Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 8) - Chapter 16 - Those Portals of His

Sovereign Rewke Fouran, standing at the edge of the mountain’s peak atop the vast arena, being watched by thousands of sector rulers—many of whom ruled sectors more powerful than his own—drew in a deep breath.

He felt… invincible. This puny dragonkin was no match for him. Though he had to admit, the powers the boy had drawn upon had been considerable. More than he’d anticipated. Far more.

Yet they did nothing at all to harm me.

For the first time since he’d met Xavier Collins, the man actually had a look of surprise on his face. The shattering of his time dilation field hadn’t done a thing to faze him. Something that had actually come as a surprise to Rewke.

See, Rewke had done his research before coming here. He knew that the worst thing he could do was underestimate an opponent. The Collector had no doubt underestimated Xavier Collins, and he’d paid the price for that. Rewke knew there was no way this boy could defeat him, but that didn’t mean he would come in here unprepared.

He’d plotted out the best way to fight the boy, given everything he knew about him. He’d gotten the services of every Information Broker he could to learn as much as possible. There was a startlingly small amount of information out there about Xavier Collins that could be relied upon—much of it felt contradictory—but he managed to discover what the dragonkin’s strongest spells were, and which he used the most.

But honestly, Rewke hadn’t expected the fight to go this far. The way he’d planned things… He’d known that when the fight started, he’d be stuck outside a time dilation field. He’d also known about the lad’s time prison spell, and had planned for that eventuality.

It had taken a lot of spirit coins for him to get information on that.

Though he couldn’t anticipate exactly how the fight would play out, he’d run thousands of simulations—simulations that used the knowledge he had at hand.

He’d anticipated being locked out of a time dilation field, then the possibility of being locked into a Time Prison. He’d anticipated the build-up of energies and the explosion that might happen as a result. Everything had played out exactly as he’d imagined…

Except for the fact that the explosion hadn’t done a damned thing to Xavier.

Those portals of his. He’s faster with them than I’d imagined.

Xavier stared at Rewke. “How…” He tilted his head to the side. “How are you still standing?”

It was this that had brought the look of surprise to Xavier’s face. That Rewke Fouran could still be standing after the torrent of soul damage he should have taken but didn’t.

And it was standing there, unscathed, that had made Rewke smile.

Though the man looked surprised, Rewke was disappointed to see he didn’t look afraid.

“I’ve learnt a lot about you, Xavier Collins.” Rewke gripped his staff tightly in his right hand, tilting his chin up to get a good look at the dragonkin, who was now hovering in the air high above the mountain’s peak. “Those spells you used on me, from the Reaper line of classes… They cause soul damage, yes?” He didn’t wait for the boy to reply. He simply tapped his chest with his left hand and smiled. “Well, you have to have a soul to suffer from soul damage.”

Xavier blinked. “You… you don’t have a soul?” He seemed to pause, cocking his head ever so slightly as though he were listening to someone.

Though that couldn’t be. The System prevented all communication in and out of the arena—at least for the fighters. There would be no one he could talk to.

Rewke chuckled. “Oh, I have a soul, boy. I simply… put it in a safe place for the duration of this fight.” He inclined his head. “Take it as a compliment. I made sure not to underestimate you. You should feel proud. But don’t worry, I’ll give you a good death.”

Xavier frowned. “A good death. I didn’t think there was such a thing.” Another slight pause. “Do you feel different? Being without a soul…” His forehead creased. “It changes you.”

Rewke raised an eyebrow. “You know that from experience, do you?” The sovereign released a long breath and looked down at himself—keeping the young dragonkin in the corner of his eye. He wasn’t about to let his guard down.

Anyone else might have been worried about revealing their secrets in front of so many different sector rulers, but Rewke did not worry about such things. He knew that he would be scrutinised by every single one of them. Knew they would be weighing their options, seeing just how powerful he was. Showing them his hand—and the lengths he’d gone to prepare for this match—would show them he wasn’t to be taken lightly.

The fact that Xavier Collins was stronger than Rewke had first imagined? Well, that would only play better for Rewke when he defeated the boy.

There was a part of Rewke that didn’t like the idea of Xavier dying, but that was only a small part. He regretted someone with such talent, such potential, dying so young—but the boy wasn’t about to sign a contract with Rewke. And if Rewke couldn’t control him, he would soon grow far too powerful.

