Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 7) - Chapter 5 - Lightning Rods

Xavier’s mind was chaos.

Sitting on that boulder in the clearing a few miles from Collinsville, his old party lost in meditation and cultivation nearby, the elf spirit Rhaalir silent beside him, Xavier delved deep inside himself.

Before his cores had been shattered, his mind had been an ordered place. Not perfectly ordered, but it had a certain logic to it. One Liana had first helped him find.

Now, all of that had changed.

His emotions were almost completely unchained, allowing his mood to alter on a whim. The tangents of thought he used to experience were becoming more and more frequent, and all his thoughts were becoming fragmented. His attention was difficult to keep on any one thing, always being drawn this way and that as though he had no control over it whatsoever.

It was a state he’d been in before. One, he realised, he’d experienced much of his life before the System came. Only when he had something he cared about—like writing or reading—or when he had an important deadline, or there was something sufficiently urgent or threatening, had he been able to block out all distractions and focus on the task at hand.

This wasn’t even a state that he’d realised he’d been in until much later, when he’d had some time to introspect.

Since the System came, there had been a lot he cared about—gaining strength, protecting Earth, becoming more proficient in his spells. Not only that, so much of it, until he’d grown strong enough, had been life or death.

And there had always been a sense of urgency. Always been something of incredible importance to focus his energies on.

It wasn’t until he’d gained his Time Alteration spell that he’d learnt to relax and slow down between the things he hyper-focused on. Even then, he still found it difficult from time to time, though he knew rest was important.

But now, feeling adrift as he did, it was as though his mind had been returned to its natural, chaotic state.

The rooms that he’d walked were nowhere to be found. He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he sat there. The outside world distracted him on more than one occasion. The wind blowing through the trees. The sound of bugs buzzing nearby. Beasts howling and roaring somewhere in the distance. Even the breathing of his old party members jerked him out of his concentration.

The surrounding stimuli was overwhelming.

But Xavier forced himself to keep his eyes closed. None of the beasts in the area could threaten him or his party, and if something needed his attention, he was sure Rhaalir would alert him.

And so he sat, and he thought, and he struggled.

He tried to access the central room in his mind, that one where everything at the forefront of his consciousness would be. After an uncounted number of attempts that only served to frustrate him, Xavier came at the problem from a different angle. With an effort of will, he endeavoured to recreate the room, brick by metaphorical brick.

To do so, he first needed to manifest his mental apparition, the form that he used to walk the different rooms—the same form he’d used to draw spell patterns in his mind to permanently learn new spells.

It was an arduous task, but from the moment he set himself on the path to achieving it he felt an immediate change. That hyperfocus he’d been able to attain so easily before his cores had been shattered returned to him for the first time. The surrounding stimuli became nothing more than the background noise of the universe—always there, but never loud enough to interfere.

Xavier didn’t know how much time passed as he sat in that focused trance. Time didn’t matter. Time wasn’t important. Only his goal was.

When he finally dragged himself out of that state, he’d achieved what he’d set out to achieve. Though he hadn’t yet accessed or recreated the rooms within his mind, he’d managed to make his mental apparition appear.

He’d only been able to hold onto the apparition for a moment, but that moment had been enough for him to know he could do it. Enough to know it was still possible.

Once he’d done it, a heavy wave of exhaustion had settled upon him. The exhaustion must have built up slowly over time, and yet it felt like it hit him all at once. The hunger in his gut returned, and his mouth felt as dry as the desert outside the Bright City of Aethisa.

Xavier opened his eyes and was surprised to find the sun already up. And not just up, but high in the sky. They’d been in that clearing for a full day already.

Rhaalir still sat beside him on the boulder. It looked as though the elf spirit hadn’t moved at all. Howard, Justin, and Siobhan were no longer standing where they had been. Now, they had a fire going in the centre of the clearing. A pan sat off to the side, long gone cold, but the scent of bacon and eggs remained in the air.

