Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 6) - Chapter 30 - Damned System

Xavier stared at the notification with a furious expression. His eyes glazed over, he swore, seemingly at nothing.

He stood in the middle of a large clearing filled with demonic, plant-like beasts that he’d finished slaughtering a moment ago. The plant-beasts bled an odd, green ooze which covered the ground. He’d used the Lost Bone of a Dead God as a scythe-staff—it seemed the most appropriate weapon to deal with these things.

Rhaalir, Volkarin, and Romalda were nearby.

Volkarin was sniffing at the plant-like mobs with a look of sheer distaste on his face.

Rhaalir was passively standing, arms crossed, as he often did. The elf was getting a little sour about the fact that the Spirit Golem didn’t receive titles.

Romalda was lounging on a comfortable looking reclined chair. Xavier had no idea where the necromancer had gotten it, but she’d turned to using it a lot lately as Xavier and Yarien’s party dealt with clearing the zones.

Yarien, Maricus, Avadon, and Avadina were huddled in a group not far from him. It was Yarien who noticed his expression and remarked on his swearing.

“What is it?” the elven blood mage asked.

Xavier clenched his fists, his claws digging into his palm. He wanted to kill something with his bare hands. “Damned System.”

Yarien’s eyebrows rose at that. Avadon and Avadina’s eyes widened, the twins looking slightly shocked at his exclamation, as though what he’d said was sacrilegious. Maricus didn’t react at all. He was wearing a visor Xavier hadn’t seen before and seemed to be lost in his own world—almost as though he were reading a book or watching a movie.

Yarien walked over. “What happened? I can sense the anger inside of you. Your heart is racing with rage.”

Xavier shut his eyes and released a breath. “I have almost two months until I need to return to the Tower of Champions.”

The elven woman nodded. “Yes, you mentioned this to us.”

“The System is sending me back in an hour.”

Yarien’s lips parted. Now she was the one who looked shocked. She glanced over at her party. Avadina and Avadon were looking at him ever more intently. Xavier wasn’t sure why.

Yarien: [The System is returning you early?]

Xavier blinked, wondering why the woman had suddenly switched their conversation to using their Communication Stones. [It isn’t the first time the System has pulled something like this on me.]

Yarien: [That is most unusual, Xavier.]

Xavier: [Unusual?] He took a step toward her. It must have been clear to everyone else that they were having a telepathic conversation, though no one called them on it. [You mean you’ve heard of this happening before?]

Yarien: [Only in stories. Champions of old… Legends, really. Few of the stories are about anyone who survived. Though some, like the Old One, are still around today. Tell me, have you ever received a notification that said the System was watching you?]

Xavier’s expression must have said enough.

Yarien: [You are one of the chosen… That should surprise me, but it doesn’t.]

Xavier had trouble reading the woman’s expression. It was more guarded than it had been before.

His mind was also racing too fast for him to worry about what the elf might be thinking about him right now. This messed up his plans. When he’d left the Tower of Champions, he was supposed to have six months until he returned. Now, that was being shortened to barely over four.

Why was the System doing this to him? It felt like he couldn’t trust anything when the System kept changing the rules.

Xavier shut his eyes for a long moment. He recalled what the System had done when he’d been on the hundredth floor—it had kept coaxing the bartender there to push him into harder and harder challenges.

And here he was, sitting back, letting other people clear the different zones of the Hell Moon Areildon for him.

Was that why it was sending him back early?

Two months early!

A rage was building up in him that he was having trouble containing. Xavier shut his eyes. His fists were still clenched, fingers curled, claws cutting up the skin of his palms. Blood fell from his wrists in a slow drip, landing on the grassy ground with a slow drip, drip, drip.

Xavier had to take control of his emotions. Had to think.

Right now, he stood inside a time dilation field. That one hour the notification had quoted hadn’t started yet—not really. He could use that to his advantage.

But the rage boiling up inside him clouded his thoughts.

That the System kept changing things on him… That was what made him so angry. If the System changed things, how could he trust anything? How could he make plans?

Releasing a long sigh, Xavier relaxed his fists. He uncurled his fingers, opening his hands. The cuts on his palms didn’t take long to heal, though the blood remained, drying on his skin.

He needed to make a few decisions.

Whatever the reason for the System changing things on him, he had to act. Had to move forward with the new information.

The first decision to make was whether he should bring Volkarin and Rhaalir back into the Tower of Champions.