If I can’t use him, I can’t allow him to live.

“Being without a soul…” Rewke took a moment to actually think about it. His forehead creased, and his face dropped a little. There was an emptiness. An emptiness that hadn’t been there before. He’d noticed it the moment he’d hidden his soul away—a temporary thing, of course, he would put it back into place the moment he could.

But it wasn’t only emptiness he felt. There was something else. Something deeper. Something… darker.

Even so, being without a soul felt… Well, it felt good. Rewke had never been a man wracked with guilt or indecision. He’d always been very sure of the choices he’d made.

At least, that was how he’d thought of himself.

But in that moment, he realised he felt clearer than he had in his entire life. He wasn’t plagued by a single doubt.

“I feel clear,” was all he said in reply to Xavier’s question. “I know exactly what I need to do.” He raised his head and stared into Xavier’s eyes. “This fight has already gone on too long. It’s time we finish this.” He glanced at those in the seats. The Denizens he knew, the Denizens he didn’t. “I have two sectors to rule, after all. That requires a lot of attention.”

Xavier, hovering in the air above, tilted his head to one side. “Yes. I think you’re right. It is time to finish this. And I have to say, you’ve surprised me, Sovereign Fouran. From the short conversation we had in your throne room, I knew you to be a heartless man, but never did I imagine you to be soulless. To rip your soul from your body just so you can win a fight? To go to such great lengths as to mutilate yourself?” He shook his head. “It speaks of how much you must, deep down, fear me.”

The sovereign blinked. That emptiness inside suddenly filled with a burning fire—a burning rage. “Fear you? Oh, how you will regret taunting me.”

Rewke raised his staff and cast his most powerful spell. A spell quite unique to his path. The very elements were his to command. Dark clouds gathered about. The ground beneath them—the entire mountain—shook. Heat sizzled the air, made it wavy. Electricity crackled between those dark clouds above. A maelstrom of destruction the likes of which this child had never experienced was about to come down upon him.

It would sweep him away and leave nothing behind.

Except, the clouds froze in their forming. The sovereign, too, froze. He could feel it, the exact thing he’d felt before, when he’d been trapped outside the time dilation field. He’d been ready for it, then—he’d burned the majority of his Speed and Intelligence Energy using a skill to improve the rate of his perception.

It was always easier to make the mind move faster than the body, at least for a mage. Countering the time dilation field was child’s play after that, especially when one’s enemy was as weak as this one…

Only, that had been another surprise. The boy’s time dilation field had been far stronger than he’d imagined. He’d had to push harder than anticipated to break through it. But he’d felt safe in the fact that the boy wouldn’t be able to cast Time Alteration twice during this fight.

There simply wouldn’t be enough time for the spell to reach the end of its cooldown.

And yet…

It’s happening again.

Sovereign Rewke Fouran burned more Speed and Intelligence Energy, trying to get a grip on what was happening, trying to pierce the dragonkin’s second time dilation field like he had the first…

But he couldn’t.

He wasn’t…

He wasn’t strong enough.

How?

~

Danil watched. There was nothing he could do but watch. This fight had been more interesting than he’d expected. The power the young dragonkin had brought to bear… and how the sovereign had avoided every bit of that soul damage?

Removed his soul. What a fool. Does he not know the consequences?

Danil had to admit he was a little shaky on the details himself. But he was an old Denizen—at least by the standards of the sectors around him. He was certainly the oldest Denizen watching this fight. He had knowledge of the Living and Immortal Souls that each Denizen holds—more knowledge than most, he imagined. A Reaper does not strike for the Living Soul, they strike for the Immortal Soul. Danil had heard there were ways, dark ways, to hide one’s soul away—in parts, or even the whole soul—as a way to protect it.

But these ways had costs.

Sovereign Rewke Fouran, if he were to die without his soul inside his body… there would be no chance for it to move on from the Mortal Realm. It would become trapped.

That was only one of many problems.

Then again, if one were to come up against a Reaper—someone who could tear your Immortal Soul apart or steal it and use it all up—maybe dying without it was the better option.

Danil shuddered.

The lad must be right. The sovereign does truly fear him.

Why else would he have gone to such lengths?

Danil placed his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands, leaning heavily on them as he focused all his attention onto the fight—what he wanted for dinner later forgotten.

When the second time dilation field snapped into place, in a period of time where it just shouldn’t have been possible for a cooldown to reach its end, Danil’s eyes widened.