His three old party members were chatting quietly with one another. Siobhan was the first to notice his eyes had opened, offering him a warm smile. “When we saw you in that trance, we didn’t want to interrupt you, in case you were on the cusp of a breakthrough.”

Howard held out his hand and something materialised on it, summoned from his Storage Ring. A plate piled high with the bacon and eggs he’d been smelling. The spatial storage device had kept the food hot, and steam wafted from it. In his other hand, a mug of hot coffee appeared. Siobhan produced a large bottle of water and placed it next to him.

Xavier salivated at the sight of the food and coffee. His stomach grumbled loudly, making Howard chuckle as he handed over the plate and mug.       

“Figured you’d be hungry,” Howard said.

Xavier dug into the food, eating without care for manners. The others knew of his newfound need for food and water. As he ate, he made sure to stop and sip the water Siobhan had given him. He’d been in that trance for at least twenty hours straight, and while his body wasn’t like that of an unenhanced human or dragonkin, it had still taken its toll more than it would have before his shattered cores.

When the food was finished and the entire water bottle was empty, he grabbed the hot mug of coffee and took a few healthy sips before nursing it between his hands. It wasn’t a cold day. Even if it was, he didn’t need its warmth. But the simple act of holding the ceramic mug like this brought him comfort he sorely needed.

They’ve seen me hold a mug like this in the Tower of Champion’s tavern dozens of times. That’s why Howard didn’t just hand me a thermos, which the man usually drinks from outside the tavern.

“Thank you,” he finally said to Howard, giving the man a grateful nod.

Howard grunted, but he did it with a smile.

“How did the cultivating go?” Xavier asked, looking at each of them. It wasn’t just hunger and thirst he’d been feeling when he’d opened his eyes. His head was sore, and his muscles felt stiff. He needed to get up and move around soon.

“Hard,” Howard said. “Cultivating Celestial Energy is… A whole different ballgame.” The big man shook his head. “I didn’t realise it would be so difficult. Taking it in wasn’t the problem. It took a lot to stop it from being converted into Spirit or Toughness Energy, and then holding onto it…” He shrugged. “It’s a conscious effort. After all that, I only have a small amount, constantly cycling through my channels.”

That made Xavier raise an eyebrow. He’d expected it to be difficult for them, especially after several hours had passed while the three of them had been standing there, but he hadn’t expected it to be that hard. Then again, he’d had the benefit of a spell—Body Cultivation—to better guide and initiate his actions.

The spell didn’t guide me that much, but it definitely made the process of getting started easier.

Before his shattered cores, he had the ability to cultivate Celestial Energy with ease without Body Cultivation being active, but that was only after having gained the spell. And without the spell active, the Celestial Energy didn’t give him the same benefit.

He’d always been curious about that. Before the System existed, Body Cultivation was widely used. Denizens used energy in more creative and raw ways than they did now. Even without having the spell, it should be possible to do, but he’d never needed to push himself to learn why he couldn’t without it. He’d never needed to.

But now that he couldn’t access his cores or cast spells…

I have a hell of a lot to learn if I’m going to get past this.

Xavier faced Siobhan and Justin. “Was it the same for you?”

Siobhan nodded. “I think it was even harder for me, but I managed it. I have a small trickle running through my channels, but I keep losing it.”

Xavier stopped himself from sighing and tried not to worry about the deadline of the World Destroyer coming to the sector. Tried not to think about all he needed to do before it got here so he could save Earth, and Silver River too.

“Perhaps you’ll be able to feed the energy straight into me as you cultivate it,” Xavier said. “That will prevent the need to hold onto it.” He didn’t sound very sure of himself as he spoke. He hadn’t ever heard of it being done that way, and it would require them to juggle cultivating and transferring the energy simultaneously, which would only add to the difficulty.

Justin tilted his head to the side and frowned. “It wasn’t that hard. I’ve got a bunch coursing through my channels.”

Howard and Siobhan stared at him.

“And you didn’t deign to mention that?” Siobhan asked.