That was a difficult choice. Volkarin was becoming stronger and stronger with each passing zone that was cleared, with each title gained. That was a kind of progress Xavier didn’t wish to interrupt.

Perhaps he could simply ask the dragon.

Volkarin, Xavier began, communicating telepathically through the bond they shared. The System has changed the rules on me. It’s taking me back to the tower two months early.

The dragon turned his large head to face Xavier. Volkarin’s expression shifted into one of rage, though he did not move from where he stood. What? That… The System is toying with you. Have you angered it?

Xavier smiled weakly. Does the System even feel anger? He shook his head. Do you wish to come with me, back to the Tower of Champions?

Volkarin’s chin rose.

What I said to you, back in the training grounds, still stands, young dragonkin. I may have gained many levels since then, and many titles alongside them, but I am still nothing compared to you. There is much I need to do before I can truly fight by your side. The dragon lowered his head. This Hell Moon is the perfect place for me to train, though I do not know if it is the safest.

Xavier considered that for a moment. There was also the problem of Romalda—obviously she wasn’t someone he would be able to take back to the tower.

Was he just going to… Leave her here? That didn’t seem wise. Neither the dragon nor Romalda were sponsored. If they met other Denizens, it could easily lead to their deaths.

Xavier glanced at Yarien. The beautiful elf in her blood red robes wore a blank expression, though it was clear much was going on behind those eyes. They hadn’t hashed out the contract terms for when he would take them to different grinding zones in the Greater Universe using his Universal Travel Key in the future.

An idea occurred to him.

Xavier: [Yarien, I have something to ask of you.]

Yarien: [Ask away.]

Xavier: [Volkarin and Romalda. Are you willing to take them along with you through the Hell Moons?]

Yarien’s head tilted to the side in thought for a moment. [They do not have the benefit of freezing time, as you do. Taking them along to the deeper zones… It could become dangerous for them. There may be times when we would have to leave them in the stairwells.]

Xavier: [Rather than leave them in the stairwells, they could train alone in a different zone if it’s too dangerous for them to be by your side. Tell me, is there a way for you to extend your protection to them without them swearing their allegiance to Jhanku?]

The elf’s delicate eyebrows came together. [There may well be. I shall consider that. Regardless, I am happy to take them into my care.]

Xavier: [Because of the Universal Travel Key I have, and what it means for you and your party?]

Yarien: [While that is a consideration, I have also developed an interest in you. There is much about you that is unique. I wish to see how you develop and change over the years, Xavier Collins. Something tells me it will be an interesting journey to watch.]

Xavier wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but he was glad Yarien and her party would be looking after Volkarin and Romalda. They would gain a lot from sticking with the True C Grade party.

Rhaalir, on the other hand, would have to come with him. He didn’t want to hand the Spirit Golem over to anyone else, and unlike the others, he simply didn’t gain any titles—the benefit to him sticking around without constantly grinding with Volkarin and Romalda was…

Well, there wasn’t much benefit to it at all, as far as Xavier could see.

With those decisions made, and Yarien on board with protecting Volkarin and Romalda, Xavier still needed to figure out what to do with his final hour.

If he remained here, this would be where the System returned him after completing this next session in the Tower of Champions. He, of course, had no idea how long he would be there for—it was impossible for him to know. Even if he could ask for information from Yarien and the others, which he couldn’t, that information would likely be wrong.

If the System was changing when he would return to the Tower of Champions, chances were it would change other things, too.

The anger was beginning to dissipate. Xavier was, as best as he could, trying to only focus on the things that he could control. The System was something he most certainly couldn’t control.

Though there was a part of him, a small part, that briefly wondered if that would one day change… He pushed that thought away. It wasn’t helpful to him right now.

One hour remaining. But within this time dilation field, he could make that hour stretch for a long, long time.

Xavier hadn’t gained any more levels since coming to Areildon. Having Yarien’s party, for the most part, clear the different zones meant he’d just been sitting back much of the time.

Not that he’d been idle.

Still, he wondered if gaining more levels before returning to the tower would be something he should try…

But there were other things he’d intended to do before returning to the tower. For one, he had intended to make it back to a System Shop before heading back to the tower.

The System Shop in the Tower of Champions didn’t have access to the Entertainment Feeds. While that seemed like something trivial, Xavier had spent a good deal of his time while in time dilation fields writing—when he wasn’t training and fighting, of course.

He wished to put that writing up on the feeds.

When this came into his mind, with only an hour left, he thought it was a frivolous thing to be concerned about. Why was he thinking about publishing his writing when