be gaining any new Otherworld spells when he chose his next class. If so, he would be glad to have the elf still around. Thank you, for helping me get this far. I don¡¯t know if I would have been able to rank up my Otherworld spells as fast without your guidance. The elf scoffed. Of course you wouldn¡¯t have been able to. Rhaalir shook his head. You were lost without me. Ah, there¡¯s that tone I¡¯ve grown to love so much, Xavier replied. He glanced around the area once more. He could hear things in the forest he hadn¡¯t before, and the wind¡ªwhich had been still the first time he¡¯d walked through here¡ªwas beginning to stir the leaves on the branches. A bird flew overhead, and somewhere in the distance a roar sounded. This area of the forest was coming alive again, now that the Fetid Forest Troll had been defeated. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this would be like what would happen on the Dark Mountains, when The Nightmare was finally slain. He looked forward to seeing that. Now that he had defeated a C Grade beast, and by himself no less, he knew that the chances of defeating The Nightmare had risen. Even though he was a subcommander in the raid group, that was still something he didn¡¯t feel safe doing with Gimble and the others, not when Liana¡¯s husband¡¯s life might be at risk. Fortunately, fighting The Nightmare wasn¡¯t something on Gimble¡¯s agenda. Like the C Grade dragon Xavier wished to go after, apparently The Nightmare was on another level completely to the C Grade beasts they¡¯d been coming up against. Gimble didn¡¯t want to risk a fight like that. Xavier contemplated heading back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He was still E Grade, at the absolute peak of E Grade, and he was 99.99 percent sure that he was the most powerful E Grade that had ever lived. Were there other things that he could accomplish in this state? Were there things he needed to do, before pushing onward to the next rank, that he had been neglecting? The last thing he wanted to do was move too fast and miss something¡­ But then, he didn¡¯t want to second guess himself, either. He vividly remembered the second version of himself that had gone up against the Fetid Forest Troll. That version of him had been far too cautious and timid. He had been second guessing himself the entire time during the fight, after seeing himself get killed. And not just seeing it. He¡¯d felt the pain of that death as though it were happening to him. Xavier shuddered just thinking about it. Being in that frame of mind, having that lack of confidence, it was what had gotten that second version of him killed, as much as it had been the Fetid Forest Troll. I¡¯ve pushed myself hard enough, done more than anyone could be expected to at this grade. Now, it¡¯s time for me to keep pushing forward. I can¡¯t keep putting this off forever. Xavier didn¡¯t return to Hunter¡¯s Home. He didn¡¯t want his advancement to happen there, with all the other people watching. He wanted to go somewhere where it would just be him. He knew that Gimble and his party would be waiting at the tavern to hear about what had happened with the Fetid Forest Troll, but the dwarf could wait¡ªin fact, he would probably appreciate the excuse to spend a little extra time in the tavern. Xavier supposed he could have returned to the Staging Room for this. That would have been the safest place for him to go through something like this, as he would be all alone, the System preventing anyone from being able to enter the same instance as himself. But he wasn¡¯t feeling worried about his safety. He had other ways of guaranteeing that. He walked a little ways deeper in the forest, journeying through the territory that once belonged to the Fetid Forest Troll. Though sounds were now beginning to return to the forest, the place was absolutely deserted. After a little while of walking, following the trail the Fetid Forest Troll had left as it had made its way to face Xavier, he came upon a cave. The entrance and the ceiling within were large enough that the troll would have had no trouble walking through it, and indeed muddy footprints led inside the cave, ones large enough to have been made by the troll. Xavier walked inside what had once been the domain of a C Grade beast, wondering what he would find. All he was really looking for was a bit of seclusion, somewhere to activate his advancement to the next rank. The cave smelled wretched, and part of him regretted his decision to come through here. But it was easy enough for him to filter out the stimuli and ignore it. There was nothing special about the cave. There were no decorations on the walls. As he walked through a tunnel, he saw nothing of note¡ªuntil he came upon a large chamber. To one side of the chamber was a massive bed, with soiled linen. Xavier had imagined the troll would have slept on the ground, but apparently he was wrong. There wasn¡¯t much else in this place. In one corner was a stack of bones that had been picked clean, bite marks evident in them. There was a single, large wooden chair and a table. No books to be seen¡ªbut Xavier couldn¡¯t imagine the troll reading. None of that was interesting, but what was interesting was the chest at the back of the room. It looked a hell of a lot like the loot boxes that Champions received any time they finished a tower floor. Xavier had never seen a loot box be a reward for defeating a C Grade beast, and he¡¯d been a part of the raid group for a few weeks now. Gimble certainly hadn¡¯t mentioned loot boxes. But perhaps that was simply because this wasn¡¯t a loot box in the strictest sense¡ªit was simply a chest. Somewhere for the C Grade beast to keep its valuables. What does a troll think of as valuable? Xavier walked over to the chest a knelt in front of it. He undid the latch and levered it open on creaking hinges. Book 4: Chapter 76 - Advancing The inside of the chest was empty. Xavier almost slammed the lid back down like some petulant child who didn¡¯t get the same number of presents for his birthday as he had the last, when he realised something¡ªthis wasn¡¯t a normal chest. It was a storage device, much like the Storage Rings he wore on his fingers. The moment he¡¯d opened the chest he could feel the mental connection to it, and when he tried to put the chest into his own Storage Ring a notification appeared. You cannot place a dimensional storage device of this size into your Storage Ring. Xavier frowned. He tried to open the chest, but there was something blocking him. He knew that one could create safeguards to stop others from accessing Storage Rings, but he didn¡¯t know how to crack them. He would have to take this back to Hunter¡¯s Home and see if anyone there knew what to do. And if that didn¡¯t work, he could always take it back to the tower. He stood back up and sighed. He¡¯d been looking forward to seeing what kind of loot he would have gained from opening that, but at least he had something to look forward to after his advancement. Other than the new class, and possibly the new race¡­ He still had to choose one of those boons. He¡¯d been thinking about seeking advice from others back at Hunter¡¯s Home, after some reflection he decided it was best to make the decision without their help. He didn¡¯t want to reveal even more about himself to Felicia or Gimble. Otherworldly Communion would have to be enough to help him make the decision. Xavier tilted his head to one side as he considered that option again. The choice he was to make¡­ it was an incredibly personal one. Could someone else really help him make this decision? Or was he still being a little indecisive after what had happened to the different versions of himself? He thought of the three different boons he could choose from. First, he wondered why the System was even giving him a choice. He would have thought the System would have known which would be the best thing for him to do, and wouldn¡¯t the System want him to go with the most powerful path? Xavier considered that for a moment. Maybe the System hadn¡¯t chosen his path because all three choices had an equal potential to make him more powerful, and the most important thing for him was simply choosing his own path to power¡­ He withdrew a seat from his Storage Ring and sat down in the middle of the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s former bedchamber. He tapped his foot on the stone ground. Higher Value Race Upgrade, Higher Value Class Upgrade, or Permanent Attribute Boost. The third of the three choices attracted his attention. It was the most benign of them. More attributes were never a bad thing. Strong attributes were part of the reason he was so powerful in the first place. He considered that as an option, but it felt too¡­ well, boring. He¡¯d just gained a massive number of attributes from the three titles that he¡¯d gotten defeating the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. Yeah, he could always use more, but he would surely gain more other ways. He couldn¡¯t let the chance of the other two rewards slip from his fingers, so Xavier crossed the Permanent Attribute Boost option from the list. Higher Value Class Upgrade was clearly a good choice. If he wasn¡¯t an Otherworldly Reaper, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to summon the Spirit of Time, meaning he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do what he¡¯d just done. If he were able to get an even stronger class than whatever it was he was about to get, that would help him immensely in the years to come. He almost decided to go with that option when he stopped himself. The race upgrade seemed like the wild card. He didn¡¯t even really understand what that would entail. Right now, his race was considered that of a human, even if he was an altered human, on his status screen that¡¯s still what it said. He brought up the notification that he¡¯d gotten about the Racial Shift. You have activated a Racial Shift. You have embraced properties of other races into that of your own as a human. There are shifts happening under the surface of your being. If you continue walking down this path, there will be permanent consequences. One cannot walk backward on the path. So far, nothing had changed about this. It still that ¡°Human(?)¡± in his status window. He wondered if the change would initiate on its own after a while, or if it would happen when he advanced to D Grade. Something told him it would be the latter. Did he really want to become something else? The way he¡¯d been assimilating properties into himself like mad, not to mention embracing the bestial part of him that had emerged as a consequence, it certainly did seem as though he wished to become something other than human. A class upgrade wasn¡¯t permanent¡ªnot really. Each time he advanced to a new grade, he would be given the choice of a new class. But a race upgrade, that would change him on a fundamental level, in ways that he couldn¡¯t even currently imagine. Xavier let out a long sigh and stood from the chair. He was feeling restless. Part of him wished he could summon the Spirit of Time and go through what would happen if he chose the two different options and went through with his advancement. He paused, tilting his head to one side. Technically, he could do that. He would have to spend another six months waiting for the cooldown on summoning her to be up, but it was possible. Xavier drummed his fingers on the troll¡¯s table as he considered this option. Six months was a long time for him to wait to advance in rank¡ªand he thought he¡¯d waited long enough already¡ªeven if he was on a tower floor where time moved differently to that of his own universe. He shook his head. No. He didn¡¯t think it would be worth the wait. Yes, it would be amazing to see what the options would be ahead of time¡ªamazing to see where his choices brought him. But he couldn¡¯t do that for everything.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The longer he spent away from Earth, the more likely the people there would be in danger. Eventually, he would need to keep moving through the Tower of Champion¡¯s floors so that he could return home and make his people stronger. Not to mention show the others in his sector that he could live up to the threats he¡¯d made. He smiled at that thought. By the time he made it back to Earth, if things continued to go as they were¡ªif he was truly able to defeat the C Grade dragon and claim that egg before he left this floor¡­ Well, something told him his power would be even closer to that of Empress Larona. The empress herself needed him. She¡¯d sent Sam to him for that very reason. There wasn¡¯t any way that she would be a threat to him because of that¡ªat least, none that he could see. He might very well return as the second most powerful Denizen in the entire sector, with no one there able to pose a threat to him at all, even if his planet was no longer restricted. Xavier leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands. The race upgrade was the one that was calling to him the most, because he didn¡¯t know what it would entail. It felt like the biggest risk, but also the risk with the largest potential reward. And Xavier had always been a risk taker¡ªhe wasn¡¯t about to stop taking risks now. Xavier chose his boon. You have chosen Higher Value Race Upgrade. When you advance to the next grade, your race will change to something more suited toward your abilities, creating a stronger vessel in which to house your power. You are not able to choose your race. Once a Racial Shift has been activated, the decision cannot be unmade. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier frowned. He was right. The Racial Shift that he¡¯d activated wouldn¡¯t happen until he advanced to the next grade. He supposed that made sense considering the question mark in his status hadn¡¯t appeared until he¡¯d made it to E Grade in the first place. I suppose it¡¯s time I finally activate this advancement. Xavier glanced around the cave. He strained his hearing, but it didn¡¯t sound as though any of the beasts that were moving back into the area of the forest that had once been claimed by the Fetid Forest Troll had returned. He was alone. Safe. But that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to take some precautions. He waited a little while longer. The cooldown on his Time Alteration spell had ended a little while ago, so he was able to cast the spell instantly. He made the time dilation field cover the entire cave. Inside, there would be no way that anyone could reach him, no matter how long the change took. The last time he¡¯d advanced through grades, it had been back when he¡¯d been facing the Lord of the Endless Horde. That Denizen, though cruel in the way that he had taken over much of his sector, had some honour in him. He¡¯d waited until Xavier had finished advancing to the next grade before commencing the fight. Ultimately, the lord¡¯s honour¡ªnot to mention his arrogance¡ªhad been the reason why Xavier had been able to defeat him. That wasn¡¯t a luxury Xavier imagined he would ever gain again in the future. With the time dilation field up, Xavier breathed a little easier. He always felt safest within his time dilation field. Even safer than he felt when being at Hunter¡¯s Home, even thought that was a Safe Zone. Xavier took a breath and willed the advancement to begin. Are you sure you wish to activate your advancement from F Grade to D Grade? If you have not prepared your body, mind, and cores appropriately, your attributes, spells, and skills might be damaged, or the transformation may cause your death. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the notification that appeared before him. It was more than a little absurd to think that he hadn¡¯t properly prepared his body, mind, and cores for this transformation. He was likely the most prepared any Denizen could ever be. Yes, Xavier willed, I¡¯m sure. Just as the last time he had activated an advancement, a bright light enveloped him, and Xavier lost all awareness of everything around where he sat. ~ Empress Larona floated in the blackness of space, where she could See everything. The future she¡¯d envisioned so long ago, the one she had been constantly working toward¡­ the threads of fate were becoming more solid, intertwining, forming into thick ropes, ones she hoped would never be cut. Something tugged at her consciousness. She was constantly keeping an eye on the one who had the potential to change everything for the Silver River sector¡ªthe one who had the potential to save it. The boy had advanced faster than she had thought possible. The threads of fate seemed to shift with every move that he made. The future she wished to come to pass she was almost certain of now, but there were other futures that she was becoming aware of. Other things to do with Xavier Collins. Things she never would have dreamed of, for she had never looked past the death of her own sector. How could she? That had been her obsession for so many years. But this¡­ Empress Larona was the most powerful Denizen in the entirety of her sector, but she knew that in the Greater Universe her powers didn¡¯t amount to much. She might be a True Progenitor, but she wasn¡¯t one of the Old Ones¡ªnot by a long shot. She hadn¡¯t been around long enough to accrue true power. Which was why she was so confounded by how powerful this child was becoming. She knew he would become strong enough to save them¡ªor, at least, that had always been her hope. He had always had the potential, before he¡¯d even been a twinkle in his father¡¯s eye. But something had shifted, a few floors ago, within the young Denizen. More threads had appeared, giving the boy millions of possible futures that she hadn¡¯t seen before. And in those futures, she saw much¡­ In some she saw heroism, in others she saw tyranny. Depending upon which path the man walked, he could become the saviour of their universe, or he could become something far, far worse¡­ Some of those futures filled her heart with more hope than it had ever held, while others¡­ they filled her with a dread that was beyond the dread she had felt for her own sector¡¯s future for so many years. And now, the futures had shifted once more. The young Denizen was already advancing to D Grade. ~ The man stood in the vast divide between sectors, upon a great ship that moved through the void of space. He was the most powerful man in his universe, the first True Progenitor to ever live. The oldest of the Old Ones. Travelling by ship was a slow way in which to move through the Greater Universe, but there was something nostalgic about it. Back in his day, before much of what was now commonplace had been established, this was one of the first ways in which Denizens had discovered to breach the divides. Though he was standing, he was deep in meditation. It had been a long while since he had left his tower. A long while since he¡¯d stepped back out into the universe. When there are no new things to experience, one loses the will to adventure. But that little anomaly he had observed defeat the Lord of the Endless Horde not long ago had changed. The Oldest One had sent his favourite descendant to the boy, to guide him and befriend him, and she had reported that he was no longer taking her advice. Now, he had observed that the boy was on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, and was activating his advancement to D Grade. The System had intervened, had pushed¡ªno, shoved¡ªthe boy forward through the tower of Champions in a way that he had never observed before. His hunch about this Xavier Collins¡ªthat he might one day become the Weapon of the System¡ªlooked as though it would pay off. And that was worthy of a meeting. But the Old One was in no rush. It would take a while for his ship to arrive in a sector on the far side of the universe. Leaving his own sector was a risk. There was a delicate balance in the universe, one where he was the ruler at the centre. If people discovered that he had left, even for a short period of a few hundred years, it had the potential of creating a power vacuum the likes of which had never been seen before. He opened his eyes and stepped over to the transparent force shield on the observation deck and looked out into the vast blackness, staring at a universe that for a long time he had known would one day come to an end¡ªan end he would do anything in his power to stop, for life was too important to ever give up, and immortality had been a right he¡¯d claimed early. By the time I reach him, how powerful will this child be? ~ Xavier found himself, not for the first time, floating in darkness. His surroundings were filled with¡­ nothing. And before him, a notification. Initiating advancement of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from E Grade to D Grade. Book 4: Chapter 77 - Error Initiating advancement of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from E Grade to D Grade. Denizen¡¯s attributes deemed as: ¡­ ¡­ Error. Attribute values higher than anticipated. Recalibrating advancement¡­ ¡­ Attribute values higher than limit. Xavier blinked, staring at the notification. What did it mean, that his attributes were higher than the limit? He hadn¡¯t even known there was a limit. Nothing had ever stopped him from gaining more attributes in the past. He shook his head in confusion, but mostly he was just feeling in awe. It made him wonder if anything like this had ever happened before. Advancement Interrupted. Title Unlocked! Strongest E Grade (Unmatched): You are the strongest E Grade who has ever lived in the entirety of the Greater Universe. The System has never encountered an advancement such as yours before. This is an unmatched title. You have received +500 attributes. What the hell? Xavier thought. Since when could someone attain a title while they were advancing? He stared at the title, still in awe. He supposed it made sense that he was the strongest E Grade, considering the other notification that he¡¯d just received. But actually getting a title for it? One that made him even stronger? Xavier couldn¡¯t help but smile. His anticipation for what would come next was through the roof. Reinitiating advancement to D Grade. ¡­ ¡­ Checking spells¡­ Denizen¡¯s spells deemed as: Highly Exceptional Checking skills¡­ Denizen¡¯s skills deemed as: Highly Exceptional Xavier smiled again. While he hadn¡¯t obtained the same result as when his attributes had been judged, he¡¯d known something like that wouldn¡¯t be possible when it came to his spells and skills. Unlike his attributes, there had been a hard limit on how strong he could make those spells and skills while still E Grade. He couldn¡¯t wait to push them further. If he was this powerful right now, with the ability to defeat a C Grade¡ªeven if he¡¯d had to observe alternate realities to do it¡ªthan how strong would he soon be? Soon, I¡¯ll be the most powerful Denizen to have ever set foot on this floor. Defeating that C Grade dragon to steal its egg and acquire a vessel of the spirit of the dragon Volkarin was looking more and more likely to become a reality in the near future. The last time he had advanced, his attributes had been deemed as ¡°Exceptional,¡± while his spells and skills had only been deemed as ¡°High.¡± He hadn¡¯t even known there was a ¡°Highly Exceptional¡± option. It was strange to think he hadn¡¯t met that for his attributes last time, but he was glad to see he¡¯d reached it for spells and skills this time around. Checking Spirit Core¡­ Denizen¡¯s Spirit Core deemed as: Highly Exceptional Checking Willpower Core¡­ Denizen¡¯s Willpower Core deemed as: Highly Exceptional Checking Speed Core Denizen¡¯s Speed Core deemed as: Highly Exceptional Xavier wondered if there was a way he could make his cores even more powerful than they already were. Highly Exceptional was an amazing outcome¡ªand a better one than he¡¯d gotten the last time he¡¯d advanced¡ªbut now that he knew there was something beyond that which could be achieved¡­ The standard he¡¯d set for himself had just been raised even higher. Advancement to D Grade initiated. Advancement cannot be interrupted. Prepare yourself. Xavier thought he was prepared for what came next. He¡¯d felt the pain of advancement. He¡¯d felt his body split apart at a molecular level. This was something he hadn¡¯t been looking forward to experiencing again, but something he would gladly put himself through considering what it meant. But the pain was even worse than it had been the last time he¡¯d done this. It hurt too much to scream. To even think. But he had been through this before, and even though the experience tore through his very being just as it had the last time¡ªand tore through his very consciousness¡ªhe felt parts of his mind coming to life even as it was being torn asunder.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. As his mind worked to grasp itself, to become whole, it was split apart again and again, a seemingly infinite number of times. But whenever his mind did become whole, it could sense¡­ something. A presence. He was being watched. But it wasn¡¯t one of those presences that he had felt in the past. It wasn¡¯t the Empress Larona watching over him, nor was it Adranial¡¯s ancestor¡ªno, this was¡­ Something more. If Xavier could feel fear in that moment, he would. But feelings weren¡¯t something he was conscious of. His mind was obliterated once more. And then slowly, it was stitched back together. His very being was being rebuilt, atom by atom, and an energy was surrounding him. If he could frown, he would, for his consciousness was quickly coming to terms with something¡ªthe presence that he had felt around him as he had put his mind back together himself¡­ it hadn¡¯t been the System. For he was feeling the presence of the System right now. He was feeling the energy¡ªthe System Energy¡ªenvelop and recreate him. But there was something else. Something he could no longer feel but knew was still there. Something behind the very System itself. And it reminded him of what he had learnt from the older version of himself¡ªthat the System had been created, and before it had existed, Spirit Energy, magic, all of it, had already been there. The System had just learnt how to harness and describe it. So what was this he had felt behind the System? What power had he sensed? All these thoughts swirled through his fractured mind as it was once more stitched back together, and Xavier felt a pain even more intense than what he had just been in takeover. A Racial Shift has been detected in XAVIER COLLINS. A boon identified as Higher Value Race Upgrade has been detected and utilised. This Racial Shift will affect your advancement. Advancement completion imminent. Xavier opened his eyes. He was lying on the cold ground of the cave chamber he¡¯d initiated the advancement within. His time dilation field was still active, something he was grateful for. He¡¯d known there would be a small risk of the spell deactivating while he was advancing to the next grade, but it had been a risk he¡¯d been willing to take. Xavier¡¯s mind, body, and soul were once more whole. He was no longer in even the smallest amount of pain. He stood up, and already he could feel the differences. The Racial Shift. He looked down and saw small changes in himself, ones that hadn¡¯t been there before. But he hadn¡¯t been changed as significantly as he¡¯d first expected. At least, if he had been, it wasn¡¯t yet clear. His skin was still tinged a slight silvery grey, but there was something else mixed in there as well, something he couldn¡¯t quite identify. His body moved more smoothly than it ever had, and he felt something in his back, around his shoulder blades¡ªtwo somethings, actually. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened in a flash. Whatever it was that he was feeling, it was much like the claws he was able to grow and retract. He could feel that there was a mechanism there. Activating that mechanism was the very first thing that he did. Something miraculous happened¡ªsomething that he had only dreamed might happen. Wings shot out on either side of him. They were as black as night, and looked like that of a bat, or a dragon. They were far larger than the wings Justin had gotten the first time he¡¯d used his Winged Flight spell. These looked to be fully formed, strong enough to carry him into the sky with ease, making his Aerial Combat skill and his Hover Dodge spell even more valuable assets than they already had been. ¡°I can fly!¡± he shouted aloud to the empty cave, inside his time dilation field, where not a soul would be able to hear him. He couldn¡¯t help but laugh aloud in pure delight at this development. And it wasn¡¯t a spell that gave him the ability to fly, either. Nor even a skill. This was something far more natural than that. This was a part of whatever he had now become. When he had briefly returned to the Staging Room in order to acquire beast parts he could use with his Assimilate Properties skill so he could bring it up to Rank 100, he¡¯d had this very thing in mind. He had assimilated the wings of several different beasts into him. One of those beasts had been a dragon, though dragon wings had been incredibly expensive, and the only reason he¡¯d been able to afford them at all was because he¡¯d cashed in some of the winnings of all those bets on himself that Felicia had made on his behalf. At the time, assimilating those beast parts into his body hadn¡¯t given him the desired effect. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d wasted his time and money doing it, wondering if he had been foolish to think it might be possible. He was very glad to find out that he had been wrong. As much as he wanted to exit the cave and experiment with the new body that he had acquired, he also wanted to go through the notifications before him¡ªa stream of them had appeared across his vision from the moment his advancement to D Grade had ended. And one of the things on his list of top priorities was to discover just what had changed about his race. Congratulations, XAVIER COLLINS. By advancing to D Grade, you have taken the next step of your journey on the path. You have received +500 to all stats! Your body, mind, and soul have been transformed and will now work more efficiently. Your skin has been hardened, your strength improved. Your mind has been enhanced, your thoughts cleared. Your soul has been tempered, your spirit emboldened. Your cores have become more robust. Your awareness of them increased. The transformation to D Grade has changed you at the very foundation of your being. Each step forward on the path of advancement not only increases your power and lifespan, but increases your potential within the Greater Universe. One cannot walk backward on the path. Title Unlocked! D Grade: This is a common title that everyone receives when they advance to E Grade. You have received +250 to all stats! Title unlocked! D Grade Progenitor: You are the first person from your world to advance to E Grade. You have received +500 to all stats! Title unlocked! D Grade Speedrun (Unmatched): You have reached D Grade faster than anyone in the Greater Universe, displaying a potential that has never been seen before. This is an unmatched title. The System is watching. You have received +35% to all stats. Congratulations, XAVIER COLLINS, a class upgrade is now available to you. You have 24 hours to make your choice. You will not gain any Mastery Points until you have upgraded your class. Would you like to see your options? Xavier paused before looking at his options. There was another notification, one about his Racial Shift, at the end of the list. He took a breath, then he read through it. You have activated a Racial Shift. Now that your advancement to a new grade has been completed, your race has been upgraded. During the transformation of your race, the System Boon ¡°Higher Value Race Upgrade¡± was applied, making the transformation even more powerful. The Racial Shift is based on many aspects of your power, as well as what you have assimilated into yourself. Assimilation alone, however, does not decide what your race will shift into. Your class has no bearing on your race. You have upgraded from the race of Altered Human to the race of Dragonkin. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be a little taken aback. He didn¡¯t know what types of races there were out there, or how this transformation would work. If he were honest with himself, he had been worried that he would turn into some sort of monkey-rhinoceros hybrid, considering how many of their parts he had assimilated into himself. But, according to the notification, assimilated properties weren¡¯t the only things taken into account. He supposed there must be other ways in which Denizens changed their race. Dragonkin. That was curious. He wondered what it was about himself that had deemed such a transformation relevant to him. He couldn¡¯t think of what it might be. He had summoned a dragon, many times, into this world¡ªat least, the spirit of one, anyway. Could being in the presence of Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance, have had that strong of an effect on him? He didn¡¯t know, but he wasn¡¯t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He of course had no idea what being a Dragonkin amounted to, but considering it meant he was able to grow wings from his back¡­ he couldn¡¯t say that he was disappointed. Besides, his appearance had barely changed, so he didn¡¯t feel as though he was losing out on anything. Dragonkin¡­ Xavier looked forward to exploring what being this different race would mean to him. Before he chose his class, he figured it was about time he looked at his status sheet, to see just how much the titles he¡¯d gained, and the advancement he¡¯d just underwent, had changed him. Book 4: Chapter 78 - Soul of the Dragon Xavier opened his status sheet. XAVIER COLLINS Age: 24 Race: Dragonkin Grade: D Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Class: Otherworldly Reaper (Legendary) Level 200 Strength: 10,637 (41,484) [Attunement: 21%] Speed: 9,577 (43,097) [Attunement: 21%] Toughness: 10,279 (40,088) [Attunement: 21%] Intelligence: 11,391 (44,425) [Attunement: 21%] Willpower: 11,831 (57,972) [Attunement: 21%] Spirit: 12,670 (62,083) [Attunement: 21%] Mastery Points (D Grade) until next level: 0/1,000 Available Spirit Energy (D Grade): 62,573/62,573 Available Willpower Energy (D Grade): 50,070/50,070 Available Speed Energy (D Grade): 42,100/42,100 Available Skill Points: 0 Free stat points remaining: 0 Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, All 100, First All 100, 1,000 Stats, First to 1,000 Stats, Greater Butcher, All 1,000, First All 1,000, Level 100, First to level 100, E Grade, E Grade Progenitor, E Grade Speedrun (Unmatched), Destroyer of Hordes (Unmatched), Ahead of the Pack 2, Goliath Killer 2, Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone), Homeward Bound, First Dungeon of Earth, Dungeon Diver 110, Dungeon ¨C First Clears, Dungeon ¨C Solo Clears, Dungeon ¨C Record Clears, 10,000 Stats, First 10,000 Stats, All 10,000 Stats, First All 10,000, Nineteenth Floor Climber, Nineteenth Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER, Solo Tower Climber 19, 1st Nineteenth Floor Climber, One Grade Up ¨C Support, Two Grades Up ¨C Support, C Grade Killer, C Grade Demolisher, C Grade Destroyer, Strongest E Grade (Unmatched), D Grade, D Grade Progenitor, D Grade Speedrun (Unmatched) Spells List: Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Rank 100 Heavy Telekinesis ¨C Rank 100 Spirit Break (All) ¨C Rank 100 Spirit Infusion ¨C Rank 100 Soul Harvest ¨C Rank 100 Soul Strike (Ranged) ¨C Rank 100 Soul Block ¨C Rank 100 Soul Harden ¨C Rank 100 Willpower Infusion ¨C Rank 100 Core Burn ¨C Rank 100 Summon Otherworldly Spirit ¨C Rank 100 Otherworldly Communion ¨C Rank 100 Soul Shatter ¨C Rank 100 Soul Puppet ¨C Rank 100 Hover Dodge ¨C Rank 100 Enhanced Telekinetic Strike ¨C Rank 100 Time Alteration ¨C Rank 100 Time Prison ¨C Rank 100 Soul Sacrifice ¨C Rank 100 Skills List: Physical Resistance ¨C Rank 100 Magical Potency ¨C Rank 100 Magical Resistance ¨C Rank 100 Physical Damage ¨C Rank 100 Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 100 Scythe-Staff Mastery ¨C Rank 100 Meditation ¨C Rank 100 Aura-Control ¨C Rank 100 Core Strength ¨C Rank 100 Cultivate Energy ¨C Rank 100 Identify ¨C Rank 100 Split Mind ¨C Rank 100 Evasion ¨C Rank 100 Aerial Combat ¨C Rank 100 Dismantle ¨C Rank 100 Red In Tooth And Claw ¨C Rank 100 Iron Grip ¨C Rank 100 Close Combat Fighting ¨C Rank 100This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ritual ¨C Rank 100 Minor Spirit Coins: 500,542 Lesser Spirit Coins: 7,812 His mind was blown by the sheer number of attributes he possessed. Though he had just joined the rank of D Grade, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was already more powerful than the likes of Gimble, or at least Gimble¡¯s other party members. There were certainly things that he was capable of doing that none other in the raid group could. But he didn¡¯t know that he could take a hit like Gimble had been able to¡ªnot without spending a great deal of his resources, anyway. At least, he certainly hadn¡¯t been able to do that before he¡¯d advanced. But now¡­ he¡¯d come so far. All the skills he¡¯d ranked up to 100 had a significant effect on boosting his attributes. A ton of them were percentage based, which meant when he received titles like the ones he¡¯d just gotten¡ªfor being the first E Grade Denizen to defeat a C Grade Denizen solo and all the titles he¡¯d gained as he¡¯d advanced to D Grade¡­ looking at his attributes, somehow he had become roughly twice as strong in the past five levels. That¡¯s insane¡­ that¡¯s absolutely insane! He knew D Grades were significantly stronger than E Grades, but he hadn¡¯t ever imagined the extent of it¡­ Xavier tapped his foot on the hard ground as he stared at his race. Dragonkin. That was still coming as a shock to him. He looked to his left, then to his right, at the wings that had sprouted from his back. God, it might be vain, but he wished he had a mirror right now. A massive, full-length mirror, so he could gaze at the glory that was his new wings. He wondered what his wingspan was¡­ Things had changed drastically for him today. He felt so giddy and excited to see what classes would be available to him. Xavier released a breath. He only had twenty-four hours to make his decision. But, as he looked at the timer, not even a second had yet passed, despite the fact that minutes had gone by for him. My Time Alteration spell. The timer for this must be connected to the universe I¡¯m residing within, just like cooldowns are. That meant he had far more time to make this decision, though he doubted he would need very long. Whenever class choices had been put before him, he¡¯d never had much trouble deciding which he needed to choose. He doubted this would be any different. Xavier willed the notification with the different class choices to show up. In an instant, the selection list appeared in his vision. Otherworldly Reaper ¨C Legendary Class Master of Time ¨C Legendary Class Soul of the Dragon ¨C Legendary Class Temporal Soulweaver ¨C Mythic Class Wayfarer of the Infinite Path ¨C Mythic Class Xavier tilted his head to the side as he looked at the different class options. Like the last time he¡¯d done this, he had been given five classes to choose from. Unlike the last time, none of those classes were below Legendary. He supposed the System knew he wasn¡¯t about to downgrade. The names of the classes intrigued him. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see Otherworldly Reaper on there again. He might not be able to walk backward on the path, but he could keep walking the same path if he wished. His gaze couldn¡¯t help but fall to the bottom of the list, onto the two Mythic classes. He hadn¡¯t even known what the classes above Legendary were. It instantly made him wonder if there were any classes beyond even Mythic. He wanted to skip ahead and look at them, but he couldn¡¯t discard the possibility that one of the Legendary classes might have a path he was looking for. He looked at Otherworldly Reaper, to see if the class had changed. Otherworldly Reaper Class (Legendary): An Otherworldly Reaper is an ultra-rare class of versatile mage that focuses on magic of the spirit, mind, and will. They can be a long-range fighter, a close-range fighter, or a mix of both, and they wield a scythe-staff in battle¡ªa hybrid, melee/magical weapon. They can wear any armour they wish and have the ability to imbue Spirit Energy into their equipment to strengthen its qualities¡ªthough this lasts for a limited time. Otherworldly Reapers have the ability to harvest the souls of those they slay and can call upon those souls in moments of need. They also have the ability to call upon spirits from the Otherworld. The Otherworld is a land between universes. A land where the impossible dies. Little is known about this place by most Denizens of the Greater Universe. Attributes per level: +50 Strength, +50 Toughness, +50 speed, +75 Intelligence, +75 Willpower, +100 Spirit, +200 free stat points. Xavier frowned. It was the exact same class as he had right now, with the exact same description¡­ No, not the exact same description. This description had the attributes he would gain per level now that he was D Grade. And they were five times as many as he gained when he was E Grade! That was insane. He racked his brain, trying to think about how strong the D Grade enemies he¡¯d been facing had been and¡­ it didn¡¯t add up. Could they have truly been gaining this many attribute points per level? No. Of course they weren¡¯t gaining this many attributes per level. This is a legendary class, not a common, uncommon, rare, or even an epic class. It¡¯s stronger than all of those. Xavier gazed at the description, his attention mostly sitting down at the attributes he would gain. He could see why some people would want to remain with the same class¡ªto keep it static¡ªand he knew that this was already a powerful class. But he was hoping for something a little¡­ more. His spellset was unique. He¡¯d gained a lot of different abilities since the last time he¡¯d made this decision. Altering time, and his melee abilities¡­ they should be taken into account when it came to choosing his next class. He just hoped he would have a few good things to decide from. While Xavier didn¡¯t completely disregard the Otherworldly Reaper class¡ªit had served him pretty damned well so far, after all¡ªhe would feel disappointed if that was the one he ended up choosing. Xavier looked at the next class available. Master of Time Class (Legendary) This class it not simply for those who wish to alter time, but for those who wish to master time itself. They have the ability to manipulate time in powerful and unique ways. They can freeze a moment in time almost forever. This path is for those who are patient, for a Master of Time can spend eternity within a single moment. The strongest Masters of Time are able to alter the flow of history. This is primarily a support class with limited offensive capabilities. Attributes per level: +20 Toughness, +210 speed, +100 Intelligence, +50 Willpower, +20 Spirit, +200 free stat points. Xavier tilted his head to the side and sighed. While he loved his Time Alteration and Time Prison spells, he didn¡¯t want to put himself into a box and specialise. He was actually worried that choosing one of these classes¡ªeven the very class he still possessed¡ªmight make him lose some of the spells he had. That would cripple his effectiveness in battle. Xavier wasn¡¯t built for specialisation. That much was clear. He needed a class that would be more versatile¡ªone that would allow him to show off every aspect of what he had become. His long-raged mage spells, his close-range bestial attacks, his ability to alter time and to control the minds of others, not to mention his reaping of souls and summoning of spirits from the Otherworld. He wanted to hold onto everything. He just wasn¡¯t sure what would give him that option, and he didn¡¯t want to read too deep into the class names further down the list. Xavier pushed forward to the next class, scratching off Master of Time from his options. He would never choose a class with limited offensive capabilities, and he was hardly someone who would thrive as support. Soul of the Dragon Class (Legendary) Soul of the Dragons can be both long-range and close-range fighters, or a mixture of both. Soul of the Dragon is a Legendary class that allows a Dragonkin to summon different departed dragons to their cause. The souls of the dragons can manifest physically, outside of the Dragonkin, or they can inhabit the Dragonkin¡¯s body and enhance their physical and magical attributes while guiding their fighting styles and tactics. Dragonkin are innately connected to the dragons of old. Their blood is as one. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier tilted his head to the side, his eyes glazed over, eyebrows raised, as he read through the description for the Legendary Soul of the Dragon class. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever received a race-specific class before. Which he supposed made sense. Humans seemed to be pretty boring in that department. Dragonkin¡­ Ever since he¡¯d decided he needed instructors, he¡¯d been looking for them for everything. Liana had helped a great deal with his time magic, to the point where he¡¯d mastered the two spells of those he had. Rhaalir had helped him master¡ªas much as anyone could¡ªthe Otherworldly spells that he had access to, and had even helped him get another one of them, Soul Sacrifice, which was a hybrid Otherworldly/Reaper spell. Though Xavier wasn¡¯t about to choose the Soul of the Dragon class¡ªit really didn¡¯t sound like it would suit him at all, as it was highly specialised¡ªit did make him wonder if he would need to find someone of the dragonkin race to help him understand his new self better. There must be things about this class I don¡¯t know, and if all dragonkin have wings¡ªsomething I¡¯m not even sure about¡ªthey might be able to help me be better at aerial combat. Xavier ruminated on that for a little while before he brought up what the next available class was. The Temporal Soulweaver¡ªthe first of the two Mythic classes that were offered to him. Book 4: Chapter 79 - Wayfarer of the Infinite Path Temporal Soulweaver Class (Mythic): A Temporal Soulweaver is an incredibly rare Mythic class of versatile mage that focuses on soul, time, and summoning magic. They can be a long-range fighter, a close-range fighter, or a mix of both, and they wield a scythe-staff in battle¡ªa hybrid, melee/magical weapon. They can wear any armour they wish and have the ability to imbue Spirit Energy into their equipment to strengthen its qualities¡ªthough this lasts for a limited time. Temporal Soulweavers have the ability to harvest the souls of those they slay and can call upon those souls in moments of need. They also have the ability to call upon spirits from the Otherworld. Temporal Soulweavers also have the ability to manipulate time in powerful and unique ways. They can freeze a moment in time almost forever. The strongest Temporal Soulweavers are able to alter the flow of history. Attributes per level: +75 Strength, +75 Toughness, +100 speed, +100 Intelligence, +100 Willpower, +100 Spirit, +250 free stat points. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he read through the description. Temporal Soulweaver¡­ it combined three of the powerful paths that Xavier walked¡ªthat of soul/reaping magic, summoning from the spirits from the Otherworld, and even time magic, and the number of attributes it offered was absolutely incredible. It was hard to believe he would be able to gain that many attributes every time he levelled up. This was the most versatile class choice that he¡¯d ever had. Though, he had to keep in mind that there were some things it didn¡¯t strictly mention. Xavier had changed drastically recently. The bestial part of him that made him into an effective, unarmed melee fighter wasn¡¯t something he wished to leave behind. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be where he was right now if he didn¡¯t have that aspect of him. And now that he had activated his Racial Shift when advancing from E Grade to D Grade, changing his race from that of an Altered Human to that of a Dragonkin¡­ he felt as though he might need a class that could speak to that. At least my soul bound weapon will be versatile enough to be used as a scythe-staff, and imbued directly into my bones when fighting unarmed¡­ That was something he couldn¡¯t wait to get the hang of using. The moment he chose his class, he wished to get out there and train with both the new class, and the Lost Bone of a Dead God. I feel like I should come up with a better name for that weapon¡ªsomething I can nickname it¡­ Xavier tilted his head from one side to the other, still staring at the class description for Temporal Soulweaver. This class was amazing. Mythic. It was¡­ almost perfect. Almost. It made him even more excited to look at the final class he had to choose from. The class name was the most unique one he¡¯d ever encountered, and it had instantly piqued his interest when he¡¯d seen it. Xavier rubbed his hands together and selected the class to gain more information. Wayfarer of the Infinite Path Class (Mythic): The Wayfarer line of classes is one that opens possibilities. It is often a class that allows the user to walk multiple paths of power, meaning the Denizen is less restricted in what they are able to choose to do. The Wayfarer of the Infinite Path is one of the most sought-after class choices for the Wayfarer line, as it gives the user infinite choice. The Denizen who chooses this class can walk any path to power they wish. They will not be restricted in any way¡ªthey can wear whatever armour they wish, they can wield whatever weapon they wish. They will not lose spells or skills when choosing this path. However, the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path is not a class for the faint of heart. It requires someone willing to take risks. There are no guides to mastering this class, and as no skills or spells are restricted from being learnt, it can often create a mismatch of skillsets and spellsets that do not meld well together. Choose this class if you wish to make your own way in the Greater Universe. Attributes per level: +800 free stat points. Xavier blinked. He read over the description several times in quick succession. He felt as though he was missing something. Nowhere did the class even hint at what skills and spells he might be able to gain should he choose it. It mentioned no specialties whatsoever. What it did offer, however, was freedom. A freedom that felt daunting. No spells will be restricted, no weapons, nothing¡­ He could walk down any path of power he wished. While that sounded fantastic, it also sounded rather daunting. How was he supposed to know which path would be the best one for him? It wouldn¡¯t be accurate to say that Xavier had chosen his current path. Yes, he had picked the Soul Reaper class. And yes, he had chosen Otherworldly Reaper, too. And back at the start, he had chosen to be a Mage. But there were things that had happened to him without him ever realising they would. He had stumbled upon Assimilate Properties when he¡¯d reached an attribute threshold after being pin-cushioned with a bunch of arrows. Gaining that skill had been pure chance. He also hadn¡¯t known he would gain the Willpower Infusion spell. That had come out of nowhere for him when he¡¯d gained a new core¡ªthe same was true of his Time Alteration spell. He hadn¡¯t sought that out, it had simply been presented to him.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. This class would mean he would have to take a more active role in shaping his class. He had so many different specialities, he wasn¡¯t even sure where he could take it next. Maybe I don¡¯t need to know that. Maybe I just need to hone the arsenal that I already have. I¡¯m powerful enough as it is¡ªall I need to do is master the paths I¡¯m already on. It sounded simple enough. Looking at the class description, it did make him wonder how he was supposed to learn new skills and spells, especially if his class wasn¡¯t going to offer them to him. But despite all that, Xavier found himself grinning. This was the class that had the most possibilities. It was the one that would take him on the greatest adventure. And that was something he wanted. This class offers eight hundred attributes per level! That felt kind of insane, but looking at the other Mythic class, Temporal Soulweaver, he realised it offered the exact same number of points. It just felt like a lot more because they were all free stats. He would have to choose where to allocate each and every one of those attribute points. Something that felt at once daunting and liberating. If he were honest with himself, he¡¯d known from the moment he¡¯d first read the description that this would be the class for him. He didn¡¯t want to choose a narrow path. He didn¡¯t want to master one thing. He wanted to master several. Xavier selected the class. Are you sure you wish to choose WAYFARER OF THE INTINITE PATH (MYTHIC) as your class? One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier smiled once more. Usually, when he made a class choice such as this one, it would come up with a notification warning him that he might lose some spells or skills that weren¡¯t compatible with the new class. So far, that hadn¡¯t turned out to be a huge issue, but he knew that this time it would have. If he¡¯d chosen Temporal Soulweaver, he likely would have lost his Unarmed Combat skill, along with other skills associated with his bestial fighting. There was no such warning for this class. Without hesitation, Xavier willed his answer: Yes, I¡¯m sure. Class selection complete. Evaluating Class Upgrade of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from OTHERWORLDY REAPER (LEGENDARY) to WAYFARER OF THE INTINITE PATH (MYTHIC). Checking compatibility of spells: All spells deemed as compatible. Checking compatibility of skills. All skills deemed as compatible. Class Upgrade Evaluation Complete. Commencing Class Upgrade! Xavier knew what was coming next. Pain. Immense pain. The first time he¡¯d experienced it, it had rendered him unconscious. The second time, he had taken it well, but it had still been a terrible experience. Xavier sat on a chair as the change happened. He curled his fingers into a fist and took the pain as it came. It hit him in one giant wave. His body wanted to shudder. His throat wanted to scream. His back wanted to spasm. He did not allow any of it. He didn¡¯t even close his eyes. Instead, he simply sat and waited until the pain was gone. When it was over, he released a breath. A notification appeared in his vision Congratulations, XAVIER COLLINS! You have upgraded your class from OTHERWORLDY REAPER (LEGENDARY) to WAYFARER OF THE INTINITE PATH (MYTHIC). You have 0 Spell Upgrades and 0 Skill Transfers pending. You have gained 2 Spell Credits. You have gained 5 Skill Points. Choose wisely. Xavier stood and stretched his arms up over his head. For a moment, he felt a little bit disappointed. Rhaalir, are you here? The elf-spirit appeared in an instant. In the flesh. The elf looked down at his transparent body and sighed. Well, in a manner of speaking. He stepped forward. You have chosen your class? Xavier knew the question was a formality. The spirit had access to his status screen. That was part of their deal. He was able to see everything about Xavier that Xavier could see about himself. Still, it was nicer when he asked. I did. I¡¯m curious, how many spells does one usually gain when becoming D Grade? Xavier asked. The last time he¡¯d chosen a new class he¡¯d gained four new spells. This time, he hadn¡¯t gained any, though he had been given two Spell Credits, which was something he¡¯d never encountered before. He assumed that meant that he would somehow be able to choose his own spells, which made sense for a class like Wayfarer of the Infinite Path. That depends on whether they lost any spells in the transfer. If not, perhaps two. Perhaps more. It also depends on whether it is a spell-heavy class. Some are not. Xavier frowned. Why so few? That wasn¡¯t the case for other advancements and class selections. A Denizen advancing to D Grade is already established in their class. They often already have a great manner of spells. Besides, this is not the only way one gains spells. Spell Quests often become open to people when they have chosen a new class. Perhaps that will happen to you soon. The elf tilted his head to the side. What class did you end up choosing, anyway? His eyes glazed over, then widened. Wayfarer of the Infinite Path¡­ Gods, Xavier, you chose that? Xavier supposed he could have consulted the elf before choosing his class. The man was there to guide him, after all. But he¡¯d wanted to make the decision on his own. Now, considering the elf¡¯s seemingly negative reaction, he wondered if he¡¯d indeed made the right decision¡­ But he only wondered that for fraction of a second. He knew he¡¯d made the choice that made the most sense for him. Besides, he wasn¡¯t about to start regretting his decisions. That way lay madness. Xavier frowned. Do you not approve, elf? It wouldn¡¯t be the first time the elf had shown disdain for a choice Xavier had made, though he¡¯d thought they¡¯d come a long way from that. Rhaalir blinked at him. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t approve¡­ human. It¡¯s just not what I would have expected. A Mythic class¡­ I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve ever heard of someone D Grade being able to choose a Mythic class at all, let alone the one you have. The Infinite Path¡­ it¡¯s so rare it¡¯s almost unheard of. If it¡¯s so rare, how did you hear about it? The ghost laughed. I know a great many things, Xavier Collins. I know things from multiple universes. I have lived for millions of years in the Otherworld alone, whereas you have been alive for what amounts to a blink of an eye. I have been summoned by beings so powerful they would be able to squash you like a bug, even as you are now. Right now, you are nothing compared with the most powerful beings that are out there, in this universe and others. You are a marvel, Xavier Collins, but you¡­ The elf trailed off, then narrowed his eyes at Xavier. Why do you have wings? His eyes glazed for a second time. Your race¡­ Dragonkin¡­ and your class. The elf sighed. I have no idea what to do with you. You still haven¡¯t mentioned where you learnt about the class. Rhaalir inclined his head. He looked down, then sat himself cross-legged on the cave ground. There are myths, whispered in quiet, faraway places. Places I¡¯ve only heard about in stories, of a time before the System¡­ Book 4: Chapter 80 - Humble Is a Strange Colour on You, Ray Xavier raised an eyebrow, staring at the elf-spirit as he spoke of a time before the System. The elf had caught his interest. He had heard a little bit about there being a time before the System¡ªand he¡¯d heard those very things from the older version of himself on one of the tower floors. Rhaalir did not look up at Xavier as he spoke. He¡¯d lost all his pompous, self-importance. He was hunched over where he sat on the chamber floor of the dead troll¡¯s former quarters, within the time dilation field Xavier still had raised, resting his hands on his knees. There were beings of great power before the System was born, or created¡ªthere is much debate as to how it came to pass. Those who lived before the System were powerful, but¡­ unique. They did not have classes as you and I have classes. They could walk any path they wished. I have heard of the Infinite Path, Xavier Collins, but only ever in reference to those who lived before, when the powers of the universe¡ªa universe distinct from our own¡ªwere raw and untamed by a governing System. Xavier listened intently. You¡¯re saying¡­ I am becoming more like them? Xavier frowned. That didn¡¯t sound right. The people who came before the System had created the System to bring about the one who would one day become the Weapon of the System and stop the universe from ending¡­ how could he do that if he walked the same path that they once walked? Shouldn¡¯t he do something markedly different to what they had once done? I do not know, Xavier. I am not sure if anyone truly knows what the people before the System were like. Their universe ended a long time ago, something I am sure you have come to learn. Xavier inclined his head. You have told me much about yourself. About what the System has instore for you. If this is a path that was presented to you, who am I to say anything about it? Humble is a strange colour on you, Ray. The elf glared at him. Please refrain from ever calling me Ray again. My name is Rhaalir El Vran Dan Sorensen. I have already shortened it for you, I am not going to barbarise too. Xavier held up his hands in a grin. Sorry, Rhaalir El Vran Dan Sorensen. I thought we were close. Never that close. The elf sighed. Regardless, I am not sure how I can instruct you on this path. On¡­ these paths. Wayfarer is a line of classes I¡¯m familiar with, but the class you chose¡­ it gives you a vast amount of freedom that is baffling to one such as I. To think you walk the path of Infinite Paths, just as those who came before did¡­ The elf trailed off, staring into nothingness. You don¡¯t need to help me with the class, Rhaalir, only with my Otherworld abilities. Rhaalir inclined his head. I have taught you all I can about the Otherworld abilities you currently possess. It may be that my time with you has come to an end. You have not chosen a class of the Otherworld line as I expected you to, and I am not sure what other contracts we could make that would benefit you. The elf-spirit rose from the ground. I must think on this. The elf disappeared, to wherever it went when it wasn¡¯t visible to Xavier. Xavier stood alone in the chamber once more, wondering about the consequences of what he¡¯d just learnt. The class that he¡¯d chosen had something to do with the power those who came before the System once possessed. It was a strange realisation, one he wasn¡¯t sure how to make sense of. God, he wished he could go back to the floor where he had met himself. Who else could he truly talk to about all of this? Though he knew the older version of himself had been rather tight-lipped about things. I could use Otherworldly Communion¡­ there must be some spirits from the otherworld who know about the time before the System. And even if they don¡¯t, surely they could give me some insights into the class I¡¯ve chosen. But this moment? That wasn¡¯t the time for such things. Xavier looked at his wings and grinned. He had wings! Not only that, but he was so much stronger than he had been when he had defeated the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. He had always been a force to be reckoned with, but now¡­ now he was D Grade. And with those titles¡­ He wished to know just how powerful he had become. Xavier deactivated the time dilation field where he had chosen his class. He grabbed the chest that he had gained from killing the Fetid Forest Troll, stared at if for a moment, then placed it back down where it was in the chamber. Xavier would come back for the loot box. It was frustrating that he wasn¡¯t able to put it in his Storage Ring, and he was interested in seeing what was inside. But he was more interested in seeing what he was capable of. Xavier retracted his wings as he walked through the tunnel that led out of the cave that the Fetid Forest Troll had until recently called home. The place still smelled of rotting troll, and Xavier hoped that meant no other beasts¡ªor even Champions¡ªwould come wandering in. He stepped outside. The sun was warm against his skin. The air was pleasingly fresh. He took a deep breath and noticed something strange. He could taste different things in the air. The scent of beasts. The fragrance from the trees. His sense of taste and smell had been amplified dramatically. His senses already improved as he became stronger and gained more attributes, but the change had never been as drastic as the one he was experiencing right now. He closed his eyes, focusing on the way the sun felt on his skin. Even that seemed different somehow. In fact, the more he focused on it now that he wasn¡¯t distracted by making his class choice, the more he realised how many things had changed¡­ Xavier was no longer human. He was dragonkin, and that had consequences he hadn¡¯t anticipated. His eyes widened as he thought of something. He pulled out some coffee¡ªstill fresh from when he¡¯d placed it into his Storage Ring¡ªand took a sip. If his tastebuds had changed, being no longer human, what if he didn¡¯t like coffee anymore? There was an explosion of flavour in his mouth, one more intense than he had ever experienced. ¡°God,¡± Xavier breathed. ¡°That tastes even better than it did before!¡± He stood there for a few moments, just looking out at the large, ancient trees that were no longer affected by the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s rot, and sipped his coffee.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. This made him wonder what else was different about him. He could already feel that his body moved differently, but he¡¯d assumed that was a consequence of having gained so many attribute points in such a short period of time. This was something that Xavier had long become accustomed to. When he suddenly gained a lot of points in Speed or Strength, he had to adjust the way he moved else he¡¯d run too fast¡ªpotentially into a wall or tree¡ªor break things he didn¡¯t intend to break. The mug of coffee he held in his hand, for instance, he had to hold rather gingerly lest he crush the handle. But that was unusual for Xavier. The other things¡­ He expanded his wings outward. They made a pleasing slapping sound, almost like sails being unfurled on an old-style ship. He grinned at the noise. Now this was strange. The wings were completely different limbs, ones that he had never experienced before, but they felt natural to him¡ªas though they had always been there. He moved the wings around, felt the muscles inside of them tense. He turned around in a circle. He flapped them. Then he laughed, he couldn¡¯t help himself. He probably looked rather strange, doing this, but he didn¡¯t much care about how he looked. It also reminded him of the first time Justin had used his flight skill, the one that allowed him to grow wings. These are far from the wings of a duckling¡­ That thought made him think of his party. He¡¯d been on this floor for far, far longer than he¡¯d anticipated, and he couldn¡¯t help but miss the others. Despite how much time Xavier had spent here, not much time would have passed for his party. Especially since the majority of the time he¡¯d spent here had actually been within time dilation fields, so even less time had passed back in his own universe than it felt like should have. Xavier shook away thoughts of his party, and the thoughts of Earth, and the people there, that crept into his mind. Earth was important. Protecting it would always remain a goal for him. He felt the slightest tinge of guilt¡ªhe could have protected Earth for all time if he had taken up the offer from Adranial¡¯s ancestor. His arrogance had been the thing that had made him refuse the offer. Earth would never have been in peril¡ªit would have thrived. But that guilt quickly dissipated as he looked down at himself. This was where that choice of his had taken him. He would protect Earth. When the Silver River sector and other neighbouring sectors discovered just how strong he had become¡ªand was to become before he stepped off this floor¡ªthey would never even think to set foot on his planet. Xavier looked at his large, leathery black wings once more. It was time to take them for a test flight. He raised his chin and stared up at the sky through the tall branches, looking for a gap large enough for him¡ªand his new wings¡ªto slip through. Then he launched himself upward at a dramatic speed. ~ Alexic Kalcav sat inside his tent in the middle of the forest a few miles out from Collinsville. The tent had been provided by his employer, a B Grade ruler of several worlds back in his sector. Essentially, the tent worked as a makeshift Safe Zone in low-level wilds. On a planet like Earth? He would be able to put it down anywhere he pleased, and it would be powerful enough to stop any beast from getting through. There were only two beings he was aware of on this planet that would be able to break through it and get inside¡ªone of those beings was Guardian, the golem that protected Collinsville while Xavier was away. That thing was insanely strong. Far stronger than it had any right to be. It appeared as though it gained strength in concert with its owner, Xavier Collins. And Xavier Collins had been gaining an unprecedented amount of power as of late. Alexic¡¯s leg was shaking, bobbing up and down. He sat on a stool, leaning on a small, round table. He had plenty of food at his disposal¡ªenough to get him through several years, if he really needed to. With the other people in the tent with him, it would last significantly less than that. The tent was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. He had always been aware of this kind of technology. It worked in the same way as Storage Rings did. Even so, he always found it impressive. In one corner of the tent was the first person that he had kidnapped from Collinsville. He had brought her here in the night, getting past the guards on the wall with ease. Guardian had not seen him. The woman was the mother of one of Xavier Collins¡¯s party members¡ªJustin¡¯s mother. In another corner, he had the second person he¡¯d kidnapped¡ªHoward¡¯s wife. His master hadn¡¯t instructed him to kill Howard¡¯s children. Alexic had never partaken in the murder of children before. It wasn¡¯t as though he had enough scruples to stop him from doing something like that if the need ever arose, but the System looked down upon those who murdered beings who¡¯d yet to be integrated into the System, and it was under his master¡¯s honour code to avoid killing those under sixteen years of age if at all possible. The final captive was none other than Xavier¡¯s own mother. The woman was the most unpleasant person he had ever kidnapped, and was currently unconscious¡ªshe was much easier to handle that way. Alexic had the ability to create traps, ones that only he could deactivate. Each of his captives currently sat on one of those traps. If they tried to move away from them, the trap would activate, and as weak as these people were they would die instantly. Fortunately, none of them had the ability to teleport. Staring at his captives, his leg shaking uncontrollably, Alexic wondered how he had gotten to this stage of his life. When he had kidnapped the first victim, the Guardian golem had been less powerful than it was now. But something had happened, in the last minute. He¡¯d sensed a massive outpouring of power from over at Collinsville. For a split second he had thought it must be Xavier returning. But he had quickly discovered that wasn¡¯t the case. The aura had shot out, rippling past him, and he distinctly knew that power came from a construct. Guardian had become D Grade. Which meant¡­ Xavier Collins was now D Grade. The very person he had been ordered to send a message to. It didn¡¯t make sense that he had gained so much power so quickly. To become D Grade so soon after becoming E Grade¡­ It wasn¡¯t just unheard of, it was impossible! At least, it should have been impossible. Certainly no one on this side of the universe had ever done something like that, and from all that he knew¡­ It baffled his mind. When he had kidnapped each of these people, he¡¯d been tossing up between two plans. Now¡­ he didn¡¯t know if he would be able to get off this world alive. ¡°Guardian knows you are in there!¡± came a voice from outside. Alexic shot up to standing. His eyes widened. Sweat beaded on his brow, dripping down into his eyes. He stared at the tent¡¯s opening. Justin¡¯s mother and Howard¡¯s wife both perked up, the women staring at the tent flap just as he was. They had begged him to release them. He had ignored them. He could have hurt them, but he hadn¡¯t. Eventually, they had stopped speaking. A large shadow fell upon the tent. The golem had found him. How in the Greater Universe had it found him? Alexic had been terrified before he¡¯d known the thing could discover where he was hiding. He had thought he might still be able to get out of this alive¡­ ¡°Release the prisoners,¡± Guardian said. ¡°Guardian does not wish to make a mess, but if Guardian is required, Guardian would enjoy crushing your tiny body into powder.¡± Alexic¡¯s mouth had never felt more dry in his entire life. The golem¡¯s voice didn¡¯t sound particularly terrifying, even though its words were, yet Alexic knew how powerful the thing must be. Even before it had advanced to D Grade, he had realised its power. He had no doubt it would be able to crush his bones with ease. Just like Xavier Collins, the golem had been far more powerful than he had at first imagined. This is a very delicate situation. I can¡¯t simply surrender. I don¡¯t think that golem would bother sparing my life, not after what I¡¯ve done. Reasoning with a golem¡­ that would not be an easy feat. He was still shaking. Alexic was a little disappointed with how his body was reacting. He was a spy, an assassin. A rogue. He was many things, but he wasn¡¯t a coward. Yet his body was betraying him. There had been many times where his life had been at risk¡­ but none of those times had felt quite like this one. He had never miscalculated something so much before as he had this. I can¡¯t reason with the current leaders of Collinsville, either. They¡¯re only running the town until Xavier returns. I can¡¯t trust their word. They do not speak for him. Alexic swallowed. ¡°If you enter the tent, the captives will die.¡± He explained to the construct the traps that were in place. There was a pause. ¡°Guardian thinks you are bluffing. You will die too.¡± Alexic sighed. ¡°And if I surrender, you will let me live?¡± ¡°Guardian has not yet decided your fate. Guardian likes the idea of your bones being crushed for what you have done.¡± Alexic looked at the people he had kidnapped. He shut his eyes. ¡°I am contracted to kill these people. There is only one way that will not happen. I must speak with Xavier Collins on his return. Until then, the people inside of this tent will remain alive¡ªme included.¡± Another pause followed his words, then the golem spoke. ¡°Guardian is intrigued. Guardian does not think Xavier will take too kindly to what you have done here.¡± ¡°Unless the man can stop time, he will be forced to make a contract with me if he wishes these people to live,¡± Alexic said, sounding rather more confident than he felt. Whatever happened now, Alexic knew this was the last mission he would ever do for his B Grade master. Alexic wondered what would happen to this planet should he not return. His B Grade master had always been someone who held a grudge. If his message wasn¡¯t received, then he would only escalate. He would wish to get a stranglehold upon this Xavier Collins, and if he wasn¡¯t able to, then he would crush the True Progenitor in whatever way that he could. The end of book 4. Book 5: Chapter 1 - How Powerful Have I Become? Xavier soared through the air above the great forest of the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, his great black dragon wings pumping the air, keeping him afloat. From this vantage point, he could see almost everything. The forest looked unending, as it always had, but if he flew high enough, he could see its edges. The wind whipped his face, making his robes billow and flap. His senses were so strong and acute he could hear beasts running along the forest floor far below. A massive grin was plastered on his face as he spotted some prey. Xavier swooped toward the ground. He curled his wings around him to make himself fall faster. His enemy hadn¡¯t even spotted him yet. He was in the deepest parts of the forest, in places he¡¯d never tread before, and had just spotted a high-level D Grade enemy¡ªa beast on the brink of reaching C Grade. A wonderful enemy for him to test his new abilities on. He had never seen a beast such as this one before. Before he reached the ground, he used Identify. {Level 299 - Forest Dryad} Forest Dryads are beings at one with nature. They are a race of nymph¡ªan offshoot of elves¡ªthat live in wild woods. They can control the very roots beneath the ground inside the forest. Dryads are highly territorial. If you step into their domain, either bring an offering, or prepare yourself for a fight. Xavier reread the description the moment he¡¯d finished with it. This dryad¡­ it wasn¡¯t a beast, not like what he¡¯d been facing recently. It was a sapient being. But that did not make him falter, for here it was clearly his enemy. There was a dead Champion at the dryad¡¯s feet¡ªhe¡¯d smelled the man¡¯s blood from miles away. As he flew closer, Xavier recognised the Champion as someone that Xavier had seen back at the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern before, if only in passing. That made him all the more interested in this fight. Perhaps the fallen Champion had left something of worth behind¡ªor, maybe other members of the man¡¯s party might be at risk somewhere in the forest, though he couldn¡¯t hear them. They might all be dead. He could hear other dryads near the one he¡¯d spotted, but the gaps in the forest¡¯s canopy weren¡¯t wide enough for him to spot them. Either that, or they were adept at camouflage. Something told him it could easily be the latter explanation. These creatures were at one with nature, after all. The Forest Dryad didn¡¯t look exactly as Xavier had imagined it would. In his mind¡¯s eye, he might have thought it would be a beautiful woman with tree-like, bark skin¡ªand, as he could hear other dryads in the area, it could very well be that there were some that resembled that description. This Forest Dryad, however, was a sword-wielder, and distinctly male. He did have tree-like, dark skin that looked to be rather rough. He also had tree-trunk, muscular legs and a thick chest. The Forest Dryad¡ªmuch like the Fetid Forest Troll¡ªdidn¡¯t wear traditional armour. Instead, it looked as though the armour it wore had been grown onto it. As Xavier flew toward the large gap in the vast canopy and spotted other Forest Dryads nearby. He used Identify on them. They each bore identical descriptions to the first dryad, the only difference was in their level. They were still rather high level. Each of them was Level 250. Though the descriptions were the same, these dryads looked markedly different. There were five other dryads in the clearing. Two of them were bow-wielders, while the other three had staffs of different designs. Two of the staff-wielders were most definitely the traditional dryad that he¡¯d been anticipating seeing in the forest. They were slim and female, and had an ethereal look to them. The bow-wielders were male and strong, but more slender than their sword-wielding counterpart. The dryads spotted him before he reached the gap in the canopy. The sword-wielder¡¯s eyes narrowed as his gaze locked onto Xavier¡¯s flying form. The dryad barked an order to one of the other dryads. A staff glowed, and the gap in the canopy began to disappear, closing faster than Xavier could reach it. But it was only branches. That wasn¡¯t going to be enough to stop him. Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis on a wide area, breaking through, snapping the tree branches and the very trees they were attached to. There was a great cracking noise as the area he¡¯d targeted was absolutely flattened by his spell. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of what he¡¯d just done. He hadn¡¯t expected the spell to be so powerful. It was the first time he¡¯d used it since he¡¯d gained all those titles and advanced to D Grade. A smile split his face. He flew through the gap he¡¯d made in the trees and landed lightly on the ground. Every single one of the six dryads had been knocked to the ground, though they quickly made their way back to their feet. The felled trees parted for them, snaking out of the way.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The first of the dryads to make it to their feet was the Level 299 sword-wielder. The male Forest Dryad had a fierce, defiant look on his face, a rage boiling in his deep green eyes. Xavier spotted the body of the slain Champion he¡¯d seen. A man who looked no older than twenty, though could have been decades past that age. He wore the armour of a tank. His weapon, a warhammer, was still grasped tightly in his hand even in death. Several Storage Rings glinted on the man¡¯s fingers. There was no sight of his party. Xavier felt a slight tinge of shame that his first thought on seeing the corpse was that he would be able to loot it when this battle was done. That wasn¡¯t exactly the attitude he wanted to bring to the fallen, but it was the type of attitude the Greater Universe and its dangers had instilled in him, so the shame didn¡¯t last long. The sword-wielding Forest Dryad shouted a battle-cry and raised his sword. Xavier watched. He wanted to see how fast his enemy was. The dryad appeared to his left in an instant. A teleportation spell. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how it worked, but it left behind a pile of leaves where the dryad had just been standing, then the dryad had sprouted from the ground like an incredibly fast-growing weed. The dryad¡¯s sword came down, its trajectory toward Xavier¡¯s head. At the same time the other dryads had made it to their feet. Staves were whirled as spells were cast. Arrows were loosed as bowstrings were released. For a fraction of a second, it looked as though Xavier wasn¡¯t even going to move out of the way. Part of him wanted to see just how much damage he could take from these enemies, but it was foolish just to stand there and take hits from six different enemies at once. The fraction of a second passed. Xavier¡¯s wings moved instinctively, slapping away the arrows that flew toward him, diverting them. Schick, schick. The arrows slammed into the trunks of fallen trees. At the same time, he slapped the sword coming down at his head to the side with his reinforced, clawed hand. The muscular dryad¡¯s eyes widened briefly at the force he hadn¡¯t been expecting. There was a sharp pop as his shoulder suddenly came out of its socket. A soul apparition sprang to life, blocking the first of the three spells that came his way, absorbing all of the potential damage. Two more spells had been cast. Bolts of green energy that zig-zagged through the air. He felt the ground beneath him vibrate. The dirt beneath him stirred. Roots were writhing beneath the surface. He had a good idea of what those roots would attempt to do to him. They would latch him to where he stood if he let them. Xavier leapt backward, dodging the arcing bolts of green lightning with a fluid ease. They slammed harmlessly into the ground where he¡¯d just been standing. The roots, however, moved with him. They burst upward from the dirt and grasped one of his legs, curling around it and tightening. Xavier didn¡¯t bother trying to get out of the way. He simply swung his arm downward, his long claws slashing the roots in half. The roots¡¯ grip slackened, and he was able to dislodge his leg. He looked around at the six dryads. My turn. He burst forward. As he did, his wings moved. He hadn¡¯t expected that. His race had changed, turning him from an altered human to that of a dragonkin. With that change came muscle memory he wasn¡¯t familiar with. It was strange, how his body moved of its own volition. He could sense that he would move even more fluidly with practice. Once he gained control of the new ways that his body reacted. The flap of his wings as he strode forward gave him a massive burst of speed. He already moved faster than he¡¯d expected himself to, considering how much his Speed¡ªnot to mention every other one of his attributes¡ªhad improved. As he¡¯d moved so swiftly, he hadn¡¯t even had time to raise his claws. He slammed straight into the sword-wielding Forest Dryad with his shoulder. There was a crack as the force fractured the Forest Dryad¡¯s armour. The sword-wielder went flying backward and slammed into a faraway tree, breaking the tree on impact. Huh, Xavier thought. That worked out well enough. He turned his attention to the five ranged fighters. He could have taken all of them down without casting a single spell, but he¡¯d come here to test out more than just his melee proficiency. Xavier cast Soul Shatter on one of the Forest Dryads at the centre, one of the male bow-wielders. These dryads weren¡¯t as high level as the sword wielder, but it still came as a slight surprise as the dryad died the instant Xavier¡¯s spell hit. Shards of the dryad¡¯s soul shot out, digging into the now-dead dryad¡¯s comrades. They all cried out in pain. Xavier cast Core Burn on one of the female mages. She wasn¡¯t able to resist it¡ªhe didn¡¯t even need to soften her mind first. The spell took her over, making her cores go into overdrive, burning through all the energy she had stored in each of them until there was nothing left. She fell to the ground. The sword-wielder sprouted out of the dirt to Xavier¡¯s left, sword in mid-swing. Xavier dodged the strike easily and cast Telekinetic Enhanced Strike as he slashed toward the dryad¡¯s neck. The Forest Dryad¡¯s throat opened up. Blood shot from the wound. He clutched at it and made a strangled gurgling sound as he collapsed to the ground, his life pumping out of him as he writhed, sword falling from his hand. Another kill notification popped up in his vision. Three down, three to go. Xavier could see the expressions in the remaining three dryads shift. One bow-wielder and two mages remained. Before, they had looked defiant, ready to fight. Now, all he could see in them was an intense fear. He had slain the dryad that had clearly been their leader, and he wasn¡¯t any worse for wear. Xavier hadn¡¯t taken a single strike from these enemies. Xavier didn¡¯t even need to use Aura of Fear for these enemies to be afraid of him. They looked as though they wanted to run. Xavier, for a moment, thought about letting them. Then he glanced over at the dead Champion nearby. If that had been him, he would want someone to avenge his death. Xavier stepped forward. Something came forth, out of his arms. His soul bound weapon¡ªLost Bone of a Dead God¡ªwas reforming itself. It had been reinforcing his arms, hands, fingers. Now, it turned into a staff. Xavier cast Willpower Infusion. Purple mist shot from the weapon and went straight for his enemies. He targeted all three of them. Perhaps he was foolish to think he would be able to claim all three of their minds¡­ The mist seeped through nostrils, mouths, ears, before the dryads even had a chance to turn and run. Mental blocks snapped up, and he could feel the strength of them, but they weren¡¯t strong enough to resist his attack. Xavier clamped down. He broke through the mental barriers and took absolute control of the three dryads with an ease he hadn¡¯t anticipated. God, how powerful have I become? And is this just the beginning of my journey? He killed the three dryads as swiftly as he could. Book 5: Chapter 2 - Treasure? Xavier released a breath as he looked around at the six dryad corpses littering the ground of the clearing. He inhaled the fresh scent of blood. Something inside of him stirred, as it often did when he smelled blood. When he had been E Grade and had assimilated a great deal of beast properties into his body, it had given him a bloodlust he¡¯d never before experienced, one that made him want to drink the blood of his fallen enemies. Something had changed within him, turning him more beast-like. But whatever that something was¡­ it was no longer the same. It had changed when he had advanced from E Grade to D Grade and turned into a dragonkin. The thing that stirred within him was muted. There was a part of him that wished to drink the blood from the fallen, but that part of him was buried deep, deep inside. As though it were a primal, hidden part. Dragonkin had evolved past such desires, and Xavier found it was no longer something he needed to control. The first thing Xavier did was walk over to the corpse of the dead Champion and take off the man¡¯s Storage Rings. He had killed the six dryads with an ease that hadn¡¯t been possible the day before. He would have been able to defeat them before¡ªhe had just defeated a C Grade enemy while E Grade. These dryads wouldn¡¯t have been a match for him. But he hadn¡¯t needed to strain. He hadn¡¯t needed to use his most powerful spells. He hadn¡¯t used Time Prison or Time Alternation. He hadn¡¯t used Soul Strike or Summon Otherworldly Spirit. He hadn¡¯t even needed to use Soul Sacrifice to create a bridge to the Otherworld and have spirits burst through that bridge into the mortal realm and fight for him. Xavier considered turning the dryads into Soul Puppets but thought better of it. He had a lot of things he needed to do, and he wasn¡¯t going to linger around this part of the forest long enough to benefit from having minions. Xavier looked down at the staff that was in his hand. The fight hadn¡¯t garnered him a single Mastery Point, and that had been a choice he had made. Not because he didn¡¯t wish to gain any levels, but simply because he wished to make his soul bound weapon as powerful as possible as swiftly as he could. There were several notification from that battle that he hadn¡¯t looked at. He¡¯d been too enthralled in the fight to bother. He ignored the kill notifications and looked at the skill and spell rank notifications that had popped up. Telekinetic Enhanced Strike has taken a step forward on the path! Telekinetic Enhanced Strike is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Block has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Block is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Shatter is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Willpower Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Willpower Infusion is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Evasion has reached Rank 101! Red In Tooth And Claw has reached Rank 101! Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 101! Xavier chuckled to himself. Those ranks had come more easily than he¡¯d expected, though he knew that wouldn¡¯t always be the case. Soon, the ranks he received from fights like this would dwindle. Unlike all the other times he had been fighting on this floor before this moment, he was finally fighting enemies of the exact same rank as him, even if they were many levels above his Level 200. No wonder they all went down so easily. There was another notification after all of the spell and rank notifications. Your Soul Bound weapon, Lost Bone of a Dead God, has advanced along its path. Lost Bone of a Dead God is now Level 35. Lost Bone of a Dead God¡¯s attributes have changed. +10 Strength is now +50 Strength. +10 Speed is now +50 Speed.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. +10 Intelligence is now +50 Intelligence. +10 Spirit is now +50 Spirit. Xavier tilted his head to the side. The weapon had gained thirty-five levels in a single encounter. That, too, he knew wouldn¡¯t always be the case. If he were honest, he thought it should have gained even more levels than that, considering it was an F Grade weapon, and he had been slaying D Grades. But, then again, he didn¡¯t really know how quickly soul bound weapons progressed. Perhaps it scaled differently when you were using one but weren¡¯t the same grade as it. He knew that attributes weren¡¯t the only thing about the weapon that had changed, as well. He could sense it. Xavier looked at the weapon in his hand. Right now it had the appearance of a staff. He tilted his head to the side and made it shift. It transformed, seeping into the skin of both his arms and reinforcing his forearm, hands, fingers, and claws just as it had before. Spikes formed at the back of his hand, and they were larger than they had been before the fight. The weapon had also transformed from Staff to Bone Reinforcement significantly faster than it had before. Xavier tilted his head to the side and looked down at his hands. He made the weapon transform back to Staff, then back to Bone Reinforcement. He couldn¡¯t help but smile at what he saw. One thing he had been worried about when it came to this weapon was just how slow it transformed from one thing to another. It still transformed far slower than he wished it too, of course, but now he knew for a fact that it would keep getting faster as he levelled it up. Xavier wondered just how much more powerful the weapon would become when it reached E Grade, and then D Grade. That made him wonder about something else, back on Earth. Guardian, the golem that protected Collinsville, advanced at the same rate that he did. That golem must have just become incredibly powerful for a planet like Earth after Xavier had advanced to D Grade. He wondered if the people in the town were aware of that. If Guardian knows, then the others will know. At least when time catches up, as it moves far faster here. Xavier looted the corpses of the dead dryads, but not the corpses themselves. Usually, he would take beast corpses into his Storage Ring, but Forest Dryads weren¡¯t beasts. They were Denizens, just as he was. They wouldn¡¯t even be a part of the Hunt Quests he could obtain on this floor. He didn¡¯t bury their bodies as a respectful gesture either, he simply left them to the forest, so it could reclaim them in time. He figured beings such as these would be partial to such a thing. Then Xavier made his way back to the cave of the Fetid Forest Troll, and grabbed the chest that he¡¯d found there. Thankfully, no one had taken it while he had been gone, testing his new abilities. On his way back to the cave he¡¯d killed as many different beasts as he could. Each of those kills brought more levels to his soul bound weapon. He gained a few skill and spell ranks too, but nowhere near as many as that first encounter with the dryads, as the beasts he fought were nowhere near as strong. Every D Grade enemy he fought on his way back to the cave succumbed to death in a single spell or strike. Xavier was grinning to himself as he contemplated his newfound power. He simply couldn¡¯t help himself. He¡¯d known he¡¯d become stronger, but just how strong, he was still finding out. These enemies he¡¯d just ploughed through with ease had been so powerful when he¡¯d first come to this floor. The System had pushed him forward in the Tower of Champions, jumping him straight to the one hundredth floor well before he was ready for it. At first, Xavier had thought the System had done it to humble him, because the threats he¡¯d encountered on the other floors weren¡¯t threats to him at all. The floors weren¡¯t a challenge for him anymore¡ªeven gaining the top title for the floors had become easy for him. The Voice of the System said he needed to be challenged, and challenged he was. Even the normal beasts he¡¯d encountered in the forest on this floor had been difficult for him to defeat. But they hadn¡¯t been difficult for very long. He¡¯d quickly advanced his abilities, found new ways to use the spells he already possessed, and became all the more powerful for it. But he wondered what it would be like the moment he stepped onto the next floor. He¡¯d done everything he needed to achieve for this floor quite some time ago. All he¡¯d needed to do was complete ten Hunt Quests. He had done far more than that, and he intended to do even more. By the time he left this floor he wanted to have killed the most powerful C Grade enemy on it. The dragon that protected its egg¡ªthe egg that he wished to take so he could use it as a vessel for Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. When he reached the next floor¡­ the Tower of Champions would, once more, pose little challenge to him. Xavier contemplated his power as he flew back to Hunter¡¯s Home, carrying the large chest from the troll¡¯s cave in his arms. He couldn¡¯t put the thing in his Storage Ring. Something about it being spatial storage prevented him from doing so. But he could carry it easily enough. It didn¡¯t take him long at all to reach the tavern. He retracted his wings before he pushed open the doors and stepped inside. Felicia was the first to see him enter. Her eyebrows shot up as she saw the wings tucked behind his back. Xavier knew that it wasn¡¯t completely unusual to see wings on a Denizen, but usually those wings came from some sort of spell. Xavier¡¯s wings did not. He could retract them straight into his back if he wished, but honestly, he wanted to show them off. Why wouldn¡¯t he? Felicia¡¯s shock wore off quickly, her expression returning to normal. Either that, or she had a good mask on. Other Champions in the tavern looked his way. A few of them stared. He was beginning to garner a bit of a reputation around here. When he¡¯d first arrived, he¡¯d been just another Champion stumbling onto the hundredth floor for the first time. But people quickly discovered he was here without a party. Felicia, the barkeep and the owner of this establishment, had running bets on most of the Champions who set foot in this place. She¡¯d had many on him. A solo Champion, especially one who had no former knowledge of the hundredth floor, made for interesting bets. The most recent of which was him going up against a C Grade enemy alone. And the fact that he¡¯d done it while he was E Grade? Well, he was sure someone would have let that little detail slip. Which was why, he was sure, that every single person in that tavern was surprised to see that he was alive. Every one of them, perhaps, except for Gimble. The dwarf sauntered up to him, a tankard of ale as large as his head gripped in one hand. He was shaking his head and laughing, his long beard swaying from side to side as he walked. ¡°Xavier Collins, you bastard, you¡¯re still alive? Did ya chicken out? And where in the Greater Universe did those damned wings come from, aye lad?¡± Xavier blinked, looking at the dwarf. ¡°I defeated the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°Did you expect me to lose?¡± Gimble stopped in his tracks. He looked Xavier up and down in a new light. ¡°To lose? No, I didn¡¯t expect that, lad, else I wouldn¡¯t have pointed ya toward it¡­¡± The dwarf shook his head again, this time in disbelief. ¡°I thought you had a chance, lad. But¡­ you actually defeated that thing? And before you advanced?¡± ¡°Always the tone of surprise,¡± Xavier muttered. He supposed he couldn¡¯t blame the dwarf for thinking there was a chance he could have lost. ¡°I guess that favour I owe you just got a lot more valuable.¡± ¡°Aye, lad. That it did. That it did.¡± Gimble was just staring at him now. Maybe the dwarf had believed he had a chance of winning, but that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t surprised by it. He nodded his head at the chest in Xavier¡¯s arms. ¡°What¡¯s that, then?¡± There was a glint in the dwarf¡¯s eyes. ¡°Treasure?¡± ¡°Indeed it is,¡± Xavier said with a smile. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know how to break into spatial storage boxes, would you?¡± Gimble threw back his head and laughed. ¡°Oh, I think I know a thing or two about that, lad.¡± He put his tankard of ale down on a nearby table¡ªbut not before bringing it to his lips and downing the whole thing in a series of large, loud gulps. The dwarf rubbed his hands together. ¡°Lemme have a look at that. Let¡¯s find out what¡¯s inside.¡± Book 5: Chapter 3 - Spell Credits Every single Denizen inside of the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern was staring at Xavier and Gimble, who stood by the entrance to the establishment. Xavier was still holding onto the large treasure chest he¡¯d found in the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s bedchamber, the one he hadn¡¯t been able to gain access to. He was curious to know what a C Grade beast might find valuable enough to keep inside a locked spatial storage box. Gimble looked greedily at the treasure chest and opened his hands as though Xavier were going to hand it over without question. Xavier stepped back from the dwarf and raised an eyebrow. ¡°You really think I¡¯m just going to give this to you without some sort of contract in place?¡± Gimble¡¯s arms fell by his sides, and he looked a little crestfallen. ¡°Where¡¯s the trust, lad? I thought we¡¯d gotten to know each other rather well.¡± Xavier frowned at the dwarf, eyebrow still raised. ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t ask for a contract, were the roles reversed?¡± The dwarf ran a hand through his beard and glanced back at the other members of his party. ¡°Suppose you do know me well, lad.¡± The dwarf frowned, as though noticing the other Champions looking at them for the first time. He made a shooing motion with his arms. ¡°Mind your business, then!¡± Most of the Champions looked away the moment Gimbe had spoken. Xavier wasn¡¯t the only one with a reputation around here, and the dwarf had been here for far longer than he had. If Gimble were to be believed, the only Denizen who¡¯d been on this floor longer was the barkeep herself, who was a permanent fixture of the place, only taking short breaks from being behind the bar at nighttime. Xavier and Gimble signed yet another contract with one another. Gimble agreed to open the chest, and he didn¡¯t even have any demands, nor ask for payment. ¡°See, you can trust me, lad. I don¡¯t want to take your spoils, I¡¯m just curious as to what they are,¡± Gimble said. Xavier was sitting across from the dwarf at Gimble¡¯s table, with the other members of his party. ¡°Hmm,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°And this doesn¡¯t have anything to do with the fact that I¡¯m now an asset to you, does it?¡± Gimble inclined his head. ¡°Now you get it, lad.¡± ¡°Whatever spoils I find inside that box are liable to make me stronger, and considering the favour I owe you¡­ well, the better position I¡¯m in, the better position you¡¯ll be in.¡± ¡°You make it sound cold ¡®n¡¯ calculated.¡± Gimble peered at him, then winked. ¡°Which, I suppose, I am guilty of.¡± Xavier looked at the box, which was currently sitting in the middle of the table. ¡°How long will it take to unlock that thing?¡± The dwarf examined it for a long moment. At one point, his eyes glazed over and he ran a hand through his beard several times. ¡°Hmm. This is a higher grade of treasure chest than I¡¯m used to dealing with.¡± The dwarf¡¯s eyes became focused once more. ¡°Might be awhile.¡± He grinned. ¡°Why are you smiling, then?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°Because crackin¡¯ this thing? Seems like it will be mighty fun.¡± Xavier shook his head. Though he¡¯d known the dwarf for a little while now, he couldn¡¯t say he always understood him. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. The dwarf frowned. ¡°What, you thought you¡¯d be able to unlock the secrets that lie within this thing right away, did you?¡± Gimble asked. Xavier shrugged. ¡°That is what I was hoping for.¡± He pushed himself off the table and stood. There were a number of other things he needed to do. Many things, even. For instance, he needed to train like a demon possessed. Not that he hadn¡¯t been already. There were C Grade enemies in this place that he wished to face, and two of those enemies he wanted to defeat without the help of the raid group. One, because it had the potential of saving Liana¡¯s husband. And the second, because he might finally be able to bring Volkarin into this realm for good. Then, he¡¯d be able to get off this floor. As much as he¡¯d been enjoying his time here, he had to say he was eager for something new. Something more. There were so many floors of the tower that he had left to experience, but it wasn¡¯t just the tower floors he was eager to push to. He wanted to get back to Earth and travel to different worlds in his sector. He wanted to see how the other members of his party had been faring without him. He wanted to make sure that no one in the sector¡ªor those around it¡ªwere a threat to Earth. And there were other threats he needed to prepare for, not just fighting these C Grades. There was something terrible heading toward the Silver River sector. Something that would wipe it out completely if he wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop that from happening. The end is coming, Xavier thought. And I need to be ready to stop it. There was no way that he would simply abandon his sector after he had spent so long trying to protect Earth. He wouldn¡¯t be able to evacuate the entire planet, either. It was true that he and those he cared about would likely find a way to get out of the sector, but that would leave billions of people behind to die. And that wasn¡¯t something Xavier was ever going to let happen. He stepped over to the board. The rewards that he gained from a Hunt Quest were simply too good for him to ignore. Now that he was D Grade, facing enemies that were the same grade as him, he would need to kill enemies even faster than he¡¯d already been doing if he was going to have any hope of actually gaining further levels in this place. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but have his gaze fall on the C Grade beasts on the board. There hadn¡¯t been a Hunt Quest for the C Grade beast he¡¯d just destroyed¡ªnot every beast on the floor was categorised. If there had been a Hunt Quest for the Fetid Forest Troll, then a team of Champions would have likely killed the thing much earlier than he had. He had to thank Gimble for letting the thing live when the dwarf had originally come across it.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. He tapped his foot on the hard wood of the tavern floor. As always, whenever he stood there, he couldn¡¯t help but stare at the notices for both The Nightmare and the C Grade dragon. Those were the enemies he truly wished to go after. But he wasn¡¯t ready. Instead, he took a notice for what seemed like a fairly straightforward Hunt Quest, then he stepped over to the bar and ordered some coffee. No matter what was going on, he tried to remember there was always time for coffee. He sat at the stool. Felicia stared at him from the other side of the bar. Her gaze went to the wings at his back. ¡°What the hell, Xavier? Where did those wings come from?¡± Felicia asked. She leant forward on the bar. ¡°Is it a new spell you gained?¡± Xavier grinned back at the woman. She placed his order on the bar before he¡¯d even made it. He wrapped his fingers around the warm ceramic and brought it to his lips, taking a sip. ¡°Always wanting to know my secrets. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d think you had an interest in me beyond that of a barkeep.¡± ¡°You know that I do. Everyone wants to bet on you¡ªeven though they used to bet against you. And now, after that C Grade you killed¡­¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a wonder you aren¡¯t dead by now.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°You changed your race, didn¡¯t you?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t confirm nor deny. He simply took another sip of his coffee. ¡°Holy System, you did change your race!¡± The barkeep shook her head. ¡°I knew I¡¯d seen some changes in you, but I never thought you would actually take the plunge.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°And why is that?¡± ¡°Most people, when given the chance, remain what they are.¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just the nature of things. Though, of course, that isn¡¯t always the case. Still, there can be unforeseen consequences to changing one¡¯s race.¡± ¡°Unforeseen consequences?¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Xavier! They¡¯re unforeseen!¡± Felicia sighed. ¡°Some races aren¡¯t exactly¡­ well-regarded in the Greater Universe. We all have warlike cultures, that¡¯s something that¡¯s difficult to avoid given how the System governs.¡± She looked up at the ceiling and made a gesture I didn¡¯t know how to describe, though it seemed like it might be either one of thanks, or one of warding. ¡°But there are races out there who are more brutal as a rule.¡± She narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down, then stared at his wings again. ¡°What exactly did you become?¡± Xavier could tell the woman already had an idea of what he was, but for whatever reason she didn¡¯t want to be the one to say it aloud. ¡°Dragonkin,¡± Xavier said. Felicia shut her eyes. ¡°Dragonkin. Of course.¡± She opened her eyes and stared at him with a serious expression. ¡°Dragonkin are one of the most feared races in the Greater Universe, and they don¡¯t often take kindly to other races becoming them.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t?¡± Xavier acted nonchalant, sipping his coffee, but he was intent on finding out more from the woman. She was often someone he could come to for information, but if he seemed too eager, she¡¯d likely wring something more out of him than what race he¡¯d changed to in exchange for what she knew. ¡°No, they don¡¯t. They have one of the most ancient cultures in the Greater Universe, much as humans do, but theirs¡­ it doesn¡¯t vary as much as human culture tends to.¡± Xavier wondered what a culture of dragonkin would be like. ¡°I was hoping I could find an instructor. Someone who could show me¡­ how to better use my body now that it¡¯s changed.¡± Liana scoffed. ¡°In all my years behind this bar I¡¯ve seen one party of dragonkin step into this place. They didn¡¯t take too kindly to, well, anyone.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I like your odds.¡± Xavier leant back and took on a thoughtful expression. This complicated matters. ¡°They¡¯re rare?¡± ¡°At least in this corner of the universe.¡± The woman motioned to the other Champions in the bar. ¡°Most people here are from the same, or neighbouring sectors. For all I know, there could be a version of this floor entirely comprised of dragonkin Champions.¡± She shuddered. ¡°Glad I¡¯m not looking after that one.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°Are they really that bad? Seems a little spiciest, making such claims about an entire race.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only telling you what I¡¯ve heard. Maybe it will be easy for you to find someone to help you in the ways of the dragonkin. I could easily be wrong,¡± Felicia replied, though the way she said the words made it sound like she didn¡¯t doubt the truth of what she¡¯d said one bit. Xavier hadn¡¯t come here to have a conversation with the barkeep, not really. He¡¯d wanted to see Gimble, grab another notice from the board, and poke into Liana¡¯s room to make sure she was still all right in her time dilation field. Other than that, he had things to do. One of those things was figuring out how his Spell Credits worked. He supposed the woman across from him might know, but before he asked, he simply focused on one of the two credits he¡¯d received when he¡¯d chosen his class. He was still a little miffed that he¡¯d only received two. He¡¯d been hoping to learn a bunch of new spells when he¡¯d chosen this class. It certainly offered him a hell of a lot of attribute points for each of his levels, but he wanted more than that. He¡¯d always gained a fair number of spells when choosing a new class¡­ Xavier sighed inwardly. He nodded to the barkeep and said his goodbyes, then he ducked through one of the doors in the tavern that led to the rooms this place held. He came upon Liana¡¯s and withdrew the key she¡¯d given him for the room from his Storage Ring and peeked inside. The woman lay on her bed, suspended in time, just as she¡¯d been the last time he¡¯d checked. She hadn¡¯t moved an inch. She would be like that for as long as it took for Xavier to defeat The Nightmare. Only then would he be able to drag her out of it. Today was not that day. Satisfied that she was okay, he left the tavern and leapt straight into the air, flying high above the trees until he found a secluded area in which to cast Time Alteration. He dropped down and focused on the Spell Credits he¡¯d yet to use. That was when a notification sprang up in his vision that he hadn¡¯t seen before. You have two Spell Credits to spend. Spell Credits are unique to only a few different classes in the Greater Universe. They allow a Denizen to choose from any approved spells available to them. There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen. You may choose from the following categories¡­ Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he saw countless different categories displayed before him. They didn¡¯t appear to be in any particularly easy to discern order. There were categories spreading from healing magic to holy magic, to necromantic magic and gravity magic. And so, so many more. He scrolled down the notification. Seeing so many different categories to choose from was honestly incredibly disorientating. He also wondered what the description had meant by ¡°There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen.¡± He seemed to be able to choose from anything. That¡¯s because of my class, Wayfarer of the Infinite Path. No spells are barred from me. At least, that seemed to be the case. As he focused, he found that he could easily search for categories. Because of that, in front of him he was looking at ones that were familiar. Soul magic and reaper magic¡ªit was interesting to him that these were under two different categories¡ªas well as time magic and mind control magic. Xavier stared at the mind control magic category, wondering what other spells he might be able to access. Right now, he only had two spells pertaining to mind control: Willpower Infusion and Core Burn. He hadn¡¯t managed to gain any more of those, despite how often he¡¯d used Willpower Infusion. He also only had two time magic spells: Time Prison and Time Alteration. He tilted his head from one side to the other and thought there would be no harm in checking what different spells he could choose from in the mind control category. A notification displayed before his eyes. If you choose to look at the Mind Control Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Book 5: Chapter 4 - You Must Choose Xavier sat in a small clearing inside of a time dilation field, reading over a notification for a second time. If you choose to look at the Mind Control Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Xavier blinked. ¡°Huh.¡± He hadn¡¯t been expecting that. He supposed that¡¯s what it meant by there being limits. That certainly wasn¡¯t one of the limits he had been expecting. Choosing a spell might be more difficult than I thought. Xavier didn¡¯t decide to look at the mind control category of magic. He felt unsure of himself. He only had two of these Spell Credits, and he¡¯d much rather have a better idea of what type of spells he wanted to gain now that he could choose from literally anything. He distinctly remembered the class that he¡¯d chosen¡ªWayfarer of the Infinite Path¡ªsaying something about people choosing this path needing to be decisive. Xavier could be decisive. He wouldn¡¯t have gotten this far if he wasn¡¯t. But right now, he didn¡¯t feel like he was at all. There were so many spells that he could learn. So many different categories. When your choices were practically infinite, how was one to narrow them down? A whole host of options that he¡¯d never known he would have were spread out before him. He¡¯d hoped that the class he¡¯d chosen would allow him to learn any spell he wished, but he hadn¡¯t known it would be so¡­ immediate. I won¡¯t necessarily be able to learn any spell. There could be options that are locked out for me. I might need to progress in a certain category of magic before learning something more advanced¡­ The notification does say there are limits. That would make things even more difficult, especially since he only had two Spell Credits to work with. It made him wonder if there would be a way for him to gain more Spell Credits. Surely there would be? Right now, he didn¡¯t really feel sure about what he should do, or what kind of spell he needed. Perhaps he would simply need to push forward with his progression and become a stronger D Grade, then he could discover what kind of gaps he had in his arsenal. Perhaps he would want to learn a defensive spell, something from a tank class. Maybe he needed a self-healing spell, that a paladin might have. Then again, there was something that he had been missing. A while ago, he¡¯d had access to an ability called Soul Step. The ability had been an imbued ability, and as he no longer had the item that it came with, he could no longer use it. Soul Step had allowed him to teleport to any corpse that still had a soul remaining inside of it. It would consume the corpse¡¯s soul, and then he would appear where the body was. It had gotten him out of quite a few scrapes, and had generally been an amazing ability¡ªfor more than just combat purposes. He considered finding that spell in the soul or reaper magic categories, when he realised¡­ that might not be the best spell for him to gain. There were other teleportation abilities out there, ones that didn¡¯t need to be used in the same way as Soul Step. Ones that were more versatile. He¡¯d seen other Denizens use Shadow Step before, where they could teleport to wherever a shadow was. The sword-wielding Forest Dryad had just used a teleportation spell as well. Something told him that teleportation magic was rather common among all the different classes. All he needed to do was figure out what type of teleportation spell he wished to learn¡­ That sounded a little easier said than done. Xavier sat in contemplation for a good while before he began to meditate. When he meditated, insights often came to him. It wasn¡¯t something that he relied upon a lot lately, but it was still something he utilised¡ªsomething that helped him feel more sure about the actions that he made. The more he meditated, the more sure of his next path he became. It would be wise, he knew, to master some sort of teleportation magic, for his future. If he was to do what he needed to do, something told him he would need to move around not only his sector, but the entirety of the Greater Universe, with ease. Now, he could utilise portals for that¡­ but there might be other ways he hadn¡¯t considered. And, while that was a long game, he would benefit from having a teleportation ability immediately. He could one day branch off, develop stronger teleportation magic, to do what he would inevitably need to do. Especially if he were able to gain more Spell Credits. He ceased meditating and opened his eyes. Meditating would only get him so far. He focused on the Spell Credits again, bringing the list of different spell categories back up. He mentally willed the System to search through the different categories for him and come back with what was most relevant. Though in most magic styles, there was a way to teleport, he didn¡¯t want just any teleportation spell. He wanted to develop a whole new path of magic.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Two categories stuck out to him. Teleportation magic, and Portal magic. He stared at each of them for a long while. Teleportation magic felt like it was exactly what he was after. He¡¯d been hoping that a mage could specialise specifically in that. As far as he could tell, a mage could specialise in basically anything they wished. And now that he had his new mythic class, so could he¡ªwithin reason. Though it did make him wonder how a mage could specialise in teleportation magic and be an effective fighter. Were they simply support classes? Or did the teleportation line of magic have offensive attacks? Teleportation or Portal magic. Though portal magic hadn¡¯t even been on his radar, he couldn¡¯t help but think about how powerful that could be. If he were able to send his enemies through portals with a blast of his Heavy Telekinesis spell, reposition them on the battlefield¡­ he could have a level of control he¡¯d never possessed before. He could even mind control them to walk through the portals¡­ Xavier was sure that there would be a lot of varied, creative options he could play with. Especially if he were able to shut off the portals at will. And if he was able to rapidly create these portals, they might be able to serve the same teleportation function that he¡¯d been after. He released a sigh. This was one of those times when he wished he had a wizened old sage that he could speak to. Rhaalir had disappeared, after Xavier had advanced to D Grade and chosen the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class. Xavier had tried calling the elf spirit back, but he hadn¡¯t come. He still felt that the contract was intact, but the elf wasn¡¯t supposed to give him advice on things not pertaining to Otherworld magic¡ªnot that he hadn¡¯t before, but he tended to grumble while he did it. Still, Xavier hoped, considering how long the spirit had been around, he might know about these things as well. I¡¯m going to need to find a different source of information. He stood and started pacing around the inside of his time dilation field, wondering who it was that he should go to. Felicia was the obvious choice, though he¡¯d just left Hunter¡¯s Home. He could return to the Staging Room, freeze time, and look through the System Shop to find some general guides on the different categories of magic, and some specific ones about these categories. That sounded like it was something wise to do in general¡ªhe should study up on these things. But he¡¯d always found it was better to speak to an expert when you knew little about a field. He could bumble around and try to find what he was after on his own, but it would take a lot longer, and he might miss the things that were completely obvious to others. Xavier released a sigh. There was, of course, another option. He¡¯d yet to use the Otherworldly Communion spell since he¡¯d reached Level 200, so currently it wasn¡¯t in cooldown. There were a lot of things he wished to learn from the Otherworldly spirits in his communion with them, and he¡¯d been thinking to use this level¡¯s use for something else, but he could always divert the Mastery Points he was currently giving to his soul bound weapon back to him and reach Level 201 as swiftly as possible, thereby allowing the spell to cooldown faster than it would naturally. Xavier inclined his head in a nod to himself as he made his decision. It was also wise for him to use the Otherworldly Communion spell to gain information on things that he could take action on. That way, he could rank the spell up. Receiving more ranks in the spell had, fortunately, given it a shorter cooldown¡ªthough the cooldown still seemed to vary each time he used it. The level of the insight he gained seemed to change as well. It had more depth that it did before, and the spirits lingered longer. Xavier cast Otherworldly Communion. Colour bled from the world. All was grey. Time froze. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
  4. Greater Universe insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. He tilted his head to the side, looking curiously at the fourth option. Greater Universe insight hadn¡¯t been something that was available to him the last time he had used this spell, despite the fact that it had been the exact same rank at the time. He wondered why that was. Was it his advancing to D Grade that had changed the nature of the spell¡¯s insight, or was it because of how many more attributes he had? More attributes always made a spell more powerful, and this spell was mostly based off his Spirit attribute. He shook his head. It wasn¡¯t an option he was going to use right now, but he was glad that it would be available to him in the future. Xavier chose Personal Insight. As he did, he kept the nature of his question strong in his mind. The better he was able to do that, the more likely he was to get a spirit that would be able to tell him everything he needed to know. A bright, blinding light blossomed in the middle of the time dilation field. Xavier didn¡¯t so much as narrow his eyes. Usually, the light would sting. Usually, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see past it to the spirit that it summoned until that light dimmed. Today was different. His vision had changed dramatically. It was significantly more powerful. He was easily able to see the spirit that stood before him, well before the light dimmed, and the light didn¡¯t bother him at all. He wondered if that was all credited to becoming a D Grade Denizen, or if that was because his race had changed to that of a dragonkin. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as he caught sight of the spirit. He¡¯d been hoping to speak with an old, wizened sage about magic only moments before. The spirit standing before him was the oldest looking Denizen that he¡¯d ever seen. Considering the lifespan that Denizens had, and how powerful their bodies and minds became, Xavier didn¡¯t realise that they even aged as much as the person before him did. This man could have gained the System when he was much older, if he¡¯d originally grown up on an unintegrated world. But Xavier didn¡¯t think that was what had happened, as advancing altered the body enough to mask its natural age¡ªXavier¡¯s body, for instance, had changed plenty as he¡¯d advanced, and even though he was a few years older, he actually looked younger. If the man¡ªthe spirit¡ªwere a normal, unaltered human, Xavier would have put his age at between ninety and a hundred. Maybe even beyond that, if he were honest¡ªhe certainly had enough wrinkles. How old was this man when he died, to look as ancient as he does? The man was human. He had a long, white beard that was reminiscent of old wizards everywhere, at least in Earth media. Xavier couldn¡¯t decide whether he looked more like Dumbledore or Gandalf. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter. The spirit wielded a wooden staff that looked as though it had been through countless wars. It was chipped and scratched and battered and looked older than the man who held it. Xavier wondered how it could look like that, considering all the powerful weapons he¡¯d encountered had self-repair features. Book 5: Chapter 5 - Portals and Teleportation What insights do you wish to receive, young Denizen? Xavier had been expecting the voice that sounded in his mind to be croaky and strained, but this voice was nothing like that. It was strong and powerful, like that of a classically trained actor. Xavier stopped himself from asking the spirit to say, ¡°You shall not pass!¡± I wish to learn about two categories of magic. Teleportation magic, and Portal magic, Xavier replied. It was the same thought that he¡¯d kept in his mind, and he always wondered why the spirits wished him to repeat it. Though he did find it was wise to become more specific when he explained what he wished for, and so he continued. I want to branch out into a new path of power. Initially, I think I can benefit from better mobility on the battlefield. Ultimately, I wish the path of magic to help me better travel the Greater Universe. The wizened old spirit bowed his head. A wise wish for your future. Travel between worlds and sectors brings insight that one can rarely, if ever, find at home. Though I imagine you are aware of that, as a Champion making their way through the different tower floors. The wizened old man began pacing inside the time dilation field. Xavier might have expected him to use his staff as a walking stick, simply considering how damned old the man looked, but he didn¡¯t seem to need its aide. Just because he looks old, doesn¡¯t mean he isn¡¯t powerful. In fact, being this old probably means he¡¯s incredibly powerful. He also¡­ wasn¡¯t alive. Xavier wondered if the spirit had suffered ailments in life whether they would have followed him into death. If so, he didn¡¯t think that would be very fair. Both paths of magic will provide you with what you wish to achieve, the spirit said. Teleportation magic is the most purest of the two forms. It is most effective at moving the Denizen who wields the magic. Portal magic can help move yourself, your allies, or your enemies, but it lacks the same kind of speed as teleportation magic. Your movements will be telegraphed in a way that teleportation magic does not suffer from. Xavier considered what the man was saying for a moment. He couldn¡¯t help but remember the one time he¡¯d fought a foe that had the ability to create portals. The mage made portals for their allies to loose arrows through. Xavier had been able to feel when a portal opened simply in the way the air shifted, even if he didn¡¯t see the portal appear. He played a fight out in his mind. Whenever he used a portal to teleport somewhere, he would have to create the portal first. Even if he could do that incredibly fast, the wizened old spirit was right. His movements would most certainly be telegraphed. He tapped his foot on the ground as he contemplated the better option. As I develop these paths, which of them would be the better path for pure combat? The old spirit stopped pacing. He stared at Xavier for a long moment. His face became even more wrinkled as he frowned. I think you have walked the path long enough to know that power can be found in all magics. It is in the manner that you wield the magic, not the inherent power of the magic. Xavier sighed. Though he didn¡¯t disagree with the answer he¡¯d just been given, it was a conclusion he could have come to himself. This wasn¡¯t the type of specific information he¡¯d been after when he¡¯d cast Otherworldly Communion. But he supposed he couldn¡¯t have someone simply tell him what he needed to do, or which path was ¡°strongest.¡± He had the same dilemma when it came to choosing a boon. Xavier sensed that he still had time with the spirit, which was good, as he had more questions. He and the spirit spoke for a time about the two different paths. Xavier learnt of the spells that he might be able to choose from. In this instance, he was only looking for a single spell to use his Spell Credit on, but it was good to learn about what things he could have access to later down the track. Xavier had thought that of the two, portal magic could be the most versatile. He¡¯d imagined shoving enemies through the portals, stopping them before they were all the way through, then deactivating the portal so they were severed in half. The spirit told him that this would indeed be an option for his portal magic. But he also told him that when a teleportation mage became strong enough, they were able to teleport into solid matter and displace it. Xavier, for a moment, imagined what that might mean. He had an image of Neo in the Matrix jumping into Agent Smith and killing him from the inside. He didn¡¯t exactly fancy the idea of teleporting into an enemy, but it certainly sounded as though it could have a lot of potential as well¡­ Xavier started tapping his foot again, but stopped when he realised it annoyed the spirit he¡¯d been speaking to. For his short-term and long-term wish, teleportation magic was the best option. It would help him manoeuvre around the battlefield far better than he could at this stage. However¡­ Portal magic just seemed way cooler. He could fully admit that it had its downsides, and he could see that it might never be as purely fast as teleportation magic. And he wasn¡¯t choosing it simply because of the coolness factor¡ªeven if that was what was helping him sway toward it. He simply saw that the base portal spell he could choose had far more versatility than the base teleportation spell.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I could always come back and choose the other one in the future. If I find out a way to gain enough Spell Credits¡­ Xavier thanked the wizened old spirit that had appeared. The spirit bowed his head. Choose wisely, young Denizen. I see much in your future. May we meet again. The wizened old man disappeared. Colour swiftly returned to the world, and time began to move forward again. Though, as he still stood inside of his time dilation field, in a way it was still frozen for everyone but him. Xavier sat, cross-legged on the ground. He¡¯d made his decision. He focused on his Spell Credits once more and brought up the different categories of magic. He searched for the one he was after, then selected it. If you choose to look at the Portal Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Yes, Xavier willed, after reading the notification carefully once more. Suddenly, he could see dozens of different portal spells. There were more portal spells¡ªsubcategories of portal magic¡ªbut it looked as though he wasn¡¯t able to see what they were. The subcategories were greyed out. And they weren¡¯t the only things that were greyed out. The spells he could see were too. He frowned as he noticed that all but one of them was greyed out. This was exactly what he¡¯d been worried about. The Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class allowed him to walk any path of power he wished, but that didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t some restrictions. He focused on one of the greyed-out spells¡ªMass Portal. A notification appeared before him. You do not currently meet the prerequisites to learn this spell by using a Spell Credit. You must first learn Portal before you can select Mass Portal. Xavier tilted his head to the side. He wondered what the difference between the two spells was. They hadn¡¯t specifically talked about the Mass Portal spell. From speaking with the spirit, he¡¯d learnt that the basic portal spell could be manipulated by the user. It could be made to be large, like the portals the Endless Horde had come through back on the fifth floor, or they could be as small as the ones he¡¯d had arrows come at him through. The Mass Portal spell must be able to do something the normal one couldn¡¯t. Or, perhaps, it simply made it easier for the user to create large portals. Either way, he was more than a little frustrated that he couldn¡¯t simply pick any spell he wished. Though it was curious that the description said he couldn¡¯t use a Spell Credit to learn the spell. From the way it was worded, Xavier got the impression that there might be other ways for him to learn the spell, along with other greyed out spells. Perhaps he could gain Spell Quests, as Rhaalir had suggested might happen, that would allow him to learn spells that Spell Credits didn¡¯t initially give him access to. I suppose it would have been a little too easy if I could just go into a category and pick whatever spell I wished from all that existed. I¡¯d be able to pick something that only the most powerful Denizens in the entire Greater Universe had access to when they became A Grade or something. He released a contented sigh. There was no going back now. He¡¯d already selected this category, and there was only a single spell there that he was able to choose from. A thrill of excitement ran through him as he selected the spell. You have gained the spell: Portal Xavier let out a joyful laugh. It was nice to know he still took so much pleasure in learning new spells. There was just something amazing about having access to more magic that no other experience in his life thus far was able to match. Xavier basked in the feeling for a moment. This was the first new spell that he¡¯d gained since becoming D Grade, and it opened up a whole new path that he hadn¡¯t had available to him before. He opened up the spell¡¯s description. Portal ¨C Rank 1 The Portal spell allows the user to create a portal that can transfer matter from one place in space to another place in space. The distance at which this spell can reach varies depending on the power of the user and the rank of the spell itself. The user must have intimate knowledge of where both portals are being created. This spell has a single, varied path. The description wasn¡¯t very long, but he supposed it didn¡¯t need to be. It matched up with what the wizened old spirit had told him, and it had been what he¡¯d imagined. The wizened old spirit told him several things that the description of the spell didn¡¯t, however. First, the spell had a varied cooldown. The larger the portal Xavier made, the longer the cooldown would last. Or, if he were to make multiple portals at once¡ªsomething that he would be able to do as he grew in power with the spell¡ªthen that too would make the cooldown longer. The cooldown would also become longer the more distance he required of the portal. Fortunately, the cooldown wasn¡¯t locked to the usage of the spell. This meant that the instant he cast the portal spell, the cooldown would begin. He didn¡¯t need to deactivate the spell first. There were other limitations to the Portal spell as well. He could only create a portal to somewhere he had intimate knowledge of, as the description said. That meant that if he hadn¡¯t been somewhere before, or if he couldn¡¯t currently see the place, there would be no way for him to create a portal there¡ªat least, not with this particular spell. There were other ways to create portals. Items that could be bought at the System Shop, or rituals that could be performed. He realised now that it had been rituals the people back on the fifth floor of the Tower of Champions had performed to create the portals that allowed Queen Alastea¡¯s people to flee their world from the Endless Horde. But the wizened old spirit had informed him that there were spell that would help him see far-off distances. Ones that would enable him to throw his sight. He¡¯d been vaguely aware of these spells. His Farscope ability allowed him to do something similar, although the radius hadn¡¯t actually changed. Xavier contemplated using his Spell Credit to gain one of these sight spells, but thought better of it. There would be other times for him to do such things, and there might be other ways he could gain one of those spells. There could be other spells, too, other gaps in the way that he fought, that he would need to learn in the meantime¡ªespecially considering the enemies he wanted to go after on this floor. No, well before he considered what the next spell he wanted to use his final Spell Credit on was, he wanted to actually use the one he¡¯d just learnt. Xavier didn¡¯t deactivate the time dilation field yet. The first portal he wanted to create would only be a small one. Xavier paced around the inside of his time bubble. He imagined where he wished the portals to appear. When he cast the spell, it would create a portal anchored near him, and another portal somewhere else. According to the spirit he¡¯d summoned, the portals were two-way¡ªunlike the wormholes in that Stargate TV show. Definitely something to keep in mind. He cast his Portal spell for the first time. Book 5: Chapter 6 - Fun and Games Xavier grinned. He¡¯d just cast his Portal spell, and was testing it out. The portal he¡¯d created was smaller than he¡¯d expected. He hadn¡¯t held an intention in his mind¡ªsomething the spirit he¡¯d summoned with Otherworldly Communion had told him he would need to do if he wished to affect the size and shape of the portal. He had wanted to see what the spell would look like if he cast it naturally, without trying to alter it. The portal he¡¯d created was wider than his head¡ªabout the size of a large dinner plate. Certainly not large enough for him to step through it. The portal anchored to him was directly in front of him, while its twin was about twenty feet away. Both portals were inside his time dilation field. He did want to test what happened when he had one portal inside the time bubble and one outside, but he wasn¡¯t ready to try that yet. The portal itself was a shimmering purple. In his mind, he¡¯d been imagining it as blue. Probably because of all the sci-fi television he¡¯d watched growing up. The surface of the portal rippled and looked remarkably like water. That, he found, eerily strange. Xavier examined the portal. He couldn¡¯t feel a breeze coming through it, like the other mage-made portals he¡¯d had experience with in the past, but that was because he was standing in a time dilation field. The wind outside of it was too slow to affect the wind inside, so the air became still. He hesitated, for only a split-second, then he put his arm through it and watched as it came out the other side twenty feet away. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned.¡± Xavier chuckled at the sight of his hand. He waved over at himself. It was very disorientating. Certainly something he would need to get used to. When he¡¯d first saw the portal magic category, he¡¯d hoped that he would be able to see what was on the other side of the portal when he created one, as though it was like looking through a pane of glass at the other location. He was a little disappointed that wasn¡¯t possible. All the more reason to get some sort of far-sight ability. But I don¡¯t need one of those right now. Xavier pulled his hand back out through the portal and took a few things out of his Storage Ring. Then, he spent what was probably far too much time throwing things into the portal and watching as the came out of the other one, and vice versa. Things could only ever enter through one side of the portal, which he knew made perfect sense. The other side of the portals¡ªthe portals just hung in the air as he walked around them, held up by nothing but magic¡ªwas completely flat. He could clearly see this with his Farscope, but he liked looking at it with the naked eye. A few times, Xavier tested what happened when something touched the opposite side of the portal. He tossed an apple at it. It went straight through, as though the portal wasn¡¯t even there at all. Xavier contemplated what that would mean. If someone were shooting arrows, say, at his chest, he would need to ensure when he cast the Portal spell, that he created a portal facing in the right direction¡ªotherwise he would fail to redirect the arrow¡¯s flight, and casting the spell would be useless. Xavier tilted his head to the side, wondering about all the different applications he could use the portals for, especially as he grew in power with the spell. Considering how strong his Intelligence attribute was, the wizened old spirit had said he should be rather strong in the spell as it was, but that more applications of it would come as he experimented. That reminded him a lot of how the Time Alteration spell worked. Whenever he¡¯d learnt how to alter the size and shape of the time dilation field, or reverse the flow of time inside of it, or expand it on the fly, he¡¯d gained ranks with it. The Portal spell acted in a similar way. All he needed to do was experiment, and that was something he could have a bit of fun with. Once he had played with the first portal he¡¯d created for a while, he looked at the cooldown. Portal has a cooldown of 1 minute. It cannot be used for another 1 minute. Xavier sighed. Of course the cooldown on the spell hadn¡¯t moved. He deactivated the time dilation field and watched the countdown timer on the cooldown start to tick by. That¡¯s better. A minute cooldown was far too long for the types of applications he wanted to use this spell for. Considering how powerful his attributes were, it made him wonder just how long the cooldown of this spell would have been if he¡¯d gained it as a Level 1 Mage with only eight or ten points in Intelligence. Would it have taken an hour to cooldown? Longer? The wizened spirit had told him that the cooldown would change significantly not only as the spell¡¯s rank improved, but also as Xavier mastered the spell. At first, making the portal larger would be mentally taxing, and so the cooldown would take longer.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. As he grew in proficiency, casting the spell many times over, it would become easier and easier for him to use. Then, the cooldown would reduce. Xavier was curious about that. Even though he hadn¡¯t had another spell that worked quite like that, he was glad that this one did. He wanted to improve it as much as possible. A minute was a drastically long time for him in a fight these days and would likely mean for shorter encounters he¡¯d only get to use the spell a single time. And that just wasn¡¯t how he imagined things going. If I have access to basically any spell, maybe there are spells out there that can help with the cooldown of other spells. I already know that¡¯s an option with imbued abilities¡­ It certainly seemed like it would be a possibility. One that he would have to look into in the future. He ordered his mind, placing that thought somewhere he¡¯d be able to pull it back out later. As having one portal remaining active didn¡¯t affect his ability to cast the spell a second time, Xavier kept the first set of portals up. He wanted to see how long they would last. After some time inspecting his own mind, he found that he could feel that the portals were active. He could easily will them to shut down. He wondered if they would shut down instantly, or if there would be a delay. That was something he would test out later. As time passed, he felt a slight amount of mental effort at keeping the portal active. He also saw that as long as the portal remained active, it ate at his Spirit Energy. His Spirit Energy was incredibly robust, so it honestly didn¡¯t matter to him how much this spell used. Xavier cast the second set of portals. This time, he made sure to create a portal large enough that he could step through. If he wanted to use this spell to move around the battlefield more effectively, then he would have to be able to actually move through it. The casting of the spell definitely took more time than he wished, but that too, he knew, would diminish with practice. [Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a Rank 2 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier raised an eyebrow. That was fast. After casting Portal for a second time, another portal stood in front of him. It was large enough for him to step through, but it still felt a little small for his liking. The other, twin portal was roughly ten feet away this time. Xavier took a deep breath, as though he were about to plunge into deep waters¡ªa habit he knew he would have to dispense, as he couldn¡¯t very well telegraph the use of this spell even more¡ªthen he stepped through. He made sure to retract his wings into his back as he did so, just to make sure they wouldn¡¯t be clipped by the sides of the portal. I¡¯ll definitely have to make them bigger in the future. When he stepped out the other side, he felt a slight sense of disorientation. But it was nothing that he hadn¡¯t felt before whenever he was teleported somewhere by the System. This felt far better than being teleported, however, as he was the one in control of where the portals came out. It was a little bit like back on Earth, pre-integration¡ªwhenever he was a passenger in a car, he got a bit motion sick. But whenever he drove? That motion sickness was nowhere to be found. It was entirely different when you were the one in control. Xavier felt giddy as he stepped back through the portal again. He leapt from one to the other and laughed to himself. He was probably having far too much fun with this. But what was the harm in having a bit of fun? He was doing magic! Why shouldn¡¯t he enjoy it? He checked on the cooldown and frowned. Portal has a cooldown of 3 minutes. It cannot be used for another 2 minutes and 3 seconds. The cooldown was three times as long when he created a larger portal, but that cooldown had started before he¡¯d reached Rank 2 in the spell, and definitely before he¡¯d gained any proficiency with it. He would be able to shorten that cooldown significantly. Xavier practised and experimented with the spell for hours in that clearing. He lost count of the numbers of portals created. Small portals, large portals, massive portals¡ªones that only lasted for a split-second, as he didn¡¯t yet have the ability to properly cast them. He trained until the sun went down, then he trained some more. Eventually, as he trained, he activated Aura of Fear. He was sick of beasts wandering into his little clearing and attacking him without provocation. He couldn¡¯t train inside of his time dilation field either, otherwise the cooldown would never move. The Aura of Fear skill prevented any beasts from entering the area while it was activated. Xavier was impressed, though he doubted it would work on beasts that were truly powerful¡ªones that were actually strong enough to face him. He trained all through the night. When the sun rose on the seventh day since he¡¯d acquired the spell, its rays pouring over the great forest of the hundredth floor, he was starting to feel satisfied with his proficiency. Xavier was able to push the Portal spell incredibly far in a short period of time, something he knew was only possible because of his grade and attributes, and the guidance he¡¯d received from the spirit during his use of Otherworldly Communion. He¡¯d also learnt to incorporate his Split Mind skill into the training, which greatly helped him. As of that morning, his training with the spell consisted only of using it in that clearing, and only using it outside of combat. He had a lot of theories about how he could use it in combat, but he hadn¡¯t actually tested them out yet. He¡¯d been trying his utmost to reduce the cooldown on the spell so he could make it significantly more effective in battle. The spell wasn¡¯t all the way to Rank 100, and it certainly wasn¡¯t beyond that¡ªnow that he was D Grade, he would eventually be able to bring all of his spells and skills to Rank 150¡ªbut in those mere seven days that he¡¯d been training with it he¡¯d managed to get it all the way to Rank 75. That, he thought, was an incredible feat, considering it probably took years for Denizens starting with the spell to get it that far. At one point during his training, he¡¯d had to pause and go after the beast from the noticeboard. He needed to complete at least one Hunt Quest per week if he wished to remain on the hundredth floor. He¡¯d made quick work of the beast¡ªnot bothering to utilise his new spell¡ªthen returned to his practice. Now, it was time he ventured out and actually used the Portal spell on an enemy. Not just on one enemy. On lots of enemies. Xavier grinned. He figured he would make a game of testing out the new spell. There was a particular enemy that he had faced recently that he found more interesting than the others. The Forest Dryads. He leapt into the air, his wings flapping outward at his back, and soared over the great forest in search of their territory once more. This was going to be an interesting fight. Book 5: Chapter 7 - Now You’re Thinking With Portals Xavier swooped down through the forest, heading straight for the Forest Dryads he¡¯d spotted from high above in the air. Just like the first time he¡¯d done this, the Forest Dryads spotted him well before he made it down to them. Xavier wasn¡¯t exactly inconspicuous, flying through the air on massive, black wings. The whoosh of his wings was loud enough to be heard from quite a distance as well. But he wasn¡¯t attempting to be stealthy. Once more, they closed off the canopy, using their affinity with nature to control the very trees, the branches growing and intertwining, getting in his way. Xavier could have used Heavy Telekinesis for a second time and crushed those trees to make a way for him to fly through, but that wasn¡¯t how he wanted to do this. Unless he felt in any way threatened, Xavier was restricting the number of spells that he could use during this fight. To only one. The only spell that he was going to use against the Forest Dryads was his new Portal spell. He knew he could defeat all of the Forest Dryads¡ªif these were anything like the last six he¡¯d faced¡ªwith incredible ease. He could certainly destroy them with his melee abilities alone. And that¡¯s what he was going to do¡ªhe was just going to incorporate his melee abilities with that of his new spell. He¡¯d never done any of this in actual combat. He¡¯d only practiced it by himself back in that clearing. But he had a good idea of what he wanted to do. Still soaring through the air, Xavier cast Portal. As he¡¯d gotten a good look at the clearing below before the dryads had closed off the gap in the canopy, he now had an ¡°intimate knowledge¡± of the area in which he wanted the second portal to appear. This was something he¡¯d tested out a lot before coming here. Glancing at a spot he¡¯d never seen before, then turning around or closing his eyes and creating a portal in that spot. It required him to take a precise snapshot of the area and lock it in his memory, something he found was easy to do considering how powerful his mind had become. The portal anchored to him appeared about six feet in front of him and he flew straight threw it, curling his wings around him to become smaller and at the same time increase his speed. Xavier had learnt how to move that anchored portal farther and farther away from him. He could put it around twenty feet away from him, but so far no more than that. This, he knew, would help when it wasn¡¯t him that he wanted to put through the portal, or if he needed a bit of a run up¡ªor fly up?¡ªbefore reaching it. The secondary portal, he could put roughly as far as he could see¡ªmaybe a few miles more¡ªbut it was getting stronger with every rank he gained. Xavier appeared in the clearing. From the wide-eyed looks of the Forest Dryads he came upon, this move had definitely taken them by surprise. Xavier had intentionally created the portal so it would appear directly in front of one of the dryads he¡¯d spotted from above. So, as he came through it, he slammed straight into the dryad and they both went flying into a tree. There was a crunch as the dryad¡¯s bones broke, cushioning the impact for him. Xavier managed to push off the dryad and flipped over, extending his wings to gain better control in the air. He launched himself back to the clearing where the other dryads were, his wings increasing his speed dramatically, even though he was already incredibly fast. There were more dryads in this group than there had been in the last one that he¡¯d faced, something that took him a little by surprise. The last group of Forest Dryads he¡¯d faced¡ªone warrior, two archers, and three mages¡ªhad only been six. This group was double that. For a moment he considered if he should play this differently. It might be a little bit of a risk to restrict his spells. But it was only a small part of him that considered such a thing. The rest of him was excited at the prospect of an even greater challenge than he¡¯d first anticipated. There were several bow-wielders and mages in this group, and so many attacks were already coming at him as he flew back to the clearing. Xavier grinned. This was exactly what he wanted to test. The first portal he made was still in the middle of the clearing where he¡¯d left it. The instant he¡¯d made it, he¡¯d split his mind so that he could keep one part of him always ensuring the portal didn¡¯t close. He had enough mental capacity to handle that with ease. Xavier cast Portal a second time. As the wizened old spirit had said, the cooldown would reduce significantly as his proficiency in the spell grew along with its ranks. And that had definitely been the case. The second casting of the Portal spell of this fight had him create multiple portals. This was something he was still straining to get better at. It was one of the more difficult things he needed to master with this spell. He made three different sets of portals, and not only did he need to make sure he positioned the anchored portals in the right spots, he also needed to position their twin counterparts in the right locations too. The arrows and spells soared straight through the portals he¡¯d created, missing Xavier completely, ensuring that he didn¡¯t need to dodge the spells or use Soul Block¡ªnot that he would allow himself to use that spell right now. The connecting three portals appeared near his enemies. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how much damage these arrows and spells would do to the dryads themselves, but he was about to find out.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He had one portal facing three different dryads. He¡¯d targeted three of the mages, as he knew that they would have the weakest Toughness out of the Denizens here. One of the mages managed to bring up some sort of defensive barrier. She reacted quicker than her kin. The other two mages were hit by the spells and arrows. One of them, an arrow slammed straight into his throat, while an arcing bolt of green lightning hit him directly in the stomach. He went down, hard, dying in an instant. A kill notification popped up in his vision, and that wasn¡¯t all. Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a Rank 76 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier grinned manically at the sight of the notification. That had been exactly what he¡¯d hoped for. The third of the mage¡¯s he¡¯d hit had been hurt, but not quite so severely as the second. Still, they were not long for this world. Xavier fanned his wings out so he stopped abruptly in the air. He¡¯d created the three portals that were anchored to him so that they would face the enemy, meaning he¡¯d been able to fly directly through them. Now, he paused on the other side, using his wings to allow him to hover. He turned and punched directly through one of the portals¡ªthe one that connected to the mage who¡¯d put up a defensive barrier¡ªand managed to claw through that barrier through sheer Strength and then grab the dryad by the forehead. This was about to get gruesome. He pulled her head through the small portal until her neck was at the opening. Her eyes had gone incredibly wide as she stared at him, for she knew what was about to happen next. Xavier killed the portals. The Forest Dryad¡¯s neck was severed, and all he was holding was her head. He dropped the head to the ground and flew directly upward. The cooldown after creating that many portals had been brought down since he¡¯d gotten better at the spell, but it was still about five seconds. While that was better than the shortest cooldown he¡¯d had when he first used the spell¡ªwhich had been a full minute¡ªit still wasn¡¯t quite where he wanted it to be. Xavier soared through the air, breaking branches as he flew. Vines were coming at him from every angle now. The Forest Dryads were trying to trap him. He felt of those vines try to lash onto his wings, but he was moving too fast and was able to shrug them off. He dodged the different spells and attacks at he made his way to the centre of the clearing. It didn¡¯t take him long to re-enter the fray. He landed on the ground. The portal in the centre of the clearing was still up. He grabbed one of the two sword-wielding Forest Dryads¡ªlike the last time, these were the most powerful of the group¡ªand tossed him straight through the centre portal. He heard the beginnings of a shout rip from the man¡¯s throat, then that sound suddenly was coming from high above, where the portal had originally been activated. Actually, it came from two places¡ªhe could hear it through the portal as well. It was an eerie echo. He doubted the fall would do much damage to someone at Level 299, but at least he got the dryad out of the clearing for a moment. Xavier grabbed another of the dryads¡ªthis time an archer¡ªand was about to toss him through the portal when vines wrapped around his legs. Even more than had the first time. The vines crawled up to his arms faster than Xavier could throw the dryad he held. Xavier grunted as the vines managed to lock him in place¡ªbut they only stopped him for a moment. He was strong enough to move, though he was much slower than he had been a moment ago. At the same time, the Portal spell reached the end of its cooldown. Which was good, because in the few moments that he¡¯d been in the middle of the clearing, he¡¯d already been hit by several arrows and spells. His wings had slapped a few of those arrows out of the way, but one had lodged itself in his thigh, while a bolt of arcing green lightning had hit him square in the chest. Xavier¡¯s mind was split into multiple parts, as it often was when he was fighting. One of those parts monitored his health. He may have been restricting this fight to only using the one spell, but if he got himself in any true danger, he could always change that. Your health is at 90%. Xavier blinked. He¡¯d taken two hits from D Grades, and his health was still at 90 percent? When he had first come here, enemies weaker than the ones he was currently facing had been able to take his health down by more than half in a single strike. Xavier had of course known he¡¯d come a long way since entering to the hundredth floor, but seeing it from that perspective¡­ it was eye opening. Though it did remind him that even though he was far, far more resistant to these enemies¡¯ attacks than he had been in the past, he still wasn¡¯t immune to them. They could hurt him, and if he let them get in enough hits, they would. Being locked in place by their vines certainly wasn¡¯t doing him any favours. Xavier had taken out two of the dryads so far, and displaced a third through a portal¡ªthough he knew it would only take a moment for the first of the two sword-wielding Forest Dryads to gain their bearings and teleport back to the glade where he fought. Actually, he thought the dryad would have returned faster than they had¡­ Then Xavier had a thought¡ªmaybe the teleportation spell the dryad used, the one that turned them into leaves and had them sprout from the ground, had limiting requirements like Xavier¡¯s old Soul Step ability had. The dryad might very well need to have their feet on the ground when they cast it. Xavier focused his mind and created several portals as another volley of attacks came his way. He still had his hands on the other sword-wielding dryad, who he¡¯d been about to toss through the first portal he¡¯d made during this fight, and the attacks came from either side of him with incredibly accuracy¡ªthere was no way they would hit the other dryad. He had to push his mind a little harder this time. He was making more portals than he had the last time. Last time he¡¯d made three sets of portals. This time he intended to make five. Three of those portals served the same purpose as the last time. To protect him from being struck by the long-ranged attacks. The fourth and fifth portal, however, served a different purpose. It took a surprising amount of concentration for him to create these portals while he was in the middle of battle, much more than it had needed when he¡¯d simply been training in the middle of a clearing all by himself. He needed to ensure that each portal appeared in the exact spot that he needed them to, facing the right direction. The portals sprang into life, their light illuminating the forest around him in a purple glow. Several arrows and spells sailed through the first three portals, not a single one of them hitting Xavier. They moved through their twin portals and slammed into one of the enemies¡ªthe sword-wielding Forest Dryad that he was holding fast in his hands. The dryad was struggling against Xavier¡¯s superior strength. Xavier held his neck in a death grip, squeezing as hard as he could, crushing the man¡¯s airways. Not that he needed to take constant breaths. He knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill this dryad. He should have struck with his claws, but the vines were making it difficult for him to move. He¡¯d normally be strong enough to rip himself away from these damned vines. For some reason, there was something that was making them stronger than they had been before. Maybe it was the fact that there were more spellcasters in this glade than there had been in the last one¡ªthey may have been combining their powers. That¡¯s what the last two portals were for. He¡¯d had to angle them perfectly if he¡¯d wanted this to work. Xavier had been practicing with these portals for days, but this wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d ever done before. He knew how to place the portals where he wanted, but he¡¯d never needed to be this precise before. It had put an even deeper strain on his concentration and make sure he knew he exact trajectory the arrows would go, and he couldn¡¯t be off by a hairsbreadth. Book 5: Chapter 8 - Deactivating Portals and Decapitating Heads Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a Rank 76 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier grinned. He hadn¡¯t expected to gain a rank up during this fight, but he was glad for it. He¡¯d been straining to place two of the five portals he¡¯d just created in the perfect spot, putting more focus on being precise than he ever had before. And it looks like that effort had paid off. He¡¯d known it would be a good idea to field test this ability. Arrows soared through those fourth and fifth portals. The twin portals were close by, less than a foot away. He held his breath as the arrows soared through and came out of the twin portals. They cut straight through the strongest of the vines wrapped around his body. This slackened the grip the vines had on him, and he was able to shrug them off. Xavier¡¯s instinct was to leap backward and spread his newfound dragonkin wings, but he stood his ground. The first thing that he did was release the Forest Dryad he had his hand on. The dryad was dead, a kill notification springing up in his vision to further prove that. He¡¯d died from a combination of his allies¡¯ attacks striking him and Xavier¡¯s hands wrapped around his neck, strangling the life out of him. Xavier stood his ground and gazed out at the remaining Forest Dryads. There were still a lot of them. From the twelve that had been here when he¡¯d arrived, nine still lived, and eight were still in the clearing. The shout that had come from above became louder as the first of the sword-wielders tumbled to the ground. He glanced up to get a look at the dryad, the one he¡¯d thought would teleport back but never did. The dryad didn¡¯t slam into the ground, however. Just as the branches had moved to try and stop Xavier from flying through the gap in the canopy, so did the branches move for this dryad. They grew and shifted so they could catch him where he fell, like a tightrope walker being caught by a net at the circus. Xavier returned his gaze to the enemies around him. Every single one of them was a long-ranged fighter. The last melee fighter, he was sure, would be back to the ground soon. But these archers and mages had fear in their eyes. Xavier didn¡¯t blame them. They¡¯d only landed two attacks on him since the beginning of the fight. Every other attack had either been dodged, or sent straight back, injuring or killing some of their number. The fear of him was paralysing them, and that was without Xavier needing to activate Aura of Fear. They didn¡¯t appear to know what to do anymore. Xavier was glad they were frozen like that. He knew it wouldn¡¯t last for long, but it was giving his Portal spell time to reach the end of its cooldown. He didn¡¯t cancel out the portals that were around him. If anything, they were like floating shields, protecting a part of him from future attacks. In theory, he could have created one big portal that would have sucked up every single one of the attacks coming his way, but if he wanted to precisely redirect the attacks, he needed to create several smaller portals to reach that end. Xavier tilted his head to the side and tried something as the seconds ticked down on his Portal spell. The cooldown this time around had been a few seconds longer than the last time, as he¡¯d created five portals instead of three, and had to use more concentration than before. Xavier focused on one of the portals in front of him. Something he¡¯d quickly learnt after first experimenting with the Portal spell was that he could sense where his portals were. Even with his eyes closed, or if they were out of range of his Farscope ability, their location in space glowed like a beacon on his mind. It was a rather remarkable sensation. He sensed when the portals sprang to life, and he sensed when they were deactivated. But he wondered if there was something else that portal mages were capable of¡ªsomething else he¡¯d yet to learn how to do. Could they move an active portal? If he had that ability, it would open up a whole other avenue of attack and defence¡­ It was thinking of these portals as floating shields that had given him this idea. Whenever he cast Spirit of Protection, he was able to use a spell that was usually only available to certain tank classes¡ªFloating Shield. This allowed him to move a shield in the air. Doing that same thing with a portal would be amazing. Xavier concentrated his mind to that task. He knew he didn¡¯t have much time to dawdle. He could have practiced this new possible technique somewhere else, but there was something about the pressure of being in battle that had always managed to make him stronger. It pushed him to the very limits of his ability far better than training on his own could. Training on his own could perhaps get him 80 percent of the way there. Training with someone else? More like 90 percent.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. But if he wanted to go all the way, he had to pressure test his abilities in real situations. That was something that he¡¯d discovered when he had first arrived on this floor, and it was something that he knew he needed to hold onto. So Xavier pushed, putting just about every ounce of his mental energy toward this one task¡ªmove the portal that he was focused on. The fear on the Forest Dryads¡¯ eyes was beginning to shift and change into anger and determination. Xavier had first wondered if the fear would make these people run, but it only seemed to strengthen their resolve. He heard a soft sound somewhere behind him, outside of the range of his Farscope ability, and realised it must have been the last remaining sword-wielding Forest Dryad finally making it back to the ground. There was still two seconds remaining before the cooldown on his Portal spell could be used again. Xavier pushed on one of the portals as hard as he could. The archers nocked arrows and pulled strings, the arrowheads taking on a green light. The mages raised staffs, the crystals at their head glowing with powerful energies. The sound of someone running came from behind him. The portal Xavier focused on didn¡¯t move. The arrows were loosed. The spells were cast. The footsteps grew nearer. Xavier pushed at the portal again. If he wasn¡¯t bearing so much concentration down upon it, he might not have seen the slightest of shudders in it. But he¡¯d seen it! It had moved! Though it had only moved by roughly a centimetre¡ªnot far enough to do him any good. An instant after the portal moved, it deactivated without him willing it to. This came as a shock to him. Xavier blinked, coming back to reality. He kicked off the ground, leaping and expanding his wings, swiftly making it into the air just as the attacks came his way. He heard the whoosh of several arrows and felt something slice through his boot and dig into his foot. His Farscope ability showed him exactly what that had been. The sword-wielder had managed to reach him in time to cut him. Xavier was in the air when the Portal spell reached the end of its cooldown. He knew he¡¯d been foolish to just stand there when he¡¯d been attacked from all sides, and wait to the very last moment to move, but that kind of time pressure had made him concentrate even harder than he knew he could. Combat brought something out in him that he didn¡¯t know how to harness outside of it. And he¡¯d moved the portal. That was significant. That was powerful. The moment he¡¯d done it, he¡¯d felt a massive drain on his Spirit Energy. Nothing he couldn¡¯t handle, but it was far more than simply maintaining the Portal spell would allow for. This was something more. Xavier was grinning broadly. In the last battle with the dryads he¡¯d had, he hadn¡¯t been hit once. In this battle, he¡¯d been hit three times. The thrill of the fight was exciting him, and the thrill of discovering new ways to use the spell he¡¯d been practising with for seven days straight was even more exciting. I should restrict myself in fights like this more often. Maybe there are other ways of using existing spells that I have that I¡¯ve never even considered before. While soaring through the air, Xavier felt like it was time to push this fight forward. He created a simple portal, one just large enough for him to fit through, and soared straight through it. He came out on the other side of the portal straight at one of the mages. It only took a single strike for him to take the mage down. The shock on the male dryad¡¯s face was palpable, but the mage didn¡¯t have a chance to scream before his throat was ripped out. The rest of the remaining dryads died swiftly after that. The Portal spell he¡¯d just used had a reduced cooldown to the last few times he¡¯d used it, as he¡¯d gained a rank in the spell and pushed his proficiency forward. A simple portal like that had the spell regenerate in less than a second. Notifications had popped up the moment he¡¯d made that portal shudder. The main part of his conscious mind had been too busy evading the attacks coming his way to read them, but another part of his mind had brought them up instantly. Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a rank 77 spell. Portal is now a rank 78 spell. Portal is now a rank 79 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. He couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by that. He hadn¡¯t gained that many ranks in a row for the Portal spell since the first time he¡¯d started experimenting with it. Moving that portal, even by the tiniest amount, must have been a more significant feat than he¡¯d realised. That was why the cooldown had gone down so much. Xavier couldn¡¯t wipe the manic grin of his face as he soared through portal after portal, taking down his enemies. Sometimes he would create two portals and shove his hands through each one, yanking one Forest Dryad in each hand straight through and deactivating the portals to decapitate them at the exact same time, then he¡¯d toss the heads at the other dryads¡¯ feet. The first time he¡¯d done this there had only been four Forest Dryads remaining. The rage in their eyes deepened, but the fear was evident in them once more. Xavier was getting better and better at reading fear in his enemies, and that had improved significantly since he¡¯d made it to D Grade. He wondered if that had something to do with being dragonkin now. Something told him this race of beings would be very adept at not only reading fear, but creating it. This time, the dryads truly looked as though they wished to run. Xavier didn¡¯t let them. When the fight ended, Xavier had succeeded in what he¡¯d wished to do¡ªhe¡¯d only used a single spell. Portal. And because of that restriction, he¡¯d managed to bring it up all the way to Rank 80, something he hadn¡¯t thought would be possible in a single fight. Xavier looted the corpses and proceeded to prowl through the forest, looking for more Forest Dryads to test himself on. An idea was forming in his mind. Whenever he completed a Hunt Quest, he had different options to choose from. One of those options was Ability Acquisition. Sometimes, when he chose that option, it would reward him with a new spell. Though that was incredibly rare, only having happened to him twice. Other times, it would simply give him more ranks in whatever spells or skills he¡¯d utilised the most during a fight. If Xavier were to do what he¡¯d just done with the Forest Dryads, but instead do the same while fighting a Hunt Quest beast, then he¡¯d be able to push the rank of Portal up even faster than he already had. And if he were able to do the same not just against any Hunt Quest beast, but against a C Grade Hunt Quest beast, well¡­ then there was a chance he might be able to gain another portal magic spell without having to spend a Spell Credit to do so. God, he was going to miss this floor when he was done with it. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t wait to see what he was capable of when he finally left this place and moved forward. Book 5: Chapter 9 - The Wrong Kind of Attention Several months passed on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. And those weren¡¯t months that he spent trapped within one of his time dilation fields. There was only so much training that he could do while stuck inside one of those, especially when they stopped his spells from cooling down. Though there were a few things that his Time Alteration spell had been able to give him. If he only used his melee attacks, he was able to farm a massive number of enemies as fast as he possibly could. The problem with using that method, however, was it wasn¡¯t the way he wished to fight. It helped him on occasion when he was trying to push his skills forward, but without being able to use more than a single spell, it greatly reduced the rate at which he could push the ranks of his spells up. And pushing his spell ranks up was greatly important. Still, he had used the technique several times to boost the rank of his soul bound weapon, Lost Bone of a Dead God, and his own levels as well. He was finding that there was a massive difference levelling up as a D Grade than there had been as an E Grade of F Grade. It took significantly longer for him to gain levels. Significantly. He was also beginning to think that the System¡¯s hand was at play here. It wasn¡¯t the first time the System had nerfed his ability to gain Mastery Points. But gaining levels was important. The more levels he gained, the more attributes he had, and even though lingering in a grade and gaining as much from it as he could had been how he¡¯d gained not only such a powerful class, but also a powerful new race, it didn¡¯t matter how quickly he got to Level 300¡ªhe could simply remain there for as long as he needed to strengthen every other part of him. But Xavier quickly found out that it was a pipe dream to think that he could get anywhere close to reaching C Grade while he was on this floor. Not unless he wanted to spend many years of his life here. The last few months he¡¯d spent here since getting to D Grade had only gained him two levels, and that had been with him trying to gain as many as he possibly could, pushing himself to his very limits in farming enemy monsters. Something told him the System was trying to tell him to move forward¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t something Xavier was ready to do. There was more he wished to achieve on this floor. Fortunately, those months of training hadn¡¯t gone to waste. Though he¡¯d struggled to push his levels forward, he¡¯d had no trouble pushing his ranks forward¡ªboth in his skills and in his spells. That day, he was returning to Hunter¡¯s Home after a particularly long session out hunting beasts. He¡¯d just completed a Hunt Quest as well while he was out, and he was looking to collect his reward from the barkeep. Xavier had completed well over two hundred Hunt Quests, and he wondered if he¡¯d completed more Hunt Quests than any of the other people here by now¡ªexcepting Gimble, of course, as that mad dwarf had been on this floor for who knows how long. Gimble was in the tavern as Xavier entered. He looked over at the dwarf, and something occurred to him. It had occurred to him several times since he¡¯d reached D Grade. What if the System wasn¡¯t nerfing his Mastery Points as much as he thought? Xavier had gained a great deal in the incredibly short period of time since he¡¯d been integrated into the Greater Universe. The strongest Denizen in his entire sector was C Grade, and as far as he knew she¡¯d been around for at least a thousand years. Xavier was well aware of how impatient he was. Well aware of how quickly he wanted to amass power. And with the fact that he¡¯d gotten an unmatched, speedrun achievement for getting to E Grade and D Grade¡­ he was clearly able to do that. But his journey, despite how it had gone so far, was still going to be a long one. There was no way that he could expect to keep progressing at the same speed that he¡¯d maintained since being integrated. Gimble must have been here for¡­ decades, from the way that he spoke, and he was still not close to reaching C Grade. At least, not as far as he¡¯d let on. It might be a very long time until I get there, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t amass enough power to take stronger C Grades down¡ªI took a normal C Grade down before I even made it to D Grade, after all.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Gimble nodded over at him and raised his drink. Xavier had been on raids with the raid group several times since he¡¯d become D Grade, but he felt as though he¡¯d gained a lot more from the experience back when he¡¯d been E Grade, and so he¡¯d fallen back into his solitary training habits. None of the D Grades on this floor, not even Gimble, were able to keep up with him anymore. Xavier nodded back at Gimble, but he didn¡¯t head over to the dwarf¡¯s party. Instead, he headed to the bar. He was there to claim yet another Hunt Quest reward. Briefly, he thought of Rhaalir. The elf spirit from the Otherworld whom he¡¯d made a contract with. The one who had taught him how to better use his Otherworld spells. The spirit was still with him, but he rarely seemed to appear anymore. Sometimes, he didn¡¯t even respond when Xavier called to him. Xavier chalked that up to the fact that he hadn¡¯t been able to gain any more Otherworld spells as of late, so the elf had nothing much to teach him, but he was beginning to wonder if something else might be at work. Perhaps the connection they had was damaged somehow. He would need to look into that. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t able to use his Otherworldly Communion spell as much as he¡¯d liked anymore. It took him far longer to gain a level as a D Grade than it ever had in the past, so he¡¯d been limited to the actual cooldown that the spell had. The spell¡¯s cooldown often varied, but more often than not it took a month. He¡¯d needed to use those insights on other things. The floorboards creaked beneath Xavier¡¯s boots as he made his way to the bar. His great black wings were tugged tightly to his back, though not fully retracted, as he walked. It felt strange fully retracting his wings into his back, as though they were no longer a part of him, and so he was doing that less and less. Felicia had a steaming mug of coffee waiting for him by the time he reached the bar. The woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°You know, once upon a time you were a commodity. Someone people could bet on, and there was a little mystery as to what the outcome would be. At least for a little while. Now, betting on you isn¡¯t fun anymore. It¡¯s all dried up, except for a few new additions to the floor who haven¡¯t gotten to know your reputation. If I catch them early enough.¡± Xavier smirked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve affected your side business.¡± Felicia let out a dry laugh. ¡°You know it¡¯s not just my side business, you¡¯ve profited off this little venture too.¡± Felicia had long been making bets on his behalf, since the first time Xavier had entered this floor and gone on a Hunt Quest. And the woman was right, he had made a good deal of coin from the arrangement. But making coin wasn¡¯t something he was all that concerned about. ¡°I¡¯m here to redeem another Hunt Quest.¡± Felicia sighed. ¡°Of course you are.¡± She tilted her head to the side, looked over at the notice board. ¡°So, when are you going to go after them?¡± He raised his head and looked into her eyes. ¡°After them?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Felicia eyed him. ¡°You think I don¡¯t see the way you stare at those two Hunt Quests tacked to the board. Every time you come in here, you stand in front of that board, just looking at them.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°You¡¯ve been paying that close attention to me, have you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the only one, you know. You¡¯re being watched by a lot of people here. Have been for a while. There are some Champions that have hung around longer than they usually would, and they always seem to be in the tavern whenever you show up. Haven¡¯t you found that strange?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t really pay all that much attention to the other Champions in this place, except for a few of them who¡¯d been in the raid group. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really noticed. Though Gimble always seems to be here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Gimble I¡¯m talking about.