Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 8) - Chapter 21 - Oh, How My Life Has Changed Since Then…

Xavier entered Adranial’s mind for the first time.

Unlike when he entered Nalthair’s mind, he wasn’t there to confuse her, wasn’t there to learn her secrets, even though she’d laid it all bare for him to see, inviting him in.

This wasn’t the first time Xavier had swept through someone else’s mind with permission. He’d done it several times back when he was training his found family inside the Roving Seed Base. It had been good practice. Back then, he hadn’t been tempted to drift through their minds and find out more about what they might be thinking, or about their history. This time was different. This time he wanted to drift through Adranial’s mind and learn all about her.

But that wasn’t why he was here. She may have invited him into her mind, but that didn’t mean she’d given him permission to rifle through it. That trust she extended toward him meant she also trusted him to respect her privacy. It was the same when you invited a friend into your house. Just because you’d opened the door and beckoned them inside then shuffled away to the kitchen to rustle up some tea, didn’t mean you were happy for them to go rifling through your personal belongings, checking every room of the house, every nook and cranny for what might be hidden away from guests.

So, Xavier constrained his impulse to investigate and did only what he’d come here to do. Using the technique he’d learnt from Roln, he unpicked the System contract that was bound not only in her mind but inside her Living Soul.

He found erasing the contracts Adranial held far easier than erasing Nalthair’s contracts had been. Part of that was experience—it’s generally easier to do something a second time than it is to do it the first. But it was also because she’d invited him in. Her mind, her spirit, wasn’t fighting him every step of the way.

Xavier, extending his trust back to the woman, didn’t merely erase the contract that she held with her ancestor—he erased all of her contracts, including the one she held with him. The one that had kept people on Earth safe from her. The one that had restricted her actions there.

He felt as though it wasn’t needed anymore.

When he drew away from her mind, returning his full consciousness into his own physical body, he wondered for a moment what Howard would think about what he’d just done. Would this be thought of as a betrayal? Or would he understand?

The young woman released a relieved sigh. Her entire body relaxed as though she’d turned from stone to jelly. She sunk into the chair and shut her eyes.

Xavier smiled. “How to you feel?”

Adranial’s eyes fluttered open. She sat straighter in her chair, though she still looked a little floppy. “How do I feel?” She smiled back. “I feel… free.” She took a few deep breaths, her chest rising pleasingly as she did, all the tight sharpness of her personality seemed to loosen and soften.

“I never thought I’d do this. Never thought I’d want this.” Her head dropped, forehead creasing. “I always walked my path gladly. Willingly. But that path, from the very beginning, was chosen for me. There were no options. Not really. When you come from a family such as mine—the family, the oldest family in the entire Greater Universe, with the strongest Denizen at its head—certain things are simply expected.”

“You didn’t get any choice?” Xavier asked, curious to hear more.

“Choice…” Adranial sighed. It wasn’t a frustrated sigh, but a liberating one. “I thought I had choice. But no. The choices were small ones. Which class. What technique. Even then, my path to power was heavily monitored. My choices limited the more and more promise I showed.”

Xavier nodded along, wondering what that must have been like. Growing up in her world… It was the complete opposite of how he’d grown up. Not just because she’d known about the System from birth. She’d grown up with more privilege than 99.999999 percent of all people everywhere, and yet that privilege was as much a cage as it was a benefit. Her path was hemmed in by golden gates, not allowing her to turn left or right when something looked interesting.

Xavier’s path? His mother had tried to tell him what to do. Tried to belittle his dreams as he’d grown up and point him toward something else—anything else. But for the most part his impression of her was that she didn’t really care what he did or didn’t do. She simply used him as a verbal punching back. Someone to point all her frustration about her own life onto. She couldn’t help but see every choice he made as a disappointment.

It was a terrible environment in which to be raised, but it had given him something this woman hadn’t had. The freedom to walk whatever path he chose without the constraints of expectation—not expectation that actually mattered to him, anyway.

Oh, how my life has changed since then…

Adranial looked around the tavern with a small, calm smile on her face, still taking those long, deep breaths, each exhale a sigh of relief. Then, after a little time had passed, her forehead creased and her breath stuttered. “So, what happens now?”

Her words sounded more unsure than he’d ever heard them. Adranial now had freedom to choose her own path, but since she’d never had that before it seemed as though she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“That’s entirely up to you.”

Adranial bit her lip. “Right. You don’t happen to have any suggestions though, do you?”

Xavier extended the time dilation field to encompass Sam again. “How about we start with another drink, then go from there?”

Adranial nodded unsurely, then a second time with determination. “Yes. That’s a good plan. I like that plan.”