There were ways around cooldowns, but there weren’t many. How this man had managed such a thing would likely remain mystery.

Xavier Collins, hovering above the vast mountain, his leathery black dragon wings flapping lazily, looked straight at Danil with a wink.

“All part of the plan?” Danil shouted from his seat.

Xavier shrugged. “Honestly? I didn’t expect him to survive that last attack.” The lad looked more tired than before, and though he appeared relaxed Danil could discern that something had changed—as though a heavy weight was trying to pull him down. “But I have other plans.”

Danil glanced at the dark clouds hovering above and the lightning flashing between them. At the large cracks in the side of the mountain. The wavy, heated air.

Danil knew exactly what spell the sovereign had cast. It was a powerful one. One that would rip the entire mountain apart. One that would surely rip the young dragonkin apart, leaving all that potential scattered into the wind of this System-created arena.

Danil hadn’t thought he would take sides when he arrived, but now he couldn’t help but want this underdog to win.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Xavier Collins.” Danil raised his chin off where he’d rested it on his hands. “Because if you do, then I’ll be inclined to make your acquaintance in the near future.”

Xavier seemed to consider this for a moment. “Why does that sound ominous?”

Danil smiled. “Perhaps because you have no idea who I am.”

The young dragonkin looked him in the eye. “I guess I’ll find that out soon.” The lad turned his focus back onto his opponent.

Danil could almost feel the sovereign struggling to break through the second time dilation field. With a tilt of his head, Danil sensed something in that field. His forehead creased.

It’s… more powerful than the first one.

He blinked, wondering how that could be.

His mind didn’t have time to wander, however, as the young dragonkin flew down to the ground, landing silently on the mountain’s peak a scant ten strides from his enemy. His transforming-weapon was still in the form of a hand-and-a-half sword, held loosely in his right hand. The drones he’d created gathered around him.

Xavier Collins suddenly looked a thousand times older than he should have. His face became serious. Grim. He walked toward the sovereign with a sense of inevitability. Danil expected him to cast some powerful spell—perhaps to trap the man in another Time Prison, or to start drawing more of those strange patterns.

But that was not what came to pass.

The drones had each previously held a stylus. Now, swords appeared in their hands, summoned from Storage Rings. Xavier and his dozen drones surrounded the sovereign in a ring of blades. Danil sighed. This can’t be what the lad planned? A physical attack? After all that elaborate planning?

There was no way such a thing would work.

All at the same time, Xavier and the drones raised their weapons. That grim look of Xavier’s was cloned, appearing on every one of the drones. He almost looked sad about what he was to do.

“I can see you struggling,” Xavier remarked, staring at the sovereign. “I can feel you, pushing against my time dilation field, trying to break it like you broke the first.” The young dragonkin shook his head solemnly. “That isn’t going to work a second time. I want you to know that I tried to make your death painless, but it seems such a thing isn’t in the cards for you.”

Danil frowned. The emotions in the man’s voice sounded genuine. Does he truly care for how his enemy will die?

A rare thing, if so. A strange thing, too.

The blades glowed. Danil raised an eyebrow. Xavier and the drones were each using that same spell as before—one he’d identified as Strike Out.

He shifted in his seat, waiting with bated breath.

~

Sovereign Rewke Fouran couldn’t move his eyes. Though he made his mind move as fast as he could manage it, things still moved a little quickly outside the time dilation field for him to comfortably perceive.

This wasn’t at all how it had felt last time. Either he was losing his touch, or the boy’s second field was that much stronger than the first.

Maybe it’s both…

Even with his diminished perception, he heard what Xavier said. Heard the emotion in his words. It galled him. Infuriated him. As though this mere child truly thought he could defeat him?

But it wasn’t only anger Rewke felt—something inside the sovereign shuddered in fear. He was trapped this time. Well and truly trapped. He’d come out of the last attack unscathed, but the boy… He didn’t look bothered at all.

He should be trembling with fear.

And yet it was the sovereign who was frozen in it.

Swords were raised. Thirteen of them. The sovereign saw them clearly. A strange sight. A melee attack seemed like the worst choice to be used against him in this particular scenario. The moment one of those blades touched him he would be enveloped by the time dilation field once more. The spell he’d cast would be able to come into fruition.

The tides of the battle would turn in his favour again.

Hit me, you fool. Hit me and see what happens!