¡± Xavier noticed, with his Farscope ability that allowed him to see everything in a 100-foot radius, that the barkeep had concealed their conversation from the rest of the room. This made him lean a little forward in his stool. It meant she was trying to talk to him about something important. With his Farscope ability, he looked around at the different faces in the bar. There were plenty of people who¡¯d looked his way when he¡¯d first entered. He¡¯d become a person of notoriety around here, even if he hadn¡¯t intended to be. So that wasn¡¯t unusual. Some of those people were still looking his way¡ªa few with clear respect, others with small hints of resentment. He could even sense a bit of fear, even though fighting other Champions was strictly restricted by the System on this floor, so there was no chance that he was going to hurt them. Xavier had to say he didn¡¯t find any of that behaviour strange. There were, however, a few Champions in the place that pointedly weren¡¯t looking at him, and that made him wonder¡­ ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the first time I¡¯ve gained attention I wasn¡¯t aware of,¡± Xavier said, thinking about the presences that have looked at him in the past¡ªEmpress Larona and Adranial¡¯s ancestor. And, well, the System itself. Felica waved a hand. ¡°If you¡¯re going to make your move, you need to do it soon.¡± Xavier frowned again. ¡°What do you mean? There isn¡¯t a time limit on this floor.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°No. There isn¡¯t. But I want you to be aware of something. I¡¯ve been here for a long time, and I¡¯ve seen others receive the look you¡¯re getting now. You may think you¡¯re safe around these people because the System restricts violence on this floor, but that hasn¡¯t stopped me from seeing Champions murdered.¡± ¡°Seeing?¡± Xaiver raised an eyebrow. ¡°This bar is a Safe Zone. I didn¡¯t think violence like that would even be possible?¡± Felicia¡¯s gaze slipped to the left. ¡°This isn¡¯t the only place on the floor that I¡¯m able to see, you know. I have ways of throwing my sight. Ways of observing things out there. Comes in handy when seeing the outcomes of bets, among other things¡­¡± ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ve been spying on me out there?¡± Felicia shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°I¡¯ve got to be entertained somehow. I have to say, the way you took down that Fetid Forest Troll¡­ I¡¯ve never seen anyone fight like that before.¡± The Fetid Forest Troll was the C Grade beast he¡¯d taken down back when he¡¯d been E Grade. Xavier sighed. Perhaps he should have felt a little violated that she¡¯d been watching and he hadn¡¯t even known, but it honestly didn¡¯t come as much of a surprise. As he thought about this reality, something clicked in his mind. ¡°The birds.¡± Book 5: Chapter 10 - The Guilt Didn’t Last as Long as It Usually Did ¡°What?¡± Felicia said, blinking at him from the other side of the bar in Hunter¡¯s Home, but her tone gave her away. ¡°What birds?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how you watch people out there, isn¡¯t it? That¡¯s how you throw your sight?¡± Xavier had noticed, more than once, that the same bird had been observing him while he was out fighting beasts. He¡¯d been aware of it for a good while now. He¡¯d not thought too much of it, if he were honest, but whenever he did think on it he knew it was strange. Felicia bit her lip. ¡°Maybe.¡± She sighed. ¡°All right, yes, it¡¯s how I do it.¡± She shook her head. ¡°But you should heed my warning, Xavier. The way some of these people are looking at you, I can tell it¡¯s not the good kind of attention. As much as I love having your company on this floor, and have certainly profited it, maybe it¡¯s time you left. And it would be wise if you took that time mage, Liana, with you. She may be safe here, but people know she¡¯s the one who¡¯s spent the most time with you. If you left and they wanted information on you¡­¡± She left the rest of the words unsaid. Xavier didn¡¯t need her to spell it out for him. He understood what she was implying. He drummed his fingers on the bar. Despite the fact that he could see people in the bar with Farscope, he still had the urge to turn around and stare at each of them. To ferret out who it was that might not just wish ill will for him, but actually be planning to carry something out. Do I even fear any of these people? He thought on that a moment. And he found that he didn¡¯t¡ªhe believed that he could win a fight against any Champion in this place. That didn¡¯t mean he was right. There could be another True Progenitor in this bar, for all he knew. But it wouldn¡¯t just be one Champion he¡¯d fight, it would likely be an entire party. Maybe even two, for all he knew. And something told him whoever went after him would do it at a time that he was most vulnerable. Like when he was fighting a beast¡­ If they were the type to be plotting an assassination, they wouldn¡¯t be the type to fight fair. ¡°You really think someone is after me?¡± Xavier asked Felicia. He didn¡¯t see why she would lie. ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure, Xavier. But, tell me, have you made any enemies?¡± Xavier looked down at the bar. Oh, he¡¯d certainly made a few enemies, despite barely having ventured out into his sector. He imagined the threat he¡¯d made to protect Earth¡­ well, there would be a lot of people out there who¡¯d want his head for that alone. Then there was that father of the man he¡¯d killed. He was C Grade, and from a whole other sector to Silver River. Who knew what kind of power such a man could bring to bear? What kind of connections he might have? Xavier inclined his head. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve made my share of enemies. Didn¡¯t think any of them would be able to reach me here¡­¡± He would say it would be a huge coincidence if anyone who knew who he was and wished him ill will turned up here, but as long as he¡¯d been on this floor¡­ word might have already had time to spread about his whereabouts, from Champions that had long moved on from the floor. Time moved different here, that was true, but he¡¯d been here for many months. A minute passed for every hour here. He hadn¡¯t kept exact track of how long he¡¯d been here in entirety. That was difficult when he spent so long inside time dilation fields. But at least eight months had passed. Maybe nine. If it was nine, than just over four days would have passed back in his universe. It might have even been more than that. That would certainly be enough time for someone to get the word out. And it¡¯s not like people hadn¡¯t circumvented the System¡¯s rules around the Tower of Champions in the past. He had met Adranial on the tenth floor because she¡¯d been put there, not out of coincidence, after all. Xavier turned where he sat on the stool and stared at the noticeboard. At the two C Grade beasts he wished to face, and kill, before he left this place. The Nightmare and the C Grade dragon. If he were to take Felicia¡¯s warning seriously, and he didn¡¯t see a reason not to¡ªshe may have been using him for the bets made on him, and she¡¯d led him into dangerous situations in the past with misleading information, but he didn¡¯t see why she¡¯d lie about something like this, especially since¡­ wouldn¡¯t she wish for him to remain on this floor? If he were to heed her warning, maybe he would be facing them sooner than he¡¯d thought. A thrill ran through Xavier at the very idea of that. It was absurd that he should fight such powerful enemies at Level 202, but Xavier had done plenty of absurd, not to mention seemingly impossible, things in the past. And he¡¯d succeeded at them.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He looked at the dragon in particular. Defeating that dragon would see the culmination of a plan he¡¯d put in place some time ago, back when he¡¯d finished facing the Magma Bull at that volcano. He would finally be able to summon Volkarin¡ªthe dragon spirit from the Otherworld¡ªto the Mortal Realm in a physical body. Into a vessel¡ªthe dragon egg this C Grade dragon protected. This was a task he¡¯d planned to carry out when he felt ready. But since when had he ever felt ready to go up against the threats he¡¯d defeated in the past? ¡°Thank you, Felicia, for the warning. Now, as to that Hunt Quest reward¡­¡± ~ Felicia stared at Xavier and gave him a nod. With a thought and a wave of her hand, she activated the System and prompted it to give him his most recent Hunt Quest reward. After that, the young man took a table in the corner, bringing his mug of coffee with him. He sipped at it, staring at the noticeboard in quiet contemplation. Felicia suppressed a sigh. She sauntered on over to the other side of the bar and served another Champion. She couldn¡¯t help but feel a tinge of guilt at what she¡¯d just done. No one here was a threat to Xavier Collins. Even if they wished to harm him, none of these people were strong enough. And who would sign an assassination contract for a floor like this one? Those from integrated words knew what the punishment for such a crime would be¡­ Felicia¡¯s warning had been a false one. She¡¯d once again gotten a message from the System. This one had been more insistent than ever. The young Champion was no longer being challenged by this floor the way he was training, and the System wished for him to move along. Once again, it had asked her to push him toward a challenge, one she again believed he wouldn¡¯t be able to face. The guilt didn¡¯t last as long as it usually did. Every other time she¡¯d done this¡ªpushed the young man toward something she was sure would get him killed¡ªhe¡¯d come out victorious. Why wouldn¡¯t the same thing happen this time around? He was only going after the most powerful C Grade beasts on the entire floor, after all¡­ ~ Xavier calculated the amount of time that he¡¯d been training since he¡¯d become D Grade¡ªsince the last time that he¡¯d cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit and used it to bring forth the Spirit of Time. The one and only time that he¡¯d done that. It had been six months. He could use it again. That spell, he was sure, had been responsible for his victory against the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. Without that spell, he knew for certain that he would have died facing that thing. He¡¯d been intending to use the spell to summon the Spirit of Time again when he faced these two, far more powerful, C Grade beasts, even though he knew there was six months between casts, as the cooldown lasted for what felt like forever, and gaining a level didn¡¯t help anything. He could cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit, and he had done so since summoning the Spirit of Time, but he had been locked out of summoning that particular spirit. It had a locked cooldown. He knew why, of course. It was the most powerful spell he had in his arsenal. Having the ability to see different timelines branching off¡ªand not just to see them, but create them¡ªand gaining knowledge from each of those timelines¡­ if he could use that kind of power more often, he would most certainly abuse it. Even though it meant the deaths of versions of him in other timelines. He¡¯d felt guilty about that, since it had happened. That he had caused the death of¡­ well, himself. More than once. But he also knew that when he cast that spell, he¡¯d made the decision. This other version of him? That man hadn¡¯t existed until the decision had been made. Up until that point they had been the same person. When he thought too hard on it, it did strange things to his mind, like the time he read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. That book had been absolutely mind-bending. Xavier was sitting at a table in the corner of Hunter¡¯s Home as he thought through all of this. He¡¯d already made his decision¡ªhe was going to heed Felicia¡¯s warning. He felt paranoid just being in this bar now, with all the enemies that could be lying in wait. Any of these Champions could be someone who ultimately wished to kill him. He let out a sigh. That was a reality that he would need to get used to. Considering what the System wished him to become, and what it wished him to do, and how powerful he was¡­ there was no way that he wouldn¡¯t be noticed. And, when he did return to Earth, and his sector? He was the type of person to want to throw his power around to get things done. He was liable to make a great deal more enemies in his future. I guess I¡¯ll learn to live with people wanting to kill me. Xavier hadn¡¯t received anything significant from the Hunt Quest that he¡¯d just completed. A few ranks in the spells and skills he¡¯d used, but no random spell like the first two times he¡¯d collected the reward for his Hunt Quests. And he knew why¡ªnone of the Hunt Quests had been a challenge for him. He¡¯d even solo-fought a few C Grades while he¡¯d been out there. Those certainly had better rewards, but now that he¡¯d become D Grade and gained so much more power¡­ those fights hadn¡¯t been near as hard as fighting the Fetid Forest Troll had been. Xavier stood from the corner table and strode to the board of Hunt Quests. He tore a notice from the board and walked straight out of the tavern, leaving his coffee mug half-drunk. He didn¡¯t nod over at Gimble as he left¡ªthe dwarf was yet to unlock that Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s treasure chest, and Xavier couldn¡¯t deny he was a little annoyed at that¡ªnor did he look over at Felicia. He had a mission. He¡¯d made a decision. And once he made a decision, he didn¡¯t like to dawdle. He was going to use Summon Otherworldly Spirit to bring forth the Spirit of Time. But he wasn¡¯t going to do it when he fought The Nightmare¡ªhe was going to do it when he fought the C Grade Elemental Dragon. He wouldn¡¯t wait to use it on both. If there were threats lurking here, it was time for him to move on. Xavier left Hunter¡¯s Home behind. He leapt into the air, soaring high above the great forest, his great black wings flapping. He spotted his destination instantly. The Dark Mountains. The very place that he¡¯d first met the time mage Liana. The place where he¡¯d fought the Stone Bear. The place where the infected beasts that were controlled by the C Grade entity known only as The Nightmare dwelt. For a short time, when Xavier had been F Grade, he¡¯d touched the mind of The Nightmare. He¡¯d felt how vast and powerful it was. During that time, he¡¯d even been able to control it. But he¡¯d been able to do that by chance. The circumstances that had happened that led to him gaining control would be impossible for him to replicate. That was something he was almost entirely sure of. Because The Nightmare hadn¡¯t been aware of him, or his abilities, the first time Xavier had taken control of it. Now, it knew who he was. If he tried what he¡¯d done before a second time¡­ it would bring all of its power down upon him. Xavier just had to make sure he was the stronger of the two. The third book is finally out on Amazon! I know everyone here has already read the third book, but if you have Kindle Unlimited it would be amazing if you grabbed it there--that would help my ranking in the Kindle store, which will help the series do better! You can also drop a rating or review over on Amazon, too, if you want! That would be amazing and really help the launch! And, if you want to go the extra mile, tell your friends haha. Here are the amazon and audible links for the books currently released in this series:Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Book 1 ebook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0CV64JCPC Book 1 Audio Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Accidental-Champion-Audiobook/B0D79L7LNS Book 2 ebook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D6WJNRLJ Book 2 Audio: https://www.audible.com/.../Accidental.../B0DNN93W2L Book 3 ebook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DGNSWSZ7 Book 5: Chapter 11 - The Nightmare’s Domain Xavier soared toward the Dark Mountains that was The Nightmare¡¯s domain. From what he had learnt about the C Grade entity, the beast was¡­ a demon. Something that controlled the minds of all those in its territory. Every beast. Every tree. It infected all of them, much like the Fetid Forest Troll infected the forest that it had once called home, but this demon¡­ it was far more sinister than that troll had been. Xavier landed at the foot of the Dark Mountains. He withdrew something from his Storage Ring. The Hunt Quest notice about The Nightmare. It didn¡¯t say anything he didn¡¯t already know. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of fear at the prospect of facing this thing. That fear, a flutter in his chest as his heart beat harder, made him grin. He hadn¡¯t felt its like in a little while. It made a thrill run through him. God, he liked a challenge, and fighting this thing¡­ it would be the biggest challenge that he¡¯d faced yet. But he wasn¡¯t here just to defeat a C Grade beast and earn a Hunt Quest reward. He was here because he wished to save someone. Liana, the time mage that he had trained with¡ªthe one who¡¯d not only shown him how to use his Time Alteration spell, but also shown him how to attune his attributes¡ªhad met her husband while in the Tower of Champions. The man had been in a different party to her, and he¡¯d gone missing on this very floor. She¡¯d managed to make it so she could turn up on this instance. So that she could try and find him. Her husband had been infected. Taken by the demon that was The Nightmare. That was why Xavier had found her here the day he¡¯d come searching for her, when he had his first encounter with The Nightmare. The woman had been almost consumed by the dark, oozing tendrils. They stretched over her entire body. She would have been infected had he not intervened. Xavier was glad he¡¯d been there. If he¡¯d been even a few seconds too late, he never would have made the woman¡¯s acquaintance. Part of that gladness was selfishness, for without her he wouldn¡¯t be as strong as he was now. She had taught him much. But she was also a good person. Someone he¡¯d grown fond of. The Greater Universe was a better place with her in it¡ªthat was just a fact. Xavier hoped he would be able to do the same for her husband. He hoped that the infection hadn¡¯t addled his mind, or killed him. He hoped that he wasn¡¯t already dead, having been killed by a Champion who had simply been defending themselves against one of The Nightmare¡¯s infected minions. Liana was back in the tavern, in her room there. Many months had passed since she¡¯d put herself in that time dilation field. To her, mere seconds, maybe minutes by now, would have gone by. Xavier released a breath and ordered his thoughts. Yes, he was here to save someone. Yes, it was for the sake of another. But he couldn¡¯t let his mind focus on such things. He needed to be fully alert. He wasn¡¯t able to summon the Spirit of Time during this fight. It wasn¡¯t something that he would be able to do over. He only had one chance at this. Come on, Xavier, he chided himself. You¡¯ve fought C Grades before. This can¡¯t be that bad. He took a step forward, entering The Nightmare¡¯s domain. The trees around him were infected with the darkness, the black substance covered every inch of them. He took a few steps. It wouldn¡¯t be long until he was sensed. Champions who ventured around the Dark Mountains always did so carrying salt. It was the best way to defend against The Nightmare¡ªdemons didn¡¯t like salt, after all. Something told Xavier that it wasn¡¯t as effective as it seemed, however. He doubted that The Nightmare would be cowed if its minions were being attacked. But that wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d tested. He hadn¡¯t wanted to garner the attention of The Nightmare before he was ready to fight it. Xavier had been thinking about this fight for a very long time. He still didn¡¯t really know how to go about it. How do you fight an entity that was essentially an infection? One that, as far as he knew, didn¡¯t even have a physical form of its own? He¡¯d asked Gimble about the beast. The man was knowledgeable about all of the C Grade beasts on this floor, that was part of his job as a Raid Leader. But the man didn¡¯t know much about The Nightmare. The way that information about the Tower of Champions was shared was through word of mouth. The System didn¡¯t allow for any other way. That meant that all information about the hundredth floor that Gimble had access to was things that either other Champions in Hunter¡¯s Home knew, or information that he¡¯d been able to learn back on his own world.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. And the information on his world was limited to the information known around that sector. The Greater Universe was a vast place. There may very well have been many Champions who¡¯d faced and killed The Nightmare, but Gimble hadn¡¯t heard of any. Xavier walked up the mountain. With his Farscope, he kept a lookout around him. So far, there hadn¡¯t been any sign of the infected beasts, but he knew that would change fast. Once one became aware of him, they would all become aware of him, and if he was deemed a strong enough threat, they would all come after him. He heard something to his left. He turned his head. Whatever it was, it was out of range of Xavier¡¯s Farscope ability. He spotted it instantly. A wolven, covered in darkness. And it wasn¡¯t just a single wolven either. It was many. Xavier stopped walking. He contemplated his next move. He released a sigh. He knew exactly what he needed to do, he was just afraid that it wouldn¡¯t actually work. Xavier stood his ground as the pack of wolven came for him. In the sky above him, owl-like beasts were flying toward him, their wings illuminated by the moon. Xavier ignored the flying beasts. The wolven would make it to him first. Xavier scanned the one at the head of the pack. {Infected Alpha Wolven - Level 225} The beast wasn¡¯t high level. A scan of the other beasts near it showed they weren¡¯t high level either. In theory, he should be able to make quick work of them. Though there was an issue with facing these beasts that he didn¡¯t have facing other beasts¡ªif he used his melee attacks, it would be far easier for them to infect him. Especially if he used unarmed melee attacks. He shifted his soul bound weapon back into a staff and held it, two handed, before him. The Infected Alpha Wolven bounded toward him. The beast was eerily silent as it moved. It didn¡¯t howl or snarl. It simply ran. Xavier tracked its movement, then he cast Time Alteration, catching the beast inside a time dilation field. The other infected beasts were stuck outside of the shield, seemingly frozen in time, and unable to enter. Xavier sidestepped the leaping Infected Alpha Wolven with incredible ease. This beast felt so slow to him, it was a little hard to imagine it ever having been a challenge to face. Xavier recalled exactly what he had done the last time he had encountered The Nightmare. He had been infected by the dark substance. It had crawled up his skin and threatened to invade his mind. He¡¯d done everything he could to fight it off. It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d cast Time Alteration and cut off the entity from the rest of itself that he¡¯d managed to take control over it. He¡¯d only left a single speck of black alive before lowering the time dilation field. Xavier needed to recreate what he¡¯d done before. The Infected Alpha Wolven landed, stopping short of leaving the time bubble. It must have been just powerful enough to discern its boundaries. It whirled around and pulled back its teeth in a silent snarl, then leapt toward him again. Xavier raised his staff and cast Soul Shatter. The Nightmare wasn¡¯t a necromancer. The infected beasts it had control of were still alive, which meant their souls remained within their bodies, and he was able to inflict soul damage onto them. Soul Shatter instantly killed the Infected Alpha Wolven. It went slack in the air, its momentum carrying it on the same trajectory. Xavier curled his wings around him like a protective shield¡ªa technique he¡¯d learnt in his last few months of training, one he even had skill for called Iron Wings. The wolven slammed into them with a thud and it was like hitting a brick wall. Xavier didn¡¯t budge even an inch. The wolven slid to the ground. Xavier opened his wings and looked down at the dead beast. Something was oozing out of it. The Nightmare¡ªor, at least, a small part of it. The black substance crawled toward him. Xavier crouched and touched a finger to a drop of the entity, letting it crawl onto his skin. Xavier stood back away from the bulk of the oozing substance. It wasn¡¯t long before he felt the entity try and invade his mind. He released a breath and cast Willpower Infusion. He took control of the entity with ease and felt the connection to the rest of the oozing substance on the ground within the time dilation field, it all having seeped out of the now-dead wolven. Xavier expanded his control it to the rest of the oozing substance within the field. Disconnected as it was with the rest of itself, it was easy for him to do. He recalled thinking this thing was like some kind of interconnected hivemind, and as far as he knew he¡¯d been right about that. His Willpower Infusion spell was significantly stronger than it had been the first time he¡¯d done this. And his Willpower attribute? It was now attuned to 25%, and it was well over twice as powerful as it had been back then too. The version of Xavier that had been on this mountain the first time had been nothing compared to the version of him that stood there now. Yet he still worried this wouldn¡¯t work. He tilted his head to the side. Though his Time Alteration spell had cut the connection to the rest of the demon off, he could almost feel it trying to reconnect. He had an awareness of the entity¡¯s ¡°mind¡± that he hadn¡¯t possessed before, though even then it was only a slight awareness. If this entity had an awareness of him, as he had always worried, then this could go terribly wrong. Xavier walked up to the edge of the time dilation field. He looked at the Infected Wolven on the other side, then glanced at the Infected Giant Owls soaring down from above. Xavier smiled and realised that he did, indeed, have a plan. He knew exactly how he was going to try and destroy this thing. He didn¡¯t know if it would work¡ªhe¡¯d never pushed either his Time Alteration spell nor his Willpower Infusion spell this hard before. He also still didn¡¯t understand The Nightmare. It was only a theory that this thing didn¡¯t have a body somewhere. Some central consciousness that controlled¡­ all of this. But a plan was a plan. Xavier pushed the time dilation field forward. This was something that Liana had taught him how to do early on in his training. She¡¯d shown him how to manipulate the boundaries of his Time Alteration spell. He could shift and change the walls. If he wished, he could cast his Time Alteration spell at one side of a field full of enemies, then carve a path through them with his time dilation field that managed to avoid him alerting any one of the beasts of his presence. Xavier had done something like that in the past¡ªthough instead of avoiding the enemies, he¡¯d carved a path toward every single one of them. That was how he¡¯d taken down the stampede of Rhinoceros Monkeys whilst avoiding the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, as the beast¡ªat the time¡ªhad been too powerful for him to face alongside its kin. Xavier was going to use a similar technique to that one now, except this one¡­ He would have to carve a path around the entire mountain. Is that even possible? Book 5: Chapter 12 - One Step at a Time Xavier stood at the edge of his time dilation field. The corpse of an Infected Alpha Wolven was at his back. Parts of his skin were black where The Nightmare had tried to infect him. At his feet, a bubble of black ooze crawled toward him. It followed him¡ªand it was under his control. Xavier pushed the time dilation field forward until it consumed one of the wolven in front of him. A moment ago, the wolven had been frozen in time. Now, it bounded toward him, lips pulled back in the same silent snarl the alpha had worn before it had succumbed to death at Xavier¡¯s hand. The moment the Infected Wolven had touched the edge of the time dilation field and began moving, Xavier¡¯s mind expanded into the beast. Almost every single beast on this entire mountain was infected by The Nightmare, and now that Xavier controlled a portion of it, he was able to enter the minds of other beasts that The Nightmare controlled. He couldn¡¯t connect to the other beasts outside of the time dilation field, and that, right now, was a good thing. But when one entered his field? Connecting became easy, and the substance within the beast lost its own connection to the rest of The Nightmare, which meant it was almost powerless compared to Xavier. Xavier willed a thought. Stop, he commanded. The Infected Wolven halted its attack against Xavier. It skidded in the dirt, came to a stop, then suddenly became placid. It just stood there, its head slowly turning to gaze at the dead Infected Alpha Wolven nearby. Xavier crouched in front of the wolven and stared into its dark eyes. He tilted his head to the side and examined it. Then he stood and took a step back. He was about to do something he had never done before. When he had saved Liana from The Nightmare, he¡¯d simply instructed it to stop attacking her, and so it had. But this wolven had been infected who knew how long. And he was about to pull the infection out. Xavier inclined his head and willed the dark substance to retreat from the wolf. As he did, he felt a slight amount of resistance. Something far away, trying to connect, trying to stop what was happening¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t able to. What was happening inside the time dilation field was happening too fast for even a C Grade Entity to feel. Though the fact that it was trying to connect at all made Xavier worry. The black substance oozed out of the wolven. Its fur slowly turned back to its normal colour. The beast started to become aware once more. After a moment, it was itself again. It saw the dead alpha, saw Xavier, then it leapt straight at him with a loud, furious snarl. Xavier stepped to the side, slash out with the claws of his right hand, holding his staff in his left hand, and tore out the beast¡¯s throat. The wolven died before it hit the ground. Xavier commanded the black substance to pool into the middle of the time dilation field. He knelt by the pool and stared at it. He didn¡¯t cast Soul Harvest¡ªnot yet. There was no point casting it now, as he wouldn¡¯t be able to cooldown the spell. The first part of his plan seemed as though it could work. Now, he just had to make sure that the second part of his plan could work. Xavier was warry of using his spells on the black substance, as if he continued on as he was, fighting inside of the time dilation field, none of the spells would be able to reach the end of their cooldown. Xavier brandished his scythe-staff and slammed it down into the middle of the pooling, oozing black substance. It splashed up as though he¡¯d hit a puddle, and he could feel that he still had control over the exact same amount, meaning none of the entity had died. Xavier stepped back and sighed. Then, he willed a single word, targeting only that substance that lay inside of the pool. Die, he thought. And the substance died. Xavier raised his chin, feeling pride surge within his chest. He had never simply willed something to die before. He had willed enemies to kill themselves, but this? This was something he hadn¡¯t known was in his power. And that wasn¡¯t the only thing he was proud of¡ªhe had just killed a portion of The Nightmare. Willpower Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Willpower Infusion is now a Rank 115 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. ¡°Huh,¡± Xavier said. He hadn¡¯t expected to gain a rank in Willpower Infusion. In anticipation of his fight with The Nightmare, Xavier had been pushing forward his usage of the spell over the last few months, trying to push it as far as he could. He had gained fourteen ranks, something which he¡¯d felt proud of, as gaining ranks since he¡¯d reached D Grade was far harder than it had ever been.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. But to gain a rank so easily here? I used the spell in a different way. That must have been why. Xavier watched with fascination as the black substance dissipated into nothing, burning into the air until there was nothing left of it except that which was on his own skin¡ªhe needed to keep some of it alive. He couldn¡¯t cast Willpower Infusion again while inside this field. He turned and faced the edge of the time dilation field once more, looking out at the wolven beyond. He took a deep breath, then released it slowly. The second part of his plan had worked. The plan was a long and tedious one. Push the time dilation field forward until he consumed another of the infected beasts. Kill every ounce of the black substance that effected the beast¡ªalong with the beast for good measure¡ªthen rinse and repeat. All he had to do was push the time dilation field around the entirety of the Dark Mountains, and kill every speck of the black substance that he could find. Yes¡­ that was all he had to do. How hard could it be? His gaze moved away from the frozen wolven just beyond the edge of the field¡¯s barrier to the trees that were also infected. To the grass that was infected. To the random specks of blackness he saw in the dirt, that if a Champion was not careful might be stepped on by accident. This was an insidious demonic beast, and his task was not an easy one, and his plan wasn¡¯t something he could perform swiftly. He would need to be patient. More patient than he¡¯d ever been before. ¡°One step at a time,¡± Xavier told himself. If this was what he needed to do, then this was what he was going to do. There might be other ways for him to face The Nightmare. He could drop the time dilation field completely and have a battle of wills with it. Mind against mind. He was far more powerful than he had been in the past. He might very well be strong enough to take this thing on. To will its death on a grand scale. But that wasn¡¯t something that he wanted to risk. Xavier had seen what happened to him when he took on one risk too many when he¡¯d observed the other versions of him fight the Fetid Forest Troll. He died. Then, he had seen what had happened when he approached the fight with utmost clarity and care. Fighting against the exact same beast, he hadn¡¯t gained a single scratch. I¡¯m powerful enough to kill this thing, and I¡¯m going to do it as perfectly as I can. And so Xavier continued to push the time dilation field farther and farther up the mountain. He reshaped it in a dozen different ways. He flew into the air on his majestic black wings and carved a path through the sky until he reached the Infected Giant Owls. He carved a path to every single tree that he could see. On every step of the way, he commanded the black substance¡ªparts of The Nightmare¡ªto die. As Xavier made his way up the Dark Mountains in a crisscross pattern, he was beginning to encounter an issue. The Nightmare had become aware of him. By his reckoning, Xavier had covered a tenth of the mountain. He¡¯d slain hundreds of beasts. Moved his time dilation field miles across the foot of the mountain, slowly making his way up the side of it. Since the first instance that he¡¯d taken control of this beast that night, he had felt the larger part of the entity trying to connect with him. But it hadn¡¯t been a threat. Time outside of his field was moving too slow for it to do anything. But the longer that Xavier maintained the time dilation field¡ªsomething he needed to do for a long time¡ªthe more time passed outside of it, even if that was only mere fractions of a second. Those fractions would add up, and the response time of a C Grade entity such as this was incredible. Now that the entity had become aware of him, Xavier knew that he couldn¡¯t drop the field. This was nothing like the first time he¡¯d encountered this thing. Back then, he hadn¡¯t harmed The Nightmare. All he¡¯d done was invade its mind and made it stop attacking him, then after that, made it stop attacking Liana. Now that it was aware of him and Xavier had damaged it, he knew the full force of its power would bear down on him. Even within the field, he could feel its mind bearing down on him. He didn¡¯t know how it was managing to breach the time dilation field, but he could feel it slowly adapting. As though the farther he moved around the mountain, and the more of the substance he killed, the more his enemy was able to speed up its consciousness to try and combat what he was doing. He could also feel the pain it was in. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how such an interconnected entity felt pain, but this thing was. With every bit of the substance he willed to die, the larger entity become more and more damaged. Xavier¡¯s plan was working, just as he¡¯d hoped. He just didn¡¯t know how long he would be able to keep it going. ¡°I need to keep it going forever,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°If I don¡¯t¡­¡± He left the rest unsaid. He knew what would happen. He could feel the power this thing possessed, even after Xavier had eradicated a tenth of it. As Xavier moved across the mountain, hours passed inside the time dilation field for him. He had a few different minds split up in his head to focus on other solutions to this problem. So far, he struggled to find any. Without knowing how powerful his enemy was, knowing his options first¡­ it felt impossible. Though there was one part of him that insisted that if things became more dire, he could always summon the Spirit of Time. He¡¯d told himself that he wouldn¡¯t do that until he faced the C Grade Elemental Dragon, but perhaps it would become necessary soon enough. But that wasn¡¯t the course of action he wanted to take. He needed to get off this floor, and he wasn¡¯t going to do it without that egg. He had no pretentions that he would be powerful enough to take down the dragon without using the Spirit of Time¡¯s power to see alternate versions of his own future. He might be arrogant, but he wasn¡¯t a fool. Besides, every ounce of arrogance he possessed he¡¯d earned. That made him grin to himself. God, he sounded like a dickhead sometimes. The Spirit of Time was an option, it simply wasn¡¯t one he wished to use. He tried to think of other ways. He could already feel the strain of the Time Alteration spell. He had never moved this far while in it¡ªnever altered it so heavily. Xavier had incredibly powerful spells. He could summon portals into life. He could call forth the souls from his reserve into deadly apparitions. He could burn through an enemy¡¯s core. And with his newfound claws, he could rip through armour and flesh as though it weren¡¯t even there. He possessed tremendous powers, but The Nightmare appeared to be immune to almost all of them. When he had used Soul Shatter on that first enemy, the Infected Alpha Wolven, it hadn¡¯t actually done anything to parts of the Nightmare that resided within it. That only means its resistant to soul damage, not that it¡¯s resistant to all damage. That thought sparked something¡ªif the oozing blackness was The Nightmare, and those parts of it were immune to soul damage. Did that mean the demon didn¡¯t have a soul? In plenty of fiction and myths back home, demons don¡¯t have souls. It would make some kind of sense if that were the case¡­ Xavier stopped in his tracks. He¡¯d just killed one of the Infected Giant Owl Beasts high up in the sky and eradicated the oozing black substance that came out of it. He hovered there, his large black wings flapping to keep him within the bounds of the time dilation field. He¡¯d just heard a whisper in his mind. A thought that wasn¡¯t his own. It was faint¡­ He tried listening for it again. Resist no longer. We can give you peace. Book 5: Chapter 13 - Resist Us No Longer Xavier hovered high in the air above the Dark Mountains. The thought repeated itself in his mind, and he knew exactly where it came from. Resist us no longer. We can give you peace. The Nightmare was communicating with him¡ªtrying to take control of him. Xavier swallowed. He had felt other people and spirits speak to him through thoughts in the past, but nothing had ever sounded like this. He couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how he might describe the voice. Old¡­ no. Ancient. Xavier checked his mental barriers. He still had control over the bits of the darkness that were attached to his skin¡ªthe small portion of The Nightmare that he kept alive within the time dilation field that he¡¯d sustained since stepping onto the Dark Mountains. There shouldn¡¯t have been a way for the demon to enter his mind. So how had it done it? Xavier checked himself. He was still in control. Releasing a sigh, he moved on with his task, but he did it with a newfound fear fluttering in his chest. He moved faster than he had before, pushing his time dilation spell to its limits, eradicating the black substance in record time wherever he found it, killing every beast he passed. He cleaned its existence from every inch of the mountain he could. He could still feel the damage it was taking¡ªthe pain it was in. He must have taken out nearly half of it by now. And he could hear it talking to him. Xavier had no idea how The Nightmare had managed to speed its thought up to a rate that he was able to understand it, but he¡¯d known that the demon had been adapting ever since it had been made aware of his presence. I need to push harder. But even as he pushed, he felt the limits of his time dilation field. Soon, there would come a time when he couldn¡¯t hold it up anymore. His Willpower Infusion spell had served him well. He was still able to expand his control into any parts of the demon that came into his time dilation field. Once that field dropped, however, all bets were off. He needed to figure out another way to kill this thing. Melee attacks hadn¡¯t worked¡ªhe¡¯d tried everything he could. He went through his different spells, trying to think of ones that would serve him here, but all of his offensive spells¡­ they dealt soul damage, or they took control, or they burned out cores. Did this thing even have cores? It didn¡¯t work like any other being he had ever faced. But there was something he could try. He might not be able to injure this thing, but if he called upon others¡­ Xavier swooped down, carving his time dilation field through the air as he flew, until he reached a pack of infected wolven on the side of the mountain, on a large grassy plane. The wolven looked frozen in time to him. Xavier landed on the ground just before the pack. He didn¡¯t yet expand his time dilation field to encompass them. First, he needed to set the trap. Then, he would let them walk into it. Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice. He felt a rush of energy as the souls he used to cast the spell left him. His soulkeeping reserve was full, and after all the ranks he¡¯d received, it was rather massive. He had many thousands of souls at his disposal, which meant he could maintain the bridge to the Otherworld for a good while. But that wasn¡¯t what he was trying to do. That wouldn¡¯t be enough. Still, he poured a thousand souls into the spell. That would keep the bridge open more than long enough for him to test out what he wished to test out¡ªand not only that. There was a specific spirit from the Otherworld he wished to call upon, one that he hoped would come through when he activated the spell¡ªthis spirit had always come through in the past. A notification appeared as he cast the spell. You have cast Soul Sacrifice. {1,000 Souls} have been sacrificed to the Otherworld. A bridge has been established. Await the spirits at your leisure. Xavier didn¡¯t have to wait long. The first spirit to come through was the exact one that he had been hoping would come. Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance, tore through the bridge and landed next to Xavier. Xavier, anticipating how damned big the dragon was, had extending the limits of the time dilation field¡¯s size before casting the Soul Sacrifice spell. The massive dragon extended its wings and threw back its head in a roar to announce its majestic presence, then it gazed down at Xavier.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Ah! Young Denizen! You have called upon me once more to deal death to your enemies! I will rip and tear them apart and serve their innards to you on a platter if you so wish. We can feast on their blood side-by-side, dragonkin! When Xavier had first used the spell after becoming not only D Grade, but also of the dragonkin race, Volkarin had been absolutely delighted. Felicia might have been right about other dragonkin not being accepting of other races becoming one of their number, but as an actual dragon, Volkarin wasn¡¯t bothered by it at all. Xavier recalled the dragon¡¯s words to him. Mad? Of course I¡¯m not mad! Any Denizen with half a mind can see that dragons are the most superior beings in all of the Greater Universe. It is mad that more of your kind don¡¯t seek to become closer to us. You are wise beyond your years, young dragonkin. You will go farther than I had even at first imagined! Then the dragon had thrown its head back and laughed delightedly. At least, that was how Xavier had interpreted the laugh. Since becoming dragonkin, he had found it easier to read the dragon¡¯s body language. He supposed that only made sense. I wonder what would have happened if I¡¯d chosen the Soul of the Dragon class¡­ But that was never going to be in the cards for him. Xavier nodded at the wolven amassed outside the time dilation barrier. The pack was eight strong, with an Infected Alpha Wolven at their head. Weak beasts to him now, they were no challenge. They would not pose a challenge to the dragon, either. I wish you do deal with these, Xavier replied, only needing to think his words to communicate with the dragon spirit. The dragon turned its head and eyed the wolven. Other spirits flowed through the bridge. Xavier was aware that he was becoming well-known in the Otherworld. Then again, he might have been known there already¡­ other versions of him, at least, as the Otherworld was a place between universes. But that warped his mind. It was far too much to think about. Either way, he knew that whenever he cast Soul Sacrifice, he was likely to get a stream of high-quality, powerful spirits to come through the bridge from the Otherworld and fight for him. Even if their behaviour could not always be predicted. For instance, it would be unwise for him to cast this spell if he had company. Perhaps it was a good thing that he almost always fought alone. Volkarin huffed smoke through his slightly transparent nose. You wish for me to deal with these vermin? Slaughtering vermin is never below me¡ªI will deal death to whomever and whatever you put in front of me¡ªbut are you not worried that you waste my talents, young dragonkin? Xavier was about to reply when the dragon¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He sniffed the air, looked back through the barrier, then he looked at Xavier¡¯s hand, where the black substance could be seen. Ah. The dragon spirit crooned. I think I can understand what is going on here. You sense the demon¡¯s presence? Indeed. It is not the beasts you wish us to deal with, but the insidious presence within them. The dragon inclined his massive head. Your will be done. Volkarin somehow managed to say the words half respectfully, and half mockingly. Xavier thought that was quite the feat. Xavier stepped over to the middle of the time dilation barrier. The other spirits were amassing within the barrier as well. They understood what it was, and they did not breach it. They knew they would get frozen on the other side if they did¡ªeven the more chaotic spirits, the ones that he could see barely containing themselves, remained. Xavier expanded the time dilation field. As he did so, he felt the presence of The Nightmare once again invading his mind. This time, it was stronger, demanding that he did not resist. Demanding that he drop the Time Alteration spell. His hands shook. He felt his mind¡­ become vulnerable. He checked his mental barriers, only to find cracks in them¡ªcracks The Nightmare had exploited without him even noticing. Xaiver fought the presence even as he felt his will become usurped. He had a dire urge to deactivate the time dilation spell. To give into the presence. To find peace with it. For wouldn¡¯t it be good to stop fighting? Didn¡¯t he simply want to live a peaceful life on the mountain? Hadn¡¯t he had enough? Enough? Xavier froze as he examined that thought. He knew it wasn¡¯t his own. He hadn¡¯t had enough of fighting. He couldn¡¯t imagine any version of him in all the Greater Universe that could ever have enough of fighting. Did he want peace? Yes, of course¡ªbut he wanted peace for everyone, not just himself, and that wasn¡¯t something that would happen if he ever let himself give in. And he certainly didn¡¯t want to live on this mountain for the rest of his life. So he had to keep fighting. Xavier pushed back against the presence trying to take over his mind. Volkarin was eyeing him. A strange look on the dragon spirit¡¯s face¡ªwas that a look of¡­ concern? Surely not. Xavier filled in the cracks in his mental barrier, but as he did, he realised something¡ªThe Nightmare hadn¡¯t made him cease the time dilation field, but soon it wouldn¡¯t matter. The spell was reaching its end faster than he¡¯d anticipated. A lot faster. He wasn¡¯t sure how he hadn¡¯t seen that before¡­ The Nightmare! It must have infected his mind a little bit at a time, slightly altering his perception of reality¡ªbut it was only this, he realised, that it had changed. At least, that was the only thing that he had found that had changed, and he inspected his mind as thoroughly as he could. Xavier let out a roar as he triumphed over the demon¡¯s control of his mind, pushing back with all his might. He expanded the time dilation field. Now, more than ever, he needed to know if this was going to work. The time bubble became large enough to encompass all eight of the wolven in front of him. The dragon spirit, along with the other dozen or so spirits that had flowed through the bridge from the Otherworld, made quick work of the beasts. Xavier watched as Volkarin changed his approach to his attacks. He would have expected the dragon spirit to clamp his jaws around his enemies, but he didn¡¯t¡ªhe used his ranged, fire and ice breath attack. For the dragon knew it wasn¡¯t only trying to kill the beasts, but what lay within them too. Most of the other spirits, realising what was going on, did the same. There were only a few of the more chaotic ones that didn¡¯t seem to change their tact. They ripped and tore through the wolven with glee, leaving pools of the demonic black substance behind. Xavier watched, and waited, to see what the outcome was. His mind had instantly expanded into the parts of The Nightmare now within his field. He felt those parts die. And this time, it wasn¡¯t because he¡¯d commanded their death¡ªthey weren¡¯t immune to magical attacks like they were immune to melee attacks and soul damage. His contingency plan might just be able to get him out of this. Which was good, because soon¡ªfar too soon¡ªhis time dilation field would falter. And it wasn¡¯t only that. He knew that he couldn¡¯t hold onto himself for all that much longer. He needed to destroy the bits of the entity that were inside of him. The ones he was controlling to gain access to the rest of it. For if he didn¡¯t, he would soon lose himself. And that was not something that he could abide. The voice of The Nightmare become louder and louder in his mind. Give in, give in, give in, give in to usssss! Xavier felt his mind falter ever more. The time dilation field was weakening. His mental barriers were weakening. He threw his head back and roared, his wings extending to their fullest at his back. Die! he willed, and the bits of The Nightmare that were within him died. His mind became silent, but the mental energy he¡¯d just expended fending off the demon¡¯s control meant that the time dilation field was at its end. The field cracked and broke, becoming inactive. Book 5: Chapter 14 - Don’t Get Bitten Xavier stood in the middle of what had once been a safe spot on a plain on the side of the Dark Mountains. Less than a second ago, his time dilation field had covered the area, protecting him and the spirits he had summoned from the Otherworld. Now, that field was gone, and The Nightmare was sending the full force of its might toward him. Xavier was no longer connected to The Nightmare¡¯s mind. He had combed the mountain, destroying at least half of the C Grade demon¡¯s minions, and the black substance that held sway over the beasts¡ªthe same substance that had almost taken over his mind just a moment ago¡ªalong with them. The dragon Volkarin looked at Xavier, a serious expression in his eyes. We spirits will not remain long in this world. Will you flee, young dragonkin? I sense the being that you face has great power. There was something twinkling in the dragon¡¯s eyes. Xavier could read the dragon¡¯s expressions so much better now, but he wasn¡¯t sure what this feeling was. I will remain, Xavier replied. I will destroy this demon, and I will soon summon you to help me do it. You seek vengeance upon this entity? Volkarin asked seriously. You know the rules, young dragonkin. I cannot break them simply because I am fond of the you and your potential. Xavier thought of Liana. Of all the woman had taught him. And of what this demon had done to her by taking her husband. There is vengeance to be sought, Volkarin, you can be sure of that. Xavier and the dragon did not have the luxury of a long conversation. Their exchange had perhaps taken only a second. Beasts were making their way to them. Xavier had the spirit here for one hundred seconds, as he had used one thousand souls to summon them to the Mortal Realm. But once they were gone, he would no longer have a way to kill the substance within the enemies that came forth. The spirits fought with fervour and passion. There were thousands of beasts still upon the Dark Mountains, and all of them were making their way to destroy¡ªor perhaps enslave¡ªXavier. There was something else, too. Though Xavier was no longer connected to the mind of The Nightmare, he could feel a dark presence nearby. It had the sense signature of that of The Nightmare¡¯s mind. Xavier wondered if the demon was releasing its aura¡ªwondered if the demon even had an aura. He could almost sense where the power was coming from. Was that where the demon¡¯s heart was? Xavier watched as the spirits destroyed every beast that came near them. He watched as closely as he could, wondering if it had been a mistake to summon the spirits. There was a danger in them being here, one he hadn¡¯t considered when he had made the choice to bring them, for he was too desperate at the time to worry about it. Some of these spirits were chaotic beings. They did not restrain themselves, and they would not follow his orders. If it happened that the very person Xavier had come here to save attacked them right now, he doubted any of the spirits would hesitate to kill him¡­ Xavier remained vigilant, a countdown timer for when the bridge would shut down up in the corner of his vision. He joined the fight with the spirits, but his attacks only dealt damage to the beasts and not the entity within. He was beginning to feel useless, fighting this thing, even though he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. He had destroyed more than half of it already. Facing this beast was like facing nothing he¡¯d ever encountered before. The beasts that it brought forth were weak. He was beginning to feel a false sense of security. But even with the spirits destroying the black substance, more and more of it pooled around him, and it was beginning to edge closer to him. As the countdown timer was nearing its end, hundreds upon hundreds of beasts having died during the fight, Xavier brought something out of his Storage Ring. A sack of salt. He poured a line of the stuff around him. A protective circle that should stop the black, oozing substance from reaching him, though he doubted it would stop the beasts that it controlled from getting over it. The moment he¡¯d started pouring the salt he heard something from above. The whoosh of loud wings. An Infected Giant Owl cast some sort of wind spell down at him, scattering the salt everywhere. It seared the flesh of The Nightmare¡¯s minions, but they otherwise didn¡¯t look affected. The spirits from the Otherworld were about to disappear from this place. The instant they did, Xavier called forth the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªhe cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The colour bled from the world, and everything froze as a notification popped up in his vision. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier willed his selection. Spirit of Vengeance! The dragon¡ªwhom had only been there a mere moment ago through the power of the Soul Sacrifice spell¡ªcame into existence before him, and there was something different about the dragon. The dragon was significantly larger than the last time he had summoned it. Xavier was a little taken a back, looking at the beast. It had somehow grown to about fifty feet in height, while before the beast had only been twenty-feet tall. That wasn¡¯t the only change. Volkarin also looked a little less transparent. Is this because the spell has grown so much stronger, with my attributes propping it up? He hadn¡¯t used this specific spell to bring forth the Spirit of Vengeance while he was D Grade before. Whenever he tried to rank the spell up, he tended to use the Spirit of Protection. The Spirit of Protection didn¡¯t require vengeance to be summoned, and it also didn¡¯t have a six month wait time between uses like the Spirit of Time. Honestly, Xavier had been hoping he would have more spirits available to summon through this spell by now, but he couldn¡¯t complain at how powerful it was. The Spirit of Vengeance stood before him, looking more solid and majestic than he ever had. The massive dragon drew in a breath as though it could actually breathe, then released a stream of smoke from each nostril. Ahhhhhh. It¡¯s good to be back. Volkarin bent his head forward and looked down at Xavier with narrowed eyes. What vengeance is it that you wish to carry out, young dragonkin? Xavier raised his chin. Liana. My instructor, and friend. Her husband was taken by this demon. He may very well still be alive. That is the vengeance I seek. Payment for what was done to her, and to him. And the only payment that will suffice is this demon¡¯s death. The dragon raised its head, made a strange noise in its throat. Xavier knew now that this was the equivalent of someone saying, ¡°Hmm.¡± A noble cause. Vengeance on behalf of another. This will suffice¡ªit is enough to summon me, Xavier Collins. And enough not to suffer my wrath. Time was still frozen for the both of them. Xavier wanted to keep it that way for a moment longer. How have you grown larger? Xavier asked. The dragon threw back its head and roared in delight. As you grow in power, less of the power that I hold is restricted. More so in this spell than in Soul Sacrifice. If you grew strong enough, one day you might even witness the full extent of my might. Volkarin sounded somewhat wistful as he said that. Xavier contemplated that for a moment. This was one of the most powerful spirits in the entirety of the Otherworld. One of the seven, he had been told¡ªthe seven leaders of the Otherworld. But he did not think he would see the full might of the dragon¡ªat least, through the use of Summon Otherworldly Spirit. For he soon intended to bring the beast into this world for good. Xavier checked the cooldown for his Time Alteration spell. It had significantly reduced since he¡¯d first gotten the spell, and he found that he would be able to use it again soon. Very soon. Willpower Infusion, too, had reached the end of its cooldown¡ªbut using that again was a risk he didn¡¯t want to take. He had felt his mind bending to the will of the demon. That wasn¡¯t something he wished to experience again. Only a little longer¡­ There was one more thing that he needed to do if his contingency plan was to work. Summoning the Spirit of Vengeance, he knew, wouldn¡¯t be enough. Yes, the Spirit of Vengeance would be able to destroy the bits of the black substance inside of the infected beasts they faced on this mountain, but Xavier needed to be able to harm it himself. There was no telling what else they would have to face here. The demon could very well have other C Grades under its thrall. He didn¡¯t want to find that out when the Spirit of Vengeance was too injured to help. The Spirit of Vengeance was powerful, but its power was limited. There were two more spells Xavier needed to cast, and something else he needed to do on top of that. Colour flowed back into the world. The fight began once more. The beasts coming their way seemed to double. They could both still handle it, which was making Xavier worry. This is too easy. If others are able to dispense with this black stuff without controlling The Nightmare, how is it no one in this sector has been able to kill this thing? Wouldn¡¯t it be as simple as killing all of its minions? That was certainly how he had been approaching this fight. He¡¯d already scoured over half the mountain, killing every infected beast he could along with the substance that controlled them. If that substance was the entity, then he must be on the right track. He had been able to feel the damage he¡¯d been doing to it, after all. Just as he had that thought, the ground shook, as though a great earthquake was underway. They were currently on the side of the mountain. He glanced up. Rocks were beginning to fall from above, and though the earthquake he¡¯d felt had ended, there was a strange vibration in the ground. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure what was causing that vibration, but he had a good idea of what it could be. A beast came out of the ground, one that Xavier had never seen before. It was some kind of rock worm, but the worm was massive. It opened its giant maw, revealing several rows of sharp-looking stone teeth. There were more coming from out of the ground. He could feel a vibration right beneath him. Xavier leapt up and expanded his wings just as something burst out of the ground. Volkarin had already been in the air. The dragon had been swooping down and burning and freezing all of the oozing black substance that Xavier left behind whenever he killed the beasts. Good to see you using those wings, young dragonkin, the dragon said in his mind as he flew past. Xavier focused on the beasts that had just burst up from the ground, scanning the nearest of them. {Infected Rock Worm - Level 305} This C Grade beast has been infected by The Nightmare. It is no longer under its own will. Rock Worms are ancient creatures who live beneath mountains. They rarely come up to the surface, and only do so when they feel their domain has been threatened. They are able to control earth and stone, and they have the power to inflict petrification on their enemies if they are able to clamp their teeth around them. Don¡¯t get bitten. There were at least four of the bastards coming out of the ground. Xavier scanned all of them, and found all of them to be C Grade beasts. Four C Grade beasts? He¡¯d come here to face only one, and now he was facing four more? And he had a feeling there was more to all of this than what he was doing, for the presence that he¡¯d felt, it was only growing stronger, and there was a feeling emanating from it. Anger. Book 5: Chapter 15 – The Old Ways Xavier surveyed the battlefield. Not for the first time since he¡¯d started the fight against The Nightmare, he felt fear. Fear that he wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to succeed. No, he told himself. I can do this. Four C Grade beasts had just burst up from the ground beneath the Dark Mountains. They were massive Rock Worms that looked terrifying to behold. Xavier had never faced more than a single C Grade beast at one time. And all four of them were infected by The Nightmare. Xavier had, however, faced several C Grades on his own since he¡¯d become D Grade. Killing the Fetid Forest Troll had been the hardest C Grade he¡¯d faced alone. After he¡¯d gained power from all of the titles from killing that thing, and the titles from being D Grade¡ªnot to mention simply becoming D Grade at all and the new class and race he possessed¡ªit had become a lot easier. He may not have faced anything like this before, but hadn¡¯t he come here looking for a challenge? Xavier grinned. This one felt a little bit forced, but he ran with it. The dragon Volkarin, summoned as the Spirit of Vengeance, spoke to Xavier in his mind. It looks as though this fight just became more interesting! There was evident glee in the spirit¡¯s voice. Xavier wondered what this beast was like in life. Something told him Volkarin might have been a villain. But Xavier was glad to have the dragon by his side. The earth shuddered. Rocks suddenly shot up from the ground like cannonballs and hurtled toward Xavier and the dragon. Xavier dodged the projectiles, but they were coming faster than he¡¯d expected. He was putting every ounce of his energy toward this task. Evasion has reached Rank 105! Xavier cast Hover Dodge, and suddenly he had more grace in the air than even Volkarin. The rocks become easier to dodge, but they were still a nuisance he didn¡¯t wish to deal with. There were more steps to Xavier¡¯s continency plan. Things he needed to do in order to have a chance at defeating this demon. Time Alteration was mere seconds from reaching the end of its cooldown. Xavier swooped down, dodging rock after rock. He wasn¡¯t the only one dealing with this. The Spirit of Vengeance had been struck by several already¡ªhe was a far larger target¡ªand though the dragon was powerful, he wasn¡¯t able to defeat four C Grades. This onslaught was practically putting him out of the fight. Xavier moved like the wind, coming close to one of the Rock Worms. The beast snapped its teeth at him. Xavier whirled, dodging them by an inch¡ªthe last thing he needed was to be petrified¡ªthen touched a hand to the beast¡¯s head. Time Prison! The beast became frozen in time as the spell was cast. Xavier hadn¡¯t used Time Prison on a C Grade enemy since he¡¯d become D Grade¡ªhe¡¯d never felt the need to. Time Prison was a powerful spell. It locked whoever he touched in time. This meant that whoever¡ªor whatever¡ªhe locked down wasn¡¯t able to strike back. But, as they were currently locked in a different time stream for the duration of the spell, it also meant that Xavier wasn¡¯t able to deal damage to them. This, he knew, would make it a valuable spell to use on an ally if they were ever in danger. It was also a good way to put an enemy on pause. The only downside was he never knew how long the spell would last. The projectiles were taken down by a quarter as one of the Rock Worms was temporarily out of commission. This gave both Xavier and the dragon enough breathing room to dodge the enemy attacks in the air and strike back at the same time. Xavier bit his lip, there was a spell he could use, but if he did¡­ there was a chance he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it again in this fight. Soul Strike was that spell, and its cooldown was locked to the number of souls he used for it, and who knew how long the rest of this fight would take? Technically, he¡¯d only been on the mountain for a few minutes, as he¡¯d used his Time Alteration spell for much of that time. Xavier soared toward one of the other Rock Worms and struck it hard at the top of its head with Enhanced Telekinetic Strike. His strength and power was so much that he managed to cut through its rock skin, leaving gouges where his claws had sliced. He even knocked the worm backward, halting its stream of attacks for a moment. The Rock Worm did not cry out in pain, but of course it didn¡¯t¡ªit was possessed by The Nightmare. Xavier flew out of range of the beast as it whipped its head back and snapped its teeth at him, then he whirled around and faced the worm. His soul bound weapon shifted from reinforcing his arms back to a staff in almost an instant. Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the worm he¡¯d just struck¡ªshards of the beast¡¯s soul shot out and hit the other four wurms. Those shards also killed some of the lower-level beasts in the area¡ªthen Xavier dodged another of those damned rocks. This is still too much. I need a distraction. Xavier saw all of the beast corpses scattered around the battlefield. There were more infected D Grade beasts coming to the field as well. The flow of them never seemed to cease. If Xavier didn¡¯t do something soon, they would be overwhelmed.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. There were plenty of levers he hadn¡¯t pulled yet, however, and this was only one of them. Soul Puppet! One of the dead beasts sprang up from the ground. Xavier smiled. He could use that spell every second. It wouldn¡¯t take long for him to have an army of his own. Time Alteration finally reached the end of its cooldown in that moment, and he cast it in an instant. There was something he needed to do. Something he needed time for. Besides, the Time Alteration spell would offer its own protection. Xavier hadn¡¯t encompassed anyone else within the spell¡ªjust himself. At least for now. The time bubble was a sphere high up in the air as that was where Xavier currently hovered. In the last few months since Xavier had become D Grade and gained his Portal spell, he¡¯d been looking for gaps in his fighting ability. Perhaps it was because he hadn¡¯t faced a true challenge up until now, he had yet to find something he felt was worthy of using the second Spell Credit on¡ªhe¡¯d still yet to gain any other spells another way as well, something which he hoped would still happen in the future. He was only Level 202, after all. The dragon Volkarin was easily able to destroy the black substance. Xavier was not. He didn¡¯t have a spell that allowed him to do the right kind of damage against it. That was something which he needed to change. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate to cast Otherworldly Communion. Time froze as colour bled from the world. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
  4. Greater Universe insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. Xavier didn¡¯t have to think on his option. He already knew what he wanted to gain from this. Personal insight, he willed, holding the question he wanted an answer to in his mind. A bright light shined before him as the spirit summoned to give him insight made its way into this world. As the spirit came into being, Xavier contemplated all of the properties he had assimilated in the past¡ªhis melee strikes weren¡¯t only physical damage. He had some elemental damage in there as well, a trait he¡¯d received all the way back on the fifth floor, even if it wasn¡¯t something he thought about often. Why hadn¡¯t that been enough to kill the black substance? It was these very questions he needed to ask the spirit he summoned. Xavier didn¡¯t know what kind of spirit to expect to appear. He had seen many spirits in his time. One had even been a tiny, humanoid hamster, of all things. The spirit that appeared before him now however looked entirely human. They had a shaved head and wore orange robes that looked as though they would suit a monk from the east. The man had a youthful appearance, and a peaceful visage. His fists were touching each other just below his chest, and his eyes were closed, almost as though he were in prayer¡ªor meditation. The man opened his eyes and looked at Xavier. What insight do you wish to gain, young Denizen? For a moment, Xaiver wondered just how old he would need to be before these spirits stopped calling him young. Would it be decades, centuries¡­ or millennia? He would find out eventually. I need a spell. Something that will make me able to destroy the enemy I currently face more effectively, but that will also synergise well with the other paths of power I already walk, and serve me well in the future. The man inclined his head in a sagely nod. I can offer you this insight, young Denizen. I see you walk many paths, but there is one path that has not been highly developed. One path that you could benefit from greatly if you were to strengthen it. Xavier blinked. He only had one portal magic spell, two mind control spells, and two time magic spells¡­ was it one of those paths the spirit was talking about? Which path do you speak of, spirit? The path of the unarmed fighter. Xavier frowned. Thinking back to all the fights he had been in. He had several skills that helped him on that path, but only a single spell, Enhanced Telekinetic Strike. A part of him was offended that the spirit thought this path of his was underdeveloped, considering how powerful he was as a melee fighter these days¡ªespecially since becoming dragonkin. That transformation had only made him more effective. But there was another part of him that was thrilled to find out he there was something lacking in him¡ªthat could be even stronger. What do you suggest? You have heard of cultivation. There is no doubt about that¡ªyou cultivate energy into your cores, and I see the ones you have unlocked. That is a journey you still walk, and one you will walk for your entire existence. But there is something that you are missing. Missing? There is a way to cultivate energy not only into one¡¯s cores, but into one¡¯s body. Xavier blinked. Cultivate energy into my body? he asked. I have never heard of such a thing. It is not a path that many walk. It is an old path, one that is not favoured by the new universes. There are many reasons for this¡ªone of those reasons is that not many here are ever able to gain access to it. Xavier frowned. An old path? He had a feeling. How old? The spirit raised its head. From the time before. Xavier swallowed. A time¡­ before the System? Indeed. You are wise beyond your years, young Denizen. You walk the Infinite Path, and so even the Old Ways are now open to you¡ªthis is one of those ways. Xavier lowered his head in thought. One of the Old Ways¡­ something from before the time of the System¡­ That interested him greatly, though he still wondered at gaining powers similar to those wielded back then. The same question remained within him¡ªhadn¡¯t they created the System because their powers weren¡¯t great enough? Didn¡¯t they need something more to combat the threat that destroyed the universe? But he sensed, and was starting to discover, that there was more to it than that. Will this allow me to kill the entity I face? Will this¡­ Body Cultivation give me the ability to harm it? He paused. And why is it the elemental damage I possess isn¡¯t enough? This will allow you to damage the entity, whether you ultimately kill it is not something I can foresee. And the reason your elemental damage does not harm this demon is because it simply isn¡¯t strong enough¡ªyou gained that trait when you were E Grade. Do you think an E Grade, even with a strong elemental magic attack, would be able to harm this substance? Xavier sighed, feeling foolish. Of course they would not. Indeed, and so you cannot expect to with this alone. Xavier supposed if he¡¯d thought that through for a little longer, he would have come to that realisation by himself. But, at least he had a concrete answer from the spirit. Which spell on the Body Cultivation path should I take? There is only one spell. Xavier had one more question he wanted to ask the spirit, one he wished to slip in before it disappeared. How do you know of this path, if it is of the Old Ways? The spirit looked at him, something twinkled in its eyes. The answer to that does not pertain to your question. Goodbye, Xavier Collins. The spirit began to disappear, and colour returned to the world. Book 5: Chapter 16 - Lost Art The spirit that Xavier had summoned through Otherworldly Communion to see what new spell he needed to gain¡ªwhat new path of power he needed to walk¡ªhad just disappeared. Xavier hovered inside of his time bubble above the battlefield on the side of the Dark Mountains, four C Grade Infected Rock Worms were below him, as well as hundreds¡ªperhaps thousands¡ªof infected D Grade beasts. Volkarin, summoned as the Spirit of Vengeance, hovered nearby, also frozen in time. Body Cultivation. A path of melee fighting. Something the spirit had said was of the Old Ways¡ªfrom a time before the System. If this was the path he needed to take, then he would have to get up close and personal with these foes¡ªthat meant there would be more of a chance of The Nightmare substance getting onto his skin. But this Body Cultivation the spirit had spoken of¡­ even though the spirit hadn¡¯t said a great deal about it, something about it simply felt right. Being able to cultivate energy directly into his body, instead of just into his cores¡­ it sounded like it had a great amount of potential. And there was only a single spell on the path. Xavier focused on the one remaining Spell Credit he still possessed. You have one Spell Credit to spend. Spell Credits are unique to only a few different classes in the Greater Universe. They allow a Denizen to choose from any approved spells available to them. There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen. You may choose from the following categories¡­ Once again, thousands of different categories were displayed before him, for as a someone who walked the Infinite Path, he could choose from every single one possible, Xavier ignored them all and willed a search for what he wished for. The other categories all disappeared, and only a single one remained before his eyes. Body Cultivation. Xavier selected it. Another notification appeared. If you choose to look at the Body Cultivation category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Xavier only hesitated for a moment. It might have been wise, he knew, to try and do a little more research on this. Since choosing his last spell, in the months that he¡¯d been training on the hundredth floor as a D Grade, he¡¯d returned back to the Staging Room in the Tower of Champions¡ªusing his Time Alteration spell to freeze time while he was there, so he only spent a moment away from the floor. There, he had purchased several different informational books on spells from the System Shop, which he¡¯d torn through reading. He¡¯d discovered so many different potential paths for him to take. Gravity magic was something he was most intrigued about, simply because of how awesome it sounded, and the potential it had. But in all of his research, he¡¯d never once come across Body Cultivation. This was an unknown, and somehow, that made it even more exciting to him. Xavier willed his selection, choosing the category, knowing there was no turning back now. Once he opened up the category of spells he found what the spirit had said was correct¡ªthere was only a single spell that he could choose from. Xavier chose the spell. You have gained the spell: Body Cultivation Xavier grinned as he received the spell. God, it always felt good to gain more magic. He couldn¡¯t help but take some time to bask in the moment. There was something amazing about the sheer potential of a new spell, especially when he didn¡¯t know much about that spell. Right now he could dream up a thousand possibilities for how it might function and how he might use it. The second he opened it up, those possibilities would narrow to a point, but the reality of having another spell to play with was equally thrilling. He wondered what the past version of himself would think if he could see where he was right now¡ªif he could see all that he¡¯d done. It would definitely blow his mind. Xavier pulled himself out of his reverie. Sometimes, when you were in a time dilation field, it was easy to get distracted from everything that was happening outside of the bubble. But now more than ever, he needed to focus.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! He ordered his mind and opened up the description for his newly gained spell. Body Cultivation ¨C Rank 1 Body Cultivation is the process of enhancing the body through the use of internal energy cultivated from outside of oneself. When mastered, this energy can be used to strengthen and empower every inch of a cultivator¡¯s body. Xavier¡¯s eyes narrowed. He reread the description a second time and found it to be¡­ Very thin. It didn¡¯t tell him much. When he¡¯d heard the spirit say the term Body Cultivation, he¡¯d figured this information out on his own. Wasn¡¯t there more to this that the System could tell him? Body Cultivation comes from before the System¡­ But the System must have been aware of it. He¡¯d used a Spell Credit, through the System, to gain the spell. Xavier sighed. There was one other person¡ªother than himself or the spirit he¡¯d just summoned¡ªwho he¡¯d spoken to that seemed to have some knowledge of things from before the System. Rhaalir? he called out with his mind. Rhaalir, are you near? He hadn¡¯t seen the spirit for weeks. He hadn¡¯t needed any further tutelage on his Otherworldly spells, and that seemed to have disrupted the connection. But the contract still held¡ªhe would have felt if it broke. Xavier hadn¡¯t intended to address that problem today, but now it seemed as though he didn¡¯t have a better option. He called out with his mind five more times before the spirit finally turned up. But there was something wrong. The elf spirit looked far more transparent than he usually did, and the image of him flickered, disappearing completely twice before asserting itself. The spirit hovered in the air in front of him. The elf had a look of confusion in his eyes. He stared at Xavier and blinked. Xavier? He looked around. Where are we? Over the Dark Mountains. I am battling The Nightmare, a C Grade demon. Xavier flew a little closer to the elf spirit. What¡¯s happening to you, Rhaalir? The elf spirit shook his head, still looking dazed. Finally, his image seemed to solidify. It was still transparent, but no more transparent than it usually was. I apologise, the elf spirit said in Xavier¡¯s mind. His voice sounded stronger and more clear than a moment ago. I have been struggling to keep the connection between myself and you active. Xavier frowned. You have? Why is that? The elf shook his head. Truthfully, I am not sure. I have never remained under a contract for as long as this in the past. I have heard that the longer a spirit is contracted to stay in the Mortal Realm, the more difficult the connection becomes, but¡­ I don¡¯t know why that is. I should be becoming stronger. Part of the contract was that Xavier would give a portion of his Soul Energy to the spirit for the duration of the contract. This was, supposedly, something that should have strengthened him, though Xavier didn¡¯t really know how that worked¡ªhe still didn¡¯t have a proper working understanding of Soul Energy, either. What is it you called me here for, Xavier? Do you wish to know something more about your Otherworld spells? Can you remain here long? The elf spirit looked unsure. I do not know. Xavier carried on with his question. It seemed as though there was no time to delay. Perhaps he could ask the Spirit of Vengeance why this was happening¡ªit could be a while until he used Otherworldly Communion to gain insight again. He explained to the spirit what he¡¯d done, the spell he¡¯d gained, and that it had origins from before the time of the System. The elf spirit nodded as Xavier talked. Xavier took this as a good thing. Until Rhaalir replied. I know very little of this, Xavier. I know of Otherworldly spells. That is why you made a connection with me and not some other spirit. If you know of Otherworldly spells, why do you not know about what is happening to yourself? Because I never held a contract with a spirit this long. It is¡­ The elf¡¯s gaze shifted away from Xavier. Not considered safe. Spirits from the Otherworld cannot always be trusted. That was certainly not something the man had ever said before. I can feel myself changing, in ways I do not yet understand. Perhaps it would be wise for you to break the contract with me, for your own safety. Xavier blinked. He hadn¡¯t expected Rhaalir to be as noble as that, though he supposed he had no reason to think otherwise about the elf. Would that help you? he asked. I do not think I am in danger. Then I will discover more of what is happening before I make that decision. Now, we may not have much time. You said you knew little¡ªwhat is it you do know? Body Cultivation is a lost art. I¡¯m not sure if anyone anywhere in your universe even knows what it is. I have only heard whispers of it, like many things that came from the time Before. The spirit that told you to choose this¡­ they will know more. They must. Xavier inclined his head. He suppressed a sigh and kept his frustration inside. Now was not the time to vent to Rhaalir, not considering what the spirit was clearly going through. That time would come in the future, however. We will speak again soon, Rhaalir. I hope s¡ª Rhaalir disappeared before he¡¯d even finished the sentence. He flickered out into nothing, and Xavier got the impression that the elf had been forcing himself to appear, and that it had required a great amount of effort for him to remain here. Xavier hovered there alone in the middle of his time dilation field, his head bent deeply in contemplation. He looked down below him and found a clear area, and slowly carved the time dilation field through the air until he was back on solid ground. He retracted his wings, though not all the way, and sat cross-legged on grass unsullied by the oozing, black substance. He released a sigh. The Body Cultivation spell did not at all describe its use, and Rhaalir knew nothing about it. The monk-like spirit Xavier had spoken to about the spell had told him it would help him in his current situation, and he was aware that spirits weren¡¯t allowed to lie to him while he used Otherworldly Communion. So the monk-like spirit had been telling him the truth. It was simply up to Xavier to figure out what he needed to do. Good thing I¡¯m inside a time dilation field. That will give me plenty of time to figure this out¡­ And if it didn¡¯t work, well, he was sure that he could come up with a third plan. Even if that plan meant retreating, and fighting this fight another day¡­ that was still an option, after all, even if it wasn¡¯t one he wished to take. Xavier was about to cast Body Cultivation when he stopped himself¡ªhe was inside a time dilation field. He had no idea what this spell did, and he also had no idea how long the cooldown was. If he needed to experiment with the spell, he¡¯d have to bring the field down to do it¡­ That doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll just have to figure this out. He shifted where he sat. Currently, Xavier was in a state of meditation. He was observing every inch of not only his body, but the cores within. He had become a diligent cultivator in his time since being integrated. The moment he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core, he¡¯d cultivated energy into it every single day. How hard could this lost art that no one in his entire universe likely knew anything about be? He chuckled to himself. Then he cast Body Cultivation for the first time. Book 5: Chapter 17 - Body Cultivation Xavier sat cross legged on the ground as great energies flooded into him. No notification appeared to tell him what the spell he¡¯d just cast did, though he had plenty of spells that lacked notifications on casting. Xavier had cultivated energies into himself before¡ªa great many times¡ªbut it had never felt quite like this. The energy had nowhere to go. It wasn¡¯t heading to any of his uncovered cores. It was simply swirling around the different energy pathways in his body. Xavier wrinkled his forehead in concentration as he shut his eyes and focused inwardly. He used senses he had been developing since the moment he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core. Since then, he had uncovered several more cores¡ªhis Willpower Core before he¡¯d reached the rank of E Grade, and his Speed Core before he¡¯d reached the rank of D Grade. He¡¯d yet to uncover a fourth core, but he knew he would do that in the future. The energy that he took in wasn¡¯t specific¡ªit felt like the raw energy known as Celestial Energy. Celestial Energy was the energy that fuelled all of a Denizen¡¯s cores. When it was cultivated, it turned into the necessary energy for each of the six different cores, which each had a corresponding attribute. The Celestial Energy moved down one pathway to the next, in a seemingly unordered way, until it finally left his body and dissipated into nothing. Xavier opened his eyes with a frown. ¡°Well¡­ that was anticlimactic.¡± The energy had just¡­ disappeared. And as far as he could tell, it hadn¡¯t actually done anything for him. Maybe there was something going on that he wasn¡¯t aware of. But if so¡­ he wasn¡¯t aware of it. He let out a sigh, then tilted his head to the side curiously. Usually, when a spell was cast or when it ended, he would feel the cooldown for that spell activate. No such thing happened for this spell. He concentrated on it, but nothing showed up. The spell had no cooldown at all. He looked inward once more, this time at his cores, and realised that he hadn¡¯t spent a single bit of energy to cast the spell. That¡¯s strange. Usually it¡¯s only skills that don¡¯t require energy to cast, and all my other cultivation abilities are in the skills category¡­ That at least settled something¡ªhe was able to experiment with this spell inside the time dilation field. Which was good, because he certainly didn¡¯t have a handle on it after a single cast. Xavier just sat there for a long moment, staring outside the barrier at the chaos with the four Infected Rock Worms, the C Grade beasts that The Nightmare controlled, and the boulders they had launched up at the sky like cannonballs in a steady stream of attacks. Not to mention all the other infected D Grade beasts. Volkarin was high in the sky, a stream of fire and ice flowing from his giant maw. The dragon looked more ferocious than he ever had. There was a very small part of Xavier that wondered if he should be regretting his choice of spell. Only moments ago, before he¡¯d opened the spell description, he was excited to discover what it could be. Now, he was more annoyed than anything else. Maybe it¡¯s a lost art because it isn¡¯t even useful anymore. There must be plenty of ¡°Old Ways¡± that were forgotten because they were simply no good. He let out yet another sigh and banished those negative thoughts, ordering his mind once more. There was no point in feeling self-pity about his spell choice. He had trusted the spirit he¡¯d spoken to, and at the time he¡¯d gotten a feeling of rightness about the path. Besides, he couldn¡¯t change what he had done. The phrase came to him unbidden, One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier had always known the truth in those words, but now more than ever they were clear. I¡¯m just going to have to work with what I¡¯ve chosen. Xavier closed his eyes once more and cast Body Cultivation for a second time. He felt the Celestial Energy flow into him, and this time instead of simply observing the process, he took control of it. Xavier found that he could easily control the flow of the energies that came inside of him¡ªwhich made sense. He had been cultivating Celestial Energy for a long time. He had also been cycling different energies around his body and back into his core since he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core. This all felt incredibly natural and easy to him. The moment he took control of the energy a notification popped up in his vision.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 2 Spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 5 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier blinked. He certainly hadn¡¯t been expecting that to happen. He¡¯d gained four ranks in the spell simply by moving the energy around in his body? He still didn¡¯t actually feel any different, but at least¡ªas far as the System was concerned¡ªhe was on the right track. Xavier sat there for several hours, cycling the energy through his body, and brinigng more of that energy into him. This process was an easy, intuitive one to him, and he gained several more ranks as he did this, until he reached Rank 25 in Body Cultivation, and all progress suddenly stopped. He still didn¡¯t even know where to keep that energy. It simply left him when he was done cycling it. Even with all those ranks achieved in such a short time, he still had no idea what he was actually doing with the spell. He stopped what he was doing and got up from where he¡¯d been sitting cross legged. He paced around the clearing, remaining inside of the time dilation field he¡¯d created, and tried to think through what was going on. The Body Cultivation spell clearly wasn¡¯t like any other spell that he¡¯d learnt in the past. Usually, a spell would guide the Denizen through its usage. Simply casting the spell did the thing the spell was designed to do. But this was something from before the System, and it didn¡¯t appear to function in the same ways as that. There were no frameworks built into the spell itself. Nothing about this was automatic. Xavier was simply wielding raw energies without a clue as to what to actually do with them. He would need to figure out what to do with them by himself. This would require an amount of experimentation that no other spell in his arsenal had ever needed, and right now he certainly had no access to an instructor who could help him. The spell was similar to his cultivation skills, but there were clearly things about it he was missing. So far, all he had been able to do was circulate the energies around his body, and that clearly hadn¡¯t been enough. There were other things he would need to do if he was to master this spell. ¡°No,¡± Xavier said to himself. ¡°This isn¡¯t just a spell. That¡¯s my problem. This entire category of magic has only this one thing. It¡¯s not a spell. It¡¯s an entire path.¡± Xavier sat down on the ground again, cross-legged once more, and closed his eyes. He cast Body Cultivation, bringing Celestial Energy into it and cycling it through the different channels in his body. Then he opened his eyes and raised his right hand and looked at it. He focused on the energies moving around his body and pushed them toward his hand. Before the System, the Denizens that existed didn¡¯t have already established frameworks to work with. They would have had to work with the raw energies and figure everything out for themselves. They would have created spells. They would have made everything that was now in the Greater Universe from scratch. As Xavier pushed the energy toward his hand, he felt something curious stir inside of him. A sense of wonder. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d felt this. There were so many things that he had discovered in the Greater Universe since being integrated by the System, things that were arguably much more amazing than what he was doing right now. But there was something alluring about the possibilities of what he was doing right now. The energy flowed down his arm until it reached his palm. He pushed it toward his fingers and suddenly felt as though the energy wanted to be released back into the air¡ªthis was what often happened when he was practising with this new spell. The energy would simply leave him before he¡¯d really done anything with it. This time, Xavier didn¡¯t let the energy leave him. Instead, he made it pool into his hand. As he watched his hand, something curious happened. It began to develop a red glow. Xavier blinked down at his hand, glowing as red as metal heated long at the forge. He tilted his head to one side. The longer he pooled the energy at his hand, the warmer his hand was becoming. Xavier was able to handle incredibly cold or hot temperatures with ease the way his body had developed, and he was sure that had only been further enhanced when he¡¯d become a dragonkin¡ªit wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d gone out of his way to test. But he had to imagine that a dragonkin, of all the different races, would have a particular strength for withstanding heat. It was a natural assumption to make. And yet the heat pooling in his hand was beginning to grow unbearable, to the point where he could see that his skin was starting to melt. Xavier tried to pull the Celestial Energy away from his hand, but for some reason it was trapped there. He had the inane desire to wildly shake his hand, as though he¡¯d just touched a hot stove, but he resisted. He could keep a cool head in a crisis. If he wasn¡¯t able to, he would have died a long time ago. If I can¡¯t move the energy back through the channels and into my body, maybe I can release it. Xavier raised his hand. It was shaking now. The pain was intense, but he bore it well. The skin was melting so much he could see his bone beneath. He wasn¡¯t worried¡ªhe could heal from such a wound¡ªbut it still made a shiver of fear run up him. What if he¡¯d pooled the energy in the wrong place, and melted something else by accident? He shook that thought away and refocused, pushing the energy out of his body. This, too, seemed blocked in some way. Usually, if he wasn¡¯t careful to keep hold of the Celestial Energy, the energies would disperse out of him without him even meaning for it to happen. His hand continued to melt. More of the skin and muscle was sizzling and disappearing before his eyes. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how hot it was getting, for it to actually be doing him this much damage¡ªto him of all people. Your health is at 90%. Doing this has taken away 10 percent of my health? That¡¯s insane! Xavier didn¡¯t let himself panic. Panic wouldn¡¯t serve him. All it would do was make the situation worse. But he definitely wanted to panic. He wanted to freeze time, give himself time to think, but it was already frozen around him. Xavier released a breath. He had a sudden insight, though it was one that felt foolish. One that felt like it would be nothing but a waste of time. But it was something that he needed to try. His flashes of insight often got him out of trouble. He wasn¡¯t going to stop listening to them now. If he ignored every crazy idea he had, he¡¯d never have gotten anywhere. Xavier stood, curled his fingers into a fist¡ªhe had to retract his claws to do so¡ªand punched. At the same time as he punched, he focused on the energies in his hand, and a target in the air where his fist struck. There was nothing there to hit, but he hoped that this would work¡ªnot that he even knew what he was doing. Xavier struck air. And¡­ Nothing happened. His hand slowly melted away until it was completely gone. Book 5: Chapter 18 - Like Using Rocket Fuel to Try and Run a Bicycle Xavier stared at the stump where his right hand used to be. The Lost Bone of a Dead God, the soul bound weapon that he had, was sitting beside him in its scythe-staff form. He was glad he hadn¡¯t been using it in its unarmed configuration. It would have likely been melted beyond repair. His hand, however, appeared to be growing back. Once Xavier¡¯s hand had melted to nothing, the energies that he¡¯d pooled there had finally dissipated into the air, and left¡­ a cauterised stump. Fortunately for Xavier, it was only cooldowns that were locked to the universe he was in. While he was in his Time Alteration field, he was still able to heal himself. He had never lost a limb before, but he¡¯d done his research. If he¡¯d lost this limb while he¡¯d been E Grade, it would have been near impossible for him to grow it back¡ªit was a very expensive procedure. He would have had to wait until he¡¯d gotten to D Grade, and his body had been reforged by the System, for him to get his hand back. As a D Grade, however, he now had the ability to regrow limbs, and Xavier¡¯s Toughness was high enough that his health regeneration was quite strong. Even so, it still took four hours for his hand to grow back. He supposed if it grew back in an instant, severing limbs in a fight wouldn¡¯t do all that much. It was a slow and painful process. Xavier simply sat there in the middle of his time dilation field, wondering where he¡¯d gone wrong. He was trying as hard as he could to master this Body Cultivation spell in the very little time that he had. After what he¡¯d just done, it seemed like a fool¡¯s errand. It reminded him, very much, of the time that he had burned through his core when he¡¯d first been experimenting with it. Sam had shouted at him, told him he¡¯d been an absolute fool to do what he¡¯d done. Xavier had instruction back then. This time, he was working completely blind, and there wasn¡¯t anyone around to help him if he messed up. He needed to figure this out on his own. When just over four hours had passed, Xavier released a long breath and raised his hand. The skin looked different to how it had before. It looked redder, more raw. It also felt smoother than it had before. Xavier hadn¡¯t read about that. He wondered if it would return to its normal colour in time, but he supposed he didn¡¯t really mind. During those four hours while he¡¯d waited for his hand to heal, Xavier hadn¡¯t practised with the Body Cultivation spell at all. He wasn¡¯t feeling confident in it, and the last thing he needed was two of his hands to be melted into nothing. So he¡¯d just sat there, contemplating what had gone wrong. By the time his hand had finally grown back, he had a smile on his face. Something he hadn¡¯t expected. But, he couldn¡¯t help himself. The worst had happened. He¡¯d messed up the spell and it had backfired¡ªpretty hard¡ªon him. But he had been able to fix that. And even though he hadn¡¯t managed to use Body Cultivation in a significant, helpful, way, it had shown him something¡ªthe path of power had potential. If it was strong enough to do that kind of damage to him, without him even knowing how to use it, then how strong might it become when he did learn how it was used? Something else had also happened when his hand had been melting, he¡¯d just been too focused to realise it. The spell had received some ranks. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 26 Spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 30 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. I really received ranks for doing that? Xavier couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and laugh. Somehow, the System thought he¡¯d developed the spell in a significant way because he¡¯d¡­ melted his hand to nothing. Maybe it was because the System didn¡¯t really know much about this spell, but then again, he knew that the System was only describing the level of power that he had attained, and not necessarily giving it to him. Xavier stood up and paced around inside his time dilation field. The C Grade Infected Rock Worms were still frozen in time outside of his field, and he ignored them as best as he could. There was a fight going on out there, and here he was just¡­ meditating and practicing with a spell. His life had become even stranger when he¡¯d gained that Time Alteration spell. Things no longer felt as urgent when he was in the middle of a life a death battle, even though they were just as urgent as they had ever been. All right, well, if I gained five ranks in Body Cultivation for what I just did, that must mean I made some kind of progress with the spell. So, whatever I did, I was clearly on the right track, even if it didn¡¯t work. That made him frown. He looked down at his right hand. Still red. Still oddly smooth. Still looking¡­ raw. If he¡¯d been on the right track, it meant he would need to try to do the exact same thing again. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think he could handle the pain¡ªhe certainly didn¡¯t want to intentionally inflict that kind of pain on himself¡ªit was simply that he didn¡¯t see what he could do differently.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it That flash of insight that he¡¯d had¡­ it hadn¡¯t worked. He wondered if that was because he hadn¡¯t had a proper target. All he¡¯d actually done was try and strike the air. But no, he didn¡¯t think it was that. He could launch a spell at nothing if he so wished. Most of his spells, at least. There were very few that were so limited as to need a target¡ªTime Prison was one of them. This one Body Cultivation spell was an entire path of power, which meant that it wouldn¡¯t be so restricted as to be always needed to be used against a target, right? That made sense to him, and so he had to run with it. That meant that he¡¯d done something wrong when he¡¯d punched. Maybe he hadn¡¯t been able to expend the energy in the right way. Perhaps because he¡¯d never done something like this in the past. He thought about all of the spells that he possessed. On a fundamental level, he¡¯d never really examined how they worked. He didn¡¯t need to. All he needed to do was cast the spell, to will it to happen in the right way, and what he needed to happen would happen. The only physical combat spell that he possessed was Enhanced Telekinetic Strike, and that wasn¡¯t a melee spell in the same way that Body Cultivation clearly was. It was a telekinetic spell that had been modified to do what he required it to do. Xavier tapped his foot ever harder on the ground the more he got frustrated with this problem. He¡¯d been going through all of these exact same thoughts as he¡¯d sat there for the past four hours and watched his hand grow back. Why was he putting himself through going over them all again? There weren¡¯t any new insights for him to glean without actually taking action, were there? So that was what Xavier did. This time, he didn¡¯t sit cross-legged on the ground when he cast this spell. He was standing up. Xavier cast Body Cultivation. Celestial Energy tried to flood into his body, but he was easily able to control the flow of it. As the energy entered his body, more thoughts entered his mind, these ones coming unbidden. When Xavier had first had trouble controlling his aura and his core, it had been because he hadn¡¯t struck the perfect balance at which his Spirit Core burned energy. He tilted his head to the side. It was all cultivation, wasn¡¯t it? This was simply a different, more ancient form of cultivation than the ones that he had practised in the past. It was something more raw. A form of cultivation from a universe long dead¡­ But, he had to believe it functioned in a similar way. Cycling energy through his entire body had certainly seemed to serve an important function. It had made the ranks in his spell go up. That¡¯s something the people before the System wouldn¡¯t have had¡ªan indication that what they were doing was actually working. For a moment, he wondered about what he was doing. Even before he¡¯d had the Body Cultivation spell, he¡¯d known how to bring Celestial Energy into his body and have it flow around the currents. He¡¯d known how to cycle it through his body, even if that energy always came back into his core. This was something that all Denizens learnt how to do. It was remarkably similar to what he was doing right now. It seemed as though he would be able to use all the fundamentals of Body Cultivation without even having the spell, so there must be something that he was missing here. Xavier paced around the time dilation field again. Despite how much patience he¡¯d cultivated during Liana¡¯s instruction, he was beginning to feel frustrated. The frustration wasn¡¯t doing him any favours. All it would do would be cloud his judgement, and that was the last thing he needed right now. Think, Xavier. Think. Body Cultivation must be different in some fundamental way to the other ways that he could cultivate. It mustn¡¯t only be limited to drawing energy into himself and manipulating its movement around his body. There had to be something else that Body Cultivation did. He brought up the spell¡¯s description again, even though he knew it was rather limited. Body Cultivation ¨C Rank 1 Body Cultivation is the process of enhancing the body through the use of internal energy cultivated from outside of oneself. When mastered, this energy can be used to strengthen and empower every inch of a cultivator¡¯s body. Xavier read over the description several times. He wasn¡¯t pacing around the time dilation field, so much as striding and stomping, leaving holes in the ground everywhere stepped. Finally, he stopped himself and took a deep breath. Concentrate. You can figure this out. One of the fundamental ways in which this was different to his cultivation skills that involved his cores was that the energy didn¡¯t have anywhere that it could remain. There was no place to put the power¡ªit had to be used, or it was lost. And he couldn¡¯t use the other energies that were in his cores for Body Cultivation. That was clear. The description had specifically said that the power needed to be cultivated from outside of himself, and that power was Celestial Energy¡ªthe rawest of energies in the Greater Universe. And so far, the only way that he knew how to use it was to cycle it through his body. Or to melt my own hand off. But melting his hand off had taught him something, hadn¡¯t it? It had shown him that he¡¯d been on the right track. The five ranks he¡¯d gained hadn¡¯t been for doing the wrong thing, even if he¡¯d ultimately been harmed. All right. Take action. Let¡¯s try this again. He¡¯d already cast the spell, the Celestial Energy was already coursing through his body, cycling down the different channels. The first thing he did was disperse a great deal of that energy. In the energy¡¯s current state, it was difficult for him to quantify just how much of it he had cycling inside of him. Not without some effort. So, he focused on it, dispersing almost all of it. The more he focused on the energy, the more he could feel how much energy it actually was. This is D Grade Celestial Energy, he realised. And of course it is. I naturally bring in D Grade energies. That made something click inside of his mind. He¡¯d been practising a low-rank spell¡ªwith ranks only an F Grade Denizen was likely to have¡ªwith D Grade quality energy. Of course something had gone wrong! That was like using rocket fuel to try and run a bicycle. All it would do was burn it¡­ Xavier stood still as he worked. One unit of D Grade Celestial Energy was the equivalent of 100 units of F Grade energy. That seemed like a good amount of energy to work with, rather than what he¡¯d been doing previously. As the spell was Rank 30, 100 units of F Grade Celestial Energy shouldn¡¯t be a great deal. So Xavier held on to a single unit of D Grade Celestial Energy which he cycled through his body. He raised his right hand, the one that had just been regrown, and extended his claws, focusing specifically on the claw on his index finger. He pooled the unit of Celestial Energy into that claw. As he did, he felt the energy at work. Felt it slowly heat up his claw. It didn¡¯t make it glow red like before. He didn¡¯t think he was using enough for that to happen, which was something that he was glad for. Xavier drew in a long breath. He breathed deeply, and fell into a meditative state, harnessing the deepest level of concentration and focus that he could manage. He raised his claw, and that same insight he¡¯d had before, when the energy had been pooling in his entire hand, came to him. He struck at the air, slicing a point that he targeted with his single claw. As he did, he pushed that energy outward. The energy struck the air. There was a small explosion of power. He couldn¡¯t tell how powerful it was¡ªhe only used a small amount of energy, after all¡ªbut the moment he did it, notifications flooded into his vision. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 31 spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 40 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier threw his head back and laughed in joy, and that was when he saw another notification pop up, one that made his eyes go wide. It was¡­ a title? Book 5: Chapter 19 - Revive a Lost Art Xavier stared at the title he¡¯d just received. Only a moment ago, he¡¯d successfully used Body Cultivation to strike mid-air¡ªand he hadn¡¯t lost any limbs doing it¡ªgaining him Rank 40 in the spell. Title Unlocked! Revive a Lost Art: You have taken the first step in mastering a spell that hasn¡¯t been used in over one thousand billion years. Though this spell has been used in the Greater Universe before, it hasn¡¯t been used since the System was young. You have received +25% to all stats. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he finished reading the title. Body Cultivation hasn¡¯t been used in¡­ one thousand billion years!? He didn¡¯t even know how to imagine that amount of time. It was staggering. How many universes had been born and died since someone had used this? And how could it be possible that no one else had? Xavier stared at the claw on his index finger for a long moment as realisations flooded into him. The older version of himself. The one that he¡¯d met recently on one of the tower floors. That man had failed to save his own universe, and so he¡¯d come in search of¡­ himself, to deliver a warning. The fact that there had been a version of himself on one of the Tower of Champions floors meant that there were alternate universes out there from billions of years ago¡ªbefore the birth of his own universe¡ªwhere he, Xavier Collins, had existed. And there must have been an almost infinite number of those alternate universes, something that would always be difficult for him to imagine. But the System notification¡­ it took that into account, didn¡¯t it? It wasn¡¯t only speaking of his universe, for his universe hadn¡¯t been around long enough. This means¡­ this means that I¡¯m the only version of Xavier Collins to have ever even used this spell. That, he had to say, blew his mind a bit. He sat on the ground and contemplated this for a long moment. My path has already significantly diverged from that of the older version of myself. I must be doing things entirely differently to how he did them, and yet we must have started off exactly the same, if not only with slight differences. He looked up at the sky through the time dilation field and stared at the stars, then he closed his eyes. Thank you, he said, to that other version of himself. Meeting the man must have changed him more than he knew. Xavier opened his eyes and looked at his claw once more. This can¡¯t be right, can it? How can no one in that long have ever done what I¡¯ve just done? The odds of this not happening seem astronomically high! Someone must have stumbled on it by accident or on purpose, especially if spirits from the Otherworld know about it. For a moment, he tested something out. He deactivated the Body Cultivation spell¡ªa spell, he¡¯d found, that he could toggle on and off with no difficulty¡ªand cultivated energy into himself in ways he already knew of. That energy tried to go straight into his Spirit Core, but Xavier stopped it. If it went into any one of his cores it would be turned into that kind of energy. That wasn¡¯t what he wanted to do right now. He moved the energy around his body just as he had before when he¡¯d had Body Cultivation active, and he tried to do what he¡¯d done, pooling the energy into his claw. It didn¡¯t work. It didn¡¯t¡­ do anything. It simply wouldn¡¯t pool. He tried that for an entire hour before he stopped. Things might work fundamentally differently now that the System exists. The way the System governs the Greater Universe could have changed how the energies function. Or there¡¯s something else I¡¯m missing here. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be the first person to try and experiment and do something like this without actually having a spell for it. Not in the last thousand billion years. There were other forces at play preventing this from happening¡ªperhaps it had to do with the restrictions put in place when one chose a class. One cannot walk backward on the path¡­ This also must mean that the System simply didn¡¯t offer the Body Cultivation spell to people. Why had that spirit he¡¯d spoken to suggested it to him in the first place, if it hadn¡¯t been used by anyone in so long? It felt like there was something else at work here.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it That was when he remembered the presence he¡¯d felt, the one he¡¯d all but blocked from his mind, when he¡¯d advanced from E Grade to D Grade. There had been something there¡ªsomething that wasn¡¯t the System, for he knew what the System¡¯s presence felt like by now. There had been something behind it. Xavier had tried not to think about that, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what it was. Are my actions being guided? By more than just myself¡ªand more than just the System? Is there someone or something out there, something beyond even the System, that is trying to influence me? The thought felt like an insane one, based on nothing but a mere feeling while his mind had been obliterated and put back together. For all he knew, he could have simply imagined that presence. But no, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d imagined it. Even so¡­ if there was something out there guiding him, what was he going to do about it? If it was something he could one day change, it certainly wasn¡¯t something he could change right now. And as unlikely as him being the first person to use this spell in one thousand billions years seemed, there was no way that it couldn¡¯t be true. The System itself had told him so, and if he didn¡¯t believe what the System told him, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to function at all. The System must not ever offer this spell¡ªthis path¡ªto people naturally. There are likely other people in the Greater Universe who walk the Infinite Path, but¡­ there are so many spell categories, and spending a Spell Credit is a dangerous thing. Maybe it is possible no one stumbled on this¡­ Or maybe, until he searched for it, it was hidden. Xavier looked at his hands again, flexed his fingers. All of this¡­ everything that he was thinking about¡­ none of it mattered. Perhaps, in the grand scheme, there was some importance to it. But in this moment, Xavier had a job to do, and he couldn¡¯t lose sight of that. He looked out at the C Grade Rock Worms and couldn¡¯t help but notice something¡ªthey had moved. For a long while, as he¡¯d focused, thought, and practised with this new spell, he hadn¡¯t been paying close attention to the battlefield. Why would he, when he was safe inside his time bubble? But the Infected Rock Worms had most definitely gotten closer. Significantly closer. One of them was a few feet away. Sometimes he forgot just how fast C Grades could move. Xavier was about to move his time dilation field out of this beast¡¯s trajectory when he noticed something¡ªthere was a presence out there. One he recognised well. The Nightmare. The moment he tried to move his time bubble, Xavier could feel the pressure from the C Grade demon. Somehow, the demon had adapted even further, and even though Xavier no longer had a connection to it, it was able to affect the Time Alteration spell. It was locking it in place, preventing Xavier from moving it. And there was something else, too¡ªthe Time Alteration spell was degrading at a faster rate than it should have. Xavier should have been able to hold this spell in place for weeks if he wasn¡¯t altering it too much by making it bigger or smaller, moving it to different places, or changing the speed and direction time moved. He had been within that bubble for close to six hours by this point, and yet it felt like¡­ The spell¡¯s going to fail in less than half an hour. That shouldn¡¯t even be possible! And before that happened, the first of the four Infected Rock Worms was going to reach it. The second it touched the bubble, it would move at the same speed as Xavier. There wasn¡¯t time to contemplate his navel and think about the truths of the universe and how they pertain to him. Xaiver had to learn how to use this spell now. He released a long breath and focused. He had gotten the spell to Rank 40. He¡¯d already used it successfully once. All he needed to do was recreate that. And learn how to do it during battle¡­ and not melt any of my limbs in the process. That should be easy enough, right? Xavier split his mind into multiple parts, making sure that the different parts communicated with one another effectively. He activated the Body Cultivation spell once more and drew energy into his body. This time, he was able to control how much he brought in. He still brought in far more than he thought would be wise to use in a single attack, especially after what had happened to his hand¡­ I haven¡¯t got four hours in here to heal my hand up a second time, so I guess I¡¯ll just have to make sure I don¡¯t mess this up. As he didn¡¯t have much time to waste, Xavier used five times as much energy as he had the first time. He sliced at the air. The explosion of energy was even more powerful than it had been before, and it all came from a single one of his claws. Let¡¯s see what I can do. Now that Xavier had a working understanding of the Body Cultivation spell, he could train with it more effectively, even if he didn¡¯t have much time to do that in. And for the next little while, that was all he did. Right up until the first of the C Grade Infected Rock Worms finally reached the time dilation field. When the beast was a mere inch away, Xavier reviewed what his next step would be. Would he fight this Infected Rock Worm inside of the time dilation field, or would he drop the field altogether so his might would be combined with that of Volkarin¡¯s? Xavier didn¡¯t drop the field. It would be foolish to face every single enemy out there all at once. Besides, he had a plan. The instant the Infected Rock Worm¡¯s head reached the bubble, the rest of its body began to move at lightning speed. It burst into the time dilation field and made its way for him, all the while throwing up boulders and trying to contort the very earth to do its bidding¡ªXavier could feel the ground beneath him trying to swallow him whole and lock him in place. It wasn¡¯t something that he let happen. He¡¯d been buried before. There was no way he was going to go through that again. He leapt up into the air and extended his wings. The time bubble wasn¡¯t very large. He wished he¡¯d made it bigger, but he couldn¡¯t have anticipated what The Nightmare had done. Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the Infected Rock Worm. He followed this up with Core Burn, hoping the first spell would have been enough to soften it. If he¡¯d used Core Burn on the beast while it had been outside of the time dilation field, he knew it wouldn¡¯t have actually worked, not with how strong The Nightmare¡¯s hivemind was. But in here, the entity wasn¡¯t connected. It was significantly weaker. Xavier had a good feeling that Core Burn would be effective. And yet, it did absolutely nothing. Xavier came up against a mind that was incredibly strong. He¡¯d faced C Grade minds before, and as a D Grade, he¡¯d been able to push through them at times. But this was like¡­ The Nightmare is connecting to that beast! It¡¯s powerful enough to breakthrough the time lag! The Soul Shatter spell he¡¯d used had injured the Infected Rock Worm, but Xaiver had never had a fight with a C Grade in such an enclosed space before. He also couldn¡¯t cooldown his spells in here. It could be that bringing this thing into the time bubble had been a mistake. I guess there¡¯s one way to find out. He¡¯d had less than half an hour of proper practice with the Body Cultivation spell, but in that time, he¡¯d been able to learn more than he¡¯d imagined. It was time to put it to the test. Book 5: Chapter 20 - Unshackled Xavier soared straight for the C Grade Infected Rock Worm. The bounds of the time dilation field were small, and right now The Nightmare was preventing Xavier from changing that in any way. But that might just work to his benefit. The Infected Rock Worm was far larger than Xavier. Within the confines of the time bubble, it had far less room to move. And there was something else that would work to his advantage, too¡ªthe rocks that the Infected Rock Worm hurtled at him suddenly stopped. He¡¯d only had to avoid a few of them since the beast entered his time dilation field. The cooldown on the beast¡¯s spell wasn¡¯t counting down. Xavier grinned. Body Cultivation had no cooldown. Xavier tore through the air. He cycled Celestial Energy through his body, funnelling it into not just a single claw, but every one of them. He reached the Infected Rock Worm and sliced at its rock-hard skin. Xavier had been strong enough to cut through the Infected Rock Worm¡¯s tough skin before he¡¯d learnt the Body Cultivation spell. This time, with his claws enhanced by Celestial Energy, there was an added explosion of energy to his attack. Where he clawed at the massive beast, he did not just leave gouge marks¡ªhe exploded holes in its rock flesh. The beast did not call out in pain, but Xavier imagined it only refrained because it was being controlled by The Nightmare. The instant Xavier cut through and exploded this thing¡¯s skin, black ooze splashed out instead of blood. It got onto Xavier¡¯s robes. A bit of it even got onto his cheek. Xavier kicked off the Infected Rock Worm while his wings were tucked in at his back, flipped around, and soared as far from it as he could¡ªwhich in this confined time dilation field, wasn¡¯t very far. He could already feel The Nightmare crawling through him, trying to get to his mind. The last time this had happened to him he¡¯d taken over the entity and controlled it right back, giving it a simple order to stop, and then later learning to order it to die. But that was no longer an option. The Nightmare had adapted to Xavier¡¯s control, learning how to control him in return even when he was inside of the time dilation field. He couldn¡¯t risk connecting their minds. Not again. There was something else he needed to do. As swiftly as he was able, Xavier funnelled Celestial Energy to his cheek. There was a part of him that cursed himself for melee fighting against this thing. He¡¯d known how dangerous that might be. He could have at least used The Lost Bone of a Dead God as a scythe-staff. But that would have completely defeated the purpose of learning how to use Body Cultivation in the first place. I guess this is the true test. He pushed the Celestial Energy out of the skin at his cheek, in the same way that he might have were he trying to strike an enemy. In his haste, he¡¯d funnelled a little too much energy to the area. The explosion that came forth didn¡¯t only hit the little black ooze of The Nightmare¡ªit destroyed a part of his cheek and melted through a few of his teeth. He could feel them welded together inside of his mouth, and when he moved his tongue to the affected area, he felt fresh air touch the tip. Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly what I had planned. His cheek would grow back. Not before the end of this fight, maybe, but at least he wasn¡¯t infected. Still, he would need to be more careful. With fluid grace, Xavier moved his large black dragon wings and turned in the air. The Infected Rock Worm hurtled toward him, the lower part of its body cutting through the earth. Xavier dodged the beast as it snapped at him with its rows and rows of powerful teeth¡ªteeth that would turn him to stone if they ever touched him. There was still black ooze on Xavier. It had gotten onto his robes and was slowly crawling up him. This isn¡¯t good. How is Body Cultivation supposed to help against this damned thing? Xavier ordered his thoughts. His mind was split into multiple parts, as it always was in battle these days. One part of his mind was observing the fight in as much detail as it could. It examined exactly what had happened when the Celestial Energy had pooled around Xavier¡¯s cheek, an instant before the explosion had happened, and Xavier had his own little eureka moment. That part of his mind informed the main part, and now he knew exactly what he needed to do. Xavier ignored the crawling black ooze, letting it crawl up his robes until it met the skin of his neck. When it reached his skin, it found Celestial Energy cycling around the area. As much of the energy as Xavier could manage. The black ooze wasn¡¯t able to penetrate his skin with the energy there. That was what Xavier had seen when he¡¯d examined the fight. With his Farscope ability, it had been clear¡ªhe just hadn¡¯t realised it in time. Xavier never had to explode his cheek to get rid of the entity. He flipped around in the air as he flew and it just¡­ slipped right off him. He laughed as he soared on powerful wings. There was still so much more to the Body Cultivation spell that he didn¡¯t know. So much that he needed to learn.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. This must be what the monk-like spirit I spoke to meant when he said the spell would help me fight this thing. Xavier pooled the Celestial Energy at his claws once more. Not as much as he had access to¡ªjust enough that he knew he wouldn¡¯t be melting his fingers off. The Celestial Energy infused his claws with an explosive power as he slashed out at his enemy. Xavier was going to take this thing down by any means possible. He carved through the stone, exploding the rock skin with every strike. The more he did it, the more natural this way of fighting was starting to become. His energy channels were already robust and strong from all the cultivation training that he¡¯d done for his different cores. This was just making them even stronger. As he fought, notifications were streaming across his vision. He was gaining ranks. He had one part of his mind pay attention to those as he focused on the fight. The Infected Rock Worm was slowly flagging. It wasn¡¯t as fast as Xavier, and even though it was incredibly tough, it couldn¡¯t handle the constant, repeated abuse, and it couldn¡¯t move around in the time dilation field effectively enough to strike back at him. When the beast finally died, Xaiver flew down to the ground and landed with a thump. He¡¯d killed the thing just in time, because any moment now, his time dilation field was going to fail. Xavier prepared himself for what he knew was going to be the hardest fight he¡¯d ever been through. He infused his claws with Celestial Energy, while at the same time he cycled energy through the exposed areas of his skin, to stop any bits of The Nightmare substance from being able to infect him. He spread out his wings, opened his arms before him, his claws extended to their fullest, and prepared himself for battle. The Time Alteration spell, however, took longer than he expected to fall. He could have deactivated it himself, but instead, he took a moment to breathe. He dropped his arms and summoned a mug of coffee from inside of his Storage Ring, slowly sipping on it as he paid closer attention to the ranks he¡¯d received. Evasion has reached Rank 106! Red In Tooth And Claw has reached Rank 105! Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 105! That was good. Those skills had been getting harder and harder to rank up since he¡¯d reached D Grade. He guessed pushing hard against a C Grade, even an infected one, was what had done the trick. He looked at the ranks he¡¯d gained for Body Cultivation. Before the Infected Rock Worm had reached the time dilation field, he¡¯d gained several more ranks after 40. Every rank he¡¯d gained had furthered his confidence in his ability with the spell. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 46 spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 51 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier nodded to himself and kept sipping his coffee for a few more moments. That was progress. A lot of progress. Though he knew he still had a long way to go. When the time came, he casually deposited the mug of coffee back into his Storage ring and readied himself for battle. The time dilation bubble finally burst. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate. He leapt straight upwards and flapped his powerful wings to help him surge through the air. Volkarin, who¡¯d been hovering in the air not far from him, did a double-take as the massive dragon spirit saw Xavier fly up from the ground. Where the hell did you come from, young dragonkin? And¡ªyou killed one of the rock worms? How? Bafflement was clear in the dragon¡¯s voice. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel proud about that. I¡¯ll tell you later. Xavier¡¯s claws infused with Celestial Energy, he swooped back down at one of the Infected Rock Worms. There were three Infected Rock Worms remaining. One of them was still locked in his Time Prison spell, but something told Xavier that wouldn¡¯t last all that much longer. Especially since The Nightmare seems to be able to influence my time spells¡­ That still came as a shock to him, but there wasn¡¯t anything to do about it but keep fighting. Xavier grinned widely as he soared for the closest Infected Rock Worm. There were countless other enemies on the battlefield, and countless more beast corpses. As he flew, he cast Soul Puppet. Every moment he could, he would be casting that spell, to bring his own minions to the field, even if they would be nothing more than distractions to his enemy. But the first minion he brought back as a Soul Puppet? Well, that was the dead Infected Rock Worm of course, and Xavier used the beast¡¯s very own soul to control it. Something told him the beast would hold a grudge against its former controller. He hoped that would influence the beast into further bloodlust as it fought. Kill notifications blossomed into his vision even as he flew. The Rock Worm soul puppet was already destroying enemies on the field. Now that he was out of the time dilation field, Xavier felt like heavy shackles had been lifted from every one of his limbs. And that wasn¡¯t the only reason he suddenly felt so free. He could finally fight how he was meant to. How he¡¯d been training to do for so long. There were several spells that weren¡¯t of use to him right now¡ªWillpower Infusion, Spirit Break, and Core Burn were a few that simply weren¡¯t effective in this fight, and Soul Strike was one he didn¡¯t want to risk using while there could be more powerful enemies to face in the near future. But that still left plenty of spells in his arsenal. Xavier dodged rocks as he soared, feeling a marginal increase in his ability to do so since he¡¯d gained two ranks in Evasion since reaching the Dark Mountains. With two of the worms neutralised, there were also less projectiles coming his way. Xavier gouged a long cut through the side of the Infected Rock Worm. In doing so, he exploded parts of the beast¡¯s skin away. Dragonkin, do not get so close! The warning came as the black substance splashed onto Xavier¡¯s face, then fell straight off. Xavier didn¡¯t respond to Volkarin. Instead, he focused purely on the fight¡ªthere would be time to speak with the dragon spirit later. The instant Xavier flew away from the Infected Rock Worm he opened a portal and soared straight through it, slamming into the back of the beast. God, he¡¯d missed using portals while he was in his time dilation field. He sliced more gouges into his enemy. He could have tried to put this thing through a portal and cut its head off, but he¡¯d found that C Grade beasts tended to be too strong to let that happen¡ªthey somehow stopped the portal from cutting off. If they were in contact with the portal, it wouldn¡¯t shut down until they stopped touching it. It was some kind of defence mechanism that prevented them from being decapitated by one. Xavier could understand that. If an E Grade mage with a portal spell could kill a C Grade with it¡­ well, that just didn¡¯t make any sense. I don¡¯t need to kill these things with portals. With Volkarin fighting by his side, and his ability to use Soul Shatter and Portal, it was much faster dealing with this second Infected Rock Worm than it had been dealing with the first, even with all the chaos of the battlefield. Every moment that he could, he recast Soul Puppet. With the abundance of dead beasts around the battlefield, and bringing back yet another of the Infected Rock Worms, Xavier was beginning to build up quite the army of his own. Xavier, Volkarin, and his soul puppets tore through one enemy after another. Xavier¡¯s Body Cultivation spell protected him from getting infected by The Nightmare¡¯s black ooze. More and more of the enemy were being destroyed. The Infected Rock Worm that had been frozen by Time Prison soon came back to the normal flow of time, but by the time it did, all three of its brethren had been utterly destroyed. And Xavier was incredibly close to reaching Level 203. There¡¯s no way we can lose this fight, Xavier thought, feeling more confident than ever. That was when true being that was The Nightmare made itself known. Book 5: Chapter 21 - The Body of the Demon It came from the sky. Xavier looked up. What he saw looked like it came from the darkest nightmares humankind ever had. He¡¯d never seen something like this before¡ªnever laid eyes on a demon. The beast was larger than the dragon Volkarin. Its bulk blotted out the moon and a vast number of the stars above. If it weren¡¯t for Xavier¡¯s superior eyesight and night vision, he likely only would have seen a black shape outlined in the sky. The demonic beast had wings that spanned five times as long as Volkarin¡¯s. These were not the sleek, powerful wings of a dragon. These wings were grotesque. The very skin of the beast rippled with black ooze, which dripped down like fat droplets of rain wherever it flew, infecting anything it contacted beneath. The wings themselves were oddly shaped. They looked as though they¡¯d been stitched together from the wings of hundreds of other beasts. There were feathers mixed with leathery skin mixed with translucent, bug-like material, and the wings were only black because of the ooze that covered every inch of them. The body of the demon was even more terrifying. The beast had five heads, each of a varying size, but all of them far too small. Two were troll heads, one was the head of a giant owl beast, another that of a wolven, and the final head was that of a rock worm. Each of the heads snarled, snapped beaks, or roared, and each felt oddly strained and raw, like the sounds were coming from the throat of a hundred-year-old woman who¡¯d been smoking since she was twelve years old. The body itself was even stranger and more terrifying. This, too, was the stitched together remnants of other beasts. It was a massive, bulbous body that somewhat reminded Xavier of the body of a spider. The same black ooze rolled around the entire body, dripping down from it. Except there were things writhing on the surface of the beast¡¯s skin. Things Xavier couldn¡¯t help but recognise. They were beasts. Beasts that looked as though they were alive, their bodies whole but trapped like they¡¯d fallen into quicksand¡ªno. Not like quicksand. Like they¡¯d fallen into tar. That was what this demonic beast¡¯s body reminded him of. A tar pit that unsuspecting animals had fallen into. These beasts appeared conscious in a way that the infected beasts Xavier had fought hadn¡¯t. If this wasn¡¯t terrifying enough, it wasn¡¯t just beasts that were trapped beneath the skin of The Nightmare. There were Denizens, too. Humans. Elves. Dwarves. Lizardmen. A few races he didn¡¯t recognise. But they were, to him, quite clearly Champions that had fallen facing this thing. No wonder around our sector and the neighbouring ones knows anything about this C Grade demon. Anyone who¡¯s ever faced it are probably trapped within this thing. A shudder of fear ran up his spine at the prospect of being trapped beneath the skin of this terrifying demonic beast, and being entirely conscious of what was happening. He could hear their screams and whines of agony, like dying men and women on the battlefield, but The Nightmare had prevented any of them from succumbing to death. They were suspended, alive, for all eternity, inside of it. No. Not for all eternity. Only for as long as this demon lives. Xavier was prepared to fight this thing. Prepared to kill this thing. He was also prepared to run, if it came to that¡ªthough he hoped to all hell it wouldn¡¯t come to that. He¡¯d taken in the sight of this demonic beast in a fraction of a second. He was about to move when his gaze locked on something in the centre of the beast. Another writhing Denizen. A Champion that had fought The Nightmare. Only, this was one that Xavier recognised. When Xavier had vowed to save Liana¡¯s husband from The Nightmare, she¡¯d given him a picture of the man so that he would know what he looked like. And he was staring at that very man right now. Ardon. It was in that moment that a voice sounded around the Dark Mountains, emanating from The Nightmare¡¯s body, though Xavier could not see where the sound had come from, as it did not match the movements of any of the five beast heads atop the demon. The demon¡¯s voice was deep and powerful. ¡°I have seen into your mind, Xavier Collins. I know who it is you have come to save. If you quit the battlefield, Ardon will die. If you succumb to my will, the both of you will live within me for eternity. Life eternal, Xavier Collins. Is that not something you strive for?¡± The demon¡¯s voice was surprisingly articulate. Xavier hadn¡¯t expected that. He¡¯d thought this thing was some sort of networked hivemind. He¡¯d thought it wasn¡¯t fully self-aware. Clearly, he had been wrong. This beast had a powerful mind that it spread across everything it infected, giving it more processing power to work with, but it was still one mind. That, right now, was more clear than anything.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Xavier had ruined The Nightmare¡¯s day by killing so many of the beasts it had infected. He had put The Nightmare¡¯s attention squarely on him. And now there was no turning back from this fight¡ªnot unless he wanted to fail Liana. Ardon may be Liana¡¯s husband, but that doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s worth dying for¡­ Which means I better make sure I live. Xavier hovered in the air, his great black wings keeping him up. He stared at the demon that was The Nightmare, a beast more terrifying to behold than anything Xavier could have imagined on his own. And he laughed. He felt invigorated. A thrill ran through him, and he embraced a level of excitement he hadn¡¯t experienced since he¡¯d faced the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll while he was still E Grade. Except that experience, while powerful, had the added protection of him seeing his possible futures and building on each one that passed. The uncertainty of this fight was part of what made it so exhilarating. This was going to be quite the challenge. A loud, roaring laugh came from Xavier¡¯s left. The dragon Volkarin threw its head back in manic glee. You are beginning to see things how I see things, young dragonkin. That is something that will get you into a lot of trouble. I hope you have not angered something you aren¡¯t ready to face. Xavier glanced at the dragon. The beast looked formidable, but compared with the sight of The Nightmare¡­ it was hard to see how it would be a threat to this thing. He turned his attention back on The Nightmare. I can defeat this thing. I¡¯ve defeated everything else I¡¯ve come upon. Again and again, I¡¯ve fought the impossible and won. I¡¯m not going to stop now. Xavier locked his gaze on Ardon. The man was conscious, but Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how lucid he was. He didn¡¯t know if the man understood what was happening right now. When Xavier had heard that Liana¡¯s husband had been trapped by The Nightmare, he¡¯d expected the man to be like one of the infected beasts. He¡¯d wondered at how terrifying such an experience must have been, many times. He had felt bad that he couldn¡¯t simply go and defeat The Nightmare right away, to free Ardon¡ªif the man had indeed still been alive. But this¡­ This seemed as though it was a million times worse than anything Xavier had imagined. Xavier burst into action, planning his attack. During the fight with the C Grade Infected Rock Worms, Xavier had brought back to life as many of the dead as he could manage. He had a great deal of soul puppets. Fodder that he could throw at this thing. But something told him that wouldn¡¯t work. This demonic beast was far too intelligent to be distracted by his minions¡ªespecially as the demon had minions of its own. More beasts were flooding the area, coming down the mountain toward him. Xavier sent a mental command to all of his soul puppets, instructing them to attack the oncoming beasts. They wouldn¡¯t be enough, he was sure of that. They wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand an onslaught like this, even though they had three soul puppets of C Grades among their ranks. But the soul puppets wouldn¡¯t be working alone. Volkarin. I need to ask you a favour, Xavier said telepathically to the dragon. Speak it, young dragonkin, and if it is within my power I shall do it. I¡¯ve no doubt you want to face The Nightmare alongside me, but I need you to fight the infected beasts while I take on The Nightmare myself. Keep those enemies away from me as best you can. I¡¯ll keep bolstering the ranks of my soul puppets as much as possible as the fight goes on. Xavier expected the dragon to grumble at him. Expected him to be frustrated at being given a task that it deemed beneath him¡ªbut he also expected the dragon to listen, so in the end, it didn¡¯t matter what Volkarin felt, as long as the dragon spirit did as he was told. I will burn them to ash and freeze their corpses for eternity. You can count on me, young dragonkin. Xavier blinked. That wasn¡¯t the kind of response he¡¯d been expecting. Maybe he didn¡¯t know the dragon quite as well as he¡¯d thought. He could have sworn he¡¯d heard a hint of respect in the dragon¡¯s voice. Considering who the dragon actually was¡ªone of the seven most powerful spirits in the Otherworld¡ªand what Volkarin must have been back in life, to have this dragon¡¯s respect¡­ Xavier found it meant a lot to him. Xavier¡¯s eyes were still locked on Ardon. The man had noticed Xavier now. He had started staring back at him in turn. The agony in his eyes was palpable, and Xavier could feel the fear. It wafted off the beast¡ªcoming from all the beings The Nightmare had imprisoned within it. And the fear was most potent from Ardon. The man must have heard what The Nightmare said. He must be aware of what¡¯s happening. Xavier had to wonder about this demonic beast. It was powerful enough to infect the minds of its victims, and yet¡­ it didn¡¯t infect those it had trapped. No, it kept them alive and conscious. It wanted to torture them. Xavier just couldn¡¯t for the life of him understand why. But he didn¡¯t need to understand the demon. All he needed to do was kill it. He burst forward on powerful wings. Though he had surveyed the beast and the battlefield in a fraction of a second, giving out orders in another fraction, he knew he couldn¡¯t remain hovering in the air much longer. Xavier soared toward his enemy. As he did, he finally scanned the beast. {The Nightmare - Level 380} The Nightmare is a demonic, parasitic beast that controls the minds and bodies of those it encounters. Its power comes from not only the beasts and Denizens it has command over, but from the cumulative power of those minds. Its physical form is terrifying and imposing, but it is its psychic abilities that one should truly be wary of. If you ever step into the domain of The Nightmare, know that it is in your best interest to flee. For if you are snared by the power of this beast, you might be trapped inside its body for the remainder of your very long life. The description didn¡¯t tell him much of anything he didn¡¯t already know, though he did find it interesting that it focused on the beast¡¯s psychic abilities and mentioned nothing of its physical abilities. The beast looked formidable in many ways¡ªpsychic was only one of them. Staring at the beast¡¯s body, he was finally glad that he had a single target, but he was starting to realise a problem¡ªwith Ardon and the other Champions stuck inside the tarpit of a body this thing possessed, it would cause their deaths if he was to cast his most powerful spells. They were not his enemy, but they were a part of his enemy. He didn¡¯t know if this demon had a soul, but if it did and he shattered it¡­ the trapped Denizens would be hit in the crossfire. Liana¡¯s husband might very well die from an attack like that. The same could be said of Soul Strike. If Xavier slammed the full force of his Soul Strike at this thing¡­ It would kill Ardon and the others. There was a part of Xavier that considered doing this very thing. A practical, logical part of him. If he couldn¡¯t save Ardon, he might as well free the man from the misery that he was currently enduring. But that wasn¡¯t something he would resort to unless he had to. Xavier had always had a penchant for saving people. He was sure it had gotten him into trouble in the past. But this was the most trouble he¡¯d been in yet. Book 5: Chapter 22 - Psychic Attack Xavier hovered in the air above the battlefield on the side of the Dark Mountains. Below him, thousands of infected beasts swarmed toward their position. Hundreds of his soul puppets were putting up an admirable defence. Volkarin swooped beside them, launching a stream of fire and ice from his massive maw down at the infected beasts. Xavier¡¯s attention was on the grotesque demonic beast that was The Nightmare. Its stitched together wings beat hard as it kept up that massive body, the writhing beasts and Denizens moaning and screaming and wallowing in agony beneath its tarpit skin. Time to take down this bastard of a demon. Xavier grinned as he summoned a portal into existence. He soared through and appeared on the other side of the demonic beast, behind one of its weird, stitched-on heads. He slashed downward with his claws, which were reinforced by the power of his Body Cultivation spell and his soul bound weapon, Lost Bone of a Dead God. Celestial Energy coursed through him and pooled in his claws, detonating the moment they impacted his enemy. The head he attacked was the solitary owl head. Xavier had thought he would simply cut wounds through it, but the entire head exploded at his touch. The Nightmare reared. Black ooze burst from the head like it had been inside a ballon. The oozing, tar-like substance shot at Xavier from every direction. It swirled through the air as though it had a mind of its own. Of course it bloody well has a mind of its own¡ªit¡¯s The Nightmare! Xavier hadn¡¯t known the black substance could fly. He flipped in the air and made it back through the portal in an instant. The black, oozing substance followed through the portal, moving surprisingly fast. Xavier knew he could protect himself from it, but he sensed that whatever this was it was more potent than any of the other substance he had encountered in the past. The instant he could, he cut off the portal. It disappeared in the air, stopping more of the oozing substance from making its way through. The substance that had made it through suddenly stopped twirling and flying through the air. It dropped straight to the ground. Xavier soared around the area, keeping an eye on that substance. When it reached the ground; he saw it crawl along the dirt just like the other black ooze that he¡¯d been eliminating since this fight began. But it could no longer fly. It¡¯s been cut off from the larger whole, but can still be controlled¡­ Xavier swooped through one portal after another, summoning them to life as swiftly as he was able. He was never in the same place for long, always moving, always clawing at The Nightmare, exploding bits of its body away, fleeing as more black ooze came at him. Slowly, bit by bit, he was taking apart the massive, grotesque body of the demon. Three of its four stitched-on heads exploded at the might of his slashing claws. He¡¯d cut several holes through the demonic beast¡¯s wings, making it difficult for the thing to fly until those holes were patched by black ooze. He would slash into its wings, a hole would appear and the huge beast would dip in the air before the black ooze rushed to the area and reinforced it, allowing the wings to become functional once more. That was something Xavier quickly realised¡ªthis beast couldn¡¯t heal its body. It simply patched it. With each slash, each explosion of Body Cultivation, Xavier cut through and destroyed more of this beast¡¯s terrifying flesh. Of course. It would need to find more beast parts to stitch back onto itself if it wanted to truly heal the wounds that I¡¯m inflicting on it. And yet the beast didn¡¯t seem harmed. It attacked him with the same ferocity as it had in the beginning. The amalgamation of stitched together body parts moved with a swiftness that Xavier couldn¡¯t believe was possible. It did strange things to his mind, watching this thing move. Xavier¡¯s evasion skill ranked up five times as he thought¡ªan incredibly feat since reaching D Grade¡ªand his Hover Dodge skill was always at the ready, though it moved up in rank only once. The more he cut into this beast and destroyed its flesh, the smaller it became. Volkarin, why isn¡¯t this demon weakening as I destroy more of its body? The dragon spirit looked as though he had his hands full. He was dodging attacks through the air. The bulk of the infected beasts were targeting him with any ranged spells they had at their disposal, and even though each beast alone was considerably weaker than the dragon spirit, it was clearly beginning to take its toll. You should know, young dragonkin. How long have you been fighting this thing? The response sounded strained, yet at the same time Xavier could sense an evident thrill running through the dragon. It was enjoying this fight.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. And, from the sounds of it, the dragon also seemed to know more about the demonic beast than it was letting on. Xavier supposed that made sense. He had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance here to fight by his side, not to glean information from him. That would be something he¡¯d need to use Otherworldly Communion for, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to use that for a good while. Unless I reached Level 203¡­ And he was getting very close to doing just that. But he didn¡¯t need to reach the next level to understand what the dragon spirit had been trying to tell him. All he needed to do was turn the problem around in his mind as he fought. Each time he destroyed a bit of this demonic beast, the tarlike, oozing substance would come to fill the gaps. It would also spring from the demon and fly through the air to try and attack him. When it did this, it was always connected to the larger whole¡­ That was when something clicked for Xavier, and he felt like an absolute fool for not realising it before. It was something he should have already known¡ªsomething he did already know. He had been too distracted by the sight of this massive, terrifying-looking demon to think straight¡­ No, one part of his mind said, the part that had been split so that it could observe the fight. There¡¯s more to it than that. His realisation was that the demon¡¯s body? Harming it did nothing to hurt the demon itself, because the demon wasn¡¯t the body¡ªthe demon was the ooze. And that was something he had already discovered as he¡¯d fought it. He¡¯d been working on destroying every ounce of the ooze that he could find. He¡¯d even had a connection to the demon¡¯s mind telling him that what he¡¯d been doing had been working¡ªthat he¡¯d been damaging The Nightmare. That was the whole reason the demonic beast had started to take him seriously. That was why the thing was here right now. And it was why the demon was exerting its influence on Xavier¡¯s mind so subtly¡ªyet strongly¡ªthat Xavier hadn¡¯t even realised it was happening at all until now. The part of his mind that had been observing the battle had cottoned on to what was really happening. The moment the body of the demon had appeared, Xavier had stopped his eradication of the infected beasts down on the battlefield. He¡¯d set his soul puppets and Volkarin against them, but he¡¯d stopped fighting them himself¡ªand his soul puppets could only hurt the infected beasts, and not the infection. Xavier had instantly turned around and focused all of his attention on the massive beast that was coming at him. And why shouldn¡¯t he? He had scanned that thing¡ªit was The Nightmare. But it wasn¡¯t all of The Nightmare. The tar-like black ooze within that thing¡­ it¡¯s the brain. It¡¯s the strongest part of the demon. When I cut off the black ooze from the main body with portals, it falls to the ground and acts just like what infects the beasts out here. Same with when that ooze drops off the body of the demon as it flies¡­ The body of the demon had come here because what Xavier had been doing had been working. Xavier soared through the air, dodging the black ooze as it flew for him, flying through a portal he¡¯d just created to make some distance between himself and the main body of the demon. He needed to change his approach once more if he was going to have a chance at defeating this thing. As he flew, he reinforced the mental blocks that protected his mind, not having even realised that they¡¯d been affected until now. The System¡¯s description did mention this thing¡¯s psychic abilities. I should have taken it more seriously. As Xavier reinforced the defences protecting his mind from mental attacks, that was when he truly felt The Nightmare¡¯s presence. It cried out in frustration and knocked upon the wall of his mind with so much force that Xavier had to resist it with every single ounce of his being. He¡¯d never before felt a mind so vast, so powerful. He had thought that when he¡¯d been connected to The Nightmare¡¯s mind that he¡¯d known the strength of it, but clearly, he had been wrong. This was the strength of it when it was turned toward a purpose, not simply when it lay idle. So strong was this demon¡¯s mental attack that simply in the defending from it, Xavier lost consciousness. When he came to, he had no idea how much time had passed. It took him a fraction of a second to gain his bearings. He was falling. Wind whipped through his hair. His wings weren¡¯t straight, and he was tumbling around, over and over. The battlefield on the ground and the blacked-out sky above flashed before him in quick succession. Only a moment must have passed with him unconscious if he hadn¡¯t hit the ground yet. But a moment was a very long time in a fight like this. He could feel that half of his soul puppets had been defeated. The Spirit of Vengeance, the dragon Volkarin, was being harried by even more infected beasts than before, barely able to defend itself with all the attacks it needed to avoid¡ªattacks that were strong enough to harm a spirit. Xavier probed his mind and found that it was no longer split into multiple parts. The mental attack he¡¯d taken from his enemy had forced his mind back into a whole. And as his consciousness was whole again, his awareness was less than it had been before. But that wasn¡¯t the worst of it. Black ooze swarmed and swam around him in the air as he fell, like ribbons twirling around a dancer, except these ribbons clung to his skin and crawled along it. As the black ooze touched him the strength of the demon¡¯s mental attacks increased tenfold. It was all Xavier could do to protect himself from them. The demon¡¯s will tried to exert itself on him. It wished him to become one with it. It offered him gifts. Of eternal life. Of peace. Of never having to fight again. It offered him power. Greatness. To become part of something bigger than himself. Xavier didn¡¯t want any of it, and yet he could feel his mind succumbing to The Nightmare¡¯s relentless attacks. His body was no longer responding to his own will. He tried to extend his wings, to catch himself in the air, to stop himself from falling. He commanded them to move but they did not. He tried to cast a portal spell, so he might fall through it and appear somewhere else. But he could not. He could not do anything. He kept on falling, the ground growing larger and larger, the black ooze crawling on his skin more and more. I know how to fight off this ooze. The thought was a weak one, for all of him was weak right now. I don¡¯t need to succumb. Body Cultivation. If he pooled Celestial Essence around his entire body he would be able to dispel the ooze. The demon¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t be entirely thwarted, for it did not need to touch him to harm him, but it would be dulled. And that would be enough. Xavier willed what he wished to happen, trying to activate Body Cultivation, willing the essence to enter himself. Before he knew if he would be able to, he slammed straight into the ground. Book 5: Chapter 23 - Darkest Hour Xavier¡¯s body didn¡¯t respond to his will. He was covered almost entirely in the black ooze that was The Nightmare. He didn¡¯t know if there was an inch of his skin still free from the vile stuff. The C Grade demonic beast¡¯s mind was invading his own. Not fully. It didn¡¯t have control over him. It was simply slamming so hard at his mental barriers that it was all Xavier could do to keep from being controlled by it. Every ounce of his energy was going toward keeping his walls up¡ªto keeping this thing from gaining a foothold on his mind. For if it did, there would be no coming back from this fight. He could hear someone trying to talk to him in his mind. Someone other than The Nightmare. A deep and powerful voice. But he couldn¡¯t at all make out what they were saying. He lay, sprawled in a small crater that had been created from his fall. Around him a battle raged between Volkarin, Xavier¡¯s soul puppets, and the infected beasts controlled by The Nightmare. A battle that he couldn¡¯t affect until he regained full control over his own mental faculties. He knew the battle was getting closer and closer to him as the enemy closed in on his location. He could see glimpses of the dragon nearby. For the majority of the fight Volkarin had been soaring through the sky. Now, the dragon spirit was on the ground, on all fours, fighting tooth and nail to stop any of the infected beasts from making their way to Xavier. And the dragon was getting greatly wounded. No longer soaring through the air, he couldn¡¯t dodge any of the long-range attacks being sent his way by the enemy. These attacks were ones that were clearly damaging the spirit. Parts of Xavier¡¯s mind were turning all of this over, but he needed to focus on what he was going through. Body Cultivation. Body Cultivation. He tried, again and again, to activate the spell, but something was blocking it. Well, not something. He knew exactly what. The Nightmare. I need to fight back. I need to win. But the voice of The Nightmare was crooning as it spoke to him, imploring him to give up. Imploring him to stop fighting. Those words had meant nothing to him the first time he had heard them, but the weaker he became the more impact they seemed to have on his mind. Slowly, they were starting to feel like something he wanted. If he gave in, if he stopped fighting, he wouldn¡¯t be in such mental agony anymore. He could relax his body and mind and let The Nightmare in. Eternal life didn¡¯t sound so bad. Eternal peace. No! His own voice was weak within his mind, but it sounded all the same. You have to fight it. You have to keep pushing! This isn¡¯t where you die. Xavier gritted his teeth. He could hear a low rumble, a throaty roar, coming from somewhere¡ªcoming from himself. His body shuddered. A rage was building up inside of him. A rage that he needed to embrace. It was something deep within him. Something primal. Something he didn¡¯t at all know how to explain. He wasn¡¯t sure if it came from him¡ªif it was a part of him that had been there since before he had attained his new dragonkin race¡ªor if it was something new. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter. Wherever it had come from, it was a part of him now. The roar in Xavier¡¯s throat became louder and louder. Once again, he tried to activate the Body Cultivation spell. Once again, it didn¡¯t work. There was more black ooze coming toward him, from all of the dead infected beasts in the area. The dragon spirit was fighting admirably, but it wasn¡¯t able to eradicate all of the black ooze that seeped from the beasts¡¯ corpses. He simply couldn¡¯t cover that much ground, and the soul puppets Xavier had at his disposal weren¡¯t able to harm the black ooze at all. The minions were helpful, but not helpful enough. The roar died in Xavier¡¯s throat. Whatever strength he¡¯d just tried to take hold of was withering away. He was now five feet deep in the black ooze. The only reason he could still see the battlefield at all was because of his Farscope ability. He watched the dragon spirit fight, and as he did, he saw it become more and more hurt. That made him remember something another spirit had told him. That even though the spirits from the Otherworld couldn¡¯t die, they could still be harmed. And if they were hurt enough, it could take them centuries to recover before they were once more able to be summoned back into the Mortal Realm. Xavier pushed his mind to its limit, focusing on the Spirit of Vengeance. Go, Volkarin. Return to the Otherworld. It took all his energy to send that simple command. He had become fond of the dragon spirit. He didn¡¯t want to see Volkarin harmed. Xavier strained his mind to hear the single word response that came. No. The dragon fought with more ferocity than Xavier had ever seen before. Volkarin tore through his enemies one by one and bit straight through their bodies, cutting the beasts in half with his powerful jaws. Streams of flame and ice shot from his open maw, engulfing everything around him in pain and death. It was an amazing sight to behold. The dragon cast other spells, too, ones Xavier had never witnessed the spirit use before. He slashed with his claws, seemingly hitting nothing, and ten feet away a beast would suddenly be sliced into five parts.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. One by one the soul puppets that Xavier had summoned died around him. There simply weren¡¯t enough of them to defend against what was coming. The black ooze had no effect on the soul puppets, for they had souls but not minds, but the infected beasts could kill them easily enough when they outnumbered them at twenty, thirty, a hundred to one. And so it was that Xavier watched Volkarin fight against the enemy infected beasts all alone. Lying there, Xavier had never felt so useless in his entire life. Never felt so weak. He was supposed to be powerful, supposed to be the man who would one day become the Weapon of the System, and yet there was nothing he could do right now. Nothing he could do to fight The Nightmare. He was weak. Useless. He was nothing. Giving in to his enemy was something that he deserved. Having him gone would be a mercy to the Greater Universe. The dragon kept fighting, and it looked as though he would be able to fight forever. Until the massive body of the demon that was The Nightmare landed beside it. The great demonic beast, with its terrifying, ugly, disformed, stitched-together body, grabbed the slightly transparent spirit with powerful-looking arms that consisted of nothing more than the black tar-like substance that it truly was. The Nightmare tore Volkarin apart by the wings. The dragon dissipated into nothing, and Xavier felt his injured spirit return to the Otherworld. This is it, then, Xavier thought as he lay there. His soul puppets were all dead. Volkarin was gone, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance would be too damaged to be summoned back to the Mortal Realm for¡­ who knew how long. Xavier was alone, and no longer in control of his body and mind. He felt himself giving up. Felt the negative self-talk pile up and up and up until it was crushing him, just as the black ooze that covered him completely was crushing him. The mental will of The Nightmare was too much for him to fight. Except something had sparked within him at the sight of Volkarin¡¯s defeat. The Spirit of Vengeance had fought until the last for him, and it hadn¡¯t done so because it had to. It wasn¡¯t the summoning spell that had made him act this way. Xavier had released the spirit. Told him to return to the Otherworld. The dragon had remained out of loyalty¡ªor perhaps something other than that. Belief. Volkarin, to the last, had believed in Xavier. The dragon would not have remained if he didn¡¯t think there was a chance that Xavier would survive. And Xavier couldn¡¯t sully the spirit¡¯s efforts by lying there and dying. Every single thing that he had accomplished since being integrated into the Greater Universe flashed through his mind in that moment. All of the records he¡¯d gained on the Tower of Champion floors. The defeat of the Lord of the Endless Horde. The way he had defended Earth from its enemies within the sector. His defeat of the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll when he had only been E Grade. He had done the impossible over and over again. All he needed to do to survive this¡ªto win this¡ªwas do the impossible one more time. That rage that had sparked in him earlier returned, but this time it was bolstered by something. It took Xavier only a fraction of a moment to realise what that was. His body wasn¡¯t in his control. His mind was being attacked so much it was almost useless to him. But his soul? His soul was all his own, and his soul was strong. His soul had been hardened again and again by countless souls since he was F Grade, continuing right until now, and that hardening had been further empowered by his massively strong Spirit attribute. Xavier felt Body Cultivation finally activate as a part of his will once more became his own. Except there was a problem. He couldn¡¯t draw in any Celestial Energy from the air with the black ooze drowning him like it was. Somehow, the black ooze was completely blocking it from entering him, and he wasn¡¯t able to use any of the different energies from within his core for this spell¡ªthat simply wasn¡¯t how Body Cultivation worked. Something else flooded his body. A different kind of energy. An energy that he¡¯d known about but never truly felt. It made him feel full and strong. It made him feel powerful. Xavier controlled this energy, cycling it through his body, making it pool around his skin. Immediately, he felt some relief from the black ooze. He covered more and more of his skin with the pooling energy, until every inch of him was filled with it. The black ooze no longer affected his body. And with the black ooze gone, his mind was now more free to roam. The Nightmare was still attacking his mind, but when the black ooze was on him The Nightmare¡¯s mental attacks had far, far more power. Without it, it was as though Xavier was able to breathe again. He burst out of the pit of ooze, leaping straight up into the air until his wings caught him and he soared around the Dark Mountains, regaining his bearings. Notifications appeared in his vision as he flew. You have gained +20 Willpower! You have learnt the skill Mental Resistance! Mental Resistance has reached Rank 2! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 23! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached rank 40! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 85! Xavier split his mind to focus on the notifications, glad he was finally able to do that again. He had gained 20 points to Willpower? That took him by surprise. Training had long stopped giving him more attribute points. It was something that had happened early on, when he was still F Grade, but had rarely happened since. Training had helped him attune his attributes, but not gain more. And the skill, Mental Resistance¡­ it felt like something he should have already had, but he supposed he¡¯d never come up against something like The Nightmare before. There were a few more notifications to look at, but he let that part of his mind do it in the background. Moments ago, he had Volkarin and hundreds of soul puppets at his disposal. Now, he had no such help. It was him alone against The Nightmare. He couldn¡¯t cast Soul Sacrifice, nor could he use Summon Otherworldly Spirit. Not in this moment, at least. Not until the spells cooled down. Xavier whirled in the air. He looked down upon his enemies as they flung spells at him. The body of The Nightmare stared up at him with menacing eyes in its remaining head¡ªXavier had only left it with one by the end of his encounter with it. It was one of the troll heads. Much of the demon¡¯s twisted body had been torn away and destroyed by Xavier¡¯s attacks, revealing more and more of the ooze beneath it. The powerful arms that had ripped the dragon spirit in half¡ªa spirit that had only been partially corporeal¡ªwere still there. The demon raised one of those arms and formed a finger that pointed straight at Xavier. The infected beasts surged toward him in a torrent. It reminded him of his time facing the Endless Horde. The waves and waves of enemies that would never stop coming. That would never let up. Xavier felt a deep loss at the harm that had been done to Volkarin. In that moment he wondered if he would be able to summon him back with Summon Otherworldly Spirit at all. If the dragon was truly damaged, and couldn¡¯t return¡­ Will I be able to bring it back in the dragon egg vessel when the time comes? All those thoughts swirled through his mind, but he had no time for them. Not if he was going to do what he needed to do to defeat his enemy. He banished all those thoughts and ordered his mind as best as he could. The energy that had flooded into his body, that had pushed off the black ooze, still flowed within him. It was the most powerful energy he had ever felt, and to his surprise, it worked with his Body Cultivation spell. It was Soul Energy. Book 5: Chapter 24 - Soul Born Xavier hovered in the air above the Dark Mountains, his body thrumming with the power of Soul Energy as it cycled through his different channels, bolstering his power. The Body Cultivation spell was still new to him, but now he could sense that with this energy it would be even more powerful than it had been before. Thousands upon thousands of infected beasts were streaming toward him. Xavier dodged the long-ranged attacks in the air easily enough. He was far faster than these things. But more and more of the beasts were amassing. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to do this for long. The twisted, stitched-together body of The Nightmare stared up at him. It didn¡¯t move from the ground, but Xavier could feel its rage. When Xavier had been stuck under that black ooze, he¡¯d felt himself almost give in. The demon must have felt that too. It had been about to claim his mind, his body, maybe even his soul. Now, it had nothing. Xavier knew it wouldn¡¯t remain idle for long. ¡°Remember what happens if you flee, Denizen,¡± the demon said, its voice more powerful than ever. Xavier did remember. Adron. Liana¡¯s wife. Part of the reason Xavier had come to face this C Grade enemy in the first place. The man was suffering, stuck in the demon¡¯s body, writhing and moaning in pain beneath the tar-like substance. The man would die if Xaiver fled. Death might be better than the agony he¡¯s going through. But Xavier wasn¡¯t about to flee. In fact, in that moment, even after all he¡¯d just been through, even after what had happened to Volkarin, he was smiling. The newfound Soul Energy thrummed through him, making him feel more powerful than ever. And something else had happened when he¡¯d embraced that spark within himself¡ªthe spark that had helped him finally use his Body Cultivation spell and get out of the mess The Nightmare had trapped him in. The final notification in the string of notifications another part of his mind brought to his attention. You have gained the spell: Soul Born! Xavier read the description of the spell as swiftly as he could. Soul Born - Rank 1 Soul Born is a spell that allows the user to draw upon the energy within their soul. Soul Energy is a finite resource that must be replenished. Xavier laughed aloud. This was what he¡¯d just done! He¡¯d called upon the power of his very soul, and gained a spell for it! Something told him there would be more to this spell than the description said, just as there was more to Body Cultivation than the description said, but for now it was enough to know that he would be able to repeat what he¡¯d just done again if he needed to. God, he felt powerful. Now, it was time to exert that power. Xavier knew exactly what he needed to do next. Now that The Nightmare was no longer influencing his mind in the same way as it had before¡ªmaking Xavier attack the body of the demon and ignore infected beasts, and even ignore the fact that he had been close to reaching Level 203¡ªthings had become incredibly clear to him. He should have done what he was about to do when the demon¡¯s body had turned up. Things would have gone a lot more smoothly. Xavier whirled in the air and faced his enemies. He cast Soul Block, summoning spirit apparitions to defend him from the attacks coming his way. He wanted to stare down at the battlefield as he did this, and the soul apparitions should keep him safe long enough to do that. He cast Soul Strike, infusing the rest of his reserve into the spell¡ªwell over four thousand souls. He willed the attack to ignore the body of the demon. That way, there would be no danger of him harming Ardon and the other Champions that were trapped within it. All he would be harming were the infected beasts. As he cast Soul Strike, he sensed something¡ªsomething new. Now that he had Soul Born¡­ His eyes widened. He could infuse Soul Energy into his spells! Xavier did that very thing on the casting of Soul Strike. He didn¡¯t exactly know how much Soul Energy he possessed. He could feel the reserve somewhere deep within him. He pulled a tenth of the energy out to use it in the spell.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Never before had his Soul Strike been this powerful. Not only was his Spirit attribute absolutely massive compared to when he had been E Grade, but the Soul Energy strengthening it made it all the more potent. Xavier grinned maniacally as white lightning arced from his scythe-staff¡ªin an instant, before casting the two spells, he had shifted the Lost Bone of a Dead God, his soul bound weapon, from reinforcing his bones back to being a scythe. The lightning arced through the sky until it turned into thousands of soul apparitions which rained down upon the enemy army of infected beasts. The soul apparitions soared through the air. Some flew. Some ran. All attacked. Their glowing, translucent bodies tore through the infected beasts. They left no physical damage, and the soul damage wasn¡¯t able to hurt the tar-like substance within them. But that didn¡¯t matter right now. Thousands upon thousands of the infected beasts died. Xavier instantly cast Soul Harvest, replenishing his reserve in full from not only the fallen he¡¯d just slain, but from all the beasts his soul puppets and Volkarin had slain earlier in the fight. Killing all of those infected beasts had been enough to bring him to Level 203. Congratulations, you have reached Level 203! Your health has been regenerated by 80%! Your Spirit Energy (D Grade) limit has increased by 300! You have received +800 free stat points! All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown! Xavier¡¯s grin only became wider. God, he had never felt so powerful before! His Body Cultivation spell still infused every inch of himself with the newfound Soul Energy, and every single one of his spells had reached the end of their cooldowns because he had just levelled up. This¡­ This was power. He had thought he¡¯d been powerful before, but he kept reaching new heights. Kept breaking through new barriers. Now, it was time for him to destroy the black substance. To kill every inch of The Nightmare. He could feel that it had gathered here. That the black ooze was diminishing around the mountain and all that remained was what was before him now. I can do this. I can kill this thing. Xavier soared downward, extending his massive black dragon wings in full. Wind whipped past him as he flew toward his enemies. There were still yet more infected beasts down there. He cast Soul Strike again, using his entire reserve, aiming every single one of the apparitions against the infected beasts, ensuring there was no way that the attack would hit the main body of the demon and those trapped within it. White lightning arced over the battlefield. The Dark Mountains were illuminated in brilliant, glowing light as the soul apparitions of thousands of beasts¡ªbeasts that he¡¯d only just killed¡ªcame into being. Like a great wave they flowed toward the enemy. He was flooded with kill notifications as the majority of the remaining infected beasts met their end. Surveying the battlefield, he was struggling to see if any of them were left alive. As far as he could tell, the only beast standing was The Nightmare. But the black ooze was everywhere, and that was The Nightmare too. At least it can¡¯t attack me like the infected beasts can. He didn¡¯t gain enough D Grade Mastery Points to reach the next level. It took killing a hell of a lot more enemies than that for him to gain levels now that he was D Grade. Besides, much of those Mastery Points were being funnelled into the Lost Bone of a Dead God. The soul bound weapon had received a few ranks as he¡¯d fought, making his attacks and his attributes more powerful every time it became stronger. Xavier also had 800 free attribute points that he could assign to any one of his attributes. That was always a thrilling thing. He still found it absolutely insane just how many free stat points he gained with each level now that he¡¯d chosen the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class. There were many things that Xavier could do in this position. Time seemed to freeze as his mind worked, going through the different options. He could further strengthen his Spirit attribute. That would, in turn, make his soul stronger¡ªwhich would then make his Soul Energy more powerful. But it would be foolish to be distracted by his new resource before he even had a grasp on how to use it. For one, he was fully aware that soul damage didn¡¯t actually harm the true enemy that was The Nightmare. If it did, then things would have been very different in this fight. No, dumping 800 stat points directly into Spirit wasn¡¯t the way to go. Not this time around, anyway. He dismissed Toughness and Intelligence out of hand. Though it was always good to improve those attributes, right now wasn¡¯t the time. Strength and Speed. Those were good choices, especially as he needed to use his Body Cultivation spell to destroy the black ooze¡ªthat meant melee attacks, and a lot of them. He would need to be fast if he were going to get ahead of this. As he thought through the different options, he realised he couldn¡¯t make a decision until he tested this Soul Energy, coupled with Body Cultivation, against his enemy. Without accurate information, any decision he made in this moment could be the wrong one. For all he knew, his wisest choice would be dumping all 800 points straight into Willpower¡ªif he had better resisted his enemy¡¯s mental attacks, he wouldn¡¯t be in the position he was in now. Then again, I wouldn¡¯t have gained the Soul Born spell, either. He knew the best way for him to take a step forward in his strength was to face new challenges. That would always be true. Xavier surged forward. He cast Portal, flying through it to appear near the ground. The Dark Mountains was absolutely covered in the black ooze. After he¡¯d killed all of the infected beasts, a thick layer of the stuff was everywhere. This is going to take a lot of work. Xavier hadn¡¯t used Soul Energy to bolster any of his physical attacks with Body Cultivation before. He still sensed that as soul damage did nothing to the black ooze¡ªas apparently demons didn¡¯t have souls¡ªthen chances were Soul Energy wouldn¡¯t actually help him against this bastard. But there was something niggling at the back of his mind, telling him that his assumption didn¡¯t make complete sense. If Soul Energy was useless against the black ooze, then why had it dispelled it when he had pooled the energy around his body? It shouldn¡¯t have done a damned thing if it wasn¡¯t effective against The Nightmare. That was why he needed to test it right now. Xavier slashed downward with his claws at a puddle of the dark stuff. Soul Energy infused each of those claws and the moment he slashed, the energy detonated where he impacted. Xavier reared back and hovered in the air, looking down at where he had struck. There were long, large gashes cut into the dirt and rock of the mountain, but that wasn¡¯t all¡­ His eyes widened¡ªthe black ooze¡­ it had been utterly destroyed! And not just at the sight he had impacted, but all around for at least twenty feet. A wide smile burst onto Xavier¡¯s face. Soul Born¡­ Soul Energy¡­ This is going to be a real game changer. Not only had it gotten him out of almost being consumed by The Nightmare, now it was going to allow him to kill this thing. The voice of The Nightmare sounded in the chill air of the dark night, sounding far more terrifying than it had before. ¡°IF YOU WILL NOT SUCCUMB, THEN YOU SHALL DIE.