Sam came around once more. This time, supposedly sensing less tension than before, he raised an eyebrow at Xavier as he set a fresh cappuccino down in front of him. “So, uh, Xavier…” His gaze flicked to Adranial then back to the dragonkin. “Do you think I could ask you a few questions before you leave?”

Xavier smiled up at the man, trying to ease the fear he could feel in him. “Are these your questions, or Empress Larona’s questions?”

The barkeep hesitated. “A little from column A, a little from column B. She’s said some… rather interesting things about you.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Has she?” Xavier brought the cappuccino to his lips and gave it a sip. It was good, though it was nothing like Rose could make. Still, he liked it well enough. “I’ve heard a few interesting things about her, too.”

Sam swallowed, gave Xavier a hasty nod, then retreated back to the bar.

“What was that all about?” Adranial asked.

“Empress Larona. I’m sure you’ve heard about her?”

Adranial waved her hand. “Strongest Denizen in the sector but hasn’t managed to rule the whole thing. Yeah, heard about her. She can see the future.”

“Hmm. Well.” He sipped his coffee. “She can’t see my future anymore. And…” Xavier told her what The Collector had said—that Empress Larona had a deal with him.

Adranial seemed to let that sink in, the fact that Xavier’s future was shrouded—not just from Empress Larona, but as far as they knew, from any seer. But that wasn’t something she lingered on.

“When do you intend to take over Silver River?” Adranial asked.

“Soon. Very soon.” Xavier looked over at Sam, who was once again frozen in time. “I’d prefer not having to kill the Seer if I can help it. Maybe there could be a more… peaceful handover of power.”

“A peaceful handover,” Adranial muttered. “That isn’t really how things in the Greater Universe tend to go. Then again… neither is pretty much anything you’ve done since being integrated into the System. Maybe you’ll get your wish.”

“How positively optimistic of you, Adranial. Some might even call you naive for saying such a thing.”

Adranial chuckled. “Well, I think you know I’m the furthest thing from naive.” She looked down at the glowing ball. The memories Xavier had shared with her still hovered in the air just above the middle of the table. “And so are you, Xavier Collins.”

Xavier studied the woman across from him. “There is something I’d like your help with before I leave the tavern.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Xavier brought up a notification he’d received after returning to the throne room. It was a notification he should have studied back then, a notification he’d known would come, but he’d been eager to get back to the tower.

Now he realised that wasn’t only because he wanted to move forward onto his next goal. Part of it was because he’d been hoping to run into Adranial.

He read the notification aloud.

As the ruler of the Ventorin sector, you have been granted access to the Empire Building Menu.

As you have inherited this menu from the previous ruler of the Ventorin sector you will encounter a menu that has been highly customised.

Do you wish to view the menu now?

Adranial’s mouth fell open. “Wait, you haven’t looked at the Empire Building Menu yet?” She sounded shocked.

“In my defence, I’ve been the official ruler for all of…” He scratched the back of his head. “Maybe two minutes of this universe’s time?”

“I suppose that’s fair,” she muttered. “Okay, what do you know about Empire Building?”

Xavier shrugged. “I haven’t really looked into it. Or, rather, none of the Information Brokers I hired were able to give me much information on it.”

Adranial pinched the bridge of her nose. “No. I suppose they wouldn’t have.” She sighed. “As per my understanding, there isn’t a whole lot of information available in the System Shop when it comes to Empire Building. Just the basics, really. It isn’t restricted in the same way information about the Tower of Champions is restricted, but it’s highly guarded.”

Xavier nodded. Roln had told him all of this, having as much information about, well, pretty much everything as he did. But as much information as the mental construct had, he tended to hold back a great deal—his reasoning being that he didn’t want to make things too easy for Xavier, and he also didn’t want to overwhelm him with everything he knew.

There were things Xavier needed to learn without Roln’s help. Roln also worried about unintentionally biasing Xavier and steering him in the wrong direction.

While this frustrated Xavier, he also understood it completely. There were things he didn’t want the man to teach him. Things he wanted to find out for himself. For much of his time in the System, he’d often taken the approach that it was better for him to learn first-hand than second-hand.

But he didn’t want to root around the menu without at least a little bit of guidance.

Xavier nodded at Adranial. “But you, being from the family you’re from, must know quite a bit about Empire Building.”

Adranial narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes. I’m a valuable asset.” She tapped her index finger on the table. “All right, share the menu with me. Let’s see the state of the Ventorin sector.”

Xavier brought the menu up and took a moment to share access with Adranial. The access he shared would only allow her to view the menu, not make any alterations to it.

They both took a moment to study the menu before they spoke.