“I didn’t realise you two struggled so much.” Justin didn’t say the words smugly, just matter-of-factly.

Xavier looked at the young swordsman, seeing him in a slightly new light.

Justin beamed, clearly proud of himself, even if he hadn’t tried to flaunt it at the others.

Xavier looked down at his still-hot coffee and downed the rest before he motioned the man over. “All right. Let’s see if this works, then. No point procrastinating.” He put the mug down, noticing that his hand was shaking a little. He was glad for the progress he’d made making his mental apparition appear, but he had a lot more riding on this working.

He had to know if his body could hold Celestial Energy, even if he couldn’t currently cultivate it.

Justin stood and walked over, then paused and looked over at Howard. “Wait, so how do I do this part?”

Howard had Xavier and Justin sit cross-legged facing each other. They each leant forward slightly with their palms touching. “This isn’t the only way to do it,” Howard said. “All you really need is a single touch on bare skin, but sitting like this should help you both get in the right frame of mind.

“Now, Xavier, you need to open yourself up, like you would when you’re cultivating, otherwise the energy will just be stopped and have nowhere to go. And Justin, you need to flow the energy through the channels of your hands and let it free. This is a gentle process. You don’t want to push it out. You don’t want to control it. Just give it a nudge in the right direction. It shouldn’t be hard—the energy wants to be free, holding it in requires a force of will, even if its one we aren’t aware of happening. In the same vein, its also attracted to Denizens and beasts—to all living things—which sounds like a contradiction, but apparently isn’t. We’re lightning rods for energy, which will mean it will go straight into Xaiver, if he’s open for it, when it leaves you. But the energy only stays if we make it.

“Now, both of you, close your eyes and focus.”

Xavier did as the former cop instructed. He was a little surprised by the man’s instruction. Early on, he’d learnt a few things from his party members. But being so much stronger from them from the get-go meant he quickly moved past them, learning most of what he knew on his own.

Howard was more insightful than he’d expected. Xavier also wondered why the man transferred energy to his wife in the first place, especially as he knew the process wasn’t economical. And Howard, though he did talk sometimes, was often a man of few words, but he sounded like teaching came naturally to him.

He must have instructed rookies as a cop, and he’s got kids, so he definitely taught them a thing or two.

Xavier took a few slow breaths as he tried to sink into a meditative state and focused. Normally, cultivating was like breathing and receiving energy from another should be even easier than that, but he didn’t begrudge his need to concentrate so heavily.

As he’d tried to many times since his cores had shattered, he opened himself to the energies of the universe. And, as before, he couldn’t tell if it was working. He lacked the inward sense that he’d previously possessed. With effort, he could feel his channels, even if he couldn’t yet feel his shattered cores, but it was as though he was looking at everything through blurred vision. Like someone had painted goggles with a thin sheen of black paint and slapped them over his eyes.

He sat there for a long time. As had happened the day before, he struggled to find his focus. The noises around him seemed to amplify. But he pushed past that. Not easily, but he could do it.

Xavier found an inner calm that allowed him to focus.

It wasn’t the same level of calm he’d achieved when he’d been focused on rebuilding the rooms in his mind. This felt less natural and took more effort to maintain and was nowhere near as intense.

But that didn’t matter. It let him do what he needed.

Time passed as he sat there. Some of his thoughts tried to distract him, tried to rock him out of his calm, telling him that this process shouldn’t take this long. Some noises, too, did the same—Howard standing in front of Xavier and Justin as they sat on the ground, the big man’s weight shifting from one foot to another. Siobhan sitting on the other side of the fire, periodically turning the page of book. The flames crackling in the middle of their makeshift camp.

The wind. The bugs. The far-off howls.

Xavier breathed through these distractions, retaining his calm and focus.

After what felt like an absurdly long time, a burst of energy flowed into him, lighting the channels in his hands and forearms with power.

For the first time since his cores had shattered, Xavier was taking in Celestial Energy.