¡± Xavier felt the gathering of a vast amount of power. The black substance on the ground all around him slowly started to move, then became faster and faster. Until it became a rushing river¡ªno, not a river, more like a whirlpool. It was all being sucked directly toward the main body of the demon. Book 5: Chapter 25 - The Nightmare’s Final Form Xavier watched in absolute awe as The Nightmare became one with all of the black ooze that remained on the entire mountain. Its grotesque, stitched-together body began to shift and change. The demon became taller, broader. It had already been massive. Soon it looked as though it would rival the size of the very mountain itself. I¡¯ve really pissed this thing off now. Perhaps Xavier should have been afraid. This was the most dangerous entity he had ever faced. But fear was not what he felt. He felt exhilaration. Xavier soared back toward the demon. He could have portalled toward it, but he wanted to see what the beast would do first. He hadn¡¯t seen this thing fling any spells at him, all he¡¯d felt so far were its psychic attacks¡ªand they had been nothing to sniff at. Xavier wondered if this was The Nightmare¡¯s final form and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle to himself at the reference. He knew if anyone was watching¡ªlike the barkeep, Felicia, with one of her little birds¡ªthat they might think he looked a little bit crazy right now. Maybe I am a little bit crazy. No spells were launched from The Nightmare. Instead, The Nightmare took to the air on wings even more massive than those it had possessed before. The wings were made almost entirely of black ooze. Xavier could still see the writhing bodies of the beasts and Denizens that were trapped inside of this thing. It was as though the demon wanted to display them. As though it revelled in showing them off. Maybe it does. Maybe it thinks of them as trophies. Xavier shuddered at the very thought. Flying toward Xaiver wasn¡¯t the only thing that The Nightmare did. Bits of black ooze began to branch off from the main body, shifting and twirling through the air toward him. The black ooze remained connected to the larger whole, but it spiralled out at him like tornadoes of black tentacles. Thousands of dark tendrils shot toward him at an incredible speed. All right, time to spend some of those free stat points. Xavier had made his decision as he¡¯d flown toward his enemy. He knew that right now, dumping everything into a single attribute wouldn¡¯t serve him. He needed to spread it a little wider than that. Xavier split the free stat points four ways¡ªhe put 200 points into Strength, Speed, Willpower, and Spirit. As far as he was concerned, these were the four most important attributes that he would need in this fight, and it wouldn¡¯t do to sell any of them short. Though nowadays 200 attribute points weren¡¯t a great deal to him, he still felt a slight shock to his system as they all hit him at once. He felt that much faster, that much stronger. His mental defences and attacks were emboldened, his soul empowered. Xavier grinned as he created a portal. There weren¡¯t a great many attacks that would help him in this fight now that the infected beasts had all been killed. All he needed to do was slash the hell out of this thing until it died. That meant getting in close. Xavier soared through the other side of the portal and straight into one of the demonic beast¡¯s wings. The instant he appeared through the portal, dark tendrils of black ooze shot toward him. Xavier didn¡¯t even reach the wing before he had to defend himself. This was different to when he¡¯d last fought the demonic beast in a melee confrontation¡ªit had shot ooze at him, but never at this scale. The damned demon has been taking it easy on me. No more. That was good. He certainly wouldn¡¯t be taking it easy on the demon. The dark tendrils tried to latch onto his arms and legs before Xavier had a chance to get out of the way. He slashed at them as they came toward him. With every slash that met his enemy, the Soul Energy exploded on impact through the power of his Body Cultivation spell. It destroyed the black ooze with ease, leaving nothing but burning air behind. Xavier cut down tendril after tendril. He whipped his wings around him, pooling Soul Energy into them so that the black ooze couldn¡¯t cling to the leathery skin. He fought with every ounce of energy he had, but he simply wasn¡¯t fast enough to fend off the dark tendrils. Not because he was slow, but because there were a countless number of them. He couldn¡¯t tell how many thousand were attacking him all at once. One of his legs was the first thing to be hit by the tendrils. Fear entered him then, as it perhaps should have before when The Nightmare had whirlpooled the entirety of the black substance that was its body into one large form. Only brief moments ago he was stuck beneath the black ooze, almost ready to give up everything. That was something he never wished to ever feel again. But the black ooze couldn¡¯t get a grip on him. Not this time. It slipped off, just as he¡¯d known it should. Soul Energy pooled around his leg, felt even through the fabric of his robes. It was more than enough to repel the tendrils. The fear disappeared as quickly as it came and was instead replaced with a strong sense of confidence. Xavier had already faced his darkest hour against this thing. Now, it was time to kill. The Nightmare attacked his mind with everything it had. Xavier could feel the mental attacks. A barrage of them pounding against his defences. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Mental Resistance has reached Rank 90! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 95! Xavier threw his head back and laughed. The Nightmare¡¯s rage only grew with each mental attack Xavier thwarted. With each tendril he destroyed. The main body of the demon was slowly starting to shrink as the fight wore on. Soon, it would be turned to nothing. Mental Resistance has reached Rank 90! Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path. Body Cultivation is now a Rank 60 spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 65 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier ate up the notifications as they came. He¡¯d gained a few ranks in Body Cultivation as he¡¯d fought against the infected beasts and as he¡¯d attacked the main body of the demon the first time, but he was glad to see even more rolling in. Xavier revelled in the carnage and destruction he was causing this thing. The Nightmare was only growing further enraged and confused as its attacks were doing nothing to Xavier. Xavier had somehow stumbled upon the perfect defence against this thing, and the perfect way to kill it. I didn¡¯t stumble on Body Cultivation. I asked for something like this. I just never knew how powerful it would be¡ªhow much it would really turn this fight around. The Nightmare would never have seen something like what he was doing. It didn¡¯t know how to fight against it¡ªdidn¡¯t know how to defend against it. And with Xavier¡¯s mind locked up tight, there was no way for this beast to harm him. The battle was won. All Xavier needed to do was ensure the Denizens trapped within this thing survived. I need a new plan. Xavier soared through a portal he summoned in front of him and appeared a few hundred feet away from The Nightmare. The demonic beast was nowhere near as large as it had been when it had taken on its final form. Hell, it was even smaller than when he¡¯d first seen the main body of the demon. He couldn¡¯t help but grin at what he¡¯d done. At the destruction he¡¯d wrought. This entire mountain had been changed because of him. Soon, The Nightmare would no longer roam here, and these mountains would have to be renamed. They certainly won¡¯t be dark anymore. But that time hadn¡¯t come yet, not with The Nightmare still living. As he watched The Nightmare writhe in the air, trying to get to him, he saw the black ooze regrow. Some of what he¡¯d destroyed was coming back. That was something he¡¯d already noticed as he¡¯d fought this thing¡ªit was able to regenerate. Just like any beast or Denizen, it has the ability to regain its health. Xavier just needed to come up with a way to deal a death blow to this demon without harming Ardon or the other Denizens trapped inside of it. He could see Ardon even more clearly now than he had before. The man was suffering even more¡ªas though The Nightmare were actively torturing him, taking its anger at Xavier out on the man. And not just on Ardon, but on all of the Denizens and beasts trapped within it. They were in complete and utter agony. Xavier had tried to get close to them. Tried to slice them free with his claws. He¡¯d done this first for one of the beasts that were trapped, but he hadn¡¯t trained enough in Body Cultivation to be precise enough with his actions, and he¡¯d accidentally taken the thing¡¯s head off. Well, he¡¯d exploded the thing¡¯s head off. Considering how poorly that had gone, he¡¯d figured he just needed a little practice to get it right. Ten more beasts died before he decided doing it that way simply wasn¡¯t the best plan¡ªhe didn¡¯t think that Liana would want her husband back without his head. Xavier examined the demon, watching it regrow, wondering how he might be able to do this. He thought of the first time he had faced this beast, before he¡¯d even had an idea of what it was, how he¡¯d taken over a portion of its mind. Xavier was afraid to try something like that again. Not only had the beast been able to eventually somehow have an effect on his Time Dilation field¡ªsomething he still didn¡¯t quite understand how was possible¡ªbut he¡¯d also been able to influence Xavier¡¯s mind back. Something clicked within Xavier¡¯s mind in that moment. It was something he should have realised before, but hadn¡¯t been able to¡­ The reason Xavier¡¯s Time Dilation field had been degrading faster, and the reason he hadn¡¯t been able to push it¡­ It wasn¡¯t because The Nightmare had suddenly become powerful enough to change time, it was because it had adapted to the speed at which the time dilation field was moving. The C Grade demonic beast had used the massive power of its interconnected mind to breach the time lag. It had connected to the Infected Rock Worm Xavier had been fighting, and in doing so, it had piggybacked its mind attack through the field. Xavier had been influenced by his enemy for a lot longer than he¡¯d even realised. A subtle, insidious influence that had him making poor decisions like attacking the main body of the demon¡ªthat same influence had affected his Time Alteration spell without him even realising. He took a moment to examine his mind, and somewhere deep inside of it¡­ There! Something has been hidden from me! The beast¡­ It had been controlling one of Xavier¡¯s split minds! The control had disappeared when all of his minds had come together once more, when Xavier had fallen unconscious from his enemy¡¯s mind attack. But for the longest time, Xavier hadn¡¯t even been aware of the thing controlling him. It reminded him of the exact way that Xavier had controlled The Nightmare when he¡¯d originally come across the beast. It hadn¡¯t been aware of me, just like I hadn¡¯t been aware of it¡­ While the realisation helped explain a lot of what had been going on during this fight, it didn¡¯t help him figure out his current predicament. Xavier was running out of options. He had a limited number of ways that he could hurt his enemy, and what he needed to do¡­ It required a far more delicate touch than he¡¯d been using. The onslaught of mental attacks from The Nightmare hadn¡¯t let up. Xavier could still feel them. But there was something interesting happening with those attacks, something he hadn¡¯t even noticed at first as he¡¯d destroyed more and more of the black ooze. The demon¡¯s mental attacks were growing weaker. The more of the black ooze Xavier destroyed, the weaker this thing¡¯s mind was becoming. Xavier had felt this thing¡¯s mind before, and at that time he¡¯d known he would never be able to rival it. But that time had passed. Xavier made a decision. He created another portal and flew straight through it, appearing directly behind The Nightmare. He slashed into its tar-like flesh once more, managing to take the demonic beast unawares¡ªsomething that was happening more and more often. The Nightmare had controlled his mind. Had influenced his actions. And Xavier was about to return the favour. A tendril of black ooze followed him back through the portal. He cut the portal. A fraction of a second later, Xavier cast Time Alteration, creating a time dilation field where he hovered in the air. It captured the black ooze that had been cut off from the main body of the demon. The ooze, no longer connected to the body of the demon, began to fall. Its mind might still be connected to The Nightmare, but this was different. Xavier swooped down toward the ooze, ready to catch it. He altered the way he cycled the energy running through his body, making his right hand susceptible to the black ooze¡¯s grip. At the same time as he swooped downward, he did something else. He altered the time dilation field itself. There were several ways in which he was able to alter a time dilation field. He could make the field larger. He could move the field. He could slow down time, or he could speed it up. Time was already sped up within the field, making everything outside of it appear frozen. But Xavier knew that wouldn¡¯t be enough, not after The Nightmare had adapted to the time lag. Xavier had to do better. He had to increase the speed within the time dilation field beyond what it had ever been before. And so that¡¯s exactly what he did. Only then did he grab the black ooze and allow it to sink into his skin. Finally, he cast Willpower Infusion. It was time to take back control. Book 5: Chapter 26 - Total Domination Xavier hovered inside his time dilation field, the black ooze on his hand, crawling up his skin. He could feel the mind of The Nightmare. The demonic beast that he had spent so much time decimating upon the Dark Mountains. Hastening the speed within the time dilation field had been more than enough to cut the bit of black ooze off from the demon¡¯s main mind. Xavier was more careful with his mental barriers this time, and with his different split mind. He¡¯d never realised that an enemy could be so subtle with their mental attacks that they could have some manner of control over him without him ever even knowing. It gave him ideas¡ªways that he might be able to use his Willpower Infusion spell in the future. But that wasn¡¯t something he had the energy or opportunity to dwell on right now. Xavier had just cast Willpower Infusion on the black oozing substance, after doing two things¡ªspeeding up the time inside the time dilation field so that it would be too fast for The Nightmare to adjust to the time lag, and moving Soul Energy away from his hand so that his Body Cultivation spell wouldn¡¯t repel the black ooze. Having felt the sheer power of The Nightmare, Xavier had worried he might be biting off more than he could chew. But the Willpower Infusion spell worked instantly. He was in control of the black ooze within the time dilation field. He could feel the larger connection it had to the rest of its mind, even though that was cut off by the time lag, it still remained. Mental Resistance has reached Rank 91! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 93! Xavier raised an eyebrow as the notifications were brought to his attention by another part of his mind. If that skill was ranking up, clearly it meant that right now his mind was under attack. The Nightmare is trying to take hold of me once more, even through the time lag. Good. That¡¯s exactly what he had been counting on. Xavier had controlled The Nightmare to varying to degrees on two other occasions. The first time was when he had first encountered it, and it had been an accident¡ªone that had gotten both him and Liana out of danger. The second time had been on purpose, to command as much of the ooze to eradicate itself. Both of those times, he had taken control while inside his time dilation field, but he had only taken control of the greater part of The Nightmare that first time once he had shut down the time dilation field, and only because the demon hadn¡¯t known he was influencing it. Now, the demon would be fully aware of what he was trying to do. But Xavier wasn¡¯t simply going to drop the time dilation while controlling this small part of the greater whole and hope that he would be able to fight off the beast enough when the thing came down. No, he had a far better plan in his mind than that. Xavier carved the time dilation field through the air, aiming for somewhere down on the ground. When he reached the ground, he sat, cross-legged, and rested his hands on his knees. One deep breath was all he needed to enter a deep, meditative state, one where he was as aware of his own mind as he possibly could be. Xavier let out a long breath. He expanded his consciousness into that of the black ooze connected to him. This helped him feel the greater connection to the demonic beast. The connection was faint. Far away. Difficult to grab hold of. Xavier tilted his head to the side. He had expected the connection to grow stronger. The Nightmare had been able to adjust to the time lag last time. He smiled. It¡¯s too weak to do it again. Good. Besides, last time it had taken a while before it had actually been able to do it. Still, he knew the demon¡¯s mind would be wounded, just as its body was wounded. I might actually be able to pull this off. Xavier slowly expanded his mind into that of The Nightmare¡¯s. Though the connection was faint, and time worked differently within the field than it did without, this was still something he¡¯d theorised he would be able to do. This wasn¡¯t the same way he¡¯d taken over the demon¡¯s mind the first time. That had happened all at once. And it had been subtle, for the demon hadn¡¯t known. This was decidedly not subtle. Xavier was carving his way through the beast¡¯s mind with sheer force of will. His own mind expanded through The Nightmare¡¯s, and with it his awareness of the world grew beyond where he sat, cross-legged, with his eyes closed. But the connection was still too weak. Far too weak. Even if he gained control, he sensed that he wouldn¡¯t be able to command this thing to free the Denizens trapped within it due to the time lag¡ªhis will would not be understood at the speed that he was currently at.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Nor would he be able to give The Nightmare the command he truly desired to deliver. So Xavier had to do something about that. Slowly, he adjusted down the speed at which time moved within the time dilation field. As he did, the connection he had to The Nightmare¡¯s mind grew stronger and stronger. Xavier felt more and more aware of it. It began to fight back¡ª But it wasn¡¯t strong enough to thwart Xavier¡¯s mental attacks, not with how wounded it had become. It was a shell of its former self. Xavier could feel the massive, gaping wound within it. Before, the beast¡¯s mind had been a colossal, powerful thing. Now, that mind hadn¡¯t just been defanged, it had been crushed. Over and over again. Xavier¡¯s mind flowed through that of the demon¡¯s. In mere moments, his consciousness controlled every part of it. And all he needed to do was utter one simple command: Die. On his wish, The Nightmare destroyed itself. A kill notification sprung up in his vision. Xavier opened his eyes and released a long breath. The time dilation field was still up. Things were still frozen out there. He shut down the field. The black ooze that was the remainder of the body of the demon simply¡­ burst into nothing. The beasts and Champions that had been stuck within the beast fell out, slamming into the ground beneath them in a tumble. Xavier winced. He probably could have done something about that, but as far as he could tell the injuries these people had received were rather minimal. They would all be D Grade. They could survive a fall like that without a worry. Xavier eyed the beasts that had been trapped by The Nightmare. They were the typical beasts that roamed around these mountains, with even a Stone Bear being in their midst. Xavier thought the beasts might attack the Denizens, or even attack him. But instead of doing that, they all looked his way. Wolven. Giant owls. Rock Worms. They gave him one, quick look, and then they fled. Xavier felt fear waft off the beasts, and he hadn¡¯t even needed to activate Fear Dominion for that to happen. The Champions who had been stuck inside The Nightmare didn¡¯t go after the beasts. They looked¡­ dazed. Confused. Xavier had to wonder how long each of them had been stuck inside of that demon. He thought on it for a moment, thinking specifically about Ardon. With time running faster on the hundredth floor than it did outside of it¡­ It would all depend on how long Liana took to get to this floor after discovering her husband had been trapped here. He¡¯s certainly been trapped in that demon for months¡­ But it could very well have been years for all I know. Xavier rose from the ground. He could have summoned a portal to get to them faster. He could have extended his wings and flown there. But he didn¡¯t want to startle these people. They had been through a lot. Xavier simply walked the short distance toward the survivors of The Nightmare. He took them all in. A ragged troupe if he ever saw one. Every single one of them had armour or robes that were damaged. Some of them had managed to cling onto their weapons, even after all the time they must have been stuck inside of that thing. Slowly, some of the armour was healing as the more aware Denizens were giving it attention. There were more people here than he¡¯d realised at first glance. There must have been Champions stuck beneath the beast¡¯s skin that he simply hadn¡¯t been able to see. That alone made him shudder. All in all, forty-two Champions of varying races stood, mulling around in slight confusion and relief below where The Nightmare had died. They all looked over at Xavier as he approached. Some of them looked wary of him, while others looked in awe. They knew what he had just done, and to them, it must have seemed utterly impossible. But he had also saved all of their lives. It was Ardon who stepped forward. Xavier had locked eyes with the man when he¡¯d still been stuck inside The Nightmare, and he noticed now that it hadn¡¯t just been the beasts who¡¯d been feeling fear¡ªit was these people as well. ¡°I sense you already know who I am,¡± Ardon said. His eyes looked¡­ Pained. The man himself no longer seemed as though his body was hurting, but the type of pain he¡¯d just endured would no doubt linger in his mind long afterward. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure how you know me, as I am sure I would have remembered someone as formidable as you if our paths crossed. Still, I heard¡ªand felt¡ªthe demon taunt you with the threat of my death.¡± Confusion was written on the man¡¯s face. ¡°Why would you care if I died?¡± Xavier stepped up to the man, then stopped. He looked past Ardon, who was wearing the robes of a mage¡ªthe man was a Time Mage just as Liana was¡ªat the other people. Then he locked eyes with Ardon once more. ¡°Your wife sent me to save you,¡± Xavier said. He ran a hand through his hair. ¡°She¡¯s waiting back at Hunter¡¯s Home. She will be very glad to see that you¡¯re still alive.¡± Ardon blinked. ¡°Liana?¡± he said the name with pained joy. He looked down, and Xavier struggled to read the expression on the man¡¯s face. ¡°But it¡¯s been¡­ It has been so long. I thought she¡¯d forgotten about me. I thought she would have moved on through the tower. Moved on from me¡­¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°She almost died trying to save you. If I hadn¡¯t been there, she would have.¡± A flood of notifications threatened to assail his vision, ones he hadn¡¯t yet addressed from the end of the fight. Spells and skills that had received new ranks, and even a title if what he¡¯d glimpsed was correct, but Xavier paid them no mind. He could go through them later. He wasn¡¯t usually a people person, but something told him these few here needed his attention more than his notifications did right now. He looked out at the rest of them once more. ¡°I can¡¯t say I have any idea as to what each of you has been through, but I can say that you are all safe now. The Nightmare has been slain, and this floor will never see its like again. You can all return to Hunter¡¯s Home now, and I¡¯ll buy each and every one of you a good meal and a strong drink.¡± Xavier wondered, for a moment, about these people, and the restrictions that were present on the floor. He knew that to complete the floor, one had to not only complete ten Hunt Quests, they had to complete at least one of those each week¡ªeven after they¡¯d done ten, assuming they wanted to remain on the floor. Every single one of these people wouldn¡¯t have been able to complete a single Hunt Quest while they were stuck inside The Nightmare. That meant that the System would be sending them straight back to their floors very soon. Xavier wasn¡¯t exactly sure how it worked, but he figured as they were trapped by a beast, the System wasn¡¯t going to teleport them out of danger just because they reached the end of a time limit. Those who haven¡¯t already completed ten Hunt Quests will have failed this floor. They won¡¯t be able to keep moving through the Tower of Champions. Something told him that wouldn¡¯t matter too much to these people. At least they had gotten out of this situation with their lives, after all. Xavier wondered if they would remain here long enough to even make it back to the tavern. He glanced up at the sky, as though he was looking at the System itself, and hoped it would give these people the closure they needed before simply yanking them away. As he¡¯d grown a lot stronger with creating portals, Xavier wondered if he would be able to create one that stretched all the way back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He hadn¡¯t stretched the distance on the portals too much lately, as he¡¯d been working purely on the spell for combat purposes. Xavier turned from the group of recently freed Denizens and cast his Portal spell, focusing on the destination he wanted the connecting portal to appear in¡ªthe area just outside of Hunter¡¯s Home. The portal opened rather easily¡ªmore easily than he had expected. He raised an eyebrow as he gained a rank in the spell. It had been a little while since he¡¯d managed that. Well, that was easy. ¡°Come on through,¡± Xavier said, motioning toward the portal. ¡°Let¡¯s get you all back to civilisation.¡± A familiar warmth flooded him at the sight of all those Denizens stepping through his portal back to safety. He had done that. He had saved these people. He¡¯d been stuck training on this floor for so long he¡¯d almost forgotten how good it felt to help people, and not just slay beasts. Book 4: Chapter 42 - The Nightmare Xavier¡¯s mind worked swiftly. He was high up in the air, mid-leap, his consciousness expanding through the insidious dark substance that had just tried to take over his mind. He had taken over its mind in kind, but his control over the strange, interconnected entity was not full. Not complete. If the entity discovered him, his control would snap like a twig underfoot. If I influence it, will it push back? He didn¡¯t know, but he had to try¡ªsomeone¡¯s life was at stake. My life might be at stake too, if I don¡¯t get a handle on all this. Even with his mind split into multiple parts, it was difficult for him to spread his attention everywhere it was needed. He had taken over many minds since he¡¯d gained his Willpower Infusion spell. It had made the difference in countless battles he¡¯d been in. Without it, he never would have gotten this far. But he¡¯d never touched a mind as powerful as this one, and being able to control such a mind? It was difficult to believe. His mind turned over and over in the split second since he¡¯d seen the woman in danger¡ªthe black oozing entity had spread all across her skin and looked as though it was about to take her over completely. Xavier didn¡¯t know if she would die right away, or if she would simply become this being¡¯s slave¡ªlike all the infected monsters he was currently facing. Xavier pushed his will, uttering a single command to the substance. Release her. He had expected push back. Expected the entity to fight him¡ªto even notice him. But it didn¡¯t¡ªit pulled back from the woman in an instant. The woman was surrounded not just by the oozing substance, but by countless infected beasts. Some of them lay dead on the ground, while others stood, making that strange gurgling sound. The oozing substance receded. More of the woman¡¯s pale skin was revealed as the dark substance dissipated, leaving her, flowing down her body until it pooled into a puddle on the ground and became seemingly inert. The beasts ceased their odd gurgling and turned from her, walking away as though she wasn¡¯t there at all. Xavier activated Hover Dodge, slipping away from the dark owl¡¯s attack with ease while he was still in mid-air. His mind was in two places at once¡ªobserving the woman and fighting these infected beasts around himself. Xavier, feeling suddenly confident, instructed the entity to ignore him. The owl, which had been swooping back toward him, suddenly turned and flew away, off into the night, becoming almost invisible against the inky black sky. Xavier landed in a crouch, a dust cloud forming as the impact of his landing created a small crater. He held his scythe-staff before him, ready to fight¡ªbut he didn¡¯t need to. The large, Infected Stag just stood there, its black eyes staring blankly into nothing. The dark wolven pack that had been approaching lost interest in him completely. They sniffed the ground and walked back into the nearby cover of the trees. Xavier tilted his head to the side for a moment and examined his connection to the dark, oozing entity he¡¯d been controlling. How was it he was still in control? He could feel how weak his control should be. Normally, if he were to have taken over something with a control that felt at the same level as this, then he wouldn¡¯t have been able to pause the enemy for more than a mere moment. Perhaps only a split-second¡ªperhaps less. Yet the connection was still there. The strength of this thing¡¯s mind had been immense. The mind itself was immense. It spread across the entire mountain¡ªhis awareness wasn¡¯t large enough to take it all in, yet it hadn¡¯t broken his control yet. What the hell is this thing? He blinked, wondering. Could the mind not truly be a mind? This entity was connected, through everything it controlled¡ªand it controlled the very trees, the grass¡ªyet did it even think? Xavier shook his head. This was a puzzle he wished to solve, but it wasn¡¯t the most important thing right now. He could see the woman¡ªthe lone Denizen somewhere up in the mountain. She stood, staring around at the infected beasts that had abandoned her, at the dark oozing substance that had flowed off her skin, her forehead creased. She breathed heavily, summoning a health potion to her hand and quickly downing it. He needed to find this woman. It didn¡¯t take him long to reach the clearing. The woman hadn¡¯t left. She had been staring into nothing¡ªperhaps looking at her status¡ªand periodically glancing around the area. But she hadn¡¯t moved, almost as though she¡¯d been afraid to. Xavier, still connected to the dark entity, realised that having his mind expand into it had filled out the mini-map of the entire mountain. He had simply flagged her position then headed toward her. The woman heard him before he appeared. That had been his intention. He didn¡¯t want to freak her out and take her by surprise. Denizens would be punished for fighting on this floor, but she might not realise he wasn¡¯t an enemy if she thought he was sneaking up on her. He stepped into the clearing with his hands raised. His Midnight Scythe was tucked safely away inside his Storage Ring¡ªhe wanted to appear as harmless as possible. The woman relaxed when she saw her, though not completely. ¡°Are you lost?¡± Xavier chuckled. ¡°No. I¡¯m exactly where I mean to be. Felicia told me I might find you around the Dark Mountains.¡± The woman¡¯s forehead creased. Xavier wished he knew what her name was. That might make this a little easier. ¡°Did she, now? That woman does like to spread information.¡± She narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Why, exactly, are you looking for me?¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I recently acquired a spell that can alter time. Felicia told me you are quite skilled in that area. I was hoping, perhaps, you might be willing to instruct me.¡± The woman laughed. ¡°You want me to teach you? Why would I ever want to do something like that? I didn¡¯t come to this floor alone for company¡ªand I certainly didn¡¯t come here with the intention of teaching someone.¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. He supposed he¡¯d have a similar reaction if someone came up to him, wanting his help reaping souls or controlling minds¡ªhe didn¡¯t have time for such things. It was a good thing he¡¯d just saved this woman¡¯s life. ¡°Did you happen to wonder why you¡¯re still alive?¡± Xavier asked. The woman blinked. ¡°What?¡± Xavier looked over at the seemingly inert puddle of black ooze on the ground. The woman had taken a few steps away from it, but it was still close by. ¡°Mere minutes ago, that thing almost killed you. Then it just¡­ stopped.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°Why do you think that is?¡± The woman tensed. She carried a staff that looked to be made from a wood much like oak. Crystals were embedded along the shaft in a swirling pattern that curled around the staff until they reached the largest crystal at its top. Each of the crystals were clear, with a smoky energy coalescing inside of them. The pale woman pointed her staff toward the dark puddle. ¡°Do you mean to say you had something to do with this? Did you somehow influence the enemy to attack me? Are you not a Champion of your world? Fighting on this floor is punishable by the System!¡± ¡°You misunderstand.¡± He raised his right hand, slowly as so not to look as though it were in any way a threat and showed her the black dot just below his knuckle. ¡°The entity tried to kill¡ªor, I suppose, infect¡ªme as well.¡± He lowered his hand and looked curiously at the black dot. ¡°I have the ability to control an enemy¡¯s mind. It isn¡¯t always effective, but when it is¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°I took control of the entity. When I saw you were in danger, I pulled it away from you.¡± The woman looked taken aback. She gave him a thorough once over, her gaze crawling up and down him. ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± He frowned. His control over the beast still felt tenuous, but as it wasn¡¯t being fought, it also didn¡¯t feel as though it was about to break. With that in mind, he instructed the oozing puddle to crawl along the ground toward the forest. When it did so, he smiled. ¡°It¡¯s strange. The entity seems to be in thousands of different places at once. Its mind is interconnected, almost like a computer network.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a computer?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°Not important. Do you believe me now?¡± The woman stepped over to the puddle as it crawled across the ground. She motioned to it with her staff. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that you¡¯re able to do this, yet you¡¯ve come to me for instruction?¡± Shock was written across the woman¡¯s face, and she was looking down at the puddle in complete awe. Xavier thought what he¡¯d done was significant, but as every Champion on this floor was D Grade, he didn¡¯t think it was that much of an accomplishment in the grand scheme. He explained the reason he was able to control its mind wasn¡¯t his power, but rather that he was able to cut a small portion of the entity away from the greater whole. The woman still stared at him funny after his explanation. ¡°You don¡¯t realise what you¡¯ve done, do you?¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you enlighten me?¡± ¡°This beast, this entity, the black ooze? It¡¯s called The Nightmare.¡± The woman motioned toward the mountain around them. ¡°It turned these mountains dark.¡± Xavier dipped his head in a nod. ¡°I had figured that part out¡ªnot its name, but what it had done to the mountain.¡± ¡°Did you also happen to notice that it¡¯s a beast from the noticeboard? There is a Hunt Quest for it.¡± Xavier hadn¡¯t noticed that. ¡°I thought beasts from the noticeboard appeared in separate instances?¡± ¡°That is purely dependent on how strong the beasts are¡ªC Grades, for instance, as multiple parties are expected to take them on, aren¡¯t trapped in instances.¡± Xavier nodded along as the woman spoke. Then, as the significance of what she was trying to tell him sunk in, his head stopped mid-nod. ¡°Wait¡­ are you trying to tell me The Nightmare is a C Grade beast?¡± She couldn¡¯t be telling him the truth¡­ But why would she lie about something like that? What in the world would she have to gain? ¡°Yes. And you¡¯re in control of it.¡± After Xavier had stood there in shock for far too long, the woman took him to a small cave she said was protected from the infected beasts, and the entity that controlled them. The cave walls were made of salt¡ªapparently that was something the entity couldn¡¯t tolerate, which was why it was easy enough for Denizens to travel through the Dark Mountains when off to face things like the Stone Bear. Why this woman had been caught unawares, he did not yet ask. ¡°It can¡¯t stand salt? What, is it some kind of demon?¡± Xavier said, smirking at he spoke the words. ¡°Yes,¡± the woman replied. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The woman summoned a comfortable armchair from her Storage Ring and plopped down onto it. She let out a contented sigh, then held her head as though it were in pain. Xavier remained standing. He had furniture of his own that he could summon, but he didn¡¯t feel the need to sit. He was still absorbing the fact that he was currently in control of a C Grade entity. He was also even more annoyed with Felicia than he already had been¡ªthe woman hadn¡¯t seen cause to warn him about The Nightmare when telling him this was where he¡¯d find the time mage. Xavier examined his control over The Nightmare. It still felt weak, and it wouldn¡¯t last forever¡ªmaking the connection was draining his Willpower Energy. He hadn¡¯t noticed it at first, but whenever he sent a command to the thing, he pulled deeply from his Willpower Energy reserve. Very deeply. He should have noticed that. He hadn¡¯t been paying close enough attention. Xavier closed his eyes. He split his mind again, into yet another part, so one part of him could think of the consequences of controlling an enemy two grades higher than himself while the other did what he¡¯d come to do and spoke to the woman. ¡°My name is Xavier.¡± He paused. If he was going to ask for this woman¡¯s instruction, he supposed he might as well tell her his full name. If it spread, he would deal with the consequences then. ¡°Xavier Collins. Felicia didn¡¯t actually grant me your name¡ªall she said was that you came to this floor without a party, same as I did.¡± ¡°Liana,¡± the woman said. She heaved a long sigh. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m in your debt. What do you wish to learn from me?¡± Xavier had never been in a position to learn from a D Grade. There were gaps¡ªmany gaps¡ªin his knowledge and training. And while he¡¯d gotten this far without proper tutelage¡ªand mostly, no tutelage at all¡ªhe was finally in a position where he could slow down and actually focus on bettering himself. Since the moment the System had come to Earth and integrated them into the Greater Universe, he¡¯d been like a man possessed, pushing himself harder and harder, with barely a pause to catch his breath. There were countless fundamentals that he knew he¡¯d missed, simply because he¡¯d always fallen back on what had worked for him, only having to improvise when his life was at stake. If he¡¯d known better, he could have been using Heavy Telekinesis to help him move around in the air a long time ago, or to help enforce his physical attacks¡ªhe wondered how many other things he¡¯d missed simply because he¡¯d been going too fast. ¡°I want you to teach me how to rank up my Time Alteration spell, and¡­¡± He frowned, swallowed, looking down. It felt strange, asking another for help in this way. It didn¡¯t feel right, but he knew that was his pride at work. ¡°You¡¯ll need to sign a contract with me,¡± the woman said. Xavier blinked. He¡¯d been about to ask Liana to do the same. ¡°You will keep secret everything you learn of me,¡± Liana said. Xavier slowly nodded. ¡°Agreed. And you shall do the same for me.¡± They negotiated the particulars of the contract, and Xavier couldn¡¯t be happier about the terms. It was clear this woman was hiding something¡ªor perhaps simply hiding¡ªand it turned out she wanted a contract even more than he did. He found that he respected the woman¡ªhe may have saved her life, but that didn¡¯t obligate her to train him. And yet, here she was, signing a contract to that affect. Once they¡¯d signed, Xavier cleared his throat. Every single one of their conversations was now protected¡ªwhich meant that whatever he said now, she would never repeat for fear of losing all of her levels. ¡°There is something else I need to ask of you.¡± Book 4: Chapter 43 - Patience ¡°You want me to train you in everything?¡± Liana spluttered. She¡¯d jumped up from her comfortable armchair in the small salt-cavern when he¡¯d asked the question. ¡°That is not what I agreed to, Xavier Collins. You saved my life, and I¡¯m grateful. Honour requires that I¡¯m in your debt, and teaching you how to properly utilise your Time Alteration spell more than covers that debt, I should say.¡± Xavier smiled. Considering how Liana had first reacted to him asking her to teach him, he¡¯d expected something like this. Perhaps he was pushing her too far¡ªshe was not the roaming master he was looking for, nor he the bright-eyed, young apprentice. Still, she was currently his best option. ¡°I agree. That does more than cover the debt. But perhaps you might wish me to be in your debt?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need your money,¡± the woman said, though she sounded less sure than she had a mere moment ago. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good.¡± Xavier opened his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t really have any money.¡± ¡°Then what exactly are you offering?¡± Xavier looked out of the cave¡¯s mouth, back into the depths of the forest climbing up the Dark Mountains. ¡°I will owe you a favour.¡± Liana returned to her armchair, though she didn¡¯t relax and lean back like she had the first time she¡¯d sat in it. ¡°You make that sound as though it¡¯s worth a great deal more than I can currently ascertain. Are you from a particularly powerful family?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I come from a newly integrated world.¡± Liana suddenly broke out into laughter. It was the most relaxed Xavier had seen the woman since they¡¯d met. She wiped a tear from her eye. ¡°You¡¯re from a newly integrated world? A baby world? Really? You must know little of the Greater Universe if you think a favour from you is worth something, let alone something as valuable as my time.¡± The humour in her words slowly turned to frustration, until finally she¡¯d said the last words in anger. ¡°I will teach you what we bargained, and no more.¡± ¡°We have signed a contract of secrecy.¡± Xavier took his eyes away from the dark forest beyond their cave and looked at the woman. He could see her through his Farscope ability, wherever his head was turned¡ªthat¡¯s how he knew she was the most relaxed she¡¯d ever been a moment ago¡ªbut there was something impactful about looking someone in the eye. ¡°And so I will share with you who I am, and why a favour from me might mean something to you if not today, then in the future.¡± He raised his chin. ¡°I am Level 162.¡± Liana laughed again. Then she froze, staring at him. Xavier¡¯s face was blank, and there was no hint of mirth in her eyes. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re serious? You honestly think I could believe that you are E Grade? And not even the peak of E Grade?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Did that damned barkeep back at Hunter¡¯s Home tell you I was some sort of fool?¡± Xavier did something he wasn¡¯t sure he should do¡ªhe shared his status window with the woman. While it was something he¡¯d heard one could do, before today he wouldn¡¯t have thought to do it with someone not in his party, or otherwise under his influence. The woman¡¯s eyes glazed over. And¡ªthough Xavier hadn¡¯t thought such a thing would be possible¡ªher face became even more pale than it already was, almost corpselike in its pallor. ¡°Level 162¡­¡± Liana breathed. ¡°You are an E Grade on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, and you¡¯re still alive. These stats¡­¡± She motioned frantically outside the cave in an expansive gesture. ¡°T-t-the Nightmare,¡± she stuttered. ¡°You controlled The Nightmare!¡± ¡°I am more than I seem, Liana,¡± Xavier said. He wasn¡¯t intending to sound ominous, but it was hard not to given the situation. ¡°The System has chosen me for something, and I feel as though I have much to learn if I am going to accomplish it.¡± ¡°T-t-truth contract. Binding and private. Now,¡± Liana sputtered. Xavier obliged. ¡°Repeat what you said, about the System,¡± Liana said. Xavier did so. Liana sunk as far back into her armchair as she could. ¡°Chosen by the System. I have heard myths of such things, but to know it for truth?¡± She spoke as though in awe. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is you¡¯ve gotten me caught up in, Xavier Collins, but if this is how powerful you are now, and you¡¯re truly chosen¡ªnot that you could have lied¡ªthen¡­ Perhaps a favour from you is worth something to me.¡± The woman glanced around the cave. ¡°First thing¡¯s first, we cannot train here. The Dark Mountains are not suitable for what we need.¡± ¡°Why were you here?¡± Xavier asked, remembering his first sight of the woman¡ªthe dark ooze crawling over her skin, almost having taken her over to its fullest. There had been no salt around her to ward off The Nightmare. ¡°I have my reasons.¡± Liana¡¯s head dropped. Her black hair fell over her eyes, and she had a dark look about her. ¡°And they are not for you to know.¡± ~ At first, Xavier was hesitant to leave the Dark Mountains. He had barely explored the control he had over the creature there¡ªThe Nightmare, as Liana had told him it was called¡ªbut he realised the wisdom in it. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As much as he didn¡¯t wish it to be so, his control over the C Grade entity was slipping the more of his Willpower Energy he lost. From what he could ascertain, the beast¡ªif it could truly be called a beast¡ªdidn¡¯t have a mind, but if it did, and it knew what he had done¡­ he may not be able to repeat the feat he had just managed if his Willpower Energy reserve was depleted. In fact, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. He replenished his reserve through cultivation and the use of potions, but it drained faster and faster the longer his mind expanded into that of The Nightmare. It¡¯s too powerful¡ªtoo large to hold onto for long. Perhaps he might be able to use his control over it to his advantage in killing the entity, but now was not the time for him to face a C Grade being, let alone one he barely understood. The two Champions did not return to Hunter¡¯s Home. Instead, Liana led Xavier through the forest at a sprint. The woman moved faster than him. It felt strange, struggling to keep up¡ªeven stranger when the woman waited for him to catch up to her. The woman¡¯s confidence seemed to grow at finding out that he was slower than her. She seemed to take pride in her Speed. That shouldn¡¯t have been too surprising, given her supposed mastery over time¡ªhis Speed Core was what had gotten him his Time Alteration spell, after all. They encountered a few beasts on their way, but Liana breezed past them. Any that got too close and seemed to pose a threat, she somehow froze with a swish of her staff¡ªthey appeared to be stuck within bubbles of time dilation. Just like the bubble that he used. Only she was able to use this multiple times. Her cooldown was minimal, especially compared with what Xavier had to work with. Liana eventually stopped in a small forest grove that was open to the night sky. The grove seemed peaceful. A breeze rolling in, swaying branches, rustling leaves. There wasn¡¯t a single beast in sight. Though Xavier knew the peace was simply an illusion¡ªdanger could strike at any moment on the hundredth floor. The woman summoned her armchair from her Storage Ring for a second time and sat down on it. She didn¡¯t lean back, as she had before. This time, she was perched on its edge, her hands folded in her lap¡ªshe¡¯d deposited her staff into her Storage Ring for the time being. ¡°Show me what it is you can do.¡± And so Xavier did. He cast Time Alteration. He contemplated the two options for the spell at his disposal¡ªhe could slow down time in the bubble, meaning time would move faster outside of it, but he¡¯d never seen the utility in that. Or he could speed up time in the bubble¡ªwhich was the only thing he¡¯d used it for so far. Xavier did the latter. Liana stood. She walked directly to the edge of the time bubble, then stopped. Xavier blinked. ¡°How are you able to discern the edge? I¡¯ve used it with others inside it before, and they were not able to.¡± Liana looked over her shoulder at him. ¡°Were they D Grades?¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°No. They were not.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s your answer.¡± Xavier walked over to the edge of the bubble. He folded his hands behind his back. He had questions¡ªmany of them¡ªbut he wanted to see what this woman would do first. ¡°How long have you had this spell?¡± Liana asked. He told her. ¡°How long does it last?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t tested¡ªI feel as though it could last a very long time, however.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Liana asked him several more questions¡ªwhat rank the spell was, did his cooldowns work while it was up, how long did it take to cool down, could he slow down time within the bubble if he wished. Could he switch how the bubble functioned once it had been summoned¡ªspeed up time if it had been slowed, expand or contract the bubble. Xavier answered these questions patiently. Liana nodded. Once she seemed satisfied he¡¯d answered everything she wanted to know, she sat back down on the armchair she¡¯d summoned. She was silent for an entire minute before Xavier cleared his throat. ¡°Should I end the spell?¡± Liana shook her head. ¡°We will wait.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For the spell to end on its own.¡± Xavier was taken aback. ¡°But we have no idea how long that might take. We could be inside the bubble for hours, maybe days.¡± Liana examined him with a tilt of her head. Her hair fell back over her face, covering her left eye. She didn¡¯t bother brushing it out of the way. ¡°Do you have somewhere you need to be?¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°No.¡± He considered arguing with the woman. Wasn¡¯t it a waste of time, keeping the spell up for the entire duration? There were other things they could be doing, weren¡¯t there? ¡°Should I try and contract or expand the bubble?¡± Liana smiled. ¡°You are not familiar with patience, are you?¡± Xavier blinked, looked away. He thought of how he had gotten to where he was in the first place. Then he smirked. ¡°No. I suppose I¡¯m not.¡± Liana nodded. She sunk back in her armchair and summoned a book to her hand. ¡°Is that book about time magic?¡± Xavier asked. Liana looked at the book, then showed him the cover. Xavier blanched. It was a shirtless, muscular male elf with long, flowing silver hair. ¡°No, but it sure does help pass the time.¡± She gave him a wink and flipped the book open. ¡°If there¡¯s one thing I can teach you first about being a time mage, it¡¯s that things work rather differently for us than they do for other Denizens. You feel a sense of urgency¡ªI can see it in the way it seems impossible for you to relax. That urgency never leaves you, does it?¡± ¡°There are reasons I feel this way. Responsibilities I have, to my world, to my sector¡­¡± He trailed off, thinking, to the Greater Universe. ¡°Yes, I did gather something to that effect, considering you told me you were chosen by the System. But think about where you are right now.¡± She raised her index finger and motioned in a circle. ¡°A bubble of time, with everything outside of it moving so slow it looks frozen. Then, think about the floor you are on. The hundredth floor, notorious for its manipulation of time. An hour here, a mere minute back in our own universe. Liana leant forward. ¡°So tell me, right now, where you are, what exactly is so urgent?¡± She sunk back in her armchair and turned her gaze to her book. ¡°Patience¡ªyou must cultivate it as though it were any other energy you bring into yourself.¡± Xavier contemplated the woman¡¯s words and found no fault in them. It made perfect sense that they could remain within this bubble for as long as it took to test his limits¡ªbut he still chafed at the idea, and the execution of it. He found it difficult to sit still. He thought about practising his meditation¡ªat least he would be doing something useful¡ªbut when he closed his eyes to do so, Liana clicked her fingers. ¡°Meditating might throw off the results. Find something else to do.¡± Xavier glared at her. Was she telling the truth? Could his Meditation skill really throw off the results, or with this simply a lesson in patience she was trying to teach him? He sighed¡ªinwardly¡ªand tried to think of something to do while he waited. Liana seemed more than content to continue reading her book, every now and then letting out a flutter of giggles. Xavier stared at the woman he¡¯d chosen to be his teacher, and wondered if he had made the right decision. Book 4: Chapter 44 - Attunement Time in the forest grove passed more swiftly than it did perhaps anywhere else in the Greater Universe. Slowly, Xavier¡¯s ability to be patient grew with each use of his spell. The longer the Time Alteration spell remained active, the more he saw that time truly did move outside of it. If he stared outward at the trees long enough, he could see the leaves rustled by the wind. It was another exercise in patience that Liana had given him on his second usage of the Time Alteration spell. Without even trying, while he¡¯d been staring at the leaves for hours within the bubble, he had gained several ranks in his Meditation skill, something which when he told Liana, the woman had simply waved it off, saying, ¡°That can happen.¡± Xavier¡¯s doubt in the woman slowly disappeared the longer he spent with her. She had a remarkable command over time magic, to the point where he wondered how she¡¯d ever been in danger in the first place. Unfortunately, cooldowns could never be affected by time spells¡ªit was, according to the woman, impossible to speed up or slow down a cooldown as spell cooldowns worked with the clock of whatever universe one was currently residing within. Which meant he would have to wait the full length of his cooldown between every single usage of his Time Alteration spell. Soon, Xavier learnt how to expand and contract the time bubble while it was active¡ªsomething that, to his surprise, garnered him several ranks. ¡°Time magic spells often differ to other spells¡ªthey receive ranks when one has mastered different aspects of them, not simply because you have utilised them in combat, though combat can certainly push forward innovation,¡± Liana had said after he¡¯d asked about it. Things went on like this for a while. With the ranks he gained, his cooldown became shorter. At first, each rank gained him half a minute. Then, when he got to Rank 20¡ªand his cooldown had been reduced to twenty minutes from thirty¡ªranks began to reduce his cooldown in smaller increments. When Xavier had asked Liana about this, she¡¯d raised an eyebrow. ¡°With how powerful this spell is, you didn¡¯t expect to be using it once per minute right away, did you?¡± Xavier hadn¡¯t expected it, but he¡¯d certainly been hoping for it. The first few times Xavier used the spell, all Liana would do while inside the time dilation field was read her books. She read several dozen while in the bubble, until she finally closed one of the books with a snap and stared at him. ¡°All right. Time for me to earn that favour of yours.¡± She raised her chin. ¡°You said there¡¯s more you wish for me to teach you?¡± Xavier, who had been focusing his energies on speeding up time even faster within the bubble to see how that affected how long it lasted, looked over at the woman with excitement. He explained to her the position that he was in¡ªall the things that he had learnt, and all the things he undoubtedly missed. When he was done, Liana simply stared at him. ¡°How is it possible you¡¯ve gotten this far, knowing so very little?¡± Liana finally asked after a long pause. Xavier narrowed his eyes at her. She raised her hands in a placating gesture. ¡°I¡¯m not meaning to be rude, but¡­¡± She trailed off, resting her hands on her knees, and gave a slight shake of the head. ¡°You¡¯ve been going all out, and you haven¡¯t even scratched the surface of what you should be capable of.¡± A smile swept onto her face. ¡°If you¡¯ve gotten this far through blindly blundering around, imagine how far you¡¯ll get after a few solid years of training.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Years?¡± She frowned. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect to learn everything you needed in a few days or weeks, did you? There are gaps in your knowledge larger than some planets, Xavier Collins. I think it¡¯s time you suffered some tutelage.¡± She bit her lip. ¡°But I can only teach you so much¡ªour skillsets only truly intersect when it comes to time magic, and there seems to be a lot more that you¡¯re capable of doing than just that. I saw your list of spells when you shared your status. Soul reaping? Summoning spirits from the otherworld? Controlling minds? And now, altering time on top of that? Do you know how unique a spellset you¡¯ve stumbled upon?¡± Xavier smiled. He had to say, he was starting to like where this conversation was going. He¡¯d had more than a sneaking suspicion that something had been missed in his training¡ªeven if he hadn¡¯t realised exactly how much. Xavier opened his hands. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t encountered anyone else who can do what I can do.¡± ¡°Well of course you haven¡¯t! You¡¯re rarer than a land without strife, you are.¡± ¡°Are you saying I need to find another teacher?¡± Liana waved away his question. ¡°Not yet. There¡¯s plenty enough I can teach you for now. But I alone won¡¯t be enough. When it comes to your time magic, at least I¡¯ve gotten to you early¡ªother instructors might have difficulty if you¡¯ve built up bad habits around your reaping or mind control spells.¡± Xavier wanted to argue. Bad habits? Those spells had gotten him where he was¡ªhe was using them perfectly fine, thank you very much. He was using them well, even. But how could he know that for sure? ¡°Your forehead has more lines than a wrinkled perin fruit. What¡¯s the matter with your face?¡± Xavier shut his eyes, chuckled. He didn¡¯t know what a perin fruit was, but he supposed he was using what Siobhan would call his stink-face. ¡°Just coming to terms with how much I may have to learn.¡± Liana offered him a genuine smile, then. ¡°Learning is the greatest thing to be done in life¡ªwhy ever would you feel bad about it? Our lifespans are such that we could very well have the opportunity to learn every single thing we could ever wish, and with the ability to freeze time? We can learn some things faster than others¡­¡± She looked away, her eyes unfocused. ¡°Though, sometimes, we may learn things we would rather not.¡± The woman shook her head, seeming to come back into focus again. She clapped her hands together. ¡°All right, why don¡¯t we get started? First things first, how is your connection to your attributes?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Xavier frowned again. ¡°Connection¡­ to my attributes?¡± ¡°Your attributes are staggeringly high for someone of your level, I will concede, but the way you moved on your way here¡­ You shouldn¡¯t have had so much trouble catching up to me.¡± Xavier repeated the question, phrasing it differently. ¡°When you say ¡®connection to my attributes,¡¯ what exactly do you mean? What connection are you talking about?¡± The woman threw her head back and laughed. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡± Liana wiped a tear from her cheek, then stopped. ¡°You¡¯re serious? You don¡¯t know what I¡¯m talking about?¡± Xavier looked at her blankly. ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue.¡± ¡°Oh, dear. You really are from an unintegrated world,¡± Liana muttered. Xavier didn¡¯t deign to respond. Liana paused for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts. ¡°There are more reserves of power within yourself than your cores.¡± The woman put a hand to her chest. ¡°We each have six cores, though it is some time until they are all revealed to us. But our cores are not the only thing we can draw strength from.¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°You are from an unintegrated world, so perhaps this is something you can understand. Before humans are integrated, they are weak and frail. Their strength has a hard limit that is almost impossible for them to even reach. But, can you recall ever seeing a non-integrated human perform something they shouldn¡¯t be capable of?¡± Xavier thought about that for a moment. ¡°The proverbial mother picking up a car their child is stuck underneath.¡± When Liana looked at him blankly, Xavier explained what a car was, and how heavy it was. The woman clicked her fingers. ¡°Exactly. That is exactly what I¡¯m talking about. Our bodies and minds are capable of more than is always evident. That power is restricted from us, because it can come with¡­ issues, if one is not careful. That mother you spoke of, when her child was in trouble, she was able to tap into her absolute maximum level of Strength¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t have a visible attribute for it. If she did that all the time, it could easily lead to her injuring herself. ¡°When we add or gain points in our different attributes, we are raising our absolute maximum potential in those attributes, but if we don¡¯t hone our connection to the different attributes¡ªto the trinity that is our body, mind, and spirit¡ªwe will never be able to fully reap the rewards of higher stats.¡± Xavier contemplated that for a moment. In a way, he thought he could understand what she was saying. ¡°You¡¯re saying we all have untapped potential without honing these connections?¡± Liana nodded. ¡°The beasts of this world, for instance, are highly attuned with their attributes. That¡¯s why some Denizens struggle to fight them¡ªthey¡¯re stronger than they appear from their levels alone.¡± Xavier leant back. ¡°Huh,¡± he said. ¡°I was wondering why they were more difficult to face than other D Grades I¡¯ve come up against. I had no idea that was the case. That¡­ that changes a lot.¡± The woman nodded again. ¡°For someone from an integrated world, these things are second nature. You may well have encountered people who simply didn¡¯t know to teach it to you.¡± Adranial certainly never brought anything like this up. Xavier grew more excited about his training the longer this conversation stretched. He¡¯d known he had a lot to learn, but he didn¡¯t realise there were things this fundamental that he had totally missed. He rubbed his hands together. ¡°How do I get started, then? How do I better attune myself to my attributes?¡± Apparently, the answer to that was training. Lots, and lots of training. But this wasn¡¯t the type of training that Xavier was familiar with. To unleash his hidden Strength and better attune with that attribute, Liana didn¡¯t wish for him to simply blindly do lots of exercises with increasing difficultly. She needed him to focus in a way he wasn¡¯t sure he ever had. ¡°Your Meditation skill will come in handy, here. To attune yourself with your different attributes, you need to be able to observe everything your body, mind, and spirit is doing. This is easier said than done, and there is a reason that such a thing isn¡¯t plausibly possible to tap into until someone has been integrated into the System. ¡°There are some non-integrated people who have trained toward this end, but as they become integrated at the age of sixteen, there is never enough time for their skills to truly come into fruition until after they¡¯re integrated¡ªit¡¯s not possible to see if one could achieve this without the System, but we definitely know it can be achieved with it.¡± Xavier thought for a moment about people who may have tapped into these sorts of abilities. He thought about the strongest and fastest people back on Earth pre-integration¡ªpowerlifters, strongmen, Olympians. He thought about those who pioneered the mind¡ªmonks and true academics who could stare at a problem for hours on end. And then he thought about the myths, wondering if there really had been people capable of magic before the System came down. Could people have walked on water, healed the sick, seen the future? And if so, had these people managed that by doing what she was speaking of? Even if they had, everything they¡¯d been capable of paled in comparison to someone who¡¯d gained a few levels in the System. He didn¡¯t bother bringing these examples up to Liana, he simply contemplated them on his own. Full awareness. Liana had Xavier expand the time bubble until it filled up more of the glade. She wished for him to practise his Speed attribute. Though Xavier was better able to expand the time dilation field now that he had gained several ranks in it than he ever had before, it didn¡¯t seem like a whole lot of room for running. When he told Liana this, the woman explained that Speed wasn¡¯t only about running in a straight line¡ªit was about changing direction, too. According to her, he could learn plenty from simply running back and forth over and over again. And, again according to her, he had a lot to learn. So Xavier ran. He slipped himself into a meditative state, trying as hard as he could not to focus merely on his breathing, but every movement of his body. It was strange, trying to be so aware of his every action. When he ran, unless he was trying to improve his technique, he didn¡¯t often think about how he was running. Running was a habit, and then a skill, that he had developed. It was second nature. To think about it in detail all the time would be detrimental. Hours passed for him in this state. He wasn¡¯t doing enough running to gain another rank in his Running skill, and he wasn¡¯t training hard enough to gain any attributes in Speed from what he was doing. Honestly, much of the time, it felt like a waste. He wasn¡¯t doing anything unique by running back and forth like this, turning just before he reached the edge of the bubble¡¯s barrier. Liana wasn¡¯t observing him during this time. In fact, she¡¯d returned to reading her books. Despite all he¡¯d learnt from her so far, Xavier had to admit he was growing frustrated. That was when he remembered one of the first things she had told him¡ªhe needed to cultivate patience. Considering how antsy he felt, doing this one task, he supposed that was true. He had never had much patience for waiting. Perhaps part of that came from the world he¡¯d lived in¡ªa world of smart phones and instant gratification. A world where even when one was waiting for something they wouldn¡¯t dream of doing that while not being entertained. The System had only heightened that with all the dopamine hits he¡¯d received when he¡¯d first began¡ªgaining ranks and levels and titles as fast as possible. Xavier thought he¡¯d learnt how to acquire laser-like focus and a steel will from everything he¡¯d been through, and everything he¡¯d accomplished, but there were gaps. Many gaps. He wasn¡¯t yet the person he knew he could be. Case in point, his mind having wondered so much during the exercise. Full awareness, Xavier thought, now repeating the mantra any time his mind wondered. He spent a full day within the time dilation field, running back and forth, back and forth, changing direction over and over and over. He was aware of how he breathed, how his muscles worked, how the dirt shifted as he spun on the ball of his foot then kicked off back in the other direction. Of how he sped and slowed his momentum. At some point, he wasn¡¯t sure when, he fell into a trancelike state, one different to that of his normal Meditation skill. He wasn¡¯t just aware of his body¡ªhe felt as though he was more in control of it than he ever had been before. Time passed, and with it the ground changed. A path formed where he had been running, the indentations of his boots and the impact of every footfall changing the very terrain where he trained. Until finally, something clicked. Then something happened. You have Attuned 0.1% with your Speed attribute. Book 4: Chapter 45 - Order Your Thoughts, and Your Mind Will Follow Xavier stopped running, skidding to a halt in the middle of the forest glade, right in front of the armchair the pale-skinned, darkhaired Liana lazed back on, reading one of her seemingly infinite number of books. ¡°I¡¯ve done it!¡± Xavier announced. If Xavier were honest, there had been a part of him that hadn¡¯t believed what the woman had been telling him¡ªthat there was a way to better connect to his different attributes. Well, it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t believe her, but rather that he thought he must have done it on some natural, instinctual level. How could he have gotten so far without doing something that was apparently so fundamental? The appearance of that notification showed just how wrong he had been. Liana closed her book and looked over at him. ¡°You¡¯ve done it, have you?¡± She raised an eyebrow, giving him a sceptical look. Xavier shared the notification with her, so she wouldn¡¯t have to spend another split-second doubting him. Liana¡¯s eyes glazed over for a brief moment as she read the notification he had received. ¡°You attuned your Speed attribute by .1 percent?¡± Xavier¡¯s shoulders drooped. ¡°I know it¡¯s not much, but it¡¯s a start, right?¡± Liana shook her head, sighed, and stared over at him through narrowed eyes. ¡°You misunderstand. When a Denizen first starts their attunement, they usually only gain, perhaps, .01 percent for their first notification. You have achieved something ten times that.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°I have? Perhaps it¡¯s because I¡¯m starting so late?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Liana said. ¡°Perhaps.¡± She opened her book again. Xavier kept staring at her. She peered at him over the pages of her book. ¡°The first attunement is the easiest. Keep going. You have plenty more training to do.¡± Xavier heaved a sigh, then kept running back and forth in the forest glade. He noticed the change immediately. When he brought up his attributes and looked at his Speed, it remained exactly the same as it had before. The number hadn¡¯t changed at all. What had changed was that there was no bracketed percentage next to it. (Attunement: 0.1%.) The difference was more significant than he had imagined such a small percentage would have been¡ªit was only one point out of a thousand that he could possibly gain for his attunement, yet his body¡­ It moved more efficiently than it had before. It was a difficult thing for him to explain, but an easy one for him to feel. Xavier gained another .2 percent to his Speed attunement before the time bubble finally came down two days later. Well, it had been two days within the time dilation field¡ªoutside of it, mere minutes had passed. He¡¯d gained another two ranks for Time Alteration as well, having held the bubble up for his longest time yet. ¡°This is incredible,¡± Xavier said as the breeze started rolling in at a normal speed, and the forest around the glade was no longer frozen in a crawl of slow-time. ¡°Being able to use the time bubble to train like that¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°When I first received this spell, I knew it would be powerful, but I hadn¡¯t yet thought of all the possibilities.¡± Liana smiled. ¡°Time mages are often considered an overpowered lot.¡± She tilted her head to the side. ¡°At least, in some ways. It is rare for a time mage to be able to specialise in other areas¡ªour damage dealing capabilities tend to be limited compared with other magic users. Time mages are often better in a party. Though that doesn¡¯t appear to be the case with you. You lack those same restrictions. Not that I would consider you a full-fledged time mage with only that one spell at your disposal.¡± Xavier opened his mouth to ask why she wasn¡¯t in a party herself, but the look on her face told him she wasn¡¯t in a mood to answer personal questions¡ªit was a look he was becoming familiar with, the more time he spent with this woman. He was surprised by how he felt after all that seemingly mindless running back and forth within the time dilation field. From all appearances, what he¡¯d done would be considered extremely tedious and boring. But, as he¡¯d fallen into a trancelike state and had been running so long because he was trying to achieve a goal, he actually felt more energised than he had before¡ªthough that could have something to do with the fact that he was successful at attuning his Speed attribute, even if it had only been for .3 percent. ¡°How long will it take me to bring the attunement to 100 percent?¡± Xavier asked. He didn¡¯t know if he had the patience to do that all at once. It would be¡­ a lot of days stuck inside that bubble, doing the exact same thing, over and over again. He wondered if it would still invigorate him after a week, a month¡­ maybe even a year. The woman pursed her lips. ¡°You expect your attunement to grow to 100 percent, as an E Grade?¡± Liana sighed. ¡°An F Grade would be lucky to attune their attributes by 10 percent after years of training. An E Grade might reach 20 percent, after even more years of training. I¡¯ve heard of Denizens drawing on more than that, in times of great need¡ªbut not in regular fights, even those that are life and death, as many of the fights we Champions get into turn out to be.¡± Xavier frowned. That wasn¡¯t the answer he¡¯d been expecting or hoping for. Those percentages¡­ considering how much some of his skills boosted his attributes, it didn¡¯t seem like the greatest amount. Then again, there was something more pure about attuning his Speed¡ªsomething different in the way he moved. Something altogether better. Xavier had thought he¡¯d been one with his body before all this, but he was beginning to realise just how shut off he¡¯d been. Just how blind he was to¡­ well, himself. ¡°We should begin attuning some of your other attributes, now that you¡¯ve got the hang of attuning Speed,¡± Liana said. She stood from her armchair and paced around the glade. The time bubble was still down¡ªit would be another fifteen or so minutes until he was able to cast it again, after the cooldown had ended. The cooldown wasn¡¯t yet where he wanted it to be, but he couldn¡¯t fault Liana for that. Xavier tapped his foot on the ground until Liana gave him a sharp look, the noise clearly intruding on her thoughts. ¡°We should work next on attuning your mind¡ªspecifically your Intelligence. Those are the two attributes that have benefitted me greatly in my time magic. They should benefit you as well. Xavier nodded his ascent. He didn¡¯t particularly mind which order her training came in. He worried about trying to figure out these things alone. He felt like he would be clawing around in the dark. He could spend days trying to meditate his way to attuning Intelligence and not make any progress. It was so much easier with guidance. More days passed, not just within the time dilation fields Xavier summoned into being, but outside of them as well. Attuning the mind didn¡¯t come naturally to him. Despite intelligence being one of Xavier¡¯s strongest attributes, and despite his ability to meditate and even split his mind into different portions, there was something difficult about the process he had trouble grasping. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. When he¡¯d explained this to Liana, she¡¯d nodded understandingly. ¡°Your mind is fractured. Your life before the System, and your life since, has left your thoughts and desires unordered. This is more common than you might imagine. There are worlds of people who never learn how to attune the Intelligence attribute, simply because they don¡¯t have the discipline to rein in their thoughts and their will.¡± Xavier had absorbed her words without questioning them aloud, but they unsettled him. He remembered often feeling as though his mind was fractured back before the System had come. As though his mind were an internet browser with dozens, even hundreds of different tabs open¡ªwith several of them playing music that he could never seem to turn off¡ªand the chaos of finding what he needed often stopped him from moving forward. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d gotten past that since being integrated into the System. His mind had felt a lot more clear with each attribute point he¡¯d fed into Intelligence and Willpower. Yet here Liana was telling him his mind was still fractured. When Xavier had asked this woman to teach him, he¡¯d decided to listen to what she instructed him to do without fighting back too hard, and this was only further driven into him after she¡¯d taught him to attune his Speed in a way that he had doubted would ever work. Like Mr Miyagi and the karate kid, it might not always make sense, so I have to trust the process. So when Liana told him that to order his thoughts, he couldn¡¯t simply meditate how he might normally¡ªletting thoughts drift into his mind and then out of it again as he focused on a single point, whether it be his breath or the beating of his own heart¡ªbut, rather, he had to focus on his thoughts, he did as she said. Even if it didn¡¯t quite sound right. Order your thoughts, and your mind will follow. It was the mantra she had him repeat whenever he drifted from the task at hand. Ordering his thoughts was another thing that proved more difficult than he¡¯d imagined. Once he stopped to observe what was running through his mind, it made him realise just how much was going on in there. Slowly, he made a list¡ªone that didn¡¯t feel exhaustive in the least. Xavier needed to protect Earth¡ªto build up the fighters and resources of the entire planet so it had a chance of defending itself when the restrictions on the world were lifted. He needed to become strong enough himself so the threat he¡¯d given to the other sectors would be taken seriously when the time came to act on it, should any of the planets have ignored it. And that was just the beginning¡ªthere was so, so much more on his plate. The Silver River sector itself was facing annihilation¡ªa cleansing of every planet that had occurred in the past and was foretold to soon occur again. ¡°Soon¡± was a relative term that had little to no practical meaning to Xavier¡ªhe didn¡¯t know when the threat would come, only that it would. Then there was the Greater Universe at large¡ªand whether he would one day become the Weapon of the System, and saving time itself from coming to an end. That was a goal so big it was hard to see it clearly. There were other goals, too. The ones he had along the way¡ªfinding a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance, gaining Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, mastering his Time Alteration spell, ranking up his otherworld spells, and now attuning all his attributes. Not to mention dealing with The Nightmare¡ªfiguring out how it was he could control a C Grade beast. And reaching D Grade before leaving this floor. Xavier opened his eyes and released a breath. There was indeed a lot on his mind that needed ordering. But how could he put it all in place? How could his mind stop wandering from one task to another? Was that even something he wished to stop? Xavier contemplated this in silence for hours, the track that his footsteps had worn into the glade in front of him, cutting a line between where he and Liana sat. He felt a block in his mind¡ªsomething that was stopping his thoughts from reaching true clarity. Order your thoughts, and your mind will follow. Days past as he sat there. Xavier didn¡¯t move in inch, and yet the activity in his mind never slowed. It was more active than ever. It seemed as though the more he tried to bring order to the chaos that was in his mind, the more that chaos wanted to run free. The patience that he had been so diligently cultivating was slowly wearing thing as his frustration mounted, coming to the fore, until finally he opened his eyes and stared at the darkhaired woman reading her book in relative peace on the comfortable armchair a few feet away from him. ¡°This is impossible,¡± he said. Liana lowered her book. A smirk twitched up one side of her lips. ¡°So it¡¯s true, then.¡± ¡°What¡¯s true?¡± Xavier snapped. He knew he shouldn¡¯t be frustrated¡ªthat was the whole point of cultivating patience, wasn¡¯t it? But he had been sitting there for a very long time. He had grown hungry. Thirsty. And this seemed like a complete waste of time¡ªthere must be another way for him to attune his Intelligence attribute, or something that the woman had left out. Because this clearly wasn¡¯t working. ¡°There is something that the Great Xavier Collins isn¡¯t instantly capable of doing,¡± Liana replied, sounding a little smug. ¡°Instantly capable of? I wasn¡¯t instantly able to attune Speed!¡± ¡°It may not seem that way, but I¡¯ve never seen someone else manage it as swiftly as you did. That might have something to do with the fact that you are already E Grade, and a very, very powerful E Grade at that¡ªyour body was primed for it, no doubt.¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°Then why am I having so much trouble with this? Shouldn¡¯t my mind be primed for it?¡± He took a deep breath. His voice still betrayed his frustration. Liana closed her book and placed it on her lap, and the smirk fell away from her face, an indication that she was taking him seriously. ¡°What are you struggling with?¡± ¡°Ordering my thoughts,¡± Xavier said, controlling his voice. ¡°There is a chaos within my mind¡ªone that never slows, never wavers. There is so much on my shoulders, and so much to be done, that I don¡¯t know how to slow down. I chafe at having to sit for such long hours without gaining anything in return.¡± He looked at the edge of the time bubble they were within, at the trees frozen outside of it. ¡°There are beasts I could be killing, souls I could be reaping.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± was all Liana said at first. She didn¡¯t chide him about cultivating patience, as she had in the past. She simply stared at him for a moment that stretched beyond what was comfortable, until she finally spoke. ¡°One can never truly order one¡¯s thoughts¡ªnot completely. But your mind is not a chaotic thing, it is a powerful tool that has brought you to where you are right now. But like all tools, it is best to learn how to use them properly. Any fool can swing a sword and cause some damage, but to wield a sword is a different matter entirely. ¡°Wield your mind, Xavier Collins. Remember, you are at a unique advantage¡ªyou lose no time in here. There is no waste in the hours that pass you by, for we have frozen those hours in this moment. The world is not moving forward without you.¡± Rather than respond, Xavier shut his eyes, remembering his rule not to push back against her guidance. This was exactly the reason why¡ªhis frustration grew from his lack of perceived progress. He took two deep breaths, then replayed her words within his mind. Once he was a moment removed from them, he could see the wisdom in them. He was chafing at the bit, trying to get to all the things he needed to get done¡ªall the things he knew he needed to achieve. Xavier opened his eyes and looked outside the time bubble again. There was an ant-like insect on the ground, one that he had watched before casting Time Alteration. The creature had barely made it an inch along the ground in the time that had passed while he¡¯d been inside the time dilation field. The world isn¡¯t passing me by. It was such a strange concept for him to absorb. Xavier shut his eyes once more and returned to the task. Wield your mind. It sounded like something Morpheus would tell Neo. Free your mind. If only it were that easy. A week passed for Xavier and Liana while he focused on this task. He took short breaks to eat, and to chat with the woman across from him, but then he always continued in his diligence, his mind toward this singular task. Still, no progress came. Another week passed. Xavier would recast his Time Alteration spell whenever he needed to, and so not much time passed outside of it¡ªit would still be a while yet until either of them needed to hunt and kill a beast from the notice board in order to stay within the hundredth floor. There was no sense of urgency. None whatsoever. That was perhaps the hardest thing for Xavier to come to terms with. The waiting. But finally, after the third week had passed and Xavier had been putting all his energies toward this one task, something clicked within his mind. A notification appeared and a smile spread out across his face. You have Attuned 0.1% with your Intelligence attribute. Xavier released a long, contented sigh, for it wasn¡¯t just the attunement with his Intelligence attribute he¡¯d gained¡ªit was a new way of thinking. He tilted his head to the side, glanced over at Liana, then looked up through the top of the time bubble and at the sky high above them, contemplating the System and its motives for sending him here. The System had sent him here because he needed to face challenges that would help him adapt¡ªXavier had thought those challenges would be fights against beasts, and they certainly were¡ªbut perhaps there were other challenges the System had in mind for him. If the Empress Larona has the ability to see the future, then the system must as well, especially as it has access to an infinite number of alternate universes. Did it know I would seek Liana once it sent me to this floor? Did it know she would teach me these things? The thought that drifted through his mind as he stared up at the sky brought other questions¡ªlike the nature of freewill, and if he even possessed it with the System meddling so heavily in his life. He ordered those thoughts, placing them somewhere in his mind that he could come back to. ¡°I did it,¡± he told Liana. ¡°Now, what¡¯s next?¡± Book 4: Chapter 46 - Sword of Damocles Xavier launched himself through one breakthrough after another, performing feats of the body and mind he hadn¡¯t known he was capable of before¡ªperforming feats he hadn¡¯t been capable of before. In all his time levelling up, gaining titles, getting powerful, he hadn¡¯t realised the gaps he was leaving in himself. Now, they were being filled. He sped from one side of the time bubble to the other, or ran around it in a circle, or dodged the spells that the darkhaired time mage Liana tossed at him. He focused his mind, ordered his thoughts as they came¡ªand he moved beyond that. He did complex mathematical problems in his head, or held several chessboards in his mind, splitting it in several ways in order to have different parts of his consciousness play chess against one another. He did this again and again, over and over, until he was sure he¡¯d be able to give Kasparov or even Magnus Carlsen a run for their money. Willpower was a difficult one to advance. Xavier knew he could endure much¡ªand he knew he could assert his will over others. His Willpower attribute was one of his strongest. It should have been easier, but it was more abstract. At least, it felt that way. Liana kept telling him not to actively focus on Willpower, but rather to actively push through on attuning all the other attributes. Doubts crept up along the way¡ªsome attunements were harder to grasp than others, such as his Spirit attunement. Xavier was used to strengthening his soul with a spell, and his Spirit attribute was his strongest asset¡ªbut what in the Greater Universe did he need to do to attune it? ¡°It¡¯s not about strengthening the attributes¡ªthat would be a different kind of training. This is about aligning yourself with them, about experiencing them, and being able to draw from more of the power you already possess.¡± Liana¡¯s words sounded helpful, but they also felt too wishy-washy for him. Xavier liked practical solutions to concrete problems, not vague, Zen-like answers to abstract dilemmas. But, whenever doubt crept in, he pushed through it. This woman had yet to steer him wrong, and he wasn¡¯t about to quit. He would keep pushing. And that was, eventually, how he attuned his Willpower attribute¡ªhe hadn¡¯t even been intending to, it had simply happened while he was focusing on another difficult task. After the fact, he could see the sense in it¡ªhe had pushed through even when he didn¡¯t want to. Isn¡¯t that what Willpower was all about? Xavier quickly lost track of the time that passed within the bubble, instead focusing on the time that passed outside of it. He was sure that months must have gone by for him, while six days had passed outside the bubble. It was time for him to step outside of the time dilation field and the glade and defeat his next monster for his Hunt Quest. Liana had completed her own Hunt Quest already during the week, stepping away while he was locked in his training¡ªfrom his perspective, she¡¯d been gone for days, and a part of him had wondered if she would ever return. Xavier hadn¡¯t completed his training with the woman, but he had attuned all of his attributes up to 5%. A feat that, when he had attuned them each to 0.1 percent at the beginning, had barely even seemed possible. His patience was a lot more ingrained now. Time seemed to pass¡­ differently for him, and his body and mind were both relaxed and focused in a way that he hadn¡¯t experienced before. Since his journey within the System had begun, it hadn¡¯t been long until Xavier felt powerful. When he first gained his Soul Reaper class, the strength of it had amazed him. That power had only grown and grown over time. But he hadn¡¯t realised how much of that power had still been hidden under the surface, and he knew he was even now only dipping his toes in. He had yet to dive right down into the depths of the well of power within him. But he would, in time. It hadn¡¯t only been attuning attributes that Liana had taught him how to do. His Time Alteration spell was far more powerful than it had been before. Xavier had managed to push it all the way to Rank 50¡ªand there were other things he had worked on along the way. Xavier looked at his Hunt Quest¡ªthe one he¡¯d chosen from the board so he could more easily find the Dark Mountains, and in so doing find Liana. He wondered if it was wise to venture toward the Dark Mountains again, after what had happened their last time. His control over The Nightmare was long gone, and while the creature, beast, or whatever it was, didn¡¯t venture outside of its domain, stepping back into it¡­ Would the entity be conscious enough to hold a grudge? Liana told him there should be nothing to worry about. She provided him with a good amount of salt, so that he could ward off the Infected Beasts without having to do battle with them, or have a repeat of what had happened last time¡ªthough taking control of all the Infected Beasts once more would certainly make taking on the Stone Bear easier. Now is not the time to risk going after a C Grade entity. No need to be impatient on that matter. Xavier once more wondered how it was Liana had gotten herself in the position she had when he had first encountered her¡ªbesieged by infected beasts all around his, The Nightmare¡¯s dark, oozing form crawling around her skin, ready to claim her as one of its own. If she¡¯d had all this salt, she should have been able to fight it. He ordered that thought, placing is somewhere he could come back to later, and focused entirely upon the task at hand. If the Stone Bear was anywhere close to the strength of the Magma Bull, Xavier would need to have hit wits about him. Xavier moved swiftly through the forest until he made it to the Dark Mountains. He couldn¡¯t help but grin as he ran. He could feel his Speed attunement at work¡ªfeel the extra edge it gave him, how the muscles in his legs tensed and relaxed as he ran. There was something pure about running, about being in motion, that he had never fully appreciated before. Now, he felt it more deeply than ever. The Dark Mountain looked exactly as it had his first time here, and the mark on his mini-map clearly showed him where his quarry was¡ªhe spotted the cave entrance, the shimmer of the instance, a little ways up the mountain, from miles away. He sped forth, moving too fast for the beasts in the area to bother him. Liana had told him that once he was within the instance, nothing else would be able to enter¡ªit would be him alone with the Stone Bear. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Liana had faced a Stone Bear before, but she refused to tell him anything about it, saying that if he utilised his spells and skills and wit properly than he wouldn¡¯t have any trouble facing the beast. Xavier took this as another lesson, and instead of growing frustrated with the fact that she wouldn¡¯t tell him anything about the beast, he took it as an opportunity. While he¡¯d been training with Liana, and his Time Alteration spell had been in cooldown, he¡¯d been pushing his Identify skill forward. He¡¯d never had much opportunity to focus on it and truly push it up as far as he could. When he started doing this, the skill was only at a measly Rank 50. During those cooldowns, he ventured out of the glade and used the skill on everything he could think of. It had still been too weak to use on the beasts in the area, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t use it on other things. And so he did. He used it on the trees, every single species that he encountered. He used it on the grass, on the weeds, on the flowers, on the different herbs that called the forest floor home. He was sure that if he were an alchemist, he would wish to gather up all of those ingredients. But he didn¡¯t intend to slow down to do so. It took a lot of time, and much of the things he identified he found of little to no interest, but eventually he was able to push the skill high enough that he managed to use it on the beasts that were around him¡ªthat was when it truly pushed forward. And thus, Identify was the first of his skills to reach Rank 100. Rank 100 was the limit anyone of E Grade could reach. It wouldn¡¯t be possible to take his skills and spells higher than that until he made it to D Grade¡ªor so he¡¯d been told. He still wondered at the truth of that, and now that he had discovered attunements, he didn¡¯t want to push to D Grade until he¡¯d made enough progress in all of them. As swiftly as he¡¯d been moving through the levels, he hadn¡¯t wanted to slow himself down and optimise everything. He hadn¡¯t had the time to do anything like that. It had felt too¡­ indulgent. Now, things were different, and he was glad for that. He knew there were only so many things one could advance within a time bubble¡ªit wouldn¡¯t be an advantage to him in every part of his training, but right now it was a particularly strong one. Xavier climbed up the mountain until he stood before the entrance to the cave. He paused, reached out to touch the shimmer that showed him where the instance began. He could see through the shimmer almost as though it wasn¡¯t there. The cave was dark. Pitch black. Though he knew his eyes would soon adjust to it, he couldn¡¯t see much of anything inside yet. He stood there until he could make out the cave better, but it was taking far longer than it should. There was something strange at work. Usually, his night vision would kick in almost instantly. Yet the longer he stared within the cave, trying to discern where the walls were, the more he realised the blackness wasn¡¯t entirely natural. Even his Farscope ability, something which he¡¯d grown rather reliant on of late, couldn¡¯t penetrate the gloom. Xavier tilted his head to the side. Within his Storage Ring, he had a myriad of supplies that he didn¡¯t really think he would ever need¡ªrope, being one of them. What exactly was he going to do with rope? He also had enchanted torches, whose fire would burn for weeks without being exhausted. He¡¯d never had need of them in the past. Xavier summoned one of those torches to his hand now. They had a clever little enchantment that let the user simply will them to be lit, and they couldn¡¯t be blown out by the wind. He lit the torch, and smiled at the flickering flames, appreciating the moment. It felt rather adventurous, stepping into a dark cave with a flaming torch. He couldn¡¯t help but take a childlike glee in what he was about to do. He pointed the torch¡¯s flames toward the inside of the cave, trying to see if the light would push back the oppressive, unnatural darkness found within. The flames illuminated the darkness, but only a few feet around¡ªfar less than the flames¡¯ light should have stretched. Curious. Though Xavier¡¯s patience had grown considerably since meeting Liana, he knew there was no point standing there any longer. He had a full day before he needed this thing killed, but he didn¡¯t want to take that time for granted. One needed to know when to be patient, and when to act. Xavier stepped over the threshold and entered the cave of the Stone Bear. He held his scythe-staff in his right hand, and the enchanted torch in his left. He couldn¡¯t hear anything stirring within the cave, even though he stretched his senses forward as far as he could, straining his ears. Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis on the torch, hovering it in mid-air. His usage of the spell wasn¡¯t near as precise as someone who had chosen a different telekinetic path, but he could still manage this well enough. Someone on a different path would no doubt be able to hover a dozen or more torches, holding them up all around them to illuminate more of the cave. Xavier would make do with what he had. And there was another thing he¡¯d gained during his time training with Liana¡ªidentifying things during the cooldown breaks wasn¡¯t the only extracurricular training he¡¯d partaken in. He¡¯d hunted down beasts as well. The forest had been full of them. Sometimes, they wandered into the glade by themselves, other times he had to seek them out, but always he tried to kill at least one during those cooldown breaks¡ªfor if he needed rest, he could simply take it within the time bubble, when the world outside was all but frozen. And so, in that time, he had managed to complete the spell quest for Telekinetic Enhanced Strike. His Heavy Telekinesis spell was no longer tied up with his physical attacks. After he¡¯d taken a few steps into the cave, careful to keep his boots silent on the coarse stone floor, he halted and hovered the enchanted torch farther ahead of him. As the torch reached more than a few feet away, Xavier was consumed by the darkness, so pitch black he couldn¡¯t even see his hand if it were right before his face. It was rather unsettling. He focused on what the torch illuminated. The cave was too wide for the light to reach the walls on either side, so Xavier had to make it zigzag left and right so he could cover everything. He didn¡¯t want to leave an inch unseen, for who knew what might be lurking in the darkness. All he saw was the jagged rock of the cave walls, and the stalagmites and stalactites that shot up from the ground and hung down from the ceiling like the sword above Damocles¡¯s head, tied to nothing but a thin strand of horsehair, as he sat Dionysius II¡¯s throne. Xavier paused the torch¡¯s forward movement as he considered those stalagmites and stalactites. He recalled his fight with the Magma Bull¡ªhow it was able to not only control lava, but the very rock and dirt of the volcano itself. Then he thought of another beast from the noticeboard¡ªThe Nightmare, who lay claim to the mountain he stood upon. Though for some reason it had not made its way into the Stone Bear¡¯s cave¡ªperhaps the instance it resided within was protection from that. The Magma Bull and The Nightmare are able to control the environments they reside within¡ªcould that be something the Stone Bear is capable of? Though he had won his encounter with the Magma Bull, he still wondered if he would have been able to do such a thing without the help of the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªand he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to call upon it again. Not until the situation truly warranted it. This was not one of those times. He tilted his head to the side and used Identify on one of the stalactites hanging above. Stalactite Stalactites are icicle-shaped deposits that form in primarily limestone caves¡ªthough they have been known to form in other types of caves around the Greater Universe. Stalactites are typically naturally occurring phenomenon, though there is something strange about this one¡ªits form is too pure, and there is no stalagmite beneath it. Take care, for this stalactite may be controlled. Xavier blinked. That was what he¡¯d noticed¡ªthat was what was strange. His subconscious mind must have latched onto it. Stalactites dropped water as they formed, creating a mound-shaped stalagmite on the ground beneath them. If this went on long enough, they would meet in the middle and form a column. The things you learn reading fantasy books. But none of the stalagmites had grown beneath the stalactites, and there was no column formed in sight. He couldn¡¯t help but grin at his finding. Xavier couldn¡¯t see the stalactites directly above him, for the light of the torch he hovered was too far ahead of him. He was blanketed in the eerie darkness of the Stone Bear¡¯s cave, but he was sure he would hear the slice of a stalactite¡¯s fall and be able to dodge out of the way in time. He stepped forward, hovering the enchanted torch deeper into the cave as he went, still seeing no sign of the Stone Bear. Until something in one of the rock walls shifted, and he found a new meaning to the word rockface. The Stone Bear inched out of the wall, almost as though it were being formed as he watched it. The surface of its skin was undulating and smooth all at once until it solidified, as if it were made from liquid rock¡ªthough it radiated no heat like lava would, and it looked as grey as any other rock. Xavier was about to use Identify on the Stone Bear, which had just taken its first step out of the wall, when his enchanted torch was snuffed out. The enchanted torch which had protection from being snuffed out by the wind. The entire cave fell into complete darkness. Well, this isn¡¯t good. Book 4: Chapter 47 - All I Can Wish You Is a Swift Death Once, when Xavier was young, he and his mother were staying at their cousin¡¯s farmhouse out of state. The room they stayed in was detached from the main house¡ªan old, renovated shed¡ªand it didn¡¯t have a bathroom. He distinctly remembered a time when the power had been out, and he couldn¡¯t find a torch. There had been heavy cloud cover during the day which had stretched into the night, and when he¡¯d stepped outside, he couldn¡¯t see a damned thing. He¡¯d never felt more vulnerable in his life, standing in that utter darkness, trying to find his way. The darkness of the Stone Bear¡¯s cave was a thousand times worse than that. Xavier was always infused with a silver glow from his Spiritual Trifecta spell, but just as the flames from the torch had been diminished here, the glow about him had no impact on the strange darkness¡ªthis was worse than the floor with the wyverns in that pitch-black, expansive cavern. But Xavier wasn¡¯t a child stumbling around in the dark any longer, nor was he the same man who¡¯d faced the wyverns, still new to his craft. He was the man who was well on his way to becoming the Weapon of the System. This was something he could fight. Xavier cast Time Alteration. He hadn¡¯t expected to use the spell so soon after first encountering the Stone Bear, but circumstances warranted he approach this fight with an abundance of caution. The spell had been cast the instant his torch had been snuffed out, a millisecond after he¡¯d watched the Stone Bear climb out of the wall. His body and mind relaxed within the safety of the bubble. He could stand in that time dilation field for days and not be in any danger until it fell. He could summon a comfortable armchair and have a nap, if he really wanted to. Instead, he summoned another torch from his Storage Ring. For a moment, he worried about the speed of light. That was one thing he hadn¡¯t tested while he was in one of his time bubbles¡ªhe¡¯d had no need to. With a thought, the torch was lit. The flames flickered, and the space around him was illuminated. It didn¡¯t push far¡ªthat oppressive darkness was still there, even within the bubble of time he¡¯d created. He walked over to the edge of the barrier, in the direction the Stone Bear had been. He¡¯d ensured that there was a gap of at least two feet between the edge of the barrier and the Stone Bear when he¡¯d cast the spell. Two feet would mean two things¡ªfirst, that even if this Stone Bear was incredibly fast, it would still take a long time for it to reach the time bubble. And second, that it would be close enough for his torchlight to illuminate it from the edge of the bubble. As Xavier stepped toward the edge, he contemplated the speed of light. He remembered once reading that the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second, or 300,000 kilometres per second. In a millisecond, it would travel 186 miles. And in a nanosecond, it would travel a single foot. Xavier perceived the slightest of delays as the light reached the barrier and went beyond it, though for the life of him he couldn¡¯t figure out what that delay meant. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure how swiftly his perception worked, so doing any reliable calculation with how fast that light moved outside the bubble in relation to the passage of time within it was impossible for him. Either way, it moved fast enough that he could see it illuminate the Stone Bear without having to alter the speed of the time dilation field. The Stone Bear was a fifteen-foot-tall beast carved from solid rock. Though perhaps carved wasn¡¯t the right word, considering he¡¯d seen it somehow form from the cavern¡¯s stone wall. Xavier examined the beast in the flickering torchlight, tilted his head to the side, and used Identify on it. {Stone Bear - Level 280} The Stone Bear is created of rock and darkness. They live in seclusion, very rarely venturing out of their caves to hunt. Though their caves don¡¯t look particularly inviting, there is a quality about them that attracts other beasts into the Stone Bear¡¯s domain, where its darkness disorientates them so the Stone Bear may feed on their energies. Along with the oppressive darkness a Stone Bear can conjure in its own domain, it has the ability to create offensive traps in the form of stalagmites and stalactites. These attacks can come from above or below at any moment. A stone bear can swiftly move through solid rock, and has the ability to teleport anywhere that stone resides, this means that when facing a Stone Bear it is wise not to do so on their own turf, as not only will you not be able to see the Stone Bear coming, you will have no idea where it will come from. If you¡¯re reading this while standing in its cave, all I can wish you is a swift death. Xavier swallowed as he read the last line. Thanks, System, that¡¯s real helpful.` Xavier was frustrated that the Identify skill hadn¡¯t offered any hints about the stone Bear¡¯s weaknesses. That was one of the main things the skill was useful for, but when it was used on stronger beasts, the skill didn¡¯t tend to be powerful enough to offer him such insights¡ªwhen it was on such beasts that those insights were the most needed. He looked up, raising the torch, and saw that behind him¡ªwhere he had been standing but a moment ago¡ªa stalactite had begun falling from the ceiling. He looked at the jagged, sharp point and wondered how much damage it could do to him. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He didn¡¯t recall hearing it fall¡ªnor sensing anything from his Evasion skill¡ªbut perhaps he had been too focused on the bear. Felicia said facing this Stone Bear wouldn¡¯t be worth betting on, but she also didn¡¯t warn me about the C Grade beast that resides in the Dark Mountains¡­ something tells me that woman doesn¡¯t have my best interests at heart. It was time for Xavier to devise a plan. This Stone Bear¡¯s level was on par with that of the Magma Bull, but it had several advantages the Magma Bull lacked¡ªthe darkness being one of them, and the fact that Xavier wouldn¡¯t be able to summon the Spirit of Vengeance was another. Of course, just because its level was the same as the Magma Bull, didn¡¯t mean its strength would be. But the last thing he wanted to do was assume that it was weaker. Xavier thought through his options and looked through his different spells. He had defeated well over a hundred D Grade beasts during his training in the past week, during times when he was waiting for the cooldown for his Time Alteration spell to end. In that time, he had gained several levels¡ªfive of them to be exact. Which meant that Xavier was now Level 167. It also meant that none of his spells were currently in cooldown¡ªexcept for the ones he had just used. He could use Summon Otherworldly Spirit. And just because he wasn¡¯t able to summon the Spirit of Vengeance to him, didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t possible for him to utilise the spell at all. In fact, he had been selling the spell short¡ªit had other features that he¡¯d neglected. Xavier cast Summoner Otherworldly Spirit. Time froze. Even within his bubble, the flickering flames from his torchlight paused, as though stuck on a single frame of high-resolution, slow motion camera footage. Colour drained from the world once more, not that there was much colour in the cave beyond that which the torch¡¯s light was able to reach. A humming sounded, one that was beginning to become familiar to him. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier smiled. The last time he summoned the Spirit of Protection, it hadn¡¯t gone well¡ªthe spirit hadn¡¯t been happy with him. This time, it was rather different, and he¡¯d be remiss if he didn¡¯t utilise every tool at his disposal. Xavier chose the Spirit of Protection. In a bright flash of light, the spirit materialised before him. As before, the spirit seemed to contain every colour imaginable. The brightness diminished until Xavier was able to see the creature more clearly. The Spirit of Protection appeared in front of him. It was different to the last time he had summoned it. Last time, its face had been hidden behind a dark cowl that wreathed its features in an impenetrable shadow. This time, the hood was down. The spirit wore full-plate armour, but it was in a different style. The spirit was clearly human, though he was seven feet tall and built like the biggest bodybuilder imaginable, with wide broad shoulders that stretched farther than seemed possible. Xavier frowned. You are not the same Spirit of Protection I summoned last time, are you? The man tipped back his head. A loud, rumbling chuckle sounded in Xavier¡¯s mind. That spirit did not wish to be summoned by the likes of you, Denizen. Apparently you¡­ wasted its time? Though that is a strange thought, considering all we really have in the Otherworld is time¡­ The spirit sighed in Xavier¡¯s mind. I thought I would always summon the same spirit? Only if that spirit has been in your service. The last spirit does not qualify. Ah, Xavier thought back to him. No, I suppose it didn¡¯t. Now, Denizen, tell me why you have summoned me to this dark place. The Spirit of Protection¡¯s head turned. It looked toward the Stone Bear. Do you wish me to protect you from that beast? I do not know how powerful it is. Xavier paused. Wondering. I have never before experienced the powers of a Spirit of Protection. Before the fight begins in earnest, can you explain to me what you are capable of? I was once a great and powerful tank, before my life was forfeit¡­ many years ago. I do not fight like the Spirit of Vengeance. Indeed, in this form I cannot fight at all. The man did not possess any visible weapons, only a tower shield that was almost as tall as himself. My powers move through you. For a brief time, you will gain several new abilities. Spells that I once possessed in life. These spells will have a limited usage, and the more of them you use, the longer your next cooldown will become. If you expend them all, the cooldown will be the longest time possible. I¡¯ll gain access to spells¡­ Well, this certainly seemed like it would benefit from me practising with the spell while outside of combat. The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. He wore a great big helm with a smooth top¡ªit looked to be designed for strikes to glance off it rather than find purchase. Indeed, but such a thing is not possible for the spirit you summon from the Otherworld¡ªyou must use us for a worthy purpose, or not at all. The Spirit of Vengeance told me something similar¡­ The Spirit of Protection chuckled again. No doubt with a threat of violence thrown in the mix. One you oughta take seriously. The Spirit of Protection didn¡¯t speak as Xavier had expected¡ªthen again, neither had the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. Once the spell is active, and time once more moves forward, you will see what will be at your disposal. Be warned, the spells can only last for so long¡ªa timer will be activated, so do not take too long contemplating the spells you have on offer. The Spirit of Protection tilted its head to the side, looking around the dark cave. It took a step forward, examining the time dilation field. Although, if this is what I think it is¡­ you may have far more time than I thought. The spirit grinned. You are indeed as unique as the dragon said you were. Xavier found the idea of this man speaking to the Spirit of Vengeance about him to be particularly strange. He had the absurd vision of them sitting in a tavern, if those even existed in the Otherworld, conversing over ale¡ªnot that the dragon would be able to fit in a tavern, though he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the beast had a taste for ale¡­ Xavier was glad to find the fact that cooldowns¡ªand apparently other sorts of timers¡ªwere connected to the flow of time that the universe he abided within set, rather than the time as it moved within his time dilation field. Usually, this was something that was frustrating, but apparently, in unique circumstances, it had its advantages. Before Xavier signalled the spirit to be fully activated, he asked it another question. Will I be able to converse with you, while I have access to the spells you grant me? Indeed. I will be a voice in your mind, there to guide you, and warn you of the danger I perceive. Though know this, my perception will only be as swift as your attributes allow it to be, and the spells at your disposal are also based upon the strength of your Spirit attribute. Were I able to access my full powers from before my fall¡­ you wouldn¡¯t be scratched, even facing a thousand such beasts as the one before you now. The spirit sounded proud of that, yet also somewhat sorrowful that it wasn¡¯t something he could do. I am sure whatever powers you bestow on me will be more than enough for now. The Spirit of Protection inclined its head. Time flowed forward once more, and a notification displaying the different spells on offer appeared before him. He smiled as he read them. Book 4: Chapter 48 - What Now, Denizen? The Spirit of Protection is working its power through you. You have gained access to 5 limited use spells. Bulwark - 3/3 uses remaining A protective barrier against both physical and magical attacks that protects those within it. Shield Wall - 3/3 uses remaining A temporary barrier that will prevent enemy access. Typically used to block gates, hallways, or other passageways during combat. Karma Armour - 3/3 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing suit of armour around the user that reduces 50% of damage received and returns that damage to the enemy. Saving Grace - 1/1 uses remaining This spell prevents all damage on the user from a single attack, unless that attack is beyond the damage threshold. Floating Shield - 10/10 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing shield the user can control with their mind, able to block attacks. Multiple floating shields can be controlled at once, however this takes a mental toll on the user. Time until spells become unavailable: 5 minutes Xavier looked through the different spells, his smile growing as he read each one. The Spirit of Protection had warned him that the more of the spells he used, the longer his cooldown would become¡ªthat might be a problem for someone who struggled to gain a level or two each year, but for him, right now, it wasn¡¯t even a part of the equation. In fact, it might be better for him if he were able to test exactly how long that cooldown would be. The five-minute timer was also much more time than he had anticipated. He knew that there was a consequence of using summoning spells to bring forth spirits from the Otherworld¡ªthat doing so was damaging his soul¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t something he knew how to quantify, and his soul was tougher than most with his usage of Soul Harden. Five minutes will be plenty of time. He turned to the Spirit of Vengeance. The Saving Grace spell. It says there is a damage threshold it can¡¯t go over? The full-plate armoured spirit inclined his head. Indeed. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to have a spell that allowed an F Grade to effectively defend against the attacks of an A Grade, would it? Xavier tilted his head to the side. No. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t. Do you have any other questions about the spells? Xavier smiled. He had many. He spoke to the man for a time, until he figured he knew all he would need to know about the spells to get him through this fight. The main thing he was worried about was his lack of sight. Xavier had developed his other senses, but he¡¯d never anticipated being completely without sight the way he was now. After he obtained the Farscope item, seeing literally everything around him had become normal. He¡¯d grown to rely on the ability more than he had realised. The torch he¡¯d lit, he knew wouldn¡¯t last long. The moment he stopped the Time Alteration spell, the Stone Bear would be able to snuff it out again. Xavier came up with a plan of attack as he stood within the time bubble, staring through the barrier over at the visage of the Stone Bear. The name of the beast had been so innocuous, he hadn¡¯t expected it to be capable of everything it was. Once Xavier had turned all his options over in his mind, he let out a breath. He had a plan. A rather clever one, he thought. He took a few steps back from the edge of the barrier, until he was standing in the centre of it, that falling stalactite over his head. There were things that Liana had taught him how to do during the past week that he wouldn¡¯t have thought possible, and now he was beginning to realise just how useful her instruction on his Time Alteration spell had been. Xavier pushed the time bubble open wider around him. The larger the time bubble, the less time it would last, but even at its largest Xavier could still hold it for as long as he would need. One thing Liana had taught him was that the time bubble didn¡¯t need to be a perfect circle¡ªhe could craft it. The more he crafted it, the more toll it took on the spell, and the less time it would last. He pushed the time bubble as far as he could manage, planting enchanted torches into the ground as he went, illuminating the space. Definitely glad I got a bunch of these torches. Never thought I¡¯d have a use for them. The Spirit of Protection tilted his head to the side, watching closely what Xavier was up to. Xavier wasn¡¯t used to taking his time to prepare for a fight like this¡ªusually he would go in, spells flaring. There was still room for that, and it would happen soon, in a manner of speaking. But this was a more methodical approach, one that he knew would serve him well. He carved the time bubble, making the fighting area as large as he could. Xavier¡¯s cooldowns were not the only ones that would suffer whilst inside the time bubble, and that was something he would take into account. The spells that he had at his disposal from the Spirit of Protection? They didn¡¯t have cooldowns at all¡ªhe could use them, one after the other, even inside of this space. Xavier was careful to avoid the stalactites and stalagmites that had been formed around the cavern, carving his time bubble to avoid them. When he deemed that his time bubble was large enough, Xavier released a breath. He walked back a little ways, coming closer to where the Stone Bear was. What is it you are doing? The Spirit of Protection asked within his mind. Just a little experiment. I¡¯m not sure how well it will work. If it fails, well, that¡¯s when I¡¯ll be in true need of your protection. But if it works¡­ He grinned, letting the words sit. Xavier had been collecting more souls as he fought beasts over the last six days. His soulkeeping reserve was nowhere near full, but it should serve him well enough in this battle. Next, Xavier cast Floating Shield. Being able to converse with the Spirit of Protection had diminished his need for experimenting with the spells, as the full-plated warrior was able to tell him the specifics of the abilities. The shield that the Floating Shield spell created had a minimum runtime. They could only last for a minute each, and they could only take so much damage. Xavier didn¡¯t think the battle with the Stone Bear would take very long, so he decided he would use multiple floating shields at once. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The first materialised before him. As time wasn¡¯t of the essence within the bubble, Xavier practised with the shield until moving it felt natural. He split his mind, making one part entirely control the shield so he wouldn¡¯t have to focus on it. Then he cast the spell for a second time and repeated the process¡ªover and over until he had five shields surrounding him. This would give him the opportunity to summon more if the need arose. With that done, Xavier checked the number of uses he had for Bulwark and Shield Wall. Three each. That, too, would serve him well. The Shield Wall spell, he thought would come in the most handy. Xavier was attempting to control his environment as much as possible, but he was still within the Stone Bear¡¯s domain¡ªand the Stone Bear had the ability to teleport wherever it wished as long as there was rock. Xavier knelt on the ground before him and created a Shield Wall that covered the ground¡ªthis would prevent the Stone Bear from teleporting up beneath him, or from creating a stalagmite to skewer him from below. Once that was covered, he cast two behind him at a right angle, effectively blocking the way. While it appeared to box Xavier in, he had discovered that the user of the spell was able to move through a Shield Wall freely. Ah, I see what you¡¯re doing. Clever. Very clever. Xavier glanced about inside the Time Alteration bubble, wondering if there was anything he was missing. He nodded when he felt satisfied. There were more spells yet for him to cast. He cast Karma Armour on himself. He looked down. It was strange to see the glowing purple armour over his dark robes. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t take too much damage from the enemy, but if he did, at least this spell would serve him well. He lamented at not having something like it when he¡¯d faced the Magma Bull. Xavier started casting offensive spells against the Stone Bear, which was still clearly visible outside of the bubble. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! Core Burn! Willpower Infusion! And, for good measure, he cast Soul Strike. He used five hundred souls in the spell. While he worried about reducing his reserve too much, he would still have well over 3,000 souls in it. This was but a fraction of his power. On this floor he¡¯d only used Soul Block once¡ªusing 200 souls in the spell. He had since replenished his reserve, even if it had taken a while. The Soul Strike was targeted against a single enemy, and the soul apparition that appeared was an amalgamation of a wolven and a boar, with hints of bullish features. The Spirit of Protection seemed to take an almost imperceptible step back at the sight of the soul apparition. His eyes opened wide, very slightly, but only for the barest fraction of a second. The soul apparition froze after if reached the other side of the barrier. What now, Denizen? Will you drop the barrier? Xavier smiled. Not exactly. This cave was the enemy¡¯s turf¡ªthe beast¡¯s domain¡ªbut Xavier was about to turn it to his own advantage. He pushed the time barrier forward until it engulfed the Stone Bear. The spells slammed into the Stone Bear seemingly all at once. It shuddered from the pain. It did not roar¡ªit did not make a single sound. The torches were not yet snuffed out¡ªthe bear¡¯s attention had been too strongly grasped by the spells. The spells Xavier had just cast had never held so much power¡ªhe had gained not only levels, but attunement in each of his attributes, making everything he did stronger and more powerful. He saw that newfound strength at work. The Stone Bear faltered as it came forward. As Xavier had cast Willpower Infusion, he felt the bear¡¯s mental barrier snap up. It was powerful, but there was a crack in it. The bear was too focused on the pain it was feeling, while trying to shrug off the effects of the Core Burn Spell, for it to be able to defend against this entirely. But Xavier knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold the enemy in his thrall for long¡ªnot something as powerful as this. When his control solidified, it was time to move. He leapt forward and cast Telekinetic Enhanced Strike as his Midnight Scythe came down on his enemy¡¯s head. The blade pierced the rock skull, but it didn¡¯t go in deep¡ªthat was something Xavier had been afraid of. Still, at least he¡¯d been able to get a hit in before the beast disappeared. The Stone Bear wrenched control of its mind back and flitted out of existence, materialising somewhere else within the time bubble. Xavier smiled, for all was going to plan. The beast collapsed down to one knee, clearly hurt. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder exactly how much damage he¡¯d done to his enemy¡ªhe wished the beast had some sort of health bar that was visible to him. Xavier had exhausted the use of all his offensive spells, and not a single one was going to reach the end of its cooldown while he was still inside that time barrier. Except, that wasn¡¯t truly the case. Xavier cast one of the three Bulwark spells as the torches were snuffed out, and the cave was once against plunged into that strange, oppressive darkness. Cooldowns were tied to the clock of the universe he currently resided in. Xavier was able to both speed up time and slow down time in a bubble he had created¡ªand with Liana¡¯s help, he had learnt to alter that flow. He did so now. He altered the flow of the time bubble, making it move more swiftly than the time outside of it. He only did this for a short period of time, for he did not wish to lose the floating shields, and the majority of his cooldowns were rather short. A measly ten seconds went by outside of the timbe bubble. The stalactite that had frozen in mid-air as it had tried to fall on Xavier¡¯s head did so now¡ªhe heard its whoosh as it moved through the air. And Spirit Break, Soul Shatter, Core Burn, and Willpower Infusion all reached the ends of their cooldown. Though ten seconds passed by outside of the bubble, within it, only a fraction of a second went by. The stalactite had yet to even reach the ground. The bear would have barely a moment to respond to what was happening. Xavier reversed the flow of time within the bubble, speeding it up once more, then he contracted the bubble, locking the bear outside. He released a breath, and touched a hand to the nearest enchanted torch, relighting its fire. The Spirit of Protection looked over at the bear. Ingenious. It was only possible because we¡¯re stuck within an instance, and I¡¯m facing a single opponent, if I did that on a battlefield, with more enemies in play¡­ Xavier walked around his time bubble with the torch, pushing back the darkness. His body and mind relaxing once more. You would have been hit with countless enemy attacks. You would have died. Xavier cancelled the Bulwark spell¡ªit turned out it hadn¡¯t even been necessary. The bear was fast, but still recovering from all the spells that had been cast on it. It hadn¡¯t had enough time to attack Xavier¡ªXavier hadn¡¯t given it enough time. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but smile at what he¡¯d just done. He had turned the fight on its head¡ªand he hadn¡¯t even been struck by the enemy. Xavier had expanded the time bubble large enough to give the Stone Bear somewhere to teleport to, knowing from his Identify skill that it was the beast¡¯s nature to do so. He also knew that the beast, being Level 280, would be incredibly intelligent. As a D Grade, it would no doubt be able to discern the barrier around the time bubble, and figure out what it was, even if it didn¡¯t have much time to do so. And so when it did teleport, Xavier knew it wouldn¡¯t risk teleporting back outside that barrier. The only problem was, he was now on a time limit. The Time Alteration spell could last a long time, but the way he was using it, each time he expanded, contracted, or altered the flow of time within it, he cut that time down more and more. Xavier cast his spells for a second time, all but Soul Strike¡ªthat spell suffered from a longer cooldown than the others. You don¡¯t even need me. The Spirit of Protection¡¯s glowing form walked up to the edge of the barrier. It did not sound offended. This beast will die before it ever has a chance to hit you. Maybe, Xavier thought in reply. Maybe not. That isn¡¯t a risk I¡¯m willing to take. He hadn¡¯t known if this experiment would be a successful one. The spells the Spirit of Protection granted him were his back-up plan¡ªsomething to keep him safe while he fought his enemy. With Spirit Break, Soul Shatter, and Core Burn cast once more, Xavier expanded the time dilation field to encompass the Stone Bear for a second time. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead at the effort. He felt the spell straining, something he was only able to identify because of Liana¡¯s training, and wondered just how much more of this it could take. Again, the spells slammed into the bear. Again, it was rocked, frozen by Willpower Infusion. Its mind was weaker than it had been at the first, and Xavier¡¯s control felt stronger. He slammed Telekinetic Enhanced Strike into the exact same wound he had created in its skull the last time. Then, he had time to strike the beast again, using Heavy Telekinesis to enhance his physical strike, just as he had before he¡¯d gained the new spell. The crack widened. The bear weakened. Xavier could feel it. It wrenched control of itself back, plunging the cavern into darkness. But this time, it didn¡¯t teleport. Xavier felt it move. His Evasion skill warning him. Xavier couldn¡¯t see the blow coming, but he knew where it would land. It felt powerful, dangerous. He summoned all five floating shields up to block the strike, and felt three of them instantly obliterated. Xavier leapt backward. He had familiarised himself with the environment and knew where he was, and where he was going. He landed behind the protection of his shield walls, then¡ªwith great effort¡ªreversed time within the bubble. His cooldowns reached their end. He forced the bubble to contract. More beads of sweat formed on his forehead, dripping down into his eyes. He breathed heavily. He was having to push to keep the time bubble up¡ªit would falter at any moment. One more time. He lit the torches. Saw the beast. Cast the spells. The time barrier fell. The spells hit. He launched himself forward with a shout as his Willpower Infusion spell took control of the Stone Bear for a third time. Slam! He combined his strike¡ªTelekinetic Enhanced Strike backed up with Heavy Telekinesis, making the strongest physical attack he could muster, combined with his newly attained attunement with Strength. The Stone Bear crumpled. The kill notification came. Xavier breathed a sigh of relief as the darkness in the cave was finally pushed back for good. Book 4: Chapter 49 - Powerful Beastie You have defeated a Level 280 Stone Bear! You have gained 2,000 Mastery Points (E Grade). Congratulations! You have completed your second Hunt Quest on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. Return to Hunter¡¯s Home to claim your reward and start on your next Hunt Quest! Hunt Quests completed: 2 Hunt Quests needed to pass to the next floor: 10 Xavier smiled as he finished reading the notification and looked around the cave. It was no longer so dark. The last enchanted torches that he¡¯d lit still burned, and his vision was now able to penetrate even the farthest corners of the cavern. When the Stone Bear had died, the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave had all crumbled into dust, and it looked as though they had never been there in the first place. The Spirit of Protection was still there¡ªthe five minute timer was nowhere near up. In fact, only thirty seconds of it had passed when the Stone Bear had died, and that time had passed outside the time barrier when Xavier had slowed down time within it. The full-plate armoured, massive hulk of a man looked down at Xavier with naked awe. Though that expression was quickly restrained. The Spirit of Vengeance was right about you. Xavier wiped the sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his dark robes. The time dilation field had fallen the instant after he¡¯d killed the Stone Bear. He¡¯d been pushing himself hard to keep that thing going, and the moment he didn¡¯t need it anymore it had seemingly dropped away of its own accord. There is still over four minutes left on the timer. Are you going to disappear, now the battle is done? The Spirit of Vengeance had always disappeared after a fight. No. I will not disappear until the timer is through. You may still use the spells until then. Xavier nodded, then he contemplated what would greet him outside the cave¡ªthe infected beasts controlled by The Nightmare. That wasn¡¯t something he wished to deal with right now. He would simply let the timer run out. Besides, he hadn¡¯t really needed the spells in the end. Xavier had thought that if the System had sent him to this floor to learn something of humility, it had only been partially successful. After that fight... well, he was only feeling more and more overpowered than he had before. He stepped over to the Stone Bear and placed a hand over it, then brought it into his Storage Ring. It would be difficult, using his Dismantle skill on beasts that were a whole grade above him when the skill was only at Rank 1. It wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d yet tried, despite his desire. Though it was something that he would be able to do while he was in the time bubble, so that, he was glad for. He could easily expedite the process. It was a shame he didn¡¯t have access to E Grade beast properties anymore. The Spirit of Protection was still staring at him. Xavier turned and faced the man. What is it? There is something different about you, Denizen. I feel... a pull. A desire to help you. The Spirit of Protection shut his eyes. Shook his head. It is a strange feeling. Were I corporeal, I might have thought you had some skill that was influencing me. But that¡­ should not be possible. A desire to help me? Xavier felt that to be very strange. He approached the Spirit of Protection, standing a few feet away from him. Is that not why you have been summoned? Could it simply be the spell at work? I have been summoned by those far more powerful than you, young Denizen. The spirit raised its chin proudly. Though even so, none of them have risen to power as swiftly as you have. And you hold a power far beyond your level... it is terrifying to behold, yet tantalizing at the same time. Xavier tried to take in what the spirit was telling him. He didn¡¯t understand it. What kind of pull could he have that wasn¡¯t accounted for by the spell he¡¯d cast? Perhaps it has something to do with the System... Xavier trailed off. This got the Spirit of Protection¡¯s attention. The System? To what are you referring? Xavier bit his lip. He had told more than one person about what the System intended for him¡ªor at least, what it hoped he would become¡ªand what it had done to him to try to help get him there. But part of him still felt as though it wasn¡¯t information that he should be sharing around. Can spirits create contracts? The Spirit of Protection¡¯s serious mood cracked. The hulk of a man chuckled. Of course spirits can create contracts. We make contracts with mortals all the time, though the sacrifice... There was an odd gleam in the spirit¡¯s eye, a hunger that Xavier hadn¡¯t seen there before. Well, let¡¯s just say that it can be... soul-destroying. Xavier knew that summoning spirits from the Otherworld had an effect on his soul, though he didn¡¯t know how significant that effect was. Seeing the hunger in the spirit¡¯s eyes... now he wondered if the damage to his soul had something to do with the spirits feeding off it. How about a simple privacy contract? What will that cost me? The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. Nothing, for my curiosity is piqued. The contract was made and signed by the Otherworldly Reaper and the entity that had been summoned from the Otherworld. Xavier spoke of what had happened to him¡ªnot all of it, but the general gist. He only had a few minutes left with the spirit, after all. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The Spirit of Protection did not interrupt Xavier¡¯s telling, but the man¡¯s expression shifted. Xavier couldn¡¯t see the man¡¯s entire face with his helm obscuring it, but what he could see showed him a worried expression. Could that explain what you are feeling? The Spirit of Protection turned his head to look at the cave¡¯s ceiling, though it seemed to be looking beyond that. Xavier recognised the gesture. It seemed to be universal, as if the person or entity was checking if the System was watching, or worried about what they were about to say¡ªor wanted to say. Sam, back in the tavern at the bottom of the Tower of Champions, had used that gesture a lot. You have not summoned me for insight, but that does not mean I can¡¯t converse with you. There are things that spirits from the Otherworld are aware of that most from the Greater Universe are not. The Otherworld, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware, is a place that stands between universes. The flow of time moves differently there. Everything is different there... The Spirit of Protection dropped his head in thought. There are things I cannot say, not to you. But I will say that... I know something of the ending of universes. I know something of the threat you may one day face, that is, if you become successful in your journey toward becoming the Weapon of the System. Xavier frowned. He had known something of the Otherworld being between universes, though it wasn¡¯t something he understood. The Spirit of Vengeance. It spoke of revenge it one day wished to seek... revenge in my universe. How could that be possible if you are from another? Some spirits from the Otherworld choose only to operate in universes they are familiar with. Others operate wherever they wish. And still others... we do not have the option to operate in our own universe, for our universes no longer exist. Xavier blinked. You... you were there? At the end? He took a step forward. The end of your universe? A pleading note crept into his voice. This was his future¡ªit may be far into the future, but it was something he needed to know. Please, tell me something of what I will face. The Spirit of Protection shook his head. I cannot. Though, perhaps, one day that will change¡­ The timer was running out. Only a few seconds remained. Call upon me again, Denizen. I will always willingly aid you however I can. The Spirit of Protection disappeared, and Xavier stood alone inside the cave that had once belonged to the Stone Bear. He sighed. He looked up, as though looking at the System itself. It was no coincidence that one of the spirits he¡¯d summoned from the Otherworld happened to have experienced the end of a universe. At least, he didn¡¯t see how it could be. ¡°You set this up, didn¡¯t you?¡± Xavier said. ¡°You set all of this up.¡± He sighed once more, and remembered what he had been learning from Liana¡ªpatience. It would be a great many years before he understood what this threat was, and a great many more before he finally faced it. And he had a very, very long way to go in that time. Xavier shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He ordered his mind, placing the information he had just gained from the Spirit of Protection where it needed to go¡ªnot that there was much information there to begin with. But he did know that in the future, he would most definitely be resummoning that spirit. There was more he could learn from it in the future. Xavier moved through the Dark Mountains at speed, avoiding the infected beasts that called this cursed place home. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he made it back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He had gained a few ranks from the fight, but not as many as he¡¯d hoped¡ªfighting so many beasts while he waited for his Time Alteration spell to reach the end of its cooldown during his training with Liana had meant he¡¯d brought forward the majority of his spells and skills already. But he did happen to gain several ranks in Soul Stike. Now I just need to gather another five hundred souls... not as easy here as it was back on Earth. Liana said she would meet him back at the tavern after he completed his Hunt Quest. While he was there, he could claim the reward for killing the Stone Bear, and perhaps figure out where he might acquire access to E Grade beast parts... It would be easy enough for him to return to the Staging Room and use the System Shop for something like that, but then he couldn¡¯t guarantee that Liana would still be there when he returned. Maybe she¡¯ll want to take a break from this floor as well. There might be things she wants to get done back in our universe. If we both agree to return after the same amount of time has passed, and we leave here at the same time, then we should get back at the same time, too. We wouldn¡¯t have to wait long to see the other on the floor... He had made some contacts here¡ªGimble, and the dwarf¡¯s party members¡ªthey certainly wouldn¡¯t stick around. But did he really need them to? The dwarves weren¡¯t even from his sector. He contemplated all of this on his run back through the larger forest on his way to the tavern, and stopped short, standing outside of it as he realised something. He chuckled to himself and shook his head, realising that time, indeed, did wait for some men. Him being one of them. Xavier could very easily return to the Staging Room. And, the instant that he materialised there, he could cast Time Alteration. He could push the bubble of time forward to expand it to reach the System Shop¡¯s pedestal, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about how much time passed while he was gone, as barely any would... He wasn¡¯t sure why he hadn¡¯t thought of that earlier. I¡¯m still new to being able to control time, even in the limited capacity that I¡¯m able to. Of course something like that wouldn¡¯t occur to me right away... That meant that once he attained his reward for killing the Stone Bear, it would be time for him to return to the Staging Room, and finally purchase the things he wanted from the System Shop. He stepped into the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern with a great big grin on his face. Liana was leaning against the bar, glaring at Felicia, the barkeep who seemed to free with other people¡¯s secrets. I¡¯ll definitely be having a word with her myself soon. Liana turned. When she noticed Xavier come in, she frowned. ¡°Xavier?¡± she said, sounding oddly surprised to see him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be facing the Stone Bear? Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be one for taking a drinking break before doing such a thing¡ªyou know you only have so much time before you need to complete another Hunt Quest on this floor, don¡¯t you?¡± Xavier scratched his head, feeling a little confused himself. Did she really think he¡¯d come here first? I suppose it only took me roughly thirty seconds in real time to defeat the beast. Then I spoke to the Spirit of Protection for a few minutes before coming here at speed¡­ ¡°I already defeated the Stone Bear. Thanks for not warning me about that darkness ability, by the way.¡± Liana blinked, then smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll have to tell me exactly how you defeated it. I expected the encounter to take you... well, a lot longer. I¡¯ll order us some drinks.¡± Xavier nodded. He spotted Gimble standing by the notice board. His body and mind felt more relaxed than ever, and after how easily he¡¯d dealt with the Stone Bear... he figured it would be nice to have a bit of a break in this place. ¡°I¡¯ll join you in a moment,¡± he told Liana. Then he looked at Felicia, behind the bar. He pointed at her. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t mind a word with you later. I¡¯ll also be back for my quest reward.¡± Liana looked a little taken aback by how he pointed at her, but then she smirked. ¡°You know where to find me.¡± He walked over to the dwarf. Gimble glanced up at him and smiled through his bushy beard. ¡°Still around, aye? That¡¯s good ta see. When I didn¡¯t spot ya the past few days, I thought ya might¡¯ve taken a break. Or...¡± Gimble scratched the back of his neck. ¡°Somethin¡¯ worse.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been training.¡± The dwarf gave him a once over, taking in his robes. ¡°Gotta wonder what sorta training someone of your, ah, class, does.¡± The dwarf sniffed. Xavier wondered what class he thought he was¡ªthey¡¯d never discussed that, and like most Denizens, Xavier had something that stopped his class¡ªand other information¡ªfrom being visible to others. But he supposed the scythe and the dark robes were a dead giveaway. He returned his Midnight Scythe to his Storage Ring. ¡°Looking for another Hunt Quest?¡± ¡°Aye. Starting to get restless. Can¡¯t drink all the time. Been itchin¡¯ for a fight.¡± Xavier spotted something on the board. His eyes widened briefly. It was a C Grade beast called an Elemental Dragon. ¡°Gimble,¡± he said, motioning toward the notice with the beast. ¡°Do you know anything about that beast?¡± The dwarf chuckled. ¡°Aye. Some. Dwarfs and dragons, we tend to occupy the same spaces more often than not. We¡¯re both fans o¡¯ mountains, for one. But why anyone would ever want to go up against that thing, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s the most powerful beastie on the board¡ªI heard tell of a raid, before my time here, of hundreds of Champions who went after it.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Only one of ¡®em survived. That thing¡­ it¡¯s more dangerous than most dragons.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Why is that. Because it¡¯s C Grade?¡± The dwarf shook his head. ¡°Not only that, lad. It¡¯s more dangerous because it¡¯s been protecting its egg. Dragons are long-lived¡ªeven by Greater Universe standards¡ªand they¡¯d incredibly intelligent beasts. They rarely mate, and well, that egg? It¡¯ll probably take a total of a hundred years for it to hatch, and until it does, that beastie will guard its mountain with acute ferocity.¡± Xavier raised his chin. A smile slipped onto his lips. He remembered what the hamster spirit had told him when he¡¯d used Otherworldly Communion, asking about bringing the Spirit of Vengeance into this world: A vessel for such a powerful spirit must be three things¡ªyoung, soulless, and a match. A dragon egg sounded as though it would fit that description perfectly. Book 4: Chapter 50 - Dragon Eggs, Gold-Gaze, and Sure Bets Xavier stared at the noticeboard. At the dragon that was described on one of the notices. Am I really contemplating something this insane? Do I really want to steal an egg from a C Grade dragon? One that hundreds of powerful D Grade denizens weren¡¯t able to defeat? Xavier smiled. Gimble frowned over at him. The dwarf looked from Xavier, to the notice, then back to Xavier, his beard swaying side to side as he turned his head. ¡°Oh, lad. You aren¡¯t thinking of doing what I think you¡¯re thinking of doing, are you?¡± Xavier looked down at the dwarf, still wearing the same smile. ¡°Whatever do you mean, Gimble?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got gold-gaze if I ever did see it, since the moment I mentioned the dragon egg.¡± Xaver blinked. ¡°Gold-gaze?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard that expression before.¡± ¡°Aye. Not surprising, that. It¡¯s an expression among dwarves.¡± Gimble tugged at his long beard, looking somewhat sheepish, which¡ªin the short time that Xavier had known him¡ªwas a bit unusual for the dwarf. ¡°There is a stereotype about dwarves that we can be¡­ a little greedy at times.¡± Gimble shrugged. ¡°There is much truth to that. Gold-gaze is when one of our kind finds an obsession. Whether it be a whisper of an ancient treasure heard in a tavern tale, or word of a rare ore buried deep under a mountain where a dangerous beast lies¡­ dwarves have gone to the ends of the universe because they¡¯ve been caught by the gold-gaze.¡± Xavier looked at the notice again. The dwarf sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea why this beastie has caught your attention, lad, but I hope you heed my warning¡ªno good can come from going after that.¡± The usually good-humoured dwarf grabbed a notice from the board and stalked back to his party, giving Xavier a disapproving look over his shoulder. Xavier scratched the back of his head. Was the dwarf¡­ concerned about him? Based on Gimble¡¯s actions, it certainly seemed that way. Xavier could see from the dwarf¡¯s point of view how insane he must look, eyeing a goal that was¡ªto the dwarf¡ªabsolutely impossible. Xavier stared at the notice for a little bit longer. He wasn¡¯t about to take the notice down from the board. He might be ambitious, but he wasn¡¯t crazy enough to think he could take on a C Grade beast yet. Maybe I could steal the egg without having to engage the dragon. I do have the ability to manipulate time, after all¡­ No, that would be foolish. Xavier wasn¡¯t even D Grade himself yet, the last thing he needed to do was go and get himself killed. Even if he could get his hands on the egg, there was no guarantee he¡¯d get out of there alive. Besides, as far as he could tell, the C Grade beasts from the board weren¡¯t relegated to instances like the other beasts he¡¯d faced. The Nightmare certainly hadn¡¯t been. Patience, Xavier thought. Summoning the Spirit of Vengeance into a corporeal form wasn¡¯t something that was going to be quick and easy. It was something that he could wait for¡ªsomething that he could work toward. He filed away the information about the C Grade dragon and the egg it was protecting into his mind, keeping his thoughts as ordered as possible. It wouldn¡¯t do to dwell on something he couldn¡¯t change right now. An ordered mind is a free mind. Instead, Xavier focused on his next step. Having a drink with Gimble and his party wasn¡¯t on the cards at the moment, as the dwarf¡¯s party was currently heading out the door. Xavier could use a short training break, but he wasn¡¯t going to find it with them. Xavier walked back to the bar, nodding at Liana and Felicia, who were deep in conversation. Xavier had seen them chatting with his Farscope ability, but hadn¡¯t heard a word they¡¯d said¡ªeven their mouths had been blurred, to stop others from being able to read their lips. Xavier had seen the same thing before in this place. He supposed with everyone having superpowered hearing, there was little chance of privacy just from whispering alone. He frowned, stopping short as he looked at the two of them. They glanced at him conspiratorially. ¡°What are you two up to?¡± Xavier asked. Felicia drummed her fingers on the immaculately clean bar. ¡°That¡¯s our business, not yours.¡± Xavier looked at Liana. ¡°I was¡­ placing some bets.¡± Liana winked at him. Xavier¡¯s frown only deepened. ¡°And what exactly were you betting on?¡± ¡°You, of course.¡± She quirked her head to one side. ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± Xavier sighed. Part of him wanted to know what exactly it was that the woman had betted on him¡ªor against him¡ªabout. The rest of him didn¡¯t much care one way or the other. It was just some harmless fun, after all. ¡°You have some more winnings,¡± Felicia said. Xavier raised an eyebrow at the barkeep. ¡°What do you mean? How can I have more winning? You told me the Stone Bear wasn¡¯t worth betting on.¡± Liana stared at the barkeep a little open mouthed. ¡°Did you really tell that to him?¡± Felicia shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t want him to shy away from the fight. You know how rare it is for someone to go after a Stone Bear as their second kill? Especially someone doing it solo?¡± She shook her head. ¡°If I¡¯d told him more he wouldn¡¯t have done it.¡± Liana put her head in her hands. ¡°If he¡¯d been someone else, you could have gotten him killed!¡± Felicia nodded. ¡°Yes, the odds on that were actually rather high.¡± She gave Xavier an appraising look. Though it seems I keep underestimating him.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Xavier gazed at the barkeep. He¡¯d clearly been wrong about this woman. He¡¯d gone to her for help in finding someone to teach him how to use his Time Alteration spell, and the woman had certainly sent him in the right direction. But this barkeep wasn¡¯t someone who had his best interests at heart. He was used to dealing with Sam, and although the man had ulterior motives, he definitely wanted Xavier to live. ¡°You would send me into unknown danger for the sake of a bet?¡± Xavier asked, his voice flat. ¡°Every time you step out that door you¡¯re in unknown danger.¡± Felicia nodded at Hunter¡¯s Home¡¯s door. ¡°There¡¯s no knowing what you will find on the other side. I¡¯m merely¡­¡± ¡°Profiting from it,¡± Liana muttered. She sighed. ¡°I almost feel guilty about the bets I just made with you.¡± ¡°Almost?¡± Xavier asked. Liana shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m confident in the bets I made.¡± Felicia placed her hands on the bar and leant forward. ¡°You do seem rather confident. Looks like you know something about this man that I don¡¯t. Care to share it?¡± Liana smiled. ¡°Not my secrets to tell.¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t worried about what Liana may or may not say about him. She was tied to a privacy contract, after all. Xavier slid onto one of the stools at the bar and ordered a mug of coffee. Ever since he¡¯d had that coffee given to him by¡­ himself¡ªor, well, an older version of himself from an alternate universe¡ªhe¡¯d been craving the stuff, but also hesitant to drink another cup, as he knew it would never be able to live up to the best coffee in the Greater Universe. But he had spent far too long without drinking coffee. Felicia produced a mug of the beautiful, dark liquid and¡­ it wasn¡¯t half-bad, if he were honest. Actually, it was pretty good. He sipped at his coffee and wondered if now was a good time for him to accept his Hunt Quest reward. No point waiting around for it. Though before he did that, he tilted his head to the side. ¡°I think I know how to make these bets a little more interesting,¡± Xavier said innocently. He hadn¡¯t even seen the winnings he¡¯d made, as the barkeep had been making the bets on his behalf, but he figured it mustn¡¯t be a bad sum. Felicia waved a hand. The sounds around them, of the other patrons in the tavern, became a little muffled. The barkeep had a gleam in her eye. ¡°Do you now? And what, pray tell, would make the bets more interesting? I would have thought you¡¯d be annoyed at me. You¡¯re not playing some trick, are you?¡± Xavier thought he would be annoyed at the woman too. She¡¯d said the Stone Bear was one of the weaker beasts on the board¡ªclearly, that little bit of information hadn¡¯t been¡­entirely honest. But in a way, looking at the board, he knew it hadn¡¯t been a total lie. It certainly was one of the weaker beasts. Especially if you took into account that there were C Grades on there. All she¡¯d really lied about was that it wasn¡¯t worth betting on it. She was a sly one, but that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t still be useful. ¡°I would have gone after the Stone Bear even if you had warned me about it,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t tend to be one to back down from a fight. Though a little warning about The Nightmare would have been nice. I hadn¡¯t expected to encounter a C Grade beast on my travels.¡± Felicia chuckled. ¡°I was wondering if you were going to bring that up. The Dark Mountains are a treacherous place¡ªpeople were betting on whether or not you¡¯d even make it to the Stone Bear.¡± She inspected her fingernails. ¡°They were going to start looking for you among the infected soon.¡± Xavier shook his head. Were there really that many people in this place invested in the bets? And so uncaring about whether he lived or died? Then again, when he¡¯d walked in, he had noticed a few more looks than usual¡ªsome disappointed, some with guarded smiles. It wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d been focusing on, so he hadn¡¯t thought twice about it. They must have been thinking about the outcome of the bet¡­ Gimble might have even made a bet on it. ¡°Well, no need for anyone to look. The Nightmare didn¡¯t pose much of a problem,¡± Xavier said, thinking, except for when it nearly took over my mind. Felicia had a half-smirk on her face. ¡°You want to tell me what you had in mind? How you might make things more interesting?¡± Xavier leant forward. ¡°Have you ever encountered an E Grade Champion on this floor?¡± Felicia laughed. ¡°An E Grade Champion? That would be impossible. This is no place for someone so weak!¡± Xavier stared blankly at her, waiting to see if she would put two-and-two together and realise why he¡¯d asked that question. He¡¯d been mostly guarded about his identity on this floor, but the more he thought about it the more he realised he didn¡¯t really need to be. The more he learnt, the more he fought, the more his confidence was returning. It had been stripped away when the System had sent him forward through the tower and dropped him straight into the one hundredth floor. But now, after he¡¯d seen what he could do even here¡­ If word gets back to my sector that I¡¯m on the hundredth floor already, that¡¯s only going to do more to aid in the protection of Earth. Earth is only protected based on the future threat I pose, if they know I¡¯ve been holding my own on his floor, that will only increase my potential threat in their eyes. Why should he hide his accomplishments? He wasn¡¯t about to tell the woman his specific level, but he could share this¡­ Felicia stopped laughing as Xavier¡¯s face remained blank. She looked at Liana. Liana gave a slight nod. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re kidding me?¡± Liana said. She ran her fingers through her hair. ¡°You mean to say¡­ that you... you¡¯re E Grade?¡± The woman shook her head in total disbelief. ¡°Yes,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I¡¯m E Grade.¡± Felicia was still shaking her head. ¡°No. You¡¯re lying. That¡¯s a stupid lie, too, because no one around here is going to believe that you¡¯re E Grade. They aren¡¯t going to keep placing bets for or against you if you just make up lies¡ªthey¡¯ll stop trusting me, too. I¡¯ll lose all my credibility! I may have lied to you about the Stone Bear, but I never lie to my clients about the information for a bet.¡± The barkeep straightened as she spoke, as though she took pride in that. ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth, Felicia,¡± Liana said. She nodded at Xavier. ¡°Make a truth contract. Show her it isn¡¯t a lie.¡± Felicia looked a little bit stunned. ¡°A truth contract. That¡¯ll¡­ that¡¯ll prove you¡¯re lying.¡± They went through the motions, drawing up the contract with the System with each of them accepting it. Xavier repeated what he¡¯d said before¡ªthat he was E Grade¡ªand now he had the System backing him up that it was the truth. The woman went through a whole series of emotions all at once. Stunned disbelief mixed with sheer shock. Denial even though she could no longer deny it. Then, slowly, the gleam returned to the woman¡¯s eye and more than anything else she looked¡­ hungry. ¡°You¡¯re E Grade,¡± Felicia said with a predatory grin. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to tell you.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side innocently. ¡°Do you think that will make a difference to the bets?¡± Felicia thew her head back and laughed. ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll make a difference? Betting on you was already an attraction as a solo Champion, now¡­¡± She steepled her hands together, and despite the fact that she looked nothing like the character, all Xavier could think of in that moment was Mr Burns from the Simpsons. ¡°Excellent,¡± Xavier muttered. Bets, on himself. It was the perfect way for him to boost his funds back up to where they¡¯d been before¡ªactually, it was the perfect way for him to boost them far beyond what they had been. Besides, he¡¯d been making bets on himself since the moment the System had come down to Earth. Why should he stop now? He was sure he would have earned a good deal of money if he sold off all the D Grade corpses he¡¯d collected from the beasts he¡¯d slain on this floor, but he was saving those corpses for¡­ other uses. Damn, that sounds sinister. All he meant was that sometime soon, he would be getting his hands dirty working on his Dismantle skill. He didn¡¯t know how long he¡¯d focus on these bets for. He wanted to make his way to D Grade while he was on this floor, especially if he was going to start going after C Grade beasts¡ªwhich was most certainly a goal for him. There has to be some sort of title for a D Grade taking out a C Grade, and there are probably even better titles for them doing it on their own. And if that dragon is as powerful as Gimble says, there¡¯s a chance that it has never been defeated before¡­ He added defeat the dragon to his ever-growing list of goals, then decided it was finally time to redeem his Hunt Quest. He wondered if he would be able to gain another spell, like he did from the first Hunt Quest he¡¯d completed. Hover Dodge had certainly come in handy. The spell I received was based on how I¡¯d fought against the Magma Bull. Against the Stone Bear, I heavily relied on Time Alteration. If I do get a spell, maybe it will have something to do with that¡­ Book 4: Chapter 51 - An Unknown Spell Reward Felicia drummed her fingers on the bar. Despite the hunger that still lingered in her eyes from learning that Xavier was only E Grade on a floor that an E Grade shouldn¡¯t be able to survive on, he could sense that there was still a hint of general disbelief lingering in her about him, and the things he might be capable of. ¡°Right,¡± she said after Xavier had told the woman he wanted to claim Ability Acquisition for his Hunt Quest. ¡°Your Hunt Quest.¡± She waved a hand, and a split-second later, a notification appeared in Xavier¡¯s vision. Stone Bear Hunt Quest Reward: Ability Acquisition You may receive: - Three ranks in the skill Physical Damage - Three ranks in the spell Telekinetic Enhanced Strike - Three ranks in the spell Time Alteration Or: Do you wish to trade these ranks to receive an unknown spell reward? Xavier rocked back on his heels and released a breath. The quest was offering more ranks than last time. For his first Hunt Quest, he¡¯d been offered two ranks for two skills and one spell¡ªthis time it was three for one skill and two spells. A much better offer. But ranks still weren¡¯t something he felt as though he needed from a quest. He could get ranks on his own. Perhaps if he were D Grade and a much higher level, and different ranks were harder to come by, rewards like this would have more meaning. The offer of a new spell, however, couldn¡¯t help but grab his attention. He felt as though he¡¯d added a fair few spells to his repertoire lately¡ªHover Dodge, Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, Time Alteration¡ªand each one of those new spells had become an invaluable asset. Especially Time Alteration. He didn¡¯t hesitate, choosing to receive a new spell rather than the ranks on offer was a no brainer. You have gained the spell: Time Prison Xavier¡¯s face lit up in a smile as he read the name of the spell. Time Prison¡­ He didn¡¯t have to read the description to know that he was going to love whatever this spell would be able to do. Considering how important using his Time Alteration spell had been during his fight with the Stone Bear, receiving a time-related spell was exactly what he¡¯d been hoping for when he¡¯d chosen this as a reward. ¡°What did you get?¡± Liana asked. She wasn¡¯t looking at him. Instead, she was staring down at one of her many books. There had been a lull in conversation and she hadn¡¯t hesitated summoning it from her Storage Ring. Xavier, as a fan of reading himself, had to hand it to the woman¡ªshe certainly seized any opportunity she could to read. It was perhaps one of the things about her he liked the most. I haven¡¯t had a chance to read anything since the System came down. It doesn¡¯t seem important anymore. Perhaps that could change now he had the Time Alteration spell¡ªhe might actually be able to pursue things for himself without guilt. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later,¡± Xavier said. ¡°When we¡¯re outside the tavern.¡± Felicia blinked. Sighed. ¡°You received another random spell, didn¡¯t you?¡± Liana looked up from her book and frowned. ¡°You can receive spells for redeeming Hunt Quests?¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I told you it was pretty rare to receive them,¡± Felicia said. ¡°They certainly aren¡¯t the standard. For it to happen for you twice in a row¡­¡± The barkeep shook her head. Stopped, then nodded. ¡°I suppose the System is favouring you. An E Grade soloing these enemies on the hundredth floor¡­ that definitely seems reward-worthy. I suppose the System is favouring you. Xavier kept his emotions in check, not showing anything on his face. The barkeep didn¡¯t know just how close to the truth she¡¯d come with that statement. Liana exchanged a look with him¡ªshe¡¯d signed a binding privacy contract with him about this, so she knew exactly how true what the woman had said was. Xavier didn¡¯t want to wait another moment. He opened the spell¡¯s description. Time Prison ¨C Rank 1 Time Prison allows the user to imprison a target in a small time dilation field. The field only affects the target of the spell, leaving them suspended as though they were frozen in time. The target, while in this time prison, will be immune to any and all attacks as they have been placed in a pocket of time that does not align with the user¡¯s universe. This spell¡¯s primary attribute is Speed, while its secondary attribute is Intelligence. ¡°That¡¯s awesome,¡± Xavier said after reading the spell¡¯s description. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Felicia leant forward on the bar. ¡°You really aren¡¯t going to tell me what the spell you just gained is? You just told me you were E Grade!¡± Xavier didn¡¯t bother to respond to the woman. Felicia sighed, threw up her hands, and walked down the bar to serve another customer. ¡°Are you ready to head out?¡± Liana asked. ¡°Ready to leave this place already?¡± Xavier felt as though they¡¯d only just gotten to the tavern. Besides, he was usually the one who would suggest moving forward well before Liana had. Her abilities as a time mage had taken much of her need for urgency away from her. Xavier drummed his fingers on the bar much as Felicia had earlier. He was feeling a little antsy, if he were honest. Besides, he wanted to test out the spell he¡¯d just gotten. He was pretty sure he¡¯d seen Liana use the exact same spell on beasts as they¡¯d ran through the forest together. She used it incredibly efficiently. But he wasn¡¯t sure about the drawback that the spell had¡ªthat whatever target he put inside a Time Prison wouldn¡¯t be able to be harmed. Then again, ideas were coming to him¡­ the spell wouldn¡¯t have to be used on only enemies, would it? What if he was able to save someone by using the spell. If one of his party members¡ªnot that he could be with them on the floors anymore¡ªwas in danger, could he simply freeze them in time so no harm would come to them? At first glance this spell only has a single use, but if I¡¯ve learnt anything on this floor it¡¯s that almost every spell can be more versatile than I first think. ¡°Uh, Xavier?¡± Liana waved a hand in front of his face. ¡°Heading out?¡± Xavier blinked. Considering the speed at which his mind worked, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d been lost in his thoughts for too long. He nodded. ¡°All right, let¡¯s head out. I just need to find another Hunt Quest first.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to go on the hunt right away, but he wanted to have one chosen and ready for when he did. He stalked over to the board again. He couldn¡¯t help but look at the notice for the C Grade dragon. He thought about the egg¡ªhe couldn¡¯t help himself¡ªand wondered if he had gold-gaze like that dwarf Gimble had said. Xaver tapped a finger on his chin as he looked at the different beasts. He wasn¡¯t about to ask anyone for advice on which beast to choose, especially when the majority of the Champions in the room would no doubt walk straight to the barkeep after he¡¯d left to make a bet on him. He smiled when he found the one he wanted. ¡°This sounds interesting.¡± Xaver grabbed the flyer from the noticeboard. Do you wish to accept the Hunt Quest for the Scorpion King? One must be on a hunt for at least two days before going back on a quest and choosing another hunt. No Champion can be on two hunts at the same time. He nodded to himself and mentally accepted the quest, depositing the flyer into his Storage Ring. He¡¯d been careful to gauge the reactions of the different patrons around him with his Farscope after he¡¯d taken down the flyer. Most of them guarded their feelings well, while a few of them¡­ it was etched on their face that they thought facing this beast would be suicide for him. Good. That means it will be a worthy challenge. Facing the Stone Bear had been¡­ well, with the strategy he¡¯d devised, it had been almost easy, and easy wasn¡¯t something that he was after. Though as he contemplated fighting this Scorpion King, Xavier had to remind himself to be cautious¡ªto not be overconfident. He might have been able to take down the Stone Bear fairly easily given his spellset and strategy, but if he hadn¡¯t been so careful in the way he¡¯d fought¡­ the Stone Bear likely could have ripped him to shreds in only a few strikes. There was one more thing he wanted to do before leaving the tavern, something he didn¡¯t want to keep putting off. He walked over to the bar and got Felicia¡¯s attention. The woman cocked an eyebrow, cleaning a glass with a rag. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°If I tell you what spell I just gained, will you share some information with me?¡± Felicia smiled. ¡°Now you¡¯re talking.¡± ¡°First, I need confirmation that this is actually something you know.¡± ¡°I do know a lot of things.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t deign to respond to that. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a large number of low-level enemies.¡± Felicia smirked, clicked her fingers. ¡°I knew it. The scythe was a dead giveaway. You are a reaper.¡± Xavier straightened. ¡°I suppose there¡¯s no need to hide that anymore.¡± Word was definitely going to get out that he was on this floor. He already knew that there were people outside of his sector that were aware of him¡ªAdranial was proof enough of that. He didn¡¯t know if anyone in the tavern was from the Silver River sector, but even if they weren¡¯t, he had a feeling the information would make it back to his enemies soon enough. Felicia leant forward over the bar. ¡°I think I have just the place for you.¡± Xavier left the tavern with a new spell, a new Hunt Quest, and the knowledge of how to finally get an abundance of souls for his soulkeeping reserve. Not only that, he also had a way of making money¡ªbetting on himself. He hadn¡¯t come to the floor with any spirit coins to his name after buying his new gear, but he was damned sure he was going to be walking out of this place a rich man. Xavier smirked. Betting on himself wasn¡¯t the only way he could make money, either¡ªhe could always spend some time creating spirit coins. And doing that while in a time dilation field¡­ why hadn¡¯t he thought of that before? He frowned, wondering if there might be any restrictions to doing that. It seemed far too overpowered if there wasn¡¯t¡­ He also came out of Hunter¡¯s Home with a new goal¡ªto fight and defeat the C Grade dragon and steal its egg to use as a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance¡¯s soul. It was ambitious, that was for sure, but Xavier never shied away from ambitious and seemingly impossible goals. He wouldn¡¯t be here if he had. Liana didn¡¯t seem at all interested in facing a bunch of low-level enemies. Xavier couldn¡¯t blame her. He knew what he was about to do wouldn¡¯t be a challenge¡ªit was essentially just farming souls. They parted ways and agreed to meet up later back in the grove. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but notice that the woman became far more at ease the moment they stepped out of the tavern. Considering she¡¯d come to the floor by herself¡­ he was beginning to get the idea that like Xavier, the woman was quite the introvert. Probably why she suggested leaving the place so early, and why she only talked to me and Felicia while we were there. Xavier moved as swiftly as he could through the forest. Felicia had given him a token, one that he¡¯d never seen before. It was called a Locator. The second he activated it, it dissolved into a mist-like substance and shot straight through his nose, giving him a weird feeling of warmth. At first, he¡¯d thought it was some sort of weapon¡ªa trap the woman had had him activate¡ªor maybe something she would use to track him. But he¡¯d made sure it wasn¡¯t something dangerous when she¡¯d given it to him, so those were just the slightly panicked thoughts of a paranoid mind. A split second after it had shot through his nose, an arrow appeared on his mini-map. The arrow pointed toward where he would find these low-level beasts. He¡¯d opened up a contract with the woman making sure she wasn¡¯t sending him into some sort of trap that she could have people bet on, but even so he was still suspicious. When he made it close to the destination¡ªa little green flag on the mini-map showed him it was nearby¡ªhe slowed to a stop and looked around the area. His Farscope could only stretch so far, one more thing to add to the list of things he needed to upgrade. It¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t see beasts¡¯ auras anymore. Xavier walked toward the green flag. He was still inside the forest. The area didn¡¯t look much different to where he¡¯d been training with Liana. Except¡­ it was quiet. Incredibly so. He couldn¡¯t hear any insects, or birds in the trees. He stopped walking, licked his finger, and raised it into the air, realising his suspicion was true. There wasn¡¯t even any wind. Well that¡¯s ominous. He started walking again, feeling wary. He was here to face low-level beasts, but that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t something else lurking around the area. Felicia hadn¡¯t told him what he should expect here. He didn¡¯t like how suspicious his mind had become. He kept trying to think of ways that she might have tricked him into coming down here. Does it matter? Whether it¡¯s a trick or not, I¡¯m here now¡­ Xavier heard a noise, in the distance. At first, he couldn¡¯t really discern what that noise was. Then he felt vibrations in the ground. It was a stampede. A big one. And it was headed his way. Book 4: Chapter 52 - Hack, Slash, Kill Xavier summoned his Midnight Scythe to his hands, his fingers curling around the shaft in a loose grip. The rumbling became louder and louder. It was still a ways away yet¡ªhe couldn¡¯t see what manner of beast the incoming stampede was comprised of¡ªbut it was travelling at a good speed. Loud cracking noises sounded among the rumbling. He squinted, trying to tell what was happening through the scant gaps in the trees. Then he saw it¡ªthe trees were being snapped, broken from where they stood. He was starting to get his first glimpses of the beasts as well, though he was struggling to make out the details. They were just grey blobs at this point. From this distance, he should have been able to see them very clearly, but with all the dust and debris that was being kicked by the beasts¡¯ passage, it was close to impossible. But even if he couldn¡¯t see them at this distance, that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t use his Identify skill on them. {Rhinoceros Monkey - Level 195} The Rhinoceros Monkey is a herd-pack animal that moves and hunts in large groups. Though these beasts don¡¯t tend to be formidable opponents on their own, if you happen to be caught in the middle of one of their stampedes they can be one of the more difficult beasts to face, as their stampedes are known to number in the thousands, and often have a higher level protector among them¡ªan alpha of their species. You will know the alpha by its size, and the screech of victory it makes when it runs its horn through your chest and into your heart. Xavier raised an eyebrow. These beasts were called¡­ Rhinoceros Monkeys? They didn¡¯t sound like a real thing at all. Also he could swear some of the descriptions that his Identify spell was throwing up were beginning to become more personalised. He supposed that could very well be true given the fact that he¡¯d been singled out by the System itself. Xavier tapped a foot on the grassy ground. Thousands of beasts, and a higher-level protector¡­ Felicia had certainly neglected to mention anything about stampedes or alphas. That still didn¡¯t mean this was a trap to test his abilities¡ªsomething for the patrons of Hunter¡¯s Home to bet on¡ªbut he supposed that didn¡¯t really matter. He put his mind toward the task at hand. The beasts were getting closer and closer. He still had a fair few souls in his soulkeeping reserve, though he hesitated to use them. The whole point of facing these enemies was so that he could gain more souls, not use them all up. For his Soul Strike spell to be worth it facing the stampede, he would need to be able to kill at least two of the Rhinoceros Monkeys using a single soul. If he only killed one, then he could only replenish his reserve at the speed he expended it. Using the spell wouldn¡¯t be worth it at all. There¡¯s an easy enough way for me to test if the spell¡¯s strong enough. Xavier cast Soul Strike with a single infused soul toward the mass of enemy beasts stampeding toward him. The closer they became¡ªand they were moving faster than he would have expected Level 195 beasts to be moving¡ªthe easier they were able to see. When Xavier had read the name of the beasts, he hadn¡¯t been exactly sure what to expect. A coupling of those two species was nothing more than comical to him. But these beasts didn¡¯t look comical. They were grey-skinned, and their heads were that of a rhino¡¯s, with massive horns jutting from their forehead glowing an ominous red. Some of the beasts ran on four legs¡ªor were two of those limbs arms?¡ªwhile others ran on two legs. Every single one of them was built like someone competing in a Mr Olympia bodybuilding contest, except they were twice as muscular. The only comical thing about them was the tail that trailed behind them, swishing this way and that as they ran. That tail looked so out of place that Xavier wondered if the beasts would be better without it. White lightning flashed from Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe as a soul apparition of a Stone Bear soared forward through the air and slammed into the enemy lines. Xavier waited for the kill notification. He waited for several kill notifications. He should be strong enough to one-hit these beasts¡­ But no kill notification came. These beasts aren¡¯t even D Grade! I should be able to one-hit them! Xavier gritted his teeth. The beasts were of a far lower level than the ones he¡¯d been facing, but that didn¡¯t mean they were weak. They must have a strong toughness attribute. Perfect. The beasts he wanted to farm just happened to have high health for their level. Xavier grinned. He found he was glad for that. This little side-mission to gain more souls for his reserve had seemed like a boring thing until this moment. If he were simply able to smash these enemies with a single spell, taking out whole swathes of them and gaining his soul reserve with no effort whatsoever¡­ it would feel like a waste of time, even if he did get the souls he was after. He looked at the enemies in front of him and wondered what his best approach to defeating them all would be. Usually, he would be utilising Soul Strike heavily¡ªthat was how he¡¯d gotten through most of the waves of the Endless Horde, after all¡ªor he could simply cast Willpower Infusion and make the enemies fight each other¡­ But this was going to go a bit different. This, he thought, would be a chance for him to get his hands dirty. He sprinted forward, moving far faster than any of the enemies in front of him. He weaved through the trees until he was at the stampede¡¯s front lines. He had a fair few long-range spells at his disposal, but this necessitated a more personal touch. Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe cut straight through the neck of one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys. He blinked as the blade didn¡¯t make it all the way through. He¡¯d been expecting a one-hit kill by his scythe, but when Soul Strike hadn¡¯t managed that, he supposed he should have realised it wouldn¡¯t work. With all the souls in my reserve I could probably still take out a thousand of these bastards in a single spell, but that would be a waste¡­ He hadn¡¯t enhanced the scythe¡¯s strike. That had clearly been a mistake, but he¡¯d needed to get a baseline for how powerful these things were. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Xavier cringed at the sight of the Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s neck. It had been half hacked through and was hanging off by bone and sinew alone. Blood spurted from the wound, but it was evident that it was already trying to heal. He could see the fibres growing and twisting back together. He slammed his Midnight Scythe into the beast¡¯s neck a second time¡ªstill without enhancing the attack¡ªand the neck came clean off, gaining him his first kill notification of the fight. The problem was, he was already being overwhelmed by the enemies around him. The stampede hadn¡¯t simply stopped. The enemy beasts were trying to bowl him over. If he let them take him to the ground¡­ it wouldn¡¯t matter how overpowered he was for his level, he doubted he¡¯d be able to withstand that many attacks at once. But Xavier had an easy answer to this. He activated the imbued ability that his Dark Steel Bracers offered. Buffer! The Rhinoceros Monkeys around him were all thrown back twenty feet. He knew it wouldn¡¯t work on the other enemies that were heading his way, only the one that had already been close¡ªit wasn¡¯t a shield, after all. Just a knock-back spell that kept the enemies it hit away for ten seconds. Xavier cast another spell¡ªTime Alteration¡ªcreating a time dilation bubble around him. He expanded it, making it large enough to cover a fifty-foot radius around him. Xavier grinned once more. Again he was glad that these enemies weren¡¯t going down so easily. Honestly, he knew he would get bored facing low-level enemies. He had been getting bored facing low-level enemies. Coming up through the floors after returning from Earth to the Tower of Champions had been an absolute grind. Even attaining the titles for the floors hadn¡¯t posed enough of a challenge for him. The time dilation field trapped in over a hundred of these beasts. And while that sounded like a lot, it was a hell of a lot better than what he¡¯d have to deal with if he didn¡¯t bring the spell up. He hadn¡¯t been able to count them, but he was sure there were at least over five thousand of these things in the area. His grin was quickly plastered with blood as he closed the gap made by his Buffer ability and swung his scythe around this way and that, slicing through one enemy after another. He threw a few spells left and right, hitting one enemy with Core Burn and turning as it quickly died, and another with Spirit Break. Xavier took a moment to assess the battlefield as he fought. With Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, he could one-hit these enemies. Core Burn could one hit them as well, which made him feel a little disappointed in his Soul Strike spell, considering it was his most powerful spell¡ªthough he supposed that wasn¡¯t the case when he was only using a single soul with it. But, within the time dilation field, he could only use each of his spells once, as the cooldowns for them were effectively frozen¡ªthis meant he had to kill the beasts the old-fashioned way. With brawn and blade alone. Without enhancing his strikes, he could take these things out in between two to four hits, depending on where he hit the enemies. Though he was enjoying that these beasts didn¡¯t go down too easily, he also knew he had places to be after this¡ªthings to do. He could enjoy the battle as much as he liked, but that didn¡¯t mean he was going to make it last any longer than it needed to. He¡¯d been putting off using Willpower Infusion, but now felt like the right time. I don¡¯t even need to kill the entire stampede worth of beasts¡ªjust enough to refill my soulkeeping reserve back to its fullest. I¡¯ve had my fun. Now it¡¯s time to finish this. Xavier cast Willpower Infusion, pushing it toward the largest number of the enemies that he could. Back when he¡¯d faced the Endless Horde, he¡¯d been able to control large numbers of the enemy forces with this spell. The purple mist flowed out of him, engulfing the enemies within the field. By the time he¡¯d cast the spell, he¡¯d already taken out half of them, so there was just a little over a hundred Rhinoceros Monkeys left within the time bubble, and his mist wouldn¡¯t hit the ones outside of it until the bubble came down. Xavier¡¯s Willpower Infusion spell came up against a wall. A mental barrier so hard and strong he knew it couldn¡¯t have come from one of these creatures¡ªthey were simply too weak for something that powerful. They were being strengthened by something else¡ªor, by each other? These aren¡¯t just herd or pack animals, their very minds are connected! How else would they be able to resist this spell? He¡¯d encountered something like this before, with The Nightmare, though this¡­ this was different. The beasts were still being enhanced by the collective even though they were within the time dilation field. How could that even be possible? Did it have something to do with the fact that they were more of a conscious entity than The Nightmare had been? He didn¡¯t know how to answer that question. And frankly, he didn¡¯t need to answer it to complete his task. He¡¯d already reaped over a hundred souls in the short time he¡¯d been here. Xavier threw himself back into the fray, cutting down enemies left and right with his blade alone. It wasn¡¯t long before every single one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys lay dead within the time dilation field. Xavier hadn¡¯t even worked up a sweat. He wasn¡¯t injured, either. His Speed attribute and his Evasion skill were both too high for him to get hit by these things, no matter how many times they¡¯d tried to skewer him with those horns. Though he knew that would be different once he dropped the time dilation field, at least out there he would have different levers to pull with his cooldowns no longer frozen in time. Xavier tilted his chin up, looked around the bubble he¡¯d created. He only had a few hundred more beasts to slay before he could leave this place. I guess this has been fairly easy after all. The fact that they couldn¡¯t be mind-controlled had thrown him, but that was only one of many ways that he could deal damage to his enemies. Xavier walked forward to the edge of the time dilation field in the direction the stampede was coming from. He stared at the beasts that were on the other side of the barrier. If he waited an hour, a few of them would get through on their own with how fast they were moving. He didn¡¯t need to rush this, as time outside the barrier wasn¡¯t moving forward. It was a strange way to fight, one he was still getting used to. Patience. He paused for a moment, tapping his foot, looking around at the different enemies. There were several ways that he could play this. If he dropped the barrier, chaos would resume, the stampede would move forward. He could still take out his enemies, but it would be more difficult. He didn¡¯t think he was in true danger here, but if he wasn¡¯t careful, he could be¡­ Best to play it safe. He wasn¡¯t here to prove anything, after all. Xavier expanded his time dilation field. This way, he could let the beasts inside only a few at a time, controlling the volume at which he fought them. This definitely feels like cheating. Of course, it meant he had to take out every single one of his enemies with melee attacks alone. His Spirit Infusion spell, something he always had active over himself, had run out, too. That was a strange thing to experience during a fight. He would usually recast it, but he wasn¡¯t able to in here. It only made a slight difference in how many strikes he needed to kill these tough ¡°low level¡± enemies. Xavier had to wonder how many strikes it would have taken him to kill them if he hadn¡¯t attuned his Strength attribute up to 5%. He wondered a similar thing about his Speed. Xavier got into a rhythm. Expand bubble. Hack, slash, kill. Repeat. The beasts tried to grab his scythe with their tails. Tried to skewer him with their horns. A few times he saw the hints of a spell about to activate, but the beasts died too swiftly to manage it. The other beasts he¡¯d initially killed had tried to strike him with a beam of red light, but he¡¯d always dodged it, never letting it land. It wasn¡¯t long before he¡¯d defeated enough enemies that his soulkeeping reserve was back to full again. He was a little disappointed about how easy it had been, but he hadn¡¯t come here to be challenged, so what should he have expected? Xavier turned around, facing the direction of the grove. When he dropped the time dilation field, he was going to swiftly run back through the forest. He knew he was fast enough that these beasts wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up¡ªhe¡¯d easily be able to lose them. He could defeat the entire stampede, but it didn¡¯t feel like a worthwhile endeavour now his reserve was full. Xavier dropped the spell. The bubble burst. The stampede began moving again. He sped ahead, leaving them in the dust. Then¡­ something strange happened. An odd reg glow surrounded him, and a notification appeared in his vision. You have trespassed on the stampede and have now been marked by the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. As long as you remain upon this world, it will have the ability to track you. Book 4: Chapter 53 - Goku With His Spirit Bomb Xavier stared at the notification he had just received. You have trespassed on the stampede and have now been marked by the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. As long as you remain upon this world, it will have the ability to track you. The red glow around him that had just flared receded until it was gone completely, but he was being tracked now. He wouldn¡¯t be able to use his Time Alteration spell for almost another fifteen minutes. With the ranks he¡¯d gained, he¡¯d reduced it by more than half down from its original thirty minutes, but that was still a good long while in the middle of a fight. It¡¯s an eternity. Xavier kept running, trying to think what his next move should be. He hadn¡¯t yet laid eyes on the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, but something told him that it was this alpha¡¯s mind that was the reason he wasn¡¯t able to use Willpower Infusion on any of the beasts in the stampede. He hadn¡¯t been feeling as though the stampede was a threat to him, but if he didn¡¯t have the ability to leave it behind¡­ Xavier could keep running until his cooldown for Time Alteration reached zero, then he would be in a better position to fight the stampede, using the same tactic that he¡¯d been using only a moment ago, but¡ªeven though he¡¯d developed his patience¡ªhe wasn¡¯t willing to simply keep running from a fight he knew he could win. He skidded to a halt, the heels of his boots cutting a trough through the soft ground of the forest floor. He whirled around and got a good look at the stampede heading his way. There were still trees blocking his vision, and it was no less difficult to make out the enemies from this distance than it had been the first time he¡¯d seen them. But there was one enemy that stood out from the rest. A beast that had come to the front of the pack¡ªor herd, whatever a group of these things was called. It was massive, far larger than the nine feet of its brethren. It wasn¡¯t as large as many of the beasts Xavier had fought in the past, but he knew that size, uh, wasn¡¯t everything. This beast ran on two legs. Its horn glowed red, and so did its eyes, which were laser-focused on Xavier. It was unmistakable that this was the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡ªthe beast that had marked him with the tracker. Learning what level this beast was would help Xavier decide his next move. He used his Identify skill on the beast. {Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey ¨C Level 290} The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey is the head of the pack, the leader of the herd. It is responsible for the safety of the entire stampede and holds a grudge like few other beasts in the Greater Universe. If its herd has been disturbed, it will go to great lengths to seek revenge. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey is immune to mental attacks and has the ability to bestow that immunity upon its brethren. It also has an incredibly high toughness, and is able to conjure defences to many different attacks. If one is alone when they face a Rhinoceros Monkey herd, then they have made a great tactical error. Thanks, System, for that wonderful little insight. Xavier took in the sight of the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, a D Grade beast more than a hundred levels higher than himself, the highest-level beast he¡¯d ever faced. It was ten levels higher than the Stone Bear, and that bear¡­ well, he¡¯d been able to defeat it in quite an amazing way, but that was a unique situation. He¡¯d been inside an instance, with no other enemies around¡­ If things had been different? He wasn¡¯t sure what would have happened. This must be a beast from the board, and now I won¡¯t even get the Hunt Quest for it¡­ That was, of course, assuming he could defeat the beast. He was sure that if he had the beast alone, it likely wouldn¡¯t pose a huge threat to him if he was careful. But the Level 290 Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was surrounded by five thousand of its closest friends, and every single one of them was headed his way. Briefly, he rethought his strategy of simply fighting this thing. Perhaps that wasn¡¯t the best choice that he could make in this situation. I must always remember to be humble¡­ Xavier smiled. Being humble wasn¡¯t what had gotten him this far. He may have cultivated a great deal of patience working with Liana, but his ambition had not gone away. Not in the slightest. He tilted his head one way, then the other. He decided that he might as well deal with this beast swiftly. There was no reason to delay the inevitable. Without knowledge of just how strong this beast was, he knew it could pose a serious threat to him if he didn¡¯t take it seriously. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. And that was why Xavier cast Soul Strike. He wasn¡¯t being subtle, either. He didn¡¯t start slow, by putting a dozen, or a hundred, or even five hundred souls into the spell. He dumped two thousand souls straight into it. It would take out a massive chunk of his reserve, but he was going to deal with the entire herd now. He¡¯d been willing to leave it alone as he hadn¡¯t needed any more souls from them, but now that this beast was tracking him¡­ well, that signed the death warrants of the alpha¡¯s entire herd-pack. You shouldn¡¯t have come after me. Xavier took a step forward and angled his Midnight Scythe toward his enemy. The enemy barrelled through the forest, snapping trees straight from the ground, making a beeline for the one that had trespassed against its brethren. A crackle of white lightning surged from Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff. It had been some time since he¡¯d used the spell with so much power. He certainly hadn¡¯t attuned his Spirit attribute the last time he¡¯d cast this spell with that many souls. Xavier gazed at the soul apparitions that sprang into life. Among them were the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys, heading straight toward their kin to attack them. There were hundreds of other beasts, too. Wolven and boars that he¡¯d faced in the forest, and other beasts he¡¯d fought on previous floors. They all glowed in a silvery white light as they raged across the forest toward their enemy. The Rhinoceros Monkeys in the stampede didn¡¯t even flinch at the sight of the soul apparitions¡ªneither did their alpha. If anything, it increased the speed at which the alpha was heading toward him. Xavier stood there, watching, waiting for the soul apparitions to hit. He knew it didn¡¯t take them long to travel to their target, but standing there it seemed like an age. Something strange happened then. The alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s horn glowed brightly. At first, Xavier thought it was some kind of spell. A counterattack to the one that he¡¯d just cast. But it was something else. Every single one of the horns in the entire stampede glowed red. At least, that¡¯s what he thought must have happened, he couldn¡¯t discern the entire herd from here, but an eerie red glow emanated from the forest where they were, as though the very trees were bleeding. To his eyes, it could have only been made by thousands of the beasts. Xavier took a step back, gripped his Midnight Scythe, readying himself to throw up a Soul Block. Was this some kind of joint attack? If so, he could only imagine how powerful something like that would be. Maybe the alpha was drawing energy from herd, like Goku with his spirit bomb¡­ It would be devastating. There¡¯s no way that I would be able to survive something like that. Xavier was wondering if the System¡¯s words had some merit to them¡ªperhaps he had made a tactical error after all. Hopefully the Soul Strike interrupts whatever the hell this is. The soul apparitions slammed into the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. Xavier waited for the kill notification to come up¡ª Hundreds of kill notifications crowded his vision, constantly streaming down. He instantly split his mind so he could identify what had just happened. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡­ it was still running toward him. It hadn¡¯t faltered a single step in its stride. What the hell? It wasn¡¯t clear to Xaver what had happened until he¡¯d gotten a chance to look at the kill notifications, and the alpha was closing the distance faster than he¡¯d expected. How in the world is that thing still alive? The kill notifications¡ªthey were all for Level 190 Rhinoceros Monkeys. But that¡­ that shouldn¡¯t have been possible! He hadn¡¯t targeted the other enemies¡ªhe¡¯d targeted their alpha. Even if the attack, somehow, hadn¡¯t done any damage to the alpha, it shouldn¡¯t have hurt the other enemies in the slightest. This is strange. Very, very strange. There were other notifications, too, after all of the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys¡ªhe¡¯d gained a single level from his efforts, bringing him to Level 168. And Soul Strike had gained three ranks, bringing it up to Rank 63. That was the first time the spell had gained a rank in a while. Maybe I can get something more out of this. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate to reap the souls of all the enemies that fell. He had used two thousand souls in that attack, but he hadn¡¯t killed two thousand of the enemies. He¡¯d only killed about a thousand of them, making his soulkeeping reserve even smaller than it had been when he¡¯d gotten to this place. Xavier was pretty sure he knew what had just happened. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey had glowed red, then so had all the other beasts under its command. Somehow, through whatever connection it held to all of them, it had been able to disperse Xavier¡¯s attack into its brethren, not coming to any harm itself. It would have been nice if the Identify spell had told me a little something about that¡­ The spell, unfortunately, had completely left that out¡ªalong with any way that this thing might be vulnerable. Though he supposed it did say that it was able to conjure up defences. Maybe this is what that description had been referring to. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey appeared to grow in its rage. There was a glow about it now that hadn¡¯t been there before. It got even faster as it ran. The damned thing is going berserk, isn¡¯t it? Xavier felt like a fool. He¡¯d expended more souls than he¡¯d gained in this place, and he hadn¡¯t even harmed the alpha. He gritted his teeth. Not was not the time to feel down on himself. He needed to act. He still had the option to run, even if he didn¡¯t want to use it. But he dismissed that. This thing could follow him wherever he went¡ªhe needed to deal with it now. It¡¯s strong because of its herd. Without it, it wouldn¡¯t have been able to disperse that attack. All Xavier would need to do was kill every single one of its brethren, perhaps before he could deal any damage to the alpha if it was able to constantly disperse his attacks. Yeah, that sounds easy enough. But Xavier wouldn¡¯t know that until he had thrown a few more spells at it. He grinned, feeling a sudden burst of energy. There was a wonderful thing about gaining levels, and he wasn¡¯t referring to the attribute points he got. Gaining a level meant he restored every single one of his spells from their cooldowns¡ªwhich meant not only could he use Soul Strike again if he wished, he could also use Time Alteration. But first, he wanted to test out the new spell he¡¯d just acquired¡ªTime Prison. Having thought everything through, Xavier sprinted forward to meet the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey head on. The gap swiftly closed. Xavier had an intuitive understanding of the spell he was about to cast. Even though the description hadn¡¯t mentioned it, he knew he needed to physically make contact with his enemy for the spell to have an effect. Though the spell was most definitely an otherwise powerful spell from what he could tell, it certainly had its drawbacks. He met the enemy head on¡ªand underestimated it. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was faster than he¡¯d expected it to be, even though he¡¯d just seen the damned thing sprinting toward him, he hadn¡¯t anticipated this. Before Xavier could lay a hand on it, its tail whipped out at him and grabbed for his Midnight Scythe. The beast tugged on the shaft. Xavier held on with all his might. Then another tail appeared. The damned beast had two tails! Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe was ripped from his hands¡ªin a rage, he grabbed for one of the receding tails, trying to get a hold of it. That¡¯s when he cast Time Prison¡ªtrapping both the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey in time, along with his Midnight Scythe. The beast and his scythe-staff were trapped in a pocket of time that Xavier wasn¡¯t able to make contact with. He didn¡¯t have a spare weapon on him. The stampede was upon him. Book 4: Chapter 54 - Unarmed Xavier swallowed at the sight of thousands of beasts trampling through the forest, destroying everything they touched, trying to get to him. And he had trapped his Midnight Scythe¡ªthe only weapon he had¡ªwith the damned Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. The weapon offered him much¡ªhigher attributes, something in which to channel his magic, and the imbued ability Restorative Spirit. But that didn¡¯t mean he was weak without it. He swiftly went through his options. There were several things he could do. Technically, he could still run, but that didn¡¯t feel right¡ªnor did it feel necessary. He wasn¡¯t going to turn away from a battle he knew he could win. He just had to use a different strategy. If I free the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey from the Time Prison spell, I could get my weapon back off it¡­ But that didn¡¯t seem like the smartest thing for him to do. The alpha was the strongest beast he¡¯d ever faced. He didn¡¯t fancy facing it with several thousand of its closest friends around it. Xavier glimpsed his soulkeeping reserve. He¡¯d used two thousand souls just now, and only recouped a thousand of them. He still had a good number of souls remaining in his reserve, but if he were to rely on them to kill all of these beasts¡­ Xavier came to a decision. He leapt backward into the air. Beams of red light shot upward toward him. He cast hover dodge as thousands of energy beams tried to incinerate him. The beams were solid things that tracked him just a tad slower than he could move. If he didn¡¯t have the hover dodge skill, leaping in the air would most certainly have gotten him killed, but he wanted to make some distance between himself and the enemies below. Xavier wanted to preserve his soulkeeping reserve unless it became absolutely necessary to use it, so Soul Strike was off the table. Soul Shatter, on the other hand, was not. Soul Shatter did destroy the soul of the one he cast it on, but it was also an area-of-effect spell, one that hurt all those around it¡ªbut even if it killed those around it, it didn¡¯t destroy their souls. It will have to do. That wasn¡¯t the only spell Xavier cast while he was in the air. He cast Willpower Infusion as well, hoping that now their alpha was stuck in a Time Prison, where he was physically no longer in their flow of time¡ªhowever in the hell that worked¡ªthat whatever influence, whatever protection, the alpha offered its brethren, it wouldn¡¯t be able to offer that in its current state. Purple mist flowed out from him. It didn¡¯t flow from Xavier¡¯s scythe, for right now he had no scythe. Instead, it flowed out of his hands. Xavier was met by the same mental barrier as before. He gritted his teeth. It wasn¡¯t the only lever he had to pull in this fight, but he¡¯d been hoping¡­ Xavier cast Soul Shatter on one of the beasts in the middle of the pack. It wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill it, but Xavier kept his eye on the beast. Soul Shatter didn¡¯t have a long cooldown. He cast the spell again. The beast died, and all those around it were injured. It¡¯s a start. Xavier managed to cast Soul Shatter twice more before he fell back to the ground. He cast it in the same area, and on the fourth cast, he received over twenty kill notifications. Xavier grinned as he landed back on the ground. Four spells for twenty kills wasn¡¯t exactly amazing, but as he¡¯d thought before, he had other levers he could pull¡­ And he started doing that right now. He might not be able to control these beasts while they were living, but once they were dead? The tables turned. The stampede closed upon him. Xavier wasn¡¯t confident that without the ability to strike the enemies around him down with his scythe staff that he would be able to effectively avoid their attacks while he was still on the ground, so he had to keep on the move, leaping back into the air every time he touched down. Hover Dodge has taken a step forward on the path! Hover Dodge is now a Rank 20 spell. Hover Dodge is now a Rank 21 spell. Hover Dodge is now a Rank 22 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Aerial Combat has reached Rank 15! Aerial Combat has reached Rank 16! Evasion has reached Rank 70! Well, that¡¯s certainly something. He had been steadily gaining ranks in skills and spells as he¡¯d fought beasts in the forest when he was waiting for Time Alteration to reach the end of its cooldown, but none of his ranks had gone up this fast in while. This fight, the ¡°low-level beasts¡± that Felicia had sent him to, he hadn¡¯t expected to get much of anything from it but a few souls. Now, it seemed as though he was about to get a hell of a lot more. Xavier cast Soul Shatter over and over, every time it reached the end of its cooldown he hit the herd with it once more. Then he cast Soul Puppet. He was careful, though. Soul Puppet used a single soul every time he cast it. The main thing that he didn¡¯t want to do was use up too many souls. Well, actually, the main thing he wanted to do was not die, but not using too many souls was high on his list. Xavier slipped left and right through the air as beams of red light shot toward him. The pack-herd were becoming more and more frantic as time went on. As the soul puppets began attacking them, they made weird, screaming, screeching noises. The beasts had always worked as one¡ªhad always worked as a unit. To have its own start attacking it¡­ Xavier couldn¡¯t imagine how distressing that must be. But he relished the chaos his spells were causing. He reaped souls left and right, making sure that for every beast he killed with Soul Shatter, and every beast he brought back as a Soul Puppet, he consumed two souls for each soul he used. Slowly, his reserve was creeping up. More spell notifications came as he fought as well. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Shatter is now a Rank 72 spell. Soul Shatter is now a Rank 73 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Puppet has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Puppet is now a Rank 65 spell. Soul Puppet is now a Rank 66 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Harvest has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Harvest is now a Rank 61 spell. Soul Harvest is now a Rank 62 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. With each rank that his soul spells gained, his soulkeeping reserve grew larger and larger. I guess I¡¯m farming more than souls here. He¡¯d thought the loss of his weapon would have caused him more difficulty, but this¡­ this was child¡¯s play. Then a massive roar sounded. It was like nothing he¡¯d ever heard before. In that moment, he felt something click¡ªthe Time Prison spell had¡­ started its cooldown? Xavier had been so focused on the fight that he hadn¡¯t even realised his Time Prison spell hadn¡¯t started its cooldown timer. He was able to sense when a spell hadn¡¯t reached the end of its cooldown, but he only now just realised there was a different feeling for when a spell wasn¡¯t cooling down at all. Which meant that roar was¡­ Xavier was currently above the stampeding pack-hard of Rhinoceros Monkeys when a figure began hurtling toward him from on the ground. The roar was coming from that figure, and there was no mistaking it. It was the Alpha Rhinoceros Beast. The Time Prison that Xavier had cast on the beast clearly hadn¡¯t lasted very long. Xavier gritted his teeth. The damned beast¡ªit was holding his Midnight Scythe! As the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey came closer and closer, Xavier still slipping left and right with his Hover Dodge skill, evading the countless beams of red light that were streaming toward him, stared hard at the Midnight Scythe in the beast¡¯s hand. The Midnight Scythe looked incredibly heavy in the alpha¡¯s grip, and it took Xavier a split-second to realise why¡ªthis beast didn¡¯t have the requisite attributes to wield such a weapon. And whatever class the beast had, if indeed beasts even had classes, wouldn¡¯t be compatible with the weapon, either. Wielding that thing will be a hindrance for the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, but even with the drawbacks, it¡¯s still holding it¡­ There was a look of manic glee mixed with anger plastered on the beast¡¯s face. It was holding Xavier¡¯s weapon as though it were a trophy¡ªit was wielding it to piss Xavier off. Xavier was sure of it. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! Core Burn! Xavier cast the three spells before his enemy had a chance to reach him. The spells hit the beast. Spirit Break made it roar ever louder. Soul Shatter made it call out in pain. Core Burn¡ªCore Burn did nothing. This was the beast that was responsible for stopping him from using Willpower Infusion on the entire pack-herd. It had an incredibly strong resistance to mental attacks, even with Spirit Break softening it up. When the beast was close enough, Xavier used Hover Dodge to slip to the left. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was too fast, however. It grabbed him with one of its tails, wrenching him toward it. Then it slashed out with Xavier¡¯s weapon. Xavier couldn¡¯t dodge out of the way with the alpha¡¯s tails wrapped around him, and everything happened too fast for him to use Soul Block. He got hit with the full force of his own weapon. The Midnight Scythe cut through Xavier¡¯s Midnight Robes. A red-hot line of pain spread from Xavier¡¯s right shoulder down to his left thigh. He cried out in pain. This close, he was able to grab onto his Midnight Scythe, but he wasn¡¯t strong enough to take it back. Just as before, he could tell the beast was struggling to hold the thing, and yet it had been able to swing it with such power, such force, if it had been a few inches closer it might have cut Xavier in two. God, what in the hell was Xavier going to do? He couldn¡¯t fight this thing with his bare hands, and his spells had done barely anything to it! Time Prison wasn¡¯t an option for him to use¡ªnot right now. It was still in cooldown for another [x minutes!] Willpower Infusion and Core Burn were completely ineffective against the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, and on top of that, his Soul Strike spell wasn¡¯t effective either. Think, think, think. Xavier was trapped. One of the beast¡¯s two tails had his right arm, the other his left leg. He wasn¡¯t able to move out of the way. Using the swiftness of his mind, he went through all the spells he had, and the Imbued Abilities, trying to come up with an answer. Spiritual Trifecta, Spirit Break, Spirit Infusion, Soul Harvest, Soul Strike, Soul Block, Soul Harden, Soul Shatter, Soul Puppet, Summon Otherworldly Spirit, Otherworldly Communion, Willpower Infusion, Hover Dodge, Time Alteration, Enhanced Telekinetic Strike, Time Prison, Core Burn¡­ His mind turned through all of the spells, until finally he came up with a combination he hoped would help him. Heavy Telekinesis and Hover Dodge! It wasn¡¯t much, but it felt like his only option. As the second strike from Xavier¡¯s own weapon came at him, Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey was pushed backward with so much force that its tails both lost their grip on Xavier. With the use of Hover Dodge, Xavier was able to throw himself in the opposite direction. This was the only reason the gambit worked. Xavier sighed in relief as the thing soared back to the ground. Xavier was falling too, though not quite as fast. He also had much better control of himself in the air than the enemy beast did, what with Hover Dodge and his Aerial Combat skill. He looked forward to meeting back up with Justin in the future and showing him what he could do¡ªthough it wasn¡¯t like Xavier had the ability to fly. Though if he were to ever gain the ability to fly, he couldn¡¯t help but imagine himself with large, bat-like wings¡­ the robes, the scythe, the wings, that would be quite a sight. As Xavier was falling back to the ground he cast Time Alteration, glad he was able to use the spell once more since gaining his last level. He made sure he was far enough away that the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey wasn¡¯t near him¡ªthat it wouldn¡¯t be within the sphere of influence of his time bubble. Xavier did, however, ensure that he captured quite a few of the Rhinoceros Monkeys. It was harder to fight the monkeys this close without his scythe, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. Xavier dodged this way and that. He gritted his teeth. Without his scythe¡­ He counted the number of Rhinoceros Monkeys he¡¯d trapped within his time bubble¡ªthere were three hundred cramped within it¡ªthen he cast Soul Strike, packing six hundred souls into it. White lightning erupted from Xavier¡¯s hands. Soul apparitions¡ªevery single one of them of a Rhinoceros Monkey¡ªsprang to life and hurtled toward the beasts. The beasts died in an instant. Xavier landed back on the ground. He was surrounded by corpses. Lots and lots of corpses. He sighed and sat in the dirt after making room for himself, then promptly put his head in his hands. This wasn¡¯t the way things had been supposed to go. He looked at the cooldown for his Time Prison spell. Time Prison has a cooldown of 15 minutes. It cannot be used for another 14 minutes and 54 seconds. Six seconds? Only six seconds had passed since that damned thing had gotten out of the Time Prison? Xavier took the time he had in the bubble to think things through. It was nice and quiet in here. Calm. Still. An illusion, given all that was going on outside of the time dilation field. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey is damned strong. At Level 290, it¡¯s the most powerful beast I¡¯ve ever faced. It must have been able to break out of the Time Prison so quickly because of that. Xavier had only just gotten the Time Prison spell. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to experiment with it. He hadn¡¯t expected to need to use it farming low-level beasts. Felicia clearly knew about the alpha¡­ But now wasn¡¯t the time to get mad. Now, he had to think and devise a plan. He didn¡¯t have his weapon. First thing was first, he needed to get his damned weapon back! But that was easier than it sounded. I still need to kill all of the alpha¡¯s brethren. I can¡¯t fight it with them around. I can barely fight it at all, with it being immune to so many of my spells¡­ He raised his chin and looked around at the corpses within the bubble. There was¡­ something, itching at the back of his mind. An idea slowly forming. He titled his head to the side. The Rhinoceros Monkeys. They were E Grade, like he was. They were tough for E Grades. But, regardless, the beasts were E Grade¡­ Which meant he could use their parts with his Assimilate Properties skill. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened and he perked up for... about half a second, until he realised that even though he had the Dismantle skill, the skill was only Rank 1. And he didn¡¯t have his Midnight Scythe, or any other blade for that matter. How was he supposed to cut through these things? Xavier almost dismissed the plan altogether, but he had time to explore his options while he was within the Time Alteration spell. There was no point dismissing it when he literally had hours to investigate if it could work. Patience, Xavier told himself. Order your thoughts. He let out a breath and did just that, allowing him to better focus on the task at hand. He stood and stepped over to the nearest Rhinoceros Monkey. He tilted his head to the side, looking at it in detail. The beast had ferocious looking claws, a single tail¡ªunlike the alpha¡ªand the horn at its head. Xavier tapped a foot on the ground. If he were able to take off that horn¡­ He grabbed the horn, put a foot on the beast¡¯s chest, and pulled. Xavier was strong. Damned strong. He would be able to crush a normal human¡¯s bones with his bare hands. But the horn? It wasn¡¯t budging. He wasn¡¯t able to pull out any of the beast¡¯s claws or teeth, either. Not with nothing but his bare hands. Still, he kept trying, for lack of anything better to do right now. Then an idea occurred to him. He laid the Rhinoceros Monkey onto its back. He stood on its shoulders and found a rock that he put under the base of the horn. Then he cast Heavy Telekinesis on the top half of the horn. Snap. The horn broke off. Xavier¡¯s plan might just work. Book 4: Chapter 55 - Horn, Tooth, Claw, and Tail Xavier gripped the Rhinoceros Monkey horn in his hand. Dismantle has reached Rank 21! Dismantle has reached rank 22! He grinned. The horns were sharp. Sharp enough that he could use them to cut through the beasts. He was working on cutting through the tenth beast now, gaining roughly two ranks for every beast he carved through. The properties were gathering beside him in a pile. Horns. Claws. Teeth. Tails. Eyes. Bones. It was gruesome work, but each time he gained another rank, with that rank came something else¡­ understanding. Not just of how to cut and where to cut, but of the beast¡¯s anatomy. This is a strange feeling. He kept at it. Hours must have passed within that bubble as he dismantled every single one of the three hundred beasts he¡¯d slain. The Dismantle skill¡¯s ranks started to slow right down once he¡¯d reached Rank 50, to the point where he didn¡¯t know how he was going to keep pushing it up. Something told him the skill would need to be used on different beasts for it to get stronger than it was. But to have gained forty-nine ranks in a single skill while he was in the time bubble? Well, that seemed like an amazing enough feat on its own. The pile of fragments and parts only grew until it was something that looked¡­ rather unmanageable. He didn¡¯t know how many of the things he wanted to keep and sell to the store. He supposed all of it. There was no point letting any of it go to waste. He had two of the more perfect horns on the ground near the pile, stuck fast in the earth. He would have a use for them soon. But now that he had dismantled every single beast corpse he could reach, there was something else he needed to do. He needed to use his Assimilate Properties skill. He ground down one of the horns, using another horn to do so. It was painstaking work, but it was something that he relished. When he had created a thin powder of the stuff, he withdrew a bottle of water from his Storage Ring and put the powder inside of it. He swirled it around and tried to pretend it was some kind of protein drink. Aren¡¯t rhinoceros horns considered an aphrodisiac? he thought before downing the bottle, wincing as the contents hit his taste buds. It didn¡¯t go down easy. God, it tasted terrible. But he¡¯d consumed it. He tilted his head from side to side and felt the skill work. Felt his body adapting to what he¡¯d just done. Eating the fragments tended to be the easiest way for him to assimilate them. He¡¯d done the same thing on multiple occasions when he¡¯d been fighting the Endless Horde back on the fifth floor. Xavier frowned as time passed with nothing happening, until¡­ Attempting to assimilate Rhinoceros Monkey horn into muscular structure. The material you are assimilating has various properties. You may only draw from one. Choose from the following:
  1. Piercing Damage
  2. Headbutt Damage
Xavier frowned. Headbutt damage? He shook his head and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the thought of him using such a tactic in a fight. He didn¡¯t think it was normal for Denizens with a class in the Reaper line to fight with their head¡­ at least, not literally. No, Headbutt Damage didn¡¯t seem like something that would come in handy for him. But Piercing Damage¡­ that would definitely help him, especially when he had his Midnight Scythe back. Xavier chose the one he wanted. Assimilation is complete. Biological impurities of Rhinoceros Monkey Horn have been assimilated into muscular structure. You have gained the trait: Piercing Damage You have gained +20 Strength! You have gained +20 Toughness! You have gained +20 Willpower! Assimilate Properties has reached Rank 26! Xavier took a step back. Shook his head. That felt good. Really good. He hadn¡¯t gained as many attribute points as he wished he could gain, but those points had been essentially free, and there were still more different properties from the beast that he could use to infuse into himself. He could also infuse the same property multiple times. When his skill had been Rank 25, he¡¯d been able to assimilate the same property ten times. The Elemental Hydra Fang had given him +4 to each attribute it boosted every time he assimilated the property again. Xavier grinned, and kept working. He assimilated the Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s claw, its tooth, and finally, its tail¡ªand he assimilated each of them up to his current cap of ten. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The claw and tooth provided him with the same bonus as the horn¡ªwith each part he gained that gave him piercing damage, it strengthened the bonus that trait had. And more Toughness and Strength was always welcome. The tail, however, was different. It had only one quality to choose from¡ªGrip Strength. It wasn¡¯t on the top of Xavier¡¯s list of things he thought he needed to improve about himself, but something told him it would come in handy¡­ Especially when it came to tearing his Midnight Scythe out of the hands of that damned Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. Unfortunately, once he had assimilated the different properties from the Rhinoceros Monkeys ten times each, he couldn¡¯t keep using the Assimilate Properties skill. He didn¡¯t have any more properties to assimilate. It had gained ten ranks, bringing it to Rank 35, and that he was grateful for, as with each rank of the skill he gained, it strengthened all of his assimilated properties, giving +2 to every attribute that was boosted with each rank. He took a moment to stop and look at his Assimilate Properties skill. Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 35 This is an epic skill that grants you the ability to assimilate foreign properties into your body, mind, and soul if the perfect conditions are met. List of Current Assimilated Properties: F Grade - Wolven Fang - +96 Strength F Grade - Wolven Claw - +96 Speed F Grade - Crucible Steel - +96 Toughness F Grade - Sandstone - +96 Toughness F Grade - Winged Bear Fang - +96 Strength F Grade - Winged Bear Claw - +96 Toughness F Grade - Winged Bear Feather - +96 Speed F Grade - Giant Spider Pincer - +96 Strength F Grade - Giant Spider Eye - +96 Intelligence F Grade - Chimera Fang - +96 Strength F Grade - Chimera Tooth - +96 Speed E Grade - Elemental Hydra Fang - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Tissue Regeneration E Grade - Elemental Hydra Claw - +124 Intelligence, Willpower, and Speed Trait: Passive Elemental Damage (Fire) E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Horn - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Piercing Damage E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Tooth - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Piercing Damage E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Tail - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Grip Strength E Grade - Rhinoceros Monkey Claw - +124 Strength, Toughness, and Willpower Trait: Piercing Damage Reading through all of the attributes he¡¯d gained from the skill, Xavier couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. The skill, for sure, was overpowered. Why he¡¯d ever stopped using it¡­ But as he¡¯d assimilated the properties, and as the skill had ranked up, he¡¯d felt changes in his body¡ªnot just the changes that came from gaining more attributes, though they had been there as well. When he had first used this skill, it had changed him. His fingernails had grown longer and sharper, as had his teeth, and his skin had gained a grey tint. Much of those changes had been smoothed out when he¡¯d advanced to E Grade, but now that he was using the skill again¡ªand with E Grade components¡­ it felt like something was changing within him once more. He looked down at his fingernails. Had they grown longer? Tougher? Sharper? He ran his tongue over his teeth. Did they feel different? He was struggling to tell. Xavier looked at his hand. The skin¡­ it did look more grey. The older version of Xavier he¡¯d encountered had looked perfectly human. Did that mean this would not ultimately change him, or did it simply mean that version of himself had walked down a different path? If it¡¯s the latter, whatever path he walked down led him to seeking me out because he failed. If this path is different, then I should walk it. He turned to the pile of dismantled beast parts, pushing away thoughts on how he might be changing. He could address those later. Right now, he had a job to do. As all of the items in the pile were touching each other, he was able to gather them into one of his spare Storage Rings with a single touch. With that done, Xavier walked toward the edge of the time bubble. When he¡¯d dropped to the ground, he¡¯d fallen into the middle of the stampede. There were still many hundreds of Rhinoceros Monkeys left. He could see his soul puppets among them¡ªevery single one of them was frozen. Xavier contemplated his plan. As he¡¯d been dismantling all of the beasts and assimilating their properties into his body, he¡¯d also been thinking about how he was going to get himself out of this mess. Hours had passed within the bubble, but his Time Alteration spell was strong enough that he still had many more at his disposal. He would have to use them wisely. He tilted his head from one side to the other, cracking it sharply. He¡¯d used Soul Strike to kill the beasts within this bubble, but that wasn¡¯t something he wanted to keep doing. That Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡­ Soul Strike might end up being the best spell for Xavier to use on it, even if it did mean depleting much of the reserve he¡¯d been trying to regain. Better to deplete my reserve than die trying to guard it. The two horns that he¡¯d left stuck in the ground were still there. He grabbed them now, pulling them out of the dirt. He held them tightly, one in each hand. He tested his grip on them. It felt strong. Stronger than before? He couldn¡¯t tell¡ªbut it must have been with the Grip Strength trait that he¡¯d gained, not to mention all the extra points in Strength. Stepping back to the edge of the bubble, Xavier mentally prepared himself for what he was going to do next. It certainly wasn¡¯t what his class was designed for, but what else was he going to do right now? He needed to kill every single one of these damned Rhinoceros Monkeys, and he needed to do it without the alpha¡¯s interference. This was the only way that he could think to do that. Xavier expanded the bubble of time. Only slightly¡ªjust enough to let in the nearest pair of Rhinoceros Monkeys. The Rhinoceros Monkeys charged at him. Up this close, he could see the unmitigated fury written on their faces. There was a deep anger in the beasts, one that the Alpa Rhinoceros Monkey had shown the most. Xavier had had the audacity to disturb them, and now every single one of their number wanted him dead. Xavier met the anger with a grin. His fingers wrapped around the horns in his hands, he burst forward, using his superior speed to easily dodge the beasts¡¯ joint attacks. Tails whipped toward him; horns tried to skewer him. He avoided it all, and he did it with ease. With his right hand, he plunged the horn into the head of the first beast. The horn pierced the beast¡¯s tough grey skin, driving through its skull and sinking into the brain hidden within. The beast¡¯s death was not instant¡ªXavier wasn¡¯t able to one-hit these things with physical attacks. Not yet. Xavier drove the second horn into its skull, piercing its brain once more. That¡¯s when the beast died. Xavier watched the light in its eyes dim and widened his own. Two hits? He had killed this beast in two hits? He hadn¡¯t expected such a thing to be possible. He didn¡¯t currently have his Spiritual Trifecta spell active, so it wasn¡¯t boosting his attributes. He also hadn¡¯t used Telekinetic Enhanced Strike. He didn¡¯t see the point in using either one of those skills. Stuck within the time bubble, neither of them would be able to cooldown. He would only be able to use each of them once¡ªit wouldn¡¯t be worth it unless he was in some kind of trouble, and using the spells got him out of it. He didn¡¯t have time to stare at the beast and ponder what he¡¯d done. He moved swiftly, taking out the other Rhinoceros Monkey. He¡¯d only let two of the beasts into his bubble of time. He¡¯d needed to test how effective these horns were. The two beasts dead on either side of him, Xavier¡¯s chest rose and fell, his breathing heavy despite the fact that he wasn¡¯t out of breath. Even with his scythe staff, his physical attacks hadn¡¯t been that strong unenhanced. He had gained many attributes¡­ but was it the Piercing Damage trait that had changed so much for him? Or was there something else going on here? His heart thudded in his chest. His blood surged through his body. He had a lust for battle, one he hadn¡¯t felt in a long while. It was threatening to take him over. There was a part of him that wanted to drop the time bubble altogether, so that he could face the entire herd at once. These beasts were beneath him. He could crush them all. Patience. Order your thoughts. Xavier took a deep, intentional breath, and instantly felt calmer. He looked down at his hand. At his fingers. His eyes widened at what he saw¡ªhis nails had¡­ turned into claws? But right now, they were shortening, almost retracting. What¡¯s happening to me? He¡¯d definitely gained more than he¡¯d bargained for with the Assimilate Properties skill. Book 4: Chapter 56 - Transmogrification Xavier stared at his fingernails. Once they¡¯d gone back to normal, they didn¡¯t change back again. The fight¡­ it had brought something out in him. It had altered his thoughts, his emotions, even his body¡­ because of how he had been changing it. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but remember the description of the werewolf he¡¯d used Identify on back on a previous floor. Some believe that a Denizen studying transmogrification, the art of changing one''s form, accidentally created the first werewolf by making an irreversible change to themselves. He¡¯d wondered if that meant his Assimilate Properties skill could do something similar to him¡­ would that be considered transmogrification? It certainly seemed to be changing his form right now. His breathing was no longer heavy, his heart no longer thudding in his chest. He had chosen this path knowing there might be consequences, unlike the first time he¡¯d walked it. And this time, he wasn¡¯t going to shy away from it. If this was something that was going to change him, then he would let it change him, as long as it brought him power¡ªand as long as he was able to keep those changes in check and remain, essentially, himself. Right now, without his weapon, without his spells being able to cooldown inside the time bubble, he needed to use his physical strength to the best of his ability. He didn¡¯t intend to drop the Time Alteration spell any time soon¡ªwhat he did intend to do was carve a path with his time bubble all around the battlefield until he¡¯d taken out every single one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys and only the alpha remained. He didn¡¯t know if he was powerful enough to make the spell do such a thing. Didn¡¯t know if he could push it that far, or if it would last that long. But he had to try. Xavier pushed the time bubble forward. This time, he didn¡¯t just open it up to two beasts¡ªhe opened it up to ten. Xavier tore through them, a roar escaping his lips as he fought. He embraced it. He didn¡¯t fight like an animal, but nor did he fight like himself. He fought like some combination of man and beast. And as he moved through the enemies, expanding the bubble more and more, he felt changes in his body manifest. His fingernails grew once more into claws. His teeth sharpened. His skin toughened. At one point, he dropped one of the horns from out of his right hand. Instead of using the horn to attack his enemy, he slashed his claws across one of the Rhinoceros Monkeys necks. Blood pumped out of the wound. Xavier was conscious of what he was doing. He had split his mind and was observing himself fight using his Farscope ability. With his mind split, he could keep part of himself in check, ready to rein himself in if he ever needed to. Xavier dropped the other horn. When hundreds of beasts lay dead around him he enforced a pause. He had gained several ranks in Time Alteration as he¡¯d pushed the time dilation field to its limits, moving it around the area¡ªsomething he was glad for. He needed that spell to become more powerful. It was fast becoming one of his most valuable assets. During the fight, Xavier had become a whirlwind of death and destruction. Since coming to this floor, more and more Xavier had been embracing his melee fighting abilities, strengthening his physical attacks¡ªthat was how he¡¯d earned the spell Telekinetic Enhanced Strike in the first place. Without that ability to fight with his scythe, he would not have been able to inflict near as much damage on the Stone Bear as he had. But despite how well this fight right now was going, he was a little wary about walking farther down this path. He had dropped the horns sometime during the fight, killing his enemies with¡­ nothing but his bare hands. Or rather, his bare claws. He¡¯d tore throats, ripped out eyes, snapped necks. At one point, he had even driven his teeth into one of the Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s arms. With his mind split, he¡¯d been able to observe himself in a detached way. But he had also experienced every second of it. He hadn¡¯t felt like himself¡ªhe had felt like something else. Something more primal. And¡­ something powerful. How will my journey toward power change me? He had always chosen whatever would bring him more power, whatever would make him more deadly. At least, he had for the most part¡ªthere were certain classes early on that he had avoided. I said I would embrace this. He looked down at his hands. At the claws. They were retracting, like they had the first time. But it was happening slower. How would he fight once he regained his scythe-staff? He would never let go of that if he could help it. He tilted his head left, then right, making it crack. He dropped his hands and clenched them into fists. He was aware of how¡­ confused he was in taking this path, how he kept teetering one way and then the other, saying he would embrace it, then questioning his actions moments later. He didn¡¯t like the indecision that was taking hold of him. A notification had popped up as he¡¯d fought. He had read it, then promptly tried to ignore its implications, but now he was staring at it once more. You have activated a Racial Shift. You have embraced properties of other races into that of your own as a human. There are shifts happening under the surface of your being. If you continue walking down this path, there will be permanent consequences. One cannot walk backward on the path. He tapped his foot on the ground, felt the claws from his toes brush up against the front of his boots. Xavier stared down at his boots. He bit his lip, felt blood drip into his mouth. His teeth were still sharp¡ªelongated, almost like vampire fangs. The last time he had experienced this, fighting the first two Rhinoceros Monkeys after heavily using the Assimilate Properties skill, his claws had retracted significantly faster. Now, he was sure they were taking much longer. And he was beginning to wonder if they would retract at all. He sighed. I have activated a Racial Shift? He had known, for a while now, that the skill had been changing him. There had been that symbol beside his race in his status for a long time. But he had no idea what he might change into.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it One cannot walk backward on the path. He¡¯d always known that was true, but now it felt truer than ever. Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it right now. He needed to keep fighting. Needed to keep killing these Rhinoceros Monkeys until only the alpha was left, and while he was standing inside a time dilation field, he did not in fact have all the time in the world. The more he pushed the spell, altering the parameters of the time bubble, carving his way through the battlefield, the less time the spell would last. He wouldn¡¯t be able to keep it going forever. Every second counted. Xavier pushed forward. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that this time, his claws didn¡¯t retract at all. If anything, they appeared as though they were getting longer. Sharper. They were certainly becoming easier to use. At some point during the fight¡ªhe lost count of how many of the enemy he had slaughtered¡ªyet another notification appeared in his vision. This one was for a skill. It wasn¡¯t a skill quest, either, like he¡¯d received in the past. He had simply been bequeathed the skill instantly. You have learnt the skill Red In Tooth And Claw! Red In Tooth And Claw ¨C Rank 1 You fight like the beast that you are. You have resorted to fighting like a primal animal, attuning with a power deep inside you that is lost to many naturally sapient races. +20% damage while unarmed. +5% Strength while unarmed +5% Speed while unarmed +5% Toughness while unarmed Xavier blinked as he swiftly read through the description of the skill. This¡­ this was interesting. Again, he didn¡¯t want to abandon the idea of using his scythe-staff¡ªand his Scythe-Staff Mastery skill was stronger than what this offered, but he could see how this would come in handy¡­ He felt the difference instantly. Xavier¡¯s attacks packed far more of a punch. His enemies went down more easily. It wasn¡¯t long before the path he carved through the battlefield reached its end, and the only beast left upon it was the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, still gripping Xavier¡¯s Midnight Scythe in its grubby little hands. Xavier gritted his teeth at the sight of the alpha. An anger boiled up in him, one that took him by surprise. He didn¡¯t think he would feel anger against this beast. Anger wasn¡¯t rational in this situation¡ªXavier had come to fight the pack-herd. He had disturbed it. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey had every right to be angry with Xavier, and the opposite wasn¡¯t true. And yet the anger within him burned. He was itching for a fight with this thing. Itching to dominate it on the battlefield. Itching to kill it. That battle lust had been in him from the moment he¡¯d began fighting after using Assimilate Properties, and it didn¡¯t seem like it was going anywhere. The Time Alteration spell was still active, but he could feel it crumbling around him. Could feel that soon, it would be coming to an end. There was nothing he could do about that. He had mere seconds before he would be fighting this beast. Fortunately, all of the killing had given him something¡ªnot just boosts to his spells or his skills, though he had received a fair number of ranks. Especially in his newest skill, Red In Tooth And Claw. Fighting so many of these beasts had also given him another level¡ªjust the one, to his surprise and dismay. But one more level? That was enough to restore all his spells. Soul Strike was no longer on cooldown, as it had been after he¡¯d killed the initial three hundred Rhinoceros monkeys. Time Prison was also no longer on cooldown, which meant he would be able to use it again in his fight with the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, even if the spell didn¡¯t last all that long on the powerful beast. Xavier still had no weapon, but he didn¡¯t need one. He was going to tear the alpha to shreds. The Time Alteration spell ended. The bubble burst. Time outside the field moved forward at a normal pace once more. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, which was currently forty feet away from Xavier, grinned maliciously as it saw him. Then the reality of its situation dawned on it. It noticed what had happened around it. Noticed all the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys¡ªits brethren, its kin, those it had been sworn to protect. Every single one of them was dead. If the rage this beast had felt before had been intense, that intensity had been amplified a thousand-fold by the realisation that every single one of its pack-herd was now nothing more than a corpse lying on the ground waiting to rot¡ªthat was, of course, assuming Xavier hadn¡¯t dismantled the corpses and gathered up anything useful into his Storage Ring. Something told him the alpha wouldn¡¯t appreciate Xavier¡¯s desecration of their bodies. The beast surged forward on powerful legs. There was something about the way it moved that Xavier couldn¡¯t help but admire. There was something familiar in it¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t noticed before. His perception of the world was changing. It was subtle, at first. When he had been fighting the Rhinoceros Monkeys, he¡¯d slowly began to realise what it was he¡¯d been seeing. He could anticipate how the beasts were going to move. It wasn¡¯t just his Evasion skill at work that had meant he had left each encounter not only unscathed, but growing more and more efficient at slaughtering the beasts in battle. He¡¯d had almost a sixth sense for where the enemy would be, and it had taken him far too long to realise why¡ª He was becoming like these beasts. He had assimilated much of them into his own body. There wasn¡¯t time to contemplate the consequences of that. All he could do was brace himself for the fight that was about to happen. He let the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey come to him. He could almost feel the beast¡¯s rage. There was something to that, as well¡ªthe mental strength of the beast was high, and now that Xavier had assimilated much of its qualities¡ªor, at least, the qualities of its lesser kin¡ªhe felt as though he could almost feel the beast¡¯s mind. A moment before the beast reached him, Xavier leapt into the air on powerful legs. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey leapt up after him, but this time Xavier was ready. He cast Heavy Telekinesis on the beast, pushing it back down to the ground. It slammed into the dirt, the force of the spell and the dense weight of the beast forming a crater in the dirt. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! The two spells hit his enemy in quick succession. Like the first time he¡¯d used the spells on the beast, they barely seemed to do much at all. A Level 290 D Grade¡­ Gods, this thing is tough. Fighting the Rhinoceros Monkeys the way that he had, Xavier had been able to replenish his soulkeeping reserve entirely. He was tempted to use his entire reserve on this beast, just to teach the damned animal a lesson¡ªthat no one messed with Xavier Collins and came out alive. But that would be a waste of his resources. Besides, at this point, he didn¡¯t think he needed it. The alpha Rhinoceros Monkey didn¡¯t take long to regain its feet. It was soon staring up at Xavier with unabashed hatred. Xavier knew what it was going to do next. The horn on the beast¡¯s head glowed red a fraction of a second before a beam of energy burst forth, striking up for Xavier. Xavier used Hover Dodge to easily slip out of the way of the trajectory of the beam. The beam, however, was lasting a lot longer than the inferior Rhinoceros Monkeys¡¯ beams had lasted¡ªhe supposed that shouldn¡¯t have come as a surprise, considering all of those beasts had been a whole one hundred levels weaker than this one. The alpha turned its head, and the beam followed. Xavier, despite his ability to manoeuvre in the air, was unable to move fast enough to dodge the hit. Pain seared through him. The sheer power of the strike threw Xavier backward. Xavier felt panic thrum through him. He had been hit by attacks from D Grades of a lower level than this one and had half of his health instantly taken away from him. With trepidation¡ªeven as he tumbled through the air, trying to regain control of himself¡ªhe looked at his health status. Your health is at 71%. Xavier blinked. The attack had taken 29% percent of his health? While it was still a lot, Xavier had been expecting the damage to be significantly more severe than that. If he were able to see hit points¡ªif such a thing like that even existed within the Greater Universe¡ªhe was sure that that attack was the most powerful attack to have ever struck him in the entire time since he had been integrated. Xavier grinned. He regained his control¡ªhis composure. He flipped in the air and landed on the ground in a crouch, surrounded by the corpses of the dead Rhinoceros Monkeys that he had slain. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey made its way toward him at an impossibly fast sprint. The anger in its eyes had not diminished. Xavier stood his ground. He slammed the same two spells into his enemy that he had used before as he¡¯d leapt¡ªSpirit Break and Soul Shatter. He knew they didn¡¯t do enough to this beast, but all he was trying to do was soften it up. Now that Xavier knew he could take a hit from this thing, he was more willing to let it engage him in a physical confrontation. He wasn¡¯t going to leap away this time. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey closed the gap between them incredibly fast. When it was a mere six feet away, Xavier burst forward in a flash of speed. The beast¡¯s tails whipped out, as though they were going to grab him. This time, Xavier was prepared. He dodged one tail and grabbed the other tight in his hand. His Grip Strength trait made it so that the beast couldn¡¯t take back its tail, but it didn¡¯t look as though it was worried. It had gotten as close as it needed to. It swung Xavier¡¯s scythe-staff directly at him. Xavier didn¡¯t move to dodge¡ªhe could see the surprise written on the beast¡¯s face at that. Instead, Xavier used an ability he rarely used, but one that he valued. Xavier activated the imbued ability of his Midnight Robes¡ªOtherworld Phase. His Midnight Scythe sailed straight through him as though he wasn¡¯t there at all. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but grin at the sight of the utter bewilderment written on his enemy¡¯s face. The Otherworld Phase didn¡¯t last long. Xavier took the beast¡¯s shock as an opportunity. He gripped onto his scythe-staff as the beast pulled it back toward himself. His fingers wrapped around the shaft of his scythe-staff and held fast. A tug of war began. Xavier¡¯s grip was strong¡ªstronger than it had ever been¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t as strong as the beast he faced. Neither Xavier nor the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey were willing to let go of the scythe-staff. There was a loud creaking sound. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. He knew what that was¡ªbut before he could do anything about it, his Midnight Scythe snapped in half. Book 4: Chapter 57 - Battle Lust Snaaaaaaap! Xavier¡¯s eyes widened in shock. In the tug of war between himself and the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, his Midnight Scythe had snapped clean in half. Shock was written on the alpha¡¯s face just the same. It was strange seeing shock after so much rage had been etched on it since Xavier¡¯s first glance of the beast. The sound was a terrible one. Fragments of the staff¡ªdark splinters from the break¡ªflew through the air like shrapnel from a dirty bomb. Bits of the staff embedded themselves into Xavier¡¯s robes, going so far as to dig into his skin, though they didn¡¯t do him any damage. The splinters of the scythe-staff didn¡¯t harm the D Grade beast Xavier faced. A yawning pit seemed to open up in Xavier¡¯s stomach. He hadn¡¯t wielded the Midnight Scythe long, but it had been the strongest weapon he¡¯d ever possessed. Strange, how he felt this loss so acutely for something he simply picked up at the System Shop. There wasn¡¯t time for him to dwell on the loss, however. Xavier took the opportunity of the alpha being in shock to strike out with his newly acquired claws. He cast Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, wondering if the spell would even work now that he didn¡¯t wield an external weapon¡ªhe certainly wouldn¡¯t have been able to use Heavy Telekinesis to help him in this situation like he had used it with his scythe-staff. The spell worked. Xavier¡¯s strike was strengthened. He had aimed his attack at the beast¡¯s exposed neck. His reach wasn¡¯t near as long as the long-armed monkey-beast, but up this close he didn¡¯t need it to be. A gash opened up on the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s neck. Four long gouges spurting blood. The beast had yet more shock on its face as it clutched a hand to the wound. But its counterattack came swiftly. The two tails gripped onto Xavier with such force that he wasn¡¯t sure he would be able to budge them in the same way as he had before¡ªto the point where he thought some sort of spell must be involved. The fact the tails glowed a harsh orange only supported his assertion. Xavier didn¡¯t struggle. He didn¡¯t cast Heavy Telekinesis and Hover Dodge like he had before. And he was no longer in a position to use Otherworld Phase, as that imbued ability was still in cooldown. Instead, he clamped his teeth into one of the beast¡¯s tails and chomped down with all his might. The skill, Red In Tooth And Claw, had gained several ranks during the fighting, only further enhancing every single one of Xavier¡¯s unarmed attacks. Like the one he had just performed. A screeching scream came from the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey as Xavier¡¯s teeth dug into his prey. The tail, though strong and tough, was cut clean through by Xavier¡¯s teeth. It came off, and the grip it had on him loosened, but there was still one more tail on him. Xavier took that moment to cast more spells. He used Spirit Break on the beast yet again, and after the physical attacks it had just suffered, the spell appeared to have more of an effect than it ever had on the beast in the past. It¡¯s becoming vulnerable. Xavier thought the beast¡¯s rage would somehow make it drop its mental guard, but he had quickly realised that this beast¡ªmuch like its brethren that Xavier had slain¡ªused anger as fuel. It wasn¡¯t something Xavier could goad it into in the hopes that the beast would have cracks in its mental defence. But apparently hurting it physically had a different effect¡­ Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the beast once more. He didn¡¯t know how much damage the spell did, but it was enough to make the alpha stumble backward in pain. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey did not remain idle. With its remaining tail still gripped around Xavier, it pulled him close and tore a claw straight at his robes¡ªor, at least, it tried to. Xavier cast Soul Block. He used five souls in the spell¡ªnot a massive amount, but enough, he hoped, to blunt this attack. Soul Block had a similar problem to Soul Strike¡ªits cooldown was calculated based on how many souls one infused into it, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the spell for another five seconds. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s claw was blunted by the soul apparitions that appeared, but the attack was not fully thwarted. It still thudded into his chest and knocked the air straight out of him, taking away 5 percent of his health in the mix. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but grin back at the beast, however, as 5 percent of his health wasn¡¯t a great deal. Xavier grabbed at the beast¡¯s arm before it was out of his reach and dug his claws deep into the alpha¡¯s flesh. Heavy Telekinesis! Xavier¡¯s feet were dug deep in the ground. Not just his feet, either¡ªthe claws that had grown from them. He¡¯d managed to tear through the front of his boots, and now he was clinging to the ground as strongly as he could manage. The Heavy Telekinesis spell pushed the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey backward. With only a single tail holding onto Xavier, it wasn¡¯t enough for the beast to keep its grip on him. The alpha was thrown backward through the air. As it was thrown backward, Xavier¡¯s claws gauged a long line through the beast¡¯s arm. Core Burn! The spell slammed into his enemy midair. Previously, the spell hadn¡¯t had any effect on the beast. Its mental toughness¡ªits Willpower¡ªhad simply been too strong. It had resisted his attack easily. This time, however, Xavier was sure there were cracks in that mental barrier. The Core Burn spell didn¡¯t appear to hurt it, but it did appear to occupy some of the beast¡¯s attention. Xavier stepped forward as two of his spells reached the ends of their cooldowns. Spirit Break! Soul Shatter! Once more he slammed the spells into his enemy, once more he saw the damage they wrought. It wasn¡¯t enough¡ªnot nearly enough¡ªbut it was a start. Xavier stepped over one of the broken halves of his Midnight Scythe as he headed toward the beast that had been responsible for destroying it. All around them, his enemies lay dead. Thousands of corpses left to rot in the sun. Soon, he was sure, the carrion eaters would be there to clean the area of the beasts. Time would go by, and at some point in the near future it would look as though the beasts had never existed at all. That was the fate he wished the alpha to suffer. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey flipped through the air and landed easily on the ground. It roared and leapt straight back at Xavier. There was something different in the way that it moved. Something more¡­ violent than before. Xavier had seen this beast¡¯s rage. Now he was seeing what the beast was like when it was wounded¡ªwhen it felt cornered. Something glowed about the beast¡¯s horn. It wasn¡¯t the red, now-familiar glow of one of these beast¡¯s energy beams. This was altogether different.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. A wall sprang up around the beast. A translucent barrier that didn¡¯t stretch more than half a foot in front of it. Xavier stared at the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey as it bounded toward him, wondering what this defence was. He cast another of his spells against the beast¡ªthe barrier, however, stopped the spell from working at all. Xavier blinked, a little awestruck by that fact. The description of the beast did say that it was able to conjure defences. He supposed that wasn¡¯t limited to dispersing attacks onto its brethren like he might have thought. Another glow appeared, this time it was green and surrounded the beast entirely. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey began to move even faster than before. Speed Infusion. Its D Grade, of course it would have multiple cores unlocked. Xavier wanted to stand his ground, but he worried that even with all the physical strength and power he¡¯d gained from his Assimilate Properties skill, he was still no match for this beast up close. If I had my scythe-staff¡­ But he didn¡¯t have his scythe-staff. Xavier had a decision to make. A grin alighted on his face. He mourned the loss of his weapon¡ªfelt it more deeply than he¡¯d expected. And he wished revenge against the beast that had taken it from him, then subsequently let it be destroyed. Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. It was time for him to call upon the Spirit of Vengeance once more. He simply hoped his reason for revenge would be enough this time. He knew he could have called upon the Spirit of Protection¡ªthe spirit¡¯s defences would have helped him in this situation quite well. He would likely be able to duke it out with the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey until he¡¯d broken down its mental defences enough for not only Core Burn to hurt it, but for Willpower Infusion to work on it. But he couldn¡¯t help but want to summon the dragon once more. Colour drained from the world as a now-familiar humming sounded in his ear. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier chose the Spirit of Vengeance. A bright light formed, and soon, the dragon could once more be seen standing before Xavier. It moved its massive head from side to side and let out a large sigh of relief. Young Denizen, it is good to see you once more. The giant dragon cocked its head to one side. Though I do hope that you have summoned me for a legitimate reason. It leant forward, so that its teeth were only a scant few feet from Xavier¡¯s head. Xavier could not smell its breath¡ªthe beast was not entirely corporeal¡ªand for that he was grateful. I would hate to have to rip you to shreds and devour you where you stand. It¡¯s been many years since I¡¯ve tasted the blood of a reaper. Xavier narrowed his eyes. You don¡¯t sound all that cut up about the prospect of killing me. Death comes to all things. I enjoy being the one to deal it. Right. Xavier scratched his head. Well, there will be no dealing of my death today. He bobbed his head toward the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. That beast¡­ A scowl took up residence on Xavier¡¯s forehead. It stole my weapon, then the weapon was broken in two as I tried to retrieve it. The Spirit of Vengeance threw back its head and laughed. You call upon my revenge for a broken weapon? You play a dangerous game, teetering on what is possible with these spells, young Denizen. Were I another spirit, I might deem that it wasn¡¯t enough. That weapon meant a great deal to me. There was resolve in Xavier¡¯s words, but¡­ they were thin. And¡­ I have a link on a vessel for your spirit. This got the dragon¡¯s attention. Its gaze locked on Xavier¡¯s like a snake staring at a mouse. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he liked that gaze. You wish to summon me into the mortal realm? The dragon¡¯s voice sounded different than it had before. There was a seriousness to the tone that Xavier hadn¡¯t heard from the spirit from the Otherworld. And something else. A hint of¡­ hope? I do not simply wish it, dragon. I will do it. Mark my words. The dragon tilted its head up, looking down at Xavier through half-slitted eyes. Do you know, I actually believe you. The dragon turned toward the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. I sense this beast is even more powerful than the one you had me face before it. But I also sense you have grown much in power since then¡­ A pause. And yet, not much time has passed. Xavier nodded. He took that moment to look about the battlefield. Discarded, almost forgotten, were his soul puppets. They had been stuck outside the time bubble as he¡¯d fought, but now that the time bubble was down, perhaps there could be a use for them once more. He had created a hundred of them¡ªfar more than he had ever managed in the past. Once time started moving forward again, Xavier would ensure that he sent them a mental command so that they would once more join the fray. I shall fight for you once more, young Denizen, and hope that you hold yourself to your words. Us spirits have long memories. I will not be lied to. Xavier hadn¡¯t heard such venom in the dragon¡¯s words before. It made Xavier wonder if perhaps the Spirit of Vengeance had been through this before. When he had used Otherworldly Communion, the spirit he had spoken to had told him that many spirits from the Otherworld wished to gain passage back into the mortal realm. How many times had the dragon tried just such a thing with a Denizen who had summoned it, and only ever been met with false hope? Xavier had renewed vigour in his plan to secure a vessel for the dragon, even if it wasn¡¯t something that he could do at present. Time moved forward once more. Colour returned to the world. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey faltered in its run as it saw the dragon appear as though from nowhere. The dragon swooped into the air then curled its wings at its side as it plummeted straight down toward the beast. A beam of red light shot from the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s horn, but the beam simply went straight through the dragon as though it wasn¡¯t there at all. And, in a sense, it wasn¡¯t there. The dragon opened its giant maw and let forth a stream of ice and fire as it had in the past. The attack struck the alpha head on, and¡ªunlike the Magma Bull¡ªit did not appear to have any resistance to the spell. Ice spread over its body even as the fire burned through it. Xavier didn¡¯t know how both elements could work as one without cancelling each other out, but if he was going to start asking how things worked in the Greater Universe, he¡¯d never run out of questions and never get anything else done. The Alpha Rhinoceros Monkeys movements slowed as the ice overtook its body. The effects, Xavier knew, wouldn¡¯t last long, so he had to make the best of them as swiftly as possible. Xavier burst forward in a sprint. On each step, his claws clacked against the forest floor. It was a strange sensation; one he wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to get used to. The dragon swooped back into the air after its attack. It was turning back around fast for another strike. Xavier reached the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey first. He felt a deep rage well up within. A primal force. The battle lust was upon him, and his enemy was more vulnerable than ever. Telekinetic Enhanced Strike! Xavier cast the spell as he slashed his claws across the beast¡¯s chest, tearing through its tough skin and making the alpha bleed once more. Power welled up within him as the blood dripped from the wound. Something in him wished to lap it up, but he fought that instinct¡ªhe was not a beast. He was still himself. Slash! He went for the neck, reopening the first wounds he¡¯d made on this beast. Xavier tore, and gouged, and cut, and slashed, and maimed. His mind was split in two. He observed himself and all that he was doing to his enemy. There was a ferocity to the movements that surprised him. He was not moving like a reaper¡ªhe was moving like someone, something else. And even the mind that was not connected to what was happening enjoyed it. This battle lust¡­ this blood lust, it was infecting every part of him. Not once had his claws retracted again. There was an odd noise happening somewhere near him. A strange hacking-coughing sound. It was deep and powerful and filled the entire battlefield. Sometime during Xavier¡¯s strikes a notification popped up into his vision. A kill notification for the beast he was fighting. Xavier ignored it. He kept striking the beast. It took a moment for the other part of his mind¡ªthe one that was supposed to be observing using his Farscope ability, keeping detached¡ªto rein him in and stop the attacks. His chest was rising and falling even more swiftly than before. Blood thrummed through his veins. The corpse of the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey lay at his feet. Another notification had popped up¡ªhe had just reached Level 170¡ªbut Xavier ignored it. He was too busy staring down at the pool of blood that was soaking the dirt beneath the dead beast. That¡¯s when he realised what that strange, deep, coughing sound had been. It was the Spirit of Vengeance¡¯s laughter. The dragon had been watching the fight, laughing its head off. You summoned me to fight and yet you deal death to the enemy so swiftly. I do not often notice the details in humanoid Denizens, for you all¡ªno matter the race¡ªlook so similar to me, but something tells me there has been a change in you, young Denizen. I did not think you possessed claws in the past. Xavier was still staring down at the blood, wanting nothing more than to lap it up. He took a step toward it before he stopped himself and blinked. He shook his head. Some of the battle lust he¡¯d been feeling was leaving him. He looked down at his hands. At the claws that had formed. The Spirit of Vengeance had been summoned to fight the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, and with its prey dead it disappeared back to the Otherworld. Xavier stood alone on the battlefield, wondering what was becoming of him. And wondering why it was he liked it so much. He knelt in the dirt, blood touching his robes, and placed a hand on the alpha. Xavier deposited the corpse of the beast into his Storage Ring. When he was D Grade, he would be able to use Assimilate Properties on parts dismantled from the beast. And right now, he wanted nothing more than to do that. Book 4: Chapter 58 - The Beast Xavier sped back to the grove where he knew Liana would be waiting. The further removed he was from the battle he¡¯d just been in, the more doubt crept into him. That was not how one such as him fought. He reaped souls. Used spells. He did not tear and rip and claw. It made him wonder what would happen when he reached D Grade and was given his next class choice. What kind of options would he unlock if he continued down this path? He had contemplated returning to Hunter¡¯s Home and slipping back into the Staging Room to purchase a new scythe-staff, but he had been hoping that his next weapon would be a soul bound one¡ªand with his newly acquired unarmed combat skill¡­ he was confused about what path to walk. On his return to the grove, Xavier had slain several beasts, ensuring that his soulkeeping reserve was at its fullest after having used those five souls in Soul Block. He returned to the clearing to find Liana sitting on her favourite armchair, flipping over to the next page in the book she was reading, with a scattering of different beast corpses around her. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve returned.¡± Liana snapped the book shut. ¡°I thought you would be a bit faster than¡ª¡± The time mage stopped her words short as she got a look at him. ¡°What the hell did you do?¡± Xavier cast Time Alteration. There was something comforting about being inside of that spell, inside of one of his time bubbles. He felt better having long conversations in one of them too. A time dilation field now around them, Xavier stepped over to the middle of the grove and summoned a chair of his own to sit on. He sunk into it and let out a sigh. He only considered for a moment whether he should lie about what he¡¯d been doing, or simply hold back from saying anything about it at all. But he had no reason to keep this from Liana. Besides, she knew far more about, well, everything, in the Greater Universe than he did. So Xavier explained to the woman exactly what he had done, and exactly what predicament he had found himself in. ¡°Is this a dangerous path to walk?¡± he said, once he¡¯d gotten to the end. Liana had been peering at him was a blank face for the time that he had spoken. Considering the nature of the way that Xavier trained within the time dilation field, he¡¯d actually spend more time with this woman that anyone else since he had been integrated into the Greater Universe by the System¡ªan odd thing to contemplate. It was rare the woman remained so quiet¡ªrare she looked so serious. She did not respond right away. She took her time. Their conversations went like this, on occasion. Time was not an issue here, and so sometimes their responses stretched. As they were both practiced in the art of patience¡ªLiana far more so than Xavier¡ªit hadn¡¯t bothered him. Until now. When she finally responded, Xavier felt as though hours had passed, though he knew it been a scant few minutes. ¡°I have heard of Racial Shifts before, but this¡­ this is an unusual way to activate one. And the skill is an epic skill¡­ Those are more rare than you might think. The more I get to know you, the more layers I peel pack and find something even stranger lying beneath.¡± ¡°Uh, thanks,¡± Xavier replied. Liana shook her head. ¡°There is nothing wrong with being strange.¡± She lowered her head. ¡°I wish I knew what advice to give you. I don¡¯t have any experience with what you¡¯re doing, and I have no idea how it will affect you or your class choices in the future.¡± Xavier nodded. If he were honest with himself¡ªand he always tried to be-he hadn¡¯t expected the woman to magically come up with an answer for him. This was outside of the realm of normal, even when ¡°normal¡± had an incredibly broad definition. There was someone¡ªor rather, something¡ªhe could ask insight from, however. Otherwordly Communion was not in cooldown. He could easily summon a spirit to speak his questions to. He lowered his head in contemplation, wondering how he would even phrase his question. ¡°Is this a good idea?¡± sounded like too vague a way of doing it. He imagined asking a spirit from the Otherworld for insight was much like getting a wish from a genie¡ªif he wasn¡¯t specific enough, what he got in return might not be what he was after at all. Xavier clasped his hands together, looking at the claws. He had been out of combat for a little while now, and still they remained the same. He ran his tongue over his teeth. Shifted his feet, his claws clacking on the floor of the grove. Xavier had several paths that he was walking. He considered his main path to be that of a reaper. He took souls from the dead and he used them in battle¡ªeven if that hadn¡¯t been his primary means of attack since coming to this floor. He also had the ability of mind control with Willpower Infusion, with that path came the spell Core Burn. This had allowed him to deal tremendous blows against enemies, rendering them helpless against him, or even briefly turning them into his allies. He also had the path of melee fighting, which had recently become more powerful with the addition of Telekinetic Enhanced Strike. Though this path had grown stronger, he still considered it to be his weakest asset. Finally, there was the path he was walking the most on this floor¡ªthat of a time mage. He now had two spells for this path¡ªTime Alteration and Time Prison. Xavier was sure that it was unusual for a single Denizen to be able to walk so many different path toward power. Liana had spoken to him of this already, saying what an oddity he was, even before he¡¯d told her about Assimilate Properties and how it was currently changing him. Could I walk down yet another path? Or would this path simply be the path of melee fighting, enhanced and changed dramatically? He had wanted to find a soul bound weapon. Something that could grow in power with him, so that he would not have to keep finding new weapons what felt like every single week. He outgrew every single piece of gear that he attained. Xavier remembered looking at the Stave of the Otherworldly Reaper in the System Shop, staring at the price of the thing, wondering if one day that could be a weapon that he wielded. Scythe-staff weapons had become a part of his identity, and yet¡­ Could this be the solution to me outgrowing gear? Instead of finding gear that grows with me, could I not simply grow myself? He looked down at the Dark Steel Bracers about his forearms, and thought of the imbued abilities that items could offer him. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think gear would help him, just that¡­ this could be a way to circumvent his need to always gain more items. But it wasn¡¯t just the practical aspects of this path that he needed to consider. He also had to consider the fact that during that fight, the battle lust had taken over him to such a degree that he had almost lost his own will. He had stared down at the blood on the ground and a part of him had wanted to¡­ lap it up. He only now wondered at what would have happened if he¡¯d given into that urge. What if drinking the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡¯s blood had activated his Assimilate Properties skill? He shook his head. That would not have been good¡ªbut that didn¡¯t happen. He hadn¡¯t let the bestial part of him that was growing take over. He had used it to his advantage. His Time Alteration spell was incredibly powerful, but it had its drawbacks. One of those drawbacks was that he couldn¡¯t reliably use spells within the time dilation field.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He could use spells within it¡ªbut only a single time, unless he had some way of cooling down his spells, like gaining a level, or the imbued ability that he¡¯d lost when his scythe-staff had been taken from his grasp then split in two. Or even slowing time in the bubble down so time outside of it moved faster like he had with the Stone Bear. But the way he had fought the pack-hard of Rhinoceros Monkeys, he hadn¡¯t needed any spells¡ªhis physical fighting abilities had won out. He pondered different situations in which he could use that to his advantage. He could trap mages, whose power was in their spells, within a time dilation field. That way, there would be a hard limit on what they could do inside the time bubble. And he could tear them apart with claw and tooth. He found himself grinning at that and noticed that his teeth stabbed into his bottom lip. ¡°Well, that looks sinister,¡± Liana remarked. She opened her book back up and began reading. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re deep in thought. Let me know when you wish to continue your training.¡± Xavier remained silent. The woman didn¡¯t need for him to respond to know that he had heard her. Contemplating walking down this path of power made Xavier aware just how many paths he was walking. He had never really stopped to think about how versatile his spellset was, even if he had been told that in the past. He had simply been gathering spells and skills as he went along, embracing that which he found useful and building upon them, like he imagined any other Denizen in the Greater Universe would. But Xavier was clearly unlike other Denizens in several respects¡ªone of those being that he had been visited by the Voice of the System. Could the System have something to do with why I¡¯m able to walk so many paths? Could it have changed me, somehow? Or is this all me? He didn¡¯t really like the idea of the System giving him an edge like that, and he didn¡¯t really think that was what was going on here, either. The older version of himself had said that the System didn¡¯t give people levels and titles¡ªthat it just facilitated them. That was still something Xavier didn¡¯t understand. The System could put him into difficult situations that forced his growth¡ªlike how it threw him into the hundredth floor¡ªand it could reward him for his actions, but it couldn¡¯t force him to walk down any particular path. Every single choice that he had made had been his own¡ªeven if he was wrong about that, he didn¡¯t want to think otherwise. He turned away from that train of thought. He tapped his clawed foot on the ground as he contemplated his next move. He could call upon a spirit from the Otherworld to ask them advice on this, but a part of him worried about what answer he would receive to his question. He sighed. It was a question that needed to be asked. And so, Xavier cast Otherworldly Communion. Once more the world bled its colour. Once more time froze for him and him alone. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. Xavier chose Personal Insight and, as instructed, held the question he had for the spirit in his mind. A bright light blossomed in his vision, one that quickly dissipated to reveal the spirit he had summoned to answer his question. He¡¯d half-expected to see the spirit he¡¯d seen the last time that he¡¯d used this spell¡ªthe one that had been, well, a hamster. But this was something altogether different. It was humanoid, that much was clear, but it had the head of a tiger, the tusks of a boar, the legs of a goat, and the wings of¡­ well, he wasn¡¯t quite sure what creature¡ªother than this one¡ªmight possess wings like that. Perhaps they were that of an eagle? Xavier blinked at the sight of the strange creature. Why have you summoned me here, Denizen? The voice was a deep rumble, though not near as deep as the Spirit of Vengeance. I wish to ask a question. Xavier detailed his Assimilate Properties skill, what it had been doing to him and how it had influenced his mind, along with the Racial Shift notification that he¡¯d received. I wish to know if walking down this path will cause the beast to take over. Above all, I wish to remain myself. The strange creature stared at him. It stood tall at eight feet in height and looked down at him through snake-like eyes. It was a long moment before the beast replied to Xavier¡¯s question. The moment stretched so long that Xavier almost asked the question a second time, and was starting to wonder if this odd-looking creature could understand him at all. You are mistaken, the creature finally said, its voice a deep rumble in Xavier¡¯s mind. Mistaken? Xavier frowned. What do you mean? The creature tilted its head to one side. You speak as though there are two entities within you. He motioned toward Xavier¡¯s chest, pointing with two clawed fingers. The claws looked far sharper than Xavier¡¯s own. But that is simply not the case. Whether you embrace this path or not, the parts of you that you have assimilated are not other¡ªit is not you and the beast. You are you, and you are the beast. By adapting your body in this way, you are altering not just your mind, but your very soul. Xavier blinked, contemplating what the creature had just said. He looked at the ground, his forehead creasing in thought. I think my question remains. You must be careful what you do. That is all the advice that I can give you on this matter. Walk the path you choose¡ªdo not let the path choose you. If this is what you are going to do, always ensure you are taking in things that do not change you in ways you do not wish to be changed. As you grow, you will better learn how to harness and influence these changes within yourself. He put a hand to his chest. Just as I eventually learnt the same my own journey. Xavier stared at the creature with the odd amalgamation of body parts. He had thought, the moment he had seen this spirit from the Otherworld, that perhaps it had done similar things to what Xavier was doing now. Looking at the beast¡ªor, he supposed it wasn¡¯t a beast, but a Denizen¡ªmade him worry about his own future. I can¡¯t ask any more questions, can I? Not until the next time you summon me. The creature disappeared. The conversation ending before Xavier was ready for it to end. Apparently whatever controlled this spell¡ªperhaps the creature he had just spoken to¡ªhad deemed his conversation over. The world shifted, time began to move forward again. Though that wasn¡¯t strictly true, as he was still within the time dilation field. Liana was staring at him intently. ¡°What is it you just did?¡± Xavier looked over at the time mage. ¡°What do you mean? What do you think just happened?¡± The woman shook her head, a slight look of doubt on her face. Her gaze turned downward. ¡°I thought I had sensed¡­ a shift in time, as though something powerful was exerting its influence upon it in this area.¡± Xavier leant forward. ¡°You sensed that?¡± ¡°That?¡± Liana asked. ¡°What do you mean by that? What exactly is it that you did?¡± Xavier explained his Otherwordly Communion spell to the woman, telling her the question he¡¯d just asked. ¡°You are the beast¡­¡± Liana trailed off. Blinked. Then stared at Xavier. ¡°I wish I could offer some kind of insight on this. Honestly, that¡¯s a dumb way to answer your question.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯ve learnt anything. It was a waste of the spell.¡± And, as with every other time he had used an Otherworldly spell, he knew that it would have hidden effects¡ªknew that it could cause damage to his soul. Though Xavier had been honest to Liana about many things, that was one thing that he had decided to keep to himself. ¡°So, what are you going to do?¡± Liana asked. ¡°From what I hear, this is a powerful skill you¡¯ve got.¡± Xavier looked down at his claws. ¡°It is. Though I¡¯m not sure about how it¡¯s changing me.¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°Every skill and spell that you gain, every experience you have or person you meet, will change you in some way. This is just something that will change you in a different way.¡± Xavier scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s not helpful.¡± Liana shrugged again. ¡°I did say I couldn¡¯t offer any insight.¡± Xavier took a moment to think. Liana turned back to her book. She could tell when he needed some silence, which was something Xavier was grateful for. He wasn¡¯t good at asking for such a thing¡ªhe never knew what the right words to make sure the other person he was with wasn¡¯t offended was. He stood up and paced around the inside of the time bubble that he¡¯d created. His claws clacked against the ground. That was something he was already getting used to, even if the sensation was a strange one. He wondered if there was a difference in his gait, in the way that he walked, to before he had taken in all of these different properties. I am the beast. It sounded like the spirit thought that realisation would be some mighty revelation. To Xavier, it felt¡­ flat. I am the beast¡­ The way he had ripped into the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey¡­ if he was to believe the words of the Otherworldly spirit, and he didn¡¯t doubt the spirit¡¯s truthfulness, it would mean that what he¡¯d done back there¡­ it had all been him. He¡¯d been the one to rip out its throat, one strike with his mighty claws at a time. He¡¯d acted like¡­ an animal, the way that he had lost control. Or, well, that wasn¡¯t strictly true. He hadn¡¯t entirely lost control. He had performed the exact task that he had set out to do¡ªkill the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. He¡¯d just done it more viscerally than he¡¯d expected. If I am the beast, then I can control it. He stopped pacing and looked down at his claws. He tilted his head to one side and truly examined them. Patience. Order your thoughts. I am the beast¡ªI am in control. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how long he stood there, staring down at his claws. It didn¡¯t truly matter how much time passed, something far more important was passing in his mind. An understanding of himself that he hadn¡¯t had before was developing the deeper he delved into his unconscious. Eventually, something clicked. Xavier discovered the mechanism he was after. It existed within him, and he exerted his will upon it. The claws retracted. The beast could not take over, for Xavier was the beast. Book 4: Chapter 59 - Predator’s Gaze Xavier punched his clawed hand straight into the wolven¡¯s chest. He tore through muscle and sinew, cut through fat and bone, until he reached what he was after, grabbed hold of it, and ripped. He grasped a chunk of the wolven¡¯s heart, holding it gripped tight in his hand. A kill notification sprang into his vision the instant he¡¯d ripped it out. Xavier tilted his chin up, staring through half-slitted eyes at the heart. Blood poured through his fingers, its slow trail staining his skin red, but it slid straight off hid Midnight Robes, unable to cling to the self-cleaning surface that they maintained. There was a thrum in his chest as his own heart beat hard, pumping blood through him at a rate quicker than was usual for his body. As was normal for him since his transformation had begun, his heart was not beating faster from the fight. No, it was beating faster because he wanted to tear through the chunk of the wolven¡¯s heart he held in his hand. He wanted to devour it. I am in control. Xavier¡¯s breathing¡ªwhich had been ratcheted up to twice what was normal¡ªslowed. He tossed the heart off to the side and looked through the barrier of his time dilation field. He was standing in the middle of a clearing not far from the grove where he¡¯d been training with Liana, surrounded by a pack of wolven. Well, it was only half a pack of wolven now that he had dealt with the first four members. Their corpses were strewn across the grass around him within the time bubble, but the rest of their kin¡ªincluding the grey-furred, stocky beast that was their alpha¡ªwere awaiting him outside of it. The moment he popped the time bubble they would be upon him. And he relished the moment. Xavier looked through his notifications. It wasn¡¯t just kill notifications that he had received. Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 31! Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 32! Red In Tooth And Claw has reached Rank 49! Iron Grip has reached Rank 17! Xavier smiled. He was making good progress. He hadn¡¯t gained any new spells since assimilating the properties from the Rhinoceros Monkeys, but he had gained several new skills that were proving to be quite useful in his new path. He was also gaining better control over himself while he was in this¡­ bestial state. He still felt like an unchained, wild beast¡ªbut an unchained, wild beast that he knew how to push the buttons of. One he knew how to guide toward the right actions. Xavier came to stand right at the edge of the time barrier. Two parts of him warred, as they often did now. The new bestial part of him wanted to bring the barrier down and charge the grey-furred wolven before taking on any of the others. Taking out the alpha would show his strength, and it would take out the enemy¡¯s biggest threat. The bestial part of him had no regard for strategy. It did not look at the situation in that way. It knew it was strong enough to rip through that alpha¡ªknew that it would be able to survive. But it did not think much beyond that. It¡¯s right, Xavier thought. Then, he corrected himself. I am the beast. I¡¯m right. He would survive the fight if he took it that way, but he didn¡¯t wish to. The other part of the two sides that warred within him wished to take a more measured approach. The way taking on these beast parts had affected him¡­ it gave him the will to act even more profoundly than he¡¯d experienced in the past. Xavier had always pushed forward¡ªalways moved before thinking too hard on something. It had been an asset to him. It was also, perhaps from a different perspective, his biggest flaw. The bestial part of him brought that out in him even more. But if he¡¯d learnt anything since coming to this floor it was that a degree of caution was a wise thing for him to cultivate, so even though he did know he could tear the alpha limb-from-limb, he prevented himself from acting upon that impulse. Instead, Xavier pushed the time barrier forward, making a bridge to the next of the wolven, allowing him to fight the beast one-on-one. Xavier left the grey-furred wolven last. He didn¡¯t continue carving a path with his Time Alteration spell. Instead, he deactivated the spell. The time bubble came down, and the alpha saw the dead wolven around him. One moment his kin had been alive¡ªthe next, they were all lying dead on the ground. Xavier had done a similar thing to the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. He had been expecting the grey-furred wolven to react in the same way as that beast had¡ªwith rage. With an attack. Instead, it yelped, turned, and bolted through the forest. Xavier blinked as he stared at the wolven that was running from him. Beasts were many things, but he had never known them to be cowards. There had only been one beast in his experience that had ever run from a Denizen, and that had been the beast¡ªthe kraken¡ªthat he had encountered on the floor where he¡¯d met the older version of himself. According to Adranial, beasts like that¡ªones that know they are both predator and prey¡ªare rather rare in the Greater Universe. The thing was, he had faced beasts like the fleeing grey-furred wolven before. The other wolven had most certainly not been cowards. They had fought to the bitter end, even when it was clear that their efforts would be futile. Even after he had obliterated their kin. They fought more ferociously, not less¡ªand they certainly didn¡¯t run away. Does this have something to do with the change that I¡¯m undergoing? Xavier barely hesitated. All these thoughts zipped through his mind as he tore through the forest in a sprint, pursuing the grey-furred wolven that had fled from him. His instincts had kicked in. The beast ran, and so he made chase. The beast barely put up a fight. There was so much fear in its eyes. That¡¯s something he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever really seen in a beast¡¯s eyes before¡ªfear. Beasts weren¡¯t known to let their fear get the better of them. Not in his experience. The grey-furred alpha died swiftly. Xavier stood, staring down at the corpse of the alpha. Fear was still written on its face, even in death. As the experience of seeing fear in a beast was so alien to Xavier, he sat, cross-legged on the ground, just a few feet from the dead wolven, and contemplated what it was that had happened.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. That was when a notification popped up in his vision. No¡ªit wasn¡¯t just one notification. It was two. You have learnt the skill Predator¡¯s Gaze! Predator¡¯s Gaze - Rank 1 You have the gaze of a True Predator of the Greater Universe. Enemies quiver in fear at the sight of you. There is a small chance of making an enemy flee in fear from you, or freeze up at the sight of you. This chance is higher or lower depending on the relative power level of the enemy compared to that of your own. Xavier tilted his head as he read the description for the skill. Predator¡¯s Gaze? Well, that was interesting. He¡¯d gained a fair few skills since using Assimilate Properties so heavily, and embracing the bestial part of himself as best he could. This would definitely be something that would work to his advantage in the future. He wondered if this skill would work against other Denizens, or if it was something that would only work against beasts. The description hadn¡¯t specified, so he wasn¡¯t sure why it wouldn¡¯t work on Denizens, too. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. He imagined himself walking through a busy, peaceful area¡ªperhaps back in his own city, that the citizens had dubbed Collinsville, much to his dismay¡ªand having people flee from him in fear just because they looked at him. He paused for a moment. Was that something he should be laughing at? Striking fear in the heart of his own people, people he wished to protect? He shook his head. He couldn¡¯t help but find it a little funny, even if he didn¡¯t truly want to frighten his people. The second notification that had popped up was a Spell Quest. Spell Quest Unlocked: Fear Dominion To unlock Fear Dominion, you must strike fear into the hearts of a thousand enemies. Progress: 1/1000 Fear Dominion. Well. He had to say he liked the sound of the spell¡¯s name, even if it didn¡¯t describe anything about what it did. Striking fear into a thousand beasts¡­ that sounded at once like a difficult thing to do, and also like an incredibly easy thing to do in the long term, now that he¡¯d gained his new Predator¡¯s Gaze skill. Statistically, he would eventually unlock this spell even if he wasn¡¯t trying very hard to do so. Xavier interlocked his fingers where he still sat on the forest floor and pondered how he might be able to speed up the process. If he could encounter another stampede like that one he had just faced, the chances of him striking fear into lower-level beasts went up¡­ Or, he could be patient. There were other goals he wished to pursue, after all. Xavier stood up and stretched. He placed a hand on the corpse of the wolven he had just killed and deposited it into his Storage Ring, then he returned to the clearing where he had killed the other members of the pack, and repeated the process with the corpses he¡¯d left behind. Xavier was pushing himself harder and harder to take out as many beasts as he could in the time between his lessons with Liana. Part of the reason for this was because facing D Grade beasts was the easiest way for him to rank up his spells and skills¡ªthe other part of this was because he wished to gain the rank of D Grade himself. He felt as though he had spent far too long stuck as an E Grade Champion, and though he had cultivated a fair amount of patience under the tutelage of Liana, there were things that he wished to accomplish on this floor¡ªand beyond it. Things that he desired to come closer to. While the manner of this floor along with his newfound Time Alteration spell meant that he wasn¡¯t technically in any sort of rush, he still felt the need to act. The need to constantly keep moving forward. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to become strong enough to take on that C Grade dragon as an E Grade. And so he pushed, and pushed, and pushed, gaining as many levels as swiftly as he could. Over the next few weeks¡ªweeks in the time of the hundredth floor¡ªLiana¡¯s lessons became less frequent. There was less and less that the woman was able to teach him. He had already mastered his ability to use the Time Alteration spell, pushing it beyond even what Liana herself was capable of. The time mage showed more and more respect for Xavier as time went on, becoming more attentive in his lessons than she had at the outset¡ªthough that didn¡¯t mean she¡¯d stopped reading her books. He¡¯d also pushed his Time Prison spell forward, but he was quickly finding that even though the spell was powerful, it wasn¡¯t near as versatile as his Time Alteration spell. The spell had jumped up considerably in rank, all the way to Rank 32. He was now able to use the spell on multiple opponents¡ªof a limit of three¡ªbefore its cooldown was activated. He could also activate the cooldown manually with a thought if he only wished to use the spell on a single opponent. While trapping three enemies in a Time Prison where they could not escape was quite a wonderful ability, there wasn¡¯t much more to it than that. Though it was helpful that he didn¡¯t need to trap those three enemies at the exact same time. For instance, if he were fighting a pack of wolven, he could slip through them, touch one on the back and freeze it in time, then later touch one of its kin, and so on. This was exactly what Liana was doing the first time they¡¯d run together¡ªshe was using the Time Prison spell. But it wasn¡¯t reliable against stronger enemies. The biggest drawback of the spell was that he never knew when the spell would end. The cooldown worked like this: If he cast it on a single opponent, deciding not to use it on three different opponents, he could manually activate the cooldown. But the cooldown wouldn¡¯t actually start until the enemy he had frozen broke free from the Time Prison, or Xavier freed it from the prison. In that case, he would be able to feel when the cooldown began¡ªand thus know the instant the enemy broke free of it. But if he decided to use it on multiple opponents, he needed to wait until all three of them were freed from the Time Prison. So, if one broke free he wouldn¡¯t be able to feel it at all, as his cooldown would not yet begin. Still, he was better off with the spell than without it. While Liana had taught him to be patient, he was beginning to notice some impatience in the time mage herself. Xavier had spent months with the woman in the time bubbles he¡¯d created. He was beginning to get to know her moods, and he was starting to realise that within the time dilation field the woman was¡­ well, hiding from something. Xavier had never been the best at reading people, and if he were honest, he still wasn¡¯t. But he thought he was beginning to be able to read Liana. Sometimes, there was a darkness in her eyes. They became flat, emotionless, and it seemed as though when she looked at him, she was looking right through him¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t the same glazed over expression that people got when they looked at their status screens. This was definitely different. Every time he saw that look, he thought that it was familiar somehow. It took a while for him to put two-and-two together. The woman had worn the exact same look when she¡¯d been attacked by The Nightmare. When its dark tendrils had been wrapped around her body, crawling over and through her skin ready to take over her mind and make her nothing more than one of its infected minions. Xavier had struggled to make sense of that day. The day that he¡¯d found her and saved her from The Nightmare¡¯s clutches. The woman had made a deal to train him because of that¡ªbut she had never seemed¡­ entirely grateful. Liana had known about The Nightmare¡ªthe C Grade beast that called the Dark Mountains its home¡ªwell before she¡¯d made her way to the mountain. Unlike Xavier, she¡¯d done her research and come in prepared. She¡¯d had plenty of salt within her Storage Ring to repel the beast¡ªthe demon¡ªfrom ever getting as close as it did. Yet whenever he scoured his memory, he couldn¡¯t for the life of him remember the woman having any salt on the ground around her at all. She¡¯d known exactly what to do, but it was almost as though¡­ His mind kept coming to the same, dark conclusion. The woman had gone to The Nightmare with the intention of being taken. With the intention of succumbing to its will and becoming one of its infected minions. Every time his mind came to that conclusion, he didn¡¯t know what to do with it. To him, it made little sense. Why would a Denizen of the Greater Universe ever wish to throw their life away, especially someone with a gift for time magic like this woman? It was a subject he didn¡¯t know how to broach, and one he wasn¡¯t even sure he wished to broach with the woman, but as their lessons together were swiftly coming to an end¡ªLiana wished to be done with this floor¡ªhe didn¡¯t know if he would ever have another opportunity. He didn¡¯t know where in the Greater Universe this woman resided. That, too, was something that he wished to learn. He was playing the long game, there. He knew that his goals were far reaching. That it would take what amounted to an eternity to achieve his ultimate goal of saving the universe from destruction¡ªor whatever it was that would cause the end of it¡ªand he wanted to have as many allies in as many places as he could manage to help in him in his goals. And the best way to make a true ally was through mutual understanding. At least, that¡¯s what he hoped was the case. So when they were back within the time bubble, alone in the grove, not a soul able to hear the contents of their conversation, Xavier cleared his throat and asked the question he wished to pose to her. ¡°Why did you let The Nightmare take you?¡± Liana had been eating some sugary cake-like snack. Her hand was halfway to her mouth when the question had been asked. It froze along the way. Her hand, like the question, simply hang there for a long moment. ¡°What are you asking me?¡± Xavier leant forward. He was sitting on the ground, cross-legged. He¡¯d been working on further attuning his Intelligence attribute, but he was fast hitting a plateau he didn¡¯t know how to break through. ¡°I think you know.¡± The woman¡¯s hand dropped. She looked at him. That same dark look was back in her eyes. But there was something else there, too. Like¡­ a flicker of flame. ¡°There¡¯s someone on that mountain I wish to save.¡± Book 4: Chapter 60 - Looking Forward Xavier stared back at Liana, sitting in the grove within the bubble of time. ¡°There¡¯s someone you wish to save?¡± The woman bit her lip and turned away. ¡°My husband.¡± Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You have a husband?¡± he said, surprised. Liana glared at him. ¡°Of course I have a husband. Why wouldn¡¯t I have a husband?¡± Xavier put his hands up. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that you wouldn¡¯t, I just.¡± He gestured toward her. ¡°You look so young, and¡­¡± Liana sighed. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you meant. Well, of course you would think that. You¡¯re from an unintegrated world. You people age fast, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not anymore,¡± Xavier muttered. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m married. I have been for three years now. We met in the tower, back on the first floor.¡± Xavier kept his astonishment to himself that this woman could have been married for three years. If she met the man in the tower¡­ how many years, exactly, had it taken her to get to the one hundredth floor? Unless they married the moment they met, he had to imagine it had been more than three years¡­ ¡°Were you in the same party?¡± Xavier asked. She shook her head. ¡°No. He was partied with his twin brother, and, well, there are reasons it wasn¡¯t wise for us to party up together.¡± Xavier nodded, as though he understood what those reasons might be, even if he really didn¡¯t. ¡°We met in the tavern at the bottom of the tower. He was in my cohort. Whenever there was a break between floors, we would meet up there. Our parties got to know each other, always hanging out with one another. We eventually started to sync our clearing of floors, never clearing a floor before the other party was ready to if we could help it. When we returned to Ronaran¡ªmy world¡ªwe found each other. Apparently, we had lived only a few streets away in the same city for our entire lives. Born on the same day, yet we¡¯d never met each other. This is rare, considering on my world people born on the same day tend to get to know each other early on, as the chances of them being in the same cohort¡ªespecially if they are in the same area¡ªis incredibly high.¡± Xavier nodded again. This he knew a little something about. He wondered how long it would take people back on Earth to start thinking in this way. He supposed if he steered their thinking toward the goal of creating more Champions for the tower¡­ but with the knowledge that only half the people that tried and make it to the tower actually survived, he couldn¡¯t imagine a great deal would wish to enter. And yet, there are billions upon billions of people in the Greater Universe who do¡­ God, it was a dangerous thing. He still wondered why the System would do something like that¡ªwhy it would test people in such a way. Maybe one day he would find out. Liana shook her head. ¡°It didn¡¯t take us long to tie the knot. Then¡­¡± She looked away, that same dark look upon her face. ¡°Then¡­ what?¡± ¡°I lost my entire party on the ninety-eighth floor.¡± Xavier gasped. ¡°You lost your entire party? And¡­ you knew them well, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°They were the closest thing to family that I ever had. I was raised to become a Champion. I know what it is to lose people. Half of all my friends were lost when they tried to make it to the tower¡­ but I never thought I¡¯d lose my party. Adron¡ªmy husband¡ªand his party kept pushing through the floors. They couldn¡¯t delay for long enough to wait for me to find a new party and catch up. The System doesn¡¯t allow such a thing. There are consequences for dallying, though they don¡¯t apply in the same time frame if you¡¯re outside a party, as it can take far longer to solo tower floors.¡± Liana took a breath. ¡°When Adron entered the one hundredth floor¡­ it was only a blink of an eye and his party were back. Without him.¡± Xavier hung his head. ¡°They lost him to The Nightmare?¡± Liana simply inclined her head. Xavier frowned. He gestured around, motioning to the forest, but meaning to take in the entire one hundredth floor. ¡°How do you know this is the right version of the hundredth floor?¡± Her eyes flashed away. ¡°There are ways to ensure such things. Secret ways. Expensive ways. Originally, both our parties had been planning to meet up on this floor. But¡­ it never happened. Adron¡¯s party, even his twin brother, moved on after his loss. It was only after getting Adron¡¯s brother drunk that he confessed Adron didn¡¯t strictly die.¡± ¡°He was taken by The Nightmare,¡± Xavier whispered. ¡°Yes. He was taken by The Nightmare.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you were there¡­¡± Xavier¡¯s face scrunched up. ¡°But¡­ how could succumbing to the nightmare save him?¡± She looked away again. ¡°I realised saving him was impossible. So, in a moment of weakness¡­¡± ¡°You were going to join him.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t until it was too late that I realised it wasn¡¯t what I wanted. The Nightmare already had me in its clutches, I could feel my own mind, my personality, drifting away. Adron¡­ he never would have forgiven me if he knew that I threw my life away.¡± ¡°You said you were eager to move on from this floor,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Have you given up on saving your husband?¡± Liana stared at him. ¡°The Nightmare was destroying my mind. Even if Adron¡¯s body remains alive¡­ I don¡¯t think there will be anything left of who he was. I¡¯ve spent enough time dwelling on this. Enough time wallowing in my pain. He was a Champion¡ªhe knew the risks as well as I.¡± There was a fire in her voice that Xavier had never heard before. Xavier thought hard about what he was going to say next. Perhaps Liana was right. Perhaps there would be nothing left of this Adron after The Nightmare had infected him. Perhaps there was¡­ no one left to save. But something told him that Liana would wish to find out for herself if she could. ¡°You don¡¯t know that his mind is gone. Maybe we can save him together,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to give you false hope¡­ but there could be a chance. I was able to control The Nightmare, maybe I could force it to release him, like I did for you¡ª¡± ¡°The Nightmare didn¡¯t fully have me in its clutches. What you did for me is different. That control you had? It was fleeting. You told me so yourself! Do you really expect me to believe that you¡¯re strong enough to do this?¡± She shook her head. ¡°The Nightmare¡­ it would need to be killed to free him. I know you walk a path to power that I cannot begin to understand, but that doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re strong enough to do something like that. Not yet. Not now. Not here.¡± Liana crossed her arms. Looked away. ¡°Adron is dead. This floor¡­ I¡¯ve had enough of being here. I¡¯m glad I was able to teach you what I could, Xavier, but I¡¯m not sure I ever want to see you again¡ªdoing so would only remind me of what happened in this place.¡± Xavier looked at the ground. He supposed he could understand where this woman was coming from. She had already lost so many people in her life. First her party, then her husband¡­ She was used to moving on and had already lingered more than she wished. Why would she keep putting herself through being somewhere that hurt so much? ¡°No,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I don¡¯t accept that you¡¯ve given up.¡± Liana blinked. ¡°Are you trying to tell me that you know my thoughts better than I do?¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s a reason you spent so long training me, so long still on this floor, and it wasn¡¯t that you were in mourning. It was because you hadn¡¯t let go of hope yet. You saw what I could do¡ªyou knew you might be able to use that.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Facing The Nightmare¡­¡± The woman shuddered. ¡°It was the most terrifying feeling I¡¯ve ever had. I¡¯m not going to make you go through something like that. You want to save the damned universe, Xavier. You were chosen by the System. Why would you risk your life to try and help me?¡± Xavier thought on that for a moment. She was right. He had bigger fish to fry. More lofty goals to attain. He couldn¡¯t throw his life away facing some C Grade beast before he was ready to. Then again¡­ Xavier shrugged. ¡°I always planned to face The Nightmare before I left this floor.¡± Liana blinked. ¡°You¡ªyou did?¡± There was a tone in her voice that he hadn¡¯t heard before. Something he couldn¡¯t place. She spoke haltingly. ¡°Are you joking? Because¡­ because that wouldn¡¯t be funny, Xavier.¡± Xavier lifted his chin. ¡°It¡¯s not the only C Grade beast I want to face before leaving this place.¡± Xavier told the woman about the C Grade dragon, and the egg that it was protecting. ¡°You want to steal the dragon¡¯s child?¡± The woman looked aghast. ¡°That¡¯s terrible! And also absolutely insane. You¡¯re going to get yourself killed.¡± Xavier inclined his head. ¡°Maybe. But I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯ve been facing D Grade enemies as an E Grade for a long time now. I can defeat a C Grade when I¡¯m D Grade.¡± Liana did not look convinced. ¡°The gap between E Grade and D Grade is far smaller than the one between D and C. It¡¯s not an equal comparison.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right. You know far more about all of this than I do. But you also know what I¡¯m capable of. I don¡¯t speak this way out of arrogance.¡± Liana looked away. ¡°No. Even if you sound arrogant.¡± ¡°You taught me how to be patient, Liana. Right now, I need you to be a little more patient too. If there¡¯s any way to save your husband, I promise I¡¯ll help. But it¡¯s going to take a little time.¡± The woman looked away. Xavier could have sworn that her eyes were shining, but not a single tear fell from them, as though she was willing them not to fall. After a pause that stretched for several minutes, as their pauses sometimes did, Liana sighed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll stick around a little while longer. I just hope I won¡¯t regret it.¡± I hope so too, Xavier thought, but didn¡¯t say. There was no way that he could guarantee that this woman¡¯s husband was okay, but if it was someone who he cared about? He would do his best to save them. ¡°How long until you reach D Grade?¡± Liana asked. Weeks in floor-time had passed since he had defeated the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey. Since then, he¡¯d gone up against several of the floor¡¯s boss-beasts for his Hunt Quests. He had been disappointed to find that the bartender, Felicia, had been right. He wouldn¡¯t always gain random spells from every enemy he killed, especially as the encounters were beginning to grow easier for him. He had a feeling the System was altering its parameters for giving him such a reward as it saw how relatively easy the challenges had become. While training, Xavier had been focused on making his transition to D Grade as effective as possible. Before reaching D Grade, he wished to bring every single one of his skills and spells¡ªor as many of them as he reasonably could, as not all of them were strictly cooperative¡ªup to Rank 100. This was, however, proving more difficult than he¡¯d imagined it would have. He brought up his status screen and looked at all his attributes and ranks. XAVIER COLLINS Age: 23 Race: Human (?) Grade: E Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Class: Otherworldly Reaper (Legendary) Level 195 Strength: 7,717 (22,765) [Attunement: 10%] Speed: 6,707 (23,139) [Attunement: 10%] Toughness: 7,209 (20,546) [Attunement: 10%] Intelligence: 7,746 (21,689) [Attunement: 10%] Willpower: 8,436 (28,682) [Attunement: 10%] Spirit: 9,000 (31,950) [Attunement: 10%] Mastery Points (E Grade) until next level: 15,000/100,000 Available Spirit Energy (E Grade): 324,250/324,250 Available Willpower Energy (E Grade): 250,600/250,600 Available Skill Points: 1 Free stat points remaining: 0 Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, All 100, First All 100, 1,000 Stats, First to 1,000 Stats, Greater Butcher, All 1,000, First All 1,000, Level 100, First to level 100, E Grade, E Grade Progenitor, E Grade Speedrun (Unmatched), Destroyer of Hordes (Unmatched), Ahead of the Pack 2, Goliath Killer 2, Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone), Homeward Bound, First Dungeon of Earth, Dungeon Diver 110, Dungeon ¨C First Clears, Dungeon ¨C Solo Clears, Dungeon ¨C Record Clears, 10,000 Stats, First 10,000 Stats, All 10,000 Stats, First All 10,000, Nineteenth Floor Climber, Nineteenth Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER, Solo Tower Climber 19, 1st Nineteenth Floor Climber Spells List: Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Rank 95 Heavy Telekinesis ¨C Rank 94 Spirit Break (All) ¨C Rank 90 Spirit Infusion ¨C Rank 91 Soul Harvest ¨C Rank 70 Soul Strike (Ranged) ¨C Rank 70 Soul Block ¨C Rank 65 Soul Harden ¨C Rank 65 Willpower Infusion ¨C Rank 85 Core Burn ¨C Rank 73 Summon Otherworldly Spirit ¨C Rank 30 Otherworldly Communion ¨C Rank 1 Soul Shatter ¨C Rank 75 Soul Puppet ¨C Rank 75 Hover Dodge ¨C 60 Enhanced Telekinetic Strike ¨C 75 Time Alteration ¨C 70 Time Prison ¨C 60 Skills List: Physical Resistance ¨C Rank 90 Magical Potency ¨C Rank 82 Magical Resistance ¨C Rank 75 Physical Damage ¨C Rank 92 Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 35 Scythe-Staff Mastery ¨C Rank 65 Meditation ¨C Rank 80 Aura-Control ¨C Rank 80 Core Strength ¨C Rank 80 Cultivate Energy ¨C Rank 80 Identify ¨C Rank 100 Split Mind ¨C Rank 90 Evasion ¨C Rank 90 Aerial Combat ¨C 75 Dismantle ¨C 50 Red In Tooth And Claw ¨C 70 Iron Grip ¨C 65 Close Combat Fighting ¨C 65 Predator¡¯s Gaze ¨C 40 Minor Spirit Coins: 5,542 Lesser Spirit Coins: 33 Xavier stood from where he¡¯d been sitting¡ªthe conversation with Liana had come to a natural end¡ªand paced around the time bubble. He had reached Level 195. This was, he supposed, something he should have been proud of, but more than anything he was frustrated. He¡¯d gotten there faster than he¡¯d planned to, at least in regard to how swiftly his spells and skills were ranking up. There was a problem when it came to ranking his spells and skills, something he hadn¡¯t realised until he¡¯d really started focusing on it. Xavier needed challenges to really push his spells and skills. He needed to fight enemies of a higher level than himself. That was easy to come by around here, though it was becoming rarer that the fights were actually challenging¡ªvery rare. The problem was he knew his ranks wouldn¡¯t be where he wanted them when he reached Level 200. While he wasn¡¯t gaining levels faster than he was gaining ranks, he was gaining levels faster than he wanted to. This wasn¡¯t ultimately the problem, of course. When he had reached Level 100, he¡¯d been put in a state which meant he could no longer gain Mastery Points, but he could still upgrade his spells, skills, and gain attributes. It was the perfect state to be in, he supposed, if one wanted postpone the inevitable for as long as possible and further develop themselves. But some of his inherent impatience seeped in at the idea of forcing himself to wait longer to evolve to D Grade than he strictly ¡°needed¡± to. He wanted the transformation to go as well as possible. There were very few times that he was able to choose new classes, and this would be one of them. The System would judge him on where he was, and base his class selection not only on the paths he¡¯d taken, but off of his level of power as well. He needed to be as strong as an E Grade possibly could be. It wasn¡¯t only the ranks of his spells and skills that he was trying to strengthen either. It was his attunements. Xavier tapped his foot on the ground as he looked at what he¡¯d achieved. He had attuned each of his attributes to 10 percent, and¡­ he was annoyed with himself. A 10 percent attunement was amazing considering how long he¡¯d been at this. Before this floor, he hadn¡¯t even known attuning attributes was a thing. Now, he had accomplished in a short time what took many Denizens countless years. And yet, he was disappointed. It was difficult to hold yourself up to incredibly high ideals. He knew that doing so would mean he would never quite measure up. Xavier blinked, then his eyes widened, as he scanned over the status screen a second time. There was something that caught his eye¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t noticed before. His age had changed. The status screen no longer said that he was aged 21. Now, it said he was aged 23. When in the hell had that happened? His eyebrows rose as he realised that he had been aging within the time bubble, and that the System had been keeping track of just how long he¡¯d been in there. And it wasn¡¯t just the time bubble¡ªit was the floor itself he¡¯d spent a lot of time on. But even so, had so much time really passed within the time dilation field? Had he been training with Liana for that long, and not even realised? He shook his head, feeling a little astounded, but no less motivated than before. In the grand scheme of the Greater Universe and the lifespan he now had access to, and would in the future have access to¡­ 23 years of age was absolutely nothing. Looking through his spells and skills, Xavier scrunched up his face, trying to figure out how he could push each one to their limit. Otherworldly Communion was the worst offender. He¡¯d used it multiple times, and yet it had stalled at Rank 1. It also wasn¡¯t a spell he could use all that often¡ªespecially when he stopped gaining levels that rejuvenated his cooldowns. I¡¯ll need to use the spell to learn how to upgrade the spell¡­ Summon Otherworldly Spirit had also resisted his attempts to push its rank higher, but perhaps that was because he didn¡¯t rely on it for too many fights. It was currently only Rank 30. He frowned, thinking on that. It was a pitiful rank, as far as he was concerned. The spell was incredibly powerful, and the power of it seemed to be based on his own power. But how much stronger would it be if the potential was truly unleashed? Besides, his class was Otherworldly Reaper¡ªhe needed to respect half of his class by ranking up the spells properly before D Grade, else he might lose the option to use them. Xavier had come to the conclusion that he needed to find another teacher. Someone who could instruct him in the ways of summoning from the Otherworld, and if he wanted to achieve his goals, he needed to do it before clearing this floor. He wasn¡¯t even sure if such a thing was possible. Book 4: Chapter 61 - Challenges and Faustian Deals Felicia stood behind the bar. She looked to be casually polishing the long wooden countertop without a care in the world, and certainly without caring about what was happening around her. Yet she watched the clientele like a hawk. It was easy not to make her observations obvious¡ªshe had a skill that let her observe everyone in Hunter¡¯s Home no matter where they were standing. Hunter¡¯s Home was her domain, and so she had complete control over it. The System had ensured that for her a long time ago. She smirked when Xavier Collins walked through the heavy door, letting a cool breeze roll in from the forest behind. When that man had come to the hundredth floor, it had been snowy out there. Now, it was spring, and the flowers were blossoming in the small garden she kept out front. Xavier didn¡¯t realise just how much she¡¯d already known about him when he appeared here. Felicia wasn¡¯t just a barkeep, or the owner of Hunter¡¯s Home. She was the steward of the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. She had a little pocket of an entire world that was under her purview, and she was far stronger than she looked. She had an inherent knowledge of anyone who was in her domain. At any one point, she knew exactly where each Champion was. On her mini-map, they stuck out like a pool of blood on a blanket of snow. ¡°Back so soon?¡± Felicia asked. She had a coffee brewed and ready for the man before he¡¯d stepped through the door. She brought it up from under the bar and placed it in front of him as he climbed onto a stool. The mugs were designed in such a way that the coffee never got cold. This appeared to be a novelty for Xavier. Xavier blinked, but didn¡¯t question the mug. Instead, he placed a few Minor Spirit Coins onto the bar and took a sip. He released a small sigh and visibly relaxed. Minor Spirit Coins. And this man thought I didn¡¯t already know he was E Grade. ¡°I have a question for you,¡± Xavier said. ¡°Of course you do.¡± The System had tipped her off about this man. That had never happened before. When Xavier Collins had entered Hunter¡¯s Home, she¡¯d received a notification. The notification hadn¡¯t just been text, either. It had contained recorded memories of what this man was capable of. It had piqued her interest¡ªthe System hadn¡¯t addressed her directly in this way since she¡¯d been tasked with the stewardship of the hundredth floor. It was a strange, strange thing indeed, but she didn¡¯t question it. She, like other stewards of other floors in the multiverse that comprised the Greater Universe, had a small awareness of the System¡¯s greater goals. And apparently this E Grade was a part of those plans¡ªwhat kind of part, Felicia didn¡¯t know. After the dossier on Xavier Collins she¡¯d been given by the System, the System had addressed two words to her: Challenge him. And so that was exactly what she¡¯d been doing, sending him off to fight difficult beasts he shouldn¡¯t be able to defeat easily. Honestly, she¡¯d thought she¡¯d been harsh with him that first time when she¡¯d sent him to the Dark Mountains without any warnings about what resided there. She hadn¡¯t expected the man to return. And yet, he kept coming back, and he always came back stronger. Though there was no System Shop in Hunter¡¯s Home, or anywhere on this planet, as the steward for this floor there were some things she was able to grant¡ªthis wasn¡¯t something the Champions that came to this place were made aware of, however. ¡°So, what is your question?¡± Felicia prompted. The man had just been sitting there, savouring his coffee. ¡°I need another teacher.¡± Felicia tilted her chin up. Another teacher? This man was capable of things no E Grade should ever be capable of, yet he still had things he wanted to learn? That thirst for knowledge will take him far. ¡°What is it that you wish to learn?¡± It was luck alone that there had been a time mage in the area the last time he¡¯d come to her. Time mages were rare¡ªthis was the only time she¡¯d seen two on the floor at once. Xavier motioned that he wished for the conversation to be private. Felicia made a gesture, then nodded for him to speak. ¡°I need someone to instruct me on my otherworldly summoning magic.¡± Felicia couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. Otherworldly summoning magic? She had seen what this man was capable of when he summoned the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªthat had been a part of one of the memories shown to her when he¡¯d arrived¡ªbut he was the only Denizen she¡¯d ever encountered that had actually used such spells. Felicia opened her hands and shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to help you with that.¡± She paused. ¡°Haven¡¯t you been able to gain any ranks in those spells from the Hunt Quest rewards?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to work for that.¡± Felicia nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the Otherworld, but if you need a teacher¡­ couldn¡¯t you summon one?¡± She smirked, half-joking, but the frown on the man¡¯s face said he took her seriously. The words entered her mind once more: Challenge him. She hadn¡¯t been able to do that lately¡ªthis man was simply far too strong for the D Grade enemies he was facing on this floor. She drummed her fingers on the bar as she came up with an idea. But, of course, she would need an incentive¡­ ¡°Where did your scythe go?¡± the woman asked. The man used to sometimes enter the tavern with the weapon in hand, something he hadn¡¯t done in a while. It got her curious. Though she could only see everything that happened within the tavern, she also had little helpers that could show her glimpses of what was happening to the Champions outside of Hunter¡¯s Home. Little birds that she could send out and about. She could channel their sight and observe battles happening. She often did this for the raids against C Grade beasts. It was a way to pass the time¡ªit also helped her with the odds when it came to people placing bets. She¡¯d sent one of these little birds to observe Xavier recently¡ªhe no longer fought with a weapon at all. He¡¯d become¡­ bestial in nature. It was frightening, but intriguing. ¡°Huh?¡± Xavier, who had been lost in thought, looked over at her. ¡°I lost it. It broke during a fight, and I couldn¡¯t repair it. I¡¯ve outgrown the weapon, anyway. Why?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Felicia leant forward on the bar, resting her elbows on the surface she kept pristine. She spoke in a whisper. ¡°Do you want to get your hands on a soul bound weapon?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think gaining one of those would be possible. Not here.¡± ¡°There are certain special rewards the System grants Champions for¡­ unique achievements.¡± She peered over at a group of Champions talking in the corner of Hunter¡¯s Home¡ªthey were organising a raid for later that week. ¡°If you were to be a part of the defeat of a C Grade beast, especially as an E Grade, you might be granted such a reward.¡± ¡°C Grade?¡± Xavier shook his head, then paused as though in thought. He¡¯s really considering it? He isn¡¯t even D Grade yet. ¡°I don¡¯t qualify to join a raid group,¡± Xavier said, matter-of-factly, as though that was the only thing stopping him from doing this insane thing. ¡°The Champions who raid take my recommendations seriously. If I say you¡¯re up to the task, they¡¯ll take me on my word.¡± Xavier shook his head again, though there was a spark in his eyes that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago. Once this man got an idea in his head, he went after it, no matter how dangerous it seemed. That was something that had been clear to her from almost the moment he¡¯d stepped into Hunter¡¯s Home. The man was seriously considering Felicia¡¯s words. Felicia stopped herself from shaking her head in dismay. Actually, she stopped herself from gripping the man¡¯s shoulders and shaking him. He was a fool if he was actually going to take her up on this. Facing a C Grade in a raid¡­ yes, it was technically a lot less dangerous than facing one alone, but just because you were in a group didn¡¯t mean you were safe.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The members of raid groups were uniquely insane. She had never really understood them. Risking their lives to try to take down a C Grade. The success rate was something like 3 percent, at least in her instance of the hundredth floor¡ªshe had no idea how well Champions on other instances had faired. It was still strange for her to imagine an almost unlimited number of versions of herself in other taverns on other worlds just like this one, doing the same thing she was doing now¡­ But that was just how the infinite universe was. Even if she hadn¡¯t agreed to be the steward for a tower floor, it would be the same¡ªthere would still be countless versions of herself out there, they¡¯d just be doing something else. Xavier paused. He seemed to fall inward whenever he took these pauses in conversation. The pauses weren¡¯t all that long¡ªat least, they wouldn¡¯t seem that long to someone who was E Grade or F Grade. But to someone like her? The gap was rather noticeable. A smile began to twitch one side of Xavier¡¯s lips. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll do it. I had given up on ever finding a soul bound weapon¡ªat least any time in the near future. And I plan to take some C Grade Hunt Quests when I¡¯m D Grade. Doesn¡¯t seem like a bad idea to go into the first one in a group, even if I tend to prefer working alone.¡± Felicia blinked. She couldn¡¯t help herself. This man¡­ he was actually going for the challenge she¡¯d just set for him. Hook, line, and sinker. She felt bad, once more, for doing this to the man. He seemed like a good kid. Honestly, Felicia wasn¡¯t sure how he had lasted so long. Then again¡­ he had lasted this long. The System was watching him, too. Not just watching him either¡ªit was having a clear influence on him. She¡¯d seen what the System had done for him¡ªor rather, to him¡ªto get him here. It had made him skip all the way to the hundredth floor because it felt like he wasn¡¯t being challenged enough. Then it had spoken directly to her and told her to challenge him. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to refuse what the System wants me to do. That seems like a very, very bad idea. She bit the inside of her cheek. Usually, even this hidden tick wasn¡¯t something that she would let happen, but she couldn¡¯t remember the last time she¡¯d felt this level of anxiety over something. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll set it up.¡± She nodded over at the group of Champions in the far corner of Hunter¡¯s Home who were currently discussing a C Grade raid as Xavier and her spoke. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take me long.¡± She was talking out of her ass, of course. She¡¯d never actually done anything like this¡ªno Champion in their right mind would want to go on a C Grade raid before they were deemed ready. But, she figured she¡¯d be able to get them to agree to this. And if she couldn¡¯t¡­ Maybe I can call in a favour from the System itself. It¡¯s the one who put me up to this, after all. ~ Xavier stepped out of Hunter¡¯s Home feeling energised. Not only did he have a line on how to obtain a soul bound weapon¡ªeven if it meant going up against a C Grade beast as an E Grade Denizen¡ªhe had an idea of how to find his teacher. He had considered asking the spirits for help on this, but his current idea took that a step further. Well, it took it a few hundred steps further. Earlier, he had learnt the spirits from the Otherworld made deals with Denizens from the mortal realm. He supposed it made sense, really. The idea of Faustian deals had to have come from somewhere. Summoning these spirits already did something to his soul. He wondered what making a deal with one of them would cost him. This wasn¡¯t something he wanted to involve Liana in. When he had left her in the grove, he¡¯d been able to sense that she wanted some time alone. That was something he could certainly understand, considering the wounds he¡¯d made her open up when he¡¯d spoken to her about her husband. I wonder if that¡¯s the C Grade beast the raiders will be going for¡­ if it is, then I¡¯ll need to make sure her husband¡ªassuming he¡¯s actually still alive¡ªisn¡¯t harmed during the battle. Her husband, Adron, would be among the enemies the raid group would be facing¡­ God, he hoped it wasn¡¯t The Nightmare they would be going after. That sounded like too much to deal with right now. Xavier sped through the forest. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure of what he was looking for¡ªhe figured he would know it when he found it. It wasn¡¯t long before he came upon a small clearing at the top of a cliff. A stream ran down one side, creating a waterfall at the cliffside that splashed down into a pool far below. The constant flow of water was rather soothing. He figured this would be an incredible place to work on his mediation. But that wasn¡¯t what he was there to do. There was a large, standing grey stone in the middle of the clearing. He touched a hand to it and smiled. In one of his favourite books, stones like this were said to be portals to the realm of faerie¡­ It wasn¡¯t a faerie realm he was about to make contact with, but he felt as though this area suited his intentions well. Xavier sat, cross legged, on a large boulder that faced the standing stone. The stream flowed. Birds chirped in the trees¡ªone, with a red tail, he could have sworn he¡¯d seen before. All in all, it was a beautiful day to make a deal with a ghostly entity. Xavier cast Otherworldly Communion, holding what he wished in his head. As always, time stopped, and the world looked black-and-white. The spirit appeared in a flash of light. It wasn¡¯t one he had encountered before. This spirit wasn¡¯t human, but it wasn¡¯t a hamster or some strange amalgamation of beast parts, either. It was an elf. The man had long, dark hair that looked like it had been professionally straightened. His ears were sharp as daggers and his eyes even sharper as his gaze pierced into Xavier. Why have you summoned me? The elf¡¯s voice was deep. Somehow, it was even deeper than the voice of the dragon had been. I need a teacher in the art of Otherworldly summoning. My spells have stagnated, and I cannot have that. I am willing to make a deal. The elf did not bother to hide the smirk that came onto his face. He stepped forward, his hands folded behind his back, those sharp eyes gleaming. I have heard of you. You have created quite a stir in the Otherworld. Xavier blinked. I have? The fact that the Otherworld existed between universes often threw Xavier for a loop. He wondered if there were other Xaviers out there, summoning spirits from the exact same place. And would those be the same spirits, or different ones? Could there be multiple versions of the dragon whom Xavier knew as the Spirit of Vengeance? He didn¡¯t see why there wouldn¡¯t be. Xavier shook those thoughts out of his head. They were not helpful right now. He needed to focus. Order your thoughts. Something told him that making a deal with a spirit would require all of his attention, lest he give away something he shouldn¡¯t be parting with. Indeed. It has been some time since someone like you has been encountered. The elf looked Xavier up and down, then raised his chin. Strange that a human should hold so much potential. I would have thought you were an elf, after all I heard about prowess. I also expected someone¡­ taller. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he should respond to that. He supposed racism¡ªspeciesism?¡ªwas alive and well in the Greater Universe. Now, as to this deal you wish to make with me, what are you offering in return? Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how to answer that question. He didn¡¯t want to just go out and say, ¡°My soul!¡± Because it wasn¡¯t as though he wanted to be offering that. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never made any deal like this before, Xavier replied. Hmm. Indeed. That much is abundantly clear. What would one usually offer for something like this? Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how else to pose the question. He wanted to put the negation squarely in the spirit¡¯s court. He knew if he was the first one to offer up a price, then he might have already showed his hand. Besides, he had no idea how any of this worked. I want a tenth of your soul¡¯s energy for a single year. Xavier blinked. He had no idea what that even meant. Do you mean spirit energy? The elf raised an eyebrow. You really are green. How have you come this far, be an Otherworldly Reaper, and yet know nothing about the soul? Xavier didn¡¯t look away from the elf. Perhaps the old version of him, before he¡¯d been integrated by the System, might have felt embarrassed about being made out to be a fool. But, well, he was ignorant, and that wasn¡¯t something he was about to hide or be ashamed of¡ªespecially with someone who could end up teaching him. Though he did wonder if he wanted this man¡ªthis elf¡ªto be teaching him. It wasn¡¯t as though he had made a good first impression. He seemed arrogant and self-important. But Xavier didn¡¯t have any other options at present. He could wait until his next level and use the spell again in hopes of summoning another spirit, but that just felt like stalling the inevitable. He could easily summon someone worse. Yes. I am green. Please, explain to me what you mean by soul energy. Soul energy is what living souls produce. It is something that exists on a different plane to that of spirit energy. The elf cocked his head to the side. It¡¯s not even something that you would miss, really, especially someone like you, who has such a strong soul already. Huh. Xavier didn¡¯t let his thoughts seep out. There was something in the shift in the way the elf spoke. There was a hint of mocking, but mostly it seemed as though the man was flattering him¡­ He wanted this deal. He wanted it badly. What does soul energy do for you? Something flashed on the spirit¡¯s face. A micro expression that was there for barely a fraction of a second. Xavier couldn¡¯t quite read it. If he had to guess, he would say it might have been sadness¡­ or perhaps longing. I suppose this is one of the things I would have to teach you, if we were both to make a deal. The dead elf sighed, which seemed unnecessary, considering he couldn¡¯t actually breathe. Soul Energy might exist on another plane, but it¡¯s what¡­ The elf swallowed visibly. It¡¯s what allows mortals to remain in the realm of the living. Without it, your souls would drift off to¡­ Other places? Xavier asked. The elf spirit inclined his head. Indeed. It keeps one centred in their own reality. Though there are other things that it does, things I could one day teach you. Each time you make a connection to the Otherworld and summon one of us to you, it eats away at your soul energy. Xavier felt a flutter in his chest. You mean to say that if I used too much of my soul energy, by using too many Otherworld spells, I¡¯d what, drift away? I would die? In a manner of speaking, yes. At least, your soul would. Your mortal body might still live. The brain might still be intact. Even your personality could remain with you. But you would be a heartless, cold thing without your soul. Certainly you wouldn¡¯t be anything like you are right now. Xavier considered that for a moment. He looked at the elf. The other spirits that he had summoned had other specialisations. This elf¡­ if he was to be Xavier¡¯s teacher, that must mean he had experience with summoning from the Otherworld. At least, when he was alive. Is that what happened to you? Xavier asked. No. I died in a more¡­ traditional way. My body is long gone. Xavier nodded. It seemed bad form to ask how the elf had died, even though he was curious. Xavier didn¡¯t see how this bargain could be a bad one. A tenth of his soul energy didn¡¯t sound like a large amount¡ªnot that he really knew much about it, anyway. Though that was exactly the reason he was wary. This felt too easy. How would you teach me? Xavier asked. With the soul energy you provide me, and as part of whatever deal we might strike, I would appear to you almost as a soul apparition until your studies are deemed complete. Only you would be able to see me. Xavier thought on that. So, he would essentially be walking around with a ghost? That¡­ didn¡¯t really sound all that bad, actually. He might look a little strange, talking to himself wherever he went, but he could endure looking strange if it meant giving him an opportunity to learn. He just needed to know a little more about soul energy before signing in blood. Book 4: Chapter 62 - Like Some Sociopathic Kid It turned out there was a lot more to soul energy than the spirit had first implied. As it wished to make a deal with him, it was compelled to answer his questions regarding everything to do with the deal¡ªliterally compelled. When Xavier asked about the spirit¡¯s honesty over this matter, a notification from the System popped up, telling him that during an Otherworldly Communion spell, a spirit was not able to lie. Xavier glanced at the grey stone nearby. He couldn¡¯t help but think of the fae again. Legend had it that the fae weren¡¯t able to lie¡ªbut that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t trick you. Not being able to lie didn¡¯t mean you couldn¡¯t obfuscate the truth or mislead someone. That was why he needed to be thorough in his questioning of the elf. He had discovered that soul energy wasn¡¯t just something that kept mortals rooted in this plane of existence, it was also a valuable resource in its own right. It wasn¡¯t something that Xavier had the ability to manually tap into¡ªat least not at this stage of his development¡ªbut it was what made his summoning of spirits from the Otherworld possible in the first place. Each summoning ate his soul energy. But it was more than that. Soul energy accumulated. It was what gave Denizens their long lifespans. Normal, unintegrated humans had a very limited amount of soul energy. No matter how well one kept their body and mind in good shape, without soul energy things would always degrade, and entropy would take place, placing a hard limit on human lifespans if one wasn¡¯t able to create more soul energy. Xavier tapped his foot as he considered what the spirit truly wanted from him. If it were to take a part of his soul energy, it was essentially cutting years from his ultimate lifespan away. That didn¡¯t sound like the worst thing in the world, especially when the lifespan of someone like him had already been drastically increased beyond his previous imagination. But it was still, well, his life. And something told him there was more to soul energy¡ªsomething that he was missing in this conversation. But he didn¡¯t know what questions to ask if he didn¡¯t know exactly what that was. The bargain still felt too easy, but Xavier wasn¡¯t going to fight it. He was sure the elf had his own reasons, his own agendas. And the fact that he was willing to reside in the mortal realm for the foreseeable future as a silent observer in his life¡ªat least, silent to everyone else¡ªmeant there must certainly be something important in it for him. Unless that¡¯s exactly what he wants¡­ He supposed if he was a spirit from the Otherworld, he would wish to return to the mortal realm too. In fact, he¡¯d claw his way back. But that wasn¡¯t something he would need to worry about. He wasn¡¯t going to die. At least, not if he could help it, and not for a very, very, very long time. All right, Xavier said to the elf. I will make your deal. The elf hid his expression of surprise and genuine pleasure fairly well, but not well enough. Xavier was able to see when the emotions slipped onto the elf¡¯s face. It didn¡¯t take long for the elf to draw up a contract. Xavier¡¯s attention wandered as the task was being performed. Colour was still drained from the world, time frozen where he sat. He looked to the stream, its water stuck, no longer flowing toward the cliff and the pool below. When the contract was finished, Xavier looked it over thoroughly, trying to discern if there was anything in there that shouldn¡¯t be. He even asked the elf if there was. The elf, having to be honest to him in this situation, assured him there was not¡ªthe contract included only what they had spoken of. The contract also had the elf¡¯s name. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Rhaalir. It took a long moment for Rhaalir to respond. Xavier thought he would respond with some quip. That seemed the elf¡¯s way. Instead, the elf bowed his head, and it was the most serious and sincere he had looked since Xavier had summoned him. Same to you, Xavier. This deal is an interesting one. I could not pass up the opportunity to do it, especially not with someone like you. Xavier, after having read through the contract three times and finding nothing amiss, finally signed it. The moment he did, he felt something. A minute tug, deep inside. Suddenly he felt sad¡ªas though he lacked something vital. As though he were missing someone that he didn¡¯t even know he¡¯d had to begin with. That must be the portion of soul energy Rhaalir is now entitled to. The moment Xavier had signed the contract with the elf, time had started moving forward again. But unlike the other times when this had happened after Xavier had cast Otherworldly Communion, the spirit did not disappear. Rhaalir remained standing exactly where he had been, and he remained transparent. The water started flowing down the stream, rushing off the cliff. The shadows from the trees behind him shifted, moving across the large standing stone. Can you still hear me? Xavier thought to the spirit. I can hear you. Xavier sighed. That was a relief. He was glad that he wouldn¡¯t have to speak aloud to the spirit-ghost-elf from the Otherworld. That would have made him look¡­ unique. Rhaalir folded his hands behind his back and raised his chin. First, share with me your ranks. In this state, all you must do is will that I have access to them. If I¡¯m able to see everything you¡¯re capable of, it will make me a far better asset. Xavier saw no reason not to comply. It took barely a moment for the permission to be granted¡ªall he needed was his own will. Rhaalir was quiet for a long moment. The spirit¡¯s eyes glazed over. He was clearly looking at Xavier¡¯s status sheet, nodding his head as he went down, until finally he came around to Xavier¡¯s spells. The elf let out a long sigh. Well, isn¡¯t that absolutely pitiful. Xavier blinked. Pitiful? He had been called a lot of things since being integrated, but pitiful wasn¡¯t one of them. I think I have accomplished quite a bit. Rhaalir sniffed. You have not once used the Otherworldly Communion spell properly. Xavier opened his mouth to protest. But, considering he hadn¡¯t gained a single rank in the spell, he didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on. Explain. The elf smiled. Had he been trying to goad Xavier to see what his reaction would be? To try and make him defensive? A defensive student wouldn¡¯t be receptive to being taught¡­ then again, an arrogant bully doesn¡¯t sound like the best teacher. To gain ranks in this spell, you need to obtain insight and then show that you have acted upon that insight¡ªonly then will the ranks accumulate. Huh. Xavier stepped over to the edge of the cliff. He thought about the times he had used Otherworldly Communion¡ªto gain information on his sector, or to gain information about how to bring the Spirit of Vengeance into this world. They had been important things that he¡¯d learnt¡­ but the elf was right, he hadn¡¯t acted upon them. He hadn¡¯t acted on any of the insight that had been given to him. Not really. Not in a tangible way.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He wasn¡¯t sure where to begin, considering he couldn¡¯t cast the spell again until the cooldown ended or he reached his next level. Then he realised¡ªhe had a teacher now. And he had gotten that teacher through the Otherworldly Communion spell. Everything this spirit taught him would count as using the insight, wouldn¡¯t it? Then let¡¯s put it into practice. What do you have to teach me about being an Otherworldly Reaper? First, you¡¯ve been absolutely wasting your class. The way you fight lacks finesse, and that¡¯s putting it mildly. You are an Otherworldly Reaper, for System¡¯s sake! Yet in truth, you have done absolutely nothing of use with that combination. So I shall teach you a great lesson¡ªthere is a spell available to you, one that you should be able to gain with ease. Today. Xavier tilted his head to the side. How do I just¡­ learn a new spell? He¡¯d gained Spell Quests before, and gotten spells as rewards or once choosing a class¡­ but this was different. Rhaalir began pacing around the clearing. At one point he paced right off the side of the cliff. Xavier had to restrain himself from moving to catch the elf¡ªnot that there was anything to catch. The spirit wasn¡¯t corporeal. The elf walked on air until he stepped back onto solid ground. You must offer up a sacrifice. There was a hunger in the spirit¡¯s eyes that Xavier hadn¡¯t seen before. What kind of sacrifice? Xavier shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Despite everything he had done, all the people and beasts he¡¯d killed¡­ he never wanted to kill a Denizen when it was seemingly unnecessary¡ªwhen another solution could be found. And he didn¡¯t like the hunger in the elf¡¯s gaze. Rhaalir looked at him through narrowed eyes. You must sacrifice a great deal of the souls within your reserve. Offer them up to the Otherworld, and see if they are deemed worthy. Offer up souls to the Otherworld? He shook his head. He had no idea how he would have stumbled on something like that naturally. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate. Didn¡¯t second guess. Show me how. According to Rhaalir, it was time for Xavier to perform his first ritual. He hadn¡¯t even realised rituals were a thing¡ªapparently, according to this elf, they were a staple of those in the Otherworldly and Reaper line of classes, though as the skills weren¡¯t learnt when the class was taken up, Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how he was supposed to have known that. Rituals aren¡¯t strictly a part of the classes, but they are supplementary. Being an Otherworldly Summoner, or a Reaper, or both, makes one a perfect candidate to perform rituals. Soul energy is also perfect for rituals, but that will come into your training later, the elf had told him. The first thing Rhaalir did was have Xavier learn a skill¡ªwhich was a good thing, because he still had a skill point he could use for that. He¡¯d been saving it, not being sure what he should use it on. He¡¯d done the same for the skill point that had gone to Dismantle, and he was glad he had. You have learnt the skill Ritual! Ritual ¨C Rank 1 The ritual skill grants a Denizen the ability to perform rituals of power. These rituals are wide ranging in scope, from performing a ritual that would light a candleflame, to performing a ritual that would siphon the lifeforce from an entire sector. Rituals are a dangerous path to walk. Be careful you know what powers you are working with. The last line of the skill¡¯s description made Xavier a little wary, but he would have to trust that it was in Rhaalir¡¯s best interests to steer him in the right direction. I don¡¯t have any candles. You don¡¯t need candles to perform rituals. You need symbols of power, time, and an energy source. There are other things that can help, but those are the three essentials. Rhaalir¡¯s arrogant air hadn¡¯t completely left him, but the elf seemed far more serious now that he was instructing Xavier. He paced around the clearing, tapping his chin with his index finger, glancing down at the ground, until finally the elf nodded. Yes, this area will work rather nicely. I am to understand that you have a Time Alteration spell? Xavier inclined his head. That will come in handy. Use it now. There was a part of Xavier that wanted to bristle at the man¡¯s command, and the tone he¡¯d used as he¡¯d said it¡ªthe elf sounded as though he was used to giving out orders, and always had them carried out¡ªbut he¡¯d cultivated enough patience while working with Liana to stop himself. He wanted to learn from this elf. He could endure the abrupt way Rhaalir spoke to him. At least for now. Xavier cast his Time Alteration spell. He made the bubble stretch into part of the stream, just to observe what happened with it. The water rushed to the edge of the bubble, but wasn¡¯t able to push through it¡ªthe water on the other side stopped it. It sloshed, as though it had hit a wall, and a bit of the water went over the top and out of the time dilation field. The water fell back down, and within the bubble, it was a little shallower than without. The stream¡ªeven inside the time dilation field¡ªstopped flowing. Perhaps you aren¡¯t as pitiful as I made you out to be, Xavier Collins, Rhaalir said, as the elf observed the same thing Xavier was. A spell like this¡­ it will be invaluable when performing rituals. Rituals are time consuming¡ªthere are ways to shorten them, with vast amounts of experience, but I have struggled to find a way in which to use a ritual in combat without adequate time to prepare for it. He opened his arms in an expansive gesture. This, on the other hand¡­ This could work. There was a hint of awe in the elf¡¯s eyes. After the way Rhaalir had spoken to Xavier, he couldn¡¯t help but be a little proud of that. What types of rituals will I be able to perform? The elf waved a transparent hand. All in due time. First, we put our minds to this task and this task alone. You have the required attributes to achieve something like this, and it seems as though your mind will be strong enough to endure the rigours¡­ Seems? Rigours? That sounds ominous. The elf smiled, though this one didn¡¯t look like the others. It was more companionable. Indeed. There are risks to taking this path, as I¡¯m sure the System outlined in the skill description for you. Xavier inclined his head. My entire life is comprised of taking risks. What¡¯s a few more? Rhaalir chuckled. Perhaps I could grow to like you, Xavier Collins. Thanks? Now, we move onto the ritual. The elf crouched close to the ground. You will need to use something to calve the symbols into the ground. A blade might be best. Xavier didn¡¯t have a blade. Not anymore. But there was something he did have. He summoned one of the Rhinoceros Monkey horns to his hand. Will this do? The man raised an eyebrow. Indeed. That should do nicely. He stood from his crouch and walked over to Xavier. Do you have more beast parts in that Storage Ring of yours? Different beast components can be used to strengthen rituals. Do I have beast parts? It was Xavier¡¯s turn to chuckle. He summoned a large portion of the dismantled Rhinoceros Monkey parts into a pile in the middle of the time dilation field. The elf blinked. It¡¯s almost as though you were preparing for this¡­ He stared at Xavier. His eyes glazed over. You possess the Dismantle skill. I almost forgot. Will these come in handy? The man nodded. There are several ways in which one can create a symbols of power. The simplest way is to draw one into the dirt¡ªas I was about to instruct you to do. But that is not the most powerful way. Another way is to use beast parts to create the symbol. It is a considerably more time-consuming method, but¡­ He gestured to the time dilation field. For you, time does not appear to be an issue. They got to work. Rhaalir instructed Xavier on exactly what he needed to do. For a little while, he felt foolish, and a little¡­ well, off. Like some sociopathic kid playing with animal parts, trying to make art. That wasn¡¯t too far from the truth. A lot went into the symbol of power, which Rhaalir said was called a Conduit. There were symbols within symbols. Some of them looked like shapes he recognised¡ªtriangles, squares, circles, rhombi¡ªand to Xavier¡¯s surprise, the entire symbol of power sat inside of¡­ A pentagram. When Rhaalir instructed him to make the pentagram from the beast horns, Xavier stood back and looked down at what he¡¯d done. What is it? the elf had asked. We have that symbol back on Earth¡­ pre-integration. In fiction, its often used as part of summoning rituals. That does not surprise me. The deep knowledge can be found even in the remotest, most backwater baby planets in the Greater Universe. You always say the sweetest things. Being sweet was not part of the contract I signed. When the symbol of power was complete, Rhaalir looked down at it with something akin to pride. The spirit pressed his hands together. It¡¯s time to activate it. How many souls do I need to sacrifice? Xavier asked. As many as you can spare. Better to ensure this ritual goes off without any¡­ issues. Besides, if your sacrifice is more than adequate, the spell you receive will be stronger for it. Xavier stared at the elf for a long moment. This ritual¡­ it¡¯s going to do what you say it¡¯s going to do, isn¡¯t it? The elf looked at him, then smiled. I have not tricked you into doing something sinister, Xavier Collins. As you might remember, part of the contract disallows me from doing such a thing. Rhaalir paused. Not that I would have done that without the contract stopping me. Xavier kept his gaze on the elf for a long moment before inclining his head. He had to trust Rhaalir, otherwise what was the point of taking him onboard as a teacher? Xavier contemplated just how many souls he could get away with using for this ritual. He looked at his reserve. Soulkeeping Reserve: 4,170/4,170 It still felt surreal to him that he currently had over four thousand sounds at his disposal. Souls of formerly living beings that he had plucked from their corpses. His threshold grew every time he raised his rank in a soul-based spell, and there was still plenty of room for it to grow. Especially if he gained more soul-based spells. Soon, he would be a part of a raid against a C Grade beast. He would need as many souls in reserve as he could muster. However¡­ there would be time to gather more before the Hunt Quest began. It wasn¡¯t until later in the week, after all. And, after facing that first stampede of Rhinoceros Monkeys, he¡¯d discovered that there were more out there¡ªit was the perfect source of souls. Xavier raised his chin. How does a sacrifice of four thousand souls sound? The elf looked over at him with wide eyes. That will do it, yes. Xavier grinned. It was time for him to perform his first ritual. Book 4: Chapter 63 - Soul Sacrifice The symbol of power¡ªthe Conduit¡ªlooked grotesque and¡­ oddly beautiful at the same time. There was a logic to the shapes, the way they connected together, that Xavier could almost intuit. Should I really be attempting this ritual? Xavier asked Rhaalir, the elven spirit from the Otherworld whom he¡¯d contracted as his teacher. Rhaalir raised his chin, his hands folded neatly behind his back. Normally, with a Rank 1 Ritual skill, performing this ritual would be incredibly dangerous. Only a fool would do something like this. There are stories of low-level Denizens obtaining high-level Ritual Manuals¡ªGrimoires. It rarely goes well. Xavier inclined his head. You, however, are far from normal. Your attributes should protect you. The elf had said similar things like that before. That they should protect him. Xavier ignored his doubts. He tiptoed over the symbol of power, placing his foot between the different shapes and lines he¡¯d painstakingly created using the beast parts he¡¯d dismantled. Squares made from teeth, circles from tails, and the pentagram itself from horns. He came to stand in the centre of the Conduit, where there was enough space for him to stand with his feet shoulder width apart. The Time Alteration spell was still active around him. This first ritual of yours will take time to perform, more time than a ritual of this level should. We could train you on weaker rituals, gain you a few ranks in the skill. We would certainly have the time. I don¡¯t believe such a thing is necessary. Moreover, there could be certain advantages to performing such a ritual at Rank 1. Xavier hadn¡¯t even considered gaining ranks in the skill before performing this ritual. Despite all the patience he¡¯d cultivated with his previous tutor, the time mage Liana, he wanted to jump straight into this. He was also intrigued by these so-called advantages the elf mentioned. What do I do next? Xavier had never sacrificed souls before¡ªhe hadn¡¯t known something like that was possible. This was an entirely new realm of magic that he hadn¡¯t realised had existed. There was no spell for him to cast. It was like stumbling in the dark without being able to hear. Clear your mind, then focus on what you wish to happen, much like when you cast Otherworldly Communion and keep a question in your mind. But this thought needs to be far more intentional. There must be no confusing it. You are sacrificing these souls in order to gain a spell called Soul Sacrifice. Keep it simple. Xavier shut his eyes and focused his mind. It took a moment for him to order his thoughts, then he lowered his chin and wrinkled his forehead as he concentrated on the thought. Soul Sacrifice spell. Soul Sacrifice spell. He wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed when the elven spirit roused him from the trancelike state he¡¯d induced. This thought is strong in your mind? Xavier did not open his eyes. He simply nodded. Now, you must reach into your reserve of souls. Reach into his reserve¡­ that was something he¡¯d never done before. Yet another thing he hadn¡¯t known was possible. He had only ever used his souls in spells. He had never thought of his reserve as a resource that could be used for anything else. Xavier, his eyes remaining closed, felt within himself. There, he could feel the different cores that he unlocked. The different energies they contained. He had become adept at cultivating those energies, for his Spirit Core, his Willpower Core, and his Speed Core. He could feel his soulkeeping reserve. He had an innate knowledge of whether it felt full or not, in the same way that he could sense his cooldowns¡ªthough the accuracy of those senses was nothing like checking the details using the System. He focused on that feeling of fullness. He had over four thousand souls in his reserve, and he intended to sacrifice almost all of them to this cause, even if that wasn¡¯t strictly necessary. Time passed. The air was still within the bubble. There was no sound but for the constant rhythm of his own breathing, of his heart thudding in his chest. The stream nearby did not flow, the small part of it that was stuck inside the time dilation field was a still, silent pool of water. Xavier pushed his mind toward this goal. Hours must have gone by before it happened. Xavier could more than just feel the fullness of his reserve¡ªhe was beginning to feel the souls within it. Not just that¡­ he could feel different things about the souls. Echoes of what they once were. Things flickered through his mind the more he focused on his reverse¡ªghost images of what the souls had looked like, of what their soul apparitions would look like. The weight of how many souls he had trapped within his reserve hit him hard. Made him feel¡­ strangely weighed down. But he could also feel how to pull those souls out of his reserve. He tilted his head to the side. There was a way to free the souls¡ªand there was a way to harness them. Once he had made this discovery, a notification appeared in his vision. What do you wish to do with the souls in your reserve?