Empire Building Menu

Territory Governed:

Sectors: 1

Ventorin

Out of Sector Outposts:

52 Outposts claimed on planet Earth.

Empire Credits: 1,592,233,098

Please select the area you wish to actively govern.

Xavier tilted his head to the side as he examined this part of the menu. Two things made him instantly curious. First was the fact that the System called the places he controlled on Earth “Outposts,” even though that was where he’d first ruled.

The second thing he noticed—which was impossible not to notice—was the number of Empire Credits he had. He wasn’t even entirely sure what Empire Credits would get him, though he’d read about them before and knew they were essential to quickly creating a strong infrastructure and defences in new outposts.

“Whoa,” Xavier breathed. “That’s a lot of credits.”

His eyes widened at the number. Xavier had been so very focused on completing one goal, then the next, then the next, that he rarely realised how much he gained along the way. The fact that he was the ruler of entire sector? That hadn’t sunk in yet.

Not only that—he’d defeated The Collector, taken his castle, his world, and with all of that… his wealth.

He hadn’t looked through The Collector’s belongings. Not yet. Hadn’t checked if he had a vault in the castle. Gaining wealth, though important, hadn’t been a part of his goals when he’d entered the Ventorin sector.

Yet here he was, the ruler of billions of worlds.

Billions…

His goal was to unite the entire universe. Ruling one sector, that was a lot, but it was also a drop in the ocean compared with his ultimate goal, which had made it feel small.

But it wasn’t small at all.

Adranial looked over him. Something strange in her eyes. To her, this kind of wealth mustn’t be that much. She was basically a princess from the wealthiest family in existence. Would this look like pocket change to her?

“What is it?” Xavier asked.

Adranial frowned, eyes glazing over—perhaps looking at the menu again. “Every member of my family, especially the core members, is familiar with the history of our ancestor. We learn about his early years as we grow up. Learning about his life, where he started, how he gained his power, how his rule spread—it’s one of the most important aspects of our education. Always has been.” She tapped a finger on the table.

Xavier shrugged. “I suppose what I’ve accomplished doesn’t look like much when you compare it to him.”

Adranial blinked. “No, Xavier, that’s not it. Being the First Progenitor, the first to rule a town, a city, a world. The first to clear every floor of the tower and to hold the record for every floor. He had the fastest rise of any Denizen in the entire Greater Universe. As far as our family’s knowledge base is concerned.”

Xavier nodded along to her words. The Old Man’s history was something he hadn’t locked into, though he was sure he could find a lot of information about it if he wanted, he doubted that information would be as detailed and factual as what his family learnt about him. “You really have classes about this stuff?”

Adranial cocked her head. “Of course. Why, what did you learn growing up?”

Xavier chuckled, thinking back to his school years. Though hundreds of years had passed for him, and his perfect memory hadn’t started until he’d become a Denizen, he remembered a good amount of his past. He’d never been the best of students—not until he’d gotten to university, anyway. “Well, I don’t think I learnt all that much, to be honest. Certainly nothing relevant to living with the System.”

Adranial went quiet for a moment. “And yet, here you are. You must have learnt something.”

“You were telling me about his rise? The Old Man?”

She nodded. “He had the fastest rise of any Denizen in the history of the Greater Universe.” Adranial wrapped the table with her knuckle.  “At least, that is, until you came along. The things you’ve done… it took him centuries to do. Yes, the credits you have here aren’t much in the grand scheme, if you consider all the rulers in the universe. But for your timeline? It’s unimaginable, Xavier. No wonder the System thought you were an anomaly.”

She’s right, you know, Roln said within his mind. I don’t think you stop to realise just how far you’ve come so fast, and just how strange that is. It’s not just this universe where you’re an anomaly, Xavier Collins, else I never would have bothered interfering in your life. I’d still be alive out there, wandering from one universe to the next.

You almost sound wistful about it.

Oh, I’m more than a little wistful about it. Being dead isn’t my favourite thing I’ve ever done. It was a good life, you know, being a Wanderer. But I don’t regret what I did for a second.

The two of them were right. He didn’t spend enough time reflecting on how far he’d come. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how to. He supposed he could celebrate the wins along the way. Congratulate himself. But something felt wrong about that. Should he really sit there and pat himself on the back while there was still so much he needed to achieve? When it could all come crumbling down at any moment if he didn’t pay enough attention, if he stopped striving as hard as he had been?

He couldn’t allow himself to become complacent.

Xavier looked at Adranial. “So, you’re the one with the knowledge. Tell me, where should I begin with”—he waved a hand in front of him, trying to motion at the screen he’d shared with her—“all this.”