  1. Release them.
  2. Harness them.
  3. Destroy them.
Focus on the souls and will your choice. Xavier¡¯s forehead become infinitely more lined. He had the power to destroy the souls, without even using them? Why would he ever want to do something like that? Once he had made this discovery and read the notification, he told the details of it to Rhaalir. The spirit paused, uncharacteristically, before responding. I thought it would take you a lot longer to make the connection to your reserve. Xavier opened his eyes for the first time in a long while. He looked at the transparent elf, standing a few feet away from him. The spirit hadn¡¯t moved. Rhaalir still stood in the same way, chin raised, hands folded behind back. I¡¯ve been at this for hours. Two days, actually, within the time dilation field. Xavier was a little taken aback. He hadn¡¯t realised two full days had gone by. He¡¯d known it had been a while, but not that long. And you¡¯re saying that was quick? It could have taken weeks. Xavier simply nodded. He wasn¡¯t surprised by this. Maybe he should have been, but he¡¯d been unlocking abilities such as this far faster than was expected since he¡¯d been integrated into the System, starting with when he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core. All right. I think I can do the next step without instruction.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The elf nodded and did not contradict him Xavier inhaled long and deep, then let it back out as he closed his eyes. He held the thought in his mind¡ªthat he wished to gain the Soul Sacrifice spell. He split his mind and focused on the souls within his reserve. He could pick them out individually, and he brought four thousand of them into focus. Four thousand personalities. Four thousand separate power signatures. Four thousand ghost images that flashed through his mind. He harnessed them. Ritual commenced. Connection to the Otherworld established. Ritual in progress¡­ Xavier no longer became in any way conscious of the passing of time as the ritual happened. All he had was the thought in his mind, a sense of connection to the Otherworld, and the feeling of four thousand souls leaving his body through that connection. Ritual intention has been heard. Sacrifice of {4,000 Souls} accepted. Ritual has been deemed a success. Results are forthcoming. Xavier opened his eyes. The connection to the Otherworld had snapped shut. The souls from his reserve, all but a few, had disappeared. Rhaalir stared at him, an expectant look on his face. More notifications streamed in. You have gained the spell: Soul Sacrifice Ritual has reached Rank 2 ¡­ Ritual has reached Rank 15! [Otherworldly Communion has taken a step forward on the path! Otherworldly Communion is now a Rank 2 spell. ¡­ Otherworldly Communion is now a Rank 20 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier released a breath. Did it work? the spirit asked. Xavier nodded. He hadn¡¯t experienced any of the dangers the elf had said there would be, but Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder what might have happened if his sacrifice hadn¡¯t been accepted. It did. Xavier frowned. He gazed down at his body, raising a hand to examine his skin. He looked unusually pale, and his palms were sweaty¡ªactually, his whole body was sweaty, and he felt strangely cold. And absolutely exhausted. In every single way. Physically, mentally¡ªeven spiritually. Like his soul was¡­ not damaged, but tired. Xavier raised his chin. Will I always be this drained after a ritual? Not as your rank grows. Rhaalir tilted his head to the side and grinned. Looks like you¡¯ve gained a few ranks already. Xavier frowned. It took him a moment to figure out how the spirit knew he¡¯d already gained ranks in the Ritual skill. Then he remembered he¡¯d given permission to the elf to do so. It was strange that another being always had access to exactly how powerful he was. It made him feel vulnerable in a way he hadn¡¯t felt before. Xavier looked down. His eyes widened instantly at what he saw. The symbol of power¡ªthe Conduit he¡¯d spent hours painstakingly putting together¡ªwas gone. All that remained of it was ash. The symbol was burnt into the ground where all the beast parts had been. The ritual consumed the Conduit? Xavier asked. It sounded right, and he realised he didn¡¯t have to ask the question¡ªhe knew it intuitively now that his skill had ranked up so much. Perhaps that was why the elf didn¡¯t reply. Xavier was thrilled that he¡¯d just gained so many ranks in Otherworldly Communion. It was hard to believe the spell was Rank 20 now. That was an absolutely dramatic shift¡ªbut it was also a long, long time coming. Xavier brought up the new spell that he¡¯d just learnt. He was eager to find out exactly what it did. Soul Sacrifice ¨C Rank 50 Xavier stopped reading the description the instant he saw the rank. He gaped, turned, and faced Rhaalir. How in the world is this spell Rank 50? I just gained it! Rhaalir smiled. It seems the spirits from the Otherworld you connected with appreciated your generous sacrifice. Xavier narrowed his eyes at the elf. You knew this would happen, didn¡¯t you? The elf shrugged. I imagined it would, yes. I didn¡¯t know how many souls you¡¯d be able to put toward the task. I really only expected you to gain five ranks, maybe ten¡­ but you impress me, Xavier Collins. And I am not one who is easily impressed. Xavier focused back on the description. Soul Sacrifice ¨C Rank 50 Soul Sacrifice is an epic spell and is specific to the Reaper and Otherworldly Summoner classes¡ªone must be a part of both lines to be able to use this skill, making it one of the rarest spells in the Greater Universe. This spell creates a connection to the Otherworld when it is cast. Souls are sacrificed through this connection, creating a bridge between the Otherworld and the Mortal Realm. For a short period of time, spirits can enter the Mortal Realm through this bridge. Warriors that will fight alongside the caster. This spell is powerful, one must be cautious. Though no spirit that comes through the bridge can harm the user of the spell, sometimes they are chaotic beings, and their actions are not always predictable. Xavier¡¯s forehead became increasingly lined as he continued to read through the spell¡¯s description. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about this spell¡ªhow confident he was in it. He would have to give up souls¡ªsouls he could use in his Soul Strike, Soul Shatter, Soul Block, and Soul Puppet spells, not to mention his ability to imbue souls into some of his other spells¡ªto summon warriors to fight alongside him¡­ And there would be no way to anticipate what those warriors would be like. An interesting spell. It has the potential to be far more powerful than it first sounds. Xavier inclined his head. He supposed he had to take the elf at his word, at least until he got a chance to test it. Though there was something about the spell that he didn¡¯t like the sound of. He¡¯d been hoping to find a spell that would help him with his Hunt Quest in the raid group against a C Grade beast, but if this spell wasn¡¯t safe to use with allies¡­ Just how chaotic are these spirits? The spell description exaggerates. It is rare that an unruly spirit would come through the bridge. Rhaalir¡¯s tone had shifted. There was something different in the elf¡¯s voice¡ªhe sounded more serious. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he liked it. He walked to the edge of the time dilation field. An unruly spirit. Xavier wondered what type of spirit might have attained such a title. He touched a hand to the time dilation field, deactivating the spell at the same time. As far as he was aware, there were no beasts in the immediate area. But he wouldn¡¯t have to go far to find one. The beast he came upon was something he¡¯d faced before. It was a little ways into the forest from where he¡¯d just been. He¡¯d heard the beast¡¯s racket from a mile away¡ªit had been devouring a pack of wolven that it had slaughtered. Xavier hadn¡¯t often seen beast-on-beast violence, but he¡¯d known that it existed. Seeing the torn-up remnants of the wolven pack, and the beast that still feasted on them, seemingly unworried about Xavier¡¯s approach, flared a hunger deep within him. The beast that he was slowly becoming stirred. It wished to feast like this beast feasted. The beast stood at twenty feet of height on its hindlegs. It looked much like the Rat King had looked on one of the early floors of the tower, but more savage. The Rat King had looked more and more humanoid as it had gained levels¡ªthis beast looked more monstrous. In fact, the more he looked at it, the more he doubted it looked like a rat at all. It had pointy, batlike ears that it could shift and control¡ªthey were facing his direction right now, the beast clearly aware of his presence but unconcerned. Xavier, unhurried, stepped into the clearing where the carnage had taken place. The beast was called Raphick. It wasn¡¯t a name he was familiar with. He supposed that was only fair, given how many worlds there were in the Greater Universe. Rhaalir appeared a few feet away from the Raphick, as though he¡¯d teleported there. Xavier was about to tell the ghost to get out of the beast¡¯s line of sight, lest it be provoked, when he remembered he was the only one who could see the elf. The last beast of this kind had put up quite the fight¡ªthough that had been before he¡¯d used Assimilate Properties on all those Rhinoceros Monkey parts. You¡¯re just going to let it keep devouring these other beasts? Rhaalir¡¯s nose curled up in evident disgust. I¡¯m in no hurry. Xavier rolled his head around his neck, making it crack. No matter how powerful he became, no matter how many points in Toughness, he always seemed to have a slight crick in his neck. Maybe it was psychological¡ªall in his head. The Raphick stared at him as it tore the flesh off the bone of some unfortunate wolven. Well, his Predator¡¯s Gaze skill certainly didn¡¯t work for this beast. Even so, there did appear to be some sort of recognition in the beast¡¯s eyes¡ªit knew another true predator when it saw one. And it felt no fear. With an unhurried air of complete calm, Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice for the first time. He had yet to replenish his soulkeeping reserve, so he currently had less than two hundred souls remaining. He dedicated one hundred of those souls to this spell. Xavier felt a rush of energy as the souls fled from his reserve and seemingly disappeared from existence. Though he knew they weren¡¯t being destroyed¡ªthey were being taken to the Otherworld. Briefly, Xavier wondered what exactly it was that spirits from the otherworld even did with the souls. Not my concern. You have cast Soul Sacrifice. {100 Souls} have been sacrificed to the Otherworld. A bridge has been established. Await the spirits at your leisure. At my leisure? He had been hoping for a spirit to come through the bridge instantly¡ªhe didn¡¯t expect to have to wait for them. And, truth be told, he didn¡¯t have to wait long. Xavier felt the presence before it appeared. There was a strange sense of anticipation vibrating through him that he had never experienced before. Even Rhaalir, the ghost, shifted where he stood, adopting an odd stiffness in his posture that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago. The Raphick sensed this as well. It threw the bone it had been nibbling to the grass and sprinted at Xavier with a speed that would be difficult to believe if he hadn¡¯t faced a beast just like this before. Xavier held his ground. He didn¡¯t move an inch. His fingernails turned to claws, his teeth elongated, his muscles shifted beneath his skin. His vision started to turn red. He was ready to take this beast on. But before the beast¡ªthat was now glowing green due to its use of Speed Infusion¡ªcould reach him, something appeared. It came from the bridge. Book 4: Chapter 64 - Volkarin Xavier took a step back as the beast¡ªthe spirit from the Otherworld which he¡¯d summoned through the bridge using Soul Sacrifice¡ªemerged into the Mortal Realm. A sinuous, scaled body came through the rift between planes at an almost unimaginable speed. There was a roar that shuddered the very trees around them, rustling the leaves and making birds high up in the branches take flight. Fire and ice streamed from the beast¡¯s giant gaping maw as it intercepted the Raphick. Xavier knew that roar, and he knew that spell. The spirit before him was one he recognised¡ªhe had summoned it to this world before, though he had never seen its form as corporeal as it was now. The first spirit that came from the bridge was the Spirit of Vengeance. A massive, deadly dragon that relished in the kill. There was a deep, guttural laugh as its teeth clamped over the enemy beast¡¯s head. Rhaalir, Xavier noticed, stood far off to the side, his eyes opened wider than he¡¯d ever seen them. There was fear in those eyes, Xavier was sure of it. Ever since he had assimilated all of those beast parts, he¡¯d been able to sense fear¡ªsee it, smell it, even taste it in the very air¡ªand despite the fact that Rhaalir wasn¡¯t technically in this world, Xavier could sense it from the spirit quite clearly. Why would Rhaalir be afraid of the Spirit of Vengeance? The fight did not last long. The Raphick had none of the advantages that other beasts who had faced the Spirit of Vengeance had possessed¡ªand the dragon was not the only beast to come through the bridge, though it was the most powerful. Four spirits tore the Raphick limb from limb. Each of those spirits were that of a beast. One resembled an incredibly lean, muscular bear. Another looked like a hyena melded with a finch. And the last was a beast Xavier recognised, a wolven. He wondered how common those beasts were in the Greater Universe, for him to keep encountering them. These spirits left the Raphick more shredded, destroyed, and feasted upon than the carcasses of the wolven that it had killed. Xavier¡¯s stomach did not turn at the sight of the carnage. If anything, it made his blood rush faster through his veins. A sense of excitement settled over him. When the Raphick died and the chaos abated, Xavier expected the spirits to return through the bridge. They did not. In the shock at seeing the Spirit of Vengeance emerge through the bridge, Xavier had neglected to consolidate the information in his split minds. He had one mind constantly reading and digesting the notifications that came through to him, but the two minds were so separate that the part of Xavier that was staring at the spirits hadn¡¯t known what the notifications were. He caught himself up on them. You have successfully attracted a spirit from the Otherworld! As you have sacrificed {100 Souls}, the bridge will remain open for 10 seconds. The counter had started the moment the first spirit came through. Ten seconds was stretched much farther when you could move as swiftly as Xavier and perceive the world that fast. The spirits you summon will remain in the Mortal Realm for as long as the bridge is open. The instant the enemy beast had been slain, the spirits fled through the forest. Xavier had no idea where they were going¡ªthey went in different directions, and they were already too far away for him to trap in his time dilation field. He tapped his foot on the ground and looked at the one spirit that had not fled. Though ten seconds was a long time in battle, it was an awfully short time for a conversation. Xavier cast Time Alteration, encompassing the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance inside of it. Ah, young Denizen, thank you for bringing me a meal of this calibre. The dragon¡¯s tongue shot out and licked its lips. There was a sinister grin on its face. The spirit looked so much more solid than any other time it had been summoned that Xavier almost felt as though it was actually here, but if he looked close enough he could see that the beast was transparent¡ªshards of sunlight that cut through the trees went in one side of the spirit and out the other. The beast cast a shadow, but it was a mottled, weak shadow. Xavier took a step toward the dragon. I did not expect to see you here. I felt the sacrifice of souls. Thousands of them streamed into the Otherworld and I was there to devour my fair share. The dragon took a deep breath, almost as though it could feel the air coming into its lunges. Ahh. It feels good to feast on such. The dragon tilted its head to the side. You have learnt the art of performing rituals. That is good. The dragon lowered its head, staring deeply into Xavier¡¯s eyes. Xavier saw the eyes of a true predator¡ªno¡­ something more. Something even deadlier. That skill will serve you well if you truly desire to bring me forth into your realm for good. Xavier hadn¡¯t considered that. He knew that there were abilities he¡¯d been missing that he would need if he were to bring forth the Spirit of Vengeance into the Mortal Realm for good. It wasn¡¯t just a vessel that he needed to acquire¡ªhe needed to ensure that he had other things, but those things were not yet clear to him.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He supposed the Ritual skill was one of those things. Xavier raised his chin, looking up at the dragon. I did not realise you could come through the bridge. The Spirit of Vengeance glanced over at the corpse of the Raphick beast. When you open a bridge to the Otherworld, any manner of spirit could wonder through it. That was when the dragon¡¯s gaze settled upon Rhaalir. The spirit was standing outside of the time dilation field. Xavier hadn¡¯t intended to trap the spirit outside of the bubble, but it was interesting to know that he could freeze it in time if it was far enough away from him. The dragon¡¯s eyes narrowed. You made a contract with this spirit? There was something in the beast¡¯s tone of voice. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure what it was. I did. It was the only way I knew to progress my Otherworld spells. This elf¡ªRhaalir¡ªknows how to help me. The dragon gave a deep rumble. It took a moment for Xavier to realise that it was saying, ¡°Hmm.¡± If that is a step you need to take to bring me to this realm, then I applaud it. However¡­ The dragon swung its massive head back toward Xavier¡¯s, its piercing gaze skewering him. Be wary. Spirits are often only out for themselves. The dragon chuckled, as though he¡¯d made some kind of joke. Xavier looked over at Rhaalir. He wasn¡¯t at all surprised by what the dragon had said. He had felt that from the very beginning. But there wasn¡¯t anything to be done about it¡ªhe needed the elf¡¯s help. Xavier paused. Gazed at the dragon. Should I have made a contract with you for this purpose? The dragon shook its head. No, young Denizen. I know some of what an Otherworld Summoner can do, but that is only because they summon me, and their powers concern me. I would be no teacher. It would be like a boy apprenticing as a blacksmith with someone who¡¯d only ever watched another at work at a forge, and never participated in that work themselves. I simply warn you to be wary. Xavier inclined his head in thanks. You have a name, don¡¯t you? I keep thinking of you as the Spirit of Vengeance, but that is merely a title. The Spirit of Vengeance seemed to consider this for a long moment. It was strange, having a longer conversation with the beast. There usually wasn¡¯t time for such things. Now, time wasn¡¯t an issue at all. My name was once Volkarin. I have not used that name for many years. The dragon¡¯s head lowered. I have not even thought the name. It is a strange thing, giving up what you once were¡­ I still feel the urge for revenge, for what was done to¡­ The dragon drifted off, leaving something unsaid. But much of my life is a haze. Dreams of a dead beast and nothing more. Xavier had never seen the bloodthirsty dragon melancholy before. It made him uncomfortable. He shifted from one foot to another. May I call you Volkarin? If you summon me to the Mortal Realm in a corporeal form, you can call me whatever you wish. The spirit paused. But yes. You may call me Volkarin. Now, I grow weary of this conversation. Deactivate the field. Let me return to the Otherworld. Xavier had expected the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªVolkarin¡ªto hang around longer than that. He sensed he had brought back memories the beast did not wish to dwell upon in company. Xavier did not hesitate to bring down the barrier, deactivating his Time Alteration spell. Rhaalir glanced over at him, then blinked and frowned. It was clear the spirit noticed that something had changed. The elf also knew all about Xavier¡¯s abilities, so it likely knew what had happened¡ªwhy one or both of them were standing in different positions than they had been in a split-second ago. Rhaalir disappeared then reappeared a few feet away from Xavier. The spirit¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t as wide as they had been when he had been staring at Volkarin, but clearly the spirit knew something about the dragon. And Xavier still sensed fear wafting off the elf. The timer was swiftly ticking to zero. Soon, the bridge to the Otherworld would close and the four spirits that had come through it would disappear from the Mortal Realm and return to their domain. Volkarin turned and stared directly at Rhaalir. Rhaalir looked up at the dragon, and there was a spike in the elf¡¯s fear. The dragon chuckled, then disappeared like smoke in the wind. The elf shuddered. I did not expect a spirit like that one to have appeared. Xavier tilted his head to the side. A spirit like that one? What do you mean? The elf lowered his head for a moment. He seemed deep in thought. Then he tilted his head to one said and gave a small nod. He looked at Xavier. That was no ordinary spirit from the Otherworld. I know. It was the Spirit of Vengeance. I have summoned the dragon several times. I guess it somehow sensed that I had opened a bridge. The elf¡¯s eyes opened to their widest. He looked incredulously at Xavier. You have summoned that spirit before? Xavier shrugged. He didn¡¯t see what the big deal was. He turned his attention to the notifications that appeared in his vision, skipping past the kill notification and moving straight to the ranks he¡¯d gained. Soul Sacrifice has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Sacrifice is now a Rank 51 spell. ¡­ Soul Sacrifice is now a Rank 60 Spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Ten ranks, with a single usage of the spell. That seemed like a lot. Perhaps it was simply because the spell had been quite low rank, and he¡¯d used it on a high-level D Grade beast. Or, perhaps something else had been at play¡­ He turned his attention back to Rhaalir once more. Have you something to tell me about Volkarin? Rhaalir took a step back. You know the name of the beast? The elf shook his head. Xavier had never seen a spirit from the Otherworld distressed before. It was a strange sight. What could the spirit be afraid of? The elf was already dead, after all. The dragon told me its name. His name. And that does come as a surprise. The spirit you just summoned¡­ he is one of the Seven. Xavier frowned. One of the seven? The spirit released a long sigh, which must have been for effect, considering he couldn¡¯t actually breathe. You really know so little about the Otherworld. I think we¡¯ve established that¡ªthat is the whole reason you¡¯re here. The elf seemed to consider his next words. He licked his lips, nodded to himself, then Rhaalir spoke. The Otherworld is chaos. But it is an ordered chaos. There is a way of things. A hierarchy. That way has been thus for billions of years. And for billions of years there have been seven powerful spirits at the centre of the Otherworld, at the top of that hierarchy, who rule over all others. They, unlike many spirits from the Otherworld, have the ability to destroy other spirits, and they do so at their whim. The dragon you just summoned¡ªVolk¡ª The elf shut his eyes. Swallowed. I cannot say the name, even here and now where he cannot reach me. Xavier tried to take in what the elf was saying. There were seven leaders of the Otherworld, and the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªVolkarin¡ªwas one of them? He wasn¡¯t sure what the implications of that were. He had already been meddling with things he didn¡¯t understand. That fact was only exacerbated now that he had learnt this information. For a long moment he wondered if this changed anything¡­ then he came to the conclusion that it did not. If anything, he was even more keen to bring the dragon physically into the fold. If the dragon was one of the rulers of the Otherworld, then that must mean it was even more powerful and knowledgeable than Xavier had ever realised. That was something he could use to his advantage. He was sure of it. I¡¯ll take that under advisement. Xavier would be wary¡ªjust as Volkarin had said he should be. He didn¡¯t know if he should entirely believe anything one of these spirits said, but he would still take their words of advice and caution, even with a grain of salt. He drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. But this changes nothing. There are things I must do before the C Grade raid. Goals I must accomplish. We move on from here. Xavier walked over to the dead Raphick. He knelt by the beast and stared at its scattered remains for a moment. Then he gathered them up, bit by bit, into his Storage Ring. More parts for his Assimilation Properties skill¡ªall he needed to do was reach D Grade to use them. Book 4: Chapter 65 - The Raid Leader Xavier was high in the sky. He¡¯d leapt to the greatest height his Strength could take him, and was observing the oncoming stampede with an impassive look on his face. Seeing the Rhinoceros Monkeys stirred his blood, made the bestial part of him¡ªa part that was growing¡ªfill with anticipation. He was here, once again, to fill his soulkeeping reserve¡ªa reserve that was only becoming larger with each passing day as his soul spells continued to advance through ranks. On his way to the stampede, he¡¯d killed as many beasts as he could manage, growing his reserve until it held two hundred souls. It wasn¡¯t a great deal, but he knew it would be enough to cause some chaos. He grinned as he fell back to the ground. Offering up one hundred souls the last time he¡¯d used Soul Sacrifice had given him ten seconds with the bridge to the Otherworld open. According to Rhaalir, each unit of ten souls equalled a single second of the bridge being open. That meant he had the potential to keep the bridge open for an entire seven minutes if he were to use up his entire soulkeeping reserve. Xavier wondered if he would ever be in a position to do such a thing. There was a downside to the spell, however¡ªother than the chaotic nature of the spirits it summoned. It had a hard cooldown, one that never shifted. It could only be used once every twenty-four-hours. Xavier felt as though that was a rather severe drawback. It certainly made it difficult for him to rank the spell up. The only reason he could use it again so soon after the first time he had was because he¡¯d gained a level on his way here. He fell to the ground like a stone, landing with enough force to make a crater. Xavier¡¯s body was so densely packed with muscle that he was significantly heavier than a normal human being. He didn¡¯t know how heavy¡ªperhaps four or five hundred pounds. Maybe significantly more. Certainly more than would make sense when one looked at his build. But the Greater Universe did strange things to people, especially as they grew higher in power. The stampede did not slow. He could see it through the trees, trampling everything in its path. This stampede was much like the last, and like the last from what he could tell it held at least five thousand beasts. More than enough to refill his reserve. Xavier wasn¡¯t here to dally. He¡¯d fought a stampede exactly like this before, and he found no pleasure in delaying the fight. All right, that was definitely a lie. He couldn¡¯t help but find some pleasure in it. In fact, there was a part of him that wished to linger here¡ªto rip every one of the beasts limb from limb and feast on the marrow in their bones. God, I¡¯m beginning to sound like the dragon¡­ And he could feast on them, if he wished¡ªthese were E Grade beasts, all but their alpha. He would not be risking accidentally assimilating something from a being that he wasn¡¯t ready for. But he didn¡¯t wish to give into that part of him¡ªnot fully¡ªand he wasn¡¯t about to start now. Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice, using two hundred souls. The bridge opened before the stampede made it to him. Chaos ensued as the spirits flowed out from the bridge. Just like the last time, the Spirit of Vengeance was the first of the spirits to emerge, the great dragon releasing a roar of triumph at being summoned to this world once more. No. He¡¯s not the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªnot right now. Right now, he is Volkarin. One of the seven most powerful beings in the Otherworld. That was something he was still trying to come to terms with, but there was nothing to be done about it. He accepted that this spirit was close to him. It wasn¡¯t the first time someone powerful had taken an interest in him, after all. Though something he had observed was that the spirit wasn¡¯t as powerful as it was when he used Summon Otherworldly Spirit to bring it to this world. There were limitations for how strong the spirits he brought here through the bridge could be¡ªlimitations that hadn¡¯t been mentioned in the description of the Soul Sacrifice spell. But it was something that made a deep sense to him. Any spirit could potentially come through the bridge the spell created, which meant that even A Grade spirits could pass into this realm from his spell¡ªbut those spirits would be severely limited in power, a power that was relative to Xavier¡¯s. But, considering how powerful Xavier was¡­ A dozen spirits made it through the bridge. Three times as much as the first time he had utilised this spell. They tore through the stampede like a bull trampling through a rat warren. There was nothing the stampede could do to resist. Xavier relished in the destruction his spell was causing and looked for the nearest target. He wasn¡¯t worried about the alpha. He¡¯d defeated one just like it, after all. No, right now, his mind was consumed by the next task after this one. He had told Rhaalir there were things he must do before the C Grade raid, but that time was fast approaching¡ªonly a few days away. He didn¡¯t feel ready, not really, but he knew that this¡ªfighting a C Grade enemy while he was only E Grade¡ªwould be an astonishing thing to accomplish. What he needed to do before that was bring himself as close to advancing to the next grade as possible. He needed to be as strong as he could be. Which meant he needed to get to Level 200 before the raid. Xavier, having sighted his target, did not cast Time Alteration as he had the last time he was here. He wished to see his spirits wreak some havoc before he brought up the bubble, wanting them to do as much damage as possible in those twenty seconds. Xavier felt death after death, harvested soul after soul. He tore through the ranks of the stampede with claw and fang, slicing and tearing through the enemies before him. His mind was split, and a part of him was dedicated to one thing¡ªcounting the number of kill notifications. In the first five seconds, one hundred of the enemies had been killed, but that had been because it took a moment for his spirits and himself to reach the bulk of the enemies. In the next five seconds, over five hundred Rhinoceros Monkeys lay dead on the ground. Blood did not stain Xavier¡¯s robes, but it did stain his teeth and mar his claws. At one point in those first twenty seconds of the battle he heard a loud, terrifying roar. It was not the roar of one of the enemy beasts. His first thought had been that it must have come from one of the spirits who¡¯d entered this world through the bridge to the Otherworld. Then he realised it was he who was roaring¡ªthe sound had come from his throat, from deep in his chest. In the mere twenty seconds that the spirits from the Otherworld were in the Mortal Realm, almost two thousand of the Rhinoceros Monkeys met their end. The Soul Sacrifice spell ended. The spirits disappeared like smoke on the wind, returning to their natural domains. Xavier hadn¡¯t seen them fight, he had been too consumed with the carnage he caused, but he saw the aftermath of their passing. Another roar sounded the moment the spirits disappeared. This one, he knew, hadn¡¯t come from him¡ªit came from the alpha. Xavier finally cast Time Alteration, then he carved a path of destruction through the rest of the stampede, until¡ªjust as before¡ªthe only enemy still standing was the alpha. Their fight did not last very long. ~ Rhaalir stared at him. His expression was blank, yet at the same time intense. Xavier¡¯s eyes seemed to be playing tricks, because he could swear the elf looked more solid than he had before.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. You truly are something else, Xavier Collins. Xavier was sitting inside Hunter¡¯s Home, sipping a mug of coffee that Liana had brought to him. He was the only one who could see the spirit of the elf standing before him¡ªseveral times, other Champions had stepped through Rhaalir, and the elf would give them a sour look of disdain. In the time since he had made the contract with the spirit, Xavier had brought his ranks up even closer to 100. His Soul Sacrifice spell gained ranks far faster than he could have hoped. Rhaalir told him that the calibre of spirit the spell attracted often gave the spell more power¡ªand what spirit was more powerful than one of the Seven? Xavier didn¡¯t gain more time from the spell, despite how many ranks he¡¯d achieved in it, nor did the cooldown shorten. But he did attract more spirits each time he cast the spell¡ªthat seemed to be the main difference in the rank. That, and the fact that the spirits had access to more of their own power. Xavier savoured the taste of the coffee. Though as much as he loved what Liana brewed for him, it couldn¡¯t live up to the coffee he¡¯d been given by the older version of himself. I don¡¯t feel ready, Xavier replied with his thoughts to the spirit. Even though he had reached Level 200, and even though the majority of his ranks had reached 100, he simply wasn¡¯t feeling confident about this raid. He wasn¡¯t about to back down¡ªthe rewards on offer were simply too great¡ªbut he still had his doubts. He had asked Liana if she had any wish to participate in the raid. She hadn¡¯t completed the expected number of Hunt Quests the raiding parties wished for, but he might be able to get Felecia to vouch for her. The time mage didn¡¯t want to have any part of the fight. She had taken a room at the Hunter¡¯s Home, something Xavier hadn¡¯t even considered doing, and was lying on the bed in a time bubble of her own that sped the passage of time for her and her alone, meaning she was basically frozen there while time passed around her. Though she had been the one to counsel patience in him, she had reached the end of her rope when it came to remaining in this floor. She still believed Xavier might find a solution to her problem, and for this reason alone she didn¡¯t leave the floor. But that didn¡¯t mean she wished to spend an extra moment here than she had to. Xavier almost felt guilty, keeping the woman here. He¡¯d made a promise to her that he didn¡¯t know if he would be able to fulfill. Certainly the doubts were creeping in right now, when he was about to face his first C Grade beast. He didn¡¯t count The Nightmare. That beast had never been aware of his presence. If it had been, he was sure his control over it would have been short-lived¡ªthen his life would have likely been forfeit. When you told me of this goal of yours, I thought you were the most foolish, arrogant Denizen I ever had the misfortune of encountering in all the different universes. However, now that I have seen the way you fight, the way you excel, I think perhaps it was I who was foolish in my prejudgement of you. Even if you¡¯re not an elf. Xavier smirked and shook his head, then he sipped from his mug once more. Ah, coffee, glorious coffee. Perhaps this brew was better than he gave it credit for. I think that¡¯s the nicest thing you¡¯ve ever said to me, Xavier replied. There wasn¡¯t long for him to linger on these thoughts. Felicia had told him that today would be the day of the raid, and that the leader of the raid would be gathering everyone out the back of the tavern to talk about their Hunt Quest, and the strategy that would be used against it. Xavier had tried asking questions about who the leader of the raid would be. He didn¡¯t spend a whole lot of time at Hunter¡¯s Home, and didn¡¯t really know any of the Champions who were there. The barkeep was being oddly tight-lipped, simply stating that the Champion was a competent one. ¡°They¡¯re gathering now,¡± Felicia said. ¡°You can take that mug out back with you if you wish.¡± Xavier had been grasping the coffee mug with both hands. He¡¯d almost drank the entire beverage, but he wasn¡¯t about to abandon it. He gave the woman a curt nod then headed to the back door of the tavern. The door was propped open, and he was only one among many who were filing out of Hunter¡¯s Home. There was a large, tiled area here that Xavier hadn¡¯t seen before. A fence surrounded the area, and he sensed there was something magical about it. Perhaps it kept beasts from entering. This does feels like an extension of the Safe Zone. Several hundred Champions, each in groups of four, stood mulling around, facing the back of the courtyard. There was a small box on the ground, but no sign of the Raid Leader Felicia had mentioned. Xavier glanced about at the different Champions. When he had first heard about these raids, Gimble had told him that the raiding parties didn¡¯t accept a Champion unless they had completed at least one hundred Hunt Quests¡ªwhich meant that every single Champion before him had done just that. There was a general murmur and excited chatter buzzing around the area. A few people glanced his way with curious looks or frowns, but none tried to speak to him. The chatter died down, and an expectant silence reigned over the courtyard as someone stood on top of the box. Xavier blinked, then chuckled to himself. He knew the person standing there¡ªthe Raid Leader¡ªit was none other than Gimble the dwarf. Which meant the dwarf, for one reason or another, had lied to Xavier about who he really was. He¡¯d made it out like he¡¯d only made a few kills in this place. Xavier¡¯s curiosity outweighed his frustration about being misled. Why would the dwarf have cause to lie to him? There must be a reason, and Xavier was keen to find out what it was. Gimble¡¯s party, Tam, Elinae, and, Lilta, stood arrayed in front of him as the dwarf cleared his throat and spoke in a strong voice that could be heard by everyone in attendance. ¡°Welcome, welcome, to my fifth raid as Raid Leader of the one hundredth floor.¡± Gimble puffed up his chest, raising his chin in the air. The pride he felt at being here was evident. ¡°It is good to see so many eager faces. Some of you have been through these raids before, some of you have only just qualified. You all know the dangers we face, and the commitment you make by participating in this raid.¡± Xavier glanced around at the others. He wasn¡¯t sure what commitment the man was speaking of. He was beginning to feel out of place, standing alone. As far as he could tell, he was the only Champion there that wasn¡¯t actually in a party. Though he should have known that already. Liana was the only other Champion he¡¯d encountered soloing this floor. ¡°By joining this raid, you agree to follow the orders of me, the Raid Leader, during the Hunt Quest against the C Grade monster I¡¯m about to tell you of. This will mean every single Champion here will be signing a contract to that effect. Without a clear chain-of-command, a raid is utter chaos. I understand the reluctance many of you feel at doing something like this. It is a difficult thing for a Champion to follow the orders of one from another world, but if you wish to remain in this raid, there is no other option.¡± A moment later, a contract appeared in front of Xavier¡¯s vision. He narrowed his eyes as he read through it. Rhaalir, able to read Xavier¡¯s notifications, kept making hmm sounds in his mind. What is it? Xavier asked the spirit. He had read through the contract and not seen anything amiss. Though it did worry him that if he agreed to this, he would not be allowed to retreat without the order of the Raid Leader or one of his subcommanders should the Raid Leader fall. Just appreciating the contract. It is a sound one, and a wise one for the Raid Leader to have. It is a risk, bringing so many different Champions from different worlds and backgrounds together. There was a clause in the contract that said a Champion could refuse an order if they knew it meant throwing their life away, or if the order had nothing to do with the raid. That, Xavier was glad for. Still, he couldn¡¯t help feeling wary agreeing to this. He wasn¡¯t used to taking orders, he was barely even used to giving them. Though he knew he might just be being foolish. If there was no organisation in this fight, Gimble was right, it would be utter chaos¡ªthere would be no way they could take down a C Grade enemy if they weren¡¯t working in harmony. Which made him wonder if perhaps he should have been practicing fighting with these people earlier. Too late for that now. Gimble waited for the amassed Champions to sign the contract. As far as Xavier could see, none of the other Champions even blinked at signing the thing. Xavier supposed most of them must have signed something like this in the past. Xavier, biting the inside of his cheek, signed. He was committed to this fight. He might not wish to follow orders, but he supposed it would be better to face his first C Grade enemy within a group of experienced Champions than it would be to face one all by himself. Gimble rubbed his hands together and smiled broadly when everyone had signed the contract. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get down to business, shall we?¡± He gestured to the space beside him. A moment later, a transparent image of a beast appeared. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He hadn¡¯t seen a hologram like this since he had first entered the Tower of Champions and they had gone through orientation. He tilted his head to the side and got a good look at the monster they were all about to face. It was a wolven. He shook his head in slight surprise. A C Grade wolven. But this beast wasn¡¯t to scale. The dwarf explained that it was fifty-feet tall. A fifty-foot-tall beast? Xavier asked Rhaalir. It is not unusual. Beasts advance through the different grades in a way that is vastly different to how Champions do. They have a choice of becoming larger as they grow. Some Denizens have this choice, but it is much more restricted. A human could become ten, even twelve feet tall if they so wished, but they would have to change their race if they wished to become taller than that. Xavier nodded idly to what the spirit said and focused on Gimble¡¯s words. ¡°This is the Iron Wolf,¡± Gimble said. He sighed. ¡°Not a very interesting name for such a ferocious beast, I know, but as you¡¯ll see, it¡¯s not one to be underestimated¡­¡± The hologram became larger. The wolven was grey furred, like the alphas Xavier had faced in the forest, except the fur¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t strictly fur. It was metal. It reminded Xavier a little of the Stone Bear, but he knew as a C Grade beast, this thing¡¯s Toughness would be on an entirely different level. ¡°The Iron Wolf commands a host of D Grade beasts, roughly three hundred of them. At any time, it can call upon those under its command and teleport them to its location. This D Grade beasts will prove quite a nuisance if they are not swiftly dealt with. We do not want to be fighting a battle on multiple fronts if we can help it.¡± For a moment, Xavier wondered where the dwarf had gained this information. But he supposed Gimble had access to sources all over the Greater Universe¡ªsomething the System had barred Xavier from being able to do. ¡°I will separate the parties into several different groups. First among those groups is the Vanguard.¡± Xavier leant forward as the dwarf began to assign the different Champions amassed in the courtyard into these groups. Xavier wanted to be in that vanguard. Book 4: Chapter 66 - Support Group Xavier stood, fuming. He was struggling to contain his frustration. Rhaalir, the elf spirit, was giving him a strange look. Why so much anger, young Denizen? Gimble put me in the Support group. Gimble, the Raid Leader, had assigned all the Champion present into three different groups. The Vanguard. The Main Host. And Support. The Support group consisted of Champions who were there to stop the D Grade wolven packs from distracting the other Champions from their goals. Gimble had gone on to project a map of the area where they would be fighting, assigning the different groups and subgroups to their respective areas. Xavier was tapping his foot on the ground rather hard. So hard that there were cracks in the tiles beneath his feet. He looked around and saw that he was getting a few nasty glances at the noise he was making. He didn¡¯t much care. He needed to be in the middle of the fight. At the front of the Vanguard. He wanted to take the fight to the C Grade beast¡ªthat was the whole reason he was here in the first place. He might be a little wary of being a part of this raid, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to stand back as the others fought against the enemy. No. Certainly not. He could face D Grade enemies by himself¡ªhe didn¡¯t need to be a part of this raid to do it. Deep breaths, young Denizen. This Gimble does not know your strengths. To him, you are untested. Show him what you are, and things will be different in the next raid. The spirit was right, of course. Gimble didn¡¯t know how powerful Xavier was. How could he? He didn¡¯t know Xavier at all. Still, that didn¡¯t mean he was simply going to wait until the next raid¡ªif he waited that long, he would be D Grade by then. No, he needed to face the C Grade beast now so that he could get that soul bound weapon Felicia had been talking about. There was no other way to go about this. When the meeting had been adjourned, and the Champions were told where to be two hours from now, Xavier strode through the crowd and walked right up to the dwarf and his party. Xavier paused before he spoke. He felt the anger building up inside of him. This was something he was growing used to recognising within himself. Something that he¡¯d been trying to control. No, not trying, he¡¯d been succeeding. He reined in his emotions, ordered his thoughts, and spoke when Gimble gave him a nod. ¡°Why did you put me in the Support group?¡± Xavier thought he¡¯d controlled his tone rather well, but the fact that the dwarf rocked back on his heels and widened his eyes almost imperceptivity, made him realise he must have let some of his anger show. Or maybe that was because as he spoke, his claws had grown and sharpened, and the dwarf had noticed that. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you fight, lad. Do you really wish to be in the Main Host?¡± The dwarf blinked, clearly a little confused. ¡°No,¡± Xavier said. He took a breath. ¡°I¡¯d like to be in the Vanguard.¡± Gimble raised an eyebrow. ¡°Only those who¡¯ve been through a raid before are in the Vanguard, lad. You certainly don¡¯t fit that. No offence, but I wouldn¡¯t think you¡¯d want to jump into a fight like this without a bit of experience. And, as you don¡¯t even have a party¡­¡± The dwarf ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. ¡°I was trying to protect you.¡± ¡°Is that why you didn¡¯t tell me who you really were?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°You lied to me in the tavern¡ªI thought¡­¡± Xavier sighed. I thought we were friends. He didn¡¯t say those words aloud. He figured they¡¯d only make him sound like an annoyed child. But he had grown fond of the dwarf and their chats in the tavern. ¡°Ah, well, I was trying to feel you out, ya see. There aren¡¯t a great many Champions that come to this floor to solo it. And those that survive as long as you have¡­ well, that¡¯s something to pay attention to. If you stuck around long enough, I was going to tell you about the raid. I was even going to invite you to them¡ªthough not this soon. I figured someone soloing this floor would be up to the challenge, and even welcome it. Which, clearly you have.¡± Xavier took that in. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me because you didn¡¯t want me trying to prove myself?¡± ¡°Aye. Wanted to see the real you.¡± ¡°Ironic¡­¡± Xavier sighed. He was used to speaking his mind. Even before the integration, he may not have been the most social being, but he tended to tell things how he felt they were¡ªeven if that meant openly arguing with someone in authority. He realised that was, whether he meant to be doing it or not, something he was doing right now. He shut his eyes and ordered his thoughts once more. Apparently the first time he¡¯d done that, it hadn¡¯t actually worked. When he opened his eyes, Gimble was staring at him with a curious look. ¡°This means a lot to you, lad, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Gimble asked. ¡°What can I do that will make you put me in the Vanguard?¡± Gimble shook his head and shrugged his shoulders high. ¡°Do well on this raid, and maybe next time you come along you¡¯ll be ready.¡± I¡¯m ready now, Xavier thought. He knew responding like that would just make him sound petulant. There wasn¡¯t a time limit on what he wanted to do. Even so, he was itching to push forward, and being in the Vanguard would help him do that. Xavier swallowed his pride and inclined his head in a nod to the dwarf. ¡°Understood.¡± He almost added ¡°sir¡± to the end but figured doing so would definitely sound disingenuous. Gimble nodded curtly. ¡°Good lad. I¡¯m sure you have a lot to offer, assuming you don¡¯t wind up dead. There will be more raids than just this one. Besides, you wouldn¡¯t want to be up close and personal with this beastie. It¡¯ll tear you apart if you ain¡¯t careful.¡± Xavier watched the dwarf and his party depart from the courtyard, along with the rest of the Champions in the raid group. Rhaalir looked over at him. ¡°You must have anticipated something like that would happen.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t deign to reply to the spirit. Instead, he walked back into Hunter¡¯s Home and ordered another coffee. He knew he had to follow orders on this raid, but he was hoping he would find some way around what Gimble wanted him to do. That was when something occurred to him. The C Grade Iron Wolf could summon those under its command to its location on a whim. The wolven in the forest were most certainly the enemies who were going to be summoned. Those were the very same wolven he¡¯d been tasked with keeping away from the Main Host and the Vanguard. If there were fewer of those wolven to be summoned¡­ He skulled the remainder of his coffee, thanked Felicia for being able to brew the stuff, then headed straight out the door of Hunter¡¯s Home, on a mission. ~ An hour later, Xavier stood where he¡¯d been instructed to be. He¡¯d cleaned the blood off his claws, but there was still some stuck underneath, which he was working on prying loose as the other Champions began to gather around the area. Between leaving Hunter¡¯s Home and reaching this place, Xavier had gone on a killing spree, tearing the wolven apart limb from limb, locating as many as he could in the forest. Xavier could only move so swiftly, but an hour was a long time for someone like him. He managed to take out ten different wolven packs. Roughly sixty different beasts. It wasn¡¯t as many as he wished, but it would have to do¡ªit would at least minimise, in a small way, the number of beasts the Iron Wolf was able to summon to it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He had a plan, one that he was sure would let him face the C Grade beast even if he was in the Support group. He just hoped the C Grade beast didn¡¯t go down too easily, otherwise his plan wouldn¡¯t work at all. Xavier¡¯s plan was a simple one¡ªkill every single D Grade wolven the Iron Wolf summoned as swiftly as possible, allowing the Support group to join the Vanguard and the Main Host against the C Grade enemy. Before leaving Hunter¡¯s Home tavern, Xavier had ensured he¡¯d grabbed the Hunt Quest from off the noticeboard. An interesting thing happened when he did¡ªthe notice duplicated itself. Participating in this raid would benefit every single one of the Champions there¡­ But Xavier had to believe if he didn¡¯t personally damage the C Grade beast, he would get a far worse reward for his efforts. He imagined it was much like completing a floor of the tower with a party¡ªtheir participation would be noted by the System. You could always wait for the next raid, Rhaalir said. Time moves differently on the hundredth floor. You aren¡¯t in any sort of real rush here. Xavier ignored the elf. Though the spirit¡¯s words were true, and this was exactly the type of behaviour he¡¯d been trying to curb in himself since coming to this floor¡ªthe reckless behaviour of throwing himself at enemies he shouldn¡¯t be able to face¡ªit was also the very same behaviour that had gotten him here in the first place. So he was struggling to see a better way to do this. A horn sounded, far off in the distance. Gimble¡¯s signal that the fight was about to begin. Though none in the raid group had fought this monster before, information on where the beasts would appear was rife in the Greater Universe. Only a mere few seconds after the horn was blown, bright lights flashed around the area as wolven appeared left and right. Xavier got to work. He moved as swiftly as he possibly could. A part of him wondered if he should activate his Time Alteration spell¡ªit would be his most efficient way of carving through the enemies. But as good as his cooldown with the spell had become, he couldn¡¯t bet on this fight lasting long enough for him to use the spell a second time. He wanted to be able to use Time Alteration the moment all the minion wolven were dead. He had a plan there, too, one he would tell Gimble if he had the chance. I just hope this works. Xavier tore through the wolven that appeared, using spells and claws liberally. He cast Willpower Infusion on an entire pack¡ªthe spell now strong enough to pierce their minds¡ªand had them turn on another pack. All was chaos as he moved through the enemies, dealing death to every beast he passed. The other parties of Champions¡ªall of them D Grade¡ªmoved slower than he had imagined they would, struggling more than he thought they could. It appeared to take entire parties to face a single pack of these wolven. They dealt with them easily enough, but the fights weren¡¯t swift. Xavier could hardly believe what he was seeing. Since coming here, he had been surprised at how difficult the D Grade beasts he faced here were¡ªthey had almost killed him multiple times¡ªbut it hadn¡¯t taken him long to become stronger than them. The beasts that posed a threat to his life when he¡¯d first come to this floor were child¡¯s play to him now. He had always thought the Champions on this floor must be a great deal stronger than he was, but he hadn¡¯t observed any of them in battle except for Liana. These D Grade Champions were supposed to be the creme of the crop. They were supposed to be the strongest this floor could offer, else they wouldn¡¯t be in this raid. Then again, all he¡¯d seen were the Champions in the Support group, not the ones in the Vanguard. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed by how these people fought. It made him wonder how they¡¯d all survived so many enemy encounters and Hunt Quests to begin with. They probably have prior knowledge about all the different enemies on the noticeboard, knowledge they¡¯d gained before coming to this floor, helping them devise strategies to deal with each one. Xavier slaughtered wolven pack after wolven pack. He noticed that he¡¯d gained a few followers. Parties that appeared to be following him around as he tore through the enemies. There was even a healer who kept throwing healing spells at him, not that he had ever needed them. As he fought, he received several different buffs, attaining different colours glows¡ªbuffs that boosted his Speed, Toughness, and Strength. That was certainly something he wasn¡¯t accustomed to. In what felt like no time at all, every single one of the summoned wolven packs in the area had been slain. A horn blew, the signal coming from one of the Champions in the Support group, to inform the other Champions in the area of their success. Another horn blew in return, calling them to the front of the raid group, to help face the Iron Wolf. Xavier¡¯s grin spread across his face. As he ran forward, he couldn¡¯t help but see the gazes of others through his Farscope. A great many of the Champions were staring at him. Some had blank expressions on their faces, but they seemed like they were forced. Others were looking at in him open awe. Some, still, looked afraid. There had been several wolven as he¡¯d run through the area that had turned and bolted at the sight of him, his Predator¡¯s Gaze skill doing its work. That had happened a lot when he¡¯d been facing the Rhinoceros Monkey stampede¡ªthe second stampede¡ªas well. It was starting to become normal, seeing beasts flee from him. Every time it happened it made something inside of him want to pursue. He quickly checked his progress for Fear Dominion, remembering that he had been getting close to unlocking the spell. The more powerful Predator¡¯s Gaze became, the easier it was to progress toward unlocking the spell. To unlock Fear Dominion, you must strike fear into the hearts of a thousand enemies. Progress: 999/1000 God, I¡¯m so close. A part of him itched to turn around and venture back into the forest to find a single beast to strike fear into, so that he would come back with a new spell. But that wasn¡¯t something he had been ordered to do, and he couldn¡¯t go back on the orders he¡¯d received from the Raid Leader¡ªhe¡¯d signed a contract to that effect. I certainly won¡¯t be able to strike fear in the Iron Wolf. He pushed his attention away from that and glanced back at the parties of Champions that were trailing behind him on their way to the front line. It was strange, having so many allies around him when in the middle of a fight. He was so used to fighting on his own, even when he¡¯d been in a party. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about the way they were all looking at him. Part of him felt pride at how powerful he was, and at seeing that power be recognised. Another part of him just wanted to retreat back to the forest and fight beasts alone. Xavier flitted through the trees on his way to where the bulk of the Champions fought the C Grade Iron Wolf. The trees were taller here. Stolid giants with thick trunks, shooting high into the sky, their branches blocking out much of the sunlight. They were twice as tall as the C Grade Iron Wolf¡ªa beast that stood fifty-feet tall on all fours as it was. The beast loomed over the Champions down around it. The Champions looked like children up against a dinosaur¡ªespecially those among them who were dwarves. There were several corpses scattered about the ground. Champions that had already met their death at the hands of the C Grade beast. They each had devastating looking wounds. Some of them were missing half of their bodies. Xavier struggled to see how they had a hope of defeating this thing, especially as so many of them already lay dead. The Iron Wolf¡¯s muzzle was soaked in the blood of those from the Vanguard. The battle had barely begun, and yet already he counted twenty dead Champions. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder if all the raids went this poorly. Why would the Champions choose to return, knowing it might court their death? The rewards are high enough to take the risk, and no one ever thinks it is them who will die. Xavier saw this carnage when he was too far away to do anything. Spells and arrows and other projectiles were being flung and loosed and shot at the Iron Wolf, and yet none of the attacks appeared to do much at all to it. Xavier wondered how powerful this thing¡¯s Toughness was. The attacks only appeared to enrage it. And god, it moved fast. It seemed to be toying with the Champions beneath it. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but see a smile in its expression as it batted its paw down at one Champion who went flying¡ªin two pieces¡ªstraight into, then through, one of the giant trees. Gimble was at the front of the Vanguard, his warhammer moving fast as lightning, striking down as loud as thunder. Each time he impacted the enemy, the Iron Wolf shuddered¡ªat least one of these Champions was damaging this thing. They¡¯re all damaging it, just¡­ not enough. But the tide was turning. Spells were being cast. Chains appeared about every inch of the beast, immobilising it. These chains disappeared a second later, but were replaced with ice encompassing the beast, again stopping it from moving. None of these spells lasted long¡ªnot even for a single second¡ªbut there were so many being cast by so many mages that it was slowly making a difference to the fight. Xavier moved through the crowd of Champions, pushing his feet as fast as he could. As he ran, he cast spells¡ªSpirit Break, Soul Shatter, Core Burn, Willpower Infusion¡ªwatching what impact they had on the enemy. Spirit Break was shrugged off with nothing more than a hint of pain in the beast¡¯s eyes. Soul Shatter didn¡¯t even make it wince, but he had to believe it did something. Core Burn didn¡¯t penetrate the beast¡¯s mental defences, and Willpower Infusion had no hope of breaking through. But that wasn¡¯t all Xavier was capable of. He had some tricks up his sleeve¡ªhe just had to speak with Gimble first. The Raid Leader had to have complete awareness of Xavier¡¯s plan if it was going to work at all. ¡°Gimble!¡± Xavier yelled as he neared the Iron Wolf. Gimble grunted as his warhammer struck the beast¡¯s ankle. Something snapped, and the wolf snarled. A split-second later and Gimble was flying through the air¡ªstraight above Xavier. Xavier took in the battlefield. The cogs in his mind turned as he thought about what he needed to do next. Then everything clicked. He cast Time Alteration, pushing his spell forth to encompass the Vanguard around him¡ªalong with the dwarf who was currently flying through the air. Then he leapt up and caught the dwarf, bringing him back down to settle on the ground. The dwarf fought out of Xavier¡¯s grasp. He had far more strength in him after that attack than Xavier had imagined he would, but he was still incredibly injured. ¡°Gimble!¡± Xavier shouted at the dwarf, taking him by the shoulders and giving him a strong shake. The force and power of that shake seemed to snap his attention onto Xavier. Then he realised where he was¡ªthat he was in the middle of a time dilation field, and the Iron Wolf was outside of it, frozen in time. ¡°What is it, lad?¡± Gimble ran a hand through his hair. His forehead was beaded with sweat, his beard stained dark with blood. His eyes were wide, red veins standing out in the whites. And there was a gash through his chest that had broken through his armour and exposed the bones beneath his skin. ¡°Take a moment to heal, Gimble. Then, I¡¯m telling you me plan.¡± Book 4: Chapter 67 - This Plan of Yours Could Go Horribly Wrong Gimble sat on the ground. He did not look like he was in the pain that he should be in. He crossed his legs and lay his warhammer on top of them, then shut his eyes. Heals came from other Champions within the time dilation field as they realised what was going on, and it wasn¡¯t long before the dwarf¡¯s wound was no more, and his armour was as good as new. Finally, the dwarf stood and looked up into Xavier¡¯s eyes. ¡°I appreciate the time spell, Xavier. But what plan are you speaking of? I¡¯m the Raid Leader here. The plan has already been decided.¡± The dwarf didn¡¯t speak with a huge amount of conviction, but Xavier couldn¡¯t help but see the frustration behind his eyes. ¡°I think you¡¯ll like what I have in mind.¡± The dwarf hung his warhammer from his belt and crossed his muscled arms at his beefy chest. His expression was tight, but it relaxed the longer Xavier spoke, until finally there was a bit of laughter in the dwarf¡¯s eyes. ¡°This plan of yours could go horribly wrong for you,¡± Gimble said. ¡°I only sustained a strike from that beast because of the buffs I¡¯ve been given¡ªbuffs that I can¡¯t offer you right now. One hit from the Iron Wolf, and a lad like you would be more than dead.¡± Xavier inclined his head. ¡°It could go that way¡­ Or it could go perfectly right.¡± Gimble ran a hand through his bloody beard. Though his armour was spotless, nothing had been cleaned from his face. ¡°All right. We¡¯ll do it your way. Even if it does sound insane.¡± He glanced over at the Iron Wolf, and the fallen Champions. ¡°I¡¯ve never¡­ never lost this many Champions in a raid before. We all thought we knew what we were in for, but this Iron Wolf¡­ it¡¯s stronger than advertised.¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°What do you mean, stronger?¡± Gimble shook his head. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m wrong, but there¡¯s something about it¡ªsomething different to how I heard it described, and it¡¯s five levels higher than the information I secured¡­ perhaps there was simply something wrong with that information. But I tell ya, lad, nothing like this has ever happened before.¡± Xavier shut his eyes. Nothing like this has ever happened before¡­ That made him wonder, and worry. The System, as far as he¡¯d known, had never exerted its control over a floor and changed anything. That would be incredibly unfair, wouldn¡¯t it? For the System to break its own rules? Then again, he was pretty sure it had never sent someone further through the tower, throwing them into a floor they were nowhere near ready for. So who knows what the System might have done. Xavier opened his eyes. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter if the System had changed anything. The plan didn¡¯t change. What he had to do next didn¡¯t change. ¡°That¡¯s very strange,¡± was all Xavier said in reply to the dwarf. Then, he looked over at the Iron Wolf. He could see the beast moving. It was the fastest thing he¡¯d ever seen, and if he¡¯d made the time dilation field¡¯s bubble any closer to the beast, he was sure it would have already reached it. ¡°No point in dallying. You know what to do.¡± Xavier strode forward, heading straight for the edge of the bubble where the Iron Wolf was. With his Farscope, he could see Gimble cajoling the other Champions, ordering them to head to the back of the field and step through. Confusion was written on their faces, but no arguments came. They had sworn to follow this man¡¯s orders, after all. Xavier paused at the edge of the time dilation field. He took a deep breath. Are you sure this is the wisest thing for you to do right now? Rhaalir asked. I will admit, the plan is solid. But¡ªand I hate to ever agree with a dwarf¡ªit does put your life at risk unnecessarily. Doing this raid at all puts my life at risk. Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The world shifted around him, turned a colourless grey. He didn¡¯t even glance at the notification that appeared, instead selecting the Spirit of Protection instantly. A part of him wanted to summon the Spirit of Time for this, but he still hadn¡¯t used that option before. He didn¡¯t know what it would do. Besides, he had control of time enough himself to make this work. Xavier had spent a great deal of effort strengthening his Time Alteration spell. He could easy encompass the entirety of the Iron Wolf. That wasn¡¯t the problem. The problem was what might happen when he did. The Spirit of Protection appeared before him. It was the same spirit that he had encountered the last time he¡¯d used this spell. The man in shining full-plate armour took a step toward Xavier. He paused when he noticed Rhaalir, another spirit from the Otherworld. He tilted his head to the side, and there was a curious expression on his face. Rhaalir¡¯s face lit up in fear, at least for a fraction of a second. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but find that curious. The elf had done the same thing when he had seen the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªthe dragon known as Volkarin. Is there something about the Spirit of Protection that is frightening to this elf? Xavier thought, containing the thought within his own mind so neither of the spirits would hear it.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I had heard you¡¯d made a contract. The Spirit of Protection frowned, then turned his attention to Xavier. But I imagine you did not summon me to discuss such things. No, I did not. I summoned you because I need your power to keep me alive¡ªand this time, I might have to utilise every one of the spells you offer me. This made the Spirit of Protection raise an eyebrow. It is good to know that you¡¯ll actually have use of my protection this time. The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. He turned and looked through the time dilation field at what was happening around him. The spirit¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the Iron Wolf standing above them. Do my eyes deceive me, or is that¡­? They don¡¯t, and it is. A C Grade beast. The Spirit of Protection shook his head and chuckled nervously. You can¡¯t seriously be thinking about going up against that thing? Oh, I¡¯m dead serious. Dead is exactly what you¡¯ll be. The spirit turned to face him. It is not my duty to give advice, but in this case, I cannot help but do so. You have potential¡ªI have seen that. Do not squander it. I implore you to turn away from this fight. Whatever it is that you are trying to prove, it is not worth losing your life. Xavier stared into the eyes of the Spirit of Protection with a tilt of his head. I won¡¯t be losing my life. Not with your protection. The spirit took a step toward him. There is only so much my spells can do. Xavier was standing right at the edge of the time dilation field, ready to push it forward, ready to make it encompass the C Grade beast. I might not even have to withstand a single strike, if things go well. And if they don¡¯t? Xavier turned his head, cracking it with a pop. He sighed. We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Before moving forward with his plan, Xavier brought up the different spells that were now at his disposal. The Spirit of Protection is working its power through you. You have gained access to 5 limited use spells. Bulwark - 3/3 uses remaining A protective barrier against both physical and magical attacks that protects those within it. Shield Wall - 3/3 uses remaining A temporary barrier that will prevent enemy access. Typically used to block gates, hallways, or other passageways during combat. Karma Armour - 3/3 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing suit of armour around the user that reduces 50% of damage received and returns that damage to the enemy. Saving Grace - 1/1 uses remaining This spell prevents all damage on the user from a single attack, unless that attack is beyond the damage threshold. Floating Shield - 10/10 uses remaining This spell creates a glowing shield the user can control with their mind, able to block attacks. Multiple floating shields can be controlled at once, however this takes a mental toll on the user. Time until spells become unavailable: 5 minutes Xavier tilted his chin up and looked at the C Grade beast that loomed over him. Even now, on the other side of the time dilation field, he could see the beast moving. It was hard to perceive, but he¡¯d spent enough time looking out from bubbles just like this one at what lurked outside of them. He knew it was moving. That thing is fast. Damned fast. He¡¯d seen it attack. Seen it kill. He took a deep breath, and let it out. For a moment, he considered the words of advice he¡¯d been given¡ªthe words that told him to turn around and give up. But that wasn¡¯t going to happen. He began casting the Spirit of Protection¡¯s spells. The first spell he cast was Bulwark. He doubted the protective barrier would blunt much of the damage he was surely about to take, but even if it only blunted a small portion of it, it would help him. The second spell he cast was Karma Armour. The glowing armour that appeared around him looked strange to his eyes, as its light blocked out part of who he was¡ªwho he had become¡ªbut if it kept him alive, then it didn¡¯t matter what he looked like. Next, he cast every single one of the Floating Shields, splitting his mind in several parts so that he could better control them. He used them to cover every inch in front of him that he could. Then, he cast the Shield Walls. And finally, he cast Saving Grace upon himself. It was the spell he was hoping would have the most impact. The one that would take away as much of the damage as possible. He knew that it wouldn¡¯t negate all of it¡ªit would be impossible for an E Grade to be able to cast something that could stop a C Grade from doing them any harm, but he had to believe that it would be enough. That the damage threshold the spell had would be high enough to stop him from getting killed. With all those defences enabled, Xavier cracked his neck once more, let out a long breath, and nodded to himself. He was ready¡ªwhether he felt ready or not. There was another spell he had, too. Something he hoped would be enough to protect him. Something he could put over four thousand souls behind. Xavier pushed the time dilation field¡¯s barrier forward. This was the most critical moment of what he was trying to achieve. He needed to trust himself to get it right¡ªand he needed to trust the people outside, the Champions whom he didn¡¯t even know but for the Raid Leader and his party. Good luck, Xavier Collins, Rhaalir said. There¡¯s still time to turn back, the Spirit of Protection said. The time dilation field¡¯s bubble stretched along the ground. At the same time, the bubble shrunk behind him. Xavier wished he had Speed Infusion. Right now, that was the only thing he knew that could help him turn the odds more in his favour. The time dilation field seemed to take forever as it crawled across the ground toward his enemy. Then, all at once, it reached the Iron Wolf. The instant a part of the bubble touched the beast, it sprang to life. Somehow, it already had its eyes on him. Those were the eyes of a true predator. There was no fear in those eyes¡ªnot a hint of it. Xavier put all of his tremendous mental faculties toward the next task. If he were to achieve this, the battle would be won¡ªand, most importantly, he would live to see this thing dead. Xavier stared down the Iron Wolf as he worked. God, the thing moved fast! He felt time began to shift as he manipulated the time dilation field that surrounded the two of them. All he needed to do was change the flow of time faster than the Iron Wolf could kill him. Being up this close to a C Grade beast made Xavier feel more vulnerable than he ever had in his entire life. It was as though, gazing up at that thing, he was facing his own mortality. The most powerful Denizen in the entirety of my sector is C Grade, and yet here I am thinking I can do something like this. And it turned out that he couldn¡¯t. Before he was able to full turn the flow of time around, making it so the Champions outside of the time dilation field could throw every single thing at this beast over hours¡ªmaybe even days¡ªwithout it being able to fight back or defend itself, the Iron Wolf was on him. Its paw snapped out toward Xavier¡¯s face, and he was sure it would take his head clean off. Book 4: Chapter 68 - Aura of Fear Xavier watched in idle fascination as the claws cut through every single defence he had. The Iron Wolf cut down the Bulwark spell. It cut through the Shield Walls. It destroyed every single one of the Floating Shields. In the fraction of a second that he had to respond to this attack, Xavier cast Soul Block. He did not hesitate to pour over four thousand souls into the spell. He had never seen so many soul apparitions burst into life, then be utterly destroyed. The Iron Wolf¡¯s attack made it through every single one of them. And finally, it cut into Xavier, coming up against his last two defences¡ªthe Karma Armour, and Saving Grace. They weren¡¯t enough to stop the strike from hurting him. Xavier felt pain blossom in his chest. Your health is at 99%. The Iron Wolf had just enough time to widen its eyes as a smile crept onto Xavier¡¯s face. The C Grade beast had hit him with everything it had, and it had only dealt 1 percent of damage toward him. That¡­ well, that actually frightened him a little. He had hoped, given all the defences that he had, that the beast truly wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt him at all. And yet it had. He wouldn¡¯t be able to muster up those defences for a second time¡ªand it was a good thing he didn¡¯t need to. The flow of time turned itself back around. As it did, Xavier couldn¡¯t help but notice something. There was something new in the eyes of the Iron Wolf he faced. Something that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago¡ªas though it had only succumbed to it the moment its attack had been seemingly so easily thwarted. Fear. Xavier had, somehow, struck fear into the heart of a C Grade beast. The Iron Wolf had attacked Xavier, and its attack had been taken without even so much as a flinch. Then Predator¡¯s Gaze had become free to do its work. Time did not stop for Xavier. That wasn¡¯t exactly how this worked. Right now, he was within the time dilation field, speeding time up within the bubble to its maximum capacity. He was manipulating the relativity of time within the space he occupied. Outside the bubble, everything was a blur. Xavier could make out some of what was happening with his Farscope ability¡ªbut it just looked like colour streaming past faster than his eye could discern. In less than a blink of an eye, the Iron Wolf was dead, succumbing to thousands upon thousands of spells and attacks doled out over what could have been hours or days for all Xavier knew. The plan had been a simple one. All of the wolven minions in the area were dead. All that remained to be fought was the Iron Wolf. With the support of the raid group behind him, Xavier didn¡¯t need to worry about his safety whilst in the bubble. He had done something like this before¡ªback when he had fought the Stone Bear¡ªand the only reason he¡¯d felt confident doing it was because he¡¯d been in an instance. The reason he¡¯d felt confident doing this was because he was being backed up by countless other Champions. Xavier could have deactivated the Time Alteration spell, but he wanted to take a moment for himself. So, instead, he switched the flow of time around. He was fast approaching the end of the spell¡¯s capacity¡ªhe knew it would run out rather soon. But he had enough time to take in what was going on around him. The Iron Wolf was still trapped within the time dilation field. It had died standing up. The moment Xavier had seen the kill notification, he¡¯d changed the flow of time and paused the time dilation field farther out so it would encompass the beast as it fell to the ground. Now, he could have the first opportunity to loot the beast. Xavier walked over to the dead Iron Wolf. He tilted his head to the side in wonder. He had seen Gimble resist an attack from this beast. Xavier had had to put up every single defence that he possessed to resist the same attack. He may have only taken 1 percent of damage, but he was sure if he had done anything less it could have killed him. Gimble had said he had some buffs on him. They must have been incredibly strong buffs¡ªfrom the looks of things, no other Denizen in the area had survived being hit by this thing. He¡¯s a tough little dwarf, that¡¯s for sure. Xavier stepped up to the corpse of the first C Grade enemy he had a hand in defeating. He was a little disappointed that he hadn¡¯t actually dealt the beast any damage himself. He¡¯d used his skills and spells to the best of his ability given the situation, and doing what he¡¯d done had seemed like the smartest course of action, but the gulf that separated how powerful he was with how powerful this beast must have been¡­ it was larger than he¡¯d expected.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I have a lot do before I can take down a C Grade enemy on my own. It would be poor etiquette for him to loot this beast before any of the others had the opportunity. He imagined the Raid Leader would be the one to split the spoils. A part of him thought it would only be fair, considering the hand he¡¯d had in its destruction, but he couldn¡¯t have killed this beast alone¡ªhe knew that for sure, now. He refrained from looting the beast, but he did not take down the barrier. He had some notifications to look at. The first of which was the new spell he had just gained, for striking fear into the heart of the C Grade beast meant he had finished his Spell Quest for Fear Dominion. Congratulations, you have completed your Spell Quest and gained the spell Fear Dominion! Fear Dominion ¨C Rank 1 Fear Dominion is an epic spell only available to those Denizens who are truly worthy of being feared. Fear Dominion gives the user the ability to strike fear in their enemies. This fear can trigger them to flee or to freeze, and sometimes it can trigger an enemy to have a psychotic breakdown. Striking fear into an enemy greatly compromises their mental capacity and mental defences, and sometimes it can incapacitate an enemy completely, sending them into a state of shock. Fear Dominion had two paths: area-of-effect, or use against a single enemy. Choose your path wisely. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier tilted his head from one side to the other as he read through the description of the spell. It seemed like it was almost an evolution of his skill Predator¡¯s Gaze, except now he would be able to use it intentionally¡­ He quickly decided the path he would take¡ªhe would use it against a single enemy. While crowd control was important, he had other spells that could offer him crowd-control solutions. What intrigued him the most about the spell was that it could break down an enemy¡¯s mental defences. Coupled with Willpower Infusion, that could be rather powerful¡­ This was not the only notification Xavier had received. There was something else that had popped up that he had never seen before. Your skill Predator¡¯s Gaze has been upgraded and is now an epic skill called Aura of Fear. Aura of Fear - Rank 100 Aura of Fear gives the user the ability to strike fear into the hearts of those around them. It can be activated or deactivated at will, but who the user strikes fear in cannot be chosen. Unlike this skill¡¯s predecessor, Predator¡¯s Gaze, an enemy does not need to make eye contact with the user for the skill to work on them¡ªthey only need to be within the influence of the aura. The chance of striking fear in an enemy is higher or lower depending on the relative power level of the enemy compared to that of your own. Xavier raised an eyebrow. His skill had been¡­ upgraded? He hadn¡¯t even known such a thing was possible. He¡¯d come this far, an inch away from advancing to D Grade, and yet there were still so many gaps in his training. It was also interesting that Aura of Fear could be activated or deactivated. He hadn¡¯t encountered a skill that could be toggled¡ªand skills, unlike spells, didn¡¯t have cooldowns. So he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about when he could use it. Though some skills, like Running, might physically exhaust him¡ªhe wondered if this spell could exhaust him in some way. There were skills like Meditation that he could only activate when he was, well, meditating, but this felt a little different. He grinned. He liked the idea of the skill. More notifications followed. Title Unlocked! One Grade Up - Support You have been a part of the demise of an enemy at least one grade above your own. While you yourself are not fully responsible for the death of the enemy, your support in its demise was invaluable. You have received +20 to all stats! Title Unlocked! Two Grades Up - Support You have been a part of the demise of an enemy at least two grades above your own. While you yourself are not fully responsible for the death of the enemy, your support in its demise was invaluable. You have received +50 to all stats! Xavier waited a moment for more notifications to appear, but was disappointed when none came. What he¡¯d done felt more significant than only warranting two titles, but he supposed the description was right¡ªhe had only played a supporting role in this raid. He did, however, gain a huge amount of ranks in his Time Alteration spell. As he skimmed through the notifications, his smile broadened. He had finally reached Rank 100 in the spell! To trap a C Grade enemy within his field and survive¡­ it looked like that had been worth something. Staring down at the corpse of the C Grade Iron Wolf, Xavier deactivated the Time Alteration spell. Gimble was the first of the Champions from outside of the barrier to greet him. The dwarf came running with a massive smile on his face, one that could be seen even through his rather large beard. The beard swayed as he came to a stop. He slapped Xavier on the forearm. ¡°That¡­¡± The dwarf shook his head. ¡°That was like nothin¡¯ I¡¯ve ever seen, lad.¡± He had his warhammer still gripped in his hand, blood staining every inch of the head. Xavier had controlled the time dilation field in such a way that even melee attacks could get through, ensuring that it wasn¡¯t only the mages and other ranged fighters who were able to get a hit in. The barrier had been extremely thin and close to the Iron Wolf¡ªthis had required much concentration to achieve, but from his perspective he¡¯d only needed to hold it for a tiny fraction of a second. There was another notification that Xavier hadn¡¯t bothered to look at¡ªthe kill notification for the Iron Wolf. As he¡¯d been a part of the raid, even though he hadn¡¯t struck the beast, he¡¯d gotten a portion of the Mastery Points. Only, the problem was, right now he couldn¡¯t receive any Mastery Points. He was at Level 200 and hadn¡¯t yet made the advancement to D Grade, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to gain another level until he did. Still, gaining Mastery Points hadn¡¯t been the reason he¡¯d taken part in this raid to begin with. The only reason he¡¯d done this raid was so that he could have a chance at gaining a soul bound weapon, like Felicity had said he might be able to do. He glanced over his shoulder at the dead C Grade beast. With Farscope, he could see the mass of Denizens that were coming around, slowing surrounding him, every single one of them staring at him. Xavier could sense fear in more of them now than he could before, to the point where he mentally checked if his Aura of Fear skill was currently active¡ªit wasn¡¯t. These people were simply afraid of him because of what he¡¯d done. But more than fear, he saw awe in their eyes. That made Xavier wonder about something¡­ He still had several ranks in different spells and skills that he wanted to get up to Rank 100 before making the advancement to D Grade¡­ What if there was a way he could do that even faster than he¡¯d imagined? He had gained over twenty ranks in his Time Alteration spell from being a part of the kill of the C Grade beast. Just from being a part of it. He looked over at Gimble. ¡°What do you say about me being in the Vanguard now?¡± Gimble threw back his head and laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll do more than put you in the Vanguard, lad. I¡¯m making you one of the subcommanders of the raid!¡± Book 4: Chapter 69 - Crafty Dwarf Over the next few weeks, Gimble, the Raid Leader of their instance of the one hundred floor of the Tower of Champions, held a record number of raids against C Grade beasts. They went after the weakest of the C Grade beasts, for¡ªaccording to Gimble¡ªit would be suicide on a mass scale to go after something like the C Grade dragon. Xavier was glad for that. He wished to go after the dragon on his own¡ªeven if achieving something like that was feeling like it was farther away than he¡¯d first thought. Over these weeks, Xavier had not been idle between battles. He had focused as much of his attention as possible on advancing every single aspect of himself. He spent months and months within his time dilation field, alone but for the spirit Rhaalir to keep him company. In fact, he spent longer in there than even he realised, as his age pushed forward yet another year, making him twenty-four-years old. It had been so long since he¡¯d been back in the Tower of Champions, let alone back on Earth, that those places almost felt like dreams. The one hundredth floor, for now, was his home. Just as, once upon a time, the fifth floor had become his home¡ªthough with the waves of the Endless Horde coming at him every moment, he¡¯d had far less time to think. Within the time dilation field he worked on his attunements, pushing them harder than even he had thought possible. Liana said it was basically unheard of for a Denizen to reach more than 20 percent in their attunements at E Grade, and that was after years of training. But Xavier had to wonder how effective that training was. How much of those years were they truly dedicating to the betterment of their attunements? Because Xavier found he was able to push his own attunements even further than 20 percent. It took him a lot of effort. It pushed him to the very edges of his discipline and patience, but he felt each percentage point of attunement strengthen and empower him. Gaining a higher attunement wasn¡¯t just something he was doing to increase his chances of gaining a better class when he finally pushed his advancement into D Grade, nor was it merely something he prided himself in. There was another aspect to it. Like all things that increased his level of power, it was startlingly addictive. Xavier sometimes wondered if that addictiveness was something the System had engineered into a Denizen¡¯s progression, or if it had been there all along. The older version of himself had said that it wasn¡¯t the System that gave them these powers, after all¡ªit just helped them harness them and direct them. Whoever created this System is trying to cultivate stronger Denizens with each iteration of a universe, so that one day they will be powerful enough to combat the end of everything¡­ Xavier didn¡¯t let him think about that too much. When he did think about it, it all just felt too surreal. Because if he truly was to become the Weapon of the System, and if he truly was to one day stop the universe from ending¡ªto defeat whatever threatened its demise, and had ended it a near infinite times already in the past¡ªthen it would mean that the System had¡­ been invented specifically to create him. He chuckled to himself as he sipped his coffee at the bar in Hunter¡¯s Home. Felicia raised an eyebrow at him but didn¡¯t comment, as she was serving another customer. Liana was still nowhere to be seen. In the weeks since Xavier had become a subcommander in Gimble¡¯s raid group, she¡¯d still been hiding up in the room she had here at the tavern, in that time dilation field of hers. To Liana, it was likely that only seconds, perhaps minutes, had gone by since she¡¯d put herself in it. It was a strange way to move through life, and certainly one that he wouldn¡¯t opt for himself. But if it kept her on the floor until he was able to try and free her husband from The Nightmare, then so be it. He stopped chuckling and took another sip of his coffee. Thinking the System had been made for him¡­ that was probably the most arrogant thought that had ever crossed his mind. The System hadn¡¯t been made for him¡ªeven if he did end up saving the universe¡ªhe was just a lucky accident. He wouldn¡¯t even be here if not for Julian Myers. Xavier placed his mug on the bar¡ªhalf drunk¡ªand turned his attention to the party in the corner. Gimble and his people had just arrived and were already situated at their usual table. The Raid Leader of the One Hundredth floor gave Xavier a nod and smiled, raising his tankard in greeting. The dwarf motioned toward a free chair that they¡¯d pulled over and tilted his head to the side in question. Xavier walked over and took a seat. Though he¡¯d initially been a bit annoyed¡ªeven a little hurt¡ªwhen he¡¯d discovered the dwarf had lied to him about being the Raid Leader when they¡¯d first gotten to know each other, that was now water under the bridge. ¡°Subcommander Collins,¡± Gimble said. ¡°What brings you to the tavern? We haven¡¯t got a scheduled raid for another week.¡± Xavier blinked. It was still strange being called Subcommander Collins. Honestly, despite the fact that back on Earth Xavier was a leader, he never really felt like one. He was only in his position because of how powerful he was, not because he¡¯d proven that he could lead people. Before joining the raid group, he hadn¡¯t even been used to fighting alongside other Denizens. Not really. He didn¡¯t think that fighting alongside his party really counted, considering the great divide between his powers and theirs. Despite the fact that his party had always been helpful to him, fighting with them had always felt more like¡­ he was babysitting them. I¡¯ll be careful to never say that to their faces. I imagine they would be devastated¡ªespecially Justin. Xavier nodded at Gimble. It was true there wasn¡¯t another raid for a full week. Despite the fact that their raids had been incredibly successful since Xavier had taken charge as subcommander, adding his Time Alteration spell to the arsenal available to the raid group, Gimble thought that the Champions in the group were being pushed a little too hard, saying that they needed some rest between C Grade raids. Xavier didn¡¯t really understand that. These were supposed to be the top-rated, most powerful Champions on the entire floor. They were a part of the C Grade raid group¡­ yet they needed rest? But, it didn¡¯t much matter to him how long things on this floor took. He¡¯d already spent years in his own time here. What was a little longer? ¡°Lad?¡± Gimble asked. ¡°I, uh, asked what you were doing here.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Xavier, not having realised he¡¯d gotten lost in thought, looked over at the dwarf. ¡°Oh, well. I¡¯ve been training hard and¡­¡± He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m finally ready to advance.¡± Gimble blinked. ¡°Advance?¡± His eyes widened. ¡°What you mean, advance? You¡¯re sayin¡¯¡­ you can¡¯t be sayin¡¯¡­¡± The dwarf swallowed. ¡°You¡¯re about to become a C Grade? I knew you was powerful, we all know that¡­ but I can¡¯t imagine you¡¯re already advancing to C Grade!¡± Xavier threw his head back and laughed. He couldn¡¯t help himself. The idea of advancing to C Grade¡­ it just felt far too absurd not to warrant such a response. The dwarf frowned. ¡°So you¡¯re¡­ not advancin¡¯? That was just some weird, human humour? I like you a lot, lad, but I gotta say I¡¯ll never understand your kind.¡± Xavier wiped a single tear from his cheek. ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t humour. I am advancing. Just not to C Grade.¡± The dwarf¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°You aren¡¯t making any sense, lad.¡± Gimble looked inside Xavier¡¯s mug. ¡°You sure it¡¯s only coffee you been drinkin¡¯? Do I need to get Felicia to cut you off?¡± The other members of Gimble¡¯s party had been ignoring the two of them up until then, now they were attracted to the conversation. ¡°What¡¯s this about Xavier advancing?¡± Elinae asked. ¡°He can¡¯t be close to C Grade. I mean, I¡¯ve heard of some Champions grinding out this floor for that long¡­ but we were here when he first arrived!¡± Tam said. Xavier made a gesture, one Gimble knew well from when they were planning a raid inside of the tavern. Xavier pulled slightly at his own earlobe and Gimble gave a nod. The dwarf summoned a small device from his Storage Ring. A moment later, the table was shrouded. No one would be able to overhear what was said, nor would they be able to read their lips. Maybe Xavier should have done that a little earlier. ¡°As I said to Gimble here, I¡¯m not advancing to C Grade.¡± Xavier paused, licked his lips. ¡°I¡¯m advancing to D Grade.¡± Gimble laughed, then stopped himself when he looked into Xavier¡¯s eyes. The two of them were getting to know one another a little better in the weeks since Xavier had joined the raid group and been promoted to subcommander. He could tell when Xavier was being serious¡ªand Xavier wasn¡¯t prone to making jokes. Especially not about his own progression. ¡°You¡¯re serious, aren¡¯t you, lad?¡± Gimble said in a flat voice. Xavier nodded. ¡°I am.¡± He looked over at the bar, at Felicia standing behind it. ¡°You can ask her. She¡¯s been aware of my grade for a while. She knew I was E Grade when she recommended me for the raid group.¡± The dwarf ran a frantic hand through his beard. His head faced forward, but his eyes kept flicking back and forth as though he was trying to solve some sort of complex math equation. ¡°No,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°That can¡¯t be right. You¡¯re having a laugh.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not joking, Gimble. I¡¯ve no reason to lie about something like this.¡± ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth,¡± Elinae said. The woman¡¯s eyes were white and wide in surprise. Xavier tilted his head as he looked over at her. She was able to tell whether he was lying or not? Quite a skill¡ªor perhaps a spell¡ªfor her to be able to do such a thing without needing a contract first. ¡°There are things you don¡¯t know about me,¡± Xavier said. Gimble guffawed. ¡°Well, if that wasn¡¯t clear before, it certainly is now. Had I known you were E Grade, I never would have let you into the raid group! I never would have bloody believed you! That¡­ that is insane, lad!¡± Shock was written all over his face. But there was something else, too. Awe. And¡­ admiration. Gimble¡¯s expression slowly turned from one of surprise to one of pure delight, and there was even a hint of ambition somewhere in there. ¡°So, lad, you¡¯re telling me, that right now, you¡¯re an E Grade Denizen? A Champion of the tower who¡¯s come all the way to the hundredth floor without ever having advanced to D Grade?¡± He shook his head again. ¡°And the things that you are able to do. None of that makes sense for someone in E Grade. Hell, some of it barely makes sense for most D Grades!¡± Xavier chuckled. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m E Grade. And yes, I know it makes little sense what I can do.¡± He didn¡¯t delve any deeper into it. He didn¡¯t need to. He may trust this Gimble fellow more than he did before, but that didn¡¯t mean he wished to share everything with him. He¡¯d already seen that the dwarf could lie. Who knew what else he might be capable of? There was a gleam in Gimble¡¯s eye. ¡°Then that means¡­ you must be¡­¡± He glanced at his companions, then looked at Xavier. ¡°Are you a True Progenitor?¡± I¡¯m a hell of a lot more than just a True Progenitor, Xavier thought, but didn¡¯t say. Instead, he said, ¡°Yes. My planet was only just integrated into the Greater Universe recently. I¡¯m the first of my people to make it this far into the tower.¡± ¡°Aye. Well. No wonder you came in looking so doe-eyed and confused.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t doe-eyed,¡± Xavier replied. Gimble laughed. ¡°You certainly were, and it¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of, especially considering where ya come from. A True Progenitor. In my raid group. And an E Grade! There must be something we can do with this¡­¡± Xavier frowned and narrowed his eyes at the dwarf. ¡°What do you mean, something you can do with this? I didn¡¯t give you the information so you could profit from it. Besides, it¡¯s too late to somehow benefit from me being E Grade. I¡¯m about to advance.¡± He pushed off the table with his hands and stood, looking down at the dwarven party. ¡°I just wanted to see the look on your faces.¡± He¡¯d wanted to do more than that, truth be told. Considering that Gimble was actually the most powerful Champion on the entire floor¡ªsomething that had taken him by surprise when he¡¯d first learnt of it, but was quickly becoming abundantly clear¡ªhe¡¯d been hoping to make an ally out of him¡ªnot just an ally here as he already was, but outside of the tower as well. ¡°Sit back down, lad. Let¡¯s talk a bit, aye?¡± Gimble tapped the seat that Xavier had just left. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a mug of whatever that brown stuff is that you seem to like so much.¡± ¡°Coffee,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It¡¯s called coffee.¡± ¡°Aye, yes, that¡¯s what I said.¡± The dwarf signalled to the barkeep, and in moments a fresh mug of coffee had appeared in front of him. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s only fair, considering how many rounds you¡¯ve bought for us in the past.¡± The dwarf winked. Xavier found he was curious to find out what Gimble had to say, so he sat down and grasped the mug with both his hands. The warmth of it seeped into his palms, and he breathed in the sweet aroma wafting from the top, then let out a sigh. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll stay for this drink.¡± Gimble leant forward on the table, as though talking conspiratorially, which wasn¡¯t really necessary considering the table had already been hidden from eavesdroppers. ¡°So, I, uh, have been on this floor longer than any other Champion I¡¯ve ever encountered.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side. ¡°You have?¡± ¡°Aye, lad, I have.¡± ¡°But you only recently became Raid Leader, didn¡¯t you?¡± Gimble smirked. He glanced away, then looked at Xavier. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not exactly the first time I¡¯ve been the leader of a raid¡­ Just there are no longer any Champions around who served with me.¡± The dwarf nodded toward the bar, at Felicia. ¡°She¡¯s the only one who knows how long I¡¯ve been here. Other than my party, o¡¯course.¡± Xavier looked at Elinae, Tam, and Lilta ¡°You¡¯ve all been here longer than any other Champion in this instance?¡± Elinae shook her head. ¡°No. He¡¯s been here this long. He has other Champions rotate into his party every so often. We¡¯ve only been here as long as he¡¯s been the current Raid Leader.¡± Xavier leant back in his chair. That was definitely something he hadn¡¯t known. ¡°All right,¡± Xavier said. ¡°I¡¯m listening a little harder now.¡± He eyed Gimble. The dwarf looked more mischievous than ever. Apparently they were both sharing secrets today. Gimble inclined his head. ¡°Good to know, lad. Good to know.¡± He picked up his tankard and drew a long drink from it. ¡°So, I reckon I know this floor better than anyone. At least, better than anyone round here.¡± He made a vague motion. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are those in the Greater Universe, in more prominent sectors, who have a far better knowledge¡­ but that¡¯s beside the point, lad. You aren¡¯t sitting across from them, you¡¯re sitting across from me.¡± Xavier kept in a sigh, wondering when the dwarf would get to the point, even though he appreciated Gimble¡¯s enthusiasm, it felt as though he was building whatever this was up just a little too much. ¡°Right,¡± was all Xavier said in reply. ¡°Aye. Right. Well. As an E Grade, you¡¯ve been holding your own against C Grades, something which¡­¡± He trailed off, looking a little dumbfounded. ¡°I¡¯m still tryin¡¯ to wrap my head around.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat any of those C Grades if it weren¡¯t for having the raid group at my back.¡± Gimble nodded. ¡°Hmm. Right ya are.¡± He leant in again. ¡°But what if there was a C Grade monster on this floor you did have a chance of defeating on your own? Before you advanced to D Grade?¡± The man smiled more deeply. ¡°Is that something you reckon you¡¯d be interested in?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t have to think about that long. He leant forward in excitement. ¡°Of course that¡¯s something I¡¯m interested in.¡± Book 4: Chapter 70 - Gambler Gimble looked more than pleased with himself as he leant back in his chair and looked over at Xavier. He had him on the hook, knowing how much Xavier wanted the information. And so that was when Xavier asked, ¡°Something tells me you want something in return for the information about the C Grade beast?¡± Xavier was still wrapping his head around the fact that there might be a C Grade beast somewhere on this floor that he could face. Hell, he was still wrapping his head around who Gimble, the innocent looking dwarf, was. Someone rather crafty, that was for sure. Someone who¡¯d clearly spent many years in this place. Perhaps he was doing what his fellow party member had mentioned other Champions did¡ªgrinding the floor until he reached C Grade himself. Xavier had to say if that was the case, he was impressed with the dwarf¡¯s dedication. No wonder he was able to survive a hit from that first C Grade we fought. That wasn¡¯t the only time Xavier had seen the dwarf do something that none of the other D Grade Champions present were able to manage, either. Indeed, it was just the first of a long list. ¡°Ah, well, yes, there is something I want in return. But don¡¯t worry, it isn¡¯t much.¡± Gimble smiled. ¡°All I want is a contract stating that you owe me a favour in the future.¡± Xavier raised his eyebrows. ¡°That¡¯s all, is it?¡± He had to admit, that wasn¡¯t a bad deal. Of course, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the favour might be. ¡°Any hint regarding what you might be needing?¡± The dwarf shrugged with a shake of his head. ¡°Nah. Haven¡¯t the foggiest. But I know value when I see it, lad, and you have that in spades.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Xavier said, not sure what else to say. Was that what the dwarf saw in him? Simply something of value? It made him remember something the dwarf had said to him not that long ago, about the C Grade dragon and the way Xavier had been staring at it¡ªhe¡¯d told Xavier that he had gold-gaze. Xavier wondered if that was what Gimble had right now. ¡°All right, though I¡¯ll want to have a look at whatever contract you have in mind.¡± Rhaalir, the spirit from the Otherworld who was ever present, but not always visible to Xavier, popped into existence and stared down at the dwarves at the table. Do you really think that¡¯s a wise choice for you to make? Xavier didn¡¯t so much as glance at the elf. There were some secrets he didn¡¯t want to share. You¡¯ve never liked dwarves. Would I really trust your opinion on the matter? Rhaalir stood to his highest and sucked on his bottom lip. He looked down at Gimble from the top of his nose. This dwarf isn¡¯t so bad as others I¡¯ve met. Xavier thought there was a begrudging respect hidden somewhere in the elf¡¯s tone. And he should know, as he¡¯d heard that same tone when the elf had spoken to him. It wasn¡¯t long before the dwarf drew up the contract and the notification sprang up in Xavier¡¯s vision. The contract, as Xavier had feared, wasn¡¯t very specific at all. It simply stated that Xavier owed the dwarf a favour, one that he could cash in on at any point in the next one thousand years. ¡°A thousand years, really?¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow at the dwarf. It seemed like a long time to make such an agreement. The dwarf inclined his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hold you to it for all time, lad. Figured a thousand years would be enough time to claim it. Besides, it might be difficult to find you after this floor, so I wanted time enough for that at least. Xavier shrugged. He didn¡¯t much mind when the favour would be for, he was just surprised at how far ahead the dwarf was thinking. It made him wonder just how long he¡¯d spent here. Time moved differently on this floor than it did back in their universe, passing faster here, but the Champions still experienced every second of that time passing. How much had the dwarf experienced? What he was concerned about was that he was signing a contract promising he would do something that he¡­ well, didn¡¯t know what was. What if the dwarf asked him to kill someone who didn¡¯t deserve to die? What if he asked him for something even worse than that? Except that the dwarf seemed to have considered things like that. There was a veto clause¡ªXavier was allowed to refuse favours on ¡°reasonable grounds,¡± whatever that meant. The way the contract was phrased, it was clear that either this was a standard contract for such things that Gimble had pulled from somewhere else, or that the dwarf had most definitely used something like this before, refining it along the way. How many other people owed this dwarf favours? Xavier eyed Gimble. There was certainly more to the dwarf than it had first seemed. When he¡¯d met Gimble in Hunter¡¯s Home that first day he¡¯d been on the hundredth floor, Xavier hadn¡¯t thought he was anything special¡ªother than a friendly face, really. He had quickly realised he¡¯d been wrong about that. Xavier tapped his fingers on the table. He trusted the dwarf well enough. He didn¡¯t seem as though he was a bad person. He was crafty, a bit of a liar¡ªbut he didn¡¯t seem to do those things with cruel intentions. Xavier signed the contract with a sigh. Gimble¡¯s face lit up as he received the notification that the contract had been signed. ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret this, Gimble,¡± Xavier said. Gimble rapped his fist against the hardwood table. ¡°Oh, lad, I can assure you, you won¡¯t be regrettin¡¯ this.¡± He leant in and, in hushed tones, dtold Xavier about the C Grade beast. For just a moment, as the dwarf explained where this beast was and told him a little bit about it, Xavier wondered if there was any chance the dwarf could be leading him into some sort of trap. He could certainly get a contract with the dwarf to make sure such a thing wasn¡¯t happening, but he didn¡¯t want to have to rely on such things when it came to who to trust¡ªnot too heavily, at least. Besides, why would the dwarf want any harm to come to Xavier now that he owed him a favour? That wouldn¡¯t serve the dwarf well at all, would it? Not only was Xavier an asset as a subcommander in the raid group with the ability to alter time, which had dramatically changed the way the raid group had operated and the number of kills it had racked up, he was also not an investment. One that Xavier figured the dwarf knew would pay out big time in the future. No, there was no reason to think this was a trap. That was just Xavier¡¯s paranoid mind at work. He¡¯d learnt how to be trusting, back when he¡¯d first met his party in the Tower of Champions. He could have hidden how strong he already was, and what his intentions were, from Howard, Justin, and Siobhan. But he never did. He could have hidden who he was from Liana, as well, but telling her had only been good for her mentorship of him, and the burgeoning friendship they had developed stuck inside that time dilation field. Xavier wondered if there were other things that he should tell the dwarf. This could be someone who might end up being a true ally to him in the future. Perhaps, even, a true friend¡ªone he could trust as much as he trusted the members of his party. His¡­ old party, he supposed. But, then again, there was being trusting, and there was being naive. Though he didn¡¯t think the dwarf would betray him, knowing who he truly was¡­ well, that might just get the cogs in Gimble¡¯s head moving to see how he could use that to his own advantage. When Gimble had finished his description of the C Grade beast¡ªthe weakest C Grade beast he had encountered on the entire floor¡ªXavier leant back in his chair.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Well, lad, what d¡¯ya think?¡± Gimble asked, an expectant look on his face. Xavier shook his head. He wasn¡¯t sure what he thought, if he were honest. The beast sounded like a nasty one. Though Xavier was confident in his own abilities, one thing he¡¯d learnt during these raids was that it would be suicide for him to go after the beasts he fought in the raid group alone. That first one they¡¯d faced¡­ if it hadn¡¯t been for all of the precautions he¡¯d taken, all the defences he¡¯d had, there would have been no way that he could have survived being hit by it. That, he knew for sure. And there was no way he would have been able to kill it without being hit. But this beast? According to the dwarf it was newly C Grade, and by the sounds of it, it hadn¡¯t been a particularly powerful D Grade. Xavier weighed the risks and the rewards of facing this C Grade. He tilted his head to one side and wondered about something. Xavier wasn¡¯t one to go into a situation with backup, not since he¡¯d become a member of the raid group, and then a subcommander, at least. Having backup almost seemed like he was admitting defeat. But how foolish a way of thinking that was. When he¡¯d been helping the other members of his old party level or rank up their skills, he¡¯d always been there to step in if need be. Had that hindered them? He sat there, sipping the mug of coffee that Gimble had ordered for him, and wondered if having a safety net in place would mean he wouldn¡¯t give the battle with the C Grade his all. As foolish as the thought of him being a failure simply because he needed backup made him feel, he also knew that¡ªat least for him¡ªthere was some truth to it. I¡¯ve never had back up during every other big risk that I¡¯ve taken. Not back up that would actually help, anyway. Even with the raid group there when we faced the Iron Wolf, there would have been nothing they could do to protect me while I was alone in the time dilation bubble with the enemy. I had to survive the strike on my own. Still considering the risks of doing this, with an uncharacteristic spark of self-reflection, Xavier realised something about himself. He chuckled into his mug. Xavier always took risks, and as far as he could recall, every single one of those risks had paid off. He wouldn¡¯t be here if they hadn¡¯t. He would have died, a long time ago, skewered to death by a dozen goblin swords back at his old university, or killed by the pumas on the first floor, or by any number of things he hadn¡¯t been cautious enough around. Originally, when Xavier had come to this floor, he¡¯d thought the System was trying to help him become more cautious. He¡¯d thought the System wanted him to take fewer risks, and to take the threat of those he faced more seriously. Whether that was the System¡¯s intention or not, Xavier had only done the latter. But he hadn¡¯t stopped taking risks. And the reason he¡¯d chuckled was because he realised why¡ªhe was like a gambler, addicted to the thrill, only ever seeing what they could win, and never what they could lose. He was on a winning streak, and he had been ever since Julian Myers put down his weapon. Why would he stop taking risks when they all paid off? When they had made him what he was today? He had often contemplated going up against a C Grade enemy while he was still E Grade, but it had always sounded like the height of foolishness. Now that the possibility had been handed to him on a platter, there was no way he could walk away from it. It was as though someone had given him thousands of dollars¡¯ worth of free gambling chips, then seated him at a roulette wheel. It was time, once again, to put it all on black. ~ Xavier ventured out of Hunter¡¯s Home feeling as strong as he ever had. Every single one of his attunements had hit 21 percent. Though he wished to push them further, he knew what he had already achieved was a worthy accomplishment. He¡¯d pushed every single one of his ranks up too¡ªall of his skills, all of his spells, had reached Rank 100. Even his Assimilate Properties skill. That one had been the easiest and the hardest of his skills to rank up. There weren¡¯t many E Grade beasts in this place. In fact, he had only been able to find the Rhinoceros Monkeys, and he¡¯d done all he could with their parts. And so, one day, he¡¯d had to test out his theory on whether or not he could head back to the Staging Room, use Time Alteration to speed up time in his own field, then use the System Shop while time was altered. His test had succeeded. In the time it had taken him to cast the spell once he¡¯d returned to the Staging Room, then use the System Shop, only a minute had passed back on the hundredth floor. If anyone else were to take a quick break from the floor they would have lost a hell of a lot more time than that. Xavier had bought as many beast parts as he thought he would need. He hadn¡¯t intended to use his Assimilate Properties skill while he was still back at the Tower of Champions. All that would have done was potentially have more time on the hundredth floor pass, and now that he had made that promise to Liana, and was also a subcommander of the raid group, he didn¡¯t want to lose touch with anyone there. When he had returned, he¡¯d taken to the forest and gone somewhere to be in seclusion. There, he had used all the beast parts he needed to push the skill up to Rank 100. Every part that he put inside of himself made him stronger, faster, tougher, more powerful. And each of those parts threatened to change him in ways that he might not be ready for. In the time since he¡¯d begun using his Assimilate Properties skill again, he¡¯d come to rely on the abilities it granted him rather heavily, sometimes changing his entire fighting style because of what he could now do. Many months had passed since those transformations had begun happening, and he was finding he became more and more familiar with this new version of himself. It made incorporating new changes even easier to deal with. The attunements, rank ups, and levels he¡¯d gained weren¡¯t the only things that had made him stronger, either. He had finally gained a soul bound weapon. The System had given him the reward when he had returned from facing his first C Grade with the rest of the raid group, just as Feleicia had said it would. Xavier hadn¡¯t been able to choose the weapon. The System had simply rewarded him with something it seemed to think fit his needs. At first, Xavier had responded with confusion when he was presented with the weapon and its name, for it wasn¡¯t a scythe-staff like he had expected it to be. Though there were parts of him that had felt dubious about wielding a scythe again after all of the changes he¡¯d undergone. He had become quite the unarmed fighter, after all, with many new skills being solely reliant on that modality. But, considering how quickly he could summon and deposit things into his Storage Ring, he thought maybe it wasn¡¯t such a bad idea after all. The first strange thing about the weapon had been its name¡ªLost Bone of a Dead God. It didn¡¯t sound like a weapon to him, and when he¡¯d held it in his hand, his eyebrows had shot up. It was¡­ just as it had been described. It was¡­ a bone. Xavier wasn¡¯t exactly knowledgeable in anatomy, but if he had to guess he would say it was a femur, and quite a long one at that. Xavier had tilted his head at the weapon and wondered why it wasn¡¯t a scythe-staff, and in the instant he¡¯d had that thought, the weapon had shifted. The bone¡ªwhich had felt tough, yet slightly pliable¡ªhad turned almost into a liquid. The weapon had reformed itself in his hand. When it was done, the bone was still stark white, in complete contrast to the robes that he wore, but it was now¡­ a scythe-staff. It resembled the scythe-staff that he had wielded up until recently. The one the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey had stolen and then destroyed. The blade was as white as the rest of it, and the entire weapon was smooth. But the blade¡­ was sharp. Not incredibly sharp, for the soul bound weapon he¡¯d held in his hand had been at the very start of its life, which meant it was still an F Grade weapon, one that had yet to advance. In that form, it had been considerably weaker than the scythe-staff he¡¯d just lost. But Xavier had known a soul bound weapon wouldn¡¯t start off strong. After the weapon had shifted, he¡¯d stared at it for a long while. Then, he wondered how he would incorporate it into his fighting style. Would he simply deposit it into his Storage Ring whenever he fought unarmed? Was there a way that he could practice that before his next fight, or would it be better to do that in battle? All those thoughts had been running through his mind when the weapon had shifted in his hand again, turning to that strange liquid that helped it reform into something completely different. It had seeped down and covered his hands. Xavier¡¯s eyebrows had raised as this had happened. Then he¡¯d winced in pain as it didn¡¯t just cover his hands, and then his forearms¡ªit dug through his skin and entered into him. The pain was intense, but bearable, and so he bore it, staring at the strange weapon as it flowed under his skin, assuming that it must know what it was doing. When it had finished shifting, it reinforced his forearm¡ªa shield-like formation appearing on the outside of it, along with sharp blades that now ran between his wrist and his elbow. It didn¡¯t stop there, either, the Lost Bone of a Dead God reinforced the very bones in his hands, and the claws that grew from his fingers. It was the most strange sensation that he had ever felt, and he had been through a lot since being integrated into the System. Xavier simply stared down at his hands for a long while. This strange thing had happened while he¡¯d been alone in the forest. He hadn¡¯t wanted to look at the weapon while he¡¯d been in the bar. It hadn¡¯t seemed like the right time. It turned out that instinct had been the right one. Xavier had spent a long while testing the weapon. He discovered that when it reinforced his bones and claws, the System no longer counted it as him wielding a weapon, for he wasn¡¯t holding it, which meant his unarmed skills still worked when it was in this configuration. That must have been why the System had granted him the strange weapon in the first place, because it had known the exact right reward for him. It had known what he needed to function as both a long-range caster and a close-combat, bestial fighter. Since then, Xavier hadn¡¯t spent any time training with the weapon. Unfortunately, as he had been Level 200 when receiving the weapon as a reward, it meant that he hadn¡¯t been able to gain any Mastery Points¡ªwhich in turn meant that the soul bound weapon couldn¡¯t advance in power until Xavier advanced to D Grade and started gaining Mastery Points again. Though he did find it interesting that there was a way to speed up the process of giving the weapon Mastery Points. There was a way to allocate different percentages of the Mastery Points a Denizen gained to the weapon they held. That would be something that would come in useful to him later. As the weapon didn¡¯t change much for him, being so weak as it was, he¡¯d kept it in his Storage Ring and fought without it much of the time. That was one of the many reason he was so eager to make it to the next grade. Xavier contemplated all of the changes in himself as he made his way toward his target¡ªthe C Grade beast Gimble had told him about. The dwarf, along with the rest of his party, had offered to come along to observe the fight, and to even step in if that became necessary, but Xavier had declined the offer. This was something he wanted to do on his own. And so, Xavier entered the beast¡¯s den alone. Book 4: Chapter 71 - Fetid Forest Troll The great forest on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions became eerily quiet as he entered the area on the mini-map where Gimble had told him the C Grade beast held its territory. The birds in the trees that usually flittered from one branch to another were nowhere to be seen. No critters could be heard crawling across the forest floor. Even the breeze had stopped, as though wind couldn¡¯t touch this place. The trees were different to ones he¡¯d encountered in other parts of the forest as well. In a way, they reminded him of the trees in the Dark Mountains, where The Nightmare resided. Except these trees had an odd, putrid smell to them. The trees¡ªand every other plant that he could see¡ªwere rotting. Something terrible resided within this forest, and it was that very thing that Xavier had come here to find. Xavier tried not to focus on the oppressive smell. According to the dwarf, it was only going to get worse. At least Xavier wouldn¡¯t have to worry about any infected beasts in the area. Again according to Gimble, the only beast in the entire area was the C Grade beast that he sought. The only other thing that roamed within its territory was the pervading silence that seemed to blanket everything. Xavier supposed that should have been ominous, but if he were honest, he found it reassuring, and, well, convenient. The last thing he wished was for other enemies to get in the way of his battle. When Gimble and his party had been telling Xavier about the C Grade beast, Xavier had asked them why they hadn¡¯t taken the beast on themselves. The truth was, Gimble hadn¡¯t seen the value in the fight. He had apparently found the beast a long time ago¡ªat least, a long time ago from his own perspective. Gimble, though he had spent much of his life on this floor, never seemed to want to do anything that he couldn¡¯t quantify as having value to him, and so if a beast crossed his path and he wasn¡¯t forced to fight back, he saw little reason to engage with it unless it would actually serve his ultimate goals to do so. Xavier had asked the dwarf, jokingly, how spending so much time drinking in the tavern served Gimble¡¯s ultimate goals. The dwarf had answered him quite seriously, ¡°Leisure is one of the most important cornerstones of a good, long life. That is why I value my time so highly¡ªbecause there are always better ways in which I could be spending it.¡± Xavier wondered at the wisdom of those words as he walked through the fetid forest with the rotting trees. He had learnt a thing or two about taking it easy from Liana, during his time in so many time dilation fields, but if he were honest, he still found it difficult to actually relax. Xavier paused in his tracks and quirked his head to the right, ears straining. He could have sworn that he¡¯d heard something. A faint roar, somewhere far away. Though it was hard for him to judge distances in this place, so he wasn¡¯t sure how far away it had actually been. But he did know one thing for certain¡ªthe noise was getting louder, and it was joined by something else. A thump, thump, thump that reverberated through the very ground. Xavier could feel the vibrations coming up through is legs. He smiled. Whether he was truly ready for this fight or not, he didn¡¯t know. It didn¡¯t matter¡ªthe fight was about to begin. Xavier readied himself. He quickly surveyed the area that he was in. The rotten trees, the bramble bushes, the dangling vines. It all felt too close. Too claustrophobic. Not enough room to move. So he solved that with a use of his Heavy Telekinesis spell. He pushed it out in front of him, toppling the trees and pushing them out of the area. He managed to use the spell four more times before he finally saw the beast running his way. It was exactly as hideous as Gimble had described. The beast in question was a troll. From Gimble¡¯s information, it was a Fetid Forest Troll. It had strange abilities that the dwarf had observed, but Gimble had never actually faced the troll, as he hadn¡¯t seen the value in it. He¡¯d only observed it briefly. Xavier tried to scan the C Grade enemy, but even with Identify at Rank 100, he simply wasn¡¯t able to use the skill on something this high level. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to. Gimble had shared the description of the beast with him. {Fetid Forest Troll - Level 300} The Fetid Forest Troll is a beast commonly found on many planets within the Greater Universe. They tend to appear in large forests and infect the area around them with their Rot. They feed off the dying energy of the plants and other life forms that they infect and are strongest in their own territory. Do not let them infect you. These beasts are weak against Divine magic. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. When Xavier had first read the description, he had thought of Siobhan. Her class was called Divine Beacon. Though she had few offensive spells, he assumed that her Divine Guardian had attacks infused with Divine magic¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t even realised was a thing until now. Perhaps we should have experimented with her attacks in that dungeon with the necromancer. She may have been able to hurt necrotic enemies with her healing magic. Rhaalir appeared a few feet away from Xavier, standing where a tree had been only second ago. The elf crossed his arms and stared at Xavier. You are sure you want to do this, Xavier Collins? Facing a C Grade at your level¡­ I have never heard of such a thing going well. That was another thing Xavier was aware of. According to Gimble, and Felicia, and Rhaalir, and Liana¡­ basically, everyone he had talked to since entering this floor, none of them thought that an E Grade had ever faced and defeated a C Grade by themselves. Having that knowledge actually made Xavier want to do this even more. There were some accounts of E Grades surviving encounters with C Grades, but those were few and far between, and they were more like legends than anything else, for none in the sector Xavier was a part of, or the sectors around them, had accomplished such a feat. At least, not as far as he¡¯d discovered. Xavier pushed all of those thoughts from his mind as he watched the Fetid Forest Troll bound toward him. Though bound, he supposed, wasn¡¯t the right word. It had more of a lumbering quality to its steps. It was strange, because the beast was moving incredibly fast, but it looked slow and plodding. Xavier wondered how fast the beast would be when it was trying to be fast. The beast was large, but not as large as many he¡¯d faced in the past. Of course, Xavier had quickly learnt that size wasn¡¯t everything. The troll stood around fifteen-feet in height and hold a gnarled club that seeped some sort of black, oozing substance. That same substance oozed from the side of the troll¡¯s slack mouth. The Fetid Forest Troll looked, well, kind of thick-headed. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of the troll from Harry Potter. This one looked a lot like that one, except for all the rot. Its entire body was infected with it. This beast didn¡¯t wear traditional armour. Instead, its armour looked like it was made from wood, and it only covered its legs and torso. Its arms were free, and that was where Xavier could see the rot. If he didn¡¯t know any better, Xavier might have thought this beast was some sort of undead creature. He was glad it wasn¡¯t, for if it was, then his soul spells wouldn¡¯t have any effect on it. Xavier thought of the area they were in. Gimble had said there wouldn¡¯t be another beast for miles of this place, and as far as Xavier could tell, that information had been correct. Which meant he had the place all to himself. Though he was still hesitant to use certain functions of his Time Alteration spell out in the open, especially when he didn¡¯t have any sort of backup, he knew that it would at least be an option for him. And the area being deserted opened other avenues too him as well¡­ The first thing Xavier did was cast Soul Sacrifice. He dumped a thousand souls into the spell, meaning it would be active for 100 seconds. He had used this spell enough times to know that he would be guaranteed to attract some very powerful spirits¡ªespecially now that he had brought it all the way to Rank 100. But he had yet to use the spell when he was coming up against a C Grade. The spirits that came through the bridge were too unpredictable to be unleashed in an area where he had any allies around. He wasn¡¯t about to risk the safety of his raid group. The bridge opened in an instant, and before the Fetid Forest Troll had closed the distance between them, spirits from the Otherworld were streaming through, entering the Mortal Realm. As it often was, the first spirit that came through was Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. The dragon threw back its head and laughed as it saw the enemy before it. You have brought me a true enemy to face, young Denizen! It roared the words in Xavier¡¯s mind as it launched itself forward at the Fetid Forest Troll. Xavier took a few steps back as more spirits came through. At the same time, he sent a mental command to other things under his sway. As he¡¯d strode through the ancient, rotted forest in search of the Fetid Forest Troll, he hadn¡¯t come alone. Others were with him. Though not other Denizens. Soul puppets began to bound through the trees toward the clearing that Xavier had created. He had made more Soul Puppets than he ever had in the past. He had found there was a hard limit to the number of soul puppets he could maintain at any one time, a limit that he wasn¡¯t able to push forward until he gained more ranks in the spell. At Rank 100, that limit was five hundred soul puppets. And that was exactly the number that he had sought out before coming here. Though he wished to deal with this fight as swiftly as he could so he could finally advance to D Grade, he knew it would be foolish to rush things. It had taken him some time to gather this many soul puppets, and he was sure that the C Grade beast would be able to rip through each of them with ease, but even so, he needed to throw everything he had at this thing if he was going to have a chance at not just surviving this encounter, but triumphing. At the same time as the soul puppets entered the clearing, Volkarin roared louder than it ever had, and with that roar the dragon unleashed a torrent of fire and ice that slammed into the Fetid Forest Troll. More spirits from the Otherworld were joining the fray, sending spells of their own at the enemy, or else ripping into it with fang, claw, or blade. There were a myriad of different types of beings among these spirits¡ªbeasts and Denizens of all different variety. The Fetid Forest Troll found itself distracted by the spirits and the soul puppets. Originally it had been lumbering toward Xavier, but now it had its sights set on the nuisances around it. Xavier took a deep breath and let it out slow as he contemplated his next move. Though he¡¯d had time to prepare for the fight, that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d planned the whole thing out beforehand. It was difficult to know how something like this would go until you were in the thick of it, so it was often better to come into a fight with a rough plan, rather than a play-by-play order of attack. He still had thousands of souls in his soulkeeping reserve at his disposal. His strongest attack was still, and likely always would be, Soul Strike. But he was hesitant to play that card yet. He had to see if this thing was vulnerable to his other attacks, and he didn¡¯t want to exhaust his reserve only to get attacked and lack the use of Soul Block. There were three different spirits that he could summon directly from the Otherworld. Lately, he¡¯d been heavily relying upon the Spirit of Protection. That spirit had helped keep him alive in the other encounters he¡¯d had. But there was another spirit that he thought might be even more powerful than that one. A spirit that he had recently learnt about from Rhaalir, but one he had never summoned. Xavier smiled widely as for the first time ever, he was about to use Summon Otherworldly Spirit to bring forth the Spirit of Time. Book 4: Chapter 72 - Diverging Time Streams Time froze. The world around Xavier become a landscape of blacks, whites, and greys. Three choices were displayed before him¡ªto summon the Spirit of Protection, the Spirit of Vengeance, or the Spirit of Time. For the first time, Xavier chose the Spirit of Time. He did not know what to expect when a bright light blossomed into being before him, then slowly dimmed to reveal the figure of the spirit he had summoned. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened involuntarily, for the spirit was perhaps the most beautiful being that he had ever seen before. Xavier couldn¡¯t tell what race the spirit was¡ªshe was somewhere between an elf and a human, much as Felicia was, and her beauty was hard to deny. She had long, flowing golden hair that draped down her bare shoulders until it reached her midsection. Her eyes were the grey of a stormy sky. The woman wore a shift that revealed healthy portions of skin and Xavier had to stop himself from outright gaping at her, which made the spirit¡¯s first expression that of a smirk. The clothing she wore glittered in the light, and she held a simple wooden staff with a glowing green crystal at its top. She bent her head in greeting. I have heard of you, young Denizen. I was wondering when you would bring me forth. The spirit¡¯s voice sounded in his mind. It had a melodic quality to it, and the way she spoke it almost sounded like a song. Xavier bowed his head slightly to the woman, quickly composing himself. He¡¯d encountered plenty of beautiful women in the Greater Universe. It was difficult not to be beautiful when progressing changed one¡¯s form so dramatically, always inching toward perfection. He pushed those thoughts from his mind. I have a task for you, Xavier replied. The spirit turned and looked at the Fetid Forest Troll. She took in the scene. The other spirits that were already there, summoned forth from the Otherworld in a different way to how she had been, and the soul puppets streaming toward the enemy. Indeed. Her eyebrows rose and she glanced back at him with a look of obvious admiration. You are fighting a C Grade. I can see what it is you need from me. She held her staff lightly in her right hand. Do you wish this to be the moment of unfolding? Xavier inclined his head once more. Rhaalir had described, in depth, the capabilities of the Spirit of Time. According to the elf, it was often considered the most powerful of the three spirits that one could summon, for its powers could alter time in ways Xavier had no access to. The Spirit of Time could effectively turn back time itself. This meant that whenever the Spirit of Time did this, it created an entire new universe¡ªjust as when one entered a floor of the Tower of Champions. But there was something unique about the way in which this woman was able to alter time. Yes, each use created a different time stream, an alternate universe, but she could maintain the purity of the universe she had been summoned to. Despite the fact that Xavier had been aware of alternate universes for some time now, he still struggled to wrap his head around this. Basically, what it boiled down to, was that Xavier could follow through with this fight and even if he died, that death wouldn¡¯t happen to him. It would be a future that branched off from the unfolding point¡ªthis very moment¡ªbut it wouldn¡¯t be one that he himself lived. Right now, he was only the observer. Once a future unfolded that he wished to experience, he would have to live it himself, and if he wished that future to unfold exactly the way he had seen it, he¡¯d need to repeat the exact same actions. It was¡­ a spell he¡¯d been unsure of using, as each possible future that she created was actually a new universe, which meant if a version of him died, he was condemning an entire universe to him no longer existing. That would doom Earth, at least in that particular alternate universe. It was a lot to have on his shoulders¡­ but it was also something that he couldn¡¯t let bother him. What happened in other universes wasn¡¯t his concern. If he could change something, save someone, on a tower floor, and it didn¡¯t compromise his own universe? Then he would gladly do it¡ªthat was how he had always moved through the tower floors. With the safety of others being a priority. But their safety wasn¡¯t his top priority, and it wasn¡¯t a reality he could always indulge in. He didn¡¯t have that luxury. So, technically, the woman couldn¡¯t turn back time, but it would essentially work the same, because even though he wouldn¡¯t experience those possible futures as his original self, he would see them from the perspective of those that did experience it. Again, it was difficult for him to wrap his head around. The world shifted. No, not just the world¡ªthe entire universe shifted. Xavier felt himself appear in two places at once. He was standing there, with the Spirit of Time, in that colourless landscape with the battle scene before them¡ªand he was standing in the exact same spot, but in an entirely different universe. The feeling was mind-bendingly surreal. For a moment, the sudden sensation of being pulled in two threatened to break his brain.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. But Xavier had been through something like this before, and it didn¡¯t take him long before his well-honed instincts kicked in. Though it was technically different, with his Soul Puppet spell he was able to put his consciousness into one of the soul puppets he had control over, letting him see from its perspective. This was also something he was able to do with Willpower Infusion, on Denizens or beasts under his control. And so Xavier had a highly developed skill to help him do this very thing. He split his consciousness into multiple parts. He found that where he stood¡ªin his original body¡ªtime was still frozen, yet the Spirit of Time was able to move. The beautiful woman stood with one hand resting lightly on her hip, while the other held her staff. She had a contemplative look on her pale face. You can see what¡¯s happening, can¡¯t you? Xavier asked. The woman blinked. She glanced over at him with a small smile. I am surprised you are able to focus enough to talk. This experience tends to be disorientating for people of your grade. She tilted her head to the side. Though it appears you might be uniquely suited toward this. One part of his consciousness continued on with the conversation, while the other observed from inside the body of¡­ himself. It was perhaps the strangest thing he had ever felt. He was inside his own body, able to feel every sensation¡ªthe breath entering his lungs, the beating of his heart¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t influence what was happening. He was locked in, not under control. Xavier wondered if this was how beasts and Denizens felt when he used Willpower Infusion on them. It was a terrible way to feel, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn¡¯t observe the thoughts of this version of himself, either, so all he saw were the actions taken. Time unfolded for this version of Xavier, moving forward at the same pace as it had before he had cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The spirits from the other world that had come when he¡¯d used Soul Sacrifice were ripping into the Fetid Forest Troll, but the Fetid Forest Troll didn¡¯t stand idly by and let them hurt it. It made a dull-sounding grunt as it slammed its massive club into one of the smaller spirits, a strange beasts somewhere between a mix of a white dove and a hyena. The spirit got hit in its beaked head. There was a devastating snapping sound, and its neck was wrenched fully one way. The spirits from the other world weren¡¯t entirely corporeal, but Xavier had seen beasts do damage to them in the past, so he knew they weren¡¯t always immune to attacks. But these spirits, the way they had entered the Mortal Realm, were more corporeal than the spirits that came to him when he used Summon Otherworldly Spirit, making them a little more prone to taking damage. Xavier, flicking between parts of his mind, turned to the Spirit of Time as the bird-hyena hybrid beast disappeared, its body turning to mist that slowly dissipated in the air. Did that troll just¡­ kill that spirit? The woman shook her head. I am not here to provide insight, Xavier Collins. She paused. However, I suppose there is no harm in answering you this one question. The spirit was not killed. It was returned prematurely to the Otherworld. So there are no consequences for spirits taking damage while they are in the Mortal Realm? On the contrary, that spirit will be out of commission for a very long time. It could be several centuries before it builds up the power to enter the Mortal Realm once more, unless somehow someone were to summon it directly. Even then, there¡¯s every chance it wouldn¡¯t work. Xavier inclined his head. That made more sense. There had to be some consequences, after all. He watched as the dragon, Volkarin, engaged with the troll. It swooped down and slammed straight into the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s chest. The Fetid Forest Troll looked somewhat pained. It flinched and took two stumbling steps backward. Xavier flicked back into the part of his mind in the other version of himself. The other version of himself paused for a moment, his eyes widening slightly. Xavier couldn¡¯t understand what he was trying to do, then he realised¡ªthis version of him would have also just cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit and brought forth the Spirit of Time, but he wouldn¡¯t get to profit from the spell¡¯s usage. Xavier¡¯s shoulders sagged. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not the original.¡± Xavier turned his head to one side, then the other, cracking it. He clenched his fists so tight the bones in his fingers creaked. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise how much this would suck.¡± Observer Xavier felt some remorse at having used this spell. He hadn¡¯t taken a moment to contemplate how the copies of himself would feel. Though calling them copies was¡­ making out as though they hadn¡¯t been him up until a moment ago. Alternate universes confuse the hell out of me, Xavier thought to himself. And he watched. Xavier took a few steps backward as the Fetid Forest Troll grabbed the dragon by the neck and yanked him to the left. Volkarin was one of the seven most powerful spirits from the Otherworld, yet he was being thrown around like a ragdoll. That was only because the spirit, in this form, had its power level capped by Xavier¡¯s strength, and the strength of the spell he had just cast. The Fetid Forest Troll threw the dragon into the air. It tumbled several times before its wings snapped out and it caught itself, almost frozen where it hovered. Then rumbling laughter was released from Volkarin¡¯s throat as the dragon swooped back in for another attack. At that moment, the soul puppets joined the fray. They reached the Fetid Forest Troll and tried to attack it, but they were nothing more than a distraction for it. They were thrown this way and that, kicked, backhanded, or crushed by the beast¡¯s club. Xavier began casting spells. Spirit Break was the first. The Fetid Forest Troll flinched. A flinch wasn¡¯t much, but it was something. Its gaze instantly shifted to Xavier. The troll threw its head back and roared, then it slammed one of its fists into its chest, the other hand still holding onto its club, and a shockwave of energy reverberated around it, knocking every single one of the five hundred soul puppets¡ªthose still alive, if such being could even be counted as alive¡ªto the ground. Some of the soul puppets didn¡¯t get up. Even the spirits from the other world were thrown, though they appeared to be far less hurt by the attack. The way clear once more, the Fetid Forest Troll began its lumbering run again and made a beeline for where Xavier stood. One spell after another was flung toward the beast. Soul Shatter made it flinch slightly more than Spirit Break had. Core Burn didn¡¯t do a damned thing, and Willpower Infusion¡­ well, Observer Xavier knew that had been wishful thinking, even if it was always worth trying. Nothing is working against this thing¡­ it¡¯s even more powerful than I thought. Xavier had been in several battles with C Grades by now, but he had never been the primary damage dealer. The damage had come from countless Champions. The raid group had worked as one, so even if their attacks didn¡¯t do a huge amount of damage on their own, cumulatively it had been enough. Especially when Xavier had used his Time Alteration trick. Xavier spread his arms to his sides and opened his fists. Claws began to grow from his fingers, sharper than they had ever been before. A rumble started deep in his throat then was unleashed in a roar of his own. The spells not having done their job, Xavier sprang forward. He had been observing the way this beast moved, and the way it took damage. Its Toughness was high¡ªhigher than anything Xavier had ever faced by himself¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t completely resistant to his attacks. Even now those spirits that had recovered were sending spells and arrows into the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s back as it lumbered toward Xavier. It flinched at every single attack. There were scratches all over its body, and even patches of blood where it had taken wounds¡ªthough those wounds had since healed. It¡¯s strong, and it¡¯s fast, but it¡¯s not invincible, thought Observer Xavier as he felt himself sprint forward. And there was something else very important about this beast. The speed at which it moved¡ªit might be fast. But it wasn¡¯t as fast as Xavier. Book 4: Chapter 73 - Worth the Risk Xavier came at the Fetid Forest Troll head on. Or at least, that¡¯s what it looked like he was doing. Observer Xavier might not be able to read his own mind, but he had a good idea of what was about to happen next. The Fetid Forest Troll stopped running long enough to swing its club. The club had an eerie, dark glow about it, and disgusting black liquid oozed from its head. Xavier, at the last second, sunk down into a slide and went underneath the beast¡¯s legs, slicing his claws into its thighs as he passed through. Then he whirled and instantly jumped onto its back. The spirits had re-entered the fray, the dragon being the first of them. He hoped their attacks would be enough to distract the troll, especially now that he was up close. Xavier wrapped an arm around the beast and dug his claws straight into its neck. The roar that had started when he¡¯d run was still ripping out of his throat. Not being able to feel the emotions involved in the fight, Observer Xavier felt strange watching himself become so bestial, but it was a sensation he¡¯d become to recognise. The Fetid Forest Troll whacked its chest again. A pulse of energy shock-waved out. Xavier was thrown backward. The pain was immense¡ªObserver Xavier could feel that. He flipped in the air and landed easily on the ground. The troll was already facing him by the time he got his bearings. It pointed its club at him and something shot from it¡ªthe black, oozing liquid. Xaivier dodged to the right, his Evasion skill kicking in, but the troll tracked him easily, the stream of black oozing goo shooting through the air as straight as a laser. Xavier cast Soul Block, infusing what looked like five hundred souls into it. He wasn¡¯t fast enough to avoid the attack. It was faster to point at someone than it was to dodge left or right out of the way. The souls weren¡¯t enough, however. Somehow, the attack rotted through the soul apparitions, then it went straight for Xavier. It hit him full on the chest and seeped through his robes. Observer Xavier watched the fight with great interest, and more than a little fear. And he could feel the pain the spell was doing do his body¡ªit was more intense than anything else he had ever experienced, and that was saying something, considering all he¡¯d been through since being integrated. The other version of him tried to fight off the effects. He downed several health potions and antidote potions, but they were clearly doing nothing. In the end he had to fling up a Time Alteration spell, keeping the Fetid Forest Troll outside of it, and sit in meditation for hours until the status effect had passed and the damage was healed. When the other version of him finally opened his eyes, he released a sigh. ¡°This thing is strong.¡± He stood. ¡°But I haven¡¯t used everything in my arsenal yet.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I know you¡¯re watching, and listening, and I just want you to know that I won¡¯t be dying for this. If this beast ends up being too powerful¡­ I¡¯m cutting my losses and getting the hell out of here. Maybe I¡¯ll come back another time to face it.¡± Observer Xavier felt a bit of relief at that. He didn¡¯t want another version of himself to die, especially not for something as small as this. When the Time Alteration spell dropped, the other version of Xavier re-entered the fray. He seemed like a man possessed as he moved toward the enemy troll, his reflexes incredibly fast. He slashed at the beast, cutting small wounds in it left and right. The spirits from the Otherworld were back in the fray again, as were the remaining soul puppets, but none of them seemed to be doing enough, especially when this troll was able to push them all away. Slowly, Xavier left cuts everywhere in the Fetid Forest Troll. He carved his claws through the enemy¡¯s legs, stomach, chest, arms, and back. The armour it wore was tough, but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop Xavier¡¯s claws from piercing through¡ªthat was mostly thanks to the Piercing Damage he had. The Fetid Forest Troll showed no sign of fatigue or flagging even with all of the damage it was taking. Xavier kept flinging spell after spell after spell at it, but he wasn¡¯t having any luck. Whenever the Fetid Forest Troll tried to use its knock-back attack, Xavier flitted out of range. He could see it coming now¡ªknew how to anticipate it. Observer Xavier was learning a lot from the fight, and he knew there were plenty of mistakes that he wouldn¡¯t make when it came to fighting this thing himself, but he still had hope that this version of him would be able to defeat the troll. Then something overcame the Fetid Forest Troll. It released a roar on par with that of the Spirit of Vengeance, and its entire body turned into a black ooze. By this point in the fight, the soul puppets he¡¯d painstakingly brought to the battle were all dead on the ground. They had been nothing more than a slight distraction for this thing. The spirits, too, hadn¡¯t been enough. They were gone now, their time in this world spent. Even the Spirit of Vengeance, in that form, hadn¡¯t been able to harm the troll all that much. Xavier supposed he shouldn¡¯t have been all that surprised. It was a C Grade beast, after all. Maybe he was biting off more than he could chew.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. But no version of himself was about to give up until they had tried everything. For the first time during this battle, Xavier cast Fear Dominion. Observer Xavier thought this Xavier must be feeling a little desperate, as he doubted something like that would even work on this beast. And he was right. There was a slight flicker of fear in the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s eyes, but it was gone in almost an instant as it seemed to shrug it off with ease. Xavier then leapt backward into the air. Hopefully, even up here, he would be able to dodge any attack that came, for if the Fetid Forest Troll used the rotted-beam attack that it had used earlier, Observer Xavier didn¡¯t know if he would be fast enough¡ªeven with his Hover Dodge spell¡ªto avoid it. Only one way to find out. That was when Xavier cast his most powerful spell¡ªSoul Strike¡ªthrowing thousands of souls into it. Powerful soul apparitions burst into life. White lightning shot forth from his fists as beasts of all manner and size appeared, all of them barrelling through the air toward the Fetid Forest Troll. The Fetid Forest Troll blinked dumbly at the display before it was hit full on by the attack. It stumbled backward, then fell down to the ground, releasing a scream of pure agony as the strike hit its soul. It didn¡¯t leave any physical sign of the damage it took, but it didn¡¯t need to. The troll lay on the ground, twitching. It wasn¡¯t dead, but it sure looked close. Xavier landed back on the ground. He didn¡¯t waste any time as he sprinted over to the beast. Its body was still covered completely by that dark, oozing substance. Whatever spell it had cast was still in full effect. Observer Xavier and the version of Xavier making the moves appeared to be in agreement about what that must mean¡ªit was a protection against physical attacks. If Xavier struck the troll, he would likely become infected. And so Xavier cast Soul Shatter. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Then, he cast Core Burn¡ªagain, it wasn¡¯t enough, though this time there were clear cracks in the beast¡¯s mind, ones that he might be able to take advantage of. Willpower Infusion was the next spell cast¡ªand it worked. For a fraction of a second, Xavier had been in control of the beast¡¯s mind. Observer Xavier could see the effect it had on the Fetid Forest Troll, even though he couldn¡¯t feel it, for that was something he didn¡¯t have access to, as the sensation was felt in the body and not the mind. But he could also see that the spell didn¡¯t last very long. Xavier winced as the attack was shrugged off. Xavier had expended all of the ranged damage dealing that he had. Soul Shatter simply wasn¡¯t a powerful enough spell, and the Fetid Forest Troll was quickly healing. If Xavier wanted to end this, he would need to do something else. Xavier sprang forward in a powerful leap and came down slashing straight for the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s head. It was already so damaged, surely it wouldn¡¯t take too many strikes before it was pushed over the edge into death. The instant Xavier¡¯s claws struck the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s head, they didn¡¯t do what was expected. Instead, they sunk through the troll¡¯s skull as though it were that oozing liquid, and not rock-hard, tough bone. The black oozing liquid crept over Xavier¡¯s arm and crawled up to his neck, infecting him once more. But that wasn¡¯t all it did. This time, it trapped him in place. The troll, which had been writhing and twitching in pain, burst into action. Xavier didn¡¯t think it had been pretending or faking the pain it felt. It was evident that it had been real. This was a last-ditch attack. An animal wounded, cornered, lashing out. It gripped Xavier by the neck. Unlike its skull, its hand was solid. And it squeezed. Observer Xavier didn¡¯t want to watch what happened next, but he forced himself to. He needed to see the consequences of his potential actions. The other Xavier wasn¡¯t out for the count, however. He cast Time Prison, The spell worked. Xavier was powerful enough to trap a C Grade beast in time. That alone was an achievement. Xavier took a few steps back. He stared at the frozen beast. There was no telling how long it would be trapped like that. No telling how long the spell would last. Get out of there, Observer Xavier thought as he watched. He had seen the other version of him strive and strive, and he had gotten so close¡­ but he didn¡¯t think there was a way, in this version of events, for the battle to be won. ¡°My health is at 5 percent and dropping fast,¡± Xavier said, speaking incredibly quickly. ¡°I know you¡¯re listening. The smart thing to do right now would be run, but I don¡¯t know how far I would make it. I can¡¯t use Time Alteration again. I can¡¯t heal the damage that is happening to me. Last time, it acted too quickly, and I was only just about to counteract it. This time¡­ it¡¯s like it¡¯s acting twice as fast, even though it¡¯s the same spell, as though the rot has some sort of cumulative effect.¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°My health potions aren¡¯t enough, and in this condition, I won¡¯t be able to outrun it. Something tells me Time Prison it will only last another moment or two¡ª¡± The Fetid Forest Troll instantly came back to life. Xavier could have run. He could have made it far enough to be out of this thing¡¯s range. He would have been fast enough. Then, alone, he might have been able to heal himself. Why hadn¡¯t he run? ¡°I think I can kill this thing,¡± Xavier said. ¡°It¡¯s worth the risk.¡± Xavier snapped back to where he was standing with the Spirit of Time. He blinked. He¡¯d watched the last few moments¡­ that other version of him had been obliterated. Why didn¡¯t you run? the Spirit of Time asked. You might have survived. Xavier inclined his head, wondering the very same thing. But he didn¡¯t need to wonder to know. He thought he could win. He thought the risk was worth it. It always¡­ always has been in the past. Xavier stared at the Fetid Forest Troll in his own time stream. For him, the world was still frozen as he stood with the half-elf, half-human looking woman that was the Spirit of Time. Xavier had never expected to die. He had taken so many risks to become as powerful as he was. Taken so many risks to get where he was today¡­ He knew, deep down, that he never expected to fail. It wasn¡¯t that he was treating this like a game, it was just¡­ he was to be the Weapon of the System. That was something he truly believed, and even before that¡ªeverything he had done had paid off. Of course that other version of himself had thought that he could win. The situation hadn¡¯t been worth him throwing his life away, and yet he¡¯d gone and done it anyway. Xavier lowered his head and closed his eyes, thinking of that other version of him. He gave that person a moment of silence. ¡°You idiot,¡± he whispered. ¡°Why did you go and do that?¡± But he knew that¡­ he would have done the exact same thing, because that was him. He wondered if watching his own death would make him change. Book 4: Chapter 74 - The Final Unfolding Are you ready for another Unfolding? the Spirit of Time asked in a gentle voice. Xavier nodded meekly, coming out of his reverie. I¡¯m ready. This unfolding would be different to the last. This time, when he faced the Fetid Forest Troll, the second version of himself would have experienced what he had just experienced. Another strange thing to wrap his head around. This spell is powerful, he thought to himself. Incredibly powerful. He knew that the cooldown was a long one, and¡ªaccording to Rhaalir¡ªit was a locked cooldown. Xavier had never had a spell with a locked cooldown before, but it meant that it couldn¡¯t be influenced by a level up, or a spell, or an imbued ability. There was no way to alter how long it took to regenerate. He would be able to cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit again, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring forth the Spirit of Time. Not for another six months. To him, it seemed like a hell of a long time, but he knew that in the grand scheme of things it really wasn¡¯t very long. The problem was for his purposes, pushing forward as fast as he was¡­ well, he figured he would need to use it again before most Denizens. Xavier released a breath as he split his mind in two once more. ~ Five times, Xavier watched himself fail. The second version of himself that he watched had come into the battle with equal parts confidence and caution. He had seen how much damage he could do to this beast with Soul Strike, and so he had led with that attack, hitting the beast while the spirits from the Otherworld and the soul puppets were still in play, and his Time Alteration spell hadn¡¯t yet been used. But it wasn¡¯t enough¡ªthe beast hadn¡¯t suffered enough physical injuries. The second version of him hadn¡¯t taken as many risks as the first one had. Clearly, he was still reeling from watching his own death. Observer Xavier couldn¡¯t blame him¡ªhe was still feeling the same thing. Except it hadn¡¯t done him any good. He had been too cautious, to the point of being timid. The Fetid Forest Troll had used a spell that it hadn¡¯t shown the first time. Something that had trapped Xavier to the ground, making it impossible for him to move. He couldn¡¯t dodge. He couldn¡¯t run. And the enemy was too close for him to use Time Alteration without getting it inside the time dilation field with him. Once again, Xavier had had to watch himself die. Twice, as an E Grade, he had gone up against the weakest C Grade on the entire floor, and twice¡­ he had been killed. After that, Xavier had seriously considered walking away. The Spirit of Time had given him a sympathetic look, though she had not offered her opinion on what had just taken place, nor had she deigned to offer him any advice. He wondered how many things like this the woman had seen in her role as the Spirit of Time. How many Denizens had summoned her and watched themselves, or those they loved, die in different alternate realities and different, diverging time streams? He¡¯d shaken away those thoughts, and moved on with the spell, watching yet another Xavier go against the Fetid Forest Troll, equipped with the updated knowledge. This Xavier hadn¡¯t won, but he had escaped. As he¡¯d ran away, he¡¯d vowed to come back and finish the job. To persevere, to remain E Grade, until he was able to crack this. Xavier admired the perseverance, but hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to go through that himself. The fourth version of him to go up against the Fetid Forest Troll was the one to finally triumph¡ªbut it was a close shave. He lay on the ground after the fight, his flesh rotting, whispering that his health was at 1 percent. He had survived, but doing so had almost cost him his life. So, Xavier had used the spell one more time. The Spirit of Time had told him that was the last time that she could do this, and Xavier had thought he might as well move forward with it. Though he had seen every action that had amounted to the win, that didn¡¯t mean he would be able to move exactly as the other version of himself had. He couldn¡¯t see his own thoughts. There was a possibility that he might take a misstep. That the 1 percent health he¡¯d been left in would actually become 0. He couldn¡¯t afford to let that happen. He¡¯d felt what it was like to die now¡ªtwice¡ªand it wasn¡¯t something he was ever going to let himself experience for real. And he was glad that he¡¯d made that decision¡ªthe final battle had been spectacular. Now he just had to make sure he could do it again. Still frozen in time, with that beautiful woman from the Otherworld, Xavier looked over at her. He hadn¡¯t seen the titles he would gain from winning this fight, all he had seen was himself winning. He was eager to discover what he would gain.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Thank you, Xavier thought to her. I would not have been able to do this without you. You aim to achieve the incredible, Xavier Collins. The Spirit of Time gave him a wry look. That is something at which I excel at helping people produce. I do look forward to next time you call upon me. I imagine whatever situation you find yourself in will be interesting to observe. Fight well, young Denizen. The Spirit of Time drifted away, returning to the Otherworld. Slowly, and then all at once, time began to move forward again. Xavier¡¯s mind raced with everything that he would need to do. His memory of his actions was complete, and all he needed to do was reenact them. It was a strange way in which to fight, lacking some of the excitement he was used to, but he had more than enough excitement at the prospect of defeating a C Grade beast. He didn¡¯t need any more than that. Xavier took a deep breath, then released it. The spirits from the Otherworld and the soul puppets were still in play, even if they weren¡¯t doing much damage to this thing. He didn¡¯t dawdle. Xavier threw himself forward, sprinting straight at the Fetid Forest Troll. It was time to kill himself a C Grade. While the Fetid Forest Troll was still distracted by the spirits and the soul puppets, Xavier moved in. He flanked the beast and then came around at it from behind. This cost the lives of many of the soul puppets, and Xavier knew that in a moment from now, the troll would use its knockback spell. Before it did, Xavier struck it with two spells at once¡ªas he slashed down at the back of its head, mid-leap, with his claws, he cast Enhanced Telekinetic Strike and Spirit Break simultaneously. The pain this caused was enough for the beast to whirl around and pin him with its gaze. A roar sounded and it slammed its fist into its chest. Xavier was knocked back. The Fetid Forest Troll raised its club, about to cast a stream of rot that would slam into Xavier and infect him. But Xavier wasn¡¯t going to let that happen. He cast Soul Strike. He didn¡¯t use every single soul at his disposal. Instead, he used two thousand of them. It had been difficult to discern how many souls the other version of him had used. Fortunately, the other version of Xavier had been kind enough to say it aloud. The two-thousand-infused Soul Strike burst forth from Xavier¡¯s fists. Bolts of pure white lightning shot forth, forking through the sky as countless soul apparitions came into being, bearing down on the Fetid Forest Troll as its eyes widened at the sudden attack. The Soul Strike interrupted the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s rotting beam spell and made it stumble back a few steps. It wasn¡¯t enough to knock it down, but it didn¡¯t need to be¡ªall it needed to do was hurt. This was different to how the first few versions of Xavier had used the spell. They had cast the entire thing, as the cooldown on the spell was too long to use twice in a fight. That is, unless one was willing to use Time Alteration to quicken the rate of the cooldown, and the version of Xavier that had last fought this beast? He¡¯d been ballsy enough to do so. The area was deserted, after all. And so Xavier did just that¡ªhe cast Time Alteration, making the time dilation field large enough to encompass himself and the C Grade beast. The spirits from the Otherworld and his soul puppets were trapped outside the bubble. But that was by design. The spirits and soul puppets would see the time dilation field and to them it would look as though Xavier and the beast were frozen in time. Xavier had theorised different ways of working with his time dilation field, coupled with either a soul puppet or an enemy controlled with Willpower Infusion. Considering he had the ability to throw part of his consciousness into those he controlled, as he could split his mind into multiple parts, he wondered if he would ever be able to see what was happening¡ªin real time¡ªoutside of a time dilation field that he was within. But that wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d tried experimenting with yet, and he wasn¡¯t about to try it in the middle of a fight like this. Now that the time dilation field was up, his Soul Strike spell re-upped its cooldown in what amounted to an instant from his perspective. The Fetid Forest Troll didn¡¯t even seem to be aware of what was happening. Xavier didn¡¯t activate Soul Strike for a second time¡ªnot yet. Instead, he hit his enemy with a steady stream of Spirit Breaks and Soul Shatters. The Soul Strike had been enough to make the thing unsteady, and the stream of weaker spells was keeping it that way. Once Xavier knew it had strained its mental defences, he next hit the beast with Core Burn. When he saw the spell doing its work, he smiled. Almost there. Soul Strike! Thousands of bolts of white lightning came into being as soul apparitions appeared before him and launched themselves at his enemy. It wasn¡¯t just him doing damage to the Fetid Forest Troll, either. The spirits outside the time dilation field who possessed ranged attacks were flinging those attacks at the beast as often as they could. He had used that same technique when he had been fighting with other Champions. Though those spells had stopped coming in less than a second to Xavier¡¯s perspective, as the spirits disappeared back to the Otherworld, their time on this plane already up. As the second Soul Strike hit his enemy, Xavier moved in, using Willpower Infusion as he closed the gap between himself and the Fetid Forest Troll. He didn¡¯t deactivate the time dilation field. Instead, he reversed the flow of time, making sure the beast wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the end of any of its own cooldowns. Not that that would matter, as Willpower Infusion took hold of the beast. No matter how injured the beast currently was, it still had a strong mind. Xavier had managed to effectively blast his way through the beast¡¯s mental wall, but that didn¡¯t mean he would be able to control it forever. In fact, he could already feel that control slipping. That didn¡¯t matter. He only needed to control it enough time to stop it from casting the spell that turned its entire body into an oozing black mess. Xavier released a loud roar, a bestial battle cry, as he slashed his claws into the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s skin, piercing through its odd, wooden armour. The Fetid Forest Troll took countless dozens of hits in the span of a few seconds. With each strike, Xavier felt his control over the beast slipping further and further away. Soon, it would once more be in control of itself. Xavier attacked, right up until that moment, then he stopped as the beast came back to full awareness. And he cast Fear Dominion. The spell worked, as Xavier knew it would. Fear lit up the troll¡¯s eyes as Xavier delivered his final strike. His claws pierced the beast¡¯s eye, dealing the last little bit of damage he needed to take this thing down. The Fetid Forest Troll fell to the dirt. Xavier stood a few feet away, looking down at it. He hadn¡¯t taken a single strike, and the C Grade beast lay dead before him. Now, it was time to see just how many titles he would gain from this. Book 4: Chapter 75 - The Chances of You Dying Were Rather High Xavier deactivated the Time Alteration spell and took a breath of air. He blinked, looking around. The air smelled fresher than it had before. He gazed past the clearing he¡¯d created for the purposes of the fight with the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll and his eyes widened at what he saw. The rot that had infected every inch of this part of the forest was now gone. The trees were no longer oozing black liquid, the colour of the plants returned to greens and reds and purples. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter down on the area. ¡°Huh,¡± Xavier said. Rhaalir appeared, standing beside the dead Fetid Forest Troll. The elf-spirit looked a little dumbfounded as he stared at the downed beast. You¡­ you did it. Xavier tilted his head to the side, looking over at the elf. The elf hadn¡¯t been there when he cast the spell to see the Spirit of Time. He hadn¡¯t seen the woman appear. Hadn¡¯t been a part of what they had both seen. Xavier looked at the spirit. Did you ever doubt I would? Rhaalir shrugged his shoulders, almost as though the elf didn¡¯t care, but Xavier was beginning to think that the spirit was starting to care about what happened to him. I figured the chances of you dying were rather high. Maybe 95 percent. Xavier frowned. He was about to make some quip, when he thought back to the first two versions of him, and what this beast had done to them¡­ Two versions of me died facing this thing, he thought to himself. One version of me ran. And two, not including me, defeated it¡­ but only because they had learned from each iteration before them. He stepped over to the Fetid Forest Troll and wondered, not for the first time, if the risks he was taking would one day lead to his death. That version of him who had died the first time¡­ he had seemed as though he thought he was invincible. As though death couldn¡¯t possibly be visited upon him. And yet, that man was now gone forever. He wondered, for a moment, what that would mean for Earth, but¡­ he really didn¡¯t want to dwell on that. It¡¯s a whole other universe. There¡¯s nothing I can do about it, he thought to himself before he looked over at Rhaalir once more. It was a risk I was willing to take, and it paid off. They won¡¯t always, Rhaalir muttered in Xavier¡¯s mind, and Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel the truth of those words. Notifications popped up in his vision, and they held his interest far more than the conversation he¡¯d just been having. The kill notification came first. Unfortunately, he was unable to receive any Mastery Points until he triggered the advancement to D Grade, so everything he¡¯d gained from killing the beast just¡­ didn¡¯t do anything for him. But that was alright¡ªhe would have no shortage of Mastery Points once he advanced. Advancement¡­ that¡¯s right around the corner now. He smiled to himself and read the next notification. Title unlocked! C Grade Killer You have slain your first C Grade enemy on your own. Welcome to the big leagues. You have received +250 to all stats! Title Unlocked! C Grade Demolisher You have slain a C Grade enemy by yourself that is at least one grade higher than your own. It is rare that a Denizen of the Greater Universe can accomplish this feat. This is an epic title. You have received +500 to all stats! Title Unlocked! C Grade Destroyer You have slain a C Grade enemy by yourself that is at least two grades higher than your own. No other Denizen in the Greater Universe has achieved such a feat. This is a unique title. You have received +1,000 to all stats! The System is offering to grant you a boon and wishes for you to decide what option to take.
  1. Higher Value Race Upgrade
  2. Higher Value Class Upgrade
  3. Permanent Attribute Boost
Receiving such a boon is rare and almost unheard of in the Greater Universe. Make you decision wisely. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier read through the different notifications. There was a part of him that was a little surprised he hadn¡¯t received more than these, but then again, he knew was just getting greedy.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The rewards he gained from these titles were immensely powerful, and he could already feel the strength of them, the instant shift in himself as his attributes were raised. And something told him there would be more value in what he had just achieved than these titles. Doing something as he had¡­ it would gain him recognition around the Greater Universe that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to get without doing it. And that recognition started with Gimble. Actually, it started with Rhaalir. The elf might be from the Otherworld and not the Mortal Realm, but something told him that having his respect would help him in the long run. More interesting than the titles he¡¯d received was the boon from the System. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d gotten a boon. The last time he¡¯d been given the skill Core Burn, and that had been because of the way he¡¯d defeated the Lord of the Endless Horde. He wondered about the different options. A Higher Value Race Upgrade¡­ that was very intriguing. He had already started the journey toward altering his race from that of a normal human, something that he wasn¡¯t sure he could stop even if he wanted to. How much would having a higher value race upgrade help him? And what did that even mean? Perhaps Rhaalir would be able to offer some insights, or maybe he could use Otherworldly Communion to help him make the decision¡­ Xavier strode over to the corpse of the Fetid Forest Troll. He touched a hand to it and deposited the entire beast into one of his Storage Rings. He wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to incorporate beast parts from something that rotted into himself, but he knew the corpse of a C Grade would be considered incredibly valuable. I defeated a C Grade beast¡­ The empress, the most powerful Denizen in all of the Silver River sector is only C Grade. That was a realisation he¡¯d had before, that he was fast approaching her level of power. He supposed the woman had seen as much already. Though she was no doubt a True Progenitor. Her power was probably more akin to that of a B Grade than a C Grade, if one were to compare. I wonder how far away I am from that¡­ Xavier just stared around for a moment, taking in all he had done. The fight with the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll¡­ the first two versions of him had been destroyed by it. Yet here he stood, alive, without a single scratch. It wasn¡¯t just about power¡ªit was how one used that power, and how well prepared someone was. If he knew every move an enemy could make¡­ Xavier shook his head. It would rarely be possible for him to know every move an enemy could make. The only reason he¡¯d been able to do it in this instance was because he¡¯d summoned the Spirit of Time, and that was only something that he would be able to do every six months. Rhaalir looked over at him. You have achieved something remarkable here, Xavier Collins. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next. Xavier inclined his head to the elf. Rhaalir had been a good instructor. Their contract didn¡¯t have a specific end time, and Xavier wondered if he would be gaining any new Otherworld spells when he chose his next class. If so, he would be glad to have the elf still around. Thank you, for helping me get this far. I don¡¯t know if I would have been able to rank up my Otherworld spells as fast without your guidance. The elf scoffed. Of course you wouldn¡¯t have been able to. Rhaalir shook his head. You were lost without me. Ah, there¡¯s that tone I¡¯ve grown to love so much, Xavier replied. He glanced around the area once more. He could hear things in the forest he hadn¡¯t before, and the wind¡ªwhich had been still the first time he¡¯d walked through here¡ªwas beginning to stir the leaves on the branches. A bird flew overhead, and somewhere in the distance a roar sounded. This area of the forest was coming alive again, now that the Fetid Forest Troll had been defeated. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this would be like what would happen on the Dark Mountains, when The Nightmare was finally slain. He looked forward to seeing that. Now that he had defeated a C Grade beast, and by himself no less, he knew that the chances of defeating The Nightmare had risen. Even though he was a subcommander in the raid group, that was still something he didn¡¯t feel safe doing with Gimble and the others, not when Liana¡¯s husband¡¯s life might be at risk. Fortunately, fighting The Nightmare wasn¡¯t something on Gimble¡¯s agenda. Like the C Grade dragon Xavier wished to go after, apparently The Nightmare was on another level completely to the C Grade beasts they¡¯d been coming up against. Gimble didn¡¯t want to risk a fight like that. Xavier contemplated heading back to Hunter¡¯s Home. He was still E Grade, at the absolute peak of E Grade, and he was 99.99 percent sure that he was the most powerful E Grade that had ever lived. Were there other things that he could accomplish in this state? Were there things he needed to do, before pushing onward to the next rank, that he had been neglecting? The last thing he wanted to do was move too fast and miss something¡­ But then, he didn¡¯t want to second guess himself, either. He vividly remembered the second version of himself that had gone up against the Fetid Forest Troll. That version of him had been far too cautious and timid. He had been second guessing himself the entire time during the fight, after seeing himself get killed. And not just seeing it. He¡¯d felt the pain of that death as though it were happening to him. Xavier shuddered just thinking about it. Being in that frame of mind, having that lack of confidence, it was what had gotten that second version of him killed, as much as it had been the Fetid Forest Troll. I¡¯ve pushed myself hard enough, done more than anyone could be expected to at this grade. Now, it¡¯s time for me to keep pushing forward. I can¡¯t keep putting this off forever. Xavier didn¡¯t return to Hunter¡¯s Home. He didn¡¯t want his advancement to happen there, with all the other people watching. He wanted to go somewhere where it would just be him. He knew that Gimble and his party would be waiting at the tavern to hear about what had happened with the Fetid Forest Troll, but the dwarf could wait¡ªin fact, he would probably appreciate the excuse to spend a little extra time in the tavern. Xavier supposed he could have returned to the Staging Room for this. That would have been the safest place for him to go through something like this, as he would be all alone, the System preventing anyone from being able to enter the same instance as himself. But he wasn¡¯t feeling worried about his safety. He had other ways of guaranteeing that. He walked a little ways deeper in the forest, journeying through the territory that once belonged to the Fetid Forest Troll. Though sounds were now beginning to return to the forest, the place was absolutely deserted. After a little while of walking, following the trail the Fetid Forest Troll had left as it had made its way to face Xavier, he came upon a cave. The entrance and the ceiling within were large enough that the troll would have had no trouble walking through it, and indeed muddy footprints led inside the cave, ones large enough to have been made by the troll. Xavier walked inside what had once been the domain of a C Grade beast, wondering what he would find. All he was really looking for was a bit of seclusion, somewhere to activate his advancement to the next rank. The cave smelled wretched, and part of him regretted his decision to come through here. But it was easy enough for him to filter out the stimuli and ignore it. There was nothing special about the cave. There were no decorations on the walls. As he walked through a tunnel, he saw nothing of note¡ªuntil he came upon a large chamber. To one side of the chamber was a massive bed, with soiled linen. Xavier had imagined the troll would have slept on the ground, but apparently he was wrong. There wasn¡¯t much else in this place. In one corner was a stack of bones that had been picked clean, bite marks evident in them. There was a single, large wooden chair and a table. No books to be seen¡ªbut Xavier couldn¡¯t imagine the troll reading. None of that was interesting, but what was interesting was the chest at the back of the room. It looked a hell of a lot like the loot boxes that Champions received any time they finished a tower floor. Xavier had never seen a loot box be a reward for defeating a C Grade beast, and he¡¯d been a part of the raid group for a few weeks now. Gimble certainly hadn¡¯t mentioned loot boxes. But perhaps that was simply because this wasn¡¯t a loot box in the strictest sense¡ªit was simply a chest. Somewhere for the C Grade beast to keep its valuables. What does a troll think of as valuable? Xavier walked over to the chest a knelt in front of it. He undid the latch and levered it open on creaking hinges. Book 4: Chapter 76 - Advancing The inside of the chest was empty. Xavier almost slammed the lid back down like some petulant child who didn¡¯t get the same number of presents for his birthday as he had the last, when he realised something¡ªthis wasn¡¯t a normal chest. It was a storage device, much like the Storage Rings he wore on his fingers. The moment he¡¯d opened the chest he could feel the mental connection to it, and when he tried to put the chest into his own Storage Ring a notification appeared. You cannot place a dimensional storage device of this size into your Storage Ring. Xavier frowned. He tried to open the chest, but there was something blocking him. He knew that one could create safeguards to stop others from accessing Storage Rings, but he didn¡¯t know how to crack them. He would have to take this back to Hunter¡¯s Home and see if anyone there knew what to do. And if that didn¡¯t work, he could always take it back to the tower. He stood back up and sighed. He¡¯d been looking forward to seeing what kind of loot he would have gained from opening that, but at least he had something to look forward to after his advancement. Other than the new class, and possibly the new race¡­ He still had to choose one of those boons. He¡¯d been thinking about seeking advice from others back at Hunter¡¯s Home, after some reflection he decided it was best to make the decision without their help. He didn¡¯t want to reveal even more about himself to Felicia or Gimble. Otherworldly Communion would have to be enough to help him make the decision. Xavier tilted his head to one side as he considered that option again. The choice he was to make¡­ it was an incredibly personal one. Could someone else really help him make this decision? Or was he still being a little indecisive after what had happened to the different versions of himself? He thought of the three different boons he could choose from. First, he wondered why the System was even giving him a choice. He would have thought the System would have known which would be the best thing for him to do, and wouldn¡¯t the System want him to go with the most powerful path? Xavier considered that for a moment. Maybe the System hadn¡¯t chosen his path because all three choices had an equal potential to make him more powerful, and the most important thing for him was simply choosing his own path to power¡­ He withdrew a seat from his Storage Ring and sat down in the middle of the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s former bedchamber. He tapped his foot on the stone ground. Higher Value Race Upgrade, Higher Value Class Upgrade, or Permanent Attribute Boost. The third of the three choices attracted his attention. It was the most benign of them. More attributes were never a bad thing. Strong attributes were part of the reason he was so powerful in the first place. He considered that as an option, but it felt too¡­ well, boring. He¡¯d just gained a massive number of attributes from the three titles that he¡¯d gotten defeating the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. Yeah, he could always use more, but he would surely gain more other ways. He couldn¡¯t let the chance of the other two rewards slip from his fingers, so Xavier crossed the Permanent Attribute Boost option from the list. Higher Value Class Upgrade was clearly a good choice. If he wasn¡¯t an Otherworldly Reaper, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to summon the Spirit of Time, meaning he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do what he¡¯d just done. If he were able to get an even stronger class than whatever it was he was about to get, that would help him immensely in the years to come. He almost decided to go with that option when he stopped himself. The race upgrade seemed like the wild card. He didn¡¯t even really understand what that would entail. Right now, his race was considered that of a human, even if he was an altered human, on his status screen that¡¯s still what it said. He brought up the notification that he¡¯d gotten about the Racial Shift. You have activated a Racial Shift. You have embraced properties of other races into that of your own as a human. There are shifts happening under the surface of your being. If you continue walking down this path, there will be permanent consequences. One cannot walk backward on the path. So far, nothing had changed about this. It still that ¡°Human(?)¡± in his status window. He wondered if the change would initiate on its own after a while, or if it would happen when he advanced to D Grade. Something told him it would be the latter. Did he really want to become something else? The way he¡¯d been assimilating properties into himself like mad, not to mention embracing the bestial part of him that had emerged as a consequence, it certainly did seem as though he wished to become something other than human. A class upgrade wasn¡¯t permanent¡ªnot really. Each time he advanced to a new grade, he would be given the choice of a new class. But a race upgrade, that would change him on a fundamental level, in ways that he couldn¡¯t even currently imagine. Xavier let out a long sigh and stood from the chair. He was feeling restless. Part of him wished he could summon the Spirit of Time and go through what would happen if he chose the two different options and went through with his advancement. He paused, tilting his head to one side. Technically, he could do that. He would have to spend another six months waiting for the cooldown on summoning her to be up, but it was possible. Xavier drummed his fingers on the troll¡¯s table as he considered this option. Six months was a long time for him to wait to advance in rank¡ªand he thought he¡¯d waited long enough already¡ªeven if he was on a tower floor where time moved differently to that of his own universe. He shook his head. No. He didn¡¯t think it would be worth the wait. Yes, it would be amazing to see what the options would be ahead of time¡ªamazing to see where his choices brought him. But he couldn¡¯t do that for everything.Stolen novel; please report. The longer he spent away from Earth, the more likely the people there would be in danger. Eventually, he would need to keep moving through the Tower of Champion¡¯s floors so that he could return home and make his people stronger. Not to mention show the others in his sector that he could live up to the threats he¡¯d made. He smiled at that thought. By the time he made it back to Earth, if things continued to go as they were¡ªif he was truly able to defeat the C Grade dragon and claim that egg before he left this floor¡­ Well, something told him his power would be even closer to that of Empress Larona. The empress herself needed him. She¡¯d sent Sam to him for that very reason. There wasn¡¯t any way that she would be a threat to him because of that¡ªat least, none that he could see. He might very well return as the second most powerful Denizen in the entire sector, with no one there able to pose a threat to him at all, even if his planet was no longer restricted. Xavier leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands. The race upgrade was the one that was calling to him the most, because he didn¡¯t know what it would entail. It felt like the biggest risk, but also the risk with the largest potential reward. And Xavier had always been a risk taker¡ªhe wasn¡¯t about to stop taking risks now. Xavier chose his boon. You have chosen Higher Value Race Upgrade. When you advance to the next grade, your race will change to something more suited toward your abilities, creating a stronger vessel in which to house your power. You are not able to choose your race. Once a Racial Shift has been activated, the decision cannot be unmade. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier frowned. He was right. The Racial Shift that he¡¯d activated wouldn¡¯t happen until he advanced to the next grade. He supposed that made sense considering the question mark in his status hadn¡¯t appeared until he¡¯d made it to E Grade in the first place. I suppose it¡¯s time I finally activate this advancement. Xavier glanced around the cave. He strained his hearing, but it didn¡¯t sound as though any of the beasts that were moving back into the area of the forest that had once been claimed by the Fetid Forest Troll had returned. He was alone. Safe. But that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to take some precautions. He waited a little while longer. The cooldown on his Time Alteration spell had ended a little while ago, so he was able to cast the spell instantly. He made the time dilation field cover the entire cave. Inside, there would be no way that anyone could reach him, no matter how long the change took. The last time he¡¯d advanced through grades, it had been back when he¡¯d been facing the Lord of the Endless Horde. That Denizen, though cruel in the way that he had taken over much of his sector, had some honour in him. He¡¯d waited until Xavier had finished advancing to the next grade before commencing the fight. Ultimately, the lord¡¯s honour¡ªnot to mention his arrogance¡ªhad been the reason why Xavier had been able to defeat him. That wasn¡¯t a luxury Xavier imagined he would ever gain again in the future. With the time dilation field up, Xavier breathed a little easier. He always felt safest within his time dilation field. Even safer than he felt when being at Hunter¡¯s Home, even thought that was a Safe Zone. Xavier took a breath and willed the advancement to begin. Are you sure you wish to activate your advancement from F Grade to D Grade? If you have not prepared your body, mind, and cores appropriately, your attributes, spells, and skills might be damaged, or the transformation may cause your death. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the notification that appeared before him. It was more than a little absurd to think that he hadn¡¯t properly prepared his body, mind, and cores for this transformation. He was likely the most prepared any Denizen could ever be. Yes, Xavier willed, I¡¯m sure. Just as the last time he had activated an advancement, a bright light enveloped him, and Xavier lost all awareness of everything around where he sat. ~ Empress Larona floated in the blackness of space, where she could See everything. The future she¡¯d envisioned so long ago, the one she had been constantly working toward¡­ the threads of fate were becoming more solid, intertwining, forming into thick ropes, ones she hoped would never be cut. Something tugged at her consciousness. She was constantly keeping an eye on the one who had the potential to change everything for the Silver River sector¡ªthe one who had the potential to save it. The boy had advanced faster than she had thought possible. The threads of fate seemed to shift with every move that he made. The future she wished to come to pass she was almost certain of now, but there were other futures that she was becoming aware of. Other things to do with Xavier Collins. Things she never would have dreamed of, for she had never looked past the death of her own sector. How could she? That had been her obsession for so many years. But this¡­ Empress Larona was the most powerful Denizen in the entirety of her sector, but she knew that in the Greater Universe her powers didn¡¯t amount to much. She might be a True Progenitor, but she wasn¡¯t one of the Old Ones¡ªnot by a long shot. She hadn¡¯t been around long enough to accrue true power. Which was why she was so confounded by how powerful this child was becoming. She knew he would become strong enough to save them¡ªor, at least, that had always been her hope. He had always had the potential, before he¡¯d even been a twinkle in his father¡¯s eye. But something had shifted, a few floors ago, within the young Denizen. More threads had appeared, giving the boy millions of possible futures that she hadn¡¯t seen before. And in those futures, she saw much¡­ In some she saw heroism, in others she saw tyranny. Depending upon which path the man walked, he could become the saviour of their universe, or he could become something far, far worse¡­ Some of those futures filled her heart with more hope than it had ever held, while others¡­ they filled her with a dread that was beyond the dread she had felt for her own sector¡¯s future for so many years. And now, the futures had shifted once more. The young Denizen was already advancing to D Grade. ~ The man stood in the vast divide between sectors, upon a great ship that moved through the void of space. He was the most powerful man in his universe, the first True Progenitor to ever live. The oldest of the Old Ones. Travelling by ship was a slow way in which to move through the Greater Universe, but there was something nostalgic about it. Back in his day, before much of what was now commonplace had been established, this was one of the first ways in which Denizens had discovered to breach the divides. Though he was standing, he was deep in meditation. It had been a long while since he had left his tower. A long while since he¡¯d stepped back out into the universe. When there are no new things to experience, one loses the will to adventure. But that little anomaly he had observed defeat the Lord of the Endless Horde not long ago had changed. The Oldest One had sent his favourite descendant to the boy, to guide him and befriend him, and she had reported that he was no longer taking her advice. Now, he had observed that the boy was on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, and was activating his advancement to D Grade. The System had intervened, had pushed¡ªno, shoved¡ªthe boy forward through the tower of Champions in a way that he had never observed before. His hunch about this Xavier Collins¡ªthat he might one day become the Weapon of the System¡ªlooked as though it would pay off. And that was worthy of a meeting. But the Old One was in no rush. It would take a while for his ship to arrive in a sector on the far side of the universe. Leaving his own sector was a risk. There was a delicate balance in the universe, one where he was the ruler at the centre. If people discovered that he had left, even for a short period of a few hundred years, it had the potential of creating a power vacuum the likes of which had never been seen before. He opened his eyes and stepped over to the transparent force shield on the observation deck and looked out into the vast blackness, staring at a universe that for a long time he had known would one day come to an end¡ªan end he would do anything in his power to stop, for life was too important to ever give up, and immortality had been a right he¡¯d claimed early. By the time I reach him, how powerful will this child be? ~ Xavier found himself, not for the first time, floating in darkness. His surroundings were filled with¡­ nothing. And before him, a notification. Initiating advancement of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from E Grade to D Grade. Book 4: Chapter 77 - Error Initiating advancement of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from E Grade to D Grade. Denizen¡¯s attributes deemed as: ¡­ ¡­ Error. Attribute values higher than anticipated. Recalibrating advancement¡­ ¡­ Attribute values higher than limit. Xavier blinked, staring at the notification. What did it mean, that his attributes were higher than the limit? He hadn¡¯t even known there was a limit. Nothing had ever stopped him from gaining more attributes in the past. He shook his head in confusion, but mostly he was just feeling in awe. It made him wonder if anything like this had ever happened before. Advancement Interrupted. Title Unlocked! Strongest E Grade (Unmatched): You are the strongest E Grade who has ever lived in the entirety of the Greater Universe. The System has never encountered an advancement such as yours before. This is an unmatched title. You have received +500 attributes. What the hell? Xavier thought. Since when could someone attain a title while they were advancing? He stared at the title, still in awe. He supposed it made sense that he was the strongest E Grade, considering the other notification that he¡¯d just received. But actually getting a title for it? One that made him even stronger? Xavier couldn¡¯t help but smile. His anticipation for what would come next was through the roof. Reinitiating advancement to D Grade. ¡­ ¡­ Checking spells¡­ Denizen¡¯s spells deemed as: Highly Exceptional Checking skills¡­ Denizen¡¯s skills deemed as: Highly Exceptional Xavier smiled again. While he hadn¡¯t obtained the same result as when his attributes had been judged, he¡¯d known something like that wouldn¡¯t be possible when it came to his spells and skills. Unlike his attributes, there had been a hard limit on how strong he could make those spells and skills while still E Grade. He couldn¡¯t wait to push them further. If he was this powerful right now, with the ability to defeat a C Grade¡ªeven if he¡¯d had to observe alternate realities to do it¡ªthan how strong would he soon be? Soon, I¡¯ll be the most powerful Denizen to have ever set foot on this floor. Defeating that C Grade dragon to steal its egg and acquire a vessel of the spirit of the dragon Volkarin was looking more and more likely to become a reality in the near future. The last time he had advanced, his attributes had been deemed as ¡°Exceptional,¡± while his spells and skills had only been deemed as ¡°High.¡± He hadn¡¯t even known there was a ¡°Highly Exceptional¡± option. It was strange to think he hadn¡¯t met that for his attributes last time, but he was glad to see he¡¯d reached it for spells and skills this time around. Checking Spirit Core¡­ Denizen¡¯s Spirit Core deemed as: Highly Exceptional Checking Willpower Core¡­ Denizen¡¯s Willpower Core deemed as: Highly Exceptional Checking Speed Core Denizen¡¯s Speed Core deemed as: Highly Exceptional Xavier wondered if there was a way he could make his cores even more powerful than they already were. Highly Exceptional was an amazing outcome¡ªand a better one than he¡¯d gotten the last time he¡¯d advanced¡ªbut now that he knew there was something beyond that which could be achieved¡­ The standard he¡¯d set for himself had just been raised even higher. Advancement to D Grade initiated. Advancement cannot be interrupted. Prepare yourself. Xavier thought he was prepared for what came next. He¡¯d felt the pain of advancement. He¡¯d felt his body split apart at a molecular level. This was something he hadn¡¯t been looking forward to experiencing again, but something he would gladly put himself through considering what it meant. But the pain was even worse than it had been the last time he¡¯d done this. It hurt too much to scream. To even think. But he had been through this before, and even though the experience tore through his very being just as it had the last time¡ªand tore through his very consciousness¡ªhe felt parts of his mind coming to life even as it was being torn asunder.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. As his mind worked to grasp itself, to become whole, it was split apart again and again, a seemingly infinite number of times. But whenever his mind did become whole, it could sense¡­ something. A presence. He was being watched. But it wasn¡¯t one of those presences that he had felt in the past. It wasn¡¯t the Empress Larona watching over him, nor was it Adranial¡¯s ancestor¡ªno, this was¡­ Something more. If Xavier could feel fear in that moment, he would. But feelings weren¡¯t something he was conscious of. His mind was obliterated once more. And then slowly, it was stitched back together. His very being was being rebuilt, atom by atom, and an energy was surrounding him. If he could frown, he would, for his consciousness was quickly coming to terms with something¡ªthe presence that he had felt around him as he had put his mind back together himself¡­ it hadn¡¯t been the System. For he was feeling the presence of the System right now. He was feeling the energy¡ªthe System Energy¡ªenvelop and recreate him. But there was something else. Something he could no longer feel but knew was still there. Something behind the very System itself. And it reminded him of what he had learnt from the older version of himself¡ªthat the System had been created, and before it had existed, Spirit Energy, magic, all of it, had already been there. The System had just learnt how to harness and describe it. So what was this he had felt behind the System? What power had he sensed? All these thoughts swirled through his fractured mind as it was once more stitched back together, and Xavier felt a pain even more intense than what he had just been in takeover. A Racial Shift has been detected in XAVIER COLLINS. A boon identified as Higher Value Race Upgrade has been detected and utilised. This Racial Shift will affect your advancement. Advancement completion imminent. Xavier opened his eyes. He was lying on the cold ground of the cave chamber he¡¯d initiated the advancement within. His time dilation field was still active, something he was grateful for. He¡¯d known there would be a small risk of the spell deactivating while he was advancing to the next grade, but it had been a risk he¡¯d been willing to take. Xavier¡¯s mind, body, and soul were once more whole. He was no longer in even the smallest amount of pain. He stood up, and already he could feel the differences. The Racial Shift. He looked down and saw small changes in himself, ones that hadn¡¯t been there before. But he hadn¡¯t been changed as significantly as he¡¯d first expected. At least, if he had been, it wasn¡¯t yet clear. His skin was still tinged a slight silvery grey, but there was something else mixed in there as well, something he couldn¡¯t quite identify. His body moved more smoothly than it ever had, and he felt something in his back, around his shoulder blades¡ªtwo somethings, actually. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened in a flash. Whatever it was that he was feeling, it was much like the claws he was able to grow and retract. He could feel that there was a mechanism there. Activating that mechanism was the very first thing that he did. Something miraculous happened¡ªsomething that he had only dreamed might happen. Wings shot out on either side of him. They were as black as night, and looked like that of a bat, or a dragon. They were far larger than the wings Justin had gotten the first time he¡¯d used his Winged Flight spell. These looked to be fully formed, strong enough to carry him into the sky with ease, making his Aerial Combat skill and his Hover Dodge spell even more valuable assets than they already had been. ¡°I can fly!¡± he shouted aloud to the empty cave, inside his time dilation field, where not a soul would be able to hear him. He couldn¡¯t help but laugh aloud in pure delight at this development. And it wasn¡¯t a spell that gave him the ability to fly, either. Nor even a skill. This was something far more natural than that. This was a part of whatever he had now become. When he had briefly returned to the Staging Room in order to acquire beast parts he could use with his Assimilate Properties skill so he could bring it up to Rank 100, he¡¯d had this very thing in mind. He had assimilated the wings of several different beasts into him. One of those beasts had been a dragon, though dragon wings had been incredibly expensive, and the only reason he¡¯d been able to afford them at all was because he¡¯d cashed in some of the winnings of all those bets on himself that Felicia had made on his behalf. At the time, assimilating those beast parts into his body hadn¡¯t given him the desired effect. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d wasted his time and money doing it, wondering if he had been foolish to think it might be possible. He was very glad to find out that he had been wrong. As much as he wanted to exit the cave and experiment with the new body that he had acquired, he also wanted to go through the notifications before him¡ªa stream of them had appeared across his vision from the moment his advancement to D Grade had ended. And one of the things on his list of top priorities was to discover just what had changed about his race. Congratulations, XAVIER COLLINS. By advancing to D Grade, you have taken the next step of your journey on the path. You have received +500 to all stats! Your body, mind, and soul have been transformed and will now work more efficiently. Your skin has been hardened, your strength improved. Your mind has been enhanced, your thoughts cleared. Your soul has been tempered, your spirit emboldened. Your cores have become more robust. Your awareness of them increased. The transformation to D Grade has changed you at the very foundation of your being. Each step forward on the path of advancement not only increases your power and lifespan, but increases your potential within the Greater Universe. One cannot walk backward on the path. Title Unlocked! D Grade: This is a common title that everyone receives when they advance to E Grade. You have received +250 to all stats! Title unlocked! D Grade Progenitor: You are the first person from your world to advance to E Grade. You have received +500 to all stats! Title unlocked! D Grade Speedrun (Unmatched): You have reached D Grade faster than anyone in the Greater Universe, displaying a potential that has never been seen before. This is an unmatched title. The System is watching. You have received +35% to all stats. Congratulations, XAVIER COLLINS, a class upgrade is now available to you. You have 24 hours to make your choice. You will not gain any Mastery Points until you have upgraded your class. Would you like to see your options? Xavier paused before looking at his options. There was another notification, one about his Racial Shift, at the end of the list. He took a breath, then he read through it. You have activated a Racial Shift. Now that your advancement to a new grade has been completed, your race has been upgraded. During the transformation of your race, the System Boon ¡°Higher Value Race Upgrade¡± was applied, making the transformation even more powerful. The Racial Shift is based on many aspects of your power, as well as what you have assimilated into yourself. Assimilation alone, however, does not decide what your race will shift into. Your class has no bearing on your race. You have upgraded from the race of Altered Human to the race of Dragonkin. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but be a little taken aback. He didn¡¯t know what types of races there were out there, or how this transformation would work. If he were honest with himself, he had been worried that he would turn into some sort of monkey-rhinoceros hybrid, considering how many of their parts he had assimilated into himself. But, according to the notification, assimilated properties weren¡¯t the only things taken into account. He supposed there must be other ways in which Denizens changed their race. Dragonkin. That was curious. He wondered what it was about himself that had deemed such a transformation relevant to him. He couldn¡¯t think of what it might be. He had summoned a dragon, many times, into this world¡ªat least, the spirit of one, anyway. Could being in the presence of Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance, have had that strong of an effect on him? He didn¡¯t know, but he wasn¡¯t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He of course had no idea what being a Dragonkin amounted to, but considering it meant he was able to grow wings from his back¡­ he couldn¡¯t say that he was disappointed. Besides, his appearance had barely changed, so he didn¡¯t feel as though he was losing out on anything. Dragonkin¡­ Xavier looked forward to exploring what being this different race would mean to him. Before he chose his class, he figured it was about time he looked at his status sheet, to see just how much the titles he¡¯d gained, and the advancement he¡¯d just underwent, had changed him. Book 4: Chapter 78 - Soul of the Dragon Xavier opened his status sheet. XAVIER COLLINS Age: 24 Race: Dragonkin Grade: D Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth) Class: Otherworldly Reaper (Legendary) Level 200 Strength: 10,637 (41,484) [Attunement: 21%] Speed: 9,577 (43,097) [Attunement: 21%] Toughness: 10,279 (40,088) [Attunement: 21%] Intelligence: 11,391 (44,425) [Attunement: 21%] Willpower: 11,831 (57,972) [Attunement: 21%] Spirit: 12,670 (62,083) [Attunement: 21%] Mastery Points (D Grade) until next level: 0/1,000 Available Spirit Energy (D Grade): 62,573/62,573 Available Willpower Energy (D Grade): 50,070/50,070 Available Speed Energy (D Grade): 42,100/42,100 Available Skill Points: 0 Free stat points remaining: 0 Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, All 100, First All 100, 1,000 Stats, First to 1,000 Stats, Greater Butcher, All 1,000, First All 1,000, Level 100, First to level 100, E Grade, E Grade Progenitor, E Grade Speedrun (Unmatched), Destroyer of Hordes (Unmatched), Ahead of the Pack 2, Goliath Killer 2, Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone), Homeward Bound, First Dungeon of Earth, Dungeon Diver 110, Dungeon ¨C First Clears, Dungeon ¨C Solo Clears, Dungeon ¨C Record Clears, 10,000 Stats, First 10,000 Stats, All 10,000 Stats, First All 10,000, Nineteenth Floor Climber, Nineteenth Floor Ranked 1 ¨C RECORD HOLDER, Solo Tower Climber 19, 1st Nineteenth Floor Climber, One Grade Up ¨C Support, Two Grades Up ¨C Support, C Grade Killer, C Grade Demolisher, C Grade Destroyer, Strongest E Grade (Unmatched), D Grade, D Grade Progenitor, D Grade Speedrun (Unmatched) Spells List: Spiritual Trifecta ¨C Rank 100 Heavy Telekinesis ¨C Rank 100 Spirit Break (All) ¨C Rank 100 Spirit Infusion ¨C Rank 100 Soul Harvest ¨C Rank 100 Soul Strike (Ranged) ¨C Rank 100 Soul Block ¨C Rank 100 Soul Harden ¨C Rank 100 Willpower Infusion ¨C Rank 100 Core Burn ¨C Rank 100 Summon Otherworldly Spirit ¨C Rank 100 Otherworldly Communion ¨C Rank 100 Soul Shatter ¨C Rank 100 Soul Puppet ¨C Rank 100 Hover Dodge ¨C Rank 100 Enhanced Telekinetic Strike ¨C Rank 100 Time Alteration ¨C Rank 100 Time Prison ¨C Rank 100 Soul Sacrifice ¨C Rank 100 Skills List: Physical Resistance ¨C Rank 100 Magical Potency ¨C Rank 100 Magical Resistance ¨C Rank 100 Physical Damage ¨C Rank 100 Assimilate Properties ¨C Rank 100 Scythe-Staff Mastery ¨C Rank 100 Meditation ¨C Rank 100 Aura-Control ¨C Rank 100 Core Strength ¨C Rank 100 Cultivate Energy ¨C Rank 100 Identify ¨C Rank 100 Split Mind ¨C Rank 100 Evasion ¨C Rank 100 Aerial Combat ¨C Rank 100 Dismantle ¨C Rank 100 Red In Tooth And Claw ¨C Rank 100 Iron Grip ¨C Rank 100 Close Combat Fighting ¨C Rank 100The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Ritual ¨C Rank 100 Minor Spirit Coins: 500,542 Lesser Spirit Coins: 7,812 His mind was blown by the sheer number of attributes he possessed. Though he had just joined the rank of D Grade, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was already more powerful than the likes of Gimble, or at least Gimble¡¯s other party members. There were certainly things that he was capable of doing that none other in the raid group could. But he didn¡¯t know that he could take a hit like Gimble had been able to¡ªnot without spending a great deal of his resources, anyway. At least, he certainly hadn¡¯t been able to do that before he¡¯d advanced. But now¡­ he¡¯d come so far. All the skills he¡¯d ranked up to 100 had a significant effect on boosting his attributes. A ton of them were percentage based, which meant when he received titles like the ones he¡¯d just gotten¡ªfor being the first E Grade Denizen to defeat a C Grade Denizen solo and all the titles he¡¯d gained as he¡¯d advanced to D Grade¡­ looking at his attributes, somehow he had become roughly twice as strong in the past five levels. That¡¯s insane¡­ that¡¯s absolutely insane! He knew D Grades were significantly stronger than E Grades, but he hadn¡¯t ever imagined the extent of it¡­ Xavier tapped his foot on the hard ground as he stared at his race. Dragonkin. That was still coming as a shock to him. He looked to his left, then to his right, at the wings that had sprouted from his back. God, it might be vain, but he wished he had a mirror right now. A massive, full-length mirror, so he could gaze at the glory that was his new wings. He wondered what his wingspan was¡­ Things had changed drastically for him today. He felt so giddy and excited to see what classes would be available to him. Xavier released a breath. He only had twenty-four hours to make his decision. But, as he looked at the timer, not even a second had yet passed, despite the fact that minutes had gone by for him. My Time Alteration spell. The timer for this must be connected to the universe I¡¯m residing within, just like cooldowns are. That meant he had far more time to make this decision, though he doubted he would need very long. Whenever class choices had been put before him, he¡¯d never had much trouble deciding which he needed to choose. He doubted this would be any different. Xavier willed the notification with the different class choices to show up. In an instant, the selection list appeared in his vision. Otherworldly Reaper ¨C Legendary Class Master of Time ¨C Legendary Class Soul of the Dragon ¨C Legendary Class Temporal Soulweaver ¨C Mythic Class Wayfarer of the Infinite Path ¨C Mythic Class Xavier tilted his head to the side as he looked at the different class options. Like the last time he¡¯d done this, he had been given five classes to choose from. Unlike the last time, none of those classes were below Legendary. He supposed the System knew he wasn¡¯t about to downgrade. The names of the classes intrigued him. He wasn¡¯t surprised to see Otherworldly Reaper on there again. He might not be able to walk backward on the path, but he could keep walking the same path if he wished. His gaze couldn¡¯t help but fall to the bottom of the list, onto the two Mythic classes. He hadn¡¯t even known what the classes above Legendary were. It instantly made him wonder if there were any classes beyond even Mythic. He wanted to skip ahead and look at them, but he couldn¡¯t discard the possibility that one of the Legendary classes might have a path he was looking for. He looked at Otherworldly Reaper, to see if the class had changed. Otherworldly Reaper Class (Legendary): An Otherworldly Reaper is an ultra-rare class of versatile mage that focuses on magic of the spirit, mind, and will. They can be a long-range fighter, a close-range fighter, or a mix of both, and they wield a scythe-staff in battle¡ªa hybrid, melee/magical weapon. They can wear any armour they wish and have the ability to imbue Spirit Energy into their equipment to strengthen its qualities¡ªthough this lasts for a limited time. Otherworldly Reapers have the ability to harvest the souls of those they slay and can call upon those souls in moments of need. They also have the ability to call upon spirits from the Otherworld. The Otherworld is a land between universes. A land where the impossible dies. Little is known about this place by most Denizens of the Greater Universe. Attributes per level: +50 Strength, +50 Toughness, +50 speed, +75 Intelligence, +75 Willpower, +100 Spirit, +200 free stat points. Xavier frowned. It was the exact same class as he had right now, with the exact same description¡­ No, not the exact same description. This description had the attributes he would gain per level now that he was D Grade. And they were five times as many as he gained when he was E Grade! That was insane. He racked his brain, trying to think about how strong the D Grade enemies he¡¯d been facing had been and¡­ it didn¡¯t add up. Could they have truly been gaining this many attribute points per level? No. Of course they weren¡¯t gaining this many attributes per level. This is a legendary class, not a common, uncommon, rare, or even an epic class. It¡¯s stronger than all of those. Xavier gazed at the description, his attention mostly sitting down at the attributes he would gain. He could see why some people would want to remain with the same class¡ªto keep it static¡ªand he knew that this was already a powerful class. But he was hoping for something a little¡­ more. His spellset was unique. He¡¯d gained a lot of different abilities since the last time he¡¯d made this decision. Altering time, and his melee abilities¡­ they should be taken into account when it came to choosing his next class. He just hoped he would have a few good things to decide from. While Xavier didn¡¯t completely disregard the Otherworldly Reaper class¡ªit had served him pretty damned well so far, after all¡ªhe would feel disappointed if that was the one he ended up choosing. Xavier looked at the next class available. Master of Time Class (Legendary) This class it not simply for those who wish to alter time, but for those who wish to master time itself. They have the ability to manipulate time in powerful and unique ways. They can freeze a moment in time almost forever. This path is for those who are patient, for a Master of Time can spend eternity within a single moment. The strongest Masters of Time are able to alter the flow of history. This is primarily a support class with limited offensive capabilities. Attributes per level: +20 Toughness, +210 speed, +100 Intelligence, +50 Willpower, +20 Spirit, +200 free stat points. Xavier tilted his head to the side and sighed. While he loved his Time Alteration and Time Prison spells, he didn¡¯t want to put himself into a box and specialise. He was actually worried that choosing one of these classes¡ªeven the very class he still possessed¡ªmight make him lose some of the spells he had. That would cripple his effectiveness in battle. Xavier wasn¡¯t built for specialisation. That much was clear. He needed a class that would be more versatile¡ªone that would allow him to show off every aspect of what he had become. His long-raged mage spells, his close-range bestial attacks, his ability to alter time and to control the minds of others, not to mention his reaping of souls and summoning of spirits from the Otherworld. He wanted to hold onto everything. He just wasn¡¯t sure what would give him that option, and he didn¡¯t want to read too deep into the class names further down the list. Xavier pushed forward to the next class, scratching off Master of Time from his options. He would never choose a class with limited offensive capabilities, and he was hardly someone who would thrive as support. Soul of the Dragon Class (Legendary) Soul of the Dragons can be both long-range and close-range fighters, or a mixture of both. Soul of the Dragon is a Legendary class that allows a Dragonkin to summon different departed dragons to their cause. The souls of the dragons can manifest physically, outside of the Dragonkin, or they can inhabit the Dragonkin¡¯s body and enhance their physical and magical attributes while guiding their fighting styles and tactics. Dragonkin are innately connected to the dragons of old. Their blood is as one. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier tilted his head to the side, his eyes glazed over, eyebrows raised, as he read through the description for the Legendary Soul of the Dragon class. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever received a race-specific class before. Which he supposed made sense. Humans seemed to be pretty boring in that department. Dragonkin¡­ Ever since he¡¯d decided he needed instructors, he¡¯d been looking for them for everything. Liana had helped a great deal with his time magic, to the point where he¡¯d mastered the two spells of those he had. Rhaalir had helped him master¡ªas much as anyone could¡ªthe Otherworldly spells that he had access to, and had even helped him get another one of them, Soul Sacrifice, which was a hybrid Otherworldly/Reaper spell. Though Xavier wasn¡¯t about to choose the Soul of the Dragon class¡ªit really didn¡¯t sound like it would suit him at all, as it was highly specialised¡ªit did make him wonder if he would need to find someone of the dragonkin race to help him understand his new self better. There must be things about this class I don¡¯t know, and if all dragonkin have wings¡ªsomething I¡¯m not even sure about¡ªthey might be able to help me be better at aerial combat. Xavier ruminated on that for a little while before he brought up what the next available class was. The Temporal Soulweaver¡ªthe first of the two Mythic classes that were offered to him. Book 4: Chapter 79 - Wayfarer of the Infinite Path Temporal Soulweaver Class (Mythic): A Temporal Soulweaver is an incredibly rare Mythic class of versatile mage that focuses on soul, time, and summoning magic. They can be a long-range fighter, a close-range fighter, or a mix of both, and they wield a scythe-staff in battle¡ªa hybrid, melee/magical weapon. They can wear any armour they wish and have the ability to imbue Spirit Energy into their equipment to strengthen its qualities¡ªthough this lasts for a limited time. Temporal Soulweavers have the ability to harvest the souls of those they slay and can call upon those souls in moments of need. They also have the ability to call upon spirits from the Otherworld. Temporal Soulweavers also have the ability to manipulate time in powerful and unique ways. They can freeze a moment in time almost forever. The strongest Temporal Soulweavers are able to alter the flow of history. Attributes per level: +75 Strength, +75 Toughness, +100 speed, +100 Intelligence, +100 Willpower, +100 Spirit, +250 free stat points. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he read through the description. Temporal Soulweaver¡­ it combined three of the powerful paths that Xavier walked¡ªthat of soul/reaping magic, summoning from the spirits from the Otherworld, and even time magic, and the number of attributes it offered was absolutely incredible. It was hard to believe he would be able to gain that many attributes every time he levelled up. This was the most versatile class choice that he¡¯d ever had. Though, he had to keep in mind that there were some things it didn¡¯t strictly mention. Xavier had changed drastically recently. The bestial part of him that made him into an effective, unarmed melee fighter wasn¡¯t something he wished to leave behind. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be where he was right now if he didn¡¯t have that aspect of him. And now that he had activated his Racial Shift when advancing from E Grade to D Grade, changing his race from that of an Altered Human to that of a Dragonkin¡­ he felt as though he might need a class that could speak to that. At least my soul bound weapon will be versatile enough to be used as a scythe-staff, and imbued directly into my bones when fighting unarmed¡­ That was something he couldn¡¯t wait to get the hang of using. The moment he chose his class, he wished to get out there and train with both the new class, and the Lost Bone of a Dead God. I feel like I should come up with a better name for that weapon¡ªsomething I can nickname it¡­ Xavier tilted his head from one side to the other, still staring at the class description for Temporal Soulweaver. This class was amazing. Mythic. It was¡­ almost perfect. Almost. It made him even more excited to look at the final class he had to choose from. The class name was the most unique one he¡¯d ever encountered, and it had instantly piqued his interest when he¡¯d seen it. Xavier rubbed his hands together and selected the class to gain more information. Wayfarer of the Infinite Path Class (Mythic): The Wayfarer line of classes is one that opens possibilities. It is often a class that allows the user to walk multiple paths of power, meaning the Denizen is less restricted in what they are able to choose to do. The Wayfarer of the Infinite Path is one of the most sought-after class choices for the Wayfarer line, as it gives the user infinite choice. The Denizen who chooses this class can walk any path to power they wish. They will not be restricted in any way¡ªthey can wear whatever armour they wish, they can wield whatever weapon they wish. They will not lose spells or skills when choosing this path. However, the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path is not a class for the faint of heart. It requires someone willing to take risks. There are no guides to mastering this class, and as no skills or spells are restricted from being learnt, it can often create a mismatch of skillsets and spellsets that do not meld well together. Choose this class if you wish to make your own way in the Greater Universe. Attributes per level: +800 free stat points. Xavier blinked. He read over the description several times in quick succession. He felt as though he was missing something. Nowhere did the class even hint at what skills and spells he might be able to gain should he choose it. It mentioned no specialties whatsoever. What it did offer, however, was freedom. A freedom that felt daunting. No spells will be restricted, no weapons, nothing¡­ He could walk down any path of power he wished. While that sounded fantastic, it also sounded rather daunting. How was he supposed to know which path would be the best one for him? It wouldn¡¯t be accurate to say that Xavier had chosen his current path. Yes, he had picked the Soul Reaper class. And yes, he had chosen Otherworldly Reaper, too. And back at the start, he had chosen to be a Mage. But there were things that had happened to him without him ever realising they would. He had stumbled upon Assimilate Properties when he¡¯d reached an attribute threshold after being pin-cushioned with a bunch of arrows. Gaining that skill had been pure chance. He also hadn¡¯t known he would gain the Willpower Infusion spell. That had come out of nowhere for him when he¡¯d gained a new core¡ªthe same was true of his Time Alteration spell. He hadn¡¯t sought that out, it had simply been presented to him.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. This class would mean he would have to take a more active role in shaping his class. He had so many different specialities, he wasn¡¯t even sure where he could take it next. Maybe I don¡¯t need to know that. Maybe I just need to hone the arsenal that I already have. I¡¯m powerful enough as it is¡ªall I need to do is master the paths I¡¯m already on. It sounded simple enough. Looking at the class description, it did make him wonder how he was supposed to learn new skills and spells, especially if his class wasn¡¯t going to offer them to him. But despite all that, Xavier found himself grinning. This was the class that had the most possibilities. It was the one that would take him on the greatest adventure. And that was something he wanted. This class offers eight hundred attributes per level! That felt kind of insane, but looking at the other Mythic class, Temporal Soulweaver, he realised it offered the exact same number of points. It just felt like a lot more because they were all free stats. He would have to choose where to allocate each and every one of those attribute points. Something that felt at once daunting and liberating. If he were honest with himself, he¡¯d known from the moment he¡¯d first read the description that this would be the class for him. He didn¡¯t want to choose a narrow path. He didn¡¯t want to master one thing. He wanted to master several. Xavier selected the class. Are you sure you wish to choose WAYFARER OF THE INTINITE PATH (MYTHIC) as your class? One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier smiled once more. Usually, when he made a class choice such as this one, it would come up with a notification warning him that he might lose some spells or skills that weren¡¯t compatible with the new class. So far, that hadn¡¯t turned out to be a huge issue, but he knew that this time it would have. If he¡¯d chosen Temporal Soulweaver, he likely would have lost his Unarmed Combat skill, along with other skills associated with his bestial fighting. There was no such warning for this class. Without hesitation, Xavier willed his answer: Yes, I¡¯m sure. Class selection complete. Evaluating Class Upgrade of Denizen XAVIER COLLINS from OTHERWORLDY REAPER (LEGENDARY) to WAYFARER OF THE INTINITE PATH (MYTHIC). Checking compatibility of spells: All spells deemed as compatible. Checking compatibility of skills. All skills deemed as compatible. Class Upgrade Evaluation Complete. Commencing Class Upgrade! Xavier knew what was coming next. Pain. Immense pain. The first time he¡¯d experienced it, it had rendered him unconscious. The second time, he had taken it well, but it had still been a terrible experience. Xavier sat on a chair as the change happened. He curled his fingers into a fist and took the pain as it came. It hit him in one giant wave. His body wanted to shudder. His throat wanted to scream. His back wanted to spasm. He did not allow any of it. He didn¡¯t even close his eyes. Instead, he simply sat and waited until the pain was gone. When it was over, he released a breath. A notification appeared in his vision Congratulations, XAVIER COLLINS! You have upgraded your class from OTHERWORLDY REAPER (LEGENDARY) to WAYFARER OF THE INTINITE PATH (MYTHIC). You have 0 Spell Upgrades and 0 Skill Transfers pending. You have gained 2 Spell Credits. You have gained 5 Skill Points. Choose wisely. Xavier stood and stretched his arms up over his head. For a moment, he felt a little bit disappointed. Rhaalir, are you here? The elf-spirit appeared in an instant. In the flesh. The elf looked down at his transparent body and sighed. Well, in a manner of speaking. He stepped forward. You have chosen your class? Xavier knew the question was a formality. The spirit had access to his status screen. That was part of their deal. He was able to see everything about Xavier that Xavier could see about himself. Still, it was nicer when he asked. I did. I¡¯m curious, how many spells does one usually gain when becoming D Grade? Xavier asked. The last time he¡¯d chosen a new class he¡¯d gained four new spells. This time, he hadn¡¯t gained any, though he had been given two Spell Credits, which was something he¡¯d never encountered before. He assumed that meant that he would somehow be able to choose his own spells, which made sense for a class like Wayfarer of the Infinite Path. That depends on whether they lost any spells in the transfer. If not, perhaps two. Perhaps more. It also depends on whether it is a spell-heavy class. Some are not. Xavier frowned. Why so few? That wasn¡¯t the case for other advancements and class selections. A Denizen advancing to D Grade is already established in their class. They often already have a great manner of spells. Besides, this is not the only way one gains spells. Spell Quests often become open to people when they have chosen a new class. Perhaps that will happen to you soon. The elf tilted his head to the side. What class did you end up choosing, anyway? His eyes glazed over, then widened. Wayfarer of the Infinite Path¡­ Gods, Xavier, you chose that? Xavier supposed he could have consulted the elf before choosing his class. The man was there to guide him, after all. But he¡¯d wanted to make the decision on his own. Now, considering the elf¡¯s seemingly negative reaction, he wondered if he¡¯d indeed made the right decision¡­ But he only wondered that for fraction of a second. He knew he¡¯d made the choice that made the most sense for him. Besides, he wasn¡¯t about to start regretting his decisions. That way lay madness. Xavier frowned. Do you not approve, elf? It wouldn¡¯t be the first time the elf had shown disdain for a choice Xavier had made, though he¡¯d thought they¡¯d come a long way from that. Rhaalir blinked at him. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t approve¡­ human. It¡¯s just not what I would have expected. A Mythic class¡­ I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve ever heard of someone D Grade being able to choose a Mythic class at all, let alone the one you have. The Infinite Path¡­ it¡¯s so rare it¡¯s almost unheard of. If it¡¯s so rare, how did you hear about it? The ghost laughed. I know a great many things, Xavier Collins. I know things from multiple universes. I have lived for millions of years in the Otherworld alone, whereas you have been alive for what amounts to a blink of an eye. I have been summoned by beings so powerful they would be able to squash you like a bug, even as you are now. Right now, you are nothing compared with the most powerful beings that are out there, in this universe and others. You are a marvel, Xavier Collins, but you¡­ The elf trailed off, then narrowed his eyes at Xavier. Why do you have wings? His eyes glazed for a second time. Your race¡­ Dragonkin¡­ and your class. The elf sighed. I have no idea what to do with you. You still haven¡¯t mentioned where you learnt about the class. Rhaalir inclined his head. He looked down, then sat himself cross-legged on the cave ground. There are myths, whispered in quiet, faraway places. Places I¡¯ve only heard about in stories, of a time before the System¡­ Book 4: Chapter 80 - Humble Is a Strange Colour on You, Ray Xavier raised an eyebrow, staring at the elf-spirit as he spoke of a time before the System. The elf had caught his interest. He had heard a little bit about there being a time before the System¡ªand he¡¯d heard those very things from the older version of himself on one of the tower floors. Rhaalir did not look up at Xavier as he spoke. He¡¯d lost all his pompous, self-importance. He was hunched over where he sat on the chamber floor of the dead troll¡¯s former quarters, within the time dilation field Xavier still had raised, resting his hands on his knees. There were beings of great power before the System was born, or created¡ªthere is much debate as to how it came to pass. Those who lived before the System were powerful, but¡­ unique. They did not have classes as you and I have classes. They could walk any path they wished. I have heard of the Infinite Path, Xavier Collins, but only ever in reference to those who lived before, when the powers of the universe¡ªa universe distinct from our own¡ªwere raw and untamed by a governing System. Xavier listened intently. You¡¯re saying¡­ I am becoming more like them? Xavier frowned. That didn¡¯t sound right. The people who came before the System had created the System to bring about the one who would one day become the Weapon of the System and stop the universe from ending¡­ how could he do that if he walked the same path that they once walked? Shouldn¡¯t he do something markedly different to what they had once done? I do not know, Xavier. I am not sure if anyone truly knows what the people before the System were like. Their universe ended a long time ago, something I am sure you have come to learn. Xavier inclined his head. You have told me much about yourself. About what the System has instore for you. If this is a path that was presented to you, who am I to say anything about it? Humble is a strange colour on you, Ray. The elf glared at him. Please refrain from ever calling me Ray again. My name is Rhaalir El Vran Dan Sorensen. I have already shortened it for you, I am not going to barbarise too. Xavier held up his hands in a grin. Sorry, Rhaalir El Vran Dan Sorensen. I thought we were close. Never that close. The elf sighed. Regardless, I am not sure how I can instruct you on this path. On¡­ these paths. Wayfarer is a line of classes I¡¯m familiar with, but the class you chose¡­ it gives you a vast amount of freedom that is baffling to one such as I. To think you walk the path of Infinite Paths, just as those who came before did¡­ The elf trailed off, staring into nothingness. You don¡¯t need to help me with the class, Rhaalir, only with my Otherworld abilities. Rhaalir inclined his head. I have taught you all I can about the Otherworld abilities you currently possess. It may be that my time with you has come to an end. You have not chosen a class of the Otherworld line as I expected you to, and I am not sure what other contracts we could make that would benefit you. The elf-spirit rose from the ground. I must think on this. The elf disappeared, to wherever it went when it wasn¡¯t visible to Xavier. Xavier stood alone in the chamber once more, wondering about the consequences of what he¡¯d just learnt. The class that he¡¯d chosen had something to do with the power those who came before the System once possessed. It was a strange realisation, one he wasn¡¯t sure how to make sense of. God, he wished he could go back to the floor where he had met himself. Who else could he truly talk to about all of this? Though he knew the older version of himself had been rather tight-lipped about things. I could use Otherworldly Communion¡­ there must be some spirits from the otherworld who know about the time before the System. And even if they don¡¯t, surely they could give me some insights into the class I¡¯ve chosen. But this moment? That wasn¡¯t the time for such things. Xavier looked at his wings and grinned. He had wings! Not only that, but he was so much stronger than he had been when he had defeated the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. He had always been a force to be reckoned with, but now¡­ now he was D Grade. And with those titles¡­ He wished to know just how powerful he had become. Xavier deactivated the time dilation field where he had chosen his class. He grabbed the chest that he had gained from killing the Fetid Forest Troll, stared at if for a moment, then placed it back down where it was in the chamber. Xavier would come back for the loot box. It was frustrating that he wasn¡¯t able to put it in his Storage Ring, and he was interested in seeing what was inside. But he was more interested in seeing what he was capable of. Xavier retracted his wings as he walked through the tunnel that led out of the cave that the Fetid Forest Troll had until recently called home. The place still smelled of rotting troll, and Xavier hoped that meant no other beasts¡ªor even Champions¡ªwould come wandering in. He stepped outside. The sun was warm against his skin. The air was pleasingly fresh. He took a deep breath and noticed something strange. He could taste different things in the air. The scent of beasts. The fragrance from the trees. His sense of taste and smell had been amplified dramatically. His senses already improved as he became stronger and gained more attributes, but the change had never been as drastic as the one he was experiencing right now. He closed his eyes, focusing on the way the sun felt on his skin. Even that seemed different somehow. In fact, the more he focused on it now that he wasn¡¯t distracted by making his class choice, the more he realised how many things had changed¡­ Xavier was no longer human. He was dragonkin, and that had consequences he hadn¡¯t anticipated. His eyes widened as he thought of something. He pulled out some coffee¡ªstill fresh from when he¡¯d placed it into his Storage Ring¡ªand took a sip. If his tastebuds had changed, being no longer human, what if he didn¡¯t like coffee anymore? There was an explosion of flavour in his mouth, one more intense than he had ever experienced. ¡°God,¡± Xavier breathed. ¡°That tastes even better than it did before!¡± He stood there for a few moments, just looking out at the large, ancient trees that were no longer affected by the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s rot, and sipped his coffee.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This made him wonder what else was different about him. He could already feel that his body moved differently, but he¡¯d assumed that was a consequence of having gained so many attribute points in such a short period of time. This was something that Xavier had long become accustomed to. When he suddenly gained a lot of points in Speed or Strength, he had to adjust the way he moved else he¡¯d run too fast¡ªpotentially into a wall or tree¡ªor break things he didn¡¯t intend to break. The mug of coffee he held in his hand, for instance, he had to hold rather gingerly lest he crush the handle. But that was unusual for Xavier. The other things¡­ He expanded his wings outward. They made a pleasing slapping sound, almost like sails being unfurled on an old-style ship. He grinned at the noise. Now this was strange. The wings were completely different limbs, ones that he had never experienced before, but they felt natural to him¡ªas though they had always been there. He moved the wings around, felt the muscles inside of them tense. He turned around in a circle. He flapped them. Then he laughed, he couldn¡¯t help himself. He probably looked rather strange, doing this, but he didn¡¯t much care about how he looked. It also reminded him of the first time Justin had used his flight skill, the one that allowed him to grow wings. These are far from the wings of a duckling¡­ That thought made him think of his party. He¡¯d been on this floor for far, far longer than he¡¯d anticipated, and he couldn¡¯t help but miss the others. Despite how much time Xavier had spent here, not much time would have passed for his party. Especially since the majority of the time he¡¯d spent here had actually been within time dilation fields, so even less time had passed back in his own universe than it felt like should have. Xavier shook away thoughts of his party, and the thoughts of Earth, and the people there, that crept into his mind. Earth was important. Protecting it would always remain a goal for him. He felt the slightest tinge of guilt¡ªhe could have protected Earth for all time if he had taken up the offer from Adranial¡¯s ancestor. His arrogance had been the thing that had made him refuse the offer. Earth would never have been in peril¡ªit would have thrived. But that guilt quickly dissipated as he looked down at himself. This was where that choice of his had taken him. He would protect Earth. When the Silver River sector and other neighbouring sectors discovered just how strong he had become¡ªand was to become before he stepped off this floor¡ªthey would never even think to set foot on his planet. Xavier looked at his large, leathery black wings once more. It was time to take them for a test flight. He raised his chin and stared up at the sky through the tall branches, looking for a gap large enough for him¡ªand his new wings¡ªto slip through. Then he launched himself upward at a dramatic speed. ~ Alexic Kalcav sat inside his tent in the middle of the forest a few miles out from Collinsville. The tent had been provided by his employer, a B Grade ruler of several worlds back in his sector. Essentially, the tent worked as a makeshift Safe Zone in low-level wilds. On a planet like Earth? He would be able to put it down anywhere he pleased, and it would be powerful enough to stop any beast from getting through. There were only two beings he was aware of on this planet that would be able to break through it and get inside¡ªone of those beings was Guardian, the golem that protected Collinsville while Xavier was away. That thing was insanely strong. Far stronger than it had any right to be. It appeared as though it gained strength in concert with its owner, Xavier Collins. And Xavier Collins had been gaining an unprecedented amount of power as of late. Alexic¡¯s leg was shaking, bobbing up and down. He sat on a stool, leaning on a small, round table. He had plenty of food at his disposal¡ªenough to get him through several years, if he really needed to. With the other people in the tent with him, it would last significantly less than that. The tent was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. He had always been aware of this kind of technology. It worked in the same way as Storage Rings did. Even so, he always found it impressive. In one corner of the tent was the first person that he had kidnapped from Collinsville. He had brought her here in the night, getting past the guards on the wall with ease. Guardian had not seen him. The woman was the mother of one of Xavier Collins¡¯s party members¡ªJustin¡¯s mother. In another corner, he had the second person he¡¯d kidnapped¡ªHoward¡¯s wife. His master hadn¡¯t instructed him to kill Howard¡¯s children. Alexic had never partaken in the murder of children before. It wasn¡¯t as though he had enough scruples to stop him from doing something like that if the need ever arose, but the System looked down upon those who murdered beings who¡¯d yet to be integrated into the System, and it was under his master¡¯s honour code to avoid killing those under sixteen years of age if at all possible. The final captive was none other than Xavier¡¯s own mother. The woman was the most unpleasant person he had ever kidnapped, and was currently unconscious¡ªshe was much easier to handle that way. Alexic had the ability to create traps, ones that only he could deactivate. Each of his captives currently sat on one of those traps. If they tried to move away from them, the trap would activate, and as weak as these people were they would die instantly. Fortunately, none of them had the ability to teleport. Staring at his captives, his leg shaking uncontrollably, Alexic wondered how he had gotten to this stage of his life. When he had kidnapped the first victim, the Guardian golem had been less powerful than it was now. But something had happened, in the last minute. He¡¯d sensed a massive outpouring of power from over at Collinsville. For a split second he had thought it must be Xavier returning. But he had quickly discovered that wasn¡¯t the case. The aura had shot out, rippling past him, and he distinctly knew that power came from a construct. Guardian had become D Grade. Which meant¡­ Xavier Collins was now D Grade. The very person he had been ordered to send a message to. It didn¡¯t make sense that he had gained so much power so quickly. To become D Grade so soon after becoming E Grade¡­ It wasn¡¯t just unheard of, it was impossible! At least, it should have been impossible. Certainly no one on this side of the universe had ever done something like that, and from all that he knew¡­ It baffled his mind. When he had kidnapped each of these people, he¡¯d been tossing up between two plans. Now¡­ he didn¡¯t know if he would be able to get off this world alive. ¡°Guardian knows you are in there!¡± came a voice from outside. Alexic shot up to standing. His eyes widened. Sweat beaded on his brow, dripping down into his eyes. He stared at the tent¡¯s opening. Justin¡¯s mother and Howard¡¯s wife both perked up, the women staring at the tent flap just as he was. They had begged him to release them. He had ignored them. He could have hurt them, but he hadn¡¯t. Eventually, they had stopped speaking. A large shadow fell upon the tent. The golem had found him. How in the Greater Universe had it found him? Alexic had been terrified before he¡¯d known the thing could discover where he was hiding. He had thought he might still be able to get out of this alive¡­ ¡°Release the prisoners,¡± Guardian said. ¡°Guardian does not wish to make a mess, but if Guardian is required, Guardian would enjoy crushing your tiny body into powder.¡± Alexic¡¯s mouth had never felt more dry in his entire life. The golem¡¯s voice didn¡¯t sound particularly terrifying, even though its words were, yet Alexic knew how powerful the thing must be. Even before it had advanced to D Grade, he had realised its power. He had no doubt it would be able to crush his bones with ease. Just like Xavier Collins, the golem had been far more powerful than he had at first imagined. This is a very delicate situation. I can¡¯t simply surrender. I don¡¯t think that golem would bother sparing my life, not after what I¡¯ve done. Reasoning with a golem¡­ that would not be an easy feat. He was still shaking. Alexic was a little disappointed with how his body was reacting. He was a spy, an assassin. A rogue. He was many things, but he wasn¡¯t a coward. Yet his body was betraying him. There had been many times where his life had been at risk¡­ but none of those times had felt quite like this one. He had never miscalculated something so much before as he had this. I can¡¯t reason with the current leaders of Collinsville, either. They¡¯re only running the town until Xavier returns. I can¡¯t trust their word. They do not speak for him. Alexic swallowed. ¡°If you enter the tent, the captives will die.¡± He explained to the construct the traps that were in place. There was a pause. ¡°Guardian thinks you are bluffing. You will die too.¡± Alexic sighed. ¡°And if I surrender, you will let me live?¡± ¡°Guardian has not yet decided your fate. Guardian likes the idea of your bones being crushed for what you have done.¡± Alexic looked at the people he had kidnapped. He shut his eyes. ¡°I am contracted to kill these people. There is only one way that will not happen. I must speak with Xavier Collins on his return. Until then, the people inside of this tent will remain alive¡ªme included.¡± Another pause followed his words, then the golem spoke. ¡°Guardian is intrigued. Guardian does not think Xavier will take too kindly to what you have done here.¡± ¡°Unless the man can stop time, he will be forced to make a contract with me if he wishes these people to live,¡± Alexic said, sounding rather more confident than he felt. Whatever happened now, Alexic knew this was the last mission he would ever do for his B Grade master. Alexic wondered what would happen to this planet should he not return. His B Grade master had always been someone who held a grudge. If his message wasn¡¯t received, then he would only escalate. He would wish to get a stranglehold upon this Xavier Collins, and if he wasn¡¯t able to, then he would crush the True Progenitor in whatever way that he could. The end of book 4. Book 5: Chapter 1 - How Powerful Have I Become? Xavier soared through the air above the great forest of the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, his great black dragon wings pumping the air, keeping him afloat. From this vantage point, he could see almost everything. The forest looked unending, as it always had, but if he flew high enough, he could see its edges. The wind whipped his face, making his robes billow and flap. His senses were so strong and acute he could hear beasts running along the forest floor far below. A massive grin was plastered on his face as he spotted some prey. Xavier swooped toward the ground. He curled his wings around him to make himself fall faster. His enemy hadn¡¯t even spotted him yet. He was in the deepest parts of the forest, in places he¡¯d never tread before, and had just spotted a high-level D Grade enemy¡ªa beast on the brink of reaching C Grade. A wonderful enemy for him to test his new abilities on. He had never seen a beast such as this one before. Before he reached the ground, he used Identify. {Level 299 - Forest Dryad} Forest Dryads are beings at one with nature. They are a race of nymph¡ªan offshoot of elves¡ªthat live in wild woods. They can control the very roots beneath the ground inside the forest. Dryads are highly territorial. If you step into their domain, either bring an offering, or prepare yourself for a fight. Xavier reread the description the moment he¡¯d finished with it. This dryad¡­ it wasn¡¯t a beast, not like what he¡¯d been facing recently. It was a sapient being. But that did not make him falter, for here it was clearly his enemy. There was a dead Champion at the dryad¡¯s feet¡ªhe¡¯d smelled the man¡¯s blood from miles away. As he flew closer, Xavier recognised the Champion as someone that Xavier had seen back at the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern before, if only in passing. That made him all the more interested in this fight. Perhaps the fallen Champion had left something of worth behind¡ªor, maybe other members of the man¡¯s party might be at risk somewhere in the forest, though he couldn¡¯t hear them. They might all be dead. He could hear other dryads near the one he¡¯d spotted, but the gaps in the forest¡¯s canopy weren¡¯t wide enough for him to spot them. Either that, or they were adept at camouflage. Something told him it could easily be the latter explanation. These creatures were at one with nature, after all. The Forest Dryad didn¡¯t look exactly as Xavier had imagined it would. In his mind¡¯s eye, he might have thought it would be a beautiful woman with tree-like, bark skin¡ªand, as he could hear other dryads in the area, it could very well be that there were some that resembled that description. This Forest Dryad, however, was a sword-wielder, and distinctly male. He did have tree-like, dark skin that looked to be rather rough. He also had tree-trunk, muscular legs and a thick chest. The Forest Dryad¡ªmuch like the Fetid Forest Troll¡ªdidn¡¯t wear traditional armour. Instead, it looked as though the armour it wore had been grown onto it. As Xavier flew toward the large gap in the vast canopy and spotted other Forest Dryads nearby. He used Identify on them. They each bore identical descriptions to the first dryad, the only difference was in their level. They were still rather high level. Each of them was Level 250. Though the descriptions were the same, these dryads looked markedly different. There were five other dryads in the clearing. Two of them were bow-wielders, while the other three had staffs of different designs. Two of the staff-wielders were most definitely the traditional dryad that he¡¯d been anticipating seeing in the forest. They were slim and female, and had an ethereal look to them. The bow-wielders were male and strong, but more slender than their sword-wielding counterpart. The dryads spotted him before he reached the gap in the canopy. The sword-wielder¡¯s eyes narrowed as his gaze locked onto Xavier¡¯s flying form. The dryad barked an order to one of the other dryads. A staff glowed, and the gap in the canopy began to disappear, closing faster than Xavier could reach it. But it was only branches. That wasn¡¯t going to be enough to stop him. Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis on a wide area, breaking through, snapping the tree branches and the very trees they were attached to. There was a great cracking noise as the area he¡¯d targeted was absolutely flattened by his spell. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of what he¡¯d just done. He hadn¡¯t expected the spell to be so powerful. It was the first time he¡¯d used it since he¡¯d gained all those titles and advanced to D Grade. A smile split his face. He flew through the gap he¡¯d made in the trees and landed lightly on the ground. Every single one of the six dryads had been knocked to the ground, though they quickly made their way back to their feet. The felled trees parted for them, snaking out of the way.Stolen story; please report. The first of the dryads to make it to their feet was the Level 299 sword-wielder. The male Forest Dryad had a fierce, defiant look on his face, a rage boiling in his deep green eyes. Xavier spotted the body of the slain Champion he¡¯d seen. A man who looked no older than twenty, though could have been decades past that age. He wore the armour of a tank. His weapon, a warhammer, was still grasped tightly in his hand even in death. Several Storage Rings glinted on the man¡¯s fingers. There was no sight of his party. Xavier felt a slight tinge of shame that his first thought on seeing the corpse was that he would be able to loot it when this battle was done. That wasn¡¯t exactly the attitude he wanted to bring to the fallen, but it was the type of attitude the Greater Universe and its dangers had instilled in him, so the shame didn¡¯t last long. The sword-wielding Forest Dryad shouted a battle-cry and raised his sword. Xavier watched. He wanted to see how fast his enemy was. The dryad appeared to his left in an instant. A teleportation spell. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how it worked, but it left behind a pile of leaves where the dryad had just been standing, then the dryad had sprouted from the ground like an incredibly fast-growing weed. The dryad¡¯s sword came down, its trajectory toward Xavier¡¯s head. At the same time the other dryads had made it to their feet. Staves were whirled as spells were cast. Arrows were loosed as bowstrings were released. For a fraction of a second, it looked as though Xavier wasn¡¯t even going to move out of the way. Part of him wanted to see just how much damage he could take from these enemies, but it was foolish just to stand there and take hits from six different enemies at once. The fraction of a second passed. Xavier¡¯s wings moved instinctively, slapping away the arrows that flew toward him, diverting them. Schick, schick. The arrows slammed into the trunks of fallen trees. At the same time, he slapped the sword coming down at his head to the side with his reinforced, clawed hand. The muscular dryad¡¯s eyes widened briefly at the force he hadn¡¯t been expecting. There was a sharp pop as his shoulder suddenly came out of its socket. A soul apparition sprang to life, blocking the first of the three spells that came his way, absorbing all of the potential damage. Two more spells had been cast. Bolts of green energy that zig-zagged through the air. He felt the ground beneath him vibrate. The dirt beneath him stirred. Roots were writhing beneath the surface. He had a good idea of what those roots would attempt to do to him. They would latch him to where he stood if he let them. Xavier leapt backward, dodging the arcing bolts of green lightning with a fluid ease. They slammed harmlessly into the ground where he¡¯d just been standing. The roots, however, moved with him. They burst upward from the dirt and grasped one of his legs, curling around it and tightening. Xavier didn¡¯t bother trying to get out of the way. He simply swung his arm downward, his long claws slashing the roots in half. The roots¡¯ grip slackened, and he was able to dislodge his leg. He looked around at the six dryads. My turn. He burst forward. As he did, his wings moved. He hadn¡¯t expected that. His race had changed, turning him from an altered human to that of a dragonkin. With that change came muscle memory he wasn¡¯t familiar with. It was strange, how his body moved of its own volition. He could sense that he would move even more fluidly with practice. Once he gained control of the new ways that his body reacted. The flap of his wings as he strode forward gave him a massive burst of speed. He already moved faster than he¡¯d expected himself to, considering how much his Speed¡ªnot to mention every other one of his attributes¡ªhad improved. As he¡¯d moved so swiftly, he hadn¡¯t even had time to raise his claws. He slammed straight into the sword-wielding Forest Dryad with his shoulder. There was a crack as the force fractured the Forest Dryad¡¯s armour. The sword-wielder went flying backward and slammed into a faraway tree, breaking the tree on impact. Huh, Xavier thought. That worked out well enough. He turned his attention to the five ranged fighters. He could have taken all of them down without casting a single spell, but he¡¯d come here to test out more than just his melee proficiency. Xavier cast Soul Shatter on one of the Forest Dryads at the centre, one of the male bow-wielders. These dryads weren¡¯t as high level as the sword wielder, but it still came as a slight surprise as the dryad died the instant Xavier¡¯s spell hit. Shards of the dryad¡¯s soul shot out, digging into the now-dead dryad¡¯s comrades. They all cried out in pain. Xavier cast Core Burn on one of the female mages. She wasn¡¯t able to resist it¡ªhe didn¡¯t even need to soften her mind first. The spell took her over, making her cores go into overdrive, burning through all the energy she had stored in each of them until there was nothing left. She fell to the ground. The sword-wielder sprouted out of the dirt to Xavier¡¯s left, sword in mid-swing. Xavier dodged the strike easily and cast Telekinetic Enhanced Strike as he slashed toward the dryad¡¯s neck. The Forest Dryad¡¯s throat opened up. Blood shot from the wound. He clutched at it and made a strangled gurgling sound as he collapsed to the ground, his life pumping out of him as he writhed, sword falling from his hand. Another kill notification popped up in his vision. Three down, three to go. Xavier could see the expressions in the remaining three dryads shift. One bow-wielder and two mages remained. Before, they had looked defiant, ready to fight. Now, all he could see in them was an intense fear. He had slain the dryad that had clearly been their leader, and he wasn¡¯t any worse for wear. Xavier hadn¡¯t taken a single strike from these enemies. Xavier didn¡¯t even need to use Aura of Fear for these enemies to be afraid of him. They looked as though they wanted to run. Xavier, for a moment, thought about letting them. Then he glanced over at the dead Champion nearby. If that had been him, he would want someone to avenge his death. Xavier stepped forward. Something came forth, out of his arms. His soul bound weapon¡ªLost Bone of a Dead God¡ªwas reforming itself. It had been reinforcing his arms, hands, fingers. Now, it turned into a staff. Xavier cast Willpower Infusion. Purple mist shot from the weapon and went straight for his enemies. He targeted all three of them. Perhaps he was foolish to think he would be able to claim all three of their minds¡­ The mist seeped through nostrils, mouths, ears, before the dryads even had a chance to turn and run. Mental blocks snapped up, and he could feel the strength of them, but they weren¡¯t strong enough to resist his attack. Xavier clamped down. He broke through the mental barriers and took absolute control of the three dryads with an ease he hadn¡¯t anticipated. God, how powerful have I become? And is this just the beginning of my journey? He killed the three dryads as swiftly as he could. Book 5: Chapter 2 - Treasure? Xavier released a breath as he looked around at the six dryad corpses littering the ground of the clearing. He inhaled the fresh scent of blood. Something inside of him stirred, as it often did when he smelled blood. When he had been E Grade and had assimilated a great deal of beast properties into his body, it had given him a bloodlust he¡¯d never before experienced, one that made him want to drink the blood of his fallen enemies. Something had changed within him, turning him more beast-like. But whatever that something was¡­ it was no longer the same. It had changed when he had advanced from E Grade to D Grade and turned into a dragonkin. The thing that stirred within him was muted. There was a part of him that wished to drink the blood from the fallen, but that part of him was buried deep, deep inside. As though it were a primal, hidden part. Dragonkin had evolved past such desires, and Xavier found it was no longer something he needed to control. The first thing Xavier did was walk over to the corpse of the dead Champion and take off the man¡¯s Storage Rings. He had killed the six dryads with an ease that hadn¡¯t been possible the day before. He would have been able to defeat them before¡ªhe had just defeated a C Grade enemy while E Grade. These dryads wouldn¡¯t have been a match for him. But he hadn¡¯t needed to strain. He hadn¡¯t needed to use his most powerful spells. He hadn¡¯t used Time Prison or Time Alternation. He hadn¡¯t used Soul Strike or Summon Otherworldly Spirit. He hadn¡¯t even needed to use Soul Sacrifice to create a bridge to the Otherworld and have spirits burst through that bridge into the mortal realm and fight for him. Xavier considered turning the dryads into Soul Puppets but thought better of it. He had a lot of things he needed to do, and he wasn¡¯t going to linger around this part of the forest long enough to benefit from having minions. Xavier looked down at the staff that was in his hand. The fight hadn¡¯t garnered him a single Mastery Point, and that had been a choice he had made. Not because he didn¡¯t wish to gain any levels, but simply because he wished to make his soul bound weapon as powerful as possible as swiftly as he could. There were several notification from that battle that he hadn¡¯t looked at. He¡¯d been too enthralled in the fight to bother. He ignored the kill notifications and looked at the skill and spell rank notifications that had popped up. Telekinetic Enhanced Strike has taken a step forward on the path! Telekinetic Enhanced Strike is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Block has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Block is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Soul Shatter has taken a step forward on the path! Soul Shatter is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Willpower Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Willpower Infusion is now a Rank 101 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Evasion has reached Rank 101! Red In Tooth And Claw has reached Rank 101! Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 101! Xavier chuckled to himself. Those ranks had come more easily than he¡¯d expected, though he knew that wouldn¡¯t always be the case. Soon, the ranks he received from fights like this would dwindle. Unlike all the other times he had been fighting on this floor before this moment, he was finally fighting enemies of the exact same rank as him, even if they were many levels above his Level 200. No wonder they all went down so easily. There was another notification after all of the spell and rank notifications. Your Soul Bound weapon, Lost Bone of a Dead God, has advanced along its path. Lost Bone of a Dead God is now Level 35. Lost Bone of a Dead God¡¯s attributes have changed. +10 Strength is now +50 Strength. +10 Speed is now +50 Speed.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. +10 Intelligence is now +50 Intelligence. +10 Spirit is now +50 Spirit. Xavier tilted his head to the side. The weapon had gained thirty-five levels in a single encounter. That, too, he knew wouldn¡¯t always be the case. If he were honest, he thought it should have gained even more levels than that, considering it was an F Grade weapon, and he had been slaying D Grades. But, then again, he didn¡¯t really know how quickly soul bound weapons progressed. Perhaps it scaled differently when you were using one but weren¡¯t the same grade as it. He knew that attributes weren¡¯t the only thing about the weapon that had changed, as well. He could sense it. Xavier looked at the weapon in his hand. Right now it had the appearance of a staff. He tilted his head to the side and made it shift. It transformed, seeping into the skin of both his arms and reinforcing his forearm, hands, fingers, and claws just as it had before. Spikes formed at the back of his hand, and they were larger than they had been before the fight. The weapon had also transformed from Staff to Bone Reinforcement significantly faster than it had before. Xavier tilted his head to the side and looked down at his hands. He made the weapon transform back to Staff, then back to Bone Reinforcement. He couldn¡¯t help but smile at what he saw. One thing he had been worried about when it came to this weapon was just how slow it transformed from one thing to another. It still transformed far slower than he wished it too, of course, but now he knew for a fact that it would keep getting faster as he levelled it up. Xavier wondered just how much more powerful the weapon would become when it reached E Grade, and then D Grade. That made him wonder about something else, back on Earth. Guardian, the golem that protected Collinsville, advanced at the same rate that he did. That golem must have just become incredibly powerful for a planet like Earth after Xavier had advanced to D Grade. He wondered if the people in the town were aware of that. If Guardian knows, then the others will know. At least when time catches up, as it moves far faster here. Xavier looted the corpses of the dead dryads, but not the corpses themselves. Usually, he would take beast corpses into his Storage Ring, but Forest Dryads weren¡¯t beasts. They were Denizens, just as he was. They wouldn¡¯t even be a part of the Hunt Quests he could obtain on this floor. He didn¡¯t bury their bodies as a respectful gesture either, he simply left them to the forest, so it could reclaim them in time. He figured beings such as these would be partial to such a thing. Then Xavier made his way back to the cave of the Fetid Forest Troll, and grabbed the chest that he¡¯d found there. Thankfully, no one had taken it while he had been gone, testing his new abilities. On his way back to the cave he¡¯d killed as many different beasts as he could. Each of those kills brought more levels to his soul bound weapon. He gained a few skill and spell ranks too, but nowhere near as many as that first encounter with the dryads, as the beasts he fought were nowhere near as strong. Every D Grade enemy he fought on his way back to the cave succumbed to death in a single spell or strike. Xavier was grinning to himself as he contemplated his newfound power. He simply couldn¡¯t help himself. He¡¯d known he¡¯d become stronger, but just how strong, he was still finding out. These enemies he¡¯d just ploughed through with ease had been so powerful when he¡¯d first come to this floor. The System had pushed him forward in the Tower of Champions, jumping him straight to the one hundredth floor well before he was ready for it. At first, Xavier had thought the System had done it to humble him, because the threats he¡¯d encountered on the other floors weren¡¯t threats to him at all. The floors weren¡¯t a challenge for him anymore¡ªeven gaining the top title for the floors had become easy for him. The Voice of the System said he needed to be challenged, and challenged he was. Even the normal beasts he¡¯d encountered in the forest on this floor had been difficult for him to defeat. But they hadn¡¯t been difficult for very long. He¡¯d quickly advanced his abilities, found new ways to use the spells he already possessed, and became all the more powerful for it. But he wondered what it would be like the moment he stepped onto the next floor. He¡¯d done everything he needed to achieve for this floor quite some time ago. All he¡¯d needed to do was complete ten Hunt Quests. He had done far more than that, and he intended to do even more. By the time he left this floor he wanted to have killed the most powerful C Grade enemy on it. The dragon that protected its egg¡ªthe egg that he wished to take so he could use it as a vessel for Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. When he reached the next floor¡­ the Tower of Champions would, once more, pose little challenge to him. Xavier contemplated his power as he flew back to Hunter¡¯s Home, carrying the large chest from the troll¡¯s cave in his arms. He couldn¡¯t put the thing in his Storage Ring. Something about it being spatial storage prevented him from doing so. But he could carry it easily enough. It didn¡¯t take him long at all to reach the tavern. He retracted his wings before he pushed open the doors and stepped inside. Felicia was the first to see him enter. Her eyebrows shot up as she saw the wings tucked behind his back. Xavier knew that it wasn¡¯t completely unusual to see wings on a Denizen, but usually those wings came from some sort of spell. Xavier¡¯s wings did not. He could retract them straight into his back if he wished, but honestly, he wanted to show them off. Why wouldn¡¯t he? Felicia¡¯s shock wore off quickly, her expression returning to normal. Either that, or she had a good mask on. Other Champions in the tavern looked his way. A few of them stared. He was beginning to garner a bit of a reputation around here. When he¡¯d first arrived, he¡¯d been just another Champion stumbling onto the hundredth floor for the first time. But people quickly discovered he was here without a party. Felicia, the barkeep and the owner of this establishment, had running bets on most of the Champions who set foot in this place. She¡¯d had many on him. A solo Champion, especially one who had no former knowledge of the hundredth floor, made for interesting bets. The most recent of which was him going up against a C Grade enemy alone. And the fact that he¡¯d done it while he was E Grade? Well, he was sure someone would have let that little detail slip. Which was why, he was sure, that every single person in that tavern was surprised to see that he was alive. Every one of them, perhaps, except for Gimble. The dwarf sauntered up to him, a tankard of ale as large as his head gripped in one hand. He was shaking his head and laughing, his long beard swaying from side to side as he walked. ¡°Xavier Collins, you bastard, you¡¯re still alive? Did ya chicken out? And where in the Greater Universe did those damned wings come from, aye lad?¡± Xavier blinked, looking at the dwarf. ¡°I defeated the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°Did you expect me to lose?¡± Gimble stopped in his tracks. He looked Xavier up and down in a new light. ¡°To lose? No, I didn¡¯t expect that, lad, else I wouldn¡¯t have pointed ya toward it¡­¡± The dwarf shook his head again, this time in disbelief. ¡°I thought you had a chance, lad. But¡­ you actually defeated that thing? And before you advanced?¡± ¡°Always the tone of surprise,¡± Xavier muttered. He supposed he couldn¡¯t blame the dwarf for thinking there was a chance he could have lost. ¡°I guess that favour I owe you just got a lot more valuable.¡± ¡°Aye, lad. That it did. That it did.¡± Gimble was just staring at him now. Maybe the dwarf had believed he had a chance of winning, but that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t surprised by it. He nodded his head at the chest in Xavier¡¯s arms. ¡°What¡¯s that, then?¡± There was a glint in the dwarf¡¯s eyes. ¡°Treasure?¡± ¡°Indeed it is,¡± Xavier said with a smile. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know how to break into spatial storage boxes, would you?¡± Gimble threw back his head and laughed. ¡°Oh, I think I know a thing or two about that, lad.¡± He put his tankard of ale down on a nearby table¡ªbut not before bringing it to his lips and downing the whole thing in a series of large, loud gulps. The dwarf rubbed his hands together. ¡°Lemme have a look at that. Let¡¯s find out what¡¯s inside.¡± Book 5: Chapter 3 - Spell Credits Every single Denizen inside of the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern was staring at Xavier and Gimble, who stood by the entrance to the establishment. Xavier was still holding onto the large treasure chest he¡¯d found in the Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s bedchamber, the one he hadn¡¯t been able to gain access to. He was curious to know what a C Grade beast might find valuable enough to keep inside a locked spatial storage box. Gimble looked greedily at the treasure chest and opened his hands as though Xavier were going to hand it over without question. Xavier stepped back from the dwarf and raised an eyebrow. ¡°You really think I¡¯m just going to give this to you without some sort of contract in place?¡± Gimble¡¯s arms fell by his sides, and he looked a little crestfallen. ¡°Where¡¯s the trust, lad? I thought we¡¯d gotten to know each other rather well.¡± Xavier frowned at the dwarf, eyebrow still raised. ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t ask for a contract, were the roles reversed?¡± The dwarf ran a hand through his beard and glanced back at the other members of his party. ¡°Suppose you do know me well, lad.¡± The dwarf frowned, as though noticing the other Champions looking at them for the first time. He made a shooing motion with his arms. ¡°Mind your business, then!¡± Most of the Champions looked away the moment Gimbe had spoken. Xavier wasn¡¯t the only one with a reputation around here, and the dwarf had been here for far longer than he had. If Gimble were to be believed, the only Denizen who¡¯d been on this floor longer was the barkeep herself, who was a permanent fixture of the place, only taking short breaks from being behind the bar at nighttime. Xavier and Gimble signed yet another contract with one another. Gimble agreed to open the chest, and he didn¡¯t even have any demands, nor ask for payment. ¡°See, you can trust me, lad. I don¡¯t want to take your spoils, I¡¯m just curious as to what they are,¡± Gimble said. Xavier was sitting across from the dwarf at Gimble¡¯s table, with the other members of his party. ¡°Hmm,¡± Xavier replied. ¡°And this doesn¡¯t have anything to do with the fact that I¡¯m now an asset to you, does it?¡± Gimble inclined his head. ¡°Now you get it, lad.¡± ¡°Whatever spoils I find inside that box are liable to make me stronger, and considering the favour I owe you¡­ well, the better position I¡¯m in, the better position you¡¯ll be in.¡± ¡°You make it sound cold ¡®n¡¯ calculated.¡± Gimble peered at him, then winked. ¡°Which, I suppose, I am guilty of.¡± Xavier looked at the box, which was currently sitting in the middle of the table. ¡°How long will it take to unlock that thing?¡± The dwarf examined it for a long moment. At one point, his eyes glazed over and he ran a hand through his beard several times. ¡°Hmm. This is a higher grade of treasure chest than I¡¯m used to dealing with.¡± The dwarf¡¯s eyes became focused once more. ¡°Might be awhile.¡± He grinned. ¡°Why are you smiling, then?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°Because crackin¡¯ this thing? Seems like it will be mighty fun.¡± Xavier shook his head. Though he¡¯d known the dwarf for a little while now, he couldn¡¯t say he always understood him. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. The dwarf frowned. ¡°What, you thought you¡¯d be able to unlock the secrets that lie within this thing right away, did you?¡± Gimble asked. Xavier shrugged. ¡°That is what I was hoping for.¡± He pushed himself off the table and stood. There were a number of other things he needed to do. Many things, even. For instance, he needed to train like a demon possessed. Not that he hadn¡¯t been already. There were C Grade enemies in this place that he wished to face, and two of those enemies he wanted to defeat without the help of the raid group. One, because it had the potential of saving Liana¡¯s husband. And the second, because he might finally be able to bring Volkarin into this realm for good. Then, he¡¯d be able to get off this floor. As much as he¡¯d been enjoying his time here, he had to say he was eager for something new. Something more. There were so many floors of the tower that he had left to experience, but it wasn¡¯t just the tower floors he was eager to push to. He wanted to get back to Earth and travel to different worlds in his sector. He wanted to see how the other members of his party had been faring without him. He wanted to make sure that no one in the sector¡ªor those around it¡ªwere a threat to Earth. And there were other threats he needed to prepare for, not just fighting these C Grades. There was something terrible heading toward the Silver River sector. Something that would wipe it out completely if he wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop that from happening. The end is coming, Xavier thought. And I need to be ready to stop it. There was no way that he would simply abandon his sector after he had spent so long trying to protect Earth. He wouldn¡¯t be able to evacuate the entire planet, either. It was true that he and those he cared about would likely find a way to get out of the sector, but that would leave billions of people behind to die. And that wasn¡¯t something Xavier was ever going to let happen. He stepped over to the board. The rewards that he gained from a Hunt Quest were simply too good for him to ignore. Now that he was D Grade, facing enemies that were the same grade as him, he would need to kill enemies even faster than he¡¯d already been doing if he was going to have any hope of actually gaining further levels in this place. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but have his gaze fall on the C Grade beasts on the board. There hadn¡¯t been a Hunt Quest for the C Grade beast he¡¯d just destroyed¡ªnot every beast on the floor was categorised. If there had been a Hunt Quest for the Fetid Forest Troll, then a team of Champions would have likely killed the thing much earlier than he had. He had to thank Gimble for letting the thing live when the dwarf had originally come across it.Stolen novel; please report. He tapped his foot on the hard wood of the tavern floor. As always, whenever he stood there, he couldn¡¯t help but stare at the notices for both The Nightmare and the C Grade dragon. Those were the enemies he truly wished to go after. But he wasn¡¯t ready. Instead, he took a notice for what seemed like a fairly straightforward Hunt Quest, then he stepped over to the bar and ordered some coffee. No matter what was going on, he tried to remember there was always time for coffee. He sat at the stool. Felicia stared at him from the other side of the bar. Her gaze went to the wings at his back. ¡°What the hell, Xavier? Where did those wings come from?¡± Felicia asked. She leant forward on the bar. ¡°Is it a new spell you gained?¡± Xavier grinned back at the woman. She placed his order on the bar before he¡¯d even made it. He wrapped his fingers around the warm ceramic and brought it to his lips, taking a sip. ¡°Always wanting to know my secrets. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d think you had an interest in me beyond that of a barkeep.¡± ¡°You know that I do. Everyone wants to bet on you¡ªeven though they used to bet against you. And now, after that C Grade you killed¡­¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a wonder you aren¡¯t dead by now.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°You changed your race, didn¡¯t you?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t confirm nor deny. He simply took another sip of his coffee. ¡°Holy System, you did change your race!¡± The barkeep shook her head. ¡°I knew I¡¯d seen some changes in you, but I never thought you would actually take the plunge.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± Xavier asked. ¡°And why is that?¡± ¡°Most people, when given the chance, remain what they are.¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just the nature of things. Though, of course, that isn¡¯t always the case. Still, there can be unforeseen consequences to changing one¡¯s race.¡± ¡°Unforeseen consequences?¡± Xavier raised an eyebrow. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Xavier! They¡¯re unforeseen!¡± Felicia sighed. ¡°Some races aren¡¯t exactly¡­ well-regarded in the Greater Universe. We all have warlike cultures, that¡¯s something that¡¯s difficult to avoid given how the System governs.¡± She looked up at the ceiling and made a gesture I didn¡¯t know how to describe, though it seemed like it might be either one of thanks, or one of warding. ¡°But there are races out there who are more brutal as a rule.¡± She narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down, then stared at his wings again. ¡°What exactly did you become?¡± Xavier could tell the woman already had an idea of what he was, but for whatever reason she didn¡¯t want to be the one to say it aloud. ¡°Dragonkin,¡± Xavier said. Felicia shut her eyes. ¡°Dragonkin. Of course.¡± She opened her eyes and stared at him with a serious expression. ¡°Dragonkin are one of the most feared races in the Greater Universe, and they don¡¯t often take kindly to other races becoming them.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t?¡± Xavier acted nonchalant, sipping his coffee, but he was intent on finding out more from the woman. She was often someone he could come to for information, but if he seemed too eager, she¡¯d likely wring something more out of him than what race he¡¯d changed to in exchange for what she knew. ¡°No, they don¡¯t. They have one of the most ancient cultures in the Greater Universe, much as humans do, but theirs¡­ it doesn¡¯t vary as much as human culture tends to.¡± Xavier wondered what a culture of dragonkin would be like. ¡°I was hoping I could find an instructor. Someone who could show me¡­ how to better use my body now that it¡¯s changed.¡± Liana scoffed. ¡°In all my years behind this bar I¡¯ve seen one party of dragonkin step into this place. They didn¡¯t take too kindly to, well, anyone.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I like your odds.¡± Xavier leant back and took on a thoughtful expression. This complicated matters. ¡°They¡¯re rare?¡± ¡°At least in this corner of the universe.¡± The woman motioned to the other Champions in the bar. ¡°Most people here are from the same, or neighbouring sectors. For all I know, there could be a version of this floor entirely comprised of dragonkin Champions.¡± She shuddered. ¡°Glad I¡¯m not looking after that one.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°Are they really that bad? Seems a little spiciest, making such claims about an entire race.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only telling you what I¡¯ve heard. Maybe it will be easy for you to find someone to help you in the ways of the dragonkin. I could easily be wrong,¡± Felicia replied, though the way she said the words made it sound like she didn¡¯t doubt the truth of what she¡¯d said one bit. Xavier hadn¡¯t come here to have a conversation with the barkeep, not really. He¡¯d wanted to see Gimble, grab another notice from the board, and poke into Liana¡¯s room to make sure she was still all right in her time dilation field. Other than that, he had things to do. One of those things was figuring out how his Spell Credits worked. He supposed the woman across from him might know, but before he asked, he simply focused on one of the two credits he¡¯d received when he¡¯d chosen his class. He was still a little miffed that he¡¯d only received two. He¡¯d been hoping to learn a bunch of new spells when he¡¯d chosen this class. It certainly offered him a hell of a lot of attribute points for each of his levels, but he wanted more than that. He¡¯d always gained a fair number of spells when choosing a new class¡­ Xavier sighed inwardly. He nodded to the barkeep and said his goodbyes, then he ducked through one of the doors in the tavern that led to the rooms this place held. He came upon Liana¡¯s and withdrew the key she¡¯d given him for the room from his Storage Ring and peeked inside. The woman lay on her bed, suspended in time, just as she¡¯d been the last time he¡¯d checked. She hadn¡¯t moved an inch. She would be like that for as long as it took for Xavier to defeat The Nightmare. Only then would he be able to drag her out of it. Today was not that day. Satisfied that she was okay, he left the tavern and leapt straight into the air, flying high above the trees until he found a secluded area in which to cast Time Alteration. He dropped down and focused on the Spell Credits he¡¯d yet to use. That was when a notification sprang up in his vision that he hadn¡¯t seen before. You have two Spell Credits to spend. Spell Credits are unique to only a few different classes in the Greater Universe. They allow a Denizen to choose from any approved spells available to them. There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen. You may choose from the following categories¡­ Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he saw countless different categories displayed before him. They didn¡¯t appear to be in any particularly easy to discern order. There were categories spreading from healing magic to holy magic, to necromantic magic and gravity magic. And so, so many more. He scrolled down the notification. Seeing so many different categories to choose from was honestly incredibly disorientating. He also wondered what the description had meant by ¡°There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen.¡± He seemed to be able to choose from anything. That¡¯s because of my class, Wayfarer of the Infinite Path. No spells are barred from me. At least, that seemed to be the case. As he focused, he found that he could easily search for categories. Because of that, in front of him he was looking at ones that were familiar. Soul magic and reaper magic¡ªit was interesting to him that these were under two different categories¡ªas well as time magic and mind control magic. Xavier stared at the mind control magic category, wondering what other spells he might be able to access. Right now, he only had two spells pertaining to mind control: Willpower Infusion and Core Burn. He hadn¡¯t managed to gain any more of those, despite how often he¡¯d used Willpower Infusion. He also only had two time magic spells: Time Prison and Time Alteration. He tilted his head from one side to the other and thought there would be no harm in checking what different spells he could choose from in the mind control category. A notification displayed before his eyes. If you choose to look at the Mind Control Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Book 5: Chapter 4 - You Must Choose Xavier sat in a small clearing inside of a time dilation field, reading over a notification for a second time. If you choose to look at the Mind Control Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Xavier blinked. ¡°Huh.¡± He hadn¡¯t been expecting that. He supposed that¡¯s what it meant by there being limits. That certainly wasn¡¯t one of the limits he had been expecting. Choosing a spell might be more difficult than I thought. Xavier didn¡¯t decide to look at the mind control category of magic. He felt unsure of himself. He only had two of these Spell Credits, and he¡¯d much rather have a better idea of what type of spells he wanted to gain now that he could choose from literally anything. He distinctly remembered the class that he¡¯d chosen¡ªWayfarer of the Infinite Path¡ªsaying something about people choosing this path needing to be decisive. Xavier could be decisive. He wouldn¡¯t have gotten this far if he wasn¡¯t. But right now, he didn¡¯t feel like he was at all. There were so many spells that he could learn. So many different categories. When your choices were practically infinite, how was one to narrow them down? A whole host of options that he¡¯d never known he would have were spread out before him. He¡¯d hoped that the class he¡¯d chosen would allow him to learn any spell he wished, but he hadn¡¯t known it would be so¡­ immediate. I won¡¯t necessarily be able to learn any spell. There could be options that are locked out for me. I might need to progress in a certain category of magic before learning something more advanced¡­ The notification does say there are limits. That would make things even more difficult, especially since he only had two Spell Credits to work with. It made him wonder if there would be a way for him to gain more Spell Credits. Surely there would be? Right now, he didn¡¯t really feel sure about what he should do, or what kind of spell he needed. Perhaps he would simply need to push forward with his progression and become a stronger D Grade, then he could discover what kind of gaps he had in his arsenal. Perhaps he would want to learn a defensive spell, something from a tank class. Maybe he needed a self-healing spell, that a paladin might have. Then again, there was something that he had been missing. A while ago, he¡¯d had access to an ability called Soul Step. The ability had been an imbued ability, and as he no longer had the item that it came with, he could no longer use it. Soul Step had allowed him to teleport to any corpse that still had a soul remaining inside of it. It would consume the corpse¡¯s soul, and then he would appear where the body was. It had gotten him out of quite a few scrapes, and had generally been an amazing ability¡ªfor more than just combat purposes. He considered finding that spell in the soul or reaper magic categories, when he realised¡­ that might not be the best spell for him to gain. There were other teleportation abilities out there, ones that didn¡¯t need to be used in the same way as Soul Step. Ones that were more versatile. He¡¯d seen other Denizens use Shadow Step before, where they could teleport to wherever a shadow was. The sword-wielding Forest Dryad had just used a teleportation spell as well. Something told him that teleportation magic was rather common among all the different classes. All he needed to do was figure out what type of teleportation spell he wished to learn¡­ That sounded a little easier said than done. Xavier sat in contemplation for a good while before he began to meditate. When he meditated, insights often came to him. It wasn¡¯t something that he relied upon a lot lately, but it was still something he utilised¡ªsomething that helped him feel more sure about the actions that he made. The more he meditated, the more sure of his next path he became. It would be wise, he knew, to master some sort of teleportation magic, for his future. If he was to do what he needed to do, something told him he would need to move around not only his sector, but the entirety of the Greater Universe, with ease. Now, he could utilise portals for that¡­ but there might be other ways he hadn¡¯t considered. And, while that was a long game, he would benefit from having a teleportation ability immediately. He could one day branch off, develop stronger teleportation magic, to do what he would inevitably need to do. Especially if he were able to gain more Spell Credits. He ceased meditating and opened his eyes. Meditating would only get him so far. He focused on the Spell Credits again, bringing the list of different spell categories back up. He mentally willed the System to search through the different categories for him and come back with what was most relevant. Though in most magic styles, there was a way to teleport, he didn¡¯t want just any teleportation spell. He wanted to develop a whole new path of magic.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Two categories stuck out to him. Teleportation magic, and Portal magic. He stared at each of them for a long while. Teleportation magic felt like it was exactly what he was after. He¡¯d been hoping that a mage could specialise specifically in that. As far as he could tell, a mage could specialise in basically anything they wished. And now that he had his new mythic class, so could he¡ªwithin reason. Though it did make him wonder how a mage could specialise in teleportation magic and be an effective fighter. Were they simply support classes? Or did the teleportation line of magic have offensive attacks? Teleportation or Portal magic. Though portal magic hadn¡¯t even been on his radar, he couldn¡¯t help but think about how powerful that could be. If he were able to send his enemies through portals with a blast of his Heavy Telekinesis spell, reposition them on the battlefield¡­ he could have a level of control he¡¯d never possessed before. He could even mind control them to walk through the portals¡­ Xavier was sure that there would be a lot of varied, creative options he could play with. Especially if he were able to shut off the portals at will. And if he was able to rapidly create these portals, they might be able to serve the same teleportation function that he¡¯d been after. He released a sigh. This was one of those times when he wished he had a wizened old sage that he could speak to. Rhaalir had disappeared, after Xavier had advanced to D Grade and chosen the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class. Xavier had tried calling the elf spirit back, but he hadn¡¯t come. He still felt that the contract was intact, but the elf wasn¡¯t supposed to give him advice on things not pertaining to Otherworld magic¡ªnot that he hadn¡¯t before, but he tended to grumble while he did it. Still, Xavier hoped, considering how long the spirit had been around, he might know about these things as well. I¡¯m going to need to find a different source of information. He stood and started pacing around the inside of his time dilation field, wondering who it was that he should go to. Felicia was the obvious choice, though he¡¯d just left Hunter¡¯s Home. He could return to the Staging Room, freeze time, and look through the System Shop to find some general guides on the different categories of magic, and some specific ones about these categories. That sounded like it was something wise to do in general¡ªhe should study up on these things. But he¡¯d always found it was better to speak to an expert when you knew little about a field. He could bumble around and try to find what he was after on his own, but it would take a lot longer, and he might miss the things that were completely obvious to others. Xavier released a sigh. There was, of course, another option. He¡¯d yet to use the Otherworldly Communion spell since he¡¯d reached Level 200, so currently it wasn¡¯t in cooldown. There were a lot of things he wished to learn from the Otherworldly spirits in his communion with them, and he¡¯d been thinking to use this level¡¯s use for something else, but he could always divert the Mastery Points he was currently giving to his soul bound weapon back to him and reach Level 201 as swiftly as possible, thereby allowing the spell to cooldown faster than it would naturally. Xavier inclined his head in a nod to himself as he made his decision. It was also wise for him to use the Otherworldly Communion spell to gain information on things that he could take action on. That way, he could rank the spell up. Receiving more ranks in the spell had, fortunately, given it a shorter cooldown¡ªthough the cooldown still seemed to vary each time he used it. The level of the insight he gained seemed to change as well. It had more depth that it did before, and the spirits lingered longer. Xavier cast Otherworldly Communion. Colour bled from the world. All was grey. Time froze. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
  4. Greater Universe insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. He tilted his head to the side, looking curiously at the fourth option. Greater Universe insight hadn¡¯t been something that was available to him the last time he had used this spell, despite the fact that it had been the exact same rank at the time. He wondered why that was. Was it his advancing to D Grade that had changed the nature of the spell¡¯s insight, or was it because of how many more attributes he had? More attributes always made a spell more powerful, and this spell was mostly based off his Spirit attribute. He shook his head. It wasn¡¯t an option he was going to use right now, but he was glad that it would be available to him in the future. Xavier chose Personal Insight. As he did, he kept the nature of his question strong in his mind. The better he was able to do that, the more likely he was to get a spirit that would be able to tell him everything he needed to know. A bright, blinding light blossomed in the middle of the time dilation field. Xavier didn¡¯t so much as narrow his eyes. Usually, the light would sting. Usually, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see past it to the spirit that it summoned until that light dimmed. Today was different. His vision had changed dramatically. It was significantly more powerful. He was easily able to see the spirit that stood before him, well before the light dimmed, and the light didn¡¯t bother him at all. He wondered if that was all credited to becoming a D Grade Denizen, or if that was because his race had changed to that of a dragonkin. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as he caught sight of the spirit. He¡¯d been hoping to speak with an old, wizened sage about magic only moments before. The spirit standing before him was the oldest looking Denizen that he¡¯d ever seen. Considering the lifespan that Denizens had, and how powerful their bodies and minds became, Xavier didn¡¯t realise that they even aged as much as the person before him did. This man could have gained the System when he was much older, if he¡¯d originally grown up on an unintegrated world. But Xavier didn¡¯t think that was what had happened, as advancing altered the body enough to mask its natural age¡ªXavier¡¯s body, for instance, had changed plenty as he¡¯d advanced, and even though he was a few years older, he actually looked younger. If the man¡ªthe spirit¡ªwere a normal, unaltered human, Xavier would have put his age at between ninety and a hundred. Maybe even beyond that, if he were honest¡ªhe certainly had enough wrinkles. How old was this man when he died, to look as ancient as he does? The man was human. He had a long, white beard that was reminiscent of old wizards everywhere, at least in Earth media. Xavier couldn¡¯t decide whether he looked more like Dumbledore or Gandalf. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter. The spirit wielded a wooden staff that looked as though it had been through countless wars. It was chipped and scratched and battered and looked older than the man who held it. Xavier wondered how it could look like that, considering all the powerful weapons he¡¯d encountered had self-repair features. Book 5: Chapter 5 - Portals and Teleportation What insights do you wish to receive, young Denizen? Xavier had been expecting the voice that sounded in his mind to be croaky and strained, but this voice was nothing like that. It was strong and powerful, like that of a classically trained actor. Xavier stopped himself from asking the spirit to say, ¡°You shall not pass!¡± I wish to learn about two categories of magic. Teleportation magic, and Portal magic, Xavier replied. It was the same thought that he¡¯d kept in his mind, and he always wondered why the spirits wished him to repeat it. Though he did find it was wise to become more specific when he explained what he wished for, and so he continued. I want to branch out into a new path of power. Initially, I think I can benefit from better mobility on the battlefield. Ultimately, I wish the path of magic to help me better travel the Greater Universe. The wizened old spirit bowed his head. A wise wish for your future. Travel between worlds and sectors brings insight that one can rarely, if ever, find at home. Though I imagine you are aware of that, as a Champion making their way through the different tower floors. The wizened old man began pacing inside the time dilation field. Xavier might have expected him to use his staff as a walking stick, simply considering how damned old the man looked, but he didn¡¯t seem to need its aide. Just because he looks old, doesn¡¯t mean he isn¡¯t powerful. In fact, being this old probably means he¡¯s incredibly powerful. He also¡­ wasn¡¯t alive. Xavier wondered if the spirit had suffered ailments in life whether they would have followed him into death. If so, he didn¡¯t think that would be very fair. Both paths of magic will provide you with what you wish to achieve, the spirit said. Teleportation magic is the most purest of the two forms. It is most effective at moving the Denizen who wields the magic. Portal magic can help move yourself, your allies, or your enemies, but it lacks the same kind of speed as teleportation magic. Your movements will be telegraphed in a way that teleportation magic does not suffer from. Xavier considered what the man was saying for a moment. He couldn¡¯t help but remember the one time he¡¯d fought a foe that had the ability to create portals. The mage made portals for their allies to loose arrows through. Xavier had been able to feel when a portal opened simply in the way the air shifted, even if he didn¡¯t see the portal appear. He played a fight out in his mind. Whenever he used a portal to teleport somewhere, he would have to create the portal first. Even if he could do that incredibly fast, the wizened old spirit was right. His movements would most certainly be telegraphed. He tapped his foot on the ground as he contemplated the better option. As I develop these paths, which of them would be the better path for pure combat? The old spirit stopped pacing. He stared at Xavier for a long moment. His face became even more wrinkled as he frowned. I think you have walked the path long enough to know that power can be found in all magics. It is in the manner that you wield the magic, not the inherent power of the magic. Xavier sighed. Though he didn¡¯t disagree with the answer he¡¯d just been given, it was a conclusion he could have come to himself. This wasn¡¯t the type of specific information he¡¯d been after when he¡¯d cast Otherworldly Communion. But he supposed he couldn¡¯t have someone simply tell him what he needed to do, or which path was ¡°strongest.¡± He had the same dilemma when it came to choosing a boon. Xavier sensed that he still had time with the spirit, which was good, as he had more questions. He and the spirit spoke for a time about the two different paths. Xavier learnt of the spells that he might be able to choose from. In this instance, he was only looking for a single spell to use his Spell Credit on, but it was good to learn about what things he could have access to later down the track. Xavier had thought that of the two, portal magic could be the most versatile. He¡¯d imagined shoving enemies through the portals, stopping them before they were all the way through, then deactivating the portal so they were severed in half. The spirit told him that this would indeed be an option for his portal magic. But he also told him that when a teleportation mage became strong enough, they were able to teleport into solid matter and displace it. Xavier, for a moment, imagined what that might mean. He had an image of Neo in the Matrix jumping into Agent Smith and killing him from the inside. He didn¡¯t exactly fancy the idea of teleporting into an enemy, but it certainly sounded as though it could have a lot of potential as well¡­ Xavier started tapping his foot again, but stopped when he realised it annoyed the spirit he¡¯d been speaking to. For his short-term and long-term wish, teleportation magic was the best option. It would help him manoeuvre around the battlefield far better than he could at this stage. However¡­ Portal magic just seemed way cooler. He could fully admit that it had its downsides, and he could see that it might never be as purely fast as teleportation magic. And he wasn¡¯t choosing it simply because of the coolness factor¡ªeven if that was what was helping him sway toward it. He simply saw that the base portal spell he could choose had far more versatility than the base teleportation spell.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I could always come back and choose the other one in the future. If I find out a way to gain enough Spell Credits¡­ Xavier thanked the wizened old spirit that had appeared. The spirit bowed his head. Choose wisely, young Denizen. I see much in your future. May we meet again. The wizened old man disappeared. Colour swiftly returned to the world, and time began to move forward again. Though, as he still stood inside of his time dilation field, in a way it was still frozen for everyone but him. Xavier sat, cross-legged on the ground. He¡¯d made his decision. He focused on his Spell Credits once more and brought up the different categories of magic. He searched for the one he was after, then selected it. If you choose to look at the Portal Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Yes, Xavier willed, after reading the notification carefully once more. Suddenly, he could see dozens of different portal spells. There were more portal spells¡ªsubcategories of portal magic¡ªbut it looked as though he wasn¡¯t able to see what they were. The subcategories were greyed out. And they weren¡¯t the only things that were greyed out. The spells he could see were too. He frowned as he noticed that all but one of them was greyed out. This was exactly what he¡¯d been worried about. The Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class allowed him to walk any path of power he wished, but that didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t some restrictions. He focused on one of the greyed-out spells¡ªMass Portal. A notification appeared before him. You do not currently meet the prerequisites to learn this spell by using a Spell Credit. You must first learn Portal before you can select Mass Portal. Xavier tilted his head to the side. He wondered what the difference between the two spells was. They hadn¡¯t specifically talked about the Mass Portal spell. From speaking with the spirit, he¡¯d learnt that the basic portal spell could be manipulated by the user. It could be made to be large, like the portals the Endless Horde had come through back on the fifth floor, or they could be as small as the ones he¡¯d had arrows come at him through. The Mass Portal spell must be able to do something the normal one couldn¡¯t. Or, perhaps, it simply made it easier for the user to create large portals. Either way, he was more than a little frustrated that he couldn¡¯t simply pick any spell he wished. Though it was curious that the description said he couldn¡¯t use a Spell Credit to learn the spell. From the way it was worded, Xavier got the impression that there might be other ways for him to learn the spell, along with other greyed out spells. Perhaps he could gain Spell Quests, as Rhaalir had suggested might happen, that would allow him to learn spells that Spell Credits didn¡¯t initially give him access to. I suppose it would have been a little too easy if I could just go into a category and pick whatever spell I wished from all that existed. I¡¯d be able to pick something that only the most powerful Denizens in the entire Greater Universe had access to when they became A Grade or something. He released a contented sigh. There was no going back now. He¡¯d already selected this category, and there was only a single spell there that he was able to choose from. A thrill of excitement ran through him as he selected the spell. You have gained the spell: Portal Xavier let out a joyful laugh. It was nice to know he still took so much pleasure in learning new spells. There was just something amazing about having access to more magic that no other experience in his life thus far was able to match. Xavier basked in the feeling for a moment. This was the first new spell that he¡¯d gained since becoming D Grade, and it opened up a whole new path that he hadn¡¯t had available to him before. He opened up the spell¡¯s description. Portal ¨C Rank 1 The Portal spell allows the user to create a portal that can transfer matter from one place in space to another place in space. The distance at which this spell can reach varies depending on the power of the user and the rank of the spell itself. The user must have intimate knowledge of where both portals are being created. This spell has a single, varied path. The description wasn¡¯t very long, but he supposed it didn¡¯t need to be. It matched up with what the wizened old spirit had told him, and it had been what he¡¯d imagined. The wizened old spirit told him several things that the description of the spell didn¡¯t, however. First, the spell had a varied cooldown. The larger the portal Xavier made, the longer the cooldown would last. Or, if he were to make multiple portals at once¡ªsomething that he would be able to do as he grew in power with the spell¡ªthen that too would make the cooldown longer. The cooldown would also become longer the more distance he required of the portal. Fortunately, the cooldown wasn¡¯t locked to the usage of the spell. This meant that the instant he cast the portal spell, the cooldown would begin. He didn¡¯t need to deactivate the spell first. There were other limitations to the Portal spell as well. He could only create a portal to somewhere he had intimate knowledge of, as the description said. That meant that if he hadn¡¯t been somewhere before, or if he couldn¡¯t currently see the place, there would be no way for him to create a portal there¡ªat least, not with this particular spell. There were other ways to create portals. Items that could be bought at the System Shop, or rituals that could be performed. He realised now that it had been rituals the people back on the fifth floor of the Tower of Champions had performed to create the portals that allowed Queen Alastea¡¯s people to flee their world from the Endless Horde. But the wizened old spirit had informed him that there were spell that would help him see far-off distances. Ones that would enable him to throw his sight. He¡¯d been vaguely aware of these spells. His Farscope ability allowed him to do something similar, although the radius hadn¡¯t actually changed. Xavier contemplated using his Spell Credit to gain one of these sight spells, but thought better of it. There would be other times for him to do such things, and there might be other ways he could gain one of those spells. There could be other spells, too, other gaps in the way that he fought, that he would need to learn in the meantime¡ªespecially considering the enemies he wanted to go after on this floor. No, well before he considered what the next spell he wanted to use his final Spell Credit on was, he wanted to actually use the one he¡¯d just learnt. Xavier didn¡¯t deactivate the time dilation field yet. The first portal he wanted to create would only be a small one. Xavier paced around the inside of his time bubble. He imagined where he wished the portals to appear. When he cast the spell, it would create a portal anchored near him, and another portal somewhere else. According to the spirit he¡¯d summoned, the portals were two-way¡ªunlike the wormholes in that Stargate TV show. Definitely something to keep in mind. He cast his Portal spell for the first time. Book 5: Chapter 6 - Fun and Games Xavier grinned. He¡¯d just cast his Portal spell, and was testing it out. The portal he¡¯d created was smaller than he¡¯d expected. He hadn¡¯t held an intention in his mind¡ªsomething the spirit he¡¯d summoned with Otherworldly Communion had told him he would need to do if he wished to affect the size and shape of the portal. He had wanted to see what the spell would look like if he cast it naturally, without trying to alter it. The portal he¡¯d created was wider than his head¡ªabout the size of a large dinner plate. Certainly not large enough for him to step through it. The portal anchored to him was directly in front of him, while its twin was about twenty feet away. Both portals were inside his time dilation field. He did want to test what happened when he had one portal inside the time bubble and one outside, but he wasn¡¯t ready to try that yet. The portal itself was a shimmering purple. In his mind, he¡¯d been imagining it as blue. Probably because of all the sci-fi television he¡¯d watched growing up. The surface of the portal rippled and looked remarkably like water. That, he found, eerily strange. Xavier examined the portal. He couldn¡¯t feel a breeze coming through it, like the other mage-made portals he¡¯d had experience with in the past, but that was because he was standing in a time dilation field. The wind outside of it was too slow to affect the wind inside, so the air became still. He hesitated, for only a split-second, then he put his arm through it and watched as it came out the other side twenty feet away. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned.¡± Xavier chuckled at the sight of his hand. He waved over at himself. It was very disorientating. Certainly something he would need to get used to. When he¡¯d first saw the portal magic category, he¡¯d hoped that he would be able to see what was on the other side of the portal when he created one, as though it was like looking through a pane of glass at the other location. He was a little disappointed that wasn¡¯t possible. All the more reason to get some sort of far-sight ability. But I don¡¯t need one of those right now. Xavier pulled his hand back out through the portal and took a few things out of his Storage Ring. Then, he spent what was probably far too much time throwing things into the portal and watching as the came out of the other one, and vice versa. Things could only ever enter through one side of the portal, which he knew made perfect sense. The other side of the portals¡ªthe portals just hung in the air as he walked around them, held up by nothing but magic¡ªwas completely flat. He could clearly see this with his Farscope, but he liked looking at it with the naked eye. A few times, Xavier tested what happened when something touched the opposite side of the portal. He tossed an apple at it. It went straight through, as though the portal wasn¡¯t even there at all. Xavier contemplated what that would mean. If someone were shooting arrows, say, at his chest, he would need to ensure when he cast the Portal spell, that he created a portal facing in the right direction¡ªotherwise he would fail to redirect the arrow¡¯s flight, and casting the spell would be useless. Xavier tilted his head to the side, wondering about all the different applications he could use the portals for, especially as he grew in power with the spell. Considering how strong his Intelligence attribute was, the wizened old spirit had said he should be rather strong in the spell as it was, but that more applications of it would come as he experimented. That reminded him a lot of how the Time Alteration spell worked. Whenever he¡¯d learnt how to alter the size and shape of the time dilation field, or reverse the flow of time inside of it, or expand it on the fly, he¡¯d gained ranks with it. The Portal spell acted in a similar way. All he needed to do was experiment, and that was something he could have a bit of fun with. Once he had played with the first portal he¡¯d created for a while, he looked at the cooldown. Portal has a cooldown of 1 minute. It cannot be used for another 1 minute. Xavier sighed. Of course the cooldown on the spell hadn¡¯t moved. He deactivated the time dilation field and watched the countdown timer on the cooldown start to tick by. That¡¯s better. A minute cooldown was far too long for the types of applications he wanted to use this spell for. Considering how powerful his attributes were, it made him wonder just how long the cooldown of this spell would have been if he¡¯d gained it as a Level 1 Mage with only eight or ten points in Intelligence. Would it have taken an hour to cooldown? Longer? The wizened spirit had told him that the cooldown would change significantly not only as the spell¡¯s rank improved, but also as Xavier mastered the spell. At first, making the portal larger would be mentally taxing, and so the cooldown would take longer.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. As he grew in proficiency, casting the spell many times over, it would become easier and easier for him to use. Then, the cooldown would reduce. Xavier was curious about that. Even though he hadn¡¯t had another spell that worked quite like that, he was glad that this one did. He wanted to improve it as much as possible. A minute was a drastically long time for him in a fight these days and would likely mean for shorter encounters he¡¯d only get to use the spell a single time. And that just wasn¡¯t how he imagined things going. If I have access to basically any spell, maybe there are spells out there that can help with the cooldown of other spells. I already know that¡¯s an option with imbued abilities¡­ It certainly seemed like it would be a possibility. One that he would have to look into in the future. He ordered his mind, placing that thought somewhere he¡¯d be able to pull it back out later. As having one portal remaining active didn¡¯t affect his ability to cast the spell a second time, Xavier kept the first set of portals up. He wanted to see how long they would last. After some time inspecting his own mind, he found that he could feel that the portals were active. He could easily will them to shut down. He wondered if they would shut down instantly, or if there would be a delay. That was something he would test out later. As time passed, he felt a slight amount of mental effort at keeping the portal active. He also saw that as long as the portal remained active, it ate at his Spirit Energy. His Spirit Energy was incredibly robust, so it honestly didn¡¯t matter to him how much this spell used. Xavier cast the second set of portals. This time, he made sure to create a portal large enough that he could step through. If he wanted to use this spell to move around the battlefield more effectively, then he would have to be able to actually move through it. The casting of the spell definitely took more time than he wished, but that too, he knew, would diminish with practice. [Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a Rank 2 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier raised an eyebrow. That was fast. After casting Portal for a second time, another portal stood in front of him. It was large enough for him to step through, but it still felt a little small for his liking. The other, twin portal was roughly ten feet away this time. Xavier took a deep breath, as though he were about to plunge into deep waters¡ªa habit he knew he would have to dispense, as he couldn¡¯t very well telegraph the use of this spell even more¡ªthen he stepped through. He made sure to retract his wings into his back as he did so, just to make sure they wouldn¡¯t be clipped by the sides of the portal. I¡¯ll definitely have to make them bigger in the future. When he stepped out the other side, he felt a slight sense of disorientation. But it was nothing that he hadn¡¯t felt before whenever he was teleported somewhere by the System. This felt far better than being teleported, however, as he was the one in control of where the portals came out. It was a little bit like back on Earth, pre-integration¡ªwhenever he was a passenger in a car, he got a bit motion sick. But whenever he drove? That motion sickness was nowhere to be found. It was entirely different when you were the one in control. Xavier felt giddy as he stepped back through the portal again. He leapt from one to the other and laughed to himself. He was probably having far too much fun with this. But what was the harm in having a bit of fun? He was doing magic! Why shouldn¡¯t he enjoy it? He checked on the cooldown and frowned. Portal has a cooldown of 3 minutes. It cannot be used for another 2 minutes and 3 seconds. The cooldown was three times as long when he created a larger portal, but that cooldown had started before he¡¯d reached Rank 2 in the spell, and definitely before he¡¯d gained any proficiency with it. He would be able to shorten that cooldown significantly. Xavier practised and experimented with the spell for hours in that clearing. He lost count of the numbers of portals created. Small portals, large portals, massive portals¡ªones that only lasted for a split-second, as he didn¡¯t yet have the ability to properly cast them. He trained until the sun went down, then he trained some more. Eventually, as he trained, he activated Aura of Fear. He was sick of beasts wandering into his little clearing and attacking him without provocation. He couldn¡¯t train inside of his time dilation field either, otherwise the cooldown would never move. The Aura of Fear skill prevented any beasts from entering the area while it was activated. Xavier was impressed, though he doubted it would work on beasts that were truly powerful¡ªones that were actually strong enough to face him. He trained all through the night. When the sun rose on the seventh day since he¡¯d acquired the spell, its rays pouring over the great forest of the hundredth floor, he was starting to feel satisfied with his proficiency. Xavier was able to push the Portal spell incredibly far in a short period of time, something he knew was only possible because of his grade and attributes, and the guidance he¡¯d received from the spirit during his use of Otherworldly Communion. He¡¯d also learnt to incorporate his Split Mind skill into the training, which greatly helped him. As of that morning, his training with the spell consisted only of using it in that clearing, and only using it outside of combat. He had a lot of theories about how he could use it in combat, but he hadn¡¯t actually tested them out yet. He¡¯d been trying his utmost to reduce the cooldown on the spell so he could make it significantly more effective in battle. The spell wasn¡¯t all the way to Rank 100, and it certainly wasn¡¯t beyond that¡ªnow that he was D Grade, he would eventually be able to bring all of his spells and skills to Rank 150¡ªbut in those mere seven days that he¡¯d been training with it he¡¯d managed to get it all the way to Rank 75. That, he thought, was an incredible feat, considering it probably took years for Denizens starting with the spell to get it that far. At one point during his training, he¡¯d had to pause and go after the beast from the noticeboard. He needed to complete at least one Hunt Quest per week if he wished to remain on the hundredth floor. He¡¯d made quick work of the beast¡ªnot bothering to utilise his new spell¡ªthen returned to his practice. Now, it was time he ventured out and actually used the Portal spell on an enemy. Not just on one enemy. On lots of enemies. Xavier grinned. He figured he would make a game of testing out the new spell. There was a particular enemy that he had faced recently that he found more interesting than the others. The Forest Dryads. He leapt into the air, his wings flapping outward at his back, and soared over the great forest in search of their territory once more. This was going to be an interesting fight. Book 5: Chapter 7 - Now You’re Thinking With Portals Xavier swooped down through the forest, heading straight for the Forest Dryads he¡¯d spotted from high above in the air. Just like the first time he¡¯d done this, the Forest Dryads spotted him well before he made it down to them. Xavier wasn¡¯t exactly inconspicuous, flying through the air on massive, black wings. The whoosh of his wings was loud enough to be heard from quite a distance as well. But he wasn¡¯t attempting to be stealthy. Once more, they closed off the canopy, using their affinity with nature to control the very trees, the branches growing and intertwining, getting in his way. Xavier could have used Heavy Telekinesis for a second time and crushed those trees to make a way for him to fly through, but that wasn¡¯t how he wanted to do this. Unless he felt in any way threatened, Xavier was restricting the number of spells that he could use during this fight. To only one. The only spell that he was going to use against the Forest Dryads was his new Portal spell. He knew he could defeat all of the Forest Dryads¡ªif these were anything like the last six he¡¯d faced¡ªwith incredible ease. He could certainly destroy them with his melee abilities alone. And that¡¯s what he was going to do¡ªhe was just going to incorporate his melee abilities with that of his new spell. He¡¯d never done any of this in actual combat. He¡¯d only practiced it by himself back in that clearing. But he had a good idea of what he wanted to do. Still soaring through the air, Xavier cast Portal. As he¡¯d gotten a good look at the clearing below before the dryads had closed off the gap in the canopy, he now had an ¡°intimate knowledge¡± of the area in which he wanted the second portal to appear. This was something he¡¯d tested out a lot before coming here. Glancing at a spot he¡¯d never seen before, then turning around or closing his eyes and creating a portal in that spot. It required him to take a precise snapshot of the area and lock it in his memory, something he found was easy to do considering how powerful his mind had become. The portal anchored to him appeared about six feet in front of him and he flew straight threw it, curling his wings around him to become smaller and at the same time increase his speed. Xavier had learnt how to move that anchored portal farther and farther away from him. He could put it around twenty feet away from him, but so far no more than that. This, he knew, would help when it wasn¡¯t him that he wanted to put through the portal, or if he needed a bit of a run up¡ªor fly up?¡ªbefore reaching it. The secondary portal, he could put roughly as far as he could see¡ªmaybe a few miles more¡ªbut it was getting stronger with every rank he gained. Xavier appeared in the clearing. From the wide-eyed looks of the Forest Dryads he came upon, this move had definitely taken them by surprise. Xavier had intentionally created the portal so it would appear directly in front of one of the dryads he¡¯d spotted from above. So, as he came through it, he slammed straight into the dryad and they both went flying into a tree. There was a crunch as the dryad¡¯s bones broke, cushioning the impact for him. Xavier managed to push off the dryad and flipped over, extending his wings to gain better control in the air. He launched himself back to the clearing where the other dryads were, his wings increasing his speed dramatically, even though he was already incredibly fast. There were more dryads in this group than there had been in the last one that he¡¯d faced, something that took him a little by surprise. The last group of Forest Dryads he¡¯d faced¡ªone warrior, two archers, and three mages¡ªhad only been six. This group was double that. For a moment he considered if he should play this differently. It might be a little bit of a risk to restrict his spells. But it was only a small part of him that considered such a thing. The rest of him was excited at the prospect of an even greater challenge than he¡¯d first anticipated. There were several bow-wielders and mages in this group, and so many attacks were already coming at him as he flew back to the clearing. Xavier grinned. This was exactly what he wanted to test. The first portal he made was still in the middle of the clearing where he¡¯d left it. The instant he¡¯d made it, he¡¯d split his mind so that he could keep one part of him always ensuring the portal didn¡¯t close. He had enough mental capacity to handle that with ease. Xavier cast Portal a second time. As the wizened old spirit had said, the cooldown would reduce significantly as his proficiency in the spell grew along with its ranks. And that had definitely been the case. The second casting of the Portal spell of this fight had him create multiple portals. This was something he was still straining to get better at. It was one of the more difficult things he needed to master with this spell. He made three different sets of portals, and not only did he need to make sure he positioned the anchored portals in the right spots, he also needed to position their twin counterparts in the right locations too. The arrows and spells soared straight through the portals he¡¯d created, missing Xavier completely, ensuring that he didn¡¯t need to dodge the spells or use Soul Block¡ªnot that he would allow himself to use that spell right now. The connecting three portals appeared near his enemies. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how much damage these arrows and spells would do to the dryads themselves, but he was about to find out.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. He had one portal facing three different dryads. He¡¯d targeted three of the mages, as he knew that they would have the weakest Toughness out of the Denizens here. One of the mages managed to bring up some sort of defensive barrier. She reacted quicker than her kin. The other two mages were hit by the spells and arrows. One of them, an arrow slammed straight into his throat, while an arcing bolt of green lightning hit him directly in the stomach. He went down, hard, dying in an instant. A kill notification popped up in his vision, and that wasn¡¯t all. Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a Rank 76 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier grinned manically at the sight of the notification. That had been exactly what he¡¯d hoped for. The third of the mage¡¯s he¡¯d hit had been hurt, but not quite so severely as the second. Still, they were not long for this world. Xavier fanned his wings out so he stopped abruptly in the air. He¡¯d created the three portals that were anchored to him so that they would face the enemy, meaning he¡¯d been able to fly directly through them. Now, he paused on the other side, using his wings to allow him to hover. He turned and punched directly through one of the portals¡ªthe one that connected to the mage who¡¯d put up a defensive barrier¡ªand managed to claw through that barrier through sheer Strength and then grab the dryad by the forehead. This was about to get gruesome. He pulled her head through the small portal until her neck was at the opening. Her eyes had gone incredibly wide as she stared at him, for she knew what was about to happen next. Xavier killed the portals. The Forest Dryad¡¯s neck was severed, and all he was holding was her head. He dropped the head to the ground and flew directly upward. The cooldown after creating that many portals had been brought down since he¡¯d gotten better at the spell, but it was still about five seconds. While that was better than the shortest cooldown he¡¯d had when he first used the spell¡ªwhich had been a full minute¡ªit still wasn¡¯t quite where he wanted it to be. Xavier soared through the air, breaking branches as he flew. Vines were coming at him from every angle now. The Forest Dryads were trying to trap him. He felt of those vines try to lash onto his wings, but he was moving too fast and was able to shrug them off. He dodged the different spells and attacks at he made his way to the centre of the clearing. It didn¡¯t take him long to re-enter the fray. He landed on the ground. The portal in the centre of the clearing was still up. He grabbed one of the two sword-wielding Forest Dryads¡ªlike the last time, these were the most powerful of the group¡ªand tossed him straight through the centre portal. He heard the beginnings of a shout rip from the man¡¯s throat, then that sound suddenly was coming from high above, where the portal had originally been activated. Actually, it came from two places¡ªhe could hear it through the portal as well. It was an eerie echo. He doubted the fall would do much damage to someone at Level 299, but at least he got the dryad out of the clearing for a moment. Xavier grabbed another of the dryads¡ªthis time an archer¡ªand was about to toss him through the portal when vines wrapped around his legs. Even more than had the first time. The vines crawled up to his arms faster than Xavier could throw the dryad he held. Xavier grunted as the vines managed to lock him in place¡ªbut they only stopped him for a moment. He was strong enough to move, though he was much slower than he had been a moment ago. At the same time, the Portal spell reached the end of its cooldown. Which was good, because in the few moments that he¡¯d been in the middle of the clearing, he¡¯d already been hit by several arrows and spells. His wings had slapped a few of those arrows out of the way, but one had lodged itself in his thigh, while a bolt of arcing green lightning had hit him square in the chest. Xavier¡¯s mind was split into multiple parts, as it often was when he was fighting. One of those parts monitored his health. He may have been restricting this fight to only using the one spell, but if he got himself in any true danger, he could always change that. Your health is at 90%. Xavier blinked. He¡¯d taken two hits from D Grades, and his health was still at 90 percent? When he had first come here, enemies weaker than the ones he was currently facing had been able to take his health down by more than half in a single strike. Xavier had of course known he¡¯d come a long way since entering to the hundredth floor, but seeing it from that perspective¡­ it was eye opening. Though it did remind him that even though he was far, far more resistant to these enemies¡¯ attacks than he had been in the past, he still wasn¡¯t immune to them. They could hurt him, and if he let them get in enough hits, they would. Being locked in place by their vines certainly wasn¡¯t doing him any favours. Xavier had taken out two of the dryads so far, and displaced a third through a portal¡ªthough he knew it would only take a moment for the first of the two sword-wielding Forest Dryads to gain their bearings and teleport back to the glade where he fought. Actually, he thought the dryad would have returned faster than they had¡­ Then Xavier had a thought¡ªmaybe the teleportation spell the dryad used, the one that turned them into leaves and had them sprout from the ground, had limiting requirements like Xavier¡¯s old Soul Step ability had. The dryad might very well need to have their feet on the ground when they cast it. Xavier focused his mind and created several portals as another volley of attacks came his way. He still had his hands on the other sword-wielding dryad, who he¡¯d been about to toss through the first portal he¡¯d made during this fight, and the attacks came from either side of him with incredibly accuracy¡ªthere was no way they would hit the other dryad. He had to push his mind a little harder this time. He was making more portals than he had the last time. Last time he¡¯d made three sets of portals. This time he intended to make five. Three of those portals served the same purpose as the last time. To protect him from being struck by the long-ranged attacks. The fourth and fifth portal, however, served a different purpose. It took a surprising amount of concentration for him to create these portals while he was in the middle of battle, much more than it had needed when he¡¯d simply been training in the middle of a clearing all by himself. He needed to ensure that each portal appeared in the exact spot that he needed them to, facing the right direction. The portals sprang into life, their light illuminating the forest around him in a purple glow. Several arrows and spells sailed through the first three portals, not a single one of them hitting Xavier. They moved through their twin portals and slammed into one of the enemies¡ªthe sword-wielding Forest Dryad that he was holding fast in his hands. The dryad was struggling against Xavier¡¯s superior strength. Xavier held his neck in a death grip, squeezing as hard as he could, crushing the man¡¯s airways. Not that he needed to take constant breaths. He knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill this dryad. He should have struck with his claws, but the vines were making it difficult for him to move. He¡¯d normally be strong enough to rip himself away from these damned vines. For some reason, there was something that was making them stronger than they had been before. Maybe it was the fact that there were more spellcasters in this glade than there had been in the last one¡ªthey may have been combining their powers. That¡¯s what the last two portals were for. He¡¯d had to angle them perfectly if he¡¯d wanted this to work. Xavier had been practicing with these portals for days, but this wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d ever done before. He knew how to place the portals where he wanted, but he¡¯d never needed to be this precise before. It had put an even deeper strain on his concentration and make sure he knew he exact trajectory the arrows would go, and he couldn¡¯t be off by a hairsbreadth. Book 5: Chapter 8 - Deactivating Portals and Decapitating Heads Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a Rank 76 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier grinned. He hadn¡¯t expected to gain a rank up during this fight, but he was glad for it. He¡¯d been straining to place two of the five portals he¡¯d just created in the perfect spot, putting more focus on being precise than he ever had before. And it looks like that effort had paid off. He¡¯d known it would be a good idea to field test this ability. Arrows soared through those fourth and fifth portals. The twin portals were close by, less than a foot away. He held his breath as the arrows soared through and came out of the twin portals. They cut straight through the strongest of the vines wrapped around his body. This slackened the grip the vines had on him, and he was able to shrug them off. Xavier¡¯s instinct was to leap backward and spread his newfound dragonkin wings, but he stood his ground. The first thing that he did was release the Forest Dryad he had his hand on. The dryad was dead, a kill notification springing up in his vision to further prove that. He¡¯d died from a combination of his allies¡¯ attacks striking him and Xavier¡¯s hands wrapped around his neck, strangling the life out of him. Xavier stood his ground and gazed out at the remaining Forest Dryads. There were still a lot of them. From the twelve that had been here when he¡¯d arrived, nine still lived, and eight were still in the clearing. The shout that had come from above became louder as the first of the sword-wielders tumbled to the ground. He glanced up to get a look at the dryad, the one he¡¯d thought would teleport back but never did. The dryad didn¡¯t slam into the ground, however. Just as the branches had moved to try and stop Xavier from flying through the gap in the canopy, so did the branches move for this dryad. They grew and shifted so they could catch him where he fell, like a tightrope walker being caught by a net at the circus. Xavier returned his gaze to the enemies around him. Every single one of them was a long-ranged fighter. The last melee fighter, he was sure, would be back to the ground soon. But these archers and mages had fear in their eyes. Xavier didn¡¯t blame them. They¡¯d only landed two attacks on him since the beginning of the fight. Every other attack had either been dodged, or sent straight back, injuring or killing some of their number. The fear of him was paralysing them, and that was without Xavier needing to activate Aura of Fear. They didn¡¯t appear to know what to do anymore. Xavier was glad they were frozen like that. He knew it wouldn¡¯t last for long, but it was giving his Portal spell time to reach the end of its cooldown. He didn¡¯t cancel out the portals that were around him. If anything, they were like floating shields, protecting a part of him from future attacks. In theory, he could have created one big portal that would have sucked up every single one of the attacks coming his way, but if he wanted to precisely redirect the attacks, he needed to create several smaller portals to reach that end. Xavier tilted his head to the side and tried something as the seconds ticked down on his Portal spell. The cooldown this time around had been a few seconds longer than the last time, as he¡¯d created five portals instead of three, and had to use more concentration than before. Xavier focused on one of the portals in front of him. Something he¡¯d quickly learnt after first experimenting with the Portal spell was that he could sense where his portals were. Even with his eyes closed, or if they were out of range of his Farscope ability, their location in space glowed like a beacon on his mind. It was a rather remarkable sensation. He sensed when the portals sprang to life, and he sensed when they were deactivated. But he wondered if there was something else that portal mages were capable of¡ªsomething else he¡¯d yet to learn how to do. Could they move an active portal? If he had that ability, it would open up a whole other avenue of attack and defence¡­ It was thinking of these portals as floating shields that had given him this idea. Whenever he cast Spirit of Protection, he was able to use a spell that was usually only available to certain tank classes¡ªFloating Shield. This allowed him to move a shield in the air. Doing that same thing with a portal would be amazing. Xavier concentrated his mind to that task. He knew he didn¡¯t have much time to dawdle. He could have practiced this new possible technique somewhere else, but there was something about the pressure of being in battle that had always managed to make him stronger. It pushed him to the very limits of his ability far better than training on his own could. Training on his own could perhaps get him 80 percent of the way there. Training with someone else? More like 90 percent.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. But if he wanted to go all the way, he had to pressure test his abilities in real situations. That was something that he¡¯d discovered when he had first arrived on this floor, and it was something that he knew he needed to hold onto. So Xavier pushed, putting just about every ounce of his mental energy toward this one task¡ªmove the portal that he was focused on. The fear on the Forest Dryads¡¯ eyes was beginning to shift and change into anger and determination. Xavier had first wondered if the fear would make these people run, but it only seemed to strengthen their resolve. He heard a soft sound somewhere behind him, outside of the range of his Farscope ability, and realised it must have been the last remaining sword-wielding Forest Dryad finally making it back to the ground. There was still two seconds remaining before the cooldown on his Portal spell could be used again. Xavier pushed on one of the portals as hard as he could. The archers nocked arrows and pulled strings, the arrowheads taking on a green light. The mages raised staffs, the crystals at their head glowing with powerful energies. The sound of someone running came from behind him. The portal Xavier focused on didn¡¯t move. The arrows were loosed. The spells were cast. The footsteps grew nearer. Xavier pushed at the portal again. If he wasn¡¯t bearing so much concentration down upon it, he might not have seen the slightest of shudders in it. But he¡¯d seen it! It had moved! Though it had only moved by roughly a centimetre¡ªnot far enough to do him any good. An instant after the portal moved, it deactivated without him willing it to. This came as a shock to him. Xavier blinked, coming back to reality. He kicked off the ground, leaping and expanding his wings, swiftly making it into the air just as the attacks came his way. He heard the whoosh of several arrows and felt something slice through his boot and dig into his foot. His Farscope ability showed him exactly what that had been. The sword-wielder had managed to reach him in time to cut him. Xavier was in the air when the Portal spell reached the end of its cooldown. He knew he¡¯d been foolish to just stand there when he¡¯d been attacked from all sides, and wait to the very last moment to move, but that kind of time pressure had made him concentrate even harder than he knew he could. Combat brought something out in him that he didn¡¯t know how to harness outside of it. And he¡¯d moved the portal. That was significant. That was powerful. The moment he¡¯d done it, he¡¯d felt a massive drain on his Spirit Energy. Nothing he couldn¡¯t handle, but it was far more than simply maintaining the Portal spell would allow for. This was something more. Xavier was grinning broadly. In the last battle with the dryads he¡¯d had, he hadn¡¯t been hit once. In this battle, he¡¯d been hit three times. The thrill of the fight was exciting him, and the thrill of discovering new ways to use the spell he¡¯d been practising with for seven days straight was even more exciting. I should restrict myself in fights like this more often. Maybe there are other ways of using existing spells that I have that I¡¯ve never even considered before. While soaring through the air, Xavier felt like it was time to push this fight forward. He created a simple portal, one just large enough for him to fit through, and soared straight through it. He came out on the other side of the portal straight at one of the mages. It only took a single strike for him to take the mage down. The shock on the male dryad¡¯s face was palpable, but the mage didn¡¯t have a chance to scream before his throat was ripped out. The rest of the remaining dryads died swiftly after that. The Portal spell he¡¯d just used had a reduced cooldown to the last few times he¡¯d used it, as he¡¯d gained a rank in the spell and pushed his proficiency forward. A simple portal like that had the spell regenerate in less than a second. Notifications had popped up the moment he¡¯d made that portal shudder. The main part of his conscious mind had been too busy evading the attacks coming his way to read them, but another part of his mind had brought them up instantly. Portal has taken a step forward on the path! Portal is now a rank 77 spell. Portal is now a rank 78 spell. Portal is now a rank 79 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. He couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by that. He hadn¡¯t gained that many ranks in a row for the Portal spell since the first time he¡¯d started experimenting with it. Moving that portal, even by the tiniest amount, must have been a more significant feat than he¡¯d realised. That was why the cooldown had gone down so much. Xavier couldn¡¯t wipe the manic grin of his face as he soared through portal after portal, taking down his enemies. Sometimes he would create two portals and shove his hands through each one, yanking one Forest Dryad in each hand straight through and deactivating the portals to decapitate them at the exact same time, then he¡¯d toss the heads at the other dryads¡¯ feet. The first time he¡¯d done this there had only been four Forest Dryads remaining. The rage in their eyes deepened, but the fear was evident in them once more. Xavier was getting better and better at reading fear in his enemies, and that had improved significantly since he¡¯d made it to D Grade. He wondered if that had something to do with being dragonkin now. Something told him this race of beings would be very adept at not only reading fear, but creating it. This time, the dryads truly looked as though they wished to run. Xavier didn¡¯t let them. When the fight ended, Xavier had succeeded in what he¡¯d wished to do¡ªhe¡¯d only used a single spell. Portal. And because of that restriction, he¡¯d managed to bring it up all the way to Rank 80, something he hadn¡¯t thought would be possible in a single fight. Xavier looted the corpses and proceeded to prowl through the forest, looking for more Forest Dryads to test himself on. An idea was forming in his mind. Whenever he completed a Hunt Quest, he had different options to choose from. One of those options was Ability Acquisition. Sometimes, when he chose that option, it would reward him with a new spell. Though that was incredibly rare, only having happened to him twice. Other times, it would simply give him more ranks in whatever spells or skills he¡¯d utilised the most during a fight. If Xavier were to do what he¡¯d just done with the Forest Dryads, but instead do the same while fighting a Hunt Quest beast, then he¡¯d be able to push the rank of Portal up even faster than he already had. And if he were able to do the same not just against any Hunt Quest beast, but against a C Grade Hunt Quest beast, well¡­ then there was a chance he might be able to gain another portal magic spell without having to spend a Spell Credit to do so. God, he was going to miss this floor when he was done with it. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t wait to see what he was capable of when he finally left this place and moved forward. Book 5: Chapter 9 - The Wrong Kind of Attention Several months passed on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. And those weren¡¯t months that he spent trapped within one of his time dilation fields. There was only so much training that he could do while stuck inside one of those, especially when they stopped his spells from cooling down. Though there were a few things that his Time Alteration spell had been able to give him. If he only used his melee attacks, he was able to farm a massive number of enemies as fast as he possibly could. The problem with using that method, however, was it wasn¡¯t the way he wished to fight. It helped him on occasion when he was trying to push his skills forward, but without being able to use more than a single spell, it greatly reduced the rate at which he could push the ranks of his spells up. And pushing his spell ranks up was greatly important. Still, he had used the technique several times to boost the rank of his soul bound weapon, Lost Bone of a Dead God, and his own levels as well. He was finding that there was a massive difference levelling up as a D Grade than there had been as an E Grade of F Grade. It took significantly longer for him to gain levels. Significantly. He was also beginning to think that the System¡¯s hand was at play here. It wasn¡¯t the first time the System had nerfed his ability to gain Mastery Points. But gaining levels was important. The more levels he gained, the more attributes he had, and even though lingering in a grade and gaining as much from it as he could had been how he¡¯d gained not only such a powerful class, but also a powerful new race, it didn¡¯t matter how quickly he got to Level 300¡ªhe could simply remain there for as long as he needed to strengthen every other part of him. But Xavier quickly found out that it was a pipe dream to think that he could get anywhere close to reaching C Grade while he was on this floor. Not unless he wanted to spend many years of his life here. The last few months he¡¯d spent here since getting to D Grade had only gained him two levels, and that had been with him trying to gain as many as he possibly could, pushing himself to his very limits in farming enemy monsters. Something told him the System was trying to tell him to move forward¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t something Xavier was ready to do. There was more he wished to achieve on this floor. Fortunately, those months of training hadn¡¯t gone to waste. Though he¡¯d struggled to push his levels forward, he¡¯d had no trouble pushing his ranks forward¡ªboth in his skills and in his spells. That day, he was returning to Hunter¡¯s Home after a particularly long session out hunting beasts. He¡¯d just completed a Hunt Quest as well while he was out, and he was looking to collect his reward from the barkeep. Xavier had completed well over two hundred Hunt Quests, and he wondered if he¡¯d completed more Hunt Quests than any of the other people here by now¡ªexcepting Gimble, of course, as that mad dwarf had been on this floor for who knows how long. Gimble was in the tavern as Xavier entered. He looked over at the dwarf, and something occurred to him. It had occurred to him several times since he¡¯d reached D Grade. What if the System wasn¡¯t nerfing his Mastery Points as much as he thought? Xavier had gained a great deal in the incredibly short period of time since he¡¯d been integrated into the Greater Universe. The strongest Denizen in his entire sector was C Grade, and as far as he knew she¡¯d been around for at least a thousand years. Xavier was well aware of how impatient he was. Well aware of how quickly he wanted to amass power. And with the fact that he¡¯d gotten an unmatched, speedrun achievement for getting to E Grade and D Grade¡­ he was clearly able to do that. But his journey, despite how it had gone so far, was still going to be a long one. There was no way that he could expect to keep progressing at the same speed that he¡¯d maintained since being integrated. Gimble must have been here for¡­ decades, from the way that he spoke, and he was still not close to reaching C Grade. At least, not as far as he¡¯d let on. It might be a very long time until I get there, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t amass enough power to take stronger C Grades down¡ªI took a normal C Grade down before I even made it to D Grade, after all.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Gimble nodded over at him and raised his drink. Xavier had been on raids with the raid group several times since he¡¯d become D Grade, but he felt as though he¡¯d gained a lot more from the experience back when he¡¯d been E Grade, and so he¡¯d fallen back into his solitary training habits. None of the D Grades on this floor, not even Gimble, were able to keep up with him anymore. Xavier nodded back at Gimble, but he didn¡¯t head over to the dwarf¡¯s party. Instead, he headed to the bar. He was there to claim yet another Hunt Quest reward. Briefly, he thought of Rhaalir. The elf spirit from the Otherworld whom he¡¯d made a contract with. The one who had taught him how to better use his Otherworld spells. The spirit was still with him, but he rarely seemed to appear anymore. Sometimes, he didn¡¯t even respond when Xavier called to him. Xavier chalked that up to the fact that he hadn¡¯t been able to gain any more Otherworld spells as of late, so the elf had nothing much to teach him, but he was beginning to wonder if something else might be at work. Perhaps the connection they had was damaged somehow. He would need to look into that. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t able to use his Otherworldly Communion spell as much as he¡¯d liked anymore. It took him far longer to gain a level as a D Grade than it ever had in the past, so he¡¯d been limited to the actual cooldown that the spell had. The spell¡¯s cooldown often varied, but more often than not it took a month. He¡¯d needed to use those insights on other things. The floorboards creaked beneath Xavier¡¯s boots as he made his way to the bar. His great black wings were tugged tightly to his back, though not fully retracted, as he walked. It felt strange fully retracting his wings into his back, as though they were no longer a part of him, and so he was doing that less and less. Felicia had a steaming mug of coffee waiting for him by the time he reached the bar. The woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°You know, once upon a time you were a commodity. Someone people could bet on, and there was a little mystery as to what the outcome would be. At least for a little while. Now, betting on you isn¡¯t fun anymore. It¡¯s all dried up, except for a few new additions to the floor who haven¡¯t gotten to know your reputation. If I catch them early enough.¡± Xavier smirked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve affected your side business.¡± Felicia let out a dry laugh. ¡°You know it¡¯s not just my side business, you¡¯ve profited off this little venture too.¡± Felicia had long been making bets on his behalf, since the first time Xavier had entered this floor and gone on a Hunt Quest. And the woman was right, he had made a good deal of coin from the arrangement. But making coin wasn¡¯t something he was all that concerned about. ¡°I¡¯m here to redeem another Hunt Quest.¡± Felicia sighed. ¡°Of course you are.¡± She tilted her head to the side, looked over at the notice board. ¡°So, when are you going to go after them?¡± He raised his head and looked into her eyes. ¡°After them?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Felicia eyed him. ¡°You think I don¡¯t see the way you stare at those two Hunt Quests tacked to the board. Every time you come in here, you stand in front of that board, just looking at them.¡± Xavier frowned. ¡°You¡¯ve been paying that close attention to me, have you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the only one, you know. You¡¯re being watched by a lot of people here. Have been for a while. There are some Champions that have hung around longer than they usually would, and they always seem to be in the tavern whenever you show up. Haven¡¯t you found that strange?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t really pay all that much attention to the other Champions in this place, except for a few of them who¡¯d been in the raid group. ¡°I hadn¡¯t really noticed. Though Gimble always seems to be here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Gimble I¡¯m talking about.¡± Xavier noticed, with his Farscope ability that allowed him to see everything in a 100-foot radius, that the barkeep had concealed their conversation from the rest of the room. This made him lean a little forward in his stool. It meant she was trying to talk to him about something important. With his Farscope ability, he looked around at the different faces in the bar. There were plenty of people who¡¯d looked his way when he¡¯d first entered. He¡¯d become a person of notoriety around here, even if he hadn¡¯t intended to be. So that wasn¡¯t unusual. Some of those people were still looking his way¡ªa few with clear respect, others with small hints of resentment. He could even sense a bit of fear, even though fighting other Champions was strictly restricted by the System on this floor, so there was no chance that he was going to hurt them. Xavier had to say he didn¡¯t find any of that behaviour strange. There were, however, a few Champions in the place that pointedly weren¡¯t looking at him, and that made him wonder¡­ ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the first time I¡¯ve gained attention I wasn¡¯t aware of,¡± Xavier said, thinking about the presences that have looked at him in the past¡ªEmpress Larona and Adranial¡¯s ancestor. And, well, the System itself. Felica waved a hand. ¡°If you¡¯re going to make your move, you need to do it soon.¡± Xavier frowned again. ¡°What do you mean? There isn¡¯t a time limit on this floor.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°No. There isn¡¯t. But I want you to be aware of something. I¡¯ve been here for a long time, and I¡¯ve seen others receive the look you¡¯re getting now. You may think you¡¯re safe around these people because the System restricts violence on this floor, but that hasn¡¯t stopped me from seeing Champions murdered.¡± ¡°Seeing?¡± Xaiver raised an eyebrow. ¡°This bar is a Safe Zone. I didn¡¯t think violence like that would even be possible?¡± Felicia¡¯s gaze slipped to the left. ¡°This isn¡¯t the only place on the floor that I¡¯m able to see, you know. I have ways of throwing my sight. Ways of observing things out there. Comes in handy when seeing the outcomes of bets, among other things¡­¡± ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ve been spying on me out there?¡± Felicia shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°I¡¯ve got to be entertained somehow. I have to say, the way you took down that Fetid Forest Troll¡­ I¡¯ve never seen anyone fight like that before.¡± The Fetid Forest Troll was the C Grade beast he¡¯d taken down back when he¡¯d been E Grade. Xavier sighed. Perhaps he should have felt a little violated that she¡¯d been watching and he hadn¡¯t even known, but it honestly didn¡¯t come as much of a surprise. As he thought about this reality, something clicked in his mind. ¡°The birds.¡± Book 5: Chapter 10 - The Guilt Didn’t Last as Long as It Usually Did ¡°What?¡± Felicia said, blinking at him from the other side of the bar in Hunter¡¯s Home, but her tone gave her away. ¡°What birds?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how you watch people out there, isn¡¯t it? That¡¯s how you throw your sight?¡± Xavier had noticed, more than once, that the same bird had been observing him while he was out fighting beasts. He¡¯d been aware of it for a good while now. He¡¯d not thought too much of it, if he were honest, but whenever he did think on it he knew it was strange. Felicia bit her lip. ¡°Maybe.¡± She sighed. ¡°All right, yes, it¡¯s how I do it.¡± She shook her head. ¡°But you should heed my warning, Xavier. The way some of these people are looking at you, I can tell it¡¯s not the good kind of attention. As much as I love having your company on this floor, and have certainly profited it, maybe it¡¯s time you left. And it would be wise if you took that time mage, Liana, with you. She may be safe here, but people know she¡¯s the one who¡¯s spent the most time with you. If you left and they wanted information on you¡­¡± She left the rest of the words unsaid. Xavier didn¡¯t need her to spell it out for him. He understood what she was implying. He drummed his fingers on the bar. Despite the fact that he could see people in the bar with Farscope, he still had the urge to turn around and stare at each of them. To ferret out who it was that might not just wish ill will for him, but actually be planning to carry something out. Do I even fear any of these people? He thought on that a moment. And he found that he didn¡¯t¡ªhe believed that he could win a fight against any Champion in this place. That didn¡¯t mean he was right. There could be another True Progenitor in this bar, for all he knew. But it wouldn¡¯t just be one Champion he¡¯d fight, it would likely be an entire party. Maybe even two, for all he knew. And something told him whoever went after him would do it at a time that he was most vulnerable. Like when he was fighting a beast¡­ If they were the type to be plotting an assassination, they wouldn¡¯t be the type to fight fair. ¡°You really think someone is after me?¡± Xavier asked Felicia. He didn¡¯t see why she would lie. ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure, Xavier. But, tell me, have you made any enemies?¡± Xavier looked down at the bar. Oh, he¡¯d certainly made a few enemies, despite barely having ventured out into his sector. He imagined the threat he¡¯d made to protect Earth¡­ well, there would be a lot of people out there who¡¯d want his head for that alone. Then there was that father of the man he¡¯d killed. He was C Grade, and from a whole other sector to Silver River. Who knew what kind of power such a man could bring to bear? What kind of connections he might have? Xavier inclined his head. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve made my share of enemies. Didn¡¯t think any of them would be able to reach me here¡­¡± He would say it would be a huge coincidence if anyone who knew who he was and wished him ill will turned up here, but as long as he¡¯d been on this floor¡­ word might have already had time to spread about his whereabouts, from Champions that had long moved on from the floor. Time moved different here, that was true, but he¡¯d been here for many months. A minute passed for every hour here. He hadn¡¯t kept exact track of how long he¡¯d been here in entirety. That was difficult when he spent so long inside time dilation fields. But at least eight months had passed. Maybe nine. If it was nine, than just over four days would have passed back in his universe. It might have even been more than that. That would certainly be enough time for someone to get the word out. And it¡¯s not like people hadn¡¯t circumvented the System¡¯s rules around the Tower of Champions in the past. He had met Adranial on the tenth floor because she¡¯d been put there, not out of coincidence, after all. Xavier turned where he sat on the stool and stared at the noticeboard. At the two C Grade beasts he wished to face, and kill, before he left this place. The Nightmare and the C Grade dragon. If he were to take Felicia¡¯s warning seriously, and he didn¡¯t see a reason not to¡ªshe may have been using him for the bets made on him, and she¡¯d led him into dangerous situations in the past with misleading information, but he didn¡¯t see why she¡¯d lie about something like this, especially since¡­ wouldn¡¯t she wish for him to remain on this floor? If he were to heed her warning, maybe he would be facing them sooner than he¡¯d thought. A thrill ran through Xavier at the very idea of that. It was absurd that he should fight such powerful enemies at Level 202, but Xavier had done plenty of absurd, not to mention seemingly impossible, things in the past. And he¡¯d succeeded at them.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He looked at the dragon in particular. Defeating that dragon would see the culmination of a plan he¡¯d put in place some time ago, back when he¡¯d finished facing the Magma Bull at that volcano. He would finally be able to summon Volkarin¡ªthe dragon spirit from the Otherworld¡ªto the Mortal Realm in a physical body. Into a vessel¡ªthe dragon egg this C Grade dragon protected. This was a task he¡¯d planned to carry out when he felt ready. But since when had he ever felt ready to go up against the threats he¡¯d defeated in the past? ¡°Thank you, Felicia, for the warning. Now, as to that Hunt Quest reward¡­¡± ~ Felicia stared at Xavier and gave him a nod. With a thought and a wave of her hand, she activated the System and prompted it to give him his most recent Hunt Quest reward. After that, the young man took a table in the corner, bringing his mug of coffee with him. He sipped at it, staring at the noticeboard in quiet contemplation. Felicia suppressed a sigh. She sauntered on over to the other side of the bar and served another Champion. She couldn¡¯t help but feel a tinge of guilt at what she¡¯d just done. No one here was a threat to Xavier Collins. Even if they wished to harm him, none of these people were strong enough. And who would sign an assassination contract for a floor like this one? Those from integrated words knew what the punishment for such a crime would be¡­ Felicia¡¯s warning had been a false one. She¡¯d once again gotten a message from the System. This one had been more insistent than ever. The young Champion was no longer being challenged by this floor the way he was training, and the System wished for him to move along. Once again, it had asked her to push him toward a challenge, one she again believed he wouldn¡¯t be able to face. The guilt didn¡¯t last as long as it usually did. Every other time she¡¯d done this¡ªpushed the young man toward something she was sure would get him killed¡ªhe¡¯d come out victorious. Why wouldn¡¯t the same thing happen this time around? He was only going after the most powerful C Grade beasts on the entire floor, after all¡­ ~ Xavier calculated the amount of time that he¡¯d been training since he¡¯d become D Grade¡ªsince the last time that he¡¯d cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit and used it to bring forth the Spirit of Time. The one and only time that he¡¯d done that. It had been six months. He could use it again. That spell, he was sure, had been responsible for his victory against the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. Without that spell, he knew for certain that he would have died facing that thing. He¡¯d been intending to use the spell to summon the Spirit of Time again when he faced these two, far more powerful, C Grade beasts, even though he knew there was six months between casts, as the cooldown lasted for what felt like forever, and gaining a level didn¡¯t help anything. He could cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit, and he had done so since summoning the Spirit of Time, but he had been locked out of summoning that particular spirit. It had a locked cooldown. He knew why, of course. It was the most powerful spell he had in his arsenal. Having the ability to see different timelines branching off¡ªand not just to see them, but create them¡ªand gaining knowledge from each of those timelines¡­ if he could use that kind of power more often, he would most certainly abuse it. Even though it meant the deaths of versions of him in other timelines. He¡¯d felt guilty about that, since it had happened. That he had caused the death of¡­ well, himself. More than once. But he also knew that when he cast that spell, he¡¯d made the decision. This other version of him? That man hadn¡¯t existed until the decision had been made. Up until that point they had been the same person. When he thought too hard on it, it did strange things to his mind, like the time he read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. That book had been absolutely mind-bending. Xavier was sitting at a table in the corner of Hunter¡¯s Home as he thought through all of this. He¡¯d already made his decision¡ªhe was going to heed Felicia¡¯s warning. He felt paranoid just being in this bar now, with all the enemies that could be lying in wait. Any of these Champions could be someone who ultimately wished to kill him. He let out a sigh. That was a reality that he would need to get used to. Considering what the System wished him to become, and what it wished him to do, and how powerful he was¡­ there was no way that he wouldn¡¯t be noticed. And, when he did return to Earth, and his sector? He was the type of person to want to throw his power around to get things done. He was liable to make a great deal more enemies in his future. I guess I¡¯ll learn to live with people wanting to kill me. Xavier hadn¡¯t received anything significant from the Hunt Quest that he¡¯d just completed. A few ranks in the spells and skills he¡¯d used, but no random spell like the first two times he¡¯d collected the reward for his Hunt Quests. And he knew why¡ªnone of the Hunt Quests had been a challenge for him. He¡¯d even solo-fought a few C Grades while he¡¯d been out there. Those certainly had better rewards, but now that he¡¯d become D Grade and gained so much more power¡­ those fights hadn¡¯t been near as hard as fighting the Fetid Forest Troll had been. Xavier stood from the corner table and strode to the board of Hunt Quests. He tore a notice from the board and walked straight out of the tavern, leaving his coffee mug half-drunk. He didn¡¯t nod over at Gimble as he left¡ªthe dwarf was yet to unlock that Fetid Forest Troll¡¯s treasure chest, and Xavier couldn¡¯t deny he was a little annoyed at that¡ªnor did he look over at Felicia. He had a mission. He¡¯d made a decision. And once he made a decision, he didn¡¯t like to dawdle. He was going to use Summon Otherworldly Spirit to bring forth the Spirit of Time. But he wasn¡¯t going to do it when he fought The Nightmare¡ªhe was going to do it when he fought the C Grade Elemental Dragon. He wouldn¡¯t wait to use it on both. If there were threats lurking here, it was time for him to move on. Xavier left Hunter¡¯s Home behind. He leapt into the air, soaring high above the great forest, his great black wings flapping. He spotted his destination instantly. The Dark Mountains. The very place that he¡¯d first met the time mage Liana. The place where he¡¯d fought the Stone Bear. The place where the infected beasts that were controlled by the C Grade entity known only as The Nightmare dwelt. For a short time, when Xavier had been F Grade, he¡¯d touched the mind of The Nightmare. He¡¯d felt how vast and powerful it was. During that time, he¡¯d even been able to control it. But he¡¯d been able to do that by chance. The circumstances that had happened that led to him gaining control would be impossible for him to replicate. That was something he was almost entirely sure of. Because The Nightmare hadn¡¯t been aware of him, or his abilities, the first time Xavier had taken control of it. Now, it knew who he was. If he tried what he¡¯d done before a second time¡­ it would bring all of its power down upon him. Xavier just had to make sure he was the stronger of the two. The third book is finally out on Amazon! I know everyone here has already read the third book, but if you have Kindle Unlimited it would be amazing if you grabbed it there--that would help my ranking in the Kindle store, which will help the series do better! You can also drop a rating or review over on Amazon, too, if you want! That would be amazing and really help the launch! And, if you want to go the extra mile, tell your friends haha. Here are the amazon and audible links for the books currently released in this series:Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Book 1 ebook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0CV64JCPC Book 1 Audio Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Accidental-Champion-Audiobook/B0D79L7LNS Book 2 ebook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D6WJNRLJ Book 2 Audio: https://www.audible.com/.../Accidental.../B0DNN93W2L Book 3 ebook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DGNSWSZ7 Book 5: Chapter 11 - The Nightmare’s Domain Xavier soared toward the Dark Mountains that was The Nightmare¡¯s domain. From what he had learnt about the C Grade entity, the beast was¡­ a demon. Something that controlled the minds of all those in its territory. Every beast. Every tree. It infected all of them, much like the Fetid Forest Troll infected the forest that it had once called home, but this demon¡­ it was far more sinister than that troll had been. Xavier landed at the foot of the Dark Mountains. He withdrew something from his Storage Ring. The Hunt Quest notice about The Nightmare. It didn¡¯t say anything he didn¡¯t already know. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit of fear at the prospect of facing this thing. That fear, a flutter in his chest as his heart beat harder, made him grin. He hadn¡¯t felt its like in a little while. It made a thrill run through him. God, he liked a challenge, and fighting this thing¡­ it would be the biggest challenge that he¡¯d faced yet. But he wasn¡¯t here just to defeat a C Grade beast and earn a Hunt Quest reward. He was here because he wished to save someone. Liana, the time mage that he had trained with¡ªthe one who¡¯d not only shown him how to use his Time Alteration spell, but also shown him how to attune his attributes¡ªhad met her husband while in the Tower of Champions. The man had been in a different party to her, and he¡¯d gone missing on this very floor. She¡¯d managed to make it so she could turn up on this instance. So that she could try and find him. Her husband had been infected. Taken by the demon that was The Nightmare. That was why Xavier had found her here the day he¡¯d come searching for her, when he had his first encounter with The Nightmare. The woman had been almost consumed by the dark, oozing tendrils. They stretched over her entire body. She would have been infected had he not intervened. Xavier was glad he¡¯d been there. If he¡¯d been even a few seconds too late, he never would have made the woman¡¯s acquaintance. Part of that gladness was selfishness, for without her he wouldn¡¯t be as strong as he was now. She had taught him much. But she was also a good person. Someone he¡¯d grown fond of. The Greater Universe was a better place with her in it¡ªthat was just a fact. Xavier hoped he would be able to do the same for her husband. He hoped that the infection hadn¡¯t addled his mind, or killed him. He hoped that he wasn¡¯t already dead, having been killed by a Champion who had simply been defending themselves against one of The Nightmare¡¯s infected minions. Liana was back in the tavern, in her room there. Many months had passed since she¡¯d put herself in that time dilation field. To her, mere seconds, maybe minutes by now, would have gone by. Xavier released a breath and ordered his thoughts. Yes, he was here to save someone. Yes, it was for the sake of another. But he couldn¡¯t let his mind focus on such things. He needed to be fully alert. He wasn¡¯t able to summon the Spirit of Time during this fight. It wasn¡¯t something that he would be able to do over. He only had one chance at this. Come on, Xavier, he chided himself. You¡¯ve fought C Grades before. This can¡¯t be that bad. He took a step forward, entering The Nightmare¡¯s domain. The trees around him were infected with the darkness, the black substance covered every inch of them. He took a few steps. It wouldn¡¯t be long until he was sensed. Champions who ventured around the Dark Mountains always did so carrying salt. It was the best way to defend against The Nightmare¡ªdemons didn¡¯t like salt, after all. Something told Xavier that it wasn¡¯t as effective as it seemed, however. He doubted that The Nightmare would be cowed if its minions were being attacked. But that wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d tested. He hadn¡¯t wanted to garner the attention of The Nightmare before he was ready to fight it. Xavier had been thinking about this fight for a very long time. He still didn¡¯t really know how to go about it. How do you fight an entity that was essentially an infection? One that, as far as he knew, didn¡¯t even have a physical form of its own? He¡¯d asked Gimble about the beast. The man was knowledgeable about all of the C Grade beasts on this floor, that was part of his job as a Raid Leader. But the man didn¡¯t know much about The Nightmare. The way that information about the Tower of Champions was shared was through word of mouth. The System didn¡¯t allow for any other way. That meant that all information about the hundredth floor that Gimble had access to was things that either other Champions in Hunter¡¯s Home knew, or information that he¡¯d been able to learn back on his own world.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. And the information on his world was limited to the information known around that sector. The Greater Universe was a vast place. There may very well have been many Champions who¡¯d faced and killed The Nightmare, but Gimble hadn¡¯t heard of any. Xavier walked up the mountain. With his Farscope, he kept a lookout around him. So far, there hadn¡¯t been any sign of the infected beasts, but he knew that would change fast. Once one became aware of him, they would all become aware of him, and if he was deemed a strong enough threat, they would all come after him. He heard something to his left. He turned his head. Whatever it was, it was out of range of Xavier¡¯s Farscope ability. He spotted it instantly. A wolven, covered in darkness. And it wasn¡¯t just a single wolven either. It was many. Xavier stopped walking. He contemplated his next move. He released a sigh. He knew exactly what he needed to do, he was just afraid that it wouldn¡¯t actually work. Xavier stood his ground as the pack of wolven came for him. In the sky above him, owl-like beasts were flying toward him, their wings illuminated by the moon. Xavier ignored the flying beasts. The wolven would make it to him first. Xavier scanned the one at the head of the pack. {Infected Alpha Wolven - Level 225} The beast wasn¡¯t high level. A scan of the other beasts near it showed they weren¡¯t high level either. In theory, he should be able to make quick work of them. Though there was an issue with facing these beasts that he didn¡¯t have facing other beasts¡ªif he used his melee attacks, it would be far easier for them to infect him. Especially if he used unarmed melee attacks. He shifted his soul bound weapon back into a staff and held it, two handed, before him. The Infected Alpha Wolven bounded toward him. The beast was eerily silent as it moved. It didn¡¯t howl or snarl. It simply ran. Xavier tracked its movement, then he cast Time Alteration, catching the beast inside a time dilation field. The other infected beasts were stuck outside of the shield, seemingly frozen in time, and unable to enter. Xavier sidestepped the leaping Infected Alpha Wolven with incredible ease. This beast felt so slow to him, it was a little hard to imagine it ever having been a challenge to face. Xavier recalled exactly what he had done the last time he had encountered The Nightmare. He had been infected by the dark substance. It had crawled up his skin and threatened to invade his mind. He¡¯d done everything he could to fight it off. It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d cast Time Alteration and cut off the entity from the rest of itself that he¡¯d managed to take control over it. He¡¯d only left a single speck of black alive before lowering the time dilation field. Xavier needed to recreate what he¡¯d done before. The Infected Alpha Wolven landed, stopping short of leaving the time bubble. It must have been just powerful enough to discern its boundaries. It whirled around and pulled back its teeth in a silent snarl, then leapt toward him again. Xavier raised his staff and cast Soul Shatter. The Nightmare wasn¡¯t a necromancer. The infected beasts it had control of were still alive, which meant their souls remained within their bodies, and he was able to inflict soul damage onto them. Soul Shatter instantly killed the Infected Alpha Wolven. It went slack in the air, its momentum carrying it on the same trajectory. Xavier curled his wings around him like a protective shield¡ªa technique he¡¯d learnt in his last few months of training, one he even had skill for called Iron Wings. The wolven slammed into them with a thud and it was like hitting a brick wall. Xavier didn¡¯t budge even an inch. The wolven slid to the ground. Xavier opened his wings and looked down at the dead beast. Something was oozing out of it. The Nightmare¡ªor, at least, a small part of it. The black substance crawled toward him. Xavier crouched and touched a finger to a drop of the entity, letting it crawl onto his skin. Xavier stood back away from the bulk of the oozing substance. It wasn¡¯t long before he felt the entity try and invade his mind. He released a breath and cast Willpower Infusion. He took control of the entity with ease and felt the connection to the rest of the oozing substance on the ground within the time dilation field, it all having seeped out of the now-dead wolven. Xavier expanded his control it to the rest of the oozing substance within the field. Disconnected as it was with the rest of itself, it was easy for him to do. He recalled thinking this thing was like some kind of interconnected hivemind, and as far as he knew he¡¯d been right about that. His Willpower Infusion spell was significantly stronger than it had been the first time he¡¯d done this. And his Willpower attribute? It was now attuned to 25%, and it was well over twice as powerful as it had been back then too. The version of Xavier that had been on this mountain the first time had been nothing compared to the version of him that stood there now. Yet he still worried this wouldn¡¯t work. He tilted his head to the side. Though his Time Alteration spell had cut the connection to the rest of the demon off, he could almost feel it trying to reconnect. He had an awareness of the entity¡¯s ¡°mind¡± that he hadn¡¯t possessed before, though even then it was only a slight awareness. If this entity had an awareness of him, as he had always worried, then this could go terribly wrong. Xavier walked up to the edge of the time dilation field. He looked at the Infected Wolven on the other side, then glanced at the Infected Giant Owls soaring down from above. Xavier smiled and realised that he did, indeed, have a plan. He knew exactly how he was going to try and destroy this thing. He didn¡¯t know if it would work¡ªhe¡¯d never pushed either his Time Alteration spell nor his Willpower Infusion spell this hard before. He also still didn¡¯t understand The Nightmare. It was only a theory that this thing didn¡¯t have a body somewhere. Some central consciousness that controlled¡­ all of this. But a plan was a plan. Xavier pushed the time dilation field forward. This was something that Liana had taught him how to do early on in his training. She¡¯d shown him how to manipulate the boundaries of his Time Alteration spell. He could shift and change the walls. If he wished, he could cast his Time Alteration spell at one side of a field full of enemies, then carve a path through them with his time dilation field that managed to avoid him alerting any one of the beasts of his presence. Xavier had done something like that in the past¡ªthough instead of avoiding the enemies, he¡¯d carved a path toward every single one of them. That was how he¡¯d taken down the stampede of Rhinoceros Monkeys whilst avoiding the Alpha Rhinoceros Monkey, as the beast¡ªat the time¡ªhad been too powerful for him to face alongside its kin. Xavier was going to use a similar technique to that one now, except this one¡­ He would have to carve a path around the entire mountain. Is that even possible? Book 5: Chapter 12 - One Step at a Time Xavier stood at the edge of his time dilation field. The corpse of an Infected Alpha Wolven was at his back. Parts of his skin were black where The Nightmare had tried to infect him. At his feet, a bubble of black ooze crawled toward him. It followed him¡ªand it was under his control. Xavier pushed the time dilation field forward until it consumed one of the wolven in front of him. A moment ago, the wolven had been frozen in time. Now, it bounded toward him, lips pulled back in the same silent snarl the alpha had worn before it had succumbed to death at Xavier¡¯s hand. The moment the Infected Wolven had touched the edge of the time dilation field and began moving, Xavier¡¯s mind expanded into the beast. Almost every single beast on this entire mountain was infected by The Nightmare, and now that Xavier controlled a portion of it, he was able to enter the minds of other beasts that The Nightmare controlled. He couldn¡¯t connect to the other beasts outside of the time dilation field, and that, right now, was a good thing. But when one entered his field? Connecting became easy, and the substance within the beast lost its own connection to the rest of The Nightmare, which meant it was almost powerless compared to Xavier. Xavier willed a thought. Stop, he commanded. The Infected Wolven halted its attack against Xavier. It skidded in the dirt, came to a stop, then suddenly became placid. It just stood there, its head slowly turning to gaze at the dead Infected Alpha Wolven nearby. Xavier crouched in front of the wolven and stared into its dark eyes. He tilted his head to the side and examined it. Then he stood and took a step back. He was about to do something he had never done before. When he had saved Liana from The Nightmare, he¡¯d simply instructed it to stop attacking her, and so it had. But this wolven had been infected who knew how long. And he was about to pull the infection out. Xavier inclined his head and willed the dark substance to retreat from the wolf. As he did, he felt a slight amount of resistance. Something far away, trying to connect, trying to stop what was happening¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t able to. What was happening inside the time dilation field was happening too fast for even a C Grade Entity to feel. Though the fact that it was trying to connect at all made Xavier worry. The black substance oozed out of the wolven. Its fur slowly turned back to its normal colour. The beast started to become aware once more. After a moment, it was itself again. It saw the dead alpha, saw Xavier, then it leapt straight at him with a loud, furious snarl. Xavier stepped to the side, slash out with the claws of his right hand, holding his staff in his left hand, and tore out the beast¡¯s throat. The wolven died before it hit the ground. Xavier commanded the black substance to pool into the middle of the time dilation field. He knelt by the pool and stared at it. He didn¡¯t cast Soul Harvest¡ªnot yet. There was no point casting it now, as he wouldn¡¯t be able to cooldown the spell. The first part of his plan seemed as though it could work. Now, he just had to make sure that the second part of his plan could work. Xavier was warry of using his spells on the black substance, as if he continued on as he was, fighting inside of the time dilation field, none of the spells would be able to reach the end of their cooldown. Xavier brandished his scythe-staff and slammed it down into the middle of the pooling, oozing black substance. It splashed up as though he¡¯d hit a puddle, and he could feel that he still had control over the exact same amount, meaning none of the entity had died. Xavier stepped back and sighed. Then, he willed a single word, targeting only that substance that lay inside of the pool. Die, he thought. And the substance died. Xavier raised his chin, feeling pride surge within his chest. He had never simply willed something to die before. He had willed enemies to kill themselves, but this? This was something he hadn¡¯t known was in his power. And that wasn¡¯t the only thing he was proud of¡ªhe had just killed a portion of The Nightmare. Willpower Infusion has taken a step forward on the path! Willpower Infusion is now a Rank 115 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. ¡°Huh,¡± Xavier said. He hadn¡¯t expected to gain a rank in Willpower Infusion. In anticipation of his fight with The Nightmare, Xavier had been pushing forward his usage of the spell over the last few months, trying to push it as far as he could. He had gained fourteen ranks, something which he¡¯d felt proud of, as gaining ranks since he¡¯d reached D Grade was far harder than it had ever been.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. But to gain a rank so easily here? I used the spell in a different way. That must have been why. Xavier watched with fascination as the black substance dissipated into nothing, burning into the air until there was nothing left of it except that which was on his own skin¡ªhe needed to keep some of it alive. He couldn¡¯t cast Willpower Infusion again while inside this field. He turned and faced the edge of the time dilation field once more, looking out at the wolven beyond. He took a deep breath, then released it slowly. The second part of his plan had worked. The plan was a long and tedious one. Push the time dilation field forward until he consumed another of the infected beasts. Kill every ounce of the black substance that effected the beast¡ªalong with the beast for good measure¡ªthen rinse and repeat. All he had to do was push the time dilation field around the entirety of the Dark Mountains, and kill every speck of the black substance that he could find. Yes¡­ that was all he had to do. How hard could it be? His gaze moved away from the frozen wolven just beyond the edge of the field¡¯s barrier to the trees that were also infected. To the grass that was infected. To the random specks of blackness he saw in the dirt, that if a Champion was not careful might be stepped on by accident. This was an insidious demonic beast, and his task was not an easy one, and his plan wasn¡¯t something he could perform swiftly. He would need to be patient. More patient than he¡¯d ever been before. ¡°One step at a time,¡± Xavier told himself. If this was what he needed to do, then this was what he was going to do. There might be other ways for him to face The Nightmare. He could drop the time dilation field completely and have a battle of wills with it. Mind against mind. He was far more powerful than he had been in the past. He might very well be strong enough to take this thing on. To will its death on a grand scale. But that wasn¡¯t something that he wanted to risk. Xavier had seen what happened to him when he took on one risk too many when he¡¯d observed the other versions of him fight the Fetid Forest Troll. He died. Then, he had seen what had happened when he approached the fight with utmost clarity and care. Fighting against the exact same beast, he hadn¡¯t gained a single scratch. I¡¯m powerful enough to kill this thing, and I¡¯m going to do it as perfectly as I can. And so Xavier continued to push the time dilation field farther and farther up the mountain. He reshaped it in a dozen different ways. He flew into the air on his majestic black wings and carved a path through the sky until he reached the Infected Giant Owls. He carved a path to every single tree that he could see. On every step of the way, he commanded the black substance¡ªparts of The Nightmare¡ªto die. As Xavier made his way up the Dark Mountains in a crisscross pattern, he was beginning to encounter an issue. The Nightmare had become aware of him. By his reckoning, Xavier had covered a tenth of the mountain. He¡¯d slain hundreds of beasts. Moved his time dilation field miles across the foot of the mountain, slowly making his way up the side of it. Since the first instance that he¡¯d taken control of this beast that night, he had felt the larger part of the entity trying to connect with him. But it hadn¡¯t been a threat. Time outside of his field was moving too slow for it to do anything. But the longer that Xavier maintained the time dilation field¡ªsomething he needed to do for a long time¡ªthe more time passed outside of it, even if that was only mere fractions of a second. Those fractions would add up, and the response time of a C Grade entity such as this was incredible. Now that the entity had become aware of him, Xavier knew that he couldn¡¯t drop the field. This was nothing like the first time he¡¯d encountered this thing. Back then, he hadn¡¯t harmed The Nightmare. All he¡¯d done was invade its mind and made it stop attacking him, then after that, made it stop attacking Liana. Now that it was aware of him and Xavier had damaged it, he knew the full force of its power would bear down on him. Even within the field, he could feel its mind bearing down on him. He didn¡¯t know how it was managing to breach the time dilation field, but he could feel it slowly adapting. As though the farther he moved around the mountain, and the more of the substance he killed, the more his enemy was able to speed up its consciousness to try and combat what he was doing. He could also feel the pain it was in. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how such an interconnected entity felt pain, but this thing was. With every bit of the substance he willed to die, the larger entity become more and more damaged. Xavier¡¯s plan was working, just as he¡¯d hoped. He just didn¡¯t know how long he would be able to keep it going. ¡°I need to keep it going forever,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°If I don¡¯t¡­¡± He left the rest unsaid. He knew what would happen. He could feel the power this thing possessed, even after Xavier had eradicated a tenth of it. As Xavier moved across the mountain, hours passed inside the time dilation field for him. He had a few different minds split up in his head to focus on other solutions to this problem. So far, he struggled to find any. Without knowing how powerful his enemy was, knowing his options first¡­ it felt impossible. Though there was one part of him that insisted that if things became more dire, he could always summon the Spirit of Time. He¡¯d told himself that he wouldn¡¯t do that until he faced the C Grade Elemental Dragon, but perhaps it would become necessary soon enough. But that wasn¡¯t the course of action he wanted to take. He needed to get off this floor, and he wasn¡¯t going to do it without that egg. He had no pretentions that he would be powerful enough to take down the dragon without using the Spirit of Time¡¯s power to see alternate versions of his own future. He might be arrogant, but he wasn¡¯t a fool. Besides, every ounce of arrogance he possessed he¡¯d earned. That made him grin to himself. God, he sounded like a dickhead sometimes. The Spirit of Time was an option, it simply wasn¡¯t one he wished to use. He tried to think of other ways. He could already feel the strain of the Time Alteration spell. He had never moved this far while in it¡ªnever altered it so heavily. Xavier had incredibly powerful spells. He could summon portals into life. He could call forth the souls from his reserve into deadly apparitions. He could burn through an enemy¡¯s core. And with his newfound claws, he could rip through armour and flesh as though it weren¡¯t even there. He possessed tremendous powers, but The Nightmare appeared to be immune to almost all of them. When he had used Soul Shatter on that first enemy, the Infected Alpha Wolven, it hadn¡¯t actually done anything to parts of the Nightmare that resided within it. That only means its resistant to soul damage, not that it¡¯s resistant to all damage. That thought sparked something¡ªif the oozing blackness was The Nightmare, and those parts of it were immune to soul damage. Did that mean the demon didn¡¯t have a soul? In plenty of fiction and myths back home, demons don¡¯t have souls. It would make some kind of sense if that were the case¡­ Xavier stopped in his tracks. He¡¯d just killed one of the Infected Giant Owl Beasts high up in the sky and eradicated the oozing black substance that came out of it. He hovered there, his large black wings flapping to keep him within the bounds of the time dilation field. He¡¯d just heard a whisper in his mind. A thought that wasn¡¯t his own. It was faint¡­ He tried listening for it again. Resist no longer. We can give you peace. Book 5: Chapter 13 - Resist Us No Longer Xavier hovered high in the air above the Dark Mountains. The thought repeated itself in his mind, and he knew exactly where it came from. Resist us no longer. We can give you peace. The Nightmare was communicating with him¡ªtrying to take control of him. Xavier swallowed. He had felt other people and spirits speak to him through thoughts in the past, but nothing had ever sounded like this. He couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how he might describe the voice. Old¡­ no. Ancient. Xavier checked his mental barriers. He still had control over the bits of the darkness that were attached to his skin¡ªthe small portion of The Nightmare that he kept alive within the time dilation field that he¡¯d sustained since stepping onto the Dark Mountains. There shouldn¡¯t have been a way for the demon to enter his mind. So how had it done it? Xavier checked himself. He was still in control. Releasing a sigh, he moved on with his task, but he did it with a newfound fear fluttering in his chest. He moved faster than he had before, pushing his time dilation spell to its limits, eradicating the black substance in record time wherever he found it, killing every beast he passed. He cleaned its existence from every inch of the mountain he could. He could still feel the damage it was taking¡ªthe pain it was in. He must have taken out nearly half of it by now. And he could hear it talking to him. Xavier had no idea how The Nightmare had managed to speed its thought up to a rate that he was able to understand it, but he¡¯d known that the demon had been adapting ever since it had been made aware of his presence. I need to push harder. But even as he pushed, he felt the limits of his time dilation field. Soon, there would come a time when he couldn¡¯t hold it up anymore. His Willpower Infusion spell had served him well. He was still able to expand his control into any parts of the demon that came into his time dilation field. Once that field dropped, however, all bets were off. He needed to figure out another way to kill this thing. Melee attacks hadn¡¯t worked¡ªhe¡¯d tried everything he could. He went through his different spells, trying to think of ones that would serve him here, but all of his offensive spells¡­ they dealt soul damage, or they took control, or they burned out cores. Did this thing even have cores? It didn¡¯t work like any other being he had ever faced. But there was something he could try. He might not be able to injure this thing, but if he called upon others¡­ Xavier swooped down, carving his time dilation field through the air as he flew, until he reached a pack of infected wolven on the side of the mountain, on a large grassy plane. The wolven looked frozen in time to him. Xavier landed on the ground just before the pack. He didn¡¯t yet expand his time dilation field to encompass them. First, he needed to set the trap. Then, he would let them walk into it. Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice. He felt a rush of energy as the souls he used to cast the spell left him. His soulkeeping reserve was full, and after all the ranks he¡¯d received, it was rather massive. He had many thousands of souls at his disposal, which meant he could maintain the bridge to the Otherworld for a good while. But that wasn¡¯t what he was trying to do. That wouldn¡¯t be enough. Still, he poured a thousand souls into the spell. That would keep the bridge open more than long enough for him to test out what he wished to test out¡ªand not only that. There was a specific spirit from the Otherworld he wished to call upon, one that he hoped would come through when he activated the spell¡ªthis spirit had always come through in the past. A notification appeared as he cast the spell. You have cast Soul Sacrifice. {1,000 Souls} have been sacrificed to the Otherworld. A bridge has been established. Await the spirits at your leisure. Xavier didn¡¯t have to wait long. The first spirit to come through was the exact one that he had been hoping would come. Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance, tore through the bridge and landed next to Xavier. Xavier, anticipating how damned big the dragon was, had extending the limits of the time dilation field¡¯s size before casting the Soul Sacrifice spell. The massive dragon extended its wings and threw back its head in a roar to announce its majestic presence, then it gazed down at Xavier.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ah! Young Denizen! You have called upon me once more to deal death to your enemies! I will rip and tear them apart and serve their innards to you on a platter if you so wish. We can feast on their blood side-by-side, dragonkin! When Xavier had first used the spell after becoming not only D Grade, but also of the dragonkin race, Volkarin had been absolutely delighted. Felicia might have been right about other dragonkin not being accepting of other races becoming one of their number, but as an actual dragon, Volkarin wasn¡¯t bothered by it at all. Xavier recalled the dragon¡¯s words to him. Mad? Of course I¡¯m not mad! Any Denizen with half a mind can see that dragons are the most superior beings in all of the Greater Universe. It is mad that more of your kind don¡¯t seek to become closer to us. You are wise beyond your years, young dragonkin. You will go farther than I had even at first imagined! Then the dragon had thrown its head back and laughed delightedly. At least, that was how Xavier had interpreted the laugh. Since becoming dragonkin, he had found it easier to read the dragon¡¯s body language. He supposed that only made sense. I wonder what would have happened if I¡¯d chosen the Soul of the Dragon class¡­ But that was never going to be in the cards for him. Xavier nodded at the wolven amassed outside the time dilation barrier. The pack was eight strong, with an Infected Alpha Wolven at their head. Weak beasts to him now, they were no challenge. They would not pose a challenge to the dragon, either. I wish you do deal with these, Xavier replied, only needing to think his words to communicate with the dragon spirit. The dragon turned its head and eyed the wolven. Other spirits flowed through the bridge. Xavier was aware that he was becoming well-known in the Otherworld. Then again, he might have been known there already¡­ other versions of him, at least, as the Otherworld was a place between universes. But that warped his mind. It was far too much to think about. Either way, he knew that whenever he cast Soul Sacrifice, he was likely to get a stream of high-quality, powerful spirits to come through the bridge from the Otherworld and fight for him. Even if their behaviour could not always be predicted. For instance, it would be unwise for him to cast this spell if he had company. Perhaps it was a good thing that he almost always fought alone. Volkarin huffed smoke through his slightly transparent nose. You wish for me to deal with these vermin? Slaughtering vermin is never below me¡ªI will deal death to whomever and whatever you put in front of me¡ªbut are you not worried that you waste my talents, young dragonkin? Xavier was about to reply when the dragon¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He sniffed the air, looked back through the barrier, then he looked at Xavier¡¯s hand, where the black substance could be seen. Ah. The dragon spirit crooned. I think I can understand what is going on here. You sense the demon¡¯s presence? Indeed. It is not the beasts you wish us to deal with, but the insidious presence within them. The dragon inclined his massive head. Your will be done. Volkarin somehow managed to say the words half respectfully, and half mockingly. Xavier thought that was quite the feat. Xavier stepped over to the middle of the time dilation barrier. The other spirits were amassing within the barrier as well. They understood what it was, and they did not breach it. They knew they would get frozen on the other side if they did¡ªeven the more chaotic spirits, the ones that he could see barely containing themselves, remained. Xavier expanded the time dilation field. As he did so, he felt the presence of The Nightmare once again invading his mind. This time, it was stronger, demanding that he did not resist. Demanding that he drop the Time Alteration spell. His hands shook. He felt his mind¡­ become vulnerable. He checked his mental barriers, only to find cracks in them¡ªcracks The Nightmare had exploited without him even noticing. Xaiver fought the presence even as he felt his will become usurped. He had a dire urge to deactivate the time dilation spell. To give into the presence. To find peace with it. For wouldn¡¯t it be good to stop fighting? Didn¡¯t he simply want to live a peaceful life on the mountain? Hadn¡¯t he had enough? Enough? Xavier froze as he examined that thought. He knew it wasn¡¯t his own. He hadn¡¯t had enough of fighting. He couldn¡¯t imagine any version of him in all the Greater Universe that could ever have enough of fighting. Did he want peace? Yes, of course¡ªbut he wanted peace for everyone, not just himself, and that wasn¡¯t something that would happen if he ever let himself give in. And he certainly didn¡¯t want to live on this mountain for the rest of his life. So he had to keep fighting. Xavier pushed back against the presence trying to take over his mind. Volkarin was eyeing him. A strange look on the dragon spirit¡¯s face¡ªwas that a look of¡­ concern? Surely not. Xavier filled in the cracks in his mental barrier, but as he did, he realised something¡ªThe Nightmare hadn¡¯t made him cease the time dilation field, but soon it wouldn¡¯t matter. The spell was reaching its end faster than he¡¯d anticipated. A lot faster. He wasn¡¯t sure how he hadn¡¯t seen that before¡­ The Nightmare! It must have infected his mind a little bit at a time, slightly altering his perception of reality¡ªbut it was only this, he realised, that it had changed. At least, that was the only thing that he had found that had changed, and he inspected his mind as thoroughly as he could. Xavier let out a roar as he triumphed over the demon¡¯s control of his mind, pushing back with all his might. He expanded the time dilation field. Now, more than ever, he needed to know if this was going to work. The time bubble became large enough to encompass all eight of the wolven in front of him. The dragon spirit, along with the other dozen or so spirits that had flowed through the bridge from the Otherworld, made quick work of the beasts. Xavier watched as Volkarin changed his approach to his attacks. He would have expected the dragon spirit to clamp his jaws around his enemies, but he didn¡¯t¡ªhe used his ranged, fire and ice breath attack. For the dragon knew it wasn¡¯t only trying to kill the beasts, but what lay within them too. Most of the other spirits, realising what was going on, did the same. There were only a few of the more chaotic ones that didn¡¯t seem to change their tact. They ripped and tore through the wolven with glee, leaving pools of the demonic black substance behind. Xavier watched, and waited, to see what the outcome was. His mind had instantly expanded into the parts of The Nightmare now within his field. He felt those parts die. And this time, it wasn¡¯t because he¡¯d commanded their death¡ªthey weren¡¯t immune to magical attacks like they were immune to melee attacks and soul damage. His contingency plan might just be able to get him out of this. Which was good, because soon¡ªfar too soon¡ªhis time dilation field would falter. And it wasn¡¯t only that. He knew that he couldn¡¯t hold onto himself for all that much longer. He needed to destroy the bits of the entity that were inside of him. The ones he was controlling to gain access to the rest of it. For if he didn¡¯t, he would soon lose himself. And that was not something that he could abide. The voice of The Nightmare become louder and louder in his mind. Give in, give in, give in, give in to usssss! Xavier felt his mind falter ever more. The time dilation field was weakening. His mental barriers were weakening. He threw his head back and roared, his wings extending to their fullest at his back. Die! he willed, and the bits of The Nightmare that were within him died. His mind became silent, but the mental energy he¡¯d just expended fending off the demon¡¯s control meant that the time dilation field was at its end. The field cracked and broke, becoming inactive. Book 5: Chapter 14 - Don’t Get Bitten Xavier stood in the middle of what had once been a safe spot on a plain on the side of the Dark Mountains. Less than a second ago, his time dilation field had covered the area, protecting him and the spirits he had summoned from the Otherworld. Now, that field was gone, and The Nightmare was sending the full force of its might toward him. Xavier was no longer connected to The Nightmare¡¯s mind. He had combed the mountain, destroying at least half of the C Grade demon¡¯s minions, and the black substance that held sway over the beasts¡ªthe same substance that had almost taken over his mind just a moment ago¡ªalong with them. The dragon Volkarin looked at Xavier, a serious expression in his eyes. We spirits will not remain long in this world. Will you flee, young dragonkin? I sense the being that you face has great power. There was something twinkling in the dragon¡¯s eyes. Xavier could read the dragon¡¯s expressions so much better now, but he wasn¡¯t sure what this feeling was. I will remain, Xavier replied. I will destroy this demon, and I will soon summon you to help me do it. You seek vengeance upon this entity? Volkarin asked seriously. You know the rules, young dragonkin. I cannot break them simply because I am fond of the you and your potential. Xavier thought of Liana. Of all the woman had taught him. And of what this demon had done to her by taking her husband. There is vengeance to be sought, Volkarin, you can be sure of that. Xavier and the dragon did not have the luxury of a long conversation. Their exchange had perhaps taken only a second. Beasts were making their way to them. Xavier had the spirit here for one hundred seconds, as he had used one thousand souls to summon them to the Mortal Realm. But once they were gone, he would no longer have a way to kill the substance within the enemies that came forth. The spirits fought with fervour and passion. There were thousands of beasts still upon the Dark Mountains, and all of them were making their way to destroy¡ªor perhaps enslave¡ªXavier. There was something else, too. Though Xavier was no longer connected to the mind of The Nightmare, he could feel a dark presence nearby. It had the sense signature of that of The Nightmare¡¯s mind. Xavier wondered if the demon was releasing its aura¡ªwondered if the demon even had an aura. He could almost sense where the power was coming from. Was that where the demon¡¯s heart was? Xavier watched as the spirits destroyed every beast that came near them. He watched as closely as he could, wondering if it had been a mistake to summon the spirits. There was a danger in them being here, one he hadn¡¯t considered when he had made the choice to bring them, for he was too desperate at the time to worry about it. Some of these spirits were chaotic beings. They did not restrain themselves, and they would not follow his orders. If it happened that the very person Xavier had come here to save attacked them right now, he doubted any of the spirits would hesitate to kill him¡­ Xavier remained vigilant, a countdown timer for when the bridge would shut down up in the corner of his vision. He joined the fight with the spirits, but his attacks only dealt damage to the beasts and not the entity within. He was beginning to feel useless, fighting this thing, even though he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. He had destroyed more than half of it already. Facing this beast was like facing nothing he¡¯d ever encountered before. The beasts that it brought forth were weak. He was beginning to feel a false sense of security. But even with the spirits destroying the black substance, more and more of it pooled around him, and it was beginning to edge closer to him. As the countdown timer was nearing its end, hundreds upon hundreds of beasts having died during the fight, Xavier brought something out of his Storage Ring. A sack of salt. He poured a line of the stuff around him. A protective circle that should stop the black, oozing substance from reaching him, though he doubted it would stop the beasts that it controlled from getting over it. The moment he¡¯d started pouring the salt he heard something from above. The whoosh of loud wings. An Infected Giant Owl cast some sort of wind spell down at him, scattering the salt everywhere. It seared the flesh of The Nightmare¡¯s minions, but they otherwise didn¡¯t look affected. The spirits from the Otherworld were about to disappear from this place. The instant they did, Xavier called forth the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªhe cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The colour bled from the world, and everything froze as a notification popped up in his vision. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of Spirit do you wish to summon?
  1. Spirit of Protection
  2. Spirit of Vengeance
  3. Spirit of Time
The cooldown for this spell varies significantly depending upon the spirit you summon. Xavier willed his selection. Spirit of Vengeance! The dragon¡ªwhom had only been there a mere moment ago through the power of the Soul Sacrifice spell¡ªcame into existence before him, and there was something different about the dragon. The dragon was significantly larger than the last time he had summoned it. Xavier was a little taken a back, looking at the beast. It had somehow grown to about fifty feet in height, while before the beast had only been twenty-feet tall. That wasn¡¯t the only change. Volkarin also looked a little less transparent. Is this because the spell has grown so much stronger, with my attributes propping it up? He hadn¡¯t used this specific spell to bring forth the Spirit of Vengeance while he was D Grade before. Whenever he tried to rank the spell up, he tended to use the Spirit of Protection. The Spirit of Protection didn¡¯t require vengeance to be summoned, and it also didn¡¯t have a six month wait time between uses like the Spirit of Time. Honestly, Xavier had been hoping he would have more spirits available to summon through this spell by now, but he couldn¡¯t complain at how powerful it was. The Spirit of Vengeance stood before him, looking more solid and majestic than he ever had. The massive dragon drew in a breath as though it could actually breathe, then released a stream of smoke from each nostril. Ahhhhhh. It¡¯s good to be back. Volkarin bent his head forward and looked down at Xavier with narrowed eyes. What vengeance is it that you wish to carry out, young dragonkin? Xavier raised his chin. Liana. My instructor, and friend. Her husband was taken by this demon. He may very well still be alive. That is the vengeance I seek. Payment for what was done to her, and to him. And the only payment that will suffice is this demon¡¯s death. The dragon raised its head, made a strange noise in its throat. Xavier knew now that this was the equivalent of someone saying, ¡°Hmm.¡± A noble cause. Vengeance on behalf of another. This will suffice¡ªit is enough to summon me, Xavier Collins. And enough not to suffer my wrath. Time was still frozen for the both of them. Xavier wanted to keep it that way for a moment longer. How have you grown larger? Xavier asked. The dragon threw back its head and roared in delight. As you grow in power, less of the power that I hold is restricted. More so in this spell than in Soul Sacrifice. If you grew strong enough, one day you might even witness the full extent of my might. Volkarin sounded somewhat wistful as he said that. Xavier contemplated that for a moment. This was one of the most powerful spirits in the entirety of the Otherworld. One of the seven, he had been told¡ªthe seven leaders of the Otherworld. But he did not think he would see the full might of the dragon¡ªat least, through the use of Summon Otherworldly Spirit. For he soon intended to bring the beast into this world for good. Xavier checked the cooldown for his Time Alteration spell. It had significantly reduced since he¡¯d first gotten the spell, and he found that he would be able to use it again soon. Very soon. Willpower Infusion, too, had reached the end of its cooldown¡ªbut using that again was a risk he didn¡¯t want to take. He had felt his mind bending to the will of the demon. That wasn¡¯t something he wished to experience again. Only a little longer¡­ There was one more thing that he needed to do if his contingency plan was to work. Summoning the Spirit of Vengeance, he knew, wouldn¡¯t be enough. Yes, the Spirit of Vengeance would be able to destroy the bits of the black substance inside of the infected beasts they faced on this mountain, but Xavier needed to be able to harm it himself. There was no telling what else they would have to face here. The demon could very well have other C Grades under its thrall. He didn¡¯t want to find that out when the Spirit of Vengeance was too injured to help. The Spirit of Vengeance was powerful, but its power was limited. There were two more spells Xavier needed to cast, and something else he needed to do on top of that. Colour flowed back into the world. The fight began once more. The beasts coming their way seemed to double. They could both still handle it, which was making Xavier worry. This is too easy. If others are able to dispense with this black stuff without controlling The Nightmare, how is it no one in this sector has been able to kill this thing? Wouldn¡¯t it be as simple as killing all of its minions? That was certainly how he had been approaching this fight. He¡¯d already scoured over half the mountain, killing every infected beast he could along with the substance that controlled them. If that substance was the entity, then he must be on the right track. He had been able to feel the damage he¡¯d been doing to it, after all. Just as he had that thought, the ground shook, as though a great earthquake was underway. They were currently on the side of the mountain. He glanced up. Rocks were beginning to fall from above, and though the earthquake he¡¯d felt had ended, there was a strange vibration in the ground. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure what was causing that vibration, but he had a good idea of what it could be. A beast came out of the ground, one that Xavier had never seen before. It was some kind of rock worm, but the worm was massive. It opened its giant maw, revealing several rows of sharp-looking stone teeth. There were more coming from out of the ground. He could feel a vibration right beneath him. Xavier leapt up and expanded his wings just as something burst out of the ground. Volkarin had already been in the air. The dragon had been swooping down and burning and freezing all of the oozing black substance that Xavier left behind whenever he killed the beasts. Good to see you using those wings, young dragonkin, the dragon said in his mind as he flew past. Xavier focused on the beasts that had just burst up from the ground, scanning the nearest of them. {Infected Rock Worm - Level 305} This C Grade beast has been infected by The Nightmare. It is no longer under its own will. Rock Worms are ancient creatures who live beneath mountains. They rarely come up to the surface, and only do so when they feel their domain has been threatened. They are able to control earth and stone, and they have the power to inflict petrification on their enemies if they are able to clamp their teeth around them. Don¡¯t get bitten. There were at least four of the bastards coming out of the ground. Xavier scanned all of them, and found all of them to be C Grade beasts. Four C Grade beasts? He¡¯d come here to face only one, and now he was facing four more? And he had a feeling there was more to all of this than what he was doing, for the presence that he¡¯d felt, it was only growing stronger, and there was a feeling emanating from it. Anger. Book 5: Chapter 15 – The Old Ways Xavier surveyed the battlefield. Not for the first time since he¡¯d started the fight against The Nightmare, he felt fear. Fear that he wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to succeed. No, he told himself. I can do this. Four C Grade beasts had just burst up from the ground beneath the Dark Mountains. They were massive Rock Worms that looked terrifying to behold. Xavier had never faced more than a single C Grade beast at one time. And all four of them were infected by The Nightmare. Xavier had, however, faced several C Grades on his own since he¡¯d become D Grade. Killing the Fetid Forest Troll had been the hardest C Grade he¡¯d faced alone. After he¡¯d gained power from all of the titles from killing that thing, and the titles from being D Grade¡ªnot to mention simply becoming D Grade at all and the new class and race he possessed¡ªit had become a lot easier. He may not have faced anything like this before, but hadn¡¯t he come here looking for a challenge? Xavier grinned. This one felt a little bit forced, but he ran with it. The dragon Volkarin, summoned as the Spirit of Vengeance, spoke to Xavier in his mind. It looks as though this fight just became more interesting! There was evident glee in the spirit¡¯s voice. Xavier wondered what this beast was like in life. Something told him Volkarin might have been a villain. But Xavier was glad to have the dragon by his side. The earth shuddered. Rocks suddenly shot up from the ground like cannonballs and hurtled toward Xavier and the dragon. Xavier dodged the projectiles, but they were coming faster than he¡¯d expected. He was putting every ounce of his energy toward this task. Evasion has reached Rank 105! Xavier cast Hover Dodge, and suddenly he had more grace in the air than even Volkarin. The rocks become easier to dodge, but they were still a nuisance he didn¡¯t wish to deal with. There were more steps to Xavier¡¯s continency plan. Things he needed to do in order to have a chance at defeating this demon. Time Alteration was mere seconds from reaching the end of its cooldown. Xavier swooped down, dodging rock after rock. He wasn¡¯t the only one dealing with this. The Spirit of Vengeance had been struck by several already¡ªhe was a far larger target¡ªand though the dragon was powerful, he wasn¡¯t able to defeat four C Grades. This onslaught was practically putting him out of the fight. Xavier moved like the wind, coming close to one of the Rock Worms. The beast snapped its teeth at him. Xavier whirled, dodging them by an inch¡ªthe last thing he needed was to be petrified¡ªthen touched a hand to the beast¡¯s head. Time Prison! The beast became frozen in time as the spell was cast. Xavier hadn¡¯t used Time Prison on a C Grade enemy since he¡¯d become D Grade¡ªhe¡¯d never felt the need to. Time Prison was a powerful spell. It locked whoever he touched in time. This meant that whoever¡ªor whatever¡ªhe locked down wasn¡¯t able to strike back. But, as they were currently locked in a different time stream for the duration of the spell, it also meant that Xavier wasn¡¯t able to deal damage to them. This, he knew, would make it a valuable spell to use on an ally if they were ever in danger. It was also a good way to put an enemy on pause. The only downside was he never knew how long the spell would last. The projectiles were taken down by a quarter as one of the Rock Worms was temporarily out of commission. This gave both Xavier and the dragon enough breathing room to dodge the enemy attacks in the air and strike back at the same time. Xavier bit his lip, there was a spell he could use, but if he did¡­ there was a chance he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it again in this fight. Soul Strike was that spell, and its cooldown was locked to the number of souls he used for it, and who knew how long the rest of this fight would take? Technically, he¡¯d only been on the mountain for a few minutes, as he¡¯d used his Time Alteration spell for much of that time. Xavier soared toward one of the other Rock Worms and struck it hard at the top of its head with Enhanced Telekinetic Strike. His strength and power was so much that he managed to cut through its rock skin, leaving gouges where his claws had sliced. He even knocked the worm backward, halting its stream of attacks for a moment. The Rock Worm did not cry out in pain, but of course it didn¡¯t¡ªit was possessed by The Nightmare. Xavier flew out of range of the beast as it whipped its head back and snapped its teeth at him, then he whirled around and faced the worm. His soul bound weapon shifted from reinforcing his arms back to a staff in almost an instant. Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the worm he¡¯d just struck¡ªshards of the beast¡¯s soul shot out and hit the other four wurms. Those shards also killed some of the lower-level beasts in the area¡ªthen Xavier dodged another of those damned rocks. This is still too much. I need a distraction. Xavier saw all of the beast corpses scattered around the battlefield. There were more infected D Grade beasts coming to the field as well. The flow of them never seemed to cease. If Xavier didn¡¯t do something soon, they would be overwhelmed.Stolen novel; please report. There were plenty of levers he hadn¡¯t pulled yet, however, and this was only one of them. Soul Puppet! One of the dead beasts sprang up from the ground. Xavier smiled. He could use that spell every second. It wouldn¡¯t take long for him to have an army of his own. Time Alteration finally reached the end of its cooldown in that moment, and he cast it in an instant. There was something he needed to do. Something he needed time for. Besides, the Time Alteration spell would offer its own protection. Xavier hadn¡¯t encompassed anyone else within the spell¡ªjust himself. At least for now. The time bubble was a sphere high up in the air as that was where Xavier currently hovered. In the last few months since Xavier had become D Grade and gained his Portal spell, he¡¯d been looking for gaps in his fighting ability. Perhaps it was because he hadn¡¯t faced a true challenge up until now, he had yet to find something he felt was worthy of using the second Spell Credit on¡ªhe¡¯d still yet to gain any other spells another way as well, something which he hoped would still happen in the future. He was only Level 202, after all. The dragon Volkarin was easily able to destroy the black substance. Xavier was not. He didn¡¯t have a spell that allowed him to do the right kind of damage against it. That was something which he needed to change. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate to cast Otherworldly Communion. Time froze as colour bled from the world. You have successfully connected to the Otherworld. What kind of insight do you wish to receive?
  1. Strategic insight
  2. Personal insight
  3. Sector insight
  4. Greater Universe insight
The cooldown for this spell varies depending on the level of insight you receive. If you have a specific question you wish to gain insight on, hold it in your mind as you choose your option. Xavier didn¡¯t have to think on his option. He already knew what he wanted to gain from this. Personal insight, he willed, holding the question he wanted an answer to in his mind. A bright light shined before him as the spirit summoned to give him insight made its way into this world. As the spirit came into being, Xavier contemplated all of the properties he had assimilated in the past¡ªhis melee strikes weren¡¯t only physical damage. He had some elemental damage in there as well, a trait he¡¯d received all the way back on the fifth floor, even if it wasn¡¯t something he thought about often. Why hadn¡¯t that been enough to kill the black substance? It was these very questions he needed to ask the spirit he summoned. Xavier didn¡¯t know what kind of spirit to expect to appear. He had seen many spirits in his time. One had even been a tiny, humanoid hamster, of all things. The spirit that appeared before him now however looked entirely human. They had a shaved head and wore orange robes that looked as though they would suit a monk from the east. The man had a youthful appearance, and a peaceful visage. His fists were touching each other just below his chest, and his eyes were closed, almost as though he were in prayer¡ªor meditation. The man opened his eyes and looked at Xavier. What insight do you wish to gain, young Denizen? For a moment, Xaiver wondered just how old he would need to be before these spirits stopped calling him young. Would it be decades, centuries¡­ or millennia? He would find out eventually. I need a spell. Something that will make me able to destroy the enemy I currently face more effectively, but that will also synergise well with the other paths of power I already walk, and serve me well in the future. The man inclined his head in a sagely nod. I can offer you this insight, young Denizen. I see you walk many paths, but there is one path that has not been highly developed. One path that you could benefit from greatly if you were to strengthen it. Xavier blinked. He only had one portal magic spell, two mind control spells, and two time magic spells¡­ was it one of those paths the spirit was talking about? Which path do you speak of, spirit? The path of the unarmed fighter. Xavier frowned. Thinking back to all the fights he had been in. He had several skills that helped him on that path, but only a single spell, Enhanced Telekinetic Strike. A part of him was offended that the spirit thought this path of his was underdeveloped, considering how powerful he was as a melee fighter these days¡ªespecially since becoming dragonkin. That transformation had only made him more effective. But there was another part of him that was thrilled to find out he there was something lacking in him¡ªthat could be even stronger. What do you suggest? You have heard of cultivation. There is no doubt about that¡ªyou cultivate energy into your cores, and I see the ones you have unlocked. That is a journey you still walk, and one you will walk for your entire existence. But there is something that you are missing. Missing? There is a way to cultivate energy not only into one¡¯s cores, but into one¡¯s body. Xavier blinked. Cultivate energy into my body? he asked. I have never heard of such a thing. It is not a path that many walk. It is an old path, one that is not favoured by the new universes. There are many reasons for this¡ªone of those reasons is that not many here are ever able to gain access to it. Xavier frowned. An old path? He had a feeling. How old? The spirit raised its head. From the time before. Xavier swallowed. A time¡­ before the System? Indeed. You are wise beyond your years, young Denizen. You walk the Infinite Path, and so even the Old Ways are now open to you¡ªthis is one of those ways. Xavier lowered his head in thought. One of the Old Ways¡­ something from before the time of the System¡­ That interested him greatly, though he still wondered at gaining powers similar to those wielded back then. The same question remained within him¡ªhadn¡¯t they created the System because their powers weren¡¯t great enough? Didn¡¯t they need something more to combat the threat that destroyed the universe? But he sensed, and was starting to discover, that there was more to it than that. Will this allow me to kill the entity I face? Will this¡­ Body Cultivation give me the ability to harm it? He paused. And why is it the elemental damage I possess isn¡¯t enough? This will allow you to damage the entity, whether you ultimately kill it is not something I can foresee. And the reason your elemental damage does not harm this demon is because it simply isn¡¯t strong enough¡ªyou gained that trait when you were E Grade. Do you think an E Grade, even with a strong elemental magic attack, would be able to harm this substance? Xavier sighed, feeling foolish. Of course they would not. Indeed, and so you cannot expect to with this alone. Xavier supposed if he¡¯d thought that through for a little longer, he would have come to that realisation by himself. But, at least he had a concrete answer from the spirit. Which spell on the Body Cultivation path should I take? There is only one spell. Xavier had one more question he wanted to ask the spirit, one he wished to slip in before it disappeared. How do you know of this path, if it is of the Old Ways? The spirit looked at him, something twinkled in its eyes. The answer to that does not pertain to your question. Goodbye, Xavier Collins. The spirit began to disappear, and colour returned to the world. Book 5: Chapter 16 - Lost Art The spirit that Xavier had summoned through Otherworldly Communion to see what new spell he needed to gain¡ªwhat new path of power he needed to walk¡ªhad just disappeared. Xavier hovered inside of his time bubble above the battlefield on the side of the Dark Mountains, four C Grade Infected Rock Worms were below him, as well as hundreds¡ªperhaps thousands¡ªof infected D Grade beasts. Volkarin, summoned as the Spirit of Vengeance, hovered nearby, also frozen in time. Body Cultivation. A path of melee fighting. Something the spirit had said was of the Old Ways¡ªfrom a time before the System. If this was the path he needed to take, then he would have to get up close and personal with these foes¡ªthat meant there would be more of a chance of The Nightmare substance getting onto his skin. But this Body Cultivation the spirit had spoken of¡­ even though the spirit hadn¡¯t said a great deal about it, something about it simply felt right. Being able to cultivate energy directly into his body, instead of just into his cores¡­ it sounded like it had a great amount of potential. And there was only a single spell on the path. Xavier focused on the one remaining Spell Credit he still possessed. You have one Spell Credit to spend. Spell Credits are unique to only a few different classes in the Greater Universe. They allow a Denizen to choose from any approved spells available to them. There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen. You may choose from the following categories¡­ Once again, thousands of different categories were displayed before him, for as a someone who walked the Infinite Path, he could choose from every single one possible, Xavier ignored them all and willed a search for what he wished for. The other categories all disappeared, and only a single one remained before his eyes. Body Cultivation. Xavier selected it. Another notification appeared. If you choose to look at the Body Cultivation category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category. Do you wish to continue? Xavier only hesitated for a moment. It might have been wise, he knew, to try and do a little more research on this. Since choosing his last spell, in the months that he¡¯d been training on the hundredth floor as a D Grade, he¡¯d returned back to the Staging Room in the Tower of Champions¡ªusing his Time Alteration spell to freeze time while he was there, so he only spent a moment away from the floor. There, he had purchased several different informational books on spells from the System Shop, which he¡¯d torn through reading. He¡¯d discovered so many different potential paths for him to take. Gravity magic was something he was most intrigued about, simply because of how awesome it sounded, and the potential it had. But in all of his research, he¡¯d never once come across Body Cultivation. This was an unknown, and somehow, that made it even more exciting to him. Xavier willed his selection, choosing the category, knowing there was no turning back now. Once he opened up the category of spells he found what the spirit had said was correct¡ªthere was only a single spell that he could choose from. Xavier chose the spell. You have gained the spell: Body Cultivation Xavier grinned as he received the spell. God, it always felt good to gain more magic. He couldn¡¯t help but take some time to bask in the moment. There was something amazing about the sheer potential of a new spell, especially when he didn¡¯t know much about that spell. Right now he could dream up a thousand possibilities for how it might function and how he might use it. The second he opened it up, those possibilities would narrow to a point, but the reality of having another spell to play with was equally thrilling. He wondered what the past version of himself would think if he could see where he was right now¡ªif he could see all that he¡¯d done. It would definitely blow his mind. Xavier pulled himself out of his reverie. Sometimes, when you were in a time dilation field, it was easy to get distracted from everything that was happening outside of the bubble. But now more than ever, he needed to focus.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. He ordered his mind and opened up the description for his newly gained spell. Body Cultivation ¨C Rank 1 Body Cultivation is the process of enhancing the body through the use of internal energy cultivated from outside of oneself. When mastered, this energy can be used to strengthen and empower every inch of a cultivator¡¯s body. Xavier¡¯s eyes narrowed. He reread the description a second time and found it to be¡­ Very thin. It didn¡¯t tell him much. When he¡¯d heard the spirit say the term Body Cultivation, he¡¯d figured this information out on his own. Wasn¡¯t there more to this that the System could tell him? Body Cultivation comes from before the System¡­ But the System must have been aware of it. He¡¯d used a Spell Credit, through the System, to gain the spell. Xavier sighed. There was one other person¡ªother than himself or the spirit he¡¯d just summoned¡ªwho he¡¯d spoken to that seemed to have some knowledge of things from before the System. Rhaalir? he called out with his mind. Rhaalir, are you near? He hadn¡¯t seen the spirit for weeks. He hadn¡¯t needed any further tutelage on his Otherworldly spells, and that seemed to have disrupted the connection. But the contract still held¡ªhe would have felt if it broke. Xavier hadn¡¯t intended to address that problem today, but now it seemed as though he didn¡¯t have a better option. He called out with his mind five more times before the spirit finally turned up. But there was something wrong. The elf spirit looked far more transparent than he usually did, and the image of him flickered, disappearing completely twice before asserting itself. The spirit hovered in the air in front of him. The elf had a look of confusion in his eyes. He stared at Xavier and blinked. Xavier? He looked around. Where are we? Over the Dark Mountains. I am battling The Nightmare, a C Grade demon. Xavier flew a little closer to the elf spirit. What¡¯s happening to you, Rhaalir? The elf spirit shook his head, still looking dazed. Finally, his image seemed to solidify. It was still transparent, but no more transparent than it usually was. I apologise, the elf spirit said in Xavier¡¯s mind. His voice sounded stronger and more clear than a moment ago. I have been struggling to keep the connection between myself and you active. Xavier frowned. You have? Why is that? The elf shook his head. Truthfully, I am not sure. I have never remained under a contract for as long as this in the past. I have heard that the longer a spirit is contracted to stay in the Mortal Realm, the more difficult the connection becomes, but¡­ I don¡¯t know why that is. I should be becoming stronger. Part of the contract was that Xavier would give a portion of his Soul Energy to the spirit for the duration of the contract. This was, supposedly, something that should have strengthened him, though Xavier didn¡¯t really know how that worked¡ªhe still didn¡¯t have a proper working understanding of Soul Energy, either. What is it you called me here for, Xavier? Do you wish to know something more about your Otherworld spells? Can you remain here long? The elf spirit looked unsure. I do not know. Xavier carried on with his question. It seemed as though there was no time to delay. Perhaps he could ask the Spirit of Vengeance why this was happening¡ªit could be a while until he used Otherworldly Communion to gain insight again. He explained to the spirit what he¡¯d done, the spell he¡¯d gained, and that it had origins from before the time of the System. The elf spirit nodded as Xavier talked. Xavier took this as a good thing. Until Rhaalir replied. I know very little of this, Xavier. I know of Otherworldly spells. That is why you made a connection with me and not some other spirit. If you know of Otherworldly spells, why do you not know about what is happening to yourself? Because I never held a contract with a spirit this long. It is¡­ The elf¡¯s gaze shifted away from Xavier. Not considered safe. Spirits from the Otherworld cannot always be trusted. That was certainly not something the man had ever said before. I can feel myself changing, in ways I do not yet understand. Perhaps it would be wise for you to break the contract with me, for your own safety. Xavier blinked. He hadn¡¯t expected Rhaalir to be as noble as that, though he supposed he had no reason to think otherwise about the elf. Would that help you? he asked. I do not think I am in danger. Then I will discover more of what is happening before I make that decision. Now, we may not have much time. You said you knew little¡ªwhat is it you do know? Body Cultivation is a lost art. I¡¯m not sure if anyone anywhere in your universe even knows what it is. I have only heard whispers of it, like many things that came from the time Before. The spirit that told you to choose this¡­ they will know more. They must. Xavier inclined his head. He suppressed a sigh and kept his frustration inside. Now was not the time to vent to Rhaalir, not considering what the spirit was clearly going through. That time would come in the future, however. We will speak again soon, Rhaalir. I hope s¡ª Rhaalir disappeared before he¡¯d even finished the sentence. He flickered out into nothing, and Xavier got the impression that the elf had been forcing himself to appear, and that it had required a great amount of effort for him to remain here. Xavier hovered there alone in the middle of his time dilation field, his head bent deeply in contemplation. He looked down below him and found a clear area, and slowly carved the time dilation field through the air until he was back on solid ground. He retracted his wings, though not all the way, and sat cross-legged on grass unsullied by the oozing, black substance. He released a sigh. The Body Cultivation spell did not at all describe its use, and Rhaalir knew nothing about it. The monk-like spirit Xavier had spoken to about the spell had told him it would help him in his current situation, and he was aware that spirits weren¡¯t allowed to lie to him while he used Otherworldly Communion. So the monk-like spirit had been telling him the truth. It was simply up to Xavier to figure out what he needed to do. Good thing I¡¯m inside a time dilation field. That will give me plenty of time to figure this out¡­ And if it didn¡¯t work, well, he was sure that he could come up with a third plan. Even if that plan meant retreating, and fighting this fight another day¡­ that was still an option, after all, even if it wasn¡¯t one he wished to take. Xavier was about to cast Body Cultivation when he stopped himself¡ªhe was inside a time dilation field. He had no idea what this spell did, and he also had no idea how long the cooldown was. If he needed to experiment with the spell, he¡¯d have to bring the field down to do it¡­ That doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll just have to figure this out. He shifted where he sat. Currently, Xavier was in a state of meditation. He was observing every inch of not only his body, but the cores within. He had become a diligent cultivator in his time since being integrated. The moment he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core, he¡¯d cultivated energy into it every single day. How hard could this lost art that no one in his entire universe likely knew anything about be? He chuckled to himself. Then he cast Body Cultivation for the first time. Book 5: Chapter 17 - Body Cultivation Xavier sat cross legged on the ground as great energies flooded into him. No notification appeared to tell him what the spell he¡¯d just cast did, though he had plenty of spells that lacked notifications on casting. Xavier had cultivated energies into himself before¡ªa great many times¡ªbut it had never felt quite like this. The energy had nowhere to go. It wasn¡¯t heading to any of his uncovered cores. It was simply swirling around the different energy pathways in his body. Xavier wrinkled his forehead in concentration as he shut his eyes and focused inwardly. He used senses he had been developing since the moment he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core. Since then, he had uncovered several more cores¡ªhis Willpower Core before he¡¯d reached the rank of E Grade, and his Speed Core before he¡¯d reached the rank of D Grade. He¡¯d yet to uncover a fourth core, but he knew he would do that in the future. The energy that he took in wasn¡¯t specific¡ªit felt like the raw energy known as Celestial Energy. Celestial Energy was the energy that fuelled all of a Denizen¡¯s cores. When it was cultivated, it turned into the necessary energy for each of the six different cores, which each had a corresponding attribute. The Celestial Energy moved down one pathway to the next, in a seemingly unordered way, until it finally left his body and dissipated into nothing. Xavier opened his eyes with a frown. ¡°Well¡­ that was anticlimactic.¡± The energy had just¡­ disappeared. And as far as he could tell, it hadn¡¯t actually done anything for him. Maybe there was something going on that he wasn¡¯t aware of. But if so¡­ he wasn¡¯t aware of it. He let out a sigh, then tilted his head to the side curiously. Usually, when a spell was cast or when it ended, he would feel the cooldown for that spell activate. No such thing happened for this spell. He concentrated on it, but nothing showed up. The spell had no cooldown at all. He looked inward once more, this time at his cores, and realised that he hadn¡¯t spent a single bit of energy to cast the spell. That¡¯s strange. Usually it¡¯s only skills that don¡¯t require energy to cast, and all my other cultivation abilities are in the skills category¡­ That at least settled something¡ªhe was able to experiment with this spell inside the time dilation field. Which was good, because he certainly didn¡¯t have a handle on it after a single cast. Xavier just sat there for a long moment, staring outside the barrier at the chaos with the four Infected Rock Worms, the C Grade beasts that The Nightmare controlled, and the boulders they had launched up at the sky like cannonballs in a steady stream of attacks. Not to mention all the other infected D Grade beasts. Volkarin was high in the sky, a stream of fire and ice flowing from his giant maw. The dragon looked more ferocious than he ever had. There was a very small part of Xavier that wondered if he should be regretting his choice of spell. Only moments ago, before he¡¯d opened the spell description, he was excited to discover what it could be. Now, he was more annoyed than anything else. Maybe it¡¯s a lost art because it isn¡¯t even useful anymore. There must be plenty of ¡°Old Ways¡± that were forgotten because they were simply no good. He let out yet another sigh and banished those negative thoughts, ordering his mind once more. There was no point in feeling self-pity about his spell choice. He had trusted the spirit he¡¯d spoken to, and at the time he¡¯d gotten a feeling of rightness about the path. Besides, he couldn¡¯t change what he had done. The phrase came to him unbidden, One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier had always known the truth in those words, but now more than ever they were clear. I¡¯m just going to have to work with what I¡¯ve chosen. Xavier closed his eyes once more and cast Body Cultivation for a second time. He felt the Celestial Energy flow into him, and this time instead of simply observing the process, he took control of it. Xavier found that he could easily control the flow of the energies that came inside of him¡ªwhich made sense. He had been cultivating Celestial Energy for a long time. He had also been cycling different energies around his body and back into his core since he¡¯d uncovered his Spirit Core. This all felt incredibly natural and easy to him. The moment he took control of the energy a notification popped up in his vision.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 2 Spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 5 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier blinked. He certainly hadn¡¯t been expecting that to happen. He¡¯d gained four ranks in the spell simply by moving the energy around in his body? He still didn¡¯t actually feel any different, but at least¡ªas far as the System was concerned¡ªhe was on the right track. Xavier sat there for several hours, cycling the energy through his body, and brinigng more of that energy into him. This process was an easy, intuitive one to him, and he gained several more ranks as he did this, until he reached Rank 25 in Body Cultivation, and all progress suddenly stopped. He still didn¡¯t even know where to keep that energy. It simply left him when he was done cycling it. Even with all those ranks achieved in such a short time, he still had no idea what he was actually doing with the spell. He stopped what he was doing and got up from where he¡¯d been sitting cross legged. He paced around the clearing, remaining inside of the time dilation field he¡¯d created, and tried to think through what was going on. The Body Cultivation spell clearly wasn¡¯t like any other spell that he¡¯d learnt in the past. Usually, a spell would guide the Denizen through its usage. Simply casting the spell did the thing the spell was designed to do. But this was something from before the System, and it didn¡¯t appear to function in the same ways as that. There were no frameworks built into the spell itself. Nothing about this was automatic. Xavier was simply wielding raw energies without a clue as to what to actually do with them. He would need to figure out what to do with them by himself. This would require an amount of experimentation that no other spell in his arsenal had ever needed, and right now he certainly had no access to an instructor who could help him. The spell was similar to his cultivation skills, but there were clearly things about it he was missing. So far, all he had been able to do was circulate the energies around his body, and that clearly hadn¡¯t been enough. There were other things he would need to do if he was to master this spell. ¡°No,¡± Xavier said to himself. ¡°This isn¡¯t just a spell. That¡¯s my problem. This entire category of magic has only this one thing. It¡¯s not a spell. It¡¯s an entire path.¡± Xavier sat down on the ground again, cross-legged once more, and closed his eyes. He cast Body Cultivation, bringing Celestial Energy into it and cycling it through the different channels in his body. Then he opened his eyes and raised his right hand and looked at it. He focused on the energies moving around his body and pushed them toward his hand. Before the System, the Denizens that existed didn¡¯t have already established frameworks to work with. They would have had to work with the raw energies and figure everything out for themselves. They would have created spells. They would have made everything that was now in the Greater Universe from scratch. As Xavier pushed the energy toward his hand, he felt something curious stir inside of him. A sense of wonder. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d felt this. There were so many things that he had discovered in the Greater Universe since being integrated by the System, things that were arguably much more amazing than what he was doing right now. But there was something alluring about the possibilities of what he was doing right now. The energy flowed down his arm until it reached his palm. He pushed it toward his fingers and suddenly felt as though the energy wanted to be released back into the air¡ªthis was what often happened when he was practising with this new spell. The energy would simply leave him before he¡¯d really done anything with it. This time, Xavier didn¡¯t let the energy leave him. Instead, he made it pool into his hand. As he watched his hand, something curious happened. It began to develop a red glow. Xavier blinked down at his hand, glowing as red as metal heated long at the forge. He tilted his head to one side. The longer he pooled the energy at his hand, the warmer his hand was becoming. Xavier was able to handle incredibly cold or hot temperatures with ease the way his body had developed, and he was sure that had only been further enhanced when he¡¯d become a dragonkin¡ªit wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d gone out of his way to test. But he had to imagine that a dragonkin, of all the different races, would have a particular strength for withstanding heat. It was a natural assumption to make. And yet the heat pooling in his hand was beginning to grow unbearable, to the point where he could see that his skin was starting to melt. Xavier tried to pull the Celestial Energy away from his hand, but for some reason it was trapped there. He had the inane desire to wildly shake his hand, as though he¡¯d just touched a hot stove, but he resisted. He could keep a cool head in a crisis. If he wasn¡¯t able to, he would have died a long time ago. If I can¡¯t move the energy back through the channels and into my body, maybe I can release it. Xavier raised his hand. It was shaking now. The pain was intense, but he bore it well. The skin was melting so much he could see his bone beneath. He wasn¡¯t worried¡ªhe could heal from such a wound¡ªbut it still made a shiver of fear run up him. What if he¡¯d pooled the energy in the wrong place, and melted something else by accident? He shook that thought away and refocused, pushing the energy out of his body. This, too, seemed blocked in some way. Usually, if he wasn¡¯t careful to keep hold of the Celestial Energy, the energies would disperse out of him without him even meaning for it to happen. His hand continued to melt. More of the skin and muscle was sizzling and disappearing before his eyes. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how hot it was getting, for it to actually be doing him this much damage¡ªto him of all people. Your health is at 90%. Doing this has taken away 10 percent of my health? That¡¯s insane! Xavier didn¡¯t let himself panic. Panic wouldn¡¯t serve him. All it would do was make the situation worse. But he definitely wanted to panic. He wanted to freeze time, give himself time to think, but it was already frozen around him. Xavier released a breath. He had a sudden insight, though it was one that felt foolish. One that felt like it would be nothing but a waste of time. But it was something that he needed to try. His flashes of insight often got him out of trouble. He wasn¡¯t going to stop listening to them now. If he ignored every crazy idea he had, he¡¯d never have gotten anywhere. Xavier stood, curled his fingers into a fist¡ªhe had to retract his claws to do so¡ªand punched. At the same time as he punched, he focused on the energies in his hand, and a target in the air where his fist struck. There was nothing there to hit, but he hoped that this would work¡ªnot that he even knew what he was doing. Xavier struck air. And¡­ Nothing happened. His hand slowly melted away until it was completely gone. Book 5: Chapter 18 - Like Using Rocket Fuel to Try and Run a Bicycle Xavier stared at the stump where his right hand used to be. The Lost Bone of a Dead God, the soul bound weapon that he had, was sitting beside him in its scythe-staff form. He was glad he hadn¡¯t been using it in its unarmed configuration. It would have likely been melted beyond repair. His hand, however, appeared to be growing back. Once Xavier¡¯s hand had melted to nothing, the energies that he¡¯d pooled there had finally dissipated into the air, and left¡­ a cauterised stump. Fortunately for Xavier, it was only cooldowns that were locked to the universe he was in. While he was in his Time Alteration field, he was still able to heal himself. He had never lost a limb before, but he¡¯d done his research. If he¡¯d lost this limb while he¡¯d been E Grade, it would have been near impossible for him to grow it back¡ªit was a very expensive procedure. He would have had to wait until he¡¯d gotten to D Grade, and his body had been reforged by the System, for him to get his hand back. As a D Grade, however, he now had the ability to regrow limbs, and Xavier¡¯s Toughness was high enough that his health regeneration was quite strong. Even so, it still took four hours for his hand to grow back. He supposed if it grew back in an instant, severing limbs in a fight wouldn¡¯t do all that much. It was a slow and painful process. Xavier simply sat there in the middle of his time dilation field, wondering where he¡¯d gone wrong. He was trying as hard as he could to master this Body Cultivation spell in the very little time that he had. After what he¡¯d just done, it seemed like a fool¡¯s errand. It reminded him, very much, of the time that he had burned through his core when he¡¯d first been experimenting with it. Sam had shouted at him, told him he¡¯d been an absolute fool to do what he¡¯d done. Xavier had instruction back then. This time, he was working completely blind, and there wasn¡¯t anyone around to help him if he messed up. He needed to figure this out on his own. When just over four hours had passed, Xavier released a long breath and raised his hand. The skin looked different to how it had before. It looked redder, more raw. It also felt smoother than it had before. Xavier hadn¡¯t read about that. He wondered if it would return to its normal colour in time, but he supposed he didn¡¯t really mind. During those four hours while he¡¯d waited for his hand to heal, Xavier hadn¡¯t practised with the Body Cultivation spell at all. He wasn¡¯t feeling confident in it, and the last thing he needed was two of his hands to be melted into nothing. So he¡¯d just sat there, contemplating what had gone wrong. By the time his hand had finally grown back, he had a smile on his face. Something he hadn¡¯t expected. But, he couldn¡¯t help himself. The worst had happened. He¡¯d messed up the spell and it had backfired¡ªpretty hard¡ªon him. But he had been able to fix that. And even though he hadn¡¯t managed to use Body Cultivation in a significant, helpful, way, it had shown him something¡ªthe path of power had potential. If it was strong enough to do that kind of damage to him, without him even knowing how to use it, then how strong might it become when he did learn how it was used? Something else had also happened when his hand had been melting, he¡¯d just been too focused to realise it. The spell had received some ranks. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 26 Spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 30 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. I really received ranks for doing that? Xavier couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and laugh. Somehow, the System thought he¡¯d developed the spell in a significant way because he¡¯d¡­ melted his hand to nothing. Maybe it was because the System didn¡¯t really know much about this spell, but then again, he knew that the System was only describing the level of power that he had attained, and not necessarily giving it to him. Xavier stood up and paced around inside his time dilation field. The C Grade Infected Rock Worms were still frozen in time outside of his field, and he ignored them as best as he could. There was a fight going on out there, and here he was just¡­ meditating and practicing with a spell. His life had become even stranger when he¡¯d gained that Time Alteration spell. Things no longer felt as urgent when he was in the middle of a life a death battle, even though they were just as urgent as they had ever been. All right, well, if I gained five ranks in Body Cultivation for what I just did, that must mean I made some kind of progress with the spell. So, whatever I did, I was clearly on the right track, even if it didn¡¯t work. That made him frown. He looked down at his right hand. Still red. Still oddly smooth. Still looking¡­ raw. If he¡¯d been on the right track, it meant he would need to try to do the exact same thing again. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think he could handle the pain¡ªhe certainly didn¡¯t want to intentionally inflict that kind of pain on himself¡ªit was simply that he didn¡¯t see what he could do differently.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. That flash of insight that he¡¯d had¡­ it hadn¡¯t worked. He wondered if that was because he hadn¡¯t had a proper target. All he¡¯d actually done was try and strike the air. But no, he didn¡¯t think it was that. He could launch a spell at nothing if he so wished. Most of his spells, at least. There were very few that were so limited as to need a target¡ªTime Prison was one of them. This one Body Cultivation spell was an entire path of power, which meant that it wouldn¡¯t be so restricted as to be always needed to be used against a target, right? That made sense to him, and so he had to run with it. That meant that he¡¯d done something wrong when he¡¯d punched. Maybe he hadn¡¯t been able to expend the energy in the right way. Perhaps because he¡¯d never done something like this in the past. He thought about all of the spells that he possessed. On a fundamental level, he¡¯d never really examined how they worked. He didn¡¯t need to. All he needed to do was cast the spell, to will it to happen in the right way, and what he needed to happen would happen. The only physical combat spell that he possessed was Enhanced Telekinetic Strike, and that wasn¡¯t a melee spell in the same way that Body Cultivation clearly was. It was a telekinetic spell that had been modified to do what he required it to do. Xavier tapped his foot ever harder on the ground the more he got frustrated with this problem. He¡¯d been going through all of these exact same thoughts as he¡¯d sat there for the past four hours and watched his hand grow back. Why was he putting himself through going over them all again? There weren¡¯t any new insights for him to glean without actually taking action, were there? So that was what Xavier did. This time, he didn¡¯t sit cross-legged on the ground when he cast this spell. He was standing up. Xavier cast Body Cultivation. Celestial Energy tried to flood into his body, but he was easily able to control the flow of it. As the energy entered his body, more thoughts entered his mind, these ones coming unbidden. When Xavier had first had trouble controlling his aura and his core, it had been because he hadn¡¯t struck the perfect balance at which his Spirit Core burned energy. He tilted his head to the side. It was all cultivation, wasn¡¯t it? This was simply a different, more ancient form of cultivation than the ones that he had practised in the past. It was something more raw. A form of cultivation from a universe long dead¡­ But, he had to believe it functioned in a similar way. Cycling energy through his entire body had certainly seemed to serve an important function. It had made the ranks in his spell go up. That¡¯s something the people before the System wouldn¡¯t have had¡ªan indication that what they were doing was actually working. For a moment, he wondered about what he was doing. Even before he¡¯d had the Body Cultivation spell, he¡¯d known how to bring Celestial Energy into his body and have it flow around the currents. He¡¯d known how to cycle it through his body, even if that energy always came back into his core. This was something that all Denizens learnt how to do. It was remarkably similar to what he was doing right now. It seemed as though he would be able to use all the fundamentals of Body Cultivation without even having the spell, so there must be something that he was missing here. Xavier paced around the time dilation field again. Despite how much patience he¡¯d cultivated during Liana¡¯s instruction, he was beginning to feel frustrated. The frustration wasn¡¯t doing him any favours. All it would do would be cloud his judgement, and that was the last thing he needed right now. Think, Xavier. Think. Body Cultivation must be different in some fundamental way to the other ways that he could cultivate. It mustn¡¯t only be limited to drawing energy into himself and manipulating its movement around his body. There had to be something else that Body Cultivation did. He brought up the spell¡¯s description again, even though he knew it was rather limited. Body Cultivation ¨C Rank 1 Body Cultivation is the process of enhancing the body through the use of internal energy cultivated from outside of oneself. When mastered, this energy can be used to strengthen and empower every inch of a cultivator¡¯s body. Xavier read over the description several times. He wasn¡¯t pacing around the time dilation field, so much as striding and stomping, leaving holes in the ground everywhere stepped. Finally, he stopped himself and took a deep breath. Concentrate. You can figure this out. One of the fundamental ways in which this was different to his cultivation skills that involved his cores was that the energy didn¡¯t have anywhere that it could remain. There was no place to put the power¡ªit had to be used, or it was lost. And he couldn¡¯t use the other energies that were in his cores for Body Cultivation. That was clear. The description had specifically said that the power needed to be cultivated from outside of himself, and that power was Celestial Energy¡ªthe rawest of energies in the Greater Universe. And so far, the only way that he knew how to use it was to cycle it through his body. Or to melt my own hand off. But melting his hand off had taught him something, hadn¡¯t it? It had shown him that he¡¯d been on the right track. The five ranks he¡¯d gained hadn¡¯t been for doing the wrong thing, even if he¡¯d ultimately been harmed. All right. Take action. Let¡¯s try this again. He¡¯d already cast the spell, the Celestial Energy was already coursing through his body, cycling down the different channels. The first thing he did was disperse a great deal of that energy. In the energy¡¯s current state, it was difficult for him to quantify just how much of it he had cycling inside of him. Not without some effort. So, he focused on it, dispersing almost all of it. The more he focused on the energy, the more he could feel how much energy it actually was. This is D Grade Celestial Energy, he realised. And of course it is. I naturally bring in D Grade energies. That made something click inside of his mind. He¡¯d been practising a low-rank spell¡ªwith ranks only an F Grade Denizen was likely to have¡ªwith D Grade quality energy. Of course something had gone wrong! That was like using rocket fuel to try and run a bicycle. All it would do was burn it¡­ Xavier stood still as he worked. One unit of D Grade Celestial Energy was the equivalent of 100 units of F Grade energy. That seemed like a good amount of energy to work with, rather than what he¡¯d been doing previously. As the spell was Rank 30, 100 units of F Grade Celestial Energy shouldn¡¯t be a great deal. So Xavier held on to a single unit of D Grade Celestial Energy which he cycled through his body. He raised his right hand, the one that had just been regrown, and extended his claws, focusing specifically on the claw on his index finger. He pooled the unit of Celestial Energy into that claw. As he did, he felt the energy at work. Felt it slowly heat up his claw. It didn¡¯t make it glow red like before. He didn¡¯t think he was using enough for that to happen, which was something that he was glad for. Xavier drew in a long breath. He breathed deeply, and fell into a meditative state, harnessing the deepest level of concentration and focus that he could manage. He raised his claw, and that same insight he¡¯d had before, when the energy had been pooling in his entire hand, came to him. He struck at the air, slicing a point that he targeted with his single claw. As he did, he pushed that energy outward. The energy struck the air. There was a small explosion of power. He couldn¡¯t tell how powerful it was¡ªhe only used a small amount of energy, after all¡ªbut the moment he did it, notifications flooded into his vision. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 31 spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 40 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier threw his head back and laughed in joy, and that was when he saw another notification pop up, one that made his eyes go wide. It was¡­ a title? Book 5: Chapter 19 - Revive a Lost Art Xavier stared at the title he¡¯d just received. Only a moment ago, he¡¯d successfully used Body Cultivation to strike mid-air¡ªand he hadn¡¯t lost any limbs doing it¡ªgaining him Rank 40 in the spell. Title Unlocked! Revive a Lost Art: You have taken the first step in mastering a spell that hasn¡¯t been used in over one thousand billion years. Though this spell has been used in the Greater Universe before, it hasn¡¯t been used since the System was young. You have received +25% to all stats. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened as he finished reading the title. Body Cultivation hasn¡¯t been used in¡­ one thousand billion years!? He didn¡¯t even know how to imagine that amount of time. It was staggering. How many universes had been born and died since someone had used this? And how could it be possible that no one else had? Xavier stared at the claw on his index finger for a long moment as realisations flooded into him. The older version of himself. The one that he¡¯d met recently on one of the tower floors. That man had failed to save his own universe, and so he¡¯d come in search of¡­ himself, to deliver a warning. The fact that there had been a version of himself on one of the Tower of Champions floors meant that there were alternate universes out there from billions of years ago¡ªbefore the birth of his own universe¡ªwhere he, Xavier Collins, had existed. And there must have been an almost infinite number of those alternate universes, something that would always be difficult for him to imagine. But the System notification¡­ it took that into account, didn¡¯t it? It wasn¡¯t only speaking of his universe, for his universe hadn¡¯t been around long enough. This means¡­ this means that I¡¯m the only version of Xavier Collins to have ever even used this spell. That, he had to say, blew his mind a bit. He sat on the ground and contemplated this for a long moment. My path has already significantly diverged from that of the older version of myself. I must be doing things entirely differently to how he did them, and yet we must have started off exactly the same, if not only with slight differences. He looked up at the sky through the time dilation field and stared at the stars, then he closed his eyes. Thank you, he said, to that other version of himself. Meeting the man must have changed him more than he knew. Xavier opened his eyes and looked at his claw once more. This can¡¯t be right, can it? How can no one in that long have ever done what I¡¯ve just done? The odds of this not happening seem astronomically high! Someone must have stumbled on it by accident or on purpose, especially if spirits from the Otherworld know about it. For a moment, he tested something out. He deactivated the Body Cultivation spell¡ªa spell, he¡¯d found, that he could toggle on and off with no difficulty¡ªand cultivated energy into himself in ways he already knew of. That energy tried to go straight into his Spirit Core, but Xavier stopped it. If it went into any one of his cores it would be turned into that kind of energy. That wasn¡¯t what he wanted to do right now. He moved the energy around his body just as he had before when he¡¯d had Body Cultivation active, and he tried to do what he¡¯d done, pooling the energy into his claw. It didn¡¯t work. It didn¡¯t¡­ do anything. It simply wouldn¡¯t pool. He tried that for an entire hour before he stopped. Things might work fundamentally differently now that the System exists. The way the System governs the Greater Universe could have changed how the energies function. Or there¡¯s something else I¡¯m missing here. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be the first person to try and experiment and do something like this without actually having a spell for it. Not in the last thousand billion years. There were other forces at play preventing this from happening¡ªperhaps it had to do with the restrictions put in place when one chose a class. One cannot walk backward on the path¡­ This also must mean that the System simply didn¡¯t offer the Body Cultivation spell to people. Why had that spirit he¡¯d spoken to suggested it to him in the first place, if it hadn¡¯t been used by anyone in so long? It felt like there was something else at work here.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. That was when he remembered the presence he¡¯d felt, the one he¡¯d all but blocked from his mind, when he¡¯d advanced from E Grade to D Grade. There had been something there¡ªsomething that wasn¡¯t the System, for he knew what the System¡¯s presence felt like by now. There had been something behind it. Xavier had tried not to think about that, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what it was. Are my actions being guided? By more than just myself¡ªand more than just the System? Is there someone or something out there, something beyond even the System, that is trying to influence me? The thought felt like an insane one, based on nothing but a mere feeling while his mind had been obliterated and put back together. For all he knew, he could have simply imagined that presence. But no, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d imagined it. Even so¡­ if there was something out there guiding him, what was he going to do about it? If it was something he could one day change, it certainly wasn¡¯t something he could change right now. And as unlikely as him being the first person to use this spell in one thousand billions years seemed, there was no way that it couldn¡¯t be true. The System itself had told him so, and if he didn¡¯t believe what the System told him, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to function at all. The System must not ever offer this spell¡ªthis path¡ªto people naturally. There are likely other people in the Greater Universe who walk the Infinite Path, but¡­ there are so many spell categories, and spending a Spell Credit is a dangerous thing. Maybe it is possible no one stumbled on this¡­ Or maybe, until he searched for it, it was hidden. Xavier looked at his hands again, flexed his fingers. All of this¡­ everything that he was thinking about¡­ none of it mattered. Perhaps, in the grand scheme, there was some importance to it. But in this moment, Xavier had a job to do, and he couldn¡¯t lose sight of that. He looked out at the C Grade Rock Worms and couldn¡¯t help but notice something¡ªthey had moved. For a long while, as he¡¯d focused, thought, and practised with this new spell, he hadn¡¯t been paying close attention to the battlefield. Why would he, when he was safe inside his time bubble? But the Infected Rock Worms had most definitely gotten closer. Significantly closer. One of them was a few feet away. Sometimes he forgot just how fast C Grades could move. Xavier was about to move his time dilation field out of this beast¡¯s trajectory when he noticed something¡ªthere was a presence out there. One he recognised well. The Nightmare. The moment he tried to move his time bubble, Xavier could feel the pressure from the C Grade demon. Somehow, the demon had adapted even further, and even though Xavier no longer had a connection to it, it was able to affect the Time Alteration spell. It was locking it in place, preventing Xavier from moving it. And there was something else, too¡ªthe Time Alteration spell was degrading at a faster rate than it should have. Xavier should have been able to hold this spell in place for weeks if he wasn¡¯t altering it too much by making it bigger or smaller, moving it to different places, or changing the speed and direction time moved. He had been within that bubble for close to six hours by this point, and yet it felt like¡­ The spell¡¯s going to fail in less than half an hour. That shouldn¡¯t even be possible! And before that happened, the first of the four Infected Rock Worms was going to reach it. The second it touched the bubble, it would move at the same speed as Xavier. There wasn¡¯t time to contemplate his navel and think about the truths of the universe and how they pertain to him. Xaiver had to learn how to use this spell now. He released a long breath and focused. He had gotten the spell to Rank 40. He¡¯d already used it successfully once. All he needed to do was recreate that. And learn how to do it during battle¡­ and not melt any of my limbs in the process. That should be easy enough, right? Xavier split his mind into multiple parts, making sure that the different parts communicated with one another effectively. He activated the Body Cultivation spell once more and drew energy into his body. This time, he was able to control how much he brought in. He still brought in far more than he thought would be wise to use in a single attack, especially after what had happened to his hand¡­ I haven¡¯t got four hours in here to heal my hand up a second time, so I guess I¡¯ll just have to make sure I don¡¯t mess this up. As he didn¡¯t have much time to waste, Xavier used five times as much energy as he had the first time. He sliced at the air. The explosion of energy was even more powerful than it had been before, and it all came from a single one of his claws. Let¡¯s see what I can do. Now that Xavier had a working understanding of the Body Cultivation spell, he could train with it more effectively, even if he didn¡¯t have much time to do that in. And for the next little while, that was all he did. Right up until the first of the C Grade Infected Rock Worms finally reached the time dilation field. When the beast was a mere inch away, Xavier reviewed what his next step would be. Would he fight this Infected Rock Worm inside of the time dilation field, or would he drop the field altogether so his might would be combined with that of Volkarin¡¯s? Xavier didn¡¯t drop the field. It would be foolish to face every single enemy out there all at once. Besides, he had a plan. The instant the Infected Rock Worm¡¯s head reached the bubble, the rest of its body began to move at lightning speed. It burst into the time dilation field and made its way for him, all the while throwing up boulders and trying to contort the very earth to do its bidding¡ªXavier could feel the ground beneath him trying to swallow him whole and lock him in place. It wasn¡¯t something that he let happen. He¡¯d been buried before. There was no way he was going to go through that again. He leapt up into the air and extended his wings. The time bubble wasn¡¯t very large. He wished he¡¯d made it bigger, but he couldn¡¯t have anticipated what The Nightmare had done. Xavier cast Soul Shatter on the Infected Rock Worm. He followed this up with Core Burn, hoping the first spell would have been enough to soften it. If he¡¯d used Core Burn on the beast while it had been outside of the time dilation field, he knew it wouldn¡¯t have actually worked, not with how strong The Nightmare¡¯s hivemind was. But in here, the entity wasn¡¯t connected. It was significantly weaker. Xavier had a good feeling that Core Burn would be effective. And yet, it did absolutely nothing. Xavier came up against a mind that was incredibly strong. He¡¯d faced C Grade minds before, and as a D Grade, he¡¯d been able to push through them at times. But this was like¡­ The Nightmare is connecting to that beast! It¡¯s powerful enough to breakthrough the time lag! The Soul Shatter spell he¡¯d used had injured the Infected Rock Worm, but Xaiver had never had a fight with a C Grade in such an enclosed space before. He also couldn¡¯t cooldown his spells in here. It could be that bringing this thing into the time bubble had been a mistake. I guess there¡¯s one way to find out. He¡¯d had less than half an hour of proper practice with the Body Cultivation spell, but in that time, he¡¯d been able to learn more than he¡¯d imagined. It was time to put it to the test. Book 5: Chapter 20 - Unshackled Xavier soared straight for the C Grade Infected Rock Worm. The bounds of the time dilation field were small, and right now The Nightmare was preventing Xavier from changing that in any way. But that might just work to his benefit. The Infected Rock Worm was far larger than Xavier. Within the confines of the time bubble, it had far less room to move. And there was something else that would work to his advantage, too¡ªthe rocks that the Infected Rock Worm hurtled at him suddenly stopped. He¡¯d only had to avoid a few of them since the beast entered his time dilation field. The cooldown on the beast¡¯s spell wasn¡¯t counting down. Xavier grinned. Body Cultivation had no cooldown. Xavier tore through the air. He cycled Celestial Energy through his body, funnelling it into not just a single claw, but every one of them. He reached the Infected Rock Worm and sliced at its rock-hard skin. Xavier had been strong enough to cut through the Infected Rock Worm¡¯s tough skin before he¡¯d learnt the Body Cultivation spell. This time, with his claws enhanced by Celestial Energy, there was an added explosion of energy to his attack. Where he clawed at the massive beast, he did not just leave gouge marks¡ªhe exploded holes in its rock flesh. The beast did not call out in pain, but Xavier imagined it only refrained because it was being controlled by The Nightmare. The instant Xavier cut through and exploded this thing¡¯s skin, black ooze splashed out instead of blood. It got onto Xavier¡¯s robes. A bit of it even got onto his cheek. Xavier kicked off the Infected Rock Worm while his wings were tucked in at his back, flipped around, and soared as far from it as he could¡ªwhich in this confined time dilation field, wasn¡¯t very far. He could already feel The Nightmare crawling through him, trying to get to his mind. The last time this had happened to him he¡¯d taken over the entity and controlled it right back, giving it a simple order to stop, and then later learning to order it to die. But that was no longer an option. The Nightmare had adapted to Xavier¡¯s control, learning how to control him in return even when he was inside of the time dilation field. He couldn¡¯t risk connecting their minds. Not again. There was something else he needed to do. As swiftly as he was able, Xavier funnelled Celestial Energy to his cheek. There was a part of him that cursed himself for melee fighting against this thing. He¡¯d known how dangerous that might be. He could have at least used The Lost Bone of a Dead God as a scythe-staff. But that would have completely defeated the purpose of learning how to use Body Cultivation in the first place. I guess this is the true test. He pushed the Celestial Energy out of the skin at his cheek, in the same way that he might have were he trying to strike an enemy. In his haste, he¡¯d funnelled a little too much energy to the area. The explosion that came forth didn¡¯t only hit the little black ooze of The Nightmare¡ªit destroyed a part of his cheek and melted through a few of his teeth. He could feel them welded together inside of his mouth, and when he moved his tongue to the affected area, he felt fresh air touch the tip. Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly what I had planned. His cheek would grow back. Not before the end of this fight, maybe, but at least he wasn¡¯t infected. Still, he would need to be more careful. With fluid grace, Xavier moved his large black dragon wings and turned in the air. The Infected Rock Worm hurtled toward him, the lower part of its body cutting through the earth. Xavier dodged the beast as it snapped at him with its rows and rows of powerful teeth¡ªteeth that would turn him to stone if they ever touched him. There was still black ooze on Xavier. It had gotten onto his robes and was slowly crawling up him. This isn¡¯t good. How is Body Cultivation supposed to help against this damned thing? Xavier ordered his thoughts. His mind was split into multiple parts, as it always was in battle these days. One part of his mind was observing the fight in as much detail as it could. It examined exactly what had happened when the Celestial Energy had pooled around Xavier¡¯s cheek, an instant before the explosion had happened, and Xavier had his own little eureka moment. That part of his mind informed the main part, and now he knew exactly what he needed to do. Xavier ignored the crawling black ooze, letting it crawl up his robes until it met the skin of his neck. When it reached his skin, it found Celestial Energy cycling around the area. As much of the energy as Xavier could manage. The black ooze wasn¡¯t able to penetrate his skin with the energy there. That was what Xavier had seen when he¡¯d examined the fight. With his Farscope ability, it had been clear¡ªhe just hadn¡¯t realised it in time. Xavier never had to explode his cheek to get rid of the entity. He flipped around in the air as he flew and it just¡­ slipped right off him. He laughed as he soared on powerful wings. There was still so much more to the Body Cultivation spell that he didn¡¯t know. So much that he needed to learn.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. This must be what the monk-like spirit I spoke to meant when he said the spell would help me fight this thing. Xavier pooled the Celestial Energy at his claws once more. Not as much as he had access to¡ªjust enough that he knew he wouldn¡¯t be melting his fingers off. The Celestial Energy infused his claws with an explosive power as he slashed out at his enemy. Xavier was going to take this thing down by any means possible. He carved through the stone, exploding the rock skin with every strike. The more he did it, the more natural this way of fighting was starting to become. His energy channels were already robust and strong from all the cultivation training that he¡¯d done for his different cores. This was just making them even stronger. As he fought, notifications were streaming across his vision. He was gaining ranks. He had one part of his mind pay attention to those as he focused on the fight. The Infected Rock Worm was slowly flagging. It wasn¡¯t as fast as Xavier, and even though it was incredibly tough, it couldn¡¯t handle the constant, repeated abuse, and it couldn¡¯t move around in the time dilation field effectively enough to strike back at him. When the beast finally died, Xaiver flew down to the ground and landed with a thump. He¡¯d killed the thing just in time, because any moment now, his time dilation field was going to fail. Xavier prepared himself for what he knew was going to be the hardest fight he¡¯d ever been through. He infused his claws with Celestial Energy, while at the same time he cycled energy through the exposed areas of his skin, to stop any bits of The Nightmare substance from being able to infect him. He spread out his wings, opened his arms before him, his claws extended to their fullest, and prepared himself for battle. The Time Alteration spell, however, took longer than he expected to fall. He could have deactivated it himself, but instead, he took a moment to breathe. He dropped his arms and summoned a mug of coffee from inside of his Storage Ring, slowly sipping on it as he paid closer attention to the ranks he¡¯d received. Evasion has reached Rank 106! Red In Tooth And Claw has reached Rank 105! Close Combat Fighting has reached Rank 105! That was good. Those skills had been getting harder and harder to rank up since he¡¯d reached D Grade. He guessed pushing hard against a C Grade, even an infected one, was what had done the trick. He looked at the ranks he¡¯d gained for Body Cultivation. Before the Infected Rock Worm had reached the time dilation field, he¡¯d gained several more ranks after 40. Every rank he¡¯d gained had furthered his confidence in his ability with the spell. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path! Body Cultivation is now a Rank 46 spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 51 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier nodded to himself and kept sipping his coffee for a few more moments. That was progress. A lot of progress. Though he knew he still had a long way to go. When the time came, he casually deposited the mug of coffee back into his Storage ring and readied himself for battle. The time dilation bubble finally burst. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate. He leapt straight upwards and flapped his powerful wings to help him surge through the air. Volkarin, who¡¯d been hovering in the air not far from him, did a double-take as the massive dragon spirit saw Xavier fly up from the ground. Where the hell did you come from, young dragonkin? And¡ªyou killed one of the rock worms? How? Bafflement was clear in the dragon¡¯s voice. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but feel proud about that. I¡¯ll tell you later. Xavier¡¯s claws infused with Celestial Energy, he swooped back down at one of the Infected Rock Worms. There were three Infected Rock Worms remaining. One of them was still locked in his Time Prison spell, but something told Xavier that wouldn¡¯t last all that much longer. Especially since The Nightmare seems to be able to influence my time spells¡­ That still came as a shock to him, but there wasn¡¯t anything to do about it but keep fighting. Xavier grinned widely as he soared for the closest Infected Rock Worm. There were countless other enemies on the battlefield, and countless more beast corpses. As he flew, he cast Soul Puppet. Every moment he could, he would be casting that spell, to bring his own minions to the field, even if they would be nothing more than distractions to his enemy. But the first minion he brought back as a Soul Puppet? Well, that was the dead Infected Rock Worm of course, and Xavier used the beast¡¯s very own soul to control it. Something told him the beast would hold a grudge against its former controller. He hoped that would influence the beast into further bloodlust as it fought. Kill notifications blossomed into his vision even as he flew. The Rock Worm soul puppet was already destroying enemies on the field. Now that he was out of the time dilation field, Xavier felt like heavy shackles had been lifted from every one of his limbs. And that wasn¡¯t the only reason he suddenly felt so free. He could finally fight how he was meant to. How he¡¯d been training to do for so long. There were several spells that weren¡¯t of use to him right now¡ªWillpower Infusion, Spirit Break, and Core Burn were a few that simply weren¡¯t effective in this fight, and Soul Strike was one he didn¡¯t want to risk using while there could be more powerful enemies to face in the near future. But that still left plenty of spells in his arsenal. Xavier dodged rocks as he soared, feeling a marginal increase in his ability to do so since he¡¯d gained two ranks in Evasion since reaching the Dark Mountains. With two of the worms neutralised, there were also less projectiles coming his way. Xavier gouged a long cut through the side of the Infected Rock Worm. In doing so, he exploded parts of the beast¡¯s skin away. Dragonkin, do not get so close! The warning came as the black substance splashed onto Xavier¡¯s face, then fell straight off. Xavier didn¡¯t respond to Volkarin. Instead, he focused purely on the fight¡ªthere would be time to speak with the dragon spirit later. The instant Xavier flew away from the Infected Rock Worm he opened a portal and soared straight through it, slamming into the back of the beast. God, he¡¯d missed using portals while he was in his time dilation field. He sliced more gouges into his enemy. He could have tried to put this thing through a portal and cut its head off, but he¡¯d found that C Grade beasts tended to be too strong to let that happen¡ªthey somehow stopped the portal from cutting off. If they were in contact with the portal, it wouldn¡¯t shut down until they stopped touching it. It was some kind of defence mechanism that prevented them from being decapitated by one. Xavier could understand that. If an E Grade mage with a portal spell could kill a C Grade with it¡­ well, that just didn¡¯t make any sense. I don¡¯t need to kill these things with portals. With Volkarin fighting by his side, and his ability to use Soul Shatter and Portal, it was much faster dealing with this second Infected Rock Worm than it had been dealing with the first, even with all the chaos of the battlefield. Every moment that he could, he recast Soul Puppet. With the abundance of dead beasts around the battlefield, and bringing back yet another of the Infected Rock Worms, Xavier was beginning to build up quite the army of his own. Xavier, Volkarin, and his soul puppets tore through one enemy after another. Xavier¡¯s Body Cultivation spell protected him from getting infected by The Nightmare¡¯s black ooze. More and more of the enemy were being destroyed. The Infected Rock Worm that had been frozen by Time Prison soon came back to the normal flow of time, but by the time it did, all three of its brethren had been utterly destroyed. And Xavier was incredibly close to reaching Level 203. There¡¯s no way we can lose this fight, Xavier thought, feeling more confident than ever. That was when true being that was The Nightmare made itself known. Book 5: Chapter 21 - The Body of the Demon It came from the sky. Xavier looked up. What he saw looked like it came from the darkest nightmares humankind ever had. He¡¯d never seen something like this before¡ªnever laid eyes on a demon. The beast was larger than the dragon Volkarin. Its bulk blotted out the moon and a vast number of the stars above. If it weren¡¯t for Xavier¡¯s superior eyesight and night vision, he likely only would have seen a black shape outlined in the sky. The demonic beast had wings that spanned five times as long as Volkarin¡¯s. These were not the sleek, powerful wings of a dragon. These wings were grotesque. The very skin of the beast rippled with black ooze, which dripped down like fat droplets of rain wherever it flew, infecting anything it contacted beneath. The wings themselves were oddly shaped. They looked as though they¡¯d been stitched together from the wings of hundreds of other beasts. There were feathers mixed with leathery skin mixed with translucent, bug-like material, and the wings were only black because of the ooze that covered every inch of them. The body of the demon was even more terrifying. The beast had five heads, each of a varying size, but all of them far too small. Two were troll heads, one was the head of a giant owl beast, another that of a wolven, and the final head was that of a rock worm. Each of the heads snarled, snapped beaks, or roared, and each felt oddly strained and raw, like the sounds were coming from the throat of a hundred-year-old woman who¡¯d been smoking since she was twelve years old. The body itself was even stranger and more terrifying. This, too, was the stitched together remnants of other beasts. It was a massive, bulbous body that somewhat reminded Xavier of the body of a spider. The same black ooze rolled around the entire body, dripping down from it. Except there were things writhing on the surface of the beast¡¯s skin. Things Xavier couldn¡¯t help but recognise. They were beasts. Beasts that looked as though they were alive, their bodies whole but trapped like they¡¯d fallen into quicksand¡ªno. Not like quicksand. Like they¡¯d fallen into tar. That was what this demonic beast¡¯s body reminded him of. A tar pit that unsuspecting animals had fallen into. These beasts appeared conscious in a way that the infected beasts Xavier had fought hadn¡¯t. If this wasn¡¯t terrifying enough, it wasn¡¯t just beasts that were trapped beneath the skin of The Nightmare. There were Denizens, too. Humans. Elves. Dwarves. Lizardmen. A few races he didn¡¯t recognise. But they were, to him, quite clearly Champions that had fallen facing this thing. No wonder around our sector and the neighbouring ones knows anything about this C Grade demon. Anyone who¡¯s ever faced it are probably trapped within this thing. A shudder of fear ran up his spine at the prospect of being trapped beneath the skin of this terrifying demonic beast, and being entirely conscious of what was happening. He could hear their screams and whines of agony, like dying men and women on the battlefield, but The Nightmare had prevented any of them from succumbing to death. They were suspended, alive, for all eternity, inside of it. No. Not for all eternity. Only for as long as this demon lives. Xavier was prepared to fight this thing. Prepared to kill this thing. He was also prepared to run, if it came to that¡ªthough he hoped to all hell it wouldn¡¯t come to that. He¡¯d taken in the sight of this demonic beast in a fraction of a second. He was about to move when his gaze locked on something in the centre of the beast. Another writhing Denizen. A Champion that had fought The Nightmare. Only, this was one that Xavier recognised. When Xavier had vowed to save Liana¡¯s husband from The Nightmare, she¡¯d given him a picture of the man so that he would know what he looked like. And he was staring at that very man right now. Ardon. It was in that moment that a voice sounded around the Dark Mountains, emanating from The Nightmare¡¯s body, though Xavier could not see where the sound had come from, as it did not match the movements of any of the five beast heads atop the demon. The demon¡¯s voice was deep and powerful. ¡°I have seen into your mind, Xavier Collins. I know who it is you have come to save. If you quit the battlefield, Ardon will die. If you succumb to my will, the both of you will live within me for eternity. Life eternal, Xavier Collins. Is that not something you strive for?¡± The demon¡¯s voice was surprisingly articulate. Xavier hadn¡¯t expected that. He¡¯d thought this thing was some sort of networked hivemind. He¡¯d thought it wasn¡¯t fully self-aware. Clearly, he had been wrong. This beast had a powerful mind that it spread across everything it infected, giving it more processing power to work with, but it was still one mind. That, right now, was more clear than anything.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Xavier had ruined The Nightmare¡¯s day by killing so many of the beasts it had infected. He had put The Nightmare¡¯s attention squarely on him. And now there was no turning back from this fight¡ªnot unless he wanted to fail Liana. Ardon may be Liana¡¯s husband, but that doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s worth dying for¡­ Which means I better make sure I live. Xavier hovered in the air, his great black wings keeping him up. He stared at the demon that was The Nightmare, a beast more terrifying to behold than anything Xavier could have imagined on his own. And he laughed. He felt invigorated. A thrill ran through him, and he embraced a level of excitement he hadn¡¯t experienced since he¡¯d faced the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll while he was still E Grade. Except that experience, while powerful, had the added protection of him seeing his possible futures and building on each one that passed. The uncertainty of this fight was part of what made it so exhilarating. This was going to be quite the challenge. A loud, roaring laugh came from Xavier¡¯s left. The dragon Volkarin threw its head back in manic glee. You are beginning to see things how I see things, young dragonkin. That is something that will get you into a lot of trouble. I hope you have not angered something you aren¡¯t ready to face. Xavier glanced at the dragon. The beast looked formidable, but compared with the sight of The Nightmare¡­ it was hard to see how it would be a threat to this thing. He turned his attention back on The Nightmare. I can defeat this thing. I¡¯ve defeated everything else I¡¯ve come upon. Again and again, I¡¯ve fought the impossible and won. I¡¯m not going to stop now. Xavier locked his gaze on Ardon. The man was conscious, but Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how lucid he was. He didn¡¯t know if the man understood what was happening right now. When Xavier had heard that Liana¡¯s husband had been trapped by The Nightmare, he¡¯d expected the man to be like one of the infected beasts. He¡¯d wondered at how terrifying such an experience must have been, many times. He had felt bad that he couldn¡¯t simply go and defeat The Nightmare right away, to free Ardon¡ªif the man had indeed still been alive. But this¡­ This seemed as though it was a million times worse than anything Xavier had imagined. Xavier burst into action, planning his attack. During the fight with the C Grade Infected Rock Worms, Xavier had brought back to life as many of the dead as he could manage. He had a great deal of soul puppets. Fodder that he could throw at this thing. But something told him that wouldn¡¯t work. This demonic beast was far too intelligent to be distracted by his minions¡ªespecially as the demon had minions of its own. More beasts were flooding the area, coming down the mountain toward him. Xavier sent a mental command to all of his soul puppets, instructing them to attack the oncoming beasts. They wouldn¡¯t be enough, he was sure of that. They wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand an onslaught like this, even though they had three soul puppets of C Grades among their ranks. But the soul puppets wouldn¡¯t be working alone. Volkarin. I need to ask you a favour, Xavier said telepathically to the dragon. Speak it, young dragonkin, and if it is within my power I shall do it. I¡¯ve no doubt you want to face The Nightmare alongside me, but I need you to fight the infected beasts while I take on The Nightmare myself. Keep those enemies away from me as best you can. I¡¯ll keep bolstering the ranks of my soul puppets as much as possible as the fight goes on. Xavier expected the dragon to grumble at him. Expected him to be frustrated at being given a task that it deemed beneath him¡ªbut he also expected the dragon to listen, so in the end, it didn¡¯t matter what Volkarin felt, as long as the dragon spirit did as he was told. I will burn them to ash and freeze their corpses for eternity. You can count on me, young dragonkin. Xavier blinked. That wasn¡¯t the kind of response he¡¯d been expecting. Maybe he didn¡¯t know the dragon quite as well as he¡¯d thought. He could have sworn he¡¯d heard a hint of respect in the dragon¡¯s voice. Considering who the dragon actually was¡ªone of the seven most powerful spirits in the Otherworld¡ªand what Volkarin must have been back in life, to have this dragon¡¯s respect¡­ Xavier found it meant a lot to him. Xavier¡¯s eyes were still locked on Ardon. The man had noticed Xavier now. He had started staring back at him in turn. The agony in his eyes was palpable, and Xavier could feel the fear. It wafted off the beast¡ªcoming from all the beings The Nightmare had imprisoned within it. And the fear was most potent from Ardon. The man must have heard what The Nightmare said. He must be aware of what¡¯s happening. Xavier had to wonder about this demonic beast. It was powerful enough to infect the minds of its victims, and yet¡­ it didn¡¯t infect those it had trapped. No, it kept them alive and conscious. It wanted to torture them. Xavier just couldn¡¯t for the life of him understand why. But he didn¡¯t need to understand the demon. All he needed to do was kill it. He burst forward on powerful wings. Though he had surveyed the beast and the battlefield in a fraction of a second, giving out orders in another fraction, he knew he couldn¡¯t remain hovering in the air much longer. Xavier soared toward his enemy. As he did, he finally scanned the beast. {The Nightmare - Level 380} The Nightmare is a demonic, parasitic beast that controls the minds and bodies of those it encounters. Its power comes from not only the beasts and Denizens it has command over, but from the cumulative power of those minds. Its physical form is terrifying and imposing, but it is its psychic abilities that one should truly be wary of. If you ever step into the domain of The Nightmare, know that it is in your best interest to flee. For if you are snared by the power of this beast, you might be trapped inside its body for the remainder of your very long life. The description didn¡¯t tell him much of anything he didn¡¯t already know, though he did find it interesting that it focused on the beast¡¯s psychic abilities and mentioned nothing of its physical abilities. The beast looked formidable in many ways¡ªpsychic was only one of them. Staring at the beast¡¯s body, he was finally glad that he had a single target, but he was starting to realise a problem¡ªwith Ardon and the other Champions stuck inside the tarpit of a body this thing possessed, it would cause their deaths if he was to cast his most powerful spells. They were not his enemy, but they were a part of his enemy. He didn¡¯t know if this demon had a soul, but if it did and he shattered it¡­ the trapped Denizens would be hit in the crossfire. Liana¡¯s husband might very well die from an attack like that. The same could be said of Soul Strike. If Xavier slammed the full force of his Soul Strike at this thing¡­ It would kill Ardon and the others. There was a part of Xavier that considered doing this very thing. A practical, logical part of him. If he couldn¡¯t save Ardon, he might as well free the man from the misery that he was currently enduring. But that wasn¡¯t something he would resort to unless he had to. Xavier had always had a penchant for saving people. He was sure it had gotten him into trouble in the past. But this was the most trouble he¡¯d been in yet. Book 5: Chapter 22 - Psychic Attack Xavier hovered in the air above the battlefield on the side of the Dark Mountains. Below him, thousands of infected beasts swarmed toward their position. Hundreds of his soul puppets were putting up an admirable defence. Volkarin swooped beside them, launching a stream of fire and ice from his massive maw down at the infected beasts. Xavier¡¯s attention was on the grotesque demonic beast that was The Nightmare. Its stitched together wings beat hard as it kept up that massive body, the writhing beasts and Denizens moaning and screaming and wallowing in agony beneath its tarpit skin. Time to take down this bastard of a demon. Xavier grinned as he summoned a portal into existence. He soared through and appeared on the other side of the demonic beast, behind one of its weird, stitched-on heads. He slashed downward with his claws, which were reinforced by the power of his Body Cultivation spell and his soul bound weapon, Lost Bone of a Dead God. Celestial Energy coursed through him and pooled in his claws, detonating the moment they impacted his enemy. The head he attacked was the solitary owl head. Xavier had thought he would simply cut wounds through it, but the entire head exploded at his touch. The Nightmare reared. Black ooze burst from the head like it had been inside a ballon. The oozing, tar-like substance shot at Xavier from every direction. It swirled through the air as though it had a mind of its own. Of course it bloody well has a mind of its own¡ªit¡¯s The Nightmare! Xavier hadn¡¯t known the black substance could fly. He flipped in the air and made it back through the portal in an instant. The black, oozing substance followed through the portal, moving surprisingly fast. Xavier knew he could protect himself from it, but he sensed that whatever this was it was more potent than any of the other substance he had encountered in the past. The instant he could, he cut off the portal. It disappeared in the air, stopping more of the oozing substance from making its way through. The substance that had made it through suddenly stopped twirling and flying through the air. It dropped straight to the ground. Xavier soared around the area, keeping an eye on that substance. When it reached the ground; he saw it crawl along the dirt just like the other black ooze that he¡¯d been eliminating since this fight began. But it could no longer fly. It¡¯s been cut off from the larger whole, but can still be controlled¡­ Xavier swooped through one portal after another, summoning them to life as swiftly as he was able. He was never in the same place for long, always moving, always clawing at The Nightmare, exploding bits of its body away, fleeing as more black ooze came at him. Slowly, bit by bit, he was taking apart the massive, grotesque body of the demon. Three of its four stitched-on heads exploded at the might of his slashing claws. He¡¯d cut several holes through the demonic beast¡¯s wings, making it difficult for the thing to fly until those holes were patched by black ooze. He would slash into its wings, a hole would appear and the huge beast would dip in the air before the black ooze rushed to the area and reinforced it, allowing the wings to become functional once more. That was something Xavier quickly realised¡ªthis beast couldn¡¯t heal its body. It simply patched it. With each slash, each explosion of Body Cultivation, Xavier cut through and destroyed more of this beast¡¯s terrifying flesh. Of course. It would need to find more beast parts to stitch back onto itself if it wanted to truly heal the wounds that I¡¯m inflicting on it. And yet the beast didn¡¯t seem harmed. It attacked him with the same ferocity as it had in the beginning. The amalgamation of stitched together body parts moved with a swiftness that Xavier couldn¡¯t believe was possible. It did strange things to his mind, watching this thing move. Xavier¡¯s evasion skill ranked up five times as he thought¡ªan incredibly feat since reaching D Grade¡ªand his Hover Dodge skill was always at the ready, though it moved up in rank only once. The more he cut into this beast and destroyed its flesh, the smaller it became. Volkarin, why isn¡¯t this demon weakening as I destroy more of its body? The dragon spirit looked as though he had his hands full. He was dodging attacks through the air. The bulk of the infected beasts were targeting him with any ranged spells they had at their disposal, and even though each beast alone was considerably weaker than the dragon spirit, it was clearly beginning to take its toll. You should know, young dragonkin. How long have you been fighting this thing? The response sounded strained, yet at the same time Xavier could sense an evident thrill running through the dragon. It was enjoying this fight.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. And, from the sounds of it, the dragon also seemed to know more about the demonic beast than it was letting on. Xavier supposed that made sense. He had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance here to fight by his side, not to glean information from him. That would be something he¡¯d need to use Otherworldly Communion for, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to use that for a good while. Unless I reached Level 203¡­ And he was getting very close to doing just that. But he didn¡¯t need to reach the next level to understand what the dragon spirit had been trying to tell him. All he needed to do was turn the problem around in his mind as he fought. Each time he destroyed a bit of this demonic beast, the tarlike, oozing substance would come to fill the gaps. It would also spring from the demon and fly through the air to try and attack him. When it did this, it was always connected to the larger whole¡­ That was when something clicked for Xavier, and he felt like an absolute fool for not realising it before. It was something he should have already known¡ªsomething he did already know. He had been too distracted by the sight of this massive, terrifying-looking demon to think straight¡­ No, one part of his mind said, the part that had been split so that it could observe the fight. There¡¯s more to it than that. His realisation was that the demon¡¯s body? Harming it did nothing to hurt the demon itself, because the demon wasn¡¯t the body¡ªthe demon was the ooze. And that was something he had already discovered as he¡¯d fought it. He¡¯d been working on destroying every ounce of the ooze that he could find. He¡¯d even had a connection to the demon¡¯s mind telling him that what he¡¯d been doing had been working¡ªthat he¡¯d been damaging The Nightmare. That was the whole reason the demonic beast had started to take him seriously. That was why the thing was here right now. And it was why the demon was exerting its influence on Xavier¡¯s mind so subtly¡ªyet strongly¡ªthat Xavier hadn¡¯t even realised it was happening at all until now. The part of his mind that had been observing the battle had cottoned on to what was really happening. The moment the body of the demon had appeared, Xavier had stopped his eradication of the infected beasts down on the battlefield. He¡¯d set his soul puppets and Volkarin against them, but he¡¯d stopped fighting them himself¡ªand his soul puppets could only hurt the infected beasts, and not the infection. Xavier had instantly turned around and focused all of his attention on the massive beast that was coming at him. And why shouldn¡¯t he? He had scanned that thing¡ªit was The Nightmare. But it wasn¡¯t all of The Nightmare. The tar-like black ooze within that thing¡­ it¡¯s the brain. It¡¯s the strongest part of the demon. When I cut off the black ooze from the main body with portals, it falls to the ground and acts just like what infects the beasts out here. Same with when that ooze drops off the body of the demon as it flies¡­ The body of the demon had come here because what Xavier had been doing had been working. Xavier soared through the air, dodging the black ooze as it flew for him, flying through a portal he¡¯d just created to make some distance between himself and the main body of the demon. He needed to change his approach once more if he was going to have a chance at defeating this thing. As he flew, he reinforced the mental blocks that protected his mind, not having even realised that they¡¯d been affected until now. The System¡¯s description did mention this thing¡¯s psychic abilities. I should have taken it more seriously. As Xavier reinforced the defences protecting his mind from mental attacks, that was when he truly felt The Nightmare¡¯s presence. It cried out in frustration and knocked upon the wall of his mind with so much force that Xavier had to resist it with every single ounce of his being. He¡¯d never before felt a mind so vast, so powerful. He had thought that when he¡¯d been connected to The Nightmare¡¯s mind that he¡¯d known the strength of it, but clearly, he had been wrong. This was the strength of it when it was turned toward a purpose, not simply when it lay idle. So strong was this demon¡¯s mental attack that simply in the defending from it, Xavier lost consciousness. When he came to, he had no idea how much time had passed. It took him a fraction of a second to gain his bearings. He was falling. Wind whipped through his hair. His wings weren¡¯t straight, and he was tumbling around, over and over. The battlefield on the ground and the blacked-out sky above flashed before him in quick succession. Only a moment must have passed with him unconscious if he hadn¡¯t hit the ground yet. But a moment was a very long time in a fight like this. He could feel that half of his soul puppets had been defeated. The Spirit of Vengeance, the dragon Volkarin, was being harried by even more infected beasts than before, barely able to defend itself with all the attacks it needed to avoid¡ªattacks that were strong enough to harm a spirit. Xavier probed his mind and found that it was no longer split into multiple parts. The mental attack he¡¯d taken from his enemy had forced his mind back into a whole. And as his consciousness was whole again, his awareness was less than it had been before. But that wasn¡¯t the worst of it. Black ooze swarmed and swam around him in the air as he fell, like ribbons twirling around a dancer, except these ribbons clung to his skin and crawled along it. As the black ooze touched him the strength of the demon¡¯s mental attacks increased tenfold. It was all Xavier could do to protect himself from them. The demon¡¯s will tried to exert itself on him. It wished him to become one with it. It offered him gifts. Of eternal life. Of peace. Of never having to fight again. It offered him power. Greatness. To become part of something bigger than himself. Xavier didn¡¯t want any of it, and yet he could feel his mind succumbing to The Nightmare¡¯s relentless attacks. His body was no longer responding to his own will. He tried to extend his wings, to catch himself in the air, to stop himself from falling. He commanded them to move but they did not. He tried to cast a portal spell, so he might fall through it and appear somewhere else. But he could not. He could not do anything. He kept on falling, the ground growing larger and larger, the black ooze crawling on his skin more and more. I know how to fight off this ooze. The thought was a weak one, for all of him was weak right now. I don¡¯t need to succumb. Body Cultivation. If he pooled Celestial Essence around his entire body he would be able to dispel the ooze. The demon¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t be entirely thwarted, for it did not need to touch him to harm him, but it would be dulled. And that would be enough. Xavier willed what he wished to happen, trying to activate Body Cultivation, willing the essence to enter himself. Before he knew if he would be able to, he slammed straight into the ground. Book 5: Chapter 23 - Darkest Hour Xavier¡¯s body didn¡¯t respond to his will. He was covered almost entirely in the black ooze that was The Nightmare. He didn¡¯t know if there was an inch of his skin still free from the vile stuff. The C Grade demonic beast¡¯s mind was invading his own. Not fully. It didn¡¯t have control over him. It was simply slamming so hard at his mental barriers that it was all Xavier could do to keep from being controlled by it. Every ounce of his energy was going toward keeping his walls up¡ªto keeping this thing from gaining a foothold on his mind. For if it did, there would be no coming back from this fight. He could hear someone trying to talk to him in his mind. Someone other than The Nightmare. A deep and powerful voice. But he couldn¡¯t at all make out what they were saying. He lay, sprawled in a small crater that had been created from his fall. Around him a battle raged between Volkarin, Xavier¡¯s soul puppets, and the infected beasts controlled by The Nightmare. A battle that he couldn¡¯t affect until he regained full control over his own mental faculties. He knew the battle was getting closer and closer to him as the enemy closed in on his location. He could see glimpses of the dragon nearby. For the majority of the fight Volkarin had been soaring through the sky. Now, the dragon spirit was on the ground, on all fours, fighting tooth and nail to stop any of the infected beasts from making their way to Xavier. And the dragon was getting greatly wounded. No longer soaring through the air, he couldn¡¯t dodge any of the long-range attacks being sent his way by the enemy. These attacks were ones that were clearly damaging the spirit. Parts of Xavier¡¯s mind were turning all of this over, but he needed to focus on what he was going through. Body Cultivation. Body Cultivation. He tried, again and again, to activate the spell, but something was blocking it. Well, not something. He knew exactly what. The Nightmare. I need to fight back. I need to win. But the voice of The Nightmare was crooning as it spoke to him, imploring him to give up. Imploring him to stop fighting. Those words had meant nothing to him the first time he had heard them, but the weaker he became the more impact they seemed to have on his mind. Slowly, they were starting to feel like something he wanted. If he gave in, if he stopped fighting, he wouldn¡¯t be in such mental agony anymore. He could relax his body and mind and let The Nightmare in. Eternal life didn¡¯t sound so bad. Eternal peace. No! His own voice was weak within his mind, but it sounded all the same. You have to fight it. You have to keep pushing! This isn¡¯t where you die. Xavier gritted his teeth. He could hear a low rumble, a throaty roar, coming from somewhere¡ªcoming from himself. His body shuddered. A rage was building up inside of him. A rage that he needed to embrace. It was something deep within him. Something primal. Something he didn¡¯t at all know how to explain. He wasn¡¯t sure if it came from him¡ªif it was a part of him that had been there since before he had attained his new dragonkin race¡ªor if it was something new. He supposed it didn¡¯t matter. Wherever it had come from, it was a part of him now. The roar in Xavier¡¯s throat became louder and louder. Once again, he tried to activate the Body Cultivation spell. Once again, it didn¡¯t work. There was more black ooze coming toward him, from all of the dead infected beasts in the area. The dragon spirit was fighting admirably, but it wasn¡¯t able to eradicate all of the black ooze that seeped from the beasts¡¯ corpses. He simply couldn¡¯t cover that much ground, and the soul puppets Xavier had at his disposal weren¡¯t able to harm the black ooze at all. The minions were helpful, but not helpful enough. The roar died in Xavier¡¯s throat. Whatever strength he¡¯d just tried to take hold of was withering away. He was now five feet deep in the black ooze. The only reason he could still see the battlefield at all was because of his Farscope ability. He watched the dragon spirit fight, and as he did, he saw it become more and more hurt. That made him remember something another spirit had told him. That even though the spirits from the Otherworld couldn¡¯t die, they could still be harmed. And if they were hurt enough, it could take them centuries to recover before they were once more able to be summoned back into the Mortal Realm. Xavier pushed his mind to its limit, focusing on the Spirit of Vengeance. Go, Volkarin. Return to the Otherworld. It took all his energy to send that simple command. He had become fond of the dragon spirit. He didn¡¯t want to see Volkarin harmed. Xavier strained his mind to hear the single word response that came. No. The dragon fought with more ferocity than Xavier had ever seen before. Volkarin tore through his enemies one by one and bit straight through their bodies, cutting the beasts in half with his powerful jaws. Streams of flame and ice shot from his open maw, engulfing everything around him in pain and death. It was an amazing sight to behold. The dragon cast other spells, too, ones Xavier had never witnessed the spirit use before. He slashed with his claws, seemingly hitting nothing, and ten feet away a beast would suddenly be sliced into five parts.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. One by one the soul puppets that Xavier had summoned died around him. There simply weren¡¯t enough of them to defend against what was coming. The black ooze had no effect on the soul puppets, for they had souls but not minds, but the infected beasts could kill them easily enough when they outnumbered them at twenty, thirty, a hundred to one. And so it was that Xavier watched Volkarin fight against the enemy infected beasts all alone. Lying there, Xavier had never felt so useless in his entire life. Never felt so weak. He was supposed to be powerful, supposed to be the man who would one day become the Weapon of the System, and yet there was nothing he could do right now. Nothing he could do to fight The Nightmare. He was weak. Useless. He was nothing. Giving in to his enemy was something that he deserved. Having him gone would be a mercy to the Greater Universe. The dragon kept fighting, and it looked as though he would be able to fight forever. Until the massive body of the demon that was The Nightmare landed beside it. The great demonic beast, with its terrifying, ugly, disformed, stitched-together body, grabbed the slightly transparent spirit with powerful-looking arms that consisted of nothing more than the black tar-like substance that it truly was. The Nightmare tore Volkarin apart by the wings. The dragon dissipated into nothing, and Xavier felt his injured spirit return to the Otherworld. This is it, then, Xavier thought as he lay there. His soul puppets were all dead. Volkarin was gone, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance would be too damaged to be summoned back to the Mortal Realm for¡­ who knew how long. Xavier was alone, and no longer in control of his body and mind. He felt himself giving up. Felt the negative self-talk pile up and up and up until it was crushing him, just as the black ooze that covered him completely was crushing him. The mental will of The Nightmare was too much for him to fight. Except something had sparked within him at the sight of Volkarin¡¯s defeat. The Spirit of Vengeance had fought until the last for him, and it hadn¡¯t done so because it had to. It wasn¡¯t the summoning spell that had made him act this way. Xavier had released the spirit. Told him to return to the Otherworld. The dragon had remained out of loyalty¡ªor perhaps something other than that. Belief. Volkarin, to the last, had believed in Xavier. The dragon would not have remained if he didn¡¯t think there was a chance that Xavier would survive. And Xavier couldn¡¯t sully the spirit¡¯s efforts by lying there and dying. Every single thing that he had accomplished since being integrated into the Greater Universe flashed through his mind in that moment. All of the records he¡¯d gained on the Tower of Champion floors. The defeat of the Lord of the Endless Horde. The way he had defended Earth from its enemies within the sector. His defeat of the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll when he had only been E Grade. He had done the impossible over and over again. All he needed to do to survive this¡ªto win this¡ªwas do the impossible one more time. That rage that had sparked in him earlier returned, but this time it was bolstered by something. It took Xavier only a fraction of a moment to realise what that was. His body wasn¡¯t in his control. His mind was being attacked so much it was almost useless to him. But his soul? His soul was all his own, and his soul was strong. His soul had been hardened again and again by countless souls since he was F Grade, continuing right until now, and that hardening had been further empowered by his massively strong Spirit attribute. Xavier felt Body Cultivation finally activate as a part of his will once more became his own. Except there was a problem. He couldn¡¯t draw in any Celestial Energy from the air with the black ooze drowning him like it was. Somehow, the black ooze was completely blocking it from entering him, and he wasn¡¯t able to use any of the different energies from within his core for this spell¡ªthat simply wasn¡¯t how Body Cultivation worked. Something else flooded his body. A different kind of energy. An energy that he¡¯d known about but never truly felt. It made him feel full and strong. It made him feel powerful. Xavier controlled this energy, cycling it through his body, making it pool around his skin. Immediately, he felt some relief from the black ooze. He covered more and more of his skin with the pooling energy, until every inch of him was filled with it. The black ooze no longer affected his body. And with the black ooze gone, his mind was now more free to roam. The Nightmare was still attacking his mind, but when the black ooze was on him The Nightmare¡¯s mental attacks had far, far more power. Without it, it was as though Xavier was able to breathe again. He burst out of the pit of ooze, leaping straight up into the air until his wings caught him and he soared around the Dark Mountains, regaining his bearings. Notifications appeared in his vision as he flew. You have gained +20 Willpower! You have learnt the skill Mental Resistance! Mental Resistance has reached Rank 2! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 23! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached rank 40! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 85! Xavier split his mind to focus on the notifications, glad he was finally able to do that again. He had gained 20 points to Willpower? That took him by surprise. Training had long stopped giving him more attribute points. It was something that had happened early on, when he was still F Grade, but had rarely happened since. Training had helped him attune his attributes, but not gain more. And the skill, Mental Resistance¡­ it felt like something he should have already had, but he supposed he¡¯d never come up against something like The Nightmare before. There were a few more notifications to look at, but he let that part of his mind do it in the background. Moments ago, he had Volkarin and hundreds of soul puppets at his disposal. Now, he had no such help. It was him alone against The Nightmare. He couldn¡¯t cast Soul Sacrifice, nor could he use Summon Otherworldly Spirit. Not in this moment, at least. Not until the spells cooled down. Xavier whirled in the air. He looked down upon his enemies as they flung spells at him. The body of The Nightmare stared up at him with menacing eyes in its remaining head¡ªXavier had only left it with one by the end of his encounter with it. It was one of the troll heads. Much of the demon¡¯s twisted body had been torn away and destroyed by Xavier¡¯s attacks, revealing more and more of the ooze beneath it. The powerful arms that had ripped the dragon spirit in half¡ªa spirit that had only been partially corporeal¡ªwere still there. The demon raised one of those arms and formed a finger that pointed straight at Xavier. The infected beasts surged toward him in a torrent. It reminded him of his time facing the Endless Horde. The waves and waves of enemies that would never stop coming. That would never let up. Xavier felt a deep loss at the harm that had been done to Volkarin. In that moment he wondered if he would be able to summon him back with Summon Otherworldly Spirit at all. If the dragon was truly damaged, and couldn¡¯t return¡­ Will I be able to bring it back in the dragon egg vessel when the time comes? All those thoughts swirled through his mind, but he had no time for them. Not if he was going to do what he needed to do to defeat his enemy. He banished all those thoughts and ordered his mind as best as he could. The energy that had flooded into his body, that had pushed off the black ooze, still flowed within him. It was the most powerful energy he had ever felt, and to his surprise, it worked with his Body Cultivation spell. It was Soul Energy. Book 5: Chapter 24 - Soul Born Xavier hovered in the air above the Dark Mountains, his body thrumming with the power of Soul Energy as it cycled through his different channels, bolstering his power. The Body Cultivation spell was still new to him, but now he could sense that with this energy it would be even more powerful than it had been before. Thousands upon thousands of infected beasts were streaming toward him. Xavier dodged the long-ranged attacks in the air easily enough. He was far faster than these things. But more and more of the beasts were amassing. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to do this for long. The twisted, stitched-together body of The Nightmare stared up at him. It didn¡¯t move from the ground, but Xavier could feel its rage. When Xavier had been stuck under that black ooze, he¡¯d felt himself almost give in. The demon must have felt that too. It had been about to claim his mind, his body, maybe even his soul. Now, it had nothing. Xavier knew it wouldn¡¯t remain idle for long. ¡°Remember what happens if you flee, Denizen,¡± the demon said, its voice more powerful than ever. Xavier did remember. Adron. Liana¡¯s wife. Part of the reason Xavier had come to face this C Grade enemy in the first place. The man was suffering, stuck in the demon¡¯s body, writhing and moaning in pain beneath the tar-like substance. The man would die if Xaiver fled. Death might be better than the agony he¡¯s going through. But Xavier wasn¡¯t about to flee. In fact, in that moment, even after all he¡¯d just been through, even after what had happened to Volkarin, he was smiling. The newfound Soul Energy thrummed through him, making him feel more powerful than ever. And something else had happened when he¡¯d embraced that spark within himself¡ªthe spark that had helped him finally use his Body Cultivation spell and get out of the mess The Nightmare had trapped him in. The final notification in the string of notifications another part of his mind brought to his attention. You have gained the spell: Soul Born! Xavier read the description of the spell as swiftly as he could. Soul Born - Rank 1 Soul Born is a spell that allows the user to draw upon the energy within their soul. Soul Energy is a finite resource that must be replenished. Xavier laughed aloud. This was what he¡¯d just done! He¡¯d called upon the power of his very soul, and gained a spell for it! Something told him there would be more to this spell than the description said, just as there was more to Body Cultivation than the description said, but for now it was enough to know that he would be able to repeat what he¡¯d just done again if he needed to. God, he felt powerful. Now, it was time to exert that power. Xavier knew exactly what he needed to do next. Now that The Nightmare was no longer influencing his mind in the same way as it had before¡ªmaking Xavier attack the body of the demon and ignore infected beasts, and even ignore the fact that he had been close to reaching Level 203¡ªthings had become incredibly clear to him. He should have done what he was about to do when the demon¡¯s body had turned up. Things would have gone a lot more smoothly. Xavier whirled in the air and faced his enemies. He cast Soul Block, summoning spirit apparitions to defend him from the attacks coming his way. He wanted to stare down at the battlefield as he did this, and the soul apparitions should keep him safe long enough to do that. He cast Soul Strike, infusing the rest of his reserve into the spell¡ªwell over four thousand souls. He willed the attack to ignore the body of the demon. That way, there would be no danger of him harming Ardon and the other Champions that were trapped within it. All he would be harming were the infected beasts. As he cast Soul Strike, he sensed something¡ªsomething new. Now that he had Soul Born¡­ His eyes widened. He could infuse Soul Energy into his spells! Xavier did that very thing on the casting of Soul Strike. He didn¡¯t exactly know how much Soul Energy he possessed. He could feel the reserve somewhere deep within him. He pulled a tenth of the energy out to use it in the spell.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Never before had his Soul Strike been this powerful. Not only was his Spirit attribute absolutely massive compared to when he had been E Grade, but the Soul Energy strengthening it made it all the more potent. Xavier grinned maniacally as white lightning arced from his scythe-staff¡ªin an instant, before casting the two spells, he had shifted the Lost Bone of a Dead God, his soul bound weapon, from reinforcing his bones back to being a scythe. The lightning arced through the sky until it turned into thousands of soul apparitions which rained down upon the enemy army of infected beasts. The soul apparitions soared through the air. Some flew. Some ran. All attacked. Their glowing, translucent bodies tore through the infected beasts. They left no physical damage, and the soul damage wasn¡¯t able to hurt the tar-like substance within them. But that didn¡¯t matter right now. Thousands upon thousands of the infected beasts died. Xavier instantly cast Soul Harvest, replenishing his reserve in full from not only the fallen he¡¯d just slain, but from all the beasts his soul puppets and Volkarin had slain earlier in the fight. Killing all of those infected beasts had been enough to bring him to Level 203. Congratulations, you have reached Level 203! Your health has been regenerated by 80%! Your Spirit Energy (D Grade) limit has increased by 300! You have received +800 free stat points! All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown! Xavier¡¯s grin only became wider. God, he had never felt so powerful before! His Body Cultivation spell still infused every inch of himself with the newfound Soul Energy, and every single one of his spells had reached the end of their cooldowns because he had just levelled up. This¡­ This was power. He had thought he¡¯d been powerful before, but he kept reaching new heights. Kept breaking through new barriers. Now, it was time for him to destroy the black substance. To kill every inch of The Nightmare. He could feel that it had gathered here. That the black ooze was diminishing around the mountain and all that remained was what was before him now. I can do this. I can kill this thing. Xavier soared downward, extending his massive black dragon wings in full. Wind whipped past him as he flew toward his enemies. There were still yet more infected beasts down there. He cast Soul Strike again, using his entire reserve, aiming every single one of the apparitions against the infected beasts, ensuring there was no way that the attack would hit the main body of the demon and those trapped within it. White lightning arced over the battlefield. The Dark Mountains were illuminated in brilliant, glowing light as the soul apparitions of thousands of beasts¡ªbeasts that he¡¯d only just killed¡ªcame into being. Like a great wave they flowed toward the enemy. He was flooded with kill notifications as the majority of the remaining infected beasts met their end. Surveying the battlefield, he was struggling to see if any of them were left alive. As far as he could tell, the only beast standing was The Nightmare. But the black ooze was everywhere, and that was The Nightmare too. At least it can¡¯t attack me like the infected beasts can. He didn¡¯t gain enough D Grade Mastery Points to reach the next level. It took killing a hell of a lot more enemies than that for him to gain levels now that he was D Grade. Besides, much of those Mastery Points were being funnelled into the Lost Bone of a Dead God. The soul bound weapon had received a few ranks as he¡¯d fought, making his attacks and his attributes more powerful every time it became stronger. Xavier also had 800 free attribute points that he could assign to any one of his attributes. That was always a thrilling thing. He still found it absolutely insane just how many free stat points he gained with each level now that he¡¯d chosen the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class. There were many things that Xavier could do in this position. Time seemed to freeze as his mind worked, going through the different options. He could further strengthen his Spirit attribute. That would, in turn, make his soul stronger¡ªwhich would then make his Soul Energy more powerful. But it would be foolish to be distracted by his new resource before he even had a grasp on how to use it. For one, he was fully aware that soul damage didn¡¯t actually harm the true enemy that was The Nightmare. If it did, then things would have been very different in this fight. No, dumping 800 stat points directly into Spirit wasn¡¯t the way to go. Not this time around, anyway. He dismissed Toughness and Intelligence out of hand. Though it was always good to improve those attributes, right now wasn¡¯t the time. Strength and Speed. Those were good choices, especially as he needed to use his Body Cultivation spell to destroy the black ooze¡ªthat meant melee attacks, and a lot of them. He would need to be fast if he were going to get ahead of this. As he thought through the different options, he realised he couldn¡¯t make a decision until he tested this Soul Energy, coupled with Body Cultivation, against his enemy. Without accurate information, any decision he made in this moment could be the wrong one. For all he knew, his wisest choice would be dumping all 800 points straight into Willpower¡ªif he had better resisted his enemy¡¯s mental attacks, he wouldn¡¯t be in the position he was in now. Then again, I wouldn¡¯t have gained the Soul Born spell, either. He knew the best way for him to take a step forward in his strength was to face new challenges. That would always be true. Xavier surged forward. He cast Portal, flying through it to appear near the ground. The Dark Mountains was absolutely covered in the black ooze. After he¡¯d killed all of the infected beasts, a thick layer of the stuff was everywhere. This is going to take a lot of work. Xavier hadn¡¯t used Soul Energy to bolster any of his physical attacks with Body Cultivation before. He still sensed that as soul damage did nothing to the black ooze¡ªas apparently demons didn¡¯t have souls¡ªthen chances were Soul Energy wouldn¡¯t actually help him against this bastard. But there was something niggling at the back of his mind, telling him that his assumption didn¡¯t make complete sense. If Soul Energy was useless against the black ooze, then why had it dispelled it when he had pooled the energy around his body? It shouldn¡¯t have done a damned thing if it wasn¡¯t effective against The Nightmare. That was why he needed to test it right now. Xavier slashed downward with his claws at a puddle of the dark stuff. Soul Energy infused each of those claws and the moment he slashed, the energy detonated where he impacted. Xavier reared back and hovered in the air, looking down at where he had struck. There were long, large gashes cut into the dirt and rock of the mountain, but that wasn¡¯t all¡­ His eyes widened¡ªthe black ooze¡­ it had been utterly destroyed! And not just at the sight he had impacted, but all around for at least twenty feet. A wide smile burst onto Xavier¡¯s face. Soul Born¡­ Soul Energy¡­ This is going to be a real game changer. Not only had it gotten him out of almost being consumed by The Nightmare, now it was going to allow him to kill this thing. The voice of The Nightmare sounded in the chill air of the dark night, sounding far more terrifying than it had before. ¡°IF YOU WILL NOT SUCCUMB, THEN YOU SHALL DIE.¡± Xavier felt the gathering of a vast amount of power. The black substance on the ground all around him slowly started to move, then became faster and faster. Until it became a rushing river¡ªno, not a river, more like a whirlpool. It was all being sucked directly toward the main body of the demon. Book 5: Chapter 25 - The Nightmare’s Final Form Xavier watched in absolute awe as The Nightmare became one with all of the black ooze that remained on the entire mountain. Its grotesque, stitched-together body began to shift and change. The demon became taller, broader. It had already been massive. Soon it looked as though it would rival the size of the very mountain itself. I¡¯ve really pissed this thing off now. Perhaps Xavier should have been afraid. This was the most dangerous entity he had ever faced. But fear was not what he felt. He felt exhilaration. Xavier soared back toward the demon. He could have portalled toward it, but he wanted to see what the beast would do first. He hadn¡¯t seen this thing fling any spells at him, all he¡¯d felt so far were its psychic attacks¡ªand they had been nothing to sniff at. Xavier wondered if this was The Nightmare¡¯s final form and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle to himself at the reference. He knew if anyone was watching¡ªlike the barkeep, Felicia, with one of her little birds¡ªthat they might think he looked a little bit crazy right now. Maybe I am a little bit crazy. No spells were launched from The Nightmare. Instead, The Nightmare took to the air on wings even more massive than those it had possessed before. The wings were made almost entirely of black ooze. Xavier could still see the writhing bodies of the beasts and Denizens that were trapped inside of this thing. It was as though the demon wanted to display them. As though it revelled in showing them off. Maybe it does. Maybe it thinks of them as trophies. Xavier shuddered at the very thought. Flying toward Xaiver wasn¡¯t the only thing that The Nightmare did. Bits of black ooze began to branch off from the main body, shifting and twirling through the air toward him. The black ooze remained connected to the larger whole, but it spiralled out at him like tornadoes of black tentacles. Thousands of dark tendrils shot toward him at an incredible speed. All right, time to spend some of those free stat points. Xavier had made his decision as he¡¯d flown toward his enemy. He knew that right now, dumping everything into a single attribute wouldn¡¯t serve him. He needed to spread it a little wider than that. Xavier split the free stat points four ways¡ªhe put 200 points into Strength, Speed, Willpower, and Spirit. As far as he was concerned, these were the four most important attributes that he would need in this fight, and it wouldn¡¯t do to sell any of them short. Though nowadays 200 attribute points weren¡¯t a great deal to him, he still felt a slight shock to his system as they all hit him at once. He felt that much faster, that much stronger. His mental defences and attacks were emboldened, his soul empowered. Xavier grinned as he created a portal. There weren¡¯t a great many attacks that would help him in this fight now that the infected beasts had all been killed. All he needed to do was slash the hell out of this thing until it died. That meant getting in close. Xavier soared through the other side of the portal and straight into one of the demonic beast¡¯s wings. The instant he appeared through the portal, dark tendrils of black ooze shot toward him. Xavier didn¡¯t even reach the wing before he had to defend himself. This was different to when he¡¯d last fought the demonic beast in a melee confrontation¡ªit had shot ooze at him, but never at this scale. The damned demon has been taking it easy on me. No more. That was good. He certainly wouldn¡¯t be taking it easy on the demon. The dark tendrils tried to latch onto his arms and legs before Xavier had a chance to get out of the way. He slashed at them as they came toward him. With every slash that met his enemy, the Soul Energy exploded on impact through the power of his Body Cultivation spell. It destroyed the black ooze with ease, leaving nothing but burning air behind. Xavier cut down tendril after tendril. He whipped his wings around him, pooling Soul Energy into them so that the black ooze couldn¡¯t cling to the leathery skin. He fought with every ounce of energy he had, but he simply wasn¡¯t fast enough to fend off the dark tendrils. Not because he was slow, but because there were a countless number of them. He couldn¡¯t tell how many thousand were attacking him all at once. One of his legs was the first thing to be hit by the tendrils. Fear entered him then, as it perhaps should have before when The Nightmare had whirlpooled the entirety of the black substance that was its body into one large form. Only brief moments ago he was stuck beneath the black ooze, almost ready to give up everything. That was something he never wished to ever feel again. But the black ooze couldn¡¯t get a grip on him. Not this time. It slipped off, just as he¡¯d known it should. Soul Energy pooled around his leg, felt even through the fabric of his robes. It was more than enough to repel the tendrils. The fear disappeared as quickly as it came and was instead replaced with a strong sense of confidence. Xavier had already faced his darkest hour against this thing. Now, it was time to kill. The Nightmare attacked his mind with everything it had. Xavier could feel the mental attacks. A barrage of them pounding against his defences. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Mental Resistance has reached Rank 90! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached Rank 95! Xavier threw his head back and laughed. The Nightmare¡¯s rage only grew with each mental attack Xavier thwarted. With each tendril he destroyed. The main body of the demon was slowly starting to shrink as the fight wore on. Soon, it would be turned to nothing. Mental Resistance has reached Rank 90! Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path. Body Cultivation is now a Rank 60 spell. ¡­ Body Cultivation is now a Rank 65 spell. One cannot walk backward on the path. Xavier ate up the notifications as they came. He¡¯d gained a few ranks in Body Cultivation as he¡¯d fought against the infected beasts and as he¡¯d attacked the main body of the demon the first time, but he was glad to see even more rolling in. Xavier revelled in the carnage and destruction he was causing this thing. The Nightmare was only growing further enraged and confused as its attacks were doing nothing to Xavier. Xavier had somehow stumbled upon the perfect defence against this thing, and the perfect way to kill it. I didn¡¯t stumble on Body Cultivation. I asked for something like this. I just never knew how powerful it would be¡ªhow much it would really turn this fight around. The Nightmare would never have seen something like what he was doing. It didn¡¯t know how to fight against it¡ªdidn¡¯t know how to defend against it. And with Xavier¡¯s mind locked up tight, there was no way for this beast to harm him. The battle was won. All Xavier needed to do was ensure the Denizens trapped within this thing survived. I need a new plan. Xavier soared through a portal he summoned in front of him and appeared a few hundred feet away from The Nightmare. The demonic beast was nowhere near as large as it had been when it had taken on its final form. Hell, it was even smaller than when he¡¯d first seen the main body of the demon. He couldn¡¯t help but grin at what he¡¯d done. At the destruction he¡¯d wrought. This entire mountain had been changed because of him. Soon, The Nightmare would no longer roam here, and these mountains would have to be renamed. They certainly won¡¯t be dark anymore. But that time hadn¡¯t come yet, not with The Nightmare still living. As he watched The Nightmare writhe in the air, trying to get to him, he saw the black ooze regrow. Some of what he¡¯d destroyed was coming back. That was something he¡¯d already noticed as he¡¯d fought this thing¡ªit was able to regenerate. Just like any beast or Denizen, it has the ability to regain its health. Xavier just needed to come up with a way to deal a death blow to this demon without harming Ardon or the other Denizens trapped inside of it. He could see Ardon even more clearly now than he had before. The man was suffering even more¡ªas though The Nightmare were actively torturing him, taking its anger at Xavier out on the man. And not just on Ardon, but on all of the Denizens and beasts trapped within it. They were in complete and utter agony. Xavier had tried to get close to them. Tried to slice them free with his claws. He¡¯d done this first for one of the beasts that were trapped, but he hadn¡¯t trained enough in Body Cultivation to be precise enough with his actions, and he¡¯d accidentally taken the thing¡¯s head off. Well, he¡¯d exploded the thing¡¯s head off. Considering how poorly that had gone, he¡¯d figured he just needed a little practice to get it right. Ten more beasts died before he decided doing it that way simply wasn¡¯t the best plan¡ªhe didn¡¯t think that Liana would want her husband back without his head. Xavier examined the demon, watching it regrow, wondering how he might be able to do this. He thought of the first time he had faced this beast, before he¡¯d even had an idea of what it was, how he¡¯d taken over a portion of its mind. Xavier was afraid to try something like that again. Not only had the beast been able to eventually somehow have an effect on his Time Dilation field¡ªsomething he still didn¡¯t quite understand how was possible¡ªbut he¡¯d also been able to influence Xavier¡¯s mind back. Something clicked within Xavier¡¯s mind in that moment. It was something he should have realised before, but hadn¡¯t been able to¡­ The reason Xavier¡¯s Time Dilation field had been degrading faster, and the reason he hadn¡¯t been able to push it¡­ It wasn¡¯t because The Nightmare had suddenly become powerful enough to change time, it was because it had adapted to the speed at which the time dilation field was moving. The C Grade demonic beast had used the massive power of its interconnected mind to breach the time lag. It had connected to the Infected Rock Worm Xavier had been fighting, and in doing so, it had piggybacked its mind attack through the field. Xavier had been influenced by his enemy for a lot longer than he¡¯d even realised. A subtle, insidious influence that had him making poor decisions like attacking the main body of the demon¡ªthat same influence had affected his Time Alteration spell without him even realising. He took a moment to examine his mind, and somewhere deep inside of it¡­ There! Something has been hidden from me! The beast¡­ It had been controlling one of Xavier¡¯s split minds! The control had disappeared when all of his minds had come together once more, when Xavier had fallen unconscious from his enemy¡¯s mind attack. But for the longest time, Xavier hadn¡¯t even been aware of the thing controlling him. It reminded him of the exact way that Xavier had controlled The Nightmare when he¡¯d originally come across the beast. It hadn¡¯t been aware of me, just like I hadn¡¯t been aware of it¡­ While the realisation helped explain a lot of what had been going on during this fight, it didn¡¯t help him figure out his current predicament. Xavier was running out of options. He had a limited number of ways that he could hurt his enemy, and what he needed to do¡­ It required a far more delicate touch than he¡¯d been using. The onslaught of mental attacks from The Nightmare hadn¡¯t let up. Xavier could still feel them. But there was something interesting happening with those attacks, something he hadn¡¯t even noticed at first as he¡¯d destroyed more and more of the black ooze. The demon¡¯s mental attacks were growing weaker. The more of the black ooze Xavier destroyed, the weaker this thing¡¯s mind was becoming. Xavier had felt this thing¡¯s mind before, and at that time he¡¯d known he would never be able to rival it. But that time had passed. Xavier made a decision. He created another portal and flew straight through it, appearing directly behind The Nightmare. He slashed into its tar-like flesh once more, managing to take the demonic beast unawares¡ªsomething that was happening more and more often. The Nightmare had controlled his mind. Had influenced his actions. And Xavier was about to return the favour. A tendril of black ooze followed him back through the portal. He cut the portal. A fraction of a second later, Xavier cast Time Alteration, creating a time dilation field where he hovered in the air. It captured the black ooze that had been cut off from the main body of the demon. The ooze, no longer connected to the body of the demon, began to fall. Its mind might still be connected to The Nightmare, but this was different. Xavier swooped down toward the ooze, ready to catch it. He altered the way he cycled the energy running through his body, making his right hand susceptible to the black ooze¡¯s grip. At the same time as he swooped downward, he did something else. He altered the time dilation field itself. There were several ways in which he was able to alter a time dilation field. He could make the field larger. He could move the field. He could slow down time, or he could speed it up. Time was already sped up within the field, making everything outside of it appear frozen. But Xavier knew that wouldn¡¯t be enough, not after The Nightmare had adapted to the time lag. Xavier had to do better. He had to increase the speed within the time dilation field beyond what it had ever been before. And so that¡¯s exactly what he did. Only then did he grab the black ooze and allow it to sink into his skin. Finally, he cast Willpower Infusion. It was time to take back control. Book 5: Chapter 27 - Reunion Xavier was the last to step through the portal to Hunter¡¯s Home. He¡¯d scoured the battlefield, looking for some kind of proof that he¡¯d killed The Nightmare. Some remnant of the demon¡¯s body. But when he had commanded it to die, it had destroyed the thing rather thoroughly. Hopefully saving these people will be proof enough, he thought. The System should recognise that he had completed the Hunt Quest without some sort of trophy to bring back to the barkeep. It would be a pretty dumb System if it didn¡¯t. It¡¯s a shame I don¡¯t have a piece of the demon to hold onto, though. If I were able to assimilate its parts into me¡ªwhen I reach C Grade¡ªit could offer quite the significant boost. But assimilating properties into his body was something he¡¯d put on hold since he¡¯d attained his new race. He¡¯d sensed that it might somehow¡­ Taint the dragonkin that he had become. He was missing out on different traits that he could learn, along with all the stats he would gain, but something told him there was more to this race than he knew¡­ A lot more. And if he started to change this race with the Assimilation skill? He might not be able to access its true potential as an Altered Dragonkin¡­ So maybe it wasn¡¯t such a bad thing that he hadn¡¯t gotten something of The Nightmare to bring back, though it was certainly disappointing from a loot perspective. He grinned as he stepped through the portal, the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern appearing in front of him. He¡¯d done it! He¡¯d defeated The Nightmare and saved Liana¡¯s husband from the clutches of that sadistic demon! I killed a powerful, Level 380 C Grade beast! He was shaking his head as he stepped through the door into the tavern, a little bit in awe of all that had happened, and all that he had accomplished. But now that he had completed his task, what had happened to the Spirit of Vengeance¡ªto Volkarin¡ªswept back into his mind. A pained expression replaced his grin as he thought about the dragon spirit. Volkarin fought to the end to protect me from The Nightmare. He fought because he believed I would win. The dragon spirit wouldn¡¯t be dead¡ªno more dead than he already was, at least¡ªbut he would be injured. And if what Xavier had heard was true, he¡¯d be injured enough that it might be a very, very long time until he could be summoned again. And that just wouldn¡¯t do. I¡¯m going to have to do something about that. That was the next thing on his agenda, before going to face the C Grade Elemental Dragon. Because if there was no way that he could bring Volkarin into this world, how could he expect to use the vessel he was trying to get from the Elemental Dragon? There has to be a way¡­ The barkeep, Felicia, looked over at Xavier in awe. Her eyes were wide as Champions flooded into her tavern. Xavier wondered if she had been watching what had happened with one of her little birds. Wondered if she¡¯d already known he would be on his way. He supposed even if she did, the shock was still fresh, for it had only been moments ago that Xaiver had defeated the demon. ¡°You did it,¡± Felicia said. She looked around at all the Champions in the tavern, clearly recognising many of their faces. Which was quite a feat, Xavier thought. The woman must have seen countless Denizens like these ones over the years. To be able to remember them was pretty amazing. ¡°You defeated The Nightmare. And¡­¡± She motioned a hand at the gathered Champions. ¡°I thought all of these people were dead.¡± That got the attention of the rest of the Champions in Hunter¡¯s Home. Those that weren¡¯t new to the floor had heard about what he could do. Those that had just gotten here looked on in slight confusion, deciphering what was happening. Looks of respect and fear were scattered all around the place, directed toward him. Which reminded Xavier of something¡ªhe needed to get off this floor. His gaze trailed over each of the Champions in the bar as he recalled what Felicia had told him. I¡¯ve been gaining the wrong kind of attention. Someone here could want me dead. Not that anyone here would be able to defeat him. That was certainly something he was coming to know was true. After what he¡¯d been able to do¡­ But that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t be careful. Besides, he was looking forward to getting the hell off this floor and moving on through the tower. The notifications from the fight were still waiting for him. Before he looked at those, he headed over to the bar and ordered the people he¡¯d freed the drinks and meals they¡¯d been promised¡ªhe couldn¡¯t imagine how hungry they must be, having been stuck inside The Nightmare for so damned long. And it wouldn¡¯t just be the physical hunger, either. They would be craving the comforts that a place like this could provide. And there was something else he needed to do. After ordering the food he turned to face Liana¡¯s husband. ¡°Ardon,¡± Xavier called out. ¡°There someone out back who wants to see you.¡± Ardon looked oddly nervous as he walked down the hall of Hunter¡¯s Home, toward the private room that Liana had rented in the back. It almost seemed as though the man was worried about this encounter. He¡¯s changed, in the time he¡¯s been trapped. He worries she won¡¯t recognise him. Before they reached the room, Ardon stopped him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± the man said. Xavier frowned. ¡°Sorry?¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°What do you have to be sorry about?¡± ¡°The Nightmare, it¡ªit made me do something during that fight. It had complete control over my mind, and it made me use my powers.¡± Ardon¡¯s head had been lowered in what looked like shame. He raised it to lock eyes with Xavier. ¡°I¡¯m the reason The Nightmare was able to adjust to your Time Alteration spell. Without me, it wouldn¡¯t have had the knowledge, or the means.¡± Xavier sighed. ¡°Of course,¡± he replied. ¡°You¡¯re a Time Mage. Like Liana.¡± He shrugged. ¡°But whatever that thing made you do, it¡¯s not your fault. It wasn¡¯t your choice.¡± Xavier thought about putting a hand on the man¡¯s shoulder but stopped himself¡ªthat would be weird, right? Would he feel weird if someone did that?You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The fact that I don¡¯t know probably means I need to spend more time around people¡­ ¡°So, how did The Nightmare do it?¡± Xavier asked. He knew that The Nightmare had control of one of Xavier¡¯s split minds. That was how it had influenced him. But he¡¯d never figured out how the demon had been able to adjust for the time lag. ¡°I don¡¯t recall the demon using a Time Alteration spell.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a Time Alteration spell that it made me use,¡± Ardon said. ¡°It was a Mind Speed spell.¡± He frowned when Xavier raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t know what a Mind Speed spell is?¡± ¡°No, I do. I¡¯ve heard of it. Liana told me about it.¡± Ardon¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°You saved me for Liana¡­¡± He glanced at the door. ¡°What¡­¡± He swallowed. ¡°What does she mean to you?¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°She was my instructor. She taught me how to use my time magic.¡± Ardon¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°She did? But the way you used that Time Alteration spell¡­ The power you wielded¡­¡± Xavier mulled what the man had told him around in his mind, about how The Nightmare had used him. Mind Speed was a spell that allowed the user to speed up either their own mind, or the mind of someone else. It was like having your own time dilation field that only worked on the speed of your thoughts. Xavier hadn¡¯t realised it could be used in the way The Nightmare had, but something still felt off. ¡°I¡¯m a quick study,¡± Xavier said, responding to Ardon¡¯s implied question about how powerful he was. ¡°If you used a Mind Speed spell on The Nightmare, how come it took so long to adapt to the speed of my Time Alteration spell?¡± For a moment, Ardon looked confused. ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Xavier shook his head. He didn¡¯t see the humour in his question. ¡°Your Time Alteration spell is incredibly powerful, and fast. I couldn¡¯t keep up with it. The Nightmare forced me to strengthen the spell. It tortured me into doing so, even though it already controlled my mind. It¡¯s a bit of a haze, but I must have gained twenty ranks in the process.¡± ¡°Your Mind Speed spell wasn¡¯t fast enough to keep up,¡± Xavier stated. Ardon still looked a little confused. ¡°Well, of course it wasn¡¯t. I¡¯m only D Grade. How am I supposed to keep up with a C Grade like you?¡± Xavier stopped himself from smiling and correcting the man. Now wasn¡¯t the time. He turned to Liana¡¯s room, unlocked the door, and opened it inward. Ardon¡¯s face changed dramatically the moment he saw his wife lying on that bed inside of the time dilation field. ¡°She didn¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to save you, and she didn¡¯t want to have to spend another moment here missing you. So she did this. You have something really special with that woman, Ardon. I hope you realise that.¡± Ardon¡¯s eyes watered. A tear flowed down his cheek. Except, he didn¡¯t look sad. No, he was smiling. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. I know.¡± Xavier wasn¡¯t sure if he should be here for the reunion. This seemed like a deeply personal moment, and even standing there watching the man tear up felt awkward. Like an invasion. He turned and was about to head back to the main room of the tavern when Ardon put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Come. Let¡¯s wake her together.¡± Xavier stiffened at the man¡¯s touch but relaxed quick enough. He nodded, stepped into the room, and closed the door. He stood at the foot of the bed while Ardon walked around to stand beside Liana¡¯s head. The man beamed down at Liana with a love Xavier wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever seen before. Up until that moment, fear had been wafting off the man, just as it had wafted off all of the other Denizens that had been with him inside The Nightmare. That fear had lessened somewhat, with each step he¡¯d taken, especially when he¡¯d entered the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern. But it wasn¡¯t until he stood before his wife that the fear disappeared completely. Xavier wondered what that kind of love felt like. It certainly wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d experienced before. Ardon put a hand through the time dilation field. Were he not a time mage, doing this should have made him move through time just as slow as the person inside the field. But the man clearly knew how to manipulate Liana¡¯s magic. The two of them had trained together extensively. There was a bond between them¡ªit wasn¡¯t something Xavier would be able to pull off, even though his raw power was on another level to the two of them. The woman came to in an instant. Her eyes flashed open. Liana saw Xavier standing at the foot of her bed. Then her gaze shot toward her husband. Tears flowed, and she burst out of the bed to wrap her arms around Ardon. The awkwardness Xavier had been feeling melted away at the sight of the joyful, heartfelt reunion. He hadn¡¯t just saved Ardon and the others from The Nightmare, he¡¯d done this. He¡¯d reunited loved ones with loved ones, just as he¡¯d done for his friends back on Earth. This is something to be proud of. It made him think about his goals. Not his immediate goals on this floor, but the ones in the back of his mind. The protection of his own planet, Earth, and the countless people who still lived there. The saving of the entire sector from the threat Empress Larona had searched him out to fight against. And the goal the older version of himself had brought to his attention, and the Voice of the System had spoken to him about. The goal to save the entire universe. These things hang heavily on his shoulders. But watching the two people before him embrace. Watching the joy and peace he had brought them¡­ It brought everything he needed to do home. Xavier enjoyed fighting. He enjoyed power. That was something he couldn¡¯t deny. There were other things in this life he wished to do. Hobbies he wished to pursue. Entertainment he wished to consume. But ultimately, if he spent every waking moment of his life in a fight for his life, or the lives of others, he knew as long as he kept being challenged, it would make him happy. That, however, wasn¡¯t something he wanted for everyone. As much as he thought everyone in the Greater Universe needed to learn how to fight, and needed to advance and become strong, he didn¡¯t wish for it to be that way. If I fight, those who don¡¯t wish to won¡¯t have to. He wondered if he¡¯d heard those words before. If he¡¯d read them in a book before the System had come down and changed his life, or if they¡¯d simply sprouted in his mind in the moment he needed them. Xavier had never doubted his goals, but saving those people, watching this reunion¡­ It solidified things for him. Liana, whose eyes had been closed as she¡¯d held her husband tight, opened them to look at Xavier. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you for everything.¡± She did not break the embrace with her husband. Instead, she moved one of her hands away from him and summoned something to it. It was something Xavier recognised. A Communication Stone. She tossed it over to Xavier. ¡°I owe you a debt, Xavier Collins, and intend to repay it. This way, at least, we can remain in contact until that time comes.¡± Xavier frowned, looking down at the stone. ¡°You don¡¯t owe me anything, Liana.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Liana said. Ardon kissed his wife on the cheek then disentangled himself from their embrace¡ªthis brought a harsh look from her, but a warm smile melted it. The man faced Xavier. ¡°We both owe you a debt of gratitude.¡± He nodded at the door. ¡°As do the people back in that tavern. I have no doubt that every single one of them has now become an ally you can trust. What you saved us from¡­ There are no words to describe it. If I could banish that time from my mind I would.¡± ¡°You¡¯re leaving the floor now, aren¡¯t you?¡± Xavier asked Liana. The woman nodded. ¡°Not just the floor. I think¡­ I think it¡¯s time I left the tower.¡± She took her husband¡¯s hand. ¡°We have lost time to make up for.¡± Xavier smiled. Lost time.That was something the two of them shouldn¡¯t have trouble regaining. ¡°Thank you for teaching me so much, Liana.¡± Liana smiled. ¡°Thank you for learning.¡± She tightened her grip around her husband¡¯s hand. ¡°I daresay I wouldn¡¯t have him back if you hadn¡¯t.¡± The two of them didn¡¯t linger in the tavern long. They didn¡¯t even stay for a drink. They simply headed for the door back to their respective Staging Rooms, walking hand in hand. Liana nodded to the barkeep on the way out. Ardon nodded to the gathered Champions he¡¯d spent a torturous time with, who were all eating their meals and drinking their drinks. The men, women, dwarves, elves, and lizardmen stood as their comrade in misery exited the floor, interrupting a meal that they no doubt had been craving for years. It wasn¡¯t until Liana and Ardon had disappeared that they¡¯d sat back down. Xavier¡¯s smile didn¡¯t leave his lips for a long time after that. Book 5: Chapter 28 - Changer of Fates Xavier headed for the bar after the Liana and her husband Ardon had left the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, wondering what their life would be like now. He still held the Communication Stone the woman had given him. He looked at it for a moment before depositing it into his Storage Ring. I¡¯ll meet the two of them again. He just didn¡¯t know when. ¡°You really are something,¡± Felicia said, placing a mug of hot coffee in front of him. Xavier sipped the coffee. He hadn¡¯t looked at the notifications from that fight. Now, he figured it was time. ¡°I¡¯ll be back for the Hunt Quest reward soon.¡± He nodded at the people in the bar. ¡°I think they are proof enough of its completion.¡± He walked over to the corner table he always sat at. He couldn¡¯t help but notice Gimble the dwarf wasn¡¯t here, and neither was his party. He wondered where they¡¯d gotten off to. Probably fulfilling a Hunt Quest. Sitting at that corner table, he looked at the different people in this place through his Farscope, wondering if any of them were truly a threat as Felicia had told him they might be. He found he didn¡¯t care if they were. Xavier brought up the notifications, flicking past all the different ranks he¡¯d gained. He had gained a lot during that fight. His Willpower Infusion spell was stronger than ever, and his Body Cultivation spell¡ªwhich he¡¯d gained in that fight¡ªalready felt as though it was incredibly powerful. He skipped fast all the different skill and spell ranks. While he was glad he¡¯d gained all of them, it was the title he was looking for. Title Unlocked! Changer of Fates: You have changed the fates of over one thousand people in the Greater Universe. The accumulation of these changes has led to the gaining of this title. There are few in the Greater Universe who are able to read the webs of fate, and even few others who have the power to change it. The gaining of this title has allowed you to unlock a new energy source. You have gained 1 unit of Universal Control. Xavier tilted his head and stared at the description. He read it over, three times, then shook his head. Changer of fates? One unit of Universal Control? He dipped his head and closed his eyes in thought. He had never heard of anything like this title before. He had saved a thousand people from their fates? Looking back at all he had done, he was sure that in his time in the Greater Universe he had saved far more than a thousand people¡­ But perhaps that wasn¡¯t what this title meant. Are there truly people out there who have been destined to die¡­ People I¡¯ve stopped from dying? He hated the thought of being destined to die, just as he¡¯d always hated it when bad things happened and people said, ¡°Everything happens for a reason.¡± As though that made it okay. Being destined to die. God, that would be a total rip off. With an infinite number of alternate universes, it seemed incredibly unfair that people were marked for death by destiny¡ªif that was indeed what this notification implied. Still, he stared at the last part of the title and brought up what he had unlocked. Universal Control: 1 When he looked inward, he could feel the new energy source somewhere inside of him, but he had no idea what it meant¡ªand no idea what to do with it. On defeating The Nightmare, Xavier thought he would gain a very different kind of title. Something to do with killing something of a higher level than himself¡­ But he supposed he¡¯d gained a lot of titles like that in the past. He doubted killing The Nightmare qualified him for that. A part of him thought he didn¡¯t gain a great deal from the fight if he¡¯d only earned one title, but he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. If not for that fight, there was a lot he wouldn¡¯t have done. Gaining the Body Cultivation spell was a huge one¡ªand that in itself had gotten him a title. A considerably powerful one.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He breathed in deeply, then let out a long sigh. Whatever this new energy source called Universal Control was, it couldn¡¯t be a bad thing that he¡¯d gained it. He would learn more about it in time, and he knew exactly how he would learn about it¡ªOtherworldly Communion. But there was a problem there. Despite him defeating an incredibly powerful C Grade entity, the Mastery Points he¡¯d gained from the defeat of the demonic beast hadn¡¯t been enough to bring him all that close to gaining Level 204, as he¡¯d only just reached Level 203 during that fight. The cooldown for the spell was generally a month long. That meant he would need to be very careful about the next question he asked. He didn¡¯t want to linger in this place longer than he had to. I¡¯m going after that dragon the moment I can. Xavier walked to the bar and nodded at Felicia. The woman was staring at him with a mix of awe and respect. And something else he couldn¡¯t identify. She didn¡¯t say anything on his approach, so it was Xavier who spoke up first. ¡°I¡¯m here for the Hunt Quest reward.¡± Felecia merely nodded. She put down the mug she¡¯d been cleaning and made a motion with her hands. ¡°Which option would you like to choose?¡± Xavier didn¡¯t need a notification, or for the woman to mention which options there were¡ªhe¡¯d done this enough times to know. The three rewards were monetary, Mastery Points, and Ability Acquisition. This was the most powerful beast that he had ever defeated while completing a Hunt Quest. There had been other C Grade beasts that he¡¯d come up against¡ªboth within the raid party and without¡ªthat he had claimed Hunt Quests for. But this was different. This fight had almost killed him. He¡¯d been an inch away from death when he¡¯d unlocked that new spell, Soul Born¡ªyet another thing he¡¯d gained during that arduous fight. He couldn¡¯t remember the last fight that had tested him so much, that had brought him so close to losing everything¡­ The thrill of the experience still ran through him. He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought about the different options before him. He skipped straight over the monetary reward. Then, he seriously considered the Mastery Points reward. There was a part of him that seriously considered choosing that one. He didn¡¯t like the feeling of taking so long to gain levels now that he¡¯d reached D Grade, and as he could stall his advancement when he reached Level 300, it would only be a positive thing to be a higher level, wouldn¡¯t it? The stronger I am when I come up against the Elemental Dragon, the better¡­ That thought had him almost make his selection, but he stopped himself short. His strength wasn¡¯t only in the levels and attributes he gained. It was in the spells and skills that he mastered. If not for the different abilities he possessed and the unique ways that he utilised them, he wouldn¡¯t have won that fight against The Nightmare. He would have died or been consumed by the things mind. Xavier shook his head. Mastery Points were helpful. Gaining levels was helpful. But for what he wanted to do, gaining levels would never be enough. He smirked as he recalled Ardon¡¯s assumption about him¡ªthat he was a C Grade Denizen. Yet Xavier knew there were C Grades out there who lacked the kind of power that he possessed¡ªthere had to be, if he was already defeating C Grade beasts. No. Levels aren¡¯t what I need here. Xavier chose Ability Acquisition, because of course he did. He was itching to see if the System was going to assign him another random spell, or if it might assign him something else. It had given him powerful items in the past, after all¡ªthat was how he had gained his soul bound weapon, the Lost Bone of a Dead God, in the first place. Maybe it would assign him an interesting skill. Something he¡¯d never even thought to gain, but would help him in the long run¡­ He thought about his soul bound weapon a moment. I wonder how much more powerful the weapon would be if I instilled Soul Energy into it¡­ His new Soul Born spell was definitely something he needed to experiment with. That spell, along with Body Cultivation, had come out of nowhere for him, but he knew that they would end up making a massive impact on whatever fights he got into next. ¡°So, you gonna stand there smirking all day, or are you going to choose something?¡± Felicia asked. ¡°Huh?¡± Xavier blinked. ¡°Oh.¡± He realised he hadn¡¯t made his choice known. When he did, she simply waved in the air and a notification appeared in front of him. The Nightmare Hunt Quest Reward: Ability Acquisition You may receive: - Ten ranks in the spell Body Cultivation - Ten ranks in the spell Soul Born - Ten ranks in the spell Willpower Infusion Or: Do you wish to trade these ranks to receive an unknown spell reward? Xavier stared at the notification, a little dumbstruck. Ten ranks in all three of those spells? That¡­ That was a lot. That was the greatest number of ranks he had ever been offered, and now that he was D Grade¡­ Ranks were a little harder to come by. He could even delay when he received this reward. He could head out of Hunter¡¯s Home tavern in that very moment and grind the spells to the highest rank he could manage on his own then come back and claim this reward, that way the ranks would have the most possible impact on him. He considered how long it would take him to gain 10 ranks in each of these spells by himself. He tapped his foot on the sawdust strewn floorboards and let out a sigh. His eyes couldn¡¯t help but be drawn down to the last part of the notification. The spell he gained could be a dud, for all he knew, but as he didn¡¯t know what the spell was, it could also become the most powerful asset at his disposal. Decisions¡­ Decisions¡­ Just like with the Mastery Points, Xavier figured he would gain these ranks in time on his own. Though¡­ They would make a difference in the fight with the C Grade Elemental Dragon that had killed a massive raiding party in the past¡­ Still, he couldn¡¯t pass up the chance to learn another spell. It was like a burning itch that he just needed to scratch. If he didn¡¯t take that spell he would forever be wondering what the hell it could have been. I choose the random spell, Xavier willed. The last time he¡¯d gained a spell this way, it had been based on what he¡¯d done during the fight. Xavier thought back to the fight. He had used a lot of different spells. Willpower Infusion, Body Cultivation, and Time Alteration had been the big ones¡ªwhich was why he could have gained ranks for them. He wasn¡¯t sure how whatever he gained would ultimately relate back to those, but he supposed he was about to find out. The notification he¡¯d just been staring at disappeared, and another one took its place. You have gained the spell: Chronomantic Mindforge Xavier was a little taken aback by the name of the spell. Chrono, he knew, had to do with time. Mindforge¡­ he wasn¡¯t sure exactly what that referred to. He smiled broadly. Over the bar, Felicia raised an eyebrow. ¡°What spell did you get?¡± Xavier shook his head. ¡°Not telling.¡± He grinned. The look on the woman¡¯s face was not a kind one, but Xavier liked to keep people guessing. Book 5: Chapter 29 - Chronomantic Mindforge After receiving his spell, Xavier left the Hunter¡¯s Home tavern immediately. He created a portal just outside the door and disappeared through it, returning to one of the isolated groves he liked to think of as his training retreats. In the time that he¡¯d spent back at Hunter¡¯s Home, his Time Alteration spell had met the end of its cooldown. He summoned a mug of fresh coffee Felicia had given him on his way out, then he sat cross-legged on the grass, taking a moment to look through the canopy of trees at the sky above. The air was fresh here. He drew in a breath, then sighed. He was itching to read what the Chronomantic Mindforge spell did. Before opening the spell description, Xavier cast Time Alteration, creating a field around the area to give himself a little privacy. He sipped his coffee and opened up the description. He couldn¡¯t help but remember whenever he¡¯d gotten a new book by an author he loved. That feeling of anticipation grew, but he wanted to be in the right spot when he read what it was. Chronomantic Mindforge - Rank 1 Chronomantic Mindforge is a rare, mix-disciplined spell. It requires the user to possess three different paths of magical power¡ªTime Magic, Mind Control, and Body Cultivation. Chronomantic Mindforge allows the caster to create a localised distortion of time. This distortion of time slows down time for the surrounding enemies as well as the user, though it leaves the user¡¯s mind racing along at the same speed as the normal flow of time in the area. Within this field, the user can influence the minds of those around them. The influence the user has on others¡¯ minds is limited in scope¡ªin this state, they may drain the energies from the others¡¯ cores, convert that energy into Celestial Energy, and cultivate that energy into themselves. This is a difficult spell to master. As was his way, Xavier read through the description multiple times. He tilted his head to the side. It freezes time for me and those around me, but my mind still moves at speed? In a way, that reminded him of the spell Mind Speed that Ardon had been forced to use on The Nightmare. It allows me to influence other people¡¯s minds and the energies within them¡­ That part of the spell wasn¡¯t just his Willpower Infusion, it reminded him of Core Burn as well¡ªthe manipulation of other people¡¯s stored energies. And then he could¡­ draw that energy into himself. He almost felt a little disappointed, at first, about the spell. It was really just some sort of Core Drain spell, wasn¡¯t it? But¡­ there was more to it than that. In the past, Xavier had experimented with casting Willpower Infusion on minds outside of his Time Dilation field. He had in fact done that very thing in the fight against The Nightmare, at least in a way¡ªthe only reason that had worked was because he¡¯d used it on a part of the demon that had been inside the field, and also because The Nightmare¡¯s mind had been working for faster than normal. He didn¡¯t know the next time he would encounter an entity similar to that of The Nightmare. Normally, he would have to deactivate the Time Alteration spell for his Willpower Infusion spell to hit an enemy outside of the field. This was rather different. This made his mind far more powerful than the mind he intended to influence. And while it didn¡¯t harm his enemy like Core Burn did, it may very well defang them to a degree, making it difficult¡ªor impossible¡ªfor them to cast their spells or infuse energy into their bodies or attacks. Yes, there was more to this spell than met the eye. He could see how it would serve him well. Though he had to wonder at how it actually worked. Slowing time for himself and those around him¡­ wouldn¡¯t that mean those outside this time distortion moved more quickly than him? He¡¯d experienced that while altering the flow of the time dilation field. It was a dangerous spot to be in. But that¡¯s a time dilation field, not a time distortion. Perhaps that works differently. This warranted investigation. Xavier deactivated the time dilation field and moved out of the glade to hunt for some beasts to test his new spell on. ~ Xavier trained for three days with his three new spells. Body Cultivation, Soul Born, and Chronomantic Mindforge each made huge leaps in their ranks and his proficiency with them. In that time, he had also used his Otherworldly Communion spell. There had been information he¡¯d needed to learn, about Volkarin, and if he would still be able to bring the injured dragon back to his would. A few times while Xavier had trained, he¡¯d used Soul Sacrifice, in the hopes of seeing the dragon spirit burst out, the first among those through the bridge from the Otherworld. But the dragon never came.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It was strange using that spell and never seeing the dragon. He felt a longing to see the beast, one he hadn¡¯t expected. Apparently, he¡¯d grown closer to the spirit than he¡¯d thought. During the communion, he had learnt everything he needed. Now, it was finally time for him to face the C Grade Elemental dragon, take its egg, and get the hell off the hundredth floor. Xavier clutched the notice for the Elemental Dragon in his hand. He stood just outside Hunter¡¯s Home. He¡¯d never felt more ready. ¡°Xavier! Lad!¡± Gimble waved at him down the path, a little ways from the tavern¡¯s entrance. Xavier waved back at the dwarf, his party nowhere to be seen. ¡°Gimble,¡± Xavier nodded. He glanced around, feeling a little deflated. Part of him wanted to ignore the dwarf and continue on his way. He had a dragon to fight. ¡°Where¡¯s your party?¡± he asked, not particularly interested in the answer. The dwarf shrugged. ¡°I sent them onward. Through the tower. I could sense they¡¯d spent enough time here.¡± Xavier tilted his head to the side. ¡°You sent them on?¡± Xavier knew the dwarf had spent a long time on the hundredth floor. More than anyone else but the barkeep, who was essentially the guardian for the floor. He had churned through many different party members in that time. He was an interesting fellow, albeit one that liked to hide the truth on occasion. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re solo for a while?¡± Xavier asked. Gimble shrugged. ¡°Just for the day. I¡¯m about to head back to the Staging Room. I need to find some more party members before coming back here.¡± He scratched his beard. ¡°Maybe spend a few days in a tavern that isn¡¯t this one.¡± Xavier shook his head and chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re coming back? Are you ever going to leave this floor?¡± The dwarf glanced about, then gave Xavier a cheeky look. ¡°Only when I¡¯m C Grade, and not a minute before.¡± He winked. ¡°Ambitious.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t think he had the mental fortitude or stamina to remain on this floor that long. It was already getting monotonous for him. ¡°No doubt you¡¯ll be a force to be reckoned with the next time we see each other.¡± Actually, if he were honest, other than the strong challenges he¡¯d faced¡­ He had grown bored of this floor many months ago. ¡°Aye. That¡¯s the plan, lad. That¡¯s the plan. Though I reckon you already are one, to a far higher degree than I could ever manage.¡± He motioned toward the door. ¡°One last drink?¡± Xavier shut his eyes a second, all of his thoughts turned toward facing the Elemental Dragon. Then he sighed. ¡°All right. One last drink.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sound so put out, lad. I¡¯m paying. And that¡¯s not all that¡¯ll make it worth your while.¡± The dwarf grinned through his massive beard. ¡°I¡¯ve finally opened that troll box o¡¯ yours.¡± Xavier blinked. Gimble frowned at him. ¡°What, don¡¯t you remember? You¡¯ve been hounding me about it since you gave it to me.¡± ¡°Oh, I remember. I just never thought I¡¯d see the day you actually opened the damned thing.¡± Xavier¡¯s interest was piqued. He supposed he could let himself get interrupted from his mission for this. He¡¯d been waiting for the dwarf to open that box for long enough, after all. Xavier followed the dwarf into the bar. They didn¡¯t head to a table, like he¡¯d expected. Instead, Gimble headed to a private room that he had in the back, one Xavier hadn¡¯t been to before. The room was far larger than any of the other ones Xavier had seen at Hunter¡¯s Home, and it was thoroughly lived in. The dwarf had clearly brought all of his own furniture, as each of the items were customised to fit his diminutive size. ¡°How long have you had this room, Gimble?¡± Xavier asked, looking about. Gimble chuckled. ¡°A long, long while. Not even sure how long, if I¡¯ll be honest with you, lad. After a while you stop keeping track.¡± There was table in one corner that the dwarf went to sit on. Xavier closed the door behind him and came to sit down at the table. The dwarf brought something out of his Storage Ring. Xavier chuckled when he saw what it was. A keg of ale. ¡°I thought you said one last drink?¡± ¡°Aye. Half a keg each. Sounds like one to me, lad,¡± the dwarf said with a raised eyebrow. He tapped the keg and poured them both a mug, placing them on the table. ¡°This is Dwarven Fire Ale. Has quite the kick.¡± Gimble winked. He headed to a locked cupboard at the back of the room and opened it. The troll¡¯s loot box sat at the bottom of it. He picked it up and put it atop the table with a sigh. Gimble slapped the top of the chest. ¡°This damned box has been more of a hassle to access than I¡¯d expected. I tell you what, I almost gave up on the thing. Was gonna hand it back to you with an apology. But this morning, something came to me.¡± He slapped the box again and grinned. ¡°Popped it right loose, it did. Though, you won¡¯t be using this as a storage device in the future¡ªit isn¡¯t locked anymore, and it¡¯s a damned bulky thing to transport besides.¡± ¡°You can keep the box. I just want whatever¡¯s inside.¡± Xaiver eyed the dwarf. ¡°There is something inside it, isn¡¯t there? This isn¡¯t like Al Capone¡¯s vault?¡± ¡°Whose what now?¡± ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s just say someone worked something up so hard and for so long and it ended up being¡­Well, nothing.¡± Xavier had contemplated, many times, what was inside the box. He couldn¡¯t for the life of him think of what a Fetid Forest Troll might deem important or valuable enough to put inside one of these. He worried that he had worked it up so much in his mind that it had to be something¡­ Absolutely amazing. And now, all he expected was to be disappointed. Gimble had a smile on his face, one that Xavier struggled to read through the thickness of the dwarf¡¯s beard. ¡°Well, what is it? You¡¯ve made me wait long enough. No need to keep me in further suspense.¡± Xavier grabbed the mug of ale before him and took a sip. He shut his eyes a moment and put a hand to his throat. ¡°God, that burns.¡± Dwarven Fire Ale certainly lived up to its name. Gimble gave a hearty laugh. ¡°That it does, lad. That it does.¡± The dwarf rubbed his hands together. ¡°You¡¯re right, lad. No more waiting.¡± He rested a hand on either side of the chest¡¯s lid. That smile of his was still plastered on his face. In a flurry, he flipped open the lid. Then he turned the treasure chest around to face Xavier. Xavier leaned over the table and looked inside the treasure chest. He had been waiting far too long to see what was inside this thing. His face fell. Xavier raised his eyebrows, looked at the item, then looked at the dwarf. ¡°Is this some kind of joke, Gimble?¡± Inside the treasure chest sat a small, silver key. The key didn¡¯t look interesting to Xavier¡¯s eye. In fact, it looked like this treasure chest simply had a key to some other treasure chest. The chest couldn¡¯t really only hold a key, could it? The dwarf tilted his head to the side and stared at Xavier with an odd look on his face, the smile having fallen away. ¡°You don¡¯t know what this is, do ya, lad?¡± Xavier stared at the dwarf for a long moment before he turned his focus back onto the key inside the chest. He took the key out of the chest and used his Identify skill on it. Perhaps this wasn¡¯t a joke after all. The item¡¯s description appeared before him. {Universal Travel Key} This is a teleportation device that allows the user to create a portal every six months to anywhere in the local universe. The portal is one way and only lasts for ten minutes. The portal does not reopen again for a return trip for one month. This teleportation device does not work between alternate universes. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. This was similar to his Sector Travel Key, but¡­ It worked even better than that key did. Not only that, it worked for the entire local universe. It looked as though the wait had been worth it after all. Book 5: Chapter 30 - I’m Not Going to Die Here Xavier sat at the table in Gimble¡¯s quarters for a long while examining the key. A Universal Travel Key. In his hand lay something that could get him anywhere in the entire universe. Well, the local universe¡ªwhichever one he happened to be at the time. He supposed that he could use this Universal Travel Key right now if he wished. He didn¡¯t know much of anything about the universe that he was currently in, other than the fact that time worked differently here. But what if there was another version of himself out here somewhere, one that he could visit? Could he use this key to travel to Earth? And if he did, what exactly would he find? The Earth had been around for billions of years before the System was integrated there. That meant there was a high chance that he would return to his world in this alternate universe and find¡­ That he was in medieval times, or perhaps that dinosaurs still lived. It could be far in the past, or far in the future. Potentially, the Earth might not exist at all¡­ No, it wasn¡¯t worth risking. He would not use this key until he had a very specific purpose for it. Right now, he didn¡¯t know what that purpose was. But he was sure that this item would be vital to his progression in the future. Xavier humoured Gimble the dwarf by finishing off the keg of Dwarven Fire Ale with him. Every sip burned all the way down his throat and into his chest. It wasn¡¯t as good as coffee, but Xavier found the sensation oddly satisfying. The ale was strong enough to get even him a little tipsy, and considering what he wanted to so after this, being in an altered state wasn¡¯t something he could afford. ¡°The effects will wear off within a day or two.¡± The dwarf said with a wink. ¡°Closer to a day, for the likes of you, I imagine.¡± Gimble raised his mug, a calculating expression on his face. Xavier frowned at the dwarf who had become his friend during his time on this floor, suspicion flaring within him. He placed his own mug down. ¡°Any reason you¡¯d want that?¡± Gimble sighed, shook his head. ¡°Gold Gaze.¡± Xavier¡¯s mind turned. He looked around the room. This was a Safe Zone. And he trusted Gimble. Yet the second the dwarf had said ¡°Gold Gaze¡± Xavier couldn¡¯t help but think of what the barkeep Felicia had said¡ªthat there was a good chance someone on the floor wished to assassinate him. There could be quite the bounty on his head. Gimble gave Xavier a quizzical look. ¡°Dunno what¡¯s going through your head, lad, but I¡¯ll stop you before steam starts shootin¡¯ from ya ears. I¡¯ve seen the way you looked at that Elemental Dragon Hunt Quest notice, from the first moment you were standing in front of it.¡± He nodded at the door. ¡°And I saw the way you looked when you were standing outside of this place¡ªyou were ready and raring to fight some battle. Off ta slay the dragon, aye?¡± Xavier¡¯s worries fled in an instant. His body relaxed, muscles that he hadn¡¯t even known were tensed eased. ¡°Aye, Gimble. I¡¯m off to slay the dragon. That¡¯s what you want me to think about as this stuff wears off? I suppose I can¡¯t fulfil that favour I owe you if I¡¯m dead.¡± The dwarf nodded. ¡°Aye, that¡¯s very true, lad. But it¡¯s not the only reason. I wouldn¡¯t want to lose a friend.¡± Xavier smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to die.¡± Gimble sighed. ¡°Very few people intend such a thing, I¡¯ve found. But, it¡¯s your life to do with what you will. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll hear about your exploits soon enough.¡± The dwarf stood. He touched a hand to the empty keg of Dwarven Fire Ale and it was deposited back into his inventory. ¡°It¡¯s been good knowing you, lad. If you survive all this, maybe you¡¯ll use that Universal Travel Key to visit my world someday. Fulfil that favour you owe me.¡± He winked, then headed to the door, leaving Xavier sitting at the small table, more drunk than he¡¯d been in a long time, contemplating the dwarf¡¯s words. A few minutes later, Xavier soared above the trees of the great forest on the hundredth floor. He had not contemplated the dwarf¡¯s words for very long, nor was he drunk anymore. Despite his high Toughness attribute, that hadn¡¯t actually been strong enough to negate the effects of the Dwarven Fire Ale. There had clearly been some alchemical potion mixed into the ale that allowed it to negate someone¡¯s health regeneration. It¡¯s straight up poison, Xavier had thought when he¡¯d realised that. Coffee would never do this to me. Then again, since when was alcohol not poison? He¡¯d sat there for a full minute, feeling frustrated at the dwarf, and frustrated at himself. During that minute, he did seriously consider Gimble¡¯s words. The dwarf had been around for a while, and Xavier would be a fool not to heed the wisdom of those that had been in the Greater Universe longer than him. But, once he¡¯d thought it through, he knew his goal remained the same. Half a keg of ale wasn¡¯t going to stop him, nor were the dwarf¡¯s words.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Xavier had cycled Celestial Energy through his channels, his eyes closed, his body relaxed. It had just been a theory, at first, but it turned out that being drunk helped him gain a whole 5 ranks in Body Cultivation. Body Cultivation allows me to strengthen the body, and yet all I¡¯ve really used it for is offensive attacks. He was proud of what he¡¯d been able to do. It hadn¡¯t even taken him all that long. There was a lot of untapped potential available in this skill. If only there was someone out there who could teach me how to use it properly. Considering how long it had been since anyone had possessed the skill, Xavier knew the chances of that were slim to none. The mountain loomed ahead of him. Xavier hadn¡¯t been to this part of the great forest before. If he had ventured here earlier, he would have been too curious to get a glimpse of the Elemental Dragon. And so this was the first time that he¡¯d seen the mountain the dragon called its home. The mountain where the most powerful C Grade beast on the entire floor protected its egg. Hundreds of Champions had gone after this thing in an incredibly powerful raid group, and not a single one of them had survived. The mountain was possibly the tallest structure that Xavier had ever seen in his life. Though he had never been to Mount Everest, he was sure this thing would made that look like nothing more than a small mound on the ground. Xaiver wondered what it would be like to climb up that mountain. It was completely covered in snow, the peaks of the mountain so cold they were capped with ice. Trees grew on the sides of the mountain, but they were drowned almost to their tops the snow was so thick. Did the raid group climb all the way to the top, or did they have some teleportation or summoning mages among their group? He hoped for the latter, but he could see how they might be determined enough to make the climb without magical help. Xavier smiled, glad he didn¡¯t have to get to the top of the mountain the hard way. He flapped his massive black dragon wings and propelled himself upward to heights he¡¯d never before reached. The entire area where the mountain sat in the great forest had been clouded by a thick layer of mist. He¡¯d passed through that mist maybe ten miles back, leaving a layer of water clinging to every inch of him. The mist guarded the mountain from view¡ªthat was why, despite its incredibly size, Xavier hadn¡¯t seen it before. So far, he hadn¡¯t seen any sign of the dragon, but he had seen plenty of beasts. The beasts that roamed this area were stronger than the ones that he¡¯d faced in other parts of the forest. Groups of Giant Ice Trolls roamed around the bottom of the mountain, carrying clubs made from ice. They battled against a goblin horde¡ªgoblins the very same height and colour as the ones Xavier had faced back at his university the day the System had come to Earth. Except these goblins were far more sophisticated. They had mages and archers and tanks in their number. There were dozens of them, and despite their lower level, they were decimating the larger Giant Ice Trolls simply because they were better organised. Xavier shook his head. He¡¯d explored this floor extensively, but there was still so much of it he was yet to see. The side of the mountain wasn¡¯t only home to trees. He¡¯d heard that there was an extensive network of caves that held all sorts of different sapient beasts. There was a civilisation inside of that mountain, a civilisation of beasts. He¡¯d been intrigued when he¡¯d learnt that, wondering what such a thing would look like, but that wasn¡¯t why he had come. I¡¯ll have countless years to explore all the Greater Universe has to offer. The higher he flew up the mountain, the less signs of life he saw. Giant Fire Eagles soared around the rocky crags, protecting nests filled with eggs of their own. Xavier activated Fear Dominion whenever one of these eagles spotted him, not wishing to deal with the beasts. He soared ever upward. Soon, he saw no signs of life at all. There wasn¡¯t a single beast in sight. The goblins. No trolls. No eagles. He spotted a cave or two but he knew that if he ventured inside of them, he wouldn¡¯t find anything within. The air became thinner, and the snow began to turn to ice, but that wasn¡¯t why no beasts ventured here. There was a powerful, oppressive aura that hung heavy in the air of this place. Something deep within Xavier recognised the aura¡ªa primal, bestial part of him that was connected to his new dragonkin race. He recognised a superior being when he felt it. A pure predator. A beast that filled him instantly with a fear he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever felt. That feeling of complete and utter dread almost made him turn around. Almost made him flee. Almost. Xavier banished the fear, mustering up the courage that had gotten him into and out of danger ever since the System had integrated him into this new reality. Though he was not able to banish the fear completely, and that was when Gimble¡¯s warning hit him hardest. Xavier gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve. I¡¯m not going to die here. He thought of the reasons he had come and of the goals he wished to accomplish. From an outside perspective, it may have seemed terribly foolish to think that he could face¡ªlet alone defeat¡ªsomething as powerful as this dragon. But that didn¡¯t matter. It was time. As he soared higher up the frozen mountain, he still did not see signs of life. He did, however, see signs of death. There were parts of this place that weren¡¯t covered in snow or ice, and those parts were covered with something else¡ª Bones. Bones of beasts. Bones of Denizens. Bones of anything the Elemental Dragon got its claws into, he supposed. Though he knew that no beast would voluntarily venture into this place, which made him wonder how the bones had gotten here. The Elemental Dragon must leave this place to hunt. But from all he had heard about this dragon, he found it difficult to imagine it leaving its nest to hunt. It wouldn¡¯t wish to leave the egg unguarded. Admittedly, he knew little of the Elemental Dragon. There were no accounts of this beast. Xavier had asked Gimble and Felicia more than once about it, but neither of them had been able to provide any real information. ¡°No one who goes up that mountain ever returns,¡± was all he was told. Xavier soared over the bone-laden ground, climbing to ever higher peaks, until he saw what he was looking for¡ªa cave, at the topmost peak. The entrance to that cave looked as though it had been carved from the very rock¡­ No, not carved. The rock around the entrance had been melted to create a giant archway. Large enough to fit the dragon. That must be where its nest is. Xavier landed on the ground before the entrance. The powerful aura was even stronger here. He looked at the threshold of the cave. Now or never. Xavier took a step. Something inside the cave roared. It was the loudest roar that Xavier had ever heard. The sound of it made fear run through his veins. The dread he had endured when he¡¯d first felt the effects of the Elemental Dragon¡¯s aura was nothing compared with what he felt in that moment. That was when a second roar sounded. This one came from outside of the cave. The dragon has a mate! Book 5: Chapter 31 - Five Scratches Xavier¡¯s mind raced. He stood at the topmost peak of the Elemental Dragon¡¯s mountain, at the threshold of the beast¡¯s cave. Inside, he knew he would find what he was after¡ªthe dragon¡¯s egg. An egg that would serve as a vessel for the dragon spirit Volkarin. He would finally be able to summon the beast into this world. But there was something about the C Grade Elemental Dragon that the Hunt Quest notice, along with anyone he¡¯d ever spoken to on this floor, had left out. There wasn¡¯t only one dragon on this mountain. No wonder no one ever returned from this place alive! Suddenly, all of the signs of death that he had seen made more sense. The Elemental Dragon remained in the cave, protecting its egg. And the Elemental Dragon¡¯s mate left this place to hunt. A dragon, Xavier knew, required a lot of food. His mind racing, Xavier considered his options, but he came to the same conclusion¡ªthis didn¡¯t change anything. He had come here to perform a task, and he wasn¡¯t about to leave without having done that. Before Xavier laid his eyes on either dragon, their roars still sounding in the air, he cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. He had been waiting for this moment. The three different options appeared before him¡ªto summon the Spirit of Vengeance, the Spirit of Protection, or the Spirit of Time. More than six months had passed for this floor¡¯s local universe since Xavier had summoned the Spirit of Time. Now, he would have his chance to use the spell once more. It was, he knew, the most powerful spell that he possessed in his entire arsenal¡ªnot because it was able to deal damage to his enemies, but because of what it allowed him to learn. Even if it could potentially cost other versions of him their lives. I know the cost. I¡¯m willing to pay it. Xavier chose the Spirit of Time. The world dimmed of all colours, though there wasn¡¯t much colour in this place to begin with, so the change was barely noticeable. The change that he did notice was the complete silence that engulfed him the moment he¡¯d chosen which aspect of the spell he wished to use. A near-blinding light flashed in front of him. The light slowly dimmed to reveal the beautiful woman now standing there. The Spirit of Time. The woman looked just as resplendent as she had the first time he had used this spell. There was a smile on her face as she looked upon him. She glanced around the area and gave a knowing nod, as though she knew exactly where they were¡ªperhaps she did. I thought it wouldn¡¯t be long until I saw you again, Xavier Collins. What impossible task is it that you wish to perform this time? The Spirit of Time¡¯s voice sounded within his mind. He raised his chin as he took her in. I have a dragon to slay, Xaver replied. He paused. Two dragons, actually. She took a step forward and gave him an appraising look, taking in his wings. I sense you have changed a great deal in the short time since you summoned me. The Spirit of Time tilted her head to the side. I enjoy seeing those who summon me improve. Xavier spread his black wings behind him, causing the woman to raise her eyebrows. You are right. I have changed a great deal. He nodded toward the inside of the cave. A dragon protects its egg within that cave. He turned and gazed behind him. Another comes. Its mate. Ready to defend it. Xavier had seen no sign of this second dragon as he¡¯d soared up the mountain, nor had he heard its roar. It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d stepped over the cave¡¯s threshold that it had sounded. There must have been some sort of spell. One that alerted the dragons of his presence. Or maybe they were powerful enough that they could simply sense when one was in their domain. And you wish to steal this egg, do you not. The spirit did not wait for a response. Interesting. There was a knowing look in her eyes. The Spirit of Time no doubt knew Volkarin¡ªas Volkarin was one of the seven rulers of the Otherworld¡ªand so she likely knew that he was the Spirit of Vengeance that Xavier was so fond of summoning. I see why the dragon did what he did. Xavier swallowed as he remembered the dragon fighting until the end for him. If not for those actions, Xavier might not have made it out alive. The dragon had stalled his enemy long enough for him to learn how to adapt. To learn how to change. He wasn¡¯t sure he would have survived his battle with The Nightmare if not for Volkarin. Time must move forward, the Spirit of Time said. The first unfolding must begin. Xavier felt the change. The shift in the very universe as the time stream was altered. He stood exactly where he had a moment ago, only this time he was no longer in control. An entirely separate time stream had been created¡ªmeaning an entire alternate universe had come into existence as this version of himself diverged.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Xavier was inside his own body, able to see what was going, but there was nothing that he could do to influence it. It was a very strange feeling. I hope this version of me doesn¡¯t have to die for this. ¡°Looks like I drew the short straw,¡± the other version of him muttered. He tilted his head from one side to the other, eliciting a satisfying crack. ¡°I suppose I was looking for a challenge.¡± The other version of him leapt into the air and soared high on powerful wings. Xavier, observing, wasn¡¯t sure that was the first choice he would have made. Which was strange, because this was him. He¡¯s not trying to flee, is he? Xavier couldn¡¯t help but wonder if that happened sometimes. The moment the time streams diverged, the version of him that emerged was essentially a completely different person to himself. That fact always served to boggle his mind. There could be people out there who used this spell, but the other version of themselves simply¡­ ran from whatever impossible task was set before them. That would only be fair, Xavier supposed. The other version wouldn¡¯t be able to summon the Spirit of Time¡ªthey weren¡¯t able to use Summon Otherworldly Spirit again at all. But this version of Xavier didn¡¯t flee. His eyes darted left and right as he tried to look for the dragon that had roared out here. The two dragon roars had sounded distinctly different to Xavier¡¯s ears. One of the dragons was much older than the other¡ªand that dragon was the one he was stuck with outside of the cave. Ah, Xavier realised. The other version of him had launched himself in the air rather than stepping into the cave where the Elemental Dragon was protecting its egg because the Elemental Dragon wouldn¡¯t leave its egg unprotected. Out here, he could deal with this dragon before dealing with the other one. Besides, they needed to get a good look at it, and that was far easier at height. Xavier felt something strange happen then. He¡­ Detached himself from the fight. As he looked through the eyes of another version of him, he took on the role of observer and nothing more. He had felt this same thing before, back when he had first summoned the Spirit of Time, when he¡¯d been facing the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll as a lowly E Grade. Xavier didn¡¯t need to act, all he need do was watch. The other version of Xavier spotted the second dragon far off in the distance. It had been hunting in the mists beyond the mountain, something Xavier marvelled at. The distance from here to there¡ªthe roar must have been incredibly loud. Xavier examined the dragon as it pumped its wings and soared straight for him. It was still a fair distance away, but it was eating that distance incredibly fast. Right now, it was too far away for him to use his Identify skill on, but that would soon change. The dragon wasn¡¯t what Xavier had expected. It looked nothing like any dragon he had seen in the flesh¡ªit also looked nothing like the dragon spirit Volkarin. This beast was something altogether different. It was a skeletal dragon. There was no flesh anywhere on its bones. No muscle. Nothing. It looked like some mad creation of a necromancer, but Xavier could see the life in it. This was no mere undead minion. This was an undead creature with a soul of its own. The beast looked terrifying as it flew through the air, and that aura of fear¡ªof dread¡ªthat permeated this place only grew the closer the dragon came to reaching the mountain. The other Xavier kept glancing down at the cave¡¯s entrance below, as though he expected the Elemental Dragon inside to make an appearance. She¡¯s not going to come, Xavier thought¡ªand intuitively, he knew the Elemental Dragon inside was the mother of that egg. There was a sudden glow about the skeletal dragon, just as it came within range of Xavier¡¯s ability to scan it. {Skeletal Dragon - Level 385} A true skeletal beast is a creature that has come back to the world of the living through sheer force of will. Something in this world makes them cling harder to the Mortal Realm than others, something that it cannot let go of. Though a soul resides within a true skeletal beast and they are able to grow in power, they are not fully alive¡ªalways they have one foot in life and one foot in death. A Skeletal Dragon is one of the most powerful skeletal creatures that exists. Though Skeletal Dragons possess souls, they are immune to soul damage. They are, however, weak to holy damage. If you don¡¯t have a cleric in your party, perhaps it is time you run. Level 385. That¡¯s even stronger than The Nightmare. And immune to soul damage. That was definitely useful knowledge. Why do all these damned C Grade beasts need to be immune to soul damage? Xavier was heartened by the fact that even in this detached state as an observer, he could still feel the different energy channels moving around in his body¡ªor rather, in the body of the other version of him. So he could feel his Body Cultivation spell at work. Xavier watched in mute fascination as the other version of himself launched at the dragon. The other version of him soared through a portal and appeared at the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s back. He ran a clawed hand along the beast¡¯s flank, striking with an explosive Body Cultivation attack. Xavier examined the wound that was left behind by the attack¡ªTelekinetic Enhanced Strike had been used to further strengthen the Body Cultivation attack. And yet the damage to the dragon¡¯s bones was minimal. The glow about the Skeletal Dragon intensified. A wave of energy shot out from it. Xavier could feel that energy. There was something wretched and wrong about it that he simply couldn¡¯t place. The other version of him soared back through the portal, managing to avoid being hit by the wave of energy that emanated from the Skeletal Dragon in wild pulses like ripples in a pool. Five scratches. That¡¯s all that attack did to this damned beast. Soul Strike, of course, would be useless against this thing. The other version of himself shot forward the moment the pulse of wild energy had ceased. Another type of energy infused his body. This time, it wasn¡¯t just Celestial Energy that cycled through his channels¡ªit was Soul Energy. This dragon might not be susceptible to Soul Damage, but neither had The Nightmare, yet Xavier had still been able to harm the beast when he used Soul Energy to infuse his Body Cultivation attacks. Xavier was still trying to puzzle out exactly why that was. He hadn¡¯t come to a conclusion yet, but right now he didn¡¯t need to. The second slash did considerably more damage than the first. Xavier heard a crack as his strike impacted the skeletal beast¡¯s bone. The crack reverberated outward and was so strong it caused an avalanche somewhere lower down the mountain. Xavier felt the other version of himself smile in grim satisfaction. Then another wave of energy pulsed from the Skeletal Dragon. This one, he hadn¡¯t been able to get out of the way from. The energy engulfed his entire body. The sensation was incredibly strange. Xavier had felt versions of himself die in the past. That was something he didn¡¯t wish to go through again, but knew that if he continued to summon the Spirit of Time, that was likely happen a lot in his future. What he thought he felt in that moment was similar to the deaths of the other versions of himself he¡¯d felt in the past. Except¡­ This version of him didn¡¯t die. His spirit simply left his body. Although there was nothing entirely simple about that. What the hell did that spell just do? A fraction of a second after Xavier asked the question, a notification appeared in his vision. Your spirit has been ejected from your body. You have 5 minutes to return to your body before your soul is forced to depart from this world. You may only return to your body if it remains alive. Book 5: Chapter 32 - Opening Act Xavier could no longer feel anything from the other version of himself, but he knew that version of himself would currently be panicking. He knew that, because he was panicking. Xavier had never heard of a spell that ejected one¡¯s spirit from their body! How in the world was he supposed to deal with something like that? Apparently, the other version of himself already knew. While Xavier, as the observer, was panicking, this other version had acted. He¡¯d cast Soul Born, infusing his spirit with Soul Energy. Xavier hadn¡¯t even realised that he would still be able to use any spell while he was ejected from his body, but apparently this other version of him didn¡¯t need to know to try. He flew through the air on wings more translucent than that of Volkarin¡¯s when the dragon spirit was in the Mortal Realm. Xavier feared he wouldn¡¯t be swift enough. The Skeletal Dragon had whirled around in the air tremendously fast. It opened its giant more and chomped its massive yellowing teeth at Xavier¡¯s body¡ªwhich, without someone driving it, was tumbling down through the air. The Skeletal Dragon caught Xavier¡¯s body, its teeth sinking into his flesh, easily cutting through his robes. Blood poured from the wound and something cracked. Actually, several somethings cracked. Xavier winced at the sight of what was happening to him, but that other version of him soared ever faster, his spirit suffused with ever more soul energy. The instant he reached his own body, his spirit snapped back into it. Xavier watched in mute fascination as notifications rapidly appeared in his vision. Your health is at 50%! Your health is at 30%! Your health is at 5%! The other version of him was trapped inside the giant maw of the skeletal dragon. The dragon¡¯s attack had rendered him completely useless, even though it had only worked for the short period of time it had taken him to return to his body. That was when Xavier felt the next spell being used¡ªChronomantic Mindforge. Xavier knew this was a last-ditch effort. He had thoroughly field-tested Chronomantic Mindforge, and while he was able to get a hold of some C Grade enemies, he¡¯d only managed it on those below a certain threshold of power. He couldn¡¯t imagine being able to do it against something this powerful. But what other choice did he have? Something else happened as the spell was being cast¡ªit was infused with power. With Soul Energy. Xavier had quickly discovered that Soul Energy was something that could be infused into every spell that he possessed. It was an incredibly powerful amplifier, one that made him far stronger than without it. But there was a cost to using Soul Energy, one that hadn¡¯t been quite clear in the description of the spell. The spell had mentioned that Soul Energy was a finite resource. What it hadn¡¯t mentioned was the more one used it, the more they weakened their own soul. And if the soul was weakened enough¡­ Death would come for him. Once he had discovered this, Xavier had kept a tight hold on exactly how much Soul Energy he used in his spells. He always ensured that he used the energy wisely. And he was slowly learning how to renew that energy. This other version of Xavier had thrown as much his Soul Energy as he could into this one spell. The Skeletal dragon and the young dragonkin froze, along with everything around them. The only thing that still turned was the other version of Xavier¡¯s mind¡ªand Xavier¡¯s mind along with it. In that moment, the other Xavier inflicted his will upon the dragon, taking over his mind. Xavier the observer would have been holding his breath if he were currently in a state where that was something he could actually do. It took barely an instant for the spell to work, and yet that moment seemed to stretch on for an age. The C Grade¡¯s mind was breached. Chronomantic Mindforge had one main function¡ªto draw energy in from an enemy while it was being mind-controlled. But there was more to the spell than simply that. Xavier had found that it had the ability to weaken an enemy¡¯s mind. The mind control was so strong that it left cracks in the enemy¡¯s mental walls. Cracks that could be taken advantage of the moment the spell ended and time began to move forward again. Currently, the other version of Xavier was still being chomped down on by the dragon. He was stuck, with teeth sinking deeply into his flesh, the pain so immense and acute that it threatened to overwhelm all of his senses. Except in this frozen moment, where only his mind turned. Xavier watched. Energy flowed forth from the dragon and was sucked directly into Xavier¡¯s body. More and more energy kept coming from the beast, to the point where Xavier knew that if the other version of himself didn¡¯t flush some of that energy it would overwhelm him and all of his cores. The power this beast wields¡­ The spell ended in a flash when the Skeletal Dragon was able to exert control over its own mind once more. In the few days that he¡¯d had this spell and practised it in the great forest of this floor, he¡¯d never seen something like that happen. The energy from the dragon stopped flowing into Xavier and time began to move forward once more. The pain returned. Somehow, it was even worse than before. He¡¯s going to die. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Skeletal Dragon chomped. Xavier¡¯s health dipped lower and lower. He cast several spells, one after another. Soul Sacrifice! Spirit Break! Willpower Infusion! Those few spells turned the fight around. The dragon was powerful, that much was true¡ªbut it was yet to feel the full might of Xavier¡¯s strength. The beast may have been able to exert control over its mind once more after the Chronomantic Mindforge attack, but there were cracks in the armour that was its mental walls. Cracks that the other version of himself worsened with the use of Spirit Break. Casting Spirit Break alone was enough for the beast to rear back. Spirit Break was a multi-pronged attack¡ªit hit the body, mind, and spirit simultaneously. But this beast was more spirit than anything else, and it was clear that was where the damage lay. Each of these spells had Soul Energy infused into them, to the point where Xavier was beginning to worry about this other version of himself. He¡¯s using too much. The other version of him, suddenly free of the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s giant maw, was able to regain control of his flight, his wings catching him in the air. His body was a mangled mess of pain, wounds, and broken bones. Xavier inwardly winced as this version of himself reinforced every inch of his body with Soul Energy, cycling it with his Body Cultivation spell. Xavier felt for the reserve deep within him¡ªthe reserve that was his soul. He wished he could communicate with the other version of himself. Something primal had clearly taken over when he¡¯d been close to death. He¡¯s going to burn himself out! A bridge to the Otherworld had formed. The other version of him had sacrificed over two thousand souls when using Soul Sacrifice. This attracted the most powerful of the spirits he could¡ªthough once again, Volkarin was not among them. As Chronomantic Mindforge and Spirit Break had served to weaken the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s mind, Willpower Infusion was able to break through the mental walls completely. For a brief moment, Xavier was in full control of his enemy. Core Burn! Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how much energy the beast had left to burn¡ªbut the less the better. That was another trick he¡¯d learnt when practising with Chronomantic Mindforge. Not only did it weaken an enemy¡¯s mind, it also took enough of their energy from them that it softened them for Core Burn. Making it easier for them to kill themselves from the inside out. But this wasn¡¯t just a run-of-the-mill C Grade beast that Xavier was facing. This was a Skeletal Dragon of a higher level than The Nightmare. It fought back, once more breaking Xavier¡¯s mental control of it. The Core Burn attack fizzled, burning through what must have been only a fraction of the dragon¡¯s remaining energy. The spirits that flowed from the Otherworld and attacked the Skeletal Dragon were like gnats on a wolf. Annoying, but ultimately nothing more than a nuisance. And this dragon wasn¡¯t even the main event. Wasn¡¯t even the main enemy that Xavier had come here to face. It was simply the opening act. The raid group that came to face this beast¡­ they hadn¡¯t been able to defeat it. If they did, it wouldn¡¯t still be here. Xavier watched on in despair as the other version of himself fought with everything he had. He slipped through a portal and appeared a mile away, then cast Time Alteration. Within that bubble, wounds were tended to, healing potions were devoured, and time slowly passed. Enough of it for that other version of him to regain his bearings. He¡¯d brought the time dilation field into existence high up in the air, where he¡¯d come through the portal, but had carved it back down to the ground. He sat on a cushion of snow on a large plateau atop the mountain¡¯s peak. While there, he fell into a deep meditative state. The man¡¯s Soul Energy was almost depleted. It was so close to being gone that he wouldn¡¯t be able to use Soul Born again. And there was something else. A notification that he hadn¡¯t attended to. One Xavier hadn¡¯t noticed during the battle, but one that he most definitely noticed now. You are suffering from Soul Sickness. Soul Sickness occurs when one¡¯s Soul Energy reserve is almost depleted. This status effect is temporary and requires a great deal of rest to recover from. Soul Sickness will cause all of your cores to be influx and hinder your ability to cultivate energy. Xavier felt his eyes widen as he read that, but it only brought to attention something that had already become clear. His cores were leaking energy. This was something that had never happened before. He¡¯d known there would be consequences to using too much of his Soul Energy, but he¡¯d had no idea this was what those consequences would be. ¡°This is bad,¡± the other version of Xavier said, clearly talking to him. ¡°I can stay inside this time dilation field for as long as possible, but I don¡¯t know how long it will take to recover from this¡­ I became foolish, during that fight. Pushed myself too hard. Past limits we didn¡¯t even know we had.¡± The other version of him bit his lip. ¡°If this is the power of the Skeletal Dragon¡­¡± He looked to the cave entrance, where the other dragon lay. ¡°Then how powerful will the Elemental Dragon be?¡± Xavier couldn¡¯t answer him. He couldn¡¯t say a word. Part of him wanted this other version of himself to abandon the fight¡ªXavier had already learnt much from this. There were things that he could do differently. Ways that he would have a better chance of defeating his enemy. But he knew better than to expect any version of himself to give up. From all that he¡¯d experienced, it was clear that it simply wasn¡¯t in his nature. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure how much time passed within that time dilation field. He could feel the other version of himself pushing the field to its limits, extending its time for as long as possible. He could see the C Grade Skeletal Dragon on the other side of the field. With each hour that passed within the time bubble, the creature flew just a little bit closer. Eventually, it would make it all the way to him¡ªthem? Xavier inwardly sighed, wishing he could control what was happening here, and at the same time glad that he wasn¡¯t. Glad that whatever fate would befall this other version of him wouldn¡¯t be his fate. That thought made him feel tremendously guilty, but he couldn¡¯t help feeling that way. This was the whole reason he¡¯d summoned the Spirit of Time in the first place. The whole time that other version of himself sat meditating in the bubble, he was probing his Soul Energy reserve, trying to do everything he could do bring more energy into it. But Soul Energy wasn¡¯t like the other types of energy¡ªit wasn¡¯t, as far as Xavier could tell, something that could be cultivated. Not in the way that other energies could. Not that he had discovered yet. Soul Energy came from the soul. It was as though the soul¡¯s very existence generated the stuff. Creating more of it was something that needed time, not sheer force of will, and even though Xavier was inside of a time dilation field, it seemed as though the time passing inside of it wasn¡¯t enough. He had been using Soul Energy far too liberally. He felt a trickle of Soul Energy enter his reserve, but he knew that it wasn¡¯t enough. He did a rough calculation of how much longer the time dilation field would last, and the rate Soul Energy was being created¡­ It would take months to bring the Soul Energy reserve back to what it once was¡­ He didn¡¯t know how much Soul Energy he would need to no longer be suffering from Soul Sickness, but it was clear that his entire body was weakened. His normal cultivation had been stunted, and it was difficult for him to hold onto the energy in his cores. This was something he didn¡¯t know how to address. How can he fight like this? Finally, after what must have been weeks inside of that time dilation field had passed, the other version of himself stood up. The Soul Sickness wasn¡¯t healed. His cores remained the same. The damage that he had done to himself¡­ It was something profound. The Skeletal Dragon was closer now. In the weeks that had passed within the time dilation field, the dragon had managed to travel the mile distance that Xavier had been away from it. Xavier could have carved the time dilation field away, to move it somewhere further, but that wasn¡¯t something he was able to do. He didn¡¯t have enough energy left in the spell¡ªthe moment he tried to alter it, it would simply bring the entire spell down. That would just leave him in the same place he was in right now. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± the other version of him said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do this.¡± He hung his head in evident shame. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to abandon this fight.¡± Xavier didn¡¯t need to feel the man¡¯s thought or know his emotions to know how giving up on a fight must feel. It wasn¡¯t as though he couldn¡¯t come back to this fight, but there was something pushing him away from this floor¡ªthe threat that the barkeep had spoken to him about. He didn¡¯t know what this version of himself would choose to do, and with the Skeletal Dragon so close to the time bubble¡ªso close that he would be on him in an instant when the bubble fell¡ªXavier knew the other version of him would need to move fast to get out of this mess. Xavier didn¡¯t want to see what happened next. It didn¡¯t matter anymore. He was able to cut off the unfolding and return to the pocket of frozen time that he shared with the Spirit of Time. The woman raised her chin and looked over at him. Another unfolding? The question came, but it was clear the spirit knew the answer to that. Xavier took a moment to think through everything that had just happened in that previous fight. Then he nodded. Another unfolding. Book 5: Chapter 33 - The Elemental Dragon Ten unfoldings had passed before a version of Xavier was able to defeat the Skeletal Dragon. Each new version of him that fought against the Skeletal Dragon was aware of what had happened to the previous version, and with that knowledge came power¡ªcame the ability to fight their enemy with renewed strength. But even with that strength, killing this thing was a tall order to fill. Finally, when the tenth version of him that emerged had defeated the Skeletal Dragon, it had been an incredibly close fight. It wasn¡¯t the swift, easy kill that he¡¯d eventually had against the Fetid Forest Troll. This had taken a tremendous amount of effort. And there was something else that Xavier had become aware of during this time. For the first seven fights against the Level 285 Skeletal Dragon, the Dragon Elemental remained within its cave. It wasn¡¯t until the Skeletal Dragon had been injured enough, and was close to death, that the beast finally emerged. Xavier had thought¡ªand hoped¡ªthat it never would. He had hoped that he would have time to recover between fighting the two different dragons. Time for his spells to reach the ends of their cooldowns. Time to recover whatever health he had lost. He wanted to go into the fight with the Elemental Dragon fresh. But that was turning out not to be an option. That seventh version of him had died only a moment after he¡¯d realised what had happened. The Elemental Dragon had distracted him long enough for the Skeletal Dragon to knock his spirit out of his body. Then his body, defenceless, falling through the air toward the rocky, ice-laden ground below, had been incinerated by a blast of flame from the Elemental Dragon. Xavier hadn¡¯t felt that pain. He had been observing from where his spirit had been dislodged. The spirit version of him simply floated in the air for a long moment, observing what had happened in mute despair. Then Xavier had cancelled the unfolding and started the next. The seventh version of him had been the first to lose their life. Xavier had been feeling less and less guilty about using the Spirit of Time as every version of him had been surviving the battle, even if they hadn¡¯t been defeating their enemy. The unexpected death of the seventh version of him in this fight had brought those feelings back¡ªbut he pushed them away easily enough. At that moment, part of him had worried that this fight was simply too much for him. He had been able to defeat The Nightmare on the first try¡ªwhy wasn¡¯t he able to defeat this damned Skeletal Dragon? True, the Skeletal Dragon was significantly more powerful than The Nightmare. But that didn¡¯t bode well for the fight with the Elemental Dragon. The tenth version of Xavier¡ªthe one to defeat the Skeletal Dragon¡ªhad done it inside of a time dilation field. That way the Elemental Dragon wasn¡¯t able to interfere with the fight. It also meant that when it came time to fight the Elemental Dragon, he¡¯d have one less spell at his disposal. It didn¡¯t take a great deal of time for the spell to reach the end of its cooldown, but the time it did take¡­ It would simply be too long, he was sure of it. The tenth version of Xavier hovered in the air, his wings flapping heavily, keeping him airborne. There was great big tear in one of those wings, and he was missing a foot¡ªthe Skeletal Dragon had clamped its jaws around it, ground through his bones with its powerful teeth, and taken his foot. That pain, Xavier had felt. This version of Xavier had had to expand the time dilation field considerably so that there would be room enough to fight the Skeletal Dragon. A small time dilation field simply hadn¡¯t been enough. You are suffering from Soul Sickness. Soul Sickness occurs when one¡¯s Soul Energy reserve is almost depleted. This status effect is temporary and requires a great deal of rest to recover from. Soul Sickness will cause all of your cores to be influx and hinder your ability to cultivate energy. The version of Xavier inside the bubble released a long sigh. ¡°I know,¡± he muttered. ¡°But I had to. It was the only way to defeat this thing.¡± He had once again fallen into the trap that the first version of Xavier to fight this fight had¡ªusing too much of his Soul Energy. As the time dilation field had been made so big, it was taking its toll on the spell. Soon, the field would fall, and the Elemental Dragon would be able to make its way to him. This version of him needed time to rest and recover. They were more injured than the first version of him had been. But at least they¡¯d been able to defeat the first of the two dragons. It¡¯s not enough. It¡¯s not bloody well enough. Xavier drew on all of the patience that he possessed. He needed to observe more unfoldings. He felt like he¡¯d been through this fight a hundred times¡ªfelt like he would need to go through it a thousand times before he finally got to a satisfying end. ~ Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The fifteenth fight was the one that finally ended with Xavier feeling fresh. At least, as fresh as he figured he could manage. From where he sat within the other versions of himself, only able to contemplate what he saw and not have any actual influence over it, Xavier once again couldn¡¯t help but wonder at how absolutely, insanely overpowered the spell he had access to was. Essentially a time-loop that allowed him to try a battle over and over and over again until he finally found a satisfactory ending. There was simply no way that Xavier, as he had been when he¡¯d first turned up on this mountain, should have been able to defeat the Skeletal Dragon. And yet that was exactly what he¡¯d done. He wondered about the spell he was using, summoning the Spirit of Time¡ªwondered if he would be able to use it against whatever it was out there that was to eventually end the universe. There were also other things he could use this spell for. He wondered if, when he was a much stronger D Grade Denizen, whether it would be wise for him to go after a B Grade enemy¡­ That sounded like the height of foolishness, but so did what he was doing right now. The Skeletal Dragon lay dead. The Elemental Dragon had already emerged from the cave below. The pure rage in its eyes felt as though it had a power all by itself. The beast wanted to melt his bones. To tear him from limb to limb. Xavier had yet to do any damage to the Elemental Dragon. Had yet to face this terrifying beast. All he¡¯d really done so far was use Identify on it. {Level 390 - Elemental Dragon} This is one of the most powerful types of dragons that exists within the Greater Universe. They belong to an ancient and noble line of dragons that have roamed the universe since near the beginning of time. An Elemental Dragon can call upon all the elements. They can freeze the air, melt bones and the toughest enchanted steel. They can move mountains and summon storms of immeasurable power. Elemental Dragons are also extremely territorial. When faced within or in close proximity to their den, their power and defences are further enhanced. This creature isn¡¯t merely a beast. It is considered a Denizen by the System, with the ability to go through the Tower of Champions, for this race of beasts begins with a higher level of intelligence than most humanoids. Though it is unlikely that a humanoid Champion would ever encounter a Denizen such as this while journeying through the tower. Xavier had been taken aback by that. The description itself hadn¡¯t said much about the skills and spells the dragon possessed, but he couldn¡¯t help but zero in on the fact that it was also considered a Denizen. Xavier had often wondered at what the distinction between a Denizen and a beast even was, especially when they became just as, if not more, intelligent than the humanoid races he¡¯d encountered. Xavier had trouble imagining a version of the Tower of Champions that was entirely dragons or other beasts considered Denizens. Something told him they wouldn¡¯t have the same sized rooms, or a tavern at the bottom of the tower, like his tower did. Which had made him wonder¡­ Did other races have different versions of the Tower of Champions than he did? He was getting distracted, he knew, but since there wasn¡¯t anything that he could do while he was stuck observing himself, no harm had been done to the fight. Twenty-five and a half seconds after the Skeletal Dragon had been killed and Xavier had started to battle the Elemental Dragon, he had died. Just like that. Or rather, that version of him had. As fast as Xavier was able to move and think, he hadn¡¯t even seen the attack coming. The Elemental Dragon had frozen the very air where he had been¡ªjust as the description of the dragon had said it could. And Xavier, unable to teleport away as his Portal spell required him to actually move through a portal, had been defenceless with no way of escaping. He¡¯d found that he couldn¡¯t move his limbs at all. He was frozen in midair, as though in the middle of an iceberg floating in the sky. The only thing that he had been able to do was cast spells, but not a single one of his spells had helped. Stuck inside that iceberg floating in the air, he wasn¡¯t able to fight. Death had come for him. Xavier stood, once more, in that pocket of time he shared with the Spirit of Time. The beautiful spirit looked at him with raised eyebrows. Denizens have gone mad pursuing certain outcomes with this spell. The woman paused, as though waiting for his response. When he didn¡¯t say anything, she sighed. Do you wish to experience another unfolding? Xavier paused, gritted his teeth. There has to be a better way to do this¡­ he thought to himself. You have not answered my question, young Denizen. Do you wish for the next unfolding to begin? Xavier looked at the Spirit of Time. How long can I remain here before making that decision? There were things that he needed to think through¡ªthe entire fight being one of them. That was two versions of himself that had died. Each of those versions died because the Elemental Dragon had intervened. The strength, the power of that thing¡­ He was struggling to imagine it. Xavier closed his eyes, recalling the fight, trying to see the exact moment the attack that had trapped him had been launched. You may remain in here for as long as I wish, the Spirit of Time replied. For now, I am happy for you to take your time. I have as much of it as you need, after all. Xavier, his eyes still closed, experienced the fight within his mind. The Elemental Dragon had flapped its massive wings and shot straight for him. The beast was even larger than the Skeletal Dragon¡ªperhaps twice its size. It looked significantly more formidable even though there was only a handful of levels between the two. It had been flying toward him when the fifteenth version of him to experience this fight had delivered the final blow to the Skeletal Dragon. That had enraged the Elemental Dragon, as it always did. The beast roared, and in that roar came its attack. There had been no visible hint of magic building up within the beast¡­ There! Xavier thought, replaying the fight within his mind for the seventh time. It lasted for barely a fraction of a second, which was why he hadn¡¯t spotted it earlier. A flash of silver light from deep within the dragon¡¯s mouth. That must have been the iceberg spell he¡¯d been trapped within activating. Xavier hadn¡¯t been able to fight that spell. Hadn¡¯t been able to do a damned thing. He¡¯d flung his spells at the beast. Spirit Break had made it flinch, very slightly, but otherwise it hadn¡¯t done a damned thing. Chronomantic Mindforge had stopped time but not his own mind. He¡¯d been able to grip the dragon¡¯s mind. Pull some of its power from it. But he had only taken the merest fraction of its power. Not enough to do any actual damage to the dragon. Not enough to stop it from being able to cast spell. Or to exhaust it. And it hadn¡¯t damaged its mental walls, either. The beast was just as strong as ever. Using Time Alteration hadn¡¯t helped him, either. The ice he¡¯d been frozen within didn¡¯t melt like normal ice. The trap had been set, and he was stuck within it, without knowing how to get through. There has to be a way¡­ Has to be a way¡­ Xavier had had a lot of breakthroughs while in the middle of a fight, but this fight¡­ With each version of him, he was getting better and better at fighting the Skeletal Dragon, and he had gained many ranks along the way as he fought it. But the fighting hadn¡¯t caused any revelations in his power. He hadn¡¯t discovered a new way to use any of his spells. He hadn¡¯t pushed his level of power higher in any significant way. Even when he defeated the Skeletal Dragon, the Mastery Points that he¡¯d gained from the beast¡¯s death¡­ They weren¡¯t enough for him to gain another level. Xavier was beginning to wonder if the dwarf had been right. Perhaps he had bitten off more than he could chew. Perhaps he should abandon this fight and simply move forward in the tower. Surely he would one day come upon another vessel out there to use to summon Volkarin forth to this world. But Xavier wasn¡¯t the type of person to give up. He needed to keep pushing. And he realised¡­ He had an idea of how to get out of that iceberg trap. He just didn¡¯t know how he was going to kill the Elemental Dragon. One step at a time, Xavier. One step at a time. Xavier opened his eyes and looked at the Spirit of Time. He gave the woman a nod. Book 5: Chapter 34 - A Crack Once again, a version of Xavier defeated the Skeletal Dragon. Once again, he became trapped by the Elemental Dragon¡¯s iceberg spell. He¡¯d tried to avoid it, this time knowing it was coming, but he simply wasn¡¯t fast enough. He cast Time Alteration the instant he was trapped within the iceberg¡ªhe¡¯d tried to cast the spell first, so that he wouldn¡¯t be trapped by it at all, but that wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d been fast enough to do after the death of the Skeletal Dragon. The Elemental Dragon was faster. And so once again Xavier hovered in the air trapped by ice. Xavier had no control over this version of him, or the actions he took, but he knew that back in that frozen pocket of time, this version of him had shared his thoughts, because this version of him had been him then. So he knew exactly the plan Xavier wished to use. While trapped in the ice, Xavier cast Portal. The last version of Xavier to be stuck in this ice had cast Time Alteration, but it hadn¡¯t done any good. For weeks, he¡¯d pushed the time dilation field, trying to come up with a way out. But that version of Xavier hadn¡¯t been able to use the majority of his spells, as most of them had been stuck in cooldown. He also hadn¡¯t been able to speak. The two Xavier¡¯s¡ªthe one stuck in the ice, and the one stuck in that man¡¯s head, able to do nothing but observe¡ªwere unable to communicate in any way. It was torturous, even though he survived it. This, however, was a different situation. Things didn¡¯t feel as futile. At least, Xavier hoped they wouldn¡¯t be. The last thing he wanted was to see another version of himself defeated by this damned Elemental Dragon. And he needed to push past this. Needed to figure out how he could actually fight this thing, not merely survive it. The portal hovered just in front of him, its twin was outside of the time dilation field¡ªthough not enough time had passed for it to actual materialise outside of it. Things, however, could still pass through the portal in front of him. This was something he had experimented with, but seldom found a use for. God, I hope this bloody well works. Xavier watched as the other version of him pushed the portal through the air. This was something he had only done a few times. Moving a portal from its fixed position was an incredibly difficult thing, but Xavier wished to one day use the portals as though they were floating shields. He just hadn¡¯t gotten that far yet. That wasn¡¯t what he intended to use this particular portal for, however. At first, the portal moved with incredibly slowness. Xavier could feel how much the other version of him strained. Then the Portal spell would gain another rank, and Xavier would be able to move the portal that much more easily, and that much faster. This went on for days. It was perhaps the most tedious thing Xavier had ever experienced in his entire life. Perhaps it didn¡¯t feel that way to the other version of him, as that man was currently fighting for his very life. He could have fled this fight, during the battle with the Skeletal Dragon¡ªhe¡¯d known what was coming for him at the end of that. But that hadn¡¯t happened. He had remained. He had fought. And it all came down to this. Inch by inch the portal moved, devouring the ice that trapped Xavier. Whole chunks of the stuff disappeared through the portal. At first, this did nothing. Xavier still wasn¡¯t actually able to move. He lamented not being able to breathe fire, or use fire at all. Once, just after he had chosen the Basic Mage class, he¡¯d had the ability to cast a fire spell, and he¡¯d just thrown it away. Now, for the first time since he¡¯d done that, he wished he still had that. Considering he was dragonkin, you would think that was something he should be capable of¡­ Alas, he had no ability to melt this stuff¡ªcycling Celestial Energy, or even Soul Energy, through him did nothing to help, either. He could make a part of him explode or melt¡ªthe first version of Xavier to experience this had done something like that¡ªbut it hadn¡¯t freed him from the trap. Slowly, the ice was shorn away by the portal. The portal had to be moved incredibly accurately the closer it came to Xavier¡¯s body, but he was starting to see a change¡ªthe trap was weakening. Slowly, he was able to move, as less and less of the ice was there to push against and crush him. It was as though he had turned a ten-foot-thick wall of steel into something paper thin. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. After what must have been a week, Xavier burst free of the iceberg trap. Finally, he was able to move. He flew around the time dilation field. The freedom of that movement was bliss itself. But there was still the little matter of the Elemental Dragon. How was he to defeat a monster like this? And if the beast had trapped him once, what was to stop it from trapping him a second time? The other version of Xavier stopped in midair and stared at the portal he had been controlling these past weeks. Xavier had become powerful enough with the spell that he was able to hold a portal open almost indefinitely, though it was rare that he actually had a reason too. Using portals against C Grades still wasn¡¯t anywhere near as effective as it was using them against D Grades. A beast as powerful as the Elemental Dragon¡­ he wouldn¡¯t simply be able to cut its head off with the portal. But that didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the portal at all. Xavier wasn¡¯t able to read his own thoughts, but somehow he guessed exactly what the other version of him was to do. The Elemental Dragon is stronger within its own territory¡­ That was what the description of the beast had said. I need to get this thing out of here. He didn¡¯t know how much stronger the Elemental Dragon became when it was near its den, but something told Xavier it was a significant amount. He had never dreamed the Elemental Dragon would be this powerful. Maybe there is another spell I could have gained with those Spell Credits¡­ Something that would have allowed me to defeat this beast¡­ Xavier frowned, pushing that thought away. While new spells and abilities were always helpful, they weren¡¯t actually what got the job done. He had brought himself to new levels of strength through mastering the spells and abilities he already had access to before gaining new ones. Breakthroughs were important. Learning new things was important¡ªbut so was working with what he had. The other version of Xavier expanded the size of the portal within the time dilation field. The other portal wasn¡¯t far away¡ªit was just outside of the field. Xavier knew what the other man was trying to do, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it would work. He¡¯s creating a shield¡­ The other version of him collapsed the time dilation field. The Elemental Dragon was able to move again. ~ Xavier opened his eyes. The Spirit of Time was staring over at him. There was a look of wonder on her face, and a slight smile curving up the sides of her lips. Ten more versions of Xavier had fought the Elemental Dragon after learning how to break through the ice. Xavier was losing track of just how many versions of himself had experienced this fight. But he finally had a solution. That last fight¡­ It had been close. So very close. I know what to do now. One more, Xavier said. One more, and I can win this. There is a limit, Xavier Collins. Xavier blinked, staring at the woman. A limit? The Spirit of Time opened her arms. One cannot simply keep altering time forever. Why haven¡¯t you spoken of this limit? You¡¯ve said¡­ You¡¯ve said people have gone mad pursuing an outcome. I thought the unfoldings were infinite? The Spirit of Time shook her head. Infinite? No. They are not Infinite, Xavier Collins. You cannot simply keep creating new alternate dimensions until the right answer appears. The limit, however, is variable. She reached out, as though to touch something. This spell, causing these unfoldings, it causes a crack in the universe. Xavier looked past the woman and over at the Skeletal Dragon. The beast he had defeated so many times in other universes was, of course, still alive in his own timeline. A crack? The Spirit of Time inclined her head. I can keep pushing, but if I do¡­ The crack will splinter. The wall that keeps the Darkness at bay will be broken, and this universe will become vulnerable. Xavier had only been thinking about the fight. About the consequences of not being able to see the next unfolding. Now, however, his attention was fully on the woman. Vulnerable? From what? The Spirit of Time shook her head. She closed her hand and lowered it until it rested at her side. I have already said too much. There are things out there, Xavier Collins. Things that would make even someone as brave as you feel unending terror. Suffice to say, you do not wish me to keep pushing this spell. Xavier inclined his head. Unending terror certainly didn¡¯t sound like something he would want, but he hadn¡¯t yet defeated the Elemental Dragon in one of the unfoldings. He¡¯d gotten close¡ªdamned close. But as confident as he was, if he truly admitted it to himself¡­ He wasn¡¯t 100 percent sure that he could do this. No more unfoldings¡­ He looked at the woman. There¡¯s no way for me to do just one more? The Spirit of Time tilted her head to one side. I can easily do as you ask, Xavier Collins. However, you may not survive the consequences. Xavier wondered about those so-called consequences. The unending terror. Making this universe¡­ Vulnerable. And the chance that he wouldn¡¯t survive it¡­ What is this darkness that she speaks of? he thought to himself. This¡­ This was something new. Something he hadn¡¯t heard of before. He knew that the Otherworld sat between universes¡ªeven if he didn¡¯t understand how such a thing could be possible. He also knew that one could pass between different universes, though he wasn¡¯t sure if that was something he would be able to do without the System¡¯s help¡ªthe older version of him had needed to use the Tower of Champions to contact him, after all. But it was possible there could be a way¡­ This darkness the woman spoke if, it suggested that there were other things between universes. Things out there in the dark that he did not wish to gain the attention of. He closed his eyes and contemplated this. A vulnerable universe¡­ Could this have something to do with what was to one day befall his own universe? He had the knowledge that one day, his universe would fall, and that the same thing had happened to many universes in the past. This was a knowledge that not only he possessed, but one that many in the Greater Universe were aware of. The spirits from the Otherworld knew well and good that things like this would happen. That universes eventually died¡ªmany of those spirits had experienced it, though none would speak to him of it. Not yet. The System, of course, knew as well¡ªsomething told Xavier the System knew almost everything there was to know. Almost, he thought to himself. If it knew everything, then it would be able to tell me what I needed to do to defeat whatever the threat to the universe is. That was the whole reason the System was created in the first place, after all. He remained there, in that frozen pocket of time, for a good long while, contemplating this. The darkness that the Spirit of Time spoke of could very well be what would end up destroying his universe in the future. That meant¡­ That meant there was a way to learn more about whatever they were. He opened his eyes and stared out at random point beyond the pocket of frozen time, imagining that was where the crack in the universe was. He wished to reach out and touch it. To see what was on the other side. But that was something far beyond him. Besides, there was every possibility that he was reading far too much into the Spirit of Time¡¯s words. Perhaps there were things in the void between universes, but that didn¡¯t mean they were the thing that ended universes¡ªor that whatever ended universes was the only being in the void. There could be others. I need to learn more about this. A lot more. But today isn¡¯t the day I do that. Xavier ordered his mind, putting all the thoughts he had about this in their proper place. Right now, he had a fight he needed to focus on. Book 5: Chapter 35 - The Precipice Xavier floated high in the air in a frozen pocket of time at the top of the mountain where the two C Grade beasts¡ªthe Skeletal Dragon and the Elemental Dragon¡ªcalled home. He looked over at the Spirit of Time and nodded to her. Thank you for your help once more. The Spirit of Time inclined her head in a short bow. You are most welcome, Xavier Collins. She looked out at the Skeletal Dragon, then down at the cave entrance. I hope to see you again. If you survive this fight. Good to know you have confidence in me, Xavier replied. This elicited a small smile from the woman. More than you know. She paused, raised her chin. Prepare yourself. Time will begin moving once more. The woman¡¯s words rang true. In an instant, the beautiful spirit seemingly disappeared from existence¡ªbut Xavier was sensitive enough to feel her passing from the Mortal Realm. To feel her slipping back to the Otherworld. He had come a long way since the first time he¡¯d cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. Xavier didn¡¯t hesitate. There wasn¡¯t time for that. The fight with the C Grade Skeletal Dragon was one he knew that he would win, assuming he played it out perfectly. Many versions of him had managed it, and they were under even more pressure than he was right now. ¡°All right, Bones, time to dance,¡± he muttered under his breath. Xavier felt as though he was simply going through the motions with this fight. He knew every single move down to a fraction of a second that he needed to perform in order to win the battle. He also knew, despite that, he couldn¡¯t let himself take this fight for granted. One slip up. One misstep¡ªor missflight¡ªwould spell his demise. Xavier couldn¡¯t let himself see the Skeletal Dragon for any less of the real threat that it truly was. He played the fight out perfectly, pushing his mind toward this one purpose. The Skeletal Dragon was immune to soul damage, which meant Xavier¡¯s most powerful attack¡ªSoul Strike¡ªwas off the menu. That wouldn¡¯t do a damned thing to this beast. But he didn¡¯t want it to do anything to this beast. He was saving his soulkeeping reserve for the Elemental Dragon. He had other things up his sleeve. Chronomantic Mindforge being one of them. Celestial Energy¡ªnot Soul Energy, for Xavier knew the consequences of overusing that¡ªflowed through every single one of his channels. The energy served to reinforce his body¡¯s resistance to damage. But that wasn¡¯t all that Xavier had managed to do with his Body Cultivation spell. Exploding strikes and protecting against threats like The Nightmare weren¡¯t the only things he could manage with this spell any longer. During these fights, he had managed to unlock some more secrets of the long-forgotten spell. The more he managed to do with Body Cultivation, the more he wondered how the spell ever fell out of use. They may have used this before the System¡­ But that doesn¡¯t mean they were wrong to. He wondered if there was something that had happened, a long time ago, for people to abandon the spell. Perhaps it was because almost every other spell in existence came with not only a training manual¡ªif you could afford one through the System shop¡ªbut also help from the System on how to perform the spell. The System¡­ activated the spell for the user. For instance, when Xavier cast Soul Strike, he didn¡¯t need to know how to actually perform the spell. He didn¡¯t know how to manifest the souls from his reserve and harness their power against the enemy. He simply willed the spell to activate, and the rest¡­ happened. Spells were, of course, more complicated than that as you grew stronger with them and became more creative in their use. Time Alteration and Portal were two good examples. He could simply cast each of the spells, but if he wanted to develop them to a high degree, he had to have a better knowledge about the spell¡¯s use. He¡¯d had to learn how to alter the time dilation field or change the speed. And with his Portal spell, he¡¯d had to learn to grow the portal¡¯s size, create multiple portals at once, and place them with expert precision. Body Cultivation, however, was on a whole different level to how those other spells worked. It was like¡­ normal spells had pre-written code, and all he needed to do was press a button and that code would execute. For Body Cultivation, he had to write the code himself. Xavier grinned as he soared through the air. The Skeletal Dragon was soaring right back at him. The dragon was filled with rage. A rage that Xavier had learnt, in his many iterations of this fight, to take advantage of. The dragon was an incredibly intelligent beast, but when provoked¡­ Xavier turned around as he soared, dipping down in the direction of the dragons¡¯ den where the egg was held. The Skeletal Dragon was filled with even more rage at the sight of where he was going. Good. Let that rage fill you. Let it cloud your judgement. As this was happening, Xavier watched notifications flood across his vision. Body Cultivation has taken a step forward on the path. Body Cultivation has reached Rank 85! ¡­ Body Cultivation has reached Rank 95! Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. One cannot step backward on the path. The notifications kept coming. Xavier had, through observing the other versions of himself, watched as each of them had flowed through his different energy channels. He¡¯d seen the great strides that the other versions of him had managed to make with the spell¡ªand seen what those strides had done. The more he had experienced being an observer in his own body, the more aware he¡¯d been of what his body was doing. He could discern the workings of the spells that were being used by the other versions of him in a way that he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d ever managed before. Simply by being there, but not having to fight himself, he had learnt a great deal. And each time another version of himself had been created, that knowledge had compounded. Not only knowledge of the fight itself, but of the breakthroughs in the different spells that he possessed. Breakthroughs beget breakthroughs. And now, Body Cultivation was capable of so much more than before. He had trained the spell in the few days between fighting The Nightmare and coming to fight the Elemental Dragon, but the progress he¡¯d made then paled in comparison to what he¡¯d managed during this fight. He pooled Celestial Energy around all of his muscles, boosting not only his strength, but his speed. It didn¡¯t alter his actual attributes, but it enhanced what he was able to do. And that was how he¡¯d become faster than the Level 385 Skeletal Dragon. The rage he¡¯d instilled in the beast didn¡¯t only make it come after him, it made its mind more vulnerable. When one felt great emotions, it became increasingly difficult to protect oneself from mental attacks. That didn¡¯t just hold true for humans or other like races. It held true for dragons as well. Xavier soared through the air. The Skeletal Dragon didn¡¯t only possess the ability to knock his spirit out of his body. It had other spells at its disposal. It opened its giant, graveyard maw, with its ragged teeth, and launched a stream of gaseous energy toward him. Another version of Xavier had had the misfortune of discovering what happened when hit by that spell. It melted armour and flesh and tried to turn the one attacked into a skeletal creature. It had given him a strange status effect saying he would turn into an undead entity if he didn¡¯t recover from the attack. That had terrified him and intrigued him in almost equal parts. Suffice to say, he didn¡¯t let himself get hit by the attack again. The last thing he wanted was to become one of the undead. He needed to become the most overpowered entity in the entirety of the Greater Universe if he was to fulfil his ultimate goal¡ªa powerhouse of epic proportions that had never been seen before, the very Weapon of the System¡ªand becoming one of the undead felt as though it would take him in the wrong direction. Xavier weaved through the air, dodging the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s attacks with expert precision. Then he took the fight to the enemy. Looking as though he was going to soar straight into the dragons¡¯ den where the egg was held, Xavier instead created a portal directly in front of his flight path. The twin portal appeared behind his enemy, and he slashed a giant wound into one of its bones with his Celestial Energy enhanced claws. His attack exploded on impact. Craaack! A spiderweb of cracks fissured out from the explosion point, weakening one of the major bones in the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s wings. An attack like this wouldn¡¯t have been possible if he hadn¡¯t had learnt so much more about Body Cultivation during the different iterations of this fight. Body Cultivation gained several more ranks, reaching all the way to Rank 100. Xavier grinned, then darted out of range as the Skeletal Dragon whirled around, pulsing its spirit-knockback spell out at him. Xavier couldn¡¯t duck back through the portal¡ªhe would be too close to the enemy¡¯s attack if he did so, as the dragon had been close behind him when he¡¯d soared for the cave entrance. But he didn¡¯t need to zip back through the portal to create enough distance. He was fast enough on his own. The energy pulse of the dragon¡¯s spell missed him by a hairsbreadth, but it was enough. Xavier continued on like this. Portalling close to his enemy and hitting it with pinpoint accurate strikes that served to weaken all the major bones in its body. The injuries would heal, but they weren¡¯t healing as fast as he was able to inflict them. This wasn¡¯t how he would ultimately defeat his enemy¡ªthese attacks weren¡¯t enough¡ªit was just the beginning. When Xavier had weakened the Skeletal Dragon to the degree necessary, then came his next round of attacks. He launched Spirit Break at the dragon, then instantly cast Chronomantic Mindforge. The beast was still enraged¡ªif anything, it was more enraged. All those small attacks were building up, and the beast hadn¡¯t landed a single attack back. The beast might not have flesh on its bones, but Xavier somehow managed to read its emotions simply by the way it moved. And that was something he was getting better and better at doing. Xavier grinned a fraction of a second before time stopped around him, freezing his face in a grin as his mind continued to work. Body Cultivation wasn¡¯t the only spell he¡¯d advanced his knowledge in. The more he began to understand the inner workings of the spells he used, the more he was able to manipulate those spells into being more efficient and powerful. Chronomantic Mindforge was no exception. Xavier seized control of the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s mind, a feat that wouldn¡¯t have been possible if the beast¡¯s mind had been working at its normal speed. It had been marginally weakened by Xavier¡¯s Spirit Break spell, but it had been all of the emotions Xavier had been making it go through that had made this beast¡¯s mind the most vulnerable. The young dragonkin took advantage of that vulnerability as best he could. It wasn¡¯t just his spells that he had grown more familiar with¡ªhe had also grown more familiar with that of his enemy¡¯s mind. The more he manipulated it through the different iterations of this battle, the more he understood it, the more he was able to manipulate it. He also understood his enemy¡¯s energy channels better¡ªand so, he was able to drain an incredible amount of energy from the beast. Not all of its energy¡ªXavier wasn¡¯t that powerful. Not yet. But a great amount nonetheless. As Xavier¡¯s Body Cultivation skill raised in power, he was becoming better and better able to harness the Celestial Energy under his possession. All the energies that he funnelled into himself from his enemy were turned into Celestial Energy. It further powered his Body Cultivation spell. He cycled the energy through him, having to siphon off only a small amount of it so it wouldn¡¯t overwhelm him. Then the world started moving at its normal speed again. The Skeletal Dragon flinched. Xavier didn¡¯t know what it felt. Didn¡¯t know if it knew that its mind had been violated in that moment. But clearly it felt how much of its energy had been drained. The beast¡¯s rage became ever more intense. The battle continued on like this. Xavier harried his enemy with physical strikes¡ªalways avoiding its attacks, always being just out of range. And at the same time, he made the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s mind ever more vulnerable. The fight dragged on. It wasn¡¯t one of those quick fights that he had experienced in the past, where he had thrown up a time dilation field and barely a moment passed outside of it. No, this fight went on for hours. Xavier was blessed with an incredible amount of stamina. He no longer possessed the need for sleep. He no longer needed to rest as much as he had even as an E Grade. He could fight for days on end if he had to. But this fight, he knew, would not last days. Over and over, he used a succession of different spells on the Skeletal Dragon. Spirit Break. Chronomantic Mindforge. Core Burn. Willpower Infusion. He cycled through these, again and again, weakening the beast¡¯s body and mind. The spells grew and grew in power as he used them. The more influence and pain he was able to inflict against an enemy of this level of power, the more the ranks of these spells were able to budge. I shouldn¡¯t be capable of anything like this fight. The System¡ªor whatever it was that truly governed an increase in one¡¯s power¡ªknows that, and therefore I am rewarded. There would come a point, when the enemy was weakened just enough, that the Elemental Dragon would be lured out of its cave to join the fight. Xavier came to the precipice of that moment. He strained his hearing to its limit. And when, finally, he heard the dreaded Elemental Dragon roar within the cave, he executed the second part of his plan to take down the Skeletal Dragon. Book 5: Chapter 36 - It’s All Coming Together The Elemental Dragon was a fraction of a second away from joining the fight. This was a critical moment. One that, Xavier knew, if he messed up, would spell his demise. Xavier had learnt multiple ways to kill the Skeletal Dragon, and the way that he had killed it to keep himself fresh when the other dragon entered the fight the first time¡ªwhen he¡¯d been frozen in the air, forced to use his Portal spell to carve away the ice around him¡ªwasn¡¯t the way he was about to kill this beast this time. Over the course of the hours that had passed since this battle had begun, Xavier had weakened the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s body and mind to an incredible degree. Now, both were fragile, vulnerable things. It was the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s body being weakened that had brought the Elemental Dragon out of its den, where it was protecting the egg that would become Xavier¡¯s prize¡ªthe egg that would soon become the vessel for Volkarin. But Xavier had been focusing his true attacks against the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s mind, so that finally, he could have full control over the beast. Willpower Infusion! Purple mist flowed from the Lost Bone of a Dead God in its scythe-staff form, soaring through the air between himself and the beast. Xavier had been growing his prowess in Willpower Infusion steadily over the course of this fight, but this time he had infused Soul Energy into the spell. To give it that extra kick. While Soul Energy was a finite resource that had real consequences when he used too much of it, Xavier was being as frugal as he could with it. He wasn¡¯t going to let himself suffer from soul sickness¡ªnot unless he was able to kill both of these dragons before it set in. The purple mist flowed toward the enemy. It seeped straight into the beast¡¯s bones and suffused into its mind, a mind that Xavier now had an intimate knowledge of. A mind that was now completely vulnerable, its mental walls stripped and stripped until everything was laid bare. Attack! came Xavier¡¯s command as his control solidified. And attack the Skeletal Dragon did. It zoomed through the air and slammed its body straight into that of the Elemental Dragon, latching its powerful jaws onto the other dragon¡¯s neck. The Elemental Dragon was taken unawares, so shocked it was at the attack by its mate. Xavier pressed on the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s mind, ensuring that it would use a particular spell. A pulse of energy erupted from the beast, one so powerful that it slammed into the Elemental Dragon and knocked its spirit straight out of its body. Xavier grinned maniacally. God, it felt good when a plan came to fruition. Xavier acted. There was little time. Very little time. The Elemental Dragon, though it had been taken unawares, had a powerful spirit. Usually, there would be no telling how long that spirit would remain outside of the dragon¡¯s body. But Xavier knew exactly how long it would take for the spirit to return. One and three quarters of a second. Not very long at all. Certainly not long enough for Xavier to do any actual damage to the beast. But more than long enough for Xavier to do what he needed to do. Xavier cast Time Alteration. There were several times during the fight when he could have used this spell. The fight with the Skeletal Dragon had gone on long enough that he would have been able to use it and have it reach its cooldown more than a dozen times. He hadn¡¯t needed to use the spell then, however. It would have been a waste, when he had needed his cooldowns to refresh enough for him to continually attack the Skeletal Dragon and break down its mind. But right now was the perfect time for him to use the attack. One of the things that Xavier had learnt during the different iterations of this battle was how to better use his Portal spell¡ªhow to actually move the portals he created. Right now, that wasn¡¯t something he was actually able to do. In this timeline, he had yet to push the spell hard enough to increase its rank to manage such a thing. And that was why he had frozen time. Xavier cast Portal. The time dilation field he¡¯d created was just large enough for him to practice what he needed to do. He needed the field to last for a long time, but he also needed for less than a second and three quarters to pass outside of it during that time. The first time during an iteration of this battle, it had taken him weeks to develop his Portal spell enough. This time, he knew, it wouldn¡¯t take near as long, for he knew exactly what was needed to advance it. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The ranks came swiftly as he worked. His Portal spell kept growing and growing in rank as he better learnt to manipulate it. His entire focus was pushed toward this one task, his mind sharpened down to a point. He was glad¡ªas he often was¡ªfor his training with Liana. That woman had instilled a degree of patience into him he wasn¡¯t sure he would have pursued without her guidance. If Xavier became bored as he worked, he didn¡¯t notice it. His focus never wavered. His resolve never cracked. When finally his training was over, he could do what he needed to do. Xavier expanded two things¡ªthe size of the time dilation field, and the size of the portal he had created within it. Soon, the portal became large enough to encompass both the Skeletal Dragon that Xavier currently had control of, and the Elemental Dragon that currently didn¡¯t have its spirit within its body. Soon, he was able to move the portal over both of the dragons. They wouldn¡¯t appear on the other side of the portal until Xavier dropped the time dilation field, but he sighed in releif the moment they¡¯d gone through. Xavier had accomplished two vital things by sending the two dragons through that portal. First, he had taken the Elemental Dragon outside of its territory. This would severely weaken the dragon, for as he had discovered, much of the dragon¡¯s strength came from its proximity with its territory¡ªit relied heavily on that, and it was the reason Elemental Dragons, even when they weren¡¯t guarding an egg, rarely moved far from their dens. But even outside of its territory the beast was the most powerful thing that Xavier had ever faced. It certainly wasn¡¯t a threat that he wasn¡¯t willing to take lightly. The second thing that this accomplished, however, was something Xavier thought was absolutely perfect. It was perhaps the most ingenious plan he had ever come up with. A masterstroke. Assuming it actually worked¡ªthis was the idea that he had come up with. This was the very thing he¡¯d discovered he needed to do to win this battle once and for all. Xavier had put together all of the different pieces¡ªhis Body Cultivation spell was strong enough to make him fast enough to avoid the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s attacks enough to inflict mental and physical damage to it to bring it to the perfect balance. His Willpower Infusion spell grew in strength in that process, giving him enough power to take over the Skeletal Dragon¡¯s mind¡ªeven though he knew that control would last less than ten seconds. His Chronomantic Mindforge spell had also allowed him the ability to seep strength from the Skeletal Dragon during that entire process, so that he could infuse that energy into himself. And finally, the growing in power of his Portal spell was the final piece in the puzzle before he¡¯d even realised it. Had he not experienced so many iterations of this fight, he knew he never would have been able to accomplish something like this. He still wasn¡¯t sure if he had accomplished it, for he didn¡¯t know how long that Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit would survive outside of its body. Xavier hadn¡¯t just sent the Skeletal Dragon and the Elemental Dragon outside of their territory, he¡¯d sent them to the absolute farthest distance that he could manage with his Portal spell. Further separating the Elemental Dragon¡¯s body from that of its spirit. Xavier soared through the portal himself before shutting it down behind him, timing it perfectly. He didn¡¯t know if spirits could even travel through portals. That was something he wasn¡¯t in a position to test. It also wasn¡¯t a risk he was willing to take. Not when he was so close to victory. As he made it to the other side of the portal, and the portal shut down, he knew that the time dilation field would have shut down as well. He hadn¡¯t yet become powerful enough to keep the time dilation field going even when he wasn¡¯t inside of it. He could see how that could become a powerful trap for an enemy¡ªsomething like a Time Prison, but with the ability to shoot spells into it. Like what he¡¯d done his first time joining Gimble¡¯s raid group. It was strange to think that he would never be a part of a raid again¡ªhe¡¯d gained a lot going on those raids, and now he was capable of doing things the entire raid group hadn¡¯t been able to do as a team. That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s absolutely insane. On the other side of the portal, Xavier found himself above the massive forest of the hundredth floor, a few hundred miles away from the mountain that the dragons called their territory. The Skeletal Dragon had its powerful jaws clutched around the neck of the Elemental Dragon. The Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit was trapped far behind its body, and so it did not fight back. It did not do anything. That spirit knockback attack¡­ God it¡¯s strong. But he had never imagined just what it would be capable of doing when he¡¯d first encountered it. He knew that the only reason the spirit knockback attack had even worked on the Elemental Dragon was because it was so close in level to that of the Skeletal Dragon. If Xavier possessed the same attack¡­ He would have to somehow weaken the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit enough for it to work. Either that or it simply wouldn¡¯t work at all. Even if weakening his enemy would make it work, he wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to fight the Elemental Dragon for long enough to weaken it¡ªnot in the same way he¡¯d fought the Skeletal Dragon, and certainly not without observing more iterations of the fight. I¡¯m simply not strong enough to take that thing down¡­ Not without a few tricks. He brought up the description of the status effect, from back when it had affected him. Your spirit has been ejected from your body. You have 5 minutes to return to your body before your soul is forced to depart from this world. You may only return to your body if it remains alive. Xavier stared at the amount of time he had. Five minutes. That was either too much time, or not enough. He couldn¡¯t quite decide. This was where things became unsure for him. When the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit had been ejected from its body, Xavier hadn¡¯t been able to see it. He also had absolutely no idea how fast the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit could move. When he was ejected from his own body, he was able to move just as fast as his normal flight. The dragon¡¯s normal flight¡­ Five minutes¡­ A hundred miles¡­ That was math he didn¡¯t know how to do, as he didn¡¯t know just how fast that damned dragon was. What he did know was that for someone like himself, five minutes was a long damned time. That was what made him worried about the outcome of this fight. But he had an idea for that. Ways to solve this. First, however, he needed to deal with the Skeletal Dragon. He may have a hold over the beast¡¯s mind, but that hold wouldn¡¯t last for much longer. He needed to end the beast before it came back in control. There was a very good chance that it would be able to ruin his plans¡ªespecially if it had a way to call a target¡¯s spirit back into their body. Xavier soared straight at the Skeletal Dragon and slashed at a section of its skull that had countless cracks already. He¡¯d done this before, in the different iterations of the battle. He knew exactly where to strike to kill this thing. One more strike was all it took. Book 5: Chapter 37 - It’s All Falling Apart The Skeletal Dragon¡¯s skull exploded. Shards of bone shot in every direction like shrapnel from a dirty bomb. The shards were as sharp as a C Grade¡¯s sword, but Xavier had been expecting this. It would be impossible for even someone as fast as him to dodge that many shards of bones shooting outward at him, but in the instant he struck he cast Soul Block, infusing enough souls into the spell to eat up the damage he would have taken, leaving him unscathed. A kill notification appeared, along with a few other notifications¡ªhis melee skills had ranked up considerably during this fight, and he got another three ranks in [x, y, z] skills for the kill he¡¯d just gotten. But no titles came. Something he was a little frustrated by. He had known he wouldn¡¯t gain any titles from killing the Skeletal Dragon¡ªhe¡¯d seen this beast¡¯s death at his hand many times before, after all. It was still incredibly frustrating, however. You would think a D Grade killing a beast this powerful would earn them something for their efforts. Though he supposed he had gained plenty from the very act of learning how to kill the beast in the first place, and managing to accomplish it. All the ranks in his spells and skills, and his prowess in Body Cultivation, Chronomantic Mindforge, Willpower Infusion, and even Portal¡­ I suppose I¡¯ve gained quite a lot¡­ But I¡¯ll always crave more. I don¡¯t know if it will ever be enough. Now, it was time for the real work. He had struck the Skeletal Dragon as it had still been in the air, its jaws wrapped around the neck of the Elemental Dragon. Both dragons were swiftly falling to the ground below. The shrapnel from the beast¡¯s exploding skull hadn¡¯t just come for Xavier; he could see many of those shards embedded in the Elemental Dragon¡¯s skin. And already those shards were being ejected and the wounds inflicted were healing. Xavier, hovering in the air, watched the two massive forms, one dead, one lacking its spirit, tumble downward. This was the part of the fight he was the least sure of. So far, his plan had gone perfectly. But there was still time for everything to go wrong. He wished he were able to see the spirit of the Elemental Dragon. That would solve a lot of his problems right now. He glanced around, looking in the direction of the Elemental Dragon¡¯s mountain. He couldn¡¯t see it from this far away, even with his powerful eyesight. It was obscured by the mist that kept the place hidden from the naked eye. Xavier could have used Soul Sacrifice to bring souls from the Otherworld into the Mortal Realm. There was a good chance that those spirits would be able to see this one. Which made him wonder¡­ Rhaalir? he thought. Are you still around? He hadn¡¯t seen the elf spirit in some time. Not since they had spoken of Body Cultivation. If Rhaalir were here, there was a good chance the spirit would be able to see the other spirit. If so, that meant Xavier would at least have a warning when the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit was nearing. Xavier¡¯s mind turned. He felt the stresses of the fight entering him now there was a moment where he wasn¡¯t moving¡ªa moment where he wasn¡¯t sure what he needed to do. He couldn¡¯t let that pressure get to him. This chance, the Elemental Dragon lacking its spirit, was a once in a lifetime thing. There were no more do-overs. This was it. Xavier looked down once more at the Elemental Dragon as it tumbled through the air. An idea came to him. Right now, he couldn¡¯t use Time Alteration. Even though the cooldown on that spell had gone down a significant amount, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it again before the spirit returned to its body¡ªotherwise this situation would have an easy solve. But he needed every single second that he could get. Even with how fast his mind moved, frozen up there, staring at the tumbling dragons, his mind wasn¡¯t moving fast enough. This isn¡¯t the time to freeze up, Xavier. You have to do something. And so he did. He soared down to where the Elemental Dragon was and cast Chronomantic Mindforge. He had used this spell on the Elemental Dragon before, and knew it would work, though it wasn¡¯t as though he could steal a great deal of the beast¡¯s energy. Unlike with the Skeletal Dragon, Xavier hadn¡¯t had a chance to work on this dragon in the same way¡ªhe had only mere glimpses of this thing¡¯s mind and mental defences. Time froze, but Xavier¡¯s mind kept moving. He went through the motions of the spell, bringing in energy from his enemy into his body. But that wasn¡¯t the main reason he had cast this spell¡ªhe¡¯d cast this spell so he would be given a moment to think in the middle of all this. I need to keep that spirit from entering the dragon¡¯s body. It could be that I need to do absolutely nothing from this moment on, and in five minutes that dragon will simply¡­ Die. Or, it could be that I need to keep creating portals and sending the dragon through them. If he kept changing where the Elemental Dragon was, then it would be impossible for the beast¡¯s spirit to return to its body. Wouldn¡¯t it? There was also the possibility that he couldn¡¯t do a damned thing to prevent the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit from returning to its body, in which case he would need to inflict as much damage to the beast as he possibly could in the time before it came back. Killing this beast wasn¡¯t something he had managed in any of the past iterations, so he had no idea just how much health this thing had. Either way, he needed knowledge. Rhaalir. How do I summon Rhaalir? That was when something came to him. Soul Energy. That was what Rhaalir had told him he needed from the contract. Wasn¡¯t that what helped keep him in the Mortal Realm? There was something strained in the contract¡ªsomething keeping him from being here. Neither Xavier nor Rhaalir knew what that was. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. But maybe¡­ With Chronomantic Mindforge still active, Xavier went through what he would need to do the moment time started flowing at the right speeds again. The Celestial Energy that was entering his body from the Elemental Dragon wouldn¡¯t be enough for what he was about to do. Right now, with only his mind moving, he couldn¡¯t yet do what he needed to do. But he could feel the contract in his mind, the binding nature of it. He sought it out, pinpointed it. He wasn¡¯t sure how he could feel it, he just could. The contract was attached to his soul. Xavier prepared himself for what he needed to do next. The instant the Chronomantic Mindforge spell deactivated and time began to move forward normally, Xavier harnessed Soul Energy using his Soul Born skill. He was taking a risk, here. Soul Energy was an incredibly important and finite resource for him. If he used too much of it, he knew the consequences were dire. And if what he was about to try didn¡¯t work, it would mean he wouldn¡¯t have enough to use against the Elemental Dragon. The amount of Soul Energy he was using right now could potentially be the difference between him defeating the Elemental Dragon or not. But sometimes you just had to pick a course of action and go for it. Xavier made the Soul Energy flow into the contract. At the same time, he called out for Rhaalir, the elf spirit, within his mind. He had thought the spirit would become a more permanent fixture in his life, but that hadn¡¯t been the case for some time. Maybe I can change that. As disagreeable as Rhaalir could sometimes be, the elf had helped him a great deal. Just as Xavier wouldn¡¯t have gotten this far without Liana, he was sure he wouldn¡¯t have gotten this far without Rhaalir too. Come on, you bastard. Return to this realm! Something shifted within him. The contract seemed to¡­ Light up. As though until that moment it had been lying dormant within him, and now it was active once more. Why would the contract have become dormant in the first place? Because I didn¡¯t choose a class specific to the Otherworld? He still used Otherworldly spells. They were an incredibly important part of his spellset. As the contract flickered back on, so too did Rhaalir flicker back into existence, hovering in the air nearby. Rhaalir blinked. The elf spirit looked down at himself. He was more solid than the last time he¡¯d been here. In fact, as far as Xavier could tell, he was more solid than he had ever been. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m back. Rhaalir put a hand to his head, as though it were in pain. I¡¯ve been trying to get back here. I¡¯ve been¡­ stuck. Between¡­ The elf spirit looked, well¡­ haunted. Xavier wasn¡¯t sure of a better way to put it than that. That piqued Xavier¡¯s curiosity, but he didn¡¯t have time to go into it. I need your help, Rhaalir. Can you see other spirits in this realm? The elf spirit looked at him with bleary eyes. Spirits? From the Otherworld? Usually, but not always. No. Not from the Otherworld. From this world. Xavier explained, as swiftly as he could, the situation that he was currently in. A moment after he did two loud thuds sounded as the dragons finally crashed into the ground, creating a large crater in the forest and a shockwave that knocked down thousands of trees around them. Yes, Rhaalir replied when he knew what was required of him. I can see those spirits. He looked in the direction Xavier pointed, in the direction the Elemental Dragon would be coming from. The elf spirit¡¯s eyes narrowed, then widened. It is far away, but¡­ I can see it. It is huge and coming fast. Whatever it is you need to do, you must do it now, Xavier Collins. When this fight is over¡ªif you survive it¡ªthen we can talk. If you survive it. That was the second time a spirit from the Otherworld had said those words to him about this fight. If only they had as much confidence in me as I did, he thought to himself. How quickly does it approach? Xavier asked. Rhaalir narrowed his eyes again as he stared in the direction of the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit. I am not sure. A minute. Perhaps two. Not very long. Xavier blinked. A minute or two¡­ He looked at the Elemental Dragon, lying on the ground where it had fallen, its chest still rising and falling, rising and falling. His entire body relaxed. That¡­ That would be plenty of time. More than enough, in fact. He threw his head back and laughed. Ah, Xavier, why are you laughing? Xavier grinned at Rhaalir. Because, Rhaalir, if you¡¯re right, then I¡¯ve already won. Okay, so his proclamation might have been a bit premature, but Xavier was feeling more confident about this fight than he ever had. All the stress and pressure that he¡¯d been feeling up until that moment dissipated, fleeing into the air. He knew exactly what he needed to do to take down this beast. As long as nothing changed. Xavier got to work. He considered launching his strongest attack at the Elemental Dragon first¡ªSoul Strike, infused with every single soul he had left in his soulkeeping reserve. An attack like that, he knew, could be incredibly devastating, and he was eager to use Soul Strike after fighting the Skeletal Dragon and not being able to for so damned long. But he kept that attack in his back pocket. Just in case. There were other ways for him to inflict damage, after all. Xavier soared downward. He cast Portal and moved through it so he would appear directly in front of the defenceless Elemental Dragon. Then he attacked it with everything he had. His Lost Bone of a Dead God soul bound weapon shifted, reinforcing his arm and his claws. It had gained several ranks after he¡¯d defeated the Skeletal Dragon. The soul bound weapon was becoming more and more powerful. With each rank it gained, it offered him more attribute points. It was already far stronger than the last weapon he wielded. Finally, a weapon that can grow in power alongside me. Xavier¡¯s claws rent through the Elemental Dragon¡¯s flesh. The dragon¡¯s scales were incredibly tough, but his attacks¡ªreinforced as they were by Body Cultivation¡ªwere just strong enough to do the damage that he needed them to do. Xavier threw everything he had at the dragon. He could see the wounds he wrought being healed, but without the dragon able to defend itself or fight back, Xavier was able to inflict wounds faster than the dragon could heal them. Especially now that the dragon was outside of its territory. Xavier didn¡¯t simply use his melee attacks, either. Every time he could he cast Chronomantic Mindforge and bled the dragon of its core energies, then directly afterward he would strike it with Core Burn¡ªsomehow, even though the dragon didn¡¯t have its spirit within its body, its mind was still able to bring up a strong mental defence. One that Xavier was unable to break through with Willpower Infusion, so unfortunately that spell was off the table. Bit by bit, Xavier made the beast burn through all of its cores. While at the same time he slashed and struck and clawed, inflicting as much physical damage as possible. It nears, Xavier. You do not have enough time. Twenty seconds out. Xavier grinned. Oh, he had enough time all right. He didn¡¯t need to kill the beast within those five minutes. He just had to keep its spirit from its body. Xavier cast Portal. He altered the portal, making it large enough, then he brought it down over the dragon just as he had before. Once the dragon was through, he entered himself and shut the portal down on the other side. He had travelled another hundred miles in the other direction. The dragon would have to turn around. It would be another minute and a half, perhaps, before it reached him. I just need to do this a few more times. In the meantime, in case something went wrong, Xavier continued to attack the beast. Again and again, he attacked, then moved the dragon through a portal when its spirit neared, then repeated. The Elemental Dragon was bloodied and beaten. Its core was not fully depleted, but it was getting there fast. I can do this. I am doing this. Then he felt something strange. Something familiar, though it didn¡¯t make any sense. Xavier! Xavier, something is happening! Rhaalir called out in his mind, panic in his voice. It seemed as though Rhaalir felt the very same thing. A connection to the Otherworld had been established, but it wasn¡¯t one that Xavier had initiated. And¡­ there was something strange about the connection. Something he didn¡¯t understand. Rhaalir? What¡¯s happening? Rhaalir didn¡¯t have time to respond before a spirit came through whatever connection had been made. Xavier could see it clearly. It was a translucent dragon, though not one he recognised¡ªnot Volkarin, and not the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit, either. ¡°What the hell?¡± Xavier blurted. Before Xavier could even realise what was happening, the spirit entered the Elemental Dragon¡¯s body. And the dragon¡¯s eyes flicked open. Book 5: Chapter 38 - Void Being The void stretched out before Xkarian, and in that void lay an infinite number of universes. Cracks. He could feel the cracks. There were more of them than there were universes, for the walls between universes were always cracking. Crack. Crack. Crack. Over the countless millions of years that he¡¯d spent inside the void, Xkarian had a sixth sense for them. As did most Void Beings. He swam through the Infinite Passage. Searching. Ever searching. He passed other Void Beings on his way, ones that had given up. Beings that had once been powerful enough to rule an entire universe had been rendered almost to nothing by the pressures of this place. That I will not become. You will not defeat me. I will return. I will live again. I will rule again. Xkarian only needed a body. Any body. It didn¡¯t matter what grade¡ªhe could turn it into the most powerful Denizen in a universe again. All he needed was time. Craaaaaaack. Xkarian flowed through the void. His spirit twitched as he sensed the crack. Freeeeeesh. His ghostly tongue whipped out as though to taste what he could sense. Taste. Something he had not known for almost an eternity, and yet he remembered. Memory. Right now that was all he had, but this crack. This could be the one. This could be what he¡¯d been searching for. Searching searching. Always searching. Xkarian had given up hope a long time ago. What he had now was something else. Something far stronger than mere hope could ever be. Unrelenting persistence toward his goal. It had been how he¡¯d become so strong in the first place, until¡­ Xkarian opened his ghostly jaws and roared. It was a silent roar, for no sound existed in this place. He neared the crack. Neared the universe that had it in its wall. Here, distance and time were almost irrelevant concepts. If one knew how, they could move close to one universe, then all the way to another in an instant. Navigating the Infinite Passage was a matter of will and nothing more. The crack in this universe¡¯s wall was weak, but not weakened enough for the true residents of the void to make it through. But for a Void Being¡ªa spirit¡ªsuch as him? Xkarian¡¯s mouth made some approximation of a grin. He could see through the crack, right to the other side. His tongue darted out, tasting¡­ Nothing. But he didn¡¯t sense nothing. A vessel. Not just a vessel¡ªbut one that could almost be called a fit for him. Xkarian broke through the crack and entered the Mortal Realm for the first time in what must have been millions upon millions of years. Perhaps even billions. Time had, long ago, lost all meaning to him. He burst into a world filled with brilliant light and colour that almost blinded him to his goal with its majesty. The sight of everything, so vibrant, so alive! It almost felt as though he were alive again. He did not let this stop him. He saw what he was after. The body of a dragon, bereft of its spirit, currently being attacked by a human. The vessel is weakened. This was not the first time Xkarian had tried to claim a vessel. There were attempts in the past that had been¡­ Unsuccessful. He would have to ensure that this would not be one of those times. ~ ¡°What the hell?¡± Xavier¡¯s eyes were wide. A spirit had come from¡­ From somewhere¡ªhe wasn¡¯t really sure where¡ªand had slithered straight into the body of the Elemental Dragon! Xavier had been so close to killing the damned thing. There was no way that the Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit would have made it back into its own body. He¡¯d been so close¡­ Xavier gritted his teeth. He wasn¡¯t going to let this body snatcher get away. His gaze flicked to the cooldown timer for his Time Alteration spell. It was almost through, but not quite. God, Xavier needed time to figure out what had just happened. As close as he still was to the Elemental Dragon, he was able to touch a hand to the majestic C Grade beast just as the rogue spirit entered it. Time Prison! He doubted the spell would last very long, but he had to do something. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The dragon froze. Rhaalir! he called out in his mind. What in the world is that thing? The elf spirit stood nearby, eyes wide, gazing at the now-frozen Elemental Dragon. Rhaailr! Whatever trance the elf was under, that second shout seemed to do the trick. Rhaalir swallowed, took a long breath. Why a spirit would need to do either of those things, Xavier didn¡¯t know. That¡­ That spirit isn¡¯t of this world. It¡¯s from the Otherworld? Rhaalir shook his head. No. It¡¯s from the place that stands between universes. The Infinite Passage. The¡ªthe void. That spirit¡­ It is a Void Being. The elf spirit said those words as though he thought they would mean something to Xavier, but Xavier didn¡¯t know what Rhaalir was talking about. He stared at the Elemental Dragon, his mind turning. Void Being? He recalled what the Spirit of Time had told him. That the unfolding of multiple timelines could sometimes cause a crack in the universe¡ªwas that what had happened here? She¡¯d told him that would only happen of he kept going, and he¡¯d stopped. Is this the threat the Spirit of Time spoke of? Xavier asked Rhaalir¡¯s fear became so potent Xavier was actually able to feel it. He wasn¡¯t sure that had ever happened from a spirit before. No. This¡­ Isn¡¯t that. That¡­ That would be much worse. But you need to run, Xavier Collins. Those who can survive the void¡ªyou will not be able to defeat this beast any longer. Xavier wasn¡¯t so sure about that. He¡¯d weakened the Elemental Dragon considerably in the time it had lacked a soul. He couldn¡¯t tell how close its health was to zero, but surely he couldn¡¯t turn his back on this fight now? Not when he¡¯d been so damned close to defeating the dragon. I can¡¯t give up, Rhaalir. Not unless I know for certain there¡¯s no way for me to win this. I have to keep trying. Rhaalir sighed loudly in his mind. I was afraid you would say that. Every second that passed increased the chances of the Elemental Dragon breaking out of that Time Prison spell. While locked inside of it, the dragon could do nothing to harm Xavier, but Xavier couldn¡¯t do anything to harm the dragon in return. He had to hope that whatever spirit had entered this beast¡¯s body would be disoriented by the transfer. That could give him some time once it broke free, if only a very little bit¡­ Soul Strike. He¡¯d been keeping that spell in his back pocket in case he needed to inflict vast amounts of damage upon his enemy. A last-ditch to kill the beast. Now, it looked like that was the very thing he would need. It would be well worth using every last bit of his soulkeeping reserve if it meant taking this thing down. Assuming it would be enough¡­ The Elemental Dragon stirred. God, that didn¡¯t take very long. With the speed that he¡¯d been conversing with the elf spirit in his mind, it had probably only been a few seconds. He¡¯d thought his time prison spell was more powerful than that. Xavier reacted instantly. He cast Soul Strike the moment the beast moved. Thousands of arcs of white lightning erupted from the Lost Bone of a Dead God and shot toward his enemy. The lightning shifted, turning into more soul apparitions than he could count. They all moved together as one. A mass of souls flowing toward the Elemental Dragon, intent on delivering one thing¡ªits death. Xavier hadn¡¯t simply cast Soul Strike, either¡ªhe¡¯d dug deep. As deep as he could without compromising himself. Once again during this fight he had infused Soul Energy into one of his attacks. It was a surefire way of making everything he did more powerful, and with each iteration of this fight he¡¯d been paying close attention to just how much he could use before going over the edge. He hoped he¡¯d struck the right balance. The most powerful attack Xavier had ever launched slammed into the Elemental Dragon with the rogue spirit of the Void Being inside of it. ~ Xkarian blinked. Real eyes. He had real eyes. And a body. A heart. Cores. Celestial Energy. And a great swell of potential. He could also feel the pain that he was in. The battering that this body had taken. His health flashed before his eyes¡ª25 percent. This human before him had done a great deal of damage to the Elemental Dragon¡¯s body. While the dragon had been defenceless. Now, it no longer is. Now, I am in control. But the instant he entered this body he felt something shift in the timelines of this universe. His mind worked at incredible speeds¡ªfar beyond what should have been possible for the vessel he was inside. And he could feel time being weaved around him. He pushed against it. Once, he had been the master of time. Now, he would be again. Time Prison¡­ Yes. He knew this spell well. And like any prison, one could break out of it if only they knew how. Xkarian shattered the prison holding him¡ªit took him longer than he would have liked to manage this feat, but it made sense that he would be a mite sluggish after being in the void for so many millions of years. Millions? Or billions? Time had no meaning there. He still didn¡¯t know how much of it had passed. Perhaps he never would¡­ He supposed it didn¡¯t matter. One thing was for sure¡ªthe universe that he was born in was no longer. He would have to find a new universe to call home, and just because this was where he¡¯d found his body, that didn¡¯t mean it was where he had to remain. For as a Void Being, even inside of a host body¡ªa vessel¡ªhe had the power to move between universes. Xkarian tilted his new head to the side as he broke through the Time Prison, watching as the human launched what looked to be a devastating attack on him¡ªno, this was no human. This¡­ The little creature had wings. This was a dragonkin¡ªa poor imitation of the most noble beast that could ever exist. A soul attack¡­ Xkarian saw the scythe-staff in the dragonkin¡¯s hands. This child is some kind of reaper¡­ Xkarian could sense the power of the attack coming his way, and with the sluggishness he felt inside of this new form he knew he wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to avoid it. His mind moved, discovering what defensive and offensive spells this Elemental Dragon had¡ªbut none of the spells would stop the one coming his way. Thousands of soul apparitions flew through him. They didn¡¯t only damage the vessel, they damaged his soul. Your health is at 2%. Xkarian¡¯s eyes widened. Two percent health? That child had knocked out 23 percent of his health in one attack? Xkarian scanned the dragonkin and all he found there was confusion. The enemy was D Grade. Barely. Yet¡­ so powerful. Interesting. Very interesting. And there was something else about this young dragonkin that Xkarian couldn¡¯t help but see, for he had the ability to gaze into another being¡¯s soul. His soul is keyed to another universe¡­ Like me, he is not of the one we are in. Xkarian could sense the signature of the universe this dragonkin had come from. In that signature he obtained the coordinates he would need to find this dragonkin¡¯s original universe, for he sensed this Denizen was only a temporary residence of the universe they both currently resided in. He held no true grudge against the young dragonkin, but he also couldn¡¯t let anyone who dealt harm to him live after delivering such a slight to his honour. In Xkarian¡¯s original universe, as a dragon honour was everything. But he knew if he continued to fight in his current condition, he would not survive. And so, it was time to flee. I will deal with you later, young dragonkin. Xkarian flapped his massive, newly acquired wings and found that they were more than up for the task. He flew, with all the speed this body could muster, and conjured Soul Energy from deep within him, knowing the consequences of using this much but not caring one wit. Xkarian, in a mortal body, broke through the crack in the universe he had just travelled through and back to the Infinite Passage. He would need to be careful there if he wished this body to survive long enough to reach its new destination. And just like that, the Elemental Dragon was gone from this universe. Book 5: Chapter 39 - The Ritual Xavier watched in mute fascination as the Elemental Dragon slipped out of existence. He reached out as though to claw the beast back into this world, but there was nothing left to grab onto. That dragon had been close to death after his use of Soul Strike. He couldn¡¯t see the enemy beast¡¯s health, but he was sure of it. Not only that, it had been mere seconds from death before that Void Being had come from literally nowhere and slipped straight into the dragon¡¯s body. That wasn¡¯t even something he¡¯d been aware was a possibility! He felt cheated¡ªin more than one way. He shut his eyes. One of his split minds had been keeping track of how long had passed since the Elemental Dragon had had its spirit knocked out if it¡¯s body. That count just reached five minutes. A notification appeared on his vision. A kill notification. You have defeated a Level 390 Elemental Dragon! You have gained 2,500 Mastery Points (D Grade). Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°What?¡± he muttered. Then, to the elf spirit, he spoke telepathically, I just got a kill notification for the Elemental Dragon! But¡­ It left this world. I don¡¯t understand? Rhaalir was still staring at the space where the Void Being had disappeared into with the Elemental Dragon¡¯s body. He blinked, looked over at Xavier. Xavier was almost going to repeat what he¡¯d said when the elf responded. The Elemental Dragon¡¯s spirit expired from the Mortal Realm. Even if its body survived, technically, you defeated it. Xavier felt the victory was rather mixed. Part of the reward for defeating an enemy as powerful as this one was getting to loot the body. He could only imagine what type of armour could be created from the scales of a powerful C Grade dragon, and he was no longer restricted to using the robes of a Reaper, not now that his class was the Wayfarer of the Infinite Path. That was something he should really take advantage of. However, to attain the win against the Elemental Dragon at all¡­ Xavier oscillated between being immensely proud of himself and desperately disappointed, but before he could delve deeper into what the hell a Void Being was, there was something that he needed to do. He created a portal that would return him straight to the top of that mountain where the Elemental Dragon¡¯s cave had been. Inside would be its nest¡ªand inside that nest would be the egg he¡¯d been aching to steal. He would sort out his feelings about this win later. The kill notification, at least, would mean he could still claim the Hunt Quest reward. Xavier leapt through the portal. On the other side, he expanded his wings and flew through the cave entrance. He couldn¡¯t create a portal directly inside of the cave as he hadn¡¯t been inside the cave before, and so didn¡¯t know the area well enough to do so. The cave was more than large enough to accommodate his massive black wings. Compared with the size of the Elemental Dragon, he would be considered rather small. That made him wonder about how large Volkarin would end up growing in the future. If Xavier was successful in summoning the dragon from the Otherworld and implanting him into the vessel, cementing the beast¡¯s soul squarely in the Mortal Realm, then Xavier knew he would eventually find out. Xavier had expected the cave to be incredibly cold, considering all of the surrounding area was completely covered in ice. But it was actually rather warm in here. There wasn¡¯t a hint of ice on the ground of the cave or on the walls. For a short while as he flew, the cave tunnel was completely pitch black. He should have slowed down, traversed the tunnel more carefully, but if a dragon could fit through this surely there wasn¡¯t a dead end ahead. He was proven correct when he spotted a light at the end of the tunnel. Heat emanated from somewhere ahead of him. He could feel the flames long before he saw them. The sight of them made him worry that this cave wasn¡¯t as deserted as he¡¯d expected it to be. Originally, he had only expected to fight one dragon and had ended up fighting two. If there was a third¡­ He shook that thought away. There was no point catastrophising. If there was a third dragon, then he would simply deal with it. And if that third dragon had remained within the cave it would mean that it wasn¡¯t powerful enough to impact the fight, for during all of the different iterations of this battle, he hadn¡¯t encountered anything more than the Skeletal and Elemental Dragon. Both of which were no longer a problem. The way that Void Being looked at me before it disappeared¡­ It almost looked as though the spirit that now inhabited the Elemental Dragon held a grudge, but that wasn¡¯t something he need worry about¡ªhe would be off this floor soon, and would never again return to this universe. This was his final task on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. The fires were even more massive than he realised. They covered the bottom half of the entrance to the dragons¡¯ den, meaning anyone coming into this place on foot would have to move through those flames. I wonder how much health doing that would take from me. Surely I would be able to manage it. But it wasn¡¯t something he would need to find out. Xavier simply flew straight over the flames and landed on the other side. His eyes widened in awe. It turned out the egg wasn¡¯t the only prize in this place. He took a step forward. With his Farscope, he tried to take in everything around him¡ªat least, everything around him within a 100 metre radius, but his true gaze was locked onto the thing that resided in the centre of the dragons¡¯ den. The dragon egg. ¡°It¡¯s bigger than I expected,¡± he muttered. The entire chamber was filled with piles and piles of different items¡ªmost of them being made from gold. Xavier had wondered if the myths about dragons hoarding gold had been true. Gold isn¡¯t even a recognised currency in the Greater Universe, is it? Why is there so much of it? It was an offhand thought, a question he intended to direct toward Rhaalir. But not yet. Xavier approached the dragon egg. The mouth of the chamber wasn¡¯t the only thing that was on fire. A fire burned in a large pit that had been carved straight into the cave¡¯s stone floor. The egg sat in what looked to be a massive, wire-mesh nest, the flames licking through the gaps and heating the shell. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. He couldn¡¯t help but think of the scene in the first Harry Potter book, when Hagrid had been hatching Norbert, heating the egg in his fireplace. Looks like Rowling wasn¡¯t too far from the truth¡­ According to Gimble, it took a great many years for a dragon egg to hatch, but there were ways to induce the hatching earlier with rituals if one knew how. And that was information that Xavier had been able to gather over his time in this place. One thing he hadn¡¯t anticipated was the size of the egg. He¡¯d known it would be large, but when he thought of a baby dragon, he imagined them to be more like¡­ Baby chicken sized. This egg was almost as large as him. It was so big that it came up to his shoulder. The dragon would hatch being much larger than he¡¯d first imagined. Not quite the size of Norbert, at least not when he first hatched¡­ None of this deterred Xavier. In fact, learning that the dragon would be bigger, faster, was only encouraging. Xavier stood in front of the wire-mesh cage and looked at the egg. From what he¡¯d learnt, there were risks when it came to moving a dragon egg. He wasn¡¯t actually able to deposit it into spatial storage, for one. If he tried to put it into his Storage Ring, it simply wouldn¡¯t let him. At first that had come as a frustrating surprise, but it had only taken him a moment to realise why that might be the case¡ªthe egg was alive, and Xavier couldn¡¯t store things that were still alive in his Storage Ring. Part of him had wondered if the egg would be easier to simply steal, rather than defeating the Elemental Dragon first¡ªbut that had felt like giving up. I would have been able to carry this thing out, but moving it¡­ It would have made the egg vulnerable. No, it was a good thing he¡¯d done everything the way he had. There were other notifications for him to address from the fight he¡¯d just been in¡ªfrom the defeat of the Elemental Dragon, even if it didn¡¯t feel as though that was what he had done¡ªbut he ignored them, just as he ignored the treasure that surrounded him. It was time to perform the ritual that would summon Volkarin into this world¡ªonly Xavier didn¡¯t have enough souls in his reserve left over since after the fight to accomplish what he needed. He gritted his teeth and clenched a fist. He didn¡¯t want to lose out on this opportunity, but abandoning this place just after the two dragons that protected it were no longer around didn¡¯t seem wise. Rhaalir. The elf spirit appeared before him. Rhaalir looked far more solid than he had in the past. Yes, Xavier? I know that you¡¯re connected to me, but are you able to remain inside of this cave while I venture out of it, and warn me if anyone tries to come inside? Rhaalir frowned and looked down. Normally, that wouldn¡¯t be something I¡¯m capable of. The contract links me to you, and so I must remain within a certain distance¡­ The elf spirit turned and surveyed the area. However, I feel that may have changed since what you did to me. I sense that I have more¡ªhe curled his fingers into fists and looked down at them¡ªpower in this realm than I had before. Xavier tilted his head back, looking the spirit over once more. That was an interesting fact. Why don¡¯t we test it out, then? Xavier created a portal, one leading toward his favoured hunting grounds for acquiring a massive number of souls¡ªthe area where the stampedes of Rhinoceros Monkeys roamed. They were much easier to defeat now that he had become D Grade. He could go for a few minutes and easily return with what he needed. He stepped through the portal and left it open. Rhaalir? Are you still back in the cave? A moment passed. I¡­ I am. I¡¯m surprised that worked. It really shouldn¡¯t have. Xavier smiled, glad for this new discovery. It didn¡¯t only help him in this moment. If the elf spirit was willing, it meant he might have a good way of doing invisible reconnaissance. The spirit could only be seen by other spirits, after all. Though I¡¯m sure there are some Denizens who can see spirits, or at least sense them, he thought to himself. Considering what he¡¯d been through today, maybe that was an ability he needed to acquire. With his massive spirit attribute and his Wayfarer of the Infinite Path class, it was by no means out of the realms of possibility. Xavier didn¡¯t wish to waste any time. He jumped high into the air then flapped his wings to gain ever more height. It only took him a moment to spot his targets. ~ Xavier returned to the dragons¡¯ den with a full soulkeeping reserve. He didn¡¯t want to take any chances, and so he would be using every single one of those souls in his ritual. The ritual had been described to him in great detail by a series of different spirits that he¡¯d summoned using Otherworldly Communion as he¡¯d ranked up that skill while still E Grade. Each level he¡¯d attained, he¡¯d gained more insight into what he needed to do. Now, it was finally time for him to use that information. Rituals, he had quickly discovered, ran mostly on equal parts will and sacrifice. The types of rituals that he had learnt how to do involved connecting to the Otherworld, but there were different energies and parts of the Greater Universe that one could draw power from with the use of a ritual¡ªthese rituals weren¡¯t necessarily more or less advanced than the ones he had learnt to perform, they were simply of a different nature. So, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that rituals involving the Otherworld ran mostly on equal parts will and sacrifice¡ªhe couldn¡¯t speak to other rituals. Xavier smiled as he took a step toward the dragon egg. He always had a ready reserve of sacrifices worthy of the Otherworld. His reaper spells combined with his connection to the Otherworld made him perfect for performing rituals of this nature. There were other rituals that he could perform¡ªones that were offensive or defensive, and many other types besides, that he simply hadn¡¯t bothered to use in combat. In the future, he might move toward using them, as he never wanted to neglect one of his abilities. But he wasn¡¯t thinking about any of that right now. All he was thinking about was the ritual he was about to perform. Will and sacrifice. The first thing Xavier did before he performed the ritual was cast Time Alteration. He didn¡¯t know how long it would take him to perform this ritual, but it would be wise to do it within the protection of a time dilation field, just in case any threats were to enter the dragons¡¯ den now that its natural inhabitants had been defeated. Once that was done, Xavier took a deep breath, falling into a meditative state. He flew into the air and hovered just above the egg. He didn¡¯t wish to move it from where it sat. It was in the perfect spot for him to force its hatching. Once the vessel was inhabited by Volkarin. He laid a hand onto the egg. Unsurprisingly, it felt warm to the touch. He smiled. Some deep part of him could sense the entity within¡ªa part of being dragonkin, he supposed. His race had a connection to dragons that he was still only scratching the surface of. Some Denizens who had learnt how to perform rituals that connected with the Otherworld had to use devices¡ªconduits that would channel their will and make it reach outside of their own universe to connect to the place that stood apart. They might use powerful crystals imbued with Spirit Energy, or have swords or other weapons that could suck the soul from their enemies and place it into some sort of makeshift soulkeeping reserve. Xavier didn¡¯t need to worry about any of that. His was the most natural type of ritual. His eyes closed, Xavier willed his connection to the Otherworld. His forehead creased ever so slightly at the effort. He¡¯d learnt how to connect to the Otherworld naturally, whereas whenever he connected to the Otherworld while using a spell, it was the spell that was doing the work for him. That had always sparked something in his mind. It made him think of a time before the System, when Denizens had to perform spells and skills without its help. Without the System essentially running a program within a Denizen¡¯s mind¡ªthat was something he¡¯d been learning how to do when it came to using his Body Cultivation spell. There are more avenues for me to explore on that¡­ Xavier focused his mind to a point. It didn¡¯t take him long to connect to the Otherworld. Once he had, he released a breath. The first step had been complete. Now, for the tricky part. Or, at least, one of the tricky parts. Summoning a spirit from the Otherworld was of course something that Xavier had done what felt like countless times, but summoning a specific spirit with a ritual required a great amount of concentration. Much like when he used his Soul Sacrifice spell, Xavier needed to do more than simply connect to the Otherworld. He needed to create a bridge to the Otherworld, one that a spirit could move through. Without the added benefit of using a spell to do this, Xavier had to trust in his will, and trust in the ritual he was about to perform. Sacrificing a small number of the souls he had in his reserve would help him accomplish this task, but he needed to be careful. If he opened a bridge to the Otherworld in this way without putting any restrictions upon it, any spirit could move through into the Mortal Realm, and those spirits might not be limited in the way they usually were¡ªa B Grade or even an A Grade spirit might move through that bridge and be unleashed upon this world, even if only for a brief time, as the spirit wouldn¡¯t have anything holding it here. That was something he couldn¡¯t afford to risk. He¡¯d heard tell of the ¡°accidents¡± that had happened when one performed this type of ritual. Xavier wasn¡¯t going to let himself perish should one of his own rituals go awry. And so he focused his will and concentration, weaving restrictions into the bridge he was about to form. Time passed, though Xavier was scarcely aware of it. His mind was completely ordered. No parts of it were split, and his entire mental capacity was turned toward this task. When it was complete, Xavier smiled. The bridge had been formed¡ªall he need do was call the dragon spirit through it. And place it into the vessel before him. Book 5: Chapter 40 - The Hatching Xavier hovered inside of the Elemental Dragon¡¯s den, resting a hand upon the massive dragon egg that it had left behind. The egg that was now Xavier¡¯s prize. The ritual he was performing was going ahead perfectly. The connection to the Otherworld had been established, and now so had the bridge. It was time to call forth the dragon spirit, Volkarin. The last he¡¯d seen of the spirit, it had been injured in battle and forced to return to the Otherworld. It had fought for him. Protected him. Volkarin had given his all, knowing that he would not be able to return to the Mortal Realm for what could be centuries of time in the Otherworld. And yet, he had still done it. Xavier had already planned to bring the dragon into this world, but now he felt as though he owed the dragon a debt¡ªthough he hesitated to let the dragon know that. Breathing deeply, Xavier mastered his will and called to the dragon. When the dragon spirit had been injured, he had worried he would not be able to bring it forth into the Mortal Realm. In the past, whenever Xavier cast Soul Sacrifice, Volkarin would be the first through the bridge. That was no longer the case. But he had learnt how to do what he needed to do¡ªit was the reason he had to use every single one of his souls in his soulkeeping reserve on this ritual. He needed to funnel those souls directly toward Volkarin, to bolster the spirit¡¯s strength, giving it enough power to come through the bridge. With his eyes closed, Xavier pushed his will through the bridge. If he connected with the wrong spirit, all of this would go terribly wrong. But Xavier had spent more time with Volkarin than he had with any other spirit from the Otherworld. He would know what the dragon felt like. There. He could feel him¡ªVolkarin¡ªbut the dragon spirit¡¯s presence was incredibly faint, and the connection was even fainter. Xavier knew that it could falter at any moment, and so he couldn¡¯t hesitate. He brought forth a thousand souls from his reserve and sent them through the bridge to the dragon. This better work. Xavier had already had one thing go terribly wrong for him today, and somehow come out of that situation unscathed. He couldn¡¯t afford another thing to go wrong, not now that he was so close to leaving this floor. Though he had gained an incredible amount since coming to the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions, he was long ready to leave. There were so many things out there he needed to experience. He wanted to return to Earth. He wanted to explore his sector. He wanted to explore his universe. And he even had the means to do that now. Xavier felt the souls disappear through the bridge, but he could not feel where they went. Before they reached their destination, his connection to Volkarin slipped away. It had been too weak to hold onto any longer. Xavier¡¯s eyes flashed open, widening in fear. Had the ritual failed? He didn¡¯t know. Couldn¡¯t know yet. He had to keep moving forward. Just because he could no longer feel the dragon spirit, didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t currently receiving the souls Xavier had just sacrificed. This will work, he thought to himself. It has to work. Finally, Xavier called forth the dragon spirit from the Otherworld. The bridge had been established, and now Xavier was opening it. He just hoped it was only Volkarin that came through. Suddenly, something seized Xavier¡¯s mind. For a terrifying moment he didn¡¯t know what was going on. It felt as though something was clawing at his thoughts, raking through them and cutting them to ribbons. He lost all concentration¡ªsomething that could either make the ritual cease or potentially cause something else to gain access to the bridge he¡¯d just opened. He didn¡¯t know how much time passed before he regained control of his mind, but when he was again conscious of what was going on, Xavier blinked, trying to gain his bearings. He couldn¡¯t see the bridge to the Otherworld, not with his natural senses, but he could feel it. He sighed in relief. It was still there¡ªand so was the presence that had torn through his mind. He could see what it had tried to do. I was warned about this, he remembered. There were powerful spirits in the Otherworld that, once a connection or a bridge had been opened, were able to take control of someone¡¯s mind, though occurrences of this happening were said to be incredibly rare, so it wasn¡¯t something that he¡¯d worried about. He reordered his thoughts. It felt as though he had to stitch his mind back together. His mental defences, as strong as they were, had been compromised, but whatever that thing was hadn¡¯t been able to tear through them completely¡ªhadn¡¯t taken control of him. Xavier looked through his mind and saw nothing missing. He examined the bridge and found it to be intact, the restrictions upon it holding strong. Xavier endured five more searing attacks to his mind. Through all of those attacks, he struggled to hold onto his concentration. Struggled to hold onto his will. Several times he considered stopping the ritual. Something else is trying to get through. Something powerful. But he did not stop. He fought on. After the fifth attack, he finally felt a spirit come through the bridge. The spirit felt weak, faint, but even so Xavier could sense who it was. Volkarin, the dragon that was the Spirit of Vengeance. He was finally coming through to this world. As injured as Volkarin was, the spirit wouldn¡¯t be able to remain in the Mortal Realm for long. Even with the Time Alteration spell active, that wouldn¡¯t have an effect on how long the spirit could remain. Time dilation fields couldn¡¯t solve everything. Xavier would need to get the spirit inside of the vessel as swiftly as possible. When the dragon spirit came through, Xavier¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of it. Volkarin was far larger than he had ever been in the past. The chamber that Xavier hovered within had held the massive Elemental Dragon, and was large enough to comfortably have the Skeletal Dragon inside of it as well. Volkarin¡¯s spirit, though injured and feeling weak to Xavier, was large enough to dwarf those two dragons combined. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Whenever I¡¯ve summoned him in the past, he has been weakened by the spell I¡¯ve used to bring him here to the Mortal Realm. But this¡­ This is different. This is the spirit¡¯s true size. But if Xavier had summoned the dragon spirit¡ªor any other spirit from the Otherworld¡ªin this way for battle, he would have had no assurances that the spirit wouldn¡¯t have simply attacked him the moment it had appeared. Unless I made a deal with it¡­ Xavier pushed those thoughts away. There was work to be done. He needed to act fast. Xavier performed the final part of the ritual. One of his hands had never left the surface of the dragon egg¡¯s shell. All the while, he had been channelling Spirit Energy into the shell. Not with any spell, but simply with his Cultivation skill¡ªthe one that allowed him to bring energy into his respective cores. This was something he had never done before, but it had come naturally to him after all of his work with Body Cultivation. This was how he was to prepare the vessel for the entrance of Volkarin¡¯s spirit. This had been described to Xavier by spirit he had summoned using Otherworldly Communion. The way he understood it, placing a spirit into another being was somewhat akin to having an organ transplant. The body was liable to reject the new spirit, especially if the vessel was incompatible. There were ways for the incoming spirit to mitigate these risks, but Volkarin was too injured to be able to use any of those ways. Which made Xavier¡¯s job a little harder. With the power of his will, Xavier coaxed the spirit from the Otherworld into the waiting vessel of the dragon egg. He watched, in wonder, as the massive spirit flew toward the egg. The egg felt miniscule compared with the size of Volkarin, and yet as the dragon spirit reached the egg it was sucked in, like smoke into a vacuum. The dragon spirit hadn¡¯t made a single sound. Volkarin hadn¡¯t even registered Xavier when it had appeared through the bridge. The dragon was usually quite boisterous and vocal, but on this occasion he had been reserved. No, not reserved. Determined. Once the last of the spirit had entered the egg, Xavier took his hand away from it. He cut off the connection to the Otherworld, closed the bridge he had formed, and glided down to the ground to stand before the egg. The flames beneath the egg continued to burn, licking the shell, constantly heating it. There were no notifications to tell Xavier whether or not what he had attempted had been successful. Nothing to show that what he¡¯d done had actually worked. He tilted his head to the side as he looked upon the egg. He had expected there to be something¡­ more. This was something he had been working toward for quite some time. There was no fanfare. There was, well, nothing. How did he even know if the spirit had taken hold of the egg? Rhaalir. The elf spirit had been absent during the ritual. He appeared now before Xavier. Have you completed the ritual? Xavier inclined his head. I have. He explained what had happened, then asked his burning question. How do I know if it¡¯s worked? The elf spirit floated up to the egg, unmoored by mortal restraints such as gravity, and examined the egg with a sigh. The only way to know is to hatch it. Xavier inclined his head once more. He had thought that would be the case, and he was more than ready to do so. Inducing the hatching of a dragon egg could be a dangerous thing. There were risks involved if it was not done carefully. But Xavier didn¡¯t know how much longer he would have to wait for the egg to hatch naturally, and he couldn¡¯t carry it inside of his Storage Ring. The risks, he would have to take. But there was still something more that would need to happen once the dragon hatched¡ªsomething Volkarin would need to agree to if he wished to follow Xavier back to the Tower of Champions, and not remain stuck within this world. We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Xavier once more hovered up to the egg. This was one of several ways he had learnt of hatching a dragon egg, and it was the one that he thought worked the best for someone like him. Other ways involved the use of fire magic or devices that could control the level of heat, but none of those felt right to him. Just as Xavier had poured Spirit Energy into the egg to prepare it for the entrance of Volkarin, now he funnelled pure Celestial Energy into the egg. He had to do this slowly, lest it overwhelm the being inside. It was a delicate procedure, one that he wasn¡¯t able to practice. But being dragonkin came with advantages he hadn¡¯t known he would have when he¡¯d first learnt of what he needed to do to hatch this egg. When he¡¯d rested his hand on the dragon egg, he¡¯d been able to feel something of what was inside. He could feel the dragon burning within the egg. Feel the sheer life that was inside it. He might not be able to determine whether Volkarin had taken hold of that life or not, but being able to feel it meant that he could adjust the exact amount of Celestial Energy to feed into the egg. And, when he touched the egg, he could feel the aura of the dragon within. It was strange, being able to feel the aura that a beast was giving off¡ªthis was something different to the sense of the dragon he got from being dragonkin himself. This was what he had been able to do when he had first entered the Tower of Champions. All the beasts and Denizens that he faced these days were able to hide their auras. Xavier started with a trickle of Celestial Energy. Barely more than a few F Grade units per minute. He could not use his Identify skill on the dragon within the egg and using it on the egg itself only gained him so much¡ªand nothing he didn¡¯t already know. But he had to imagine that this hatchling was only Level 1. It might even be Level 0, if Level 0 is even possible. Though that made him wonder¡ªhuman children, and other races of Denizens, didn¡¯t have access to the System until the age of sixteen. Was there a similar restriction for beasts? It occurred to him that he had never seen a beast born before. He wondered how levels worked for them. Surely it couldn¡¯t be the same as it was for Denizens¡­ Xavier pushed away his thoughts as he poured more Celestial Energy into the dragon egg. The dragon within was building a tolerance for the energy. The more Xavier flowed into it, the more it was able to take. This was something that was supposed to happen during the inducement of a hatchling, but it was happening much faster than he had expected. That gave him a bit of hope, for Xavier imagined the reason that the dragon was able to take more energy faster was because of Volkarin¡¯s soul residing within it. Hours passed within the time dilation field as Xavier slowly and with care fed the dragon egg more and more Celestial Energy. Though Xavier had a great deal of patience, he had to actively restrain himself from upping the amount of energy he fed the beast too quickly. Crack. Xavier¡¯s eyes widened. He drew his hand from the egg and flapped his wings to move him a few feet away, giving the egg some space. It was dangerous for him to feed energy into the dragon while it was hatching, and he had been waiting for this moment to come. It was only a small crack, at the very top of the egg. The egg shuddered. Crack! Xavier smiled, beaming at the egg. Whether he had succeeded at placing Volkarin within the vessel was yet to be seen, but even if he hadn¡¯t, he struggled to believe that he was about to watch a dragon hatch. This was one of those moments where he wondered how his life had become this. He was hovering, massive dragon wings holding him aloft, within a cave chamber atop the largest mountain he had ever seen, watching a dragon hatch. He¡¯d come a long way from reading and writing fantasy stories. Far farther than he let himself dwell upon each day. Most of the books that he¡¯d read back before the System had integrated Earth had never been on the scale of what his life was like now, either. I¡¯ve fought goblins, met elves and dwarfs. I¡¯ve summoned spirits, defeated dragons, turned into a different race. I¡¯ve stolen souls and stopped time and created portals. He shook his head in absolute wonder. This was his life. He had accomplished more than he could have ever imagined, and yet still he felt as though he was only just getting started. There¡¯s so much yet to come. Another crack, and Xavier caught his first glimpse of the dragon¡¯s nose, nudging some of the shell away. The shell cracked ever more and bits of it began to fall down into the fire that burned below. There was a part of Xavier that wanted to expedite the process, but he knew that wasn¡¯t how these things worked. The hatchling had to make its own way out of the egg. The dragon did something strange, then¡ªit started munching on the egg instead of letting it fall, attaining a slight red glow as it did so. Xavier was surprised to find the dragon had been born with teeth. Xavier wanted to ask if Volkarin was inside, but he was frozen in a moment of pure awe. It wasn¡¯t until the baby dragon had devoured the rest of the egg it had just burst forth from that he finally cleared his throat. ¡°Volkarin?¡± The baby dragon¡ªwho was not small, but rather the size of a velociraptor¡ªturned to peer at Xavier. It cocked its head to the side. The beast opened its mouth, but no words came out, only small coo. Xavier had grown adept at reading the emotions of dragons from their facial features. It was something that he had gained when he had become dragonkin, and the more time he¡¯d spent with Volkarin, the more he¡¯d grown to understand the dragon¡¯s own emotions from the way he moved. The baby dragon opened its mouth and cooed once more, then shut it in sheer frustration. A frown settled onto the hatchling¡¯s face, and it made the beast look far, far older than it truly was. Xavier couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Volkarin was inside that dragon, all right. But he wasn¡¯t yet able to talk. After all the research Xavier had done, surely that should have been something he anticipated. ¡°Welcome back to the land of the living, Volkarin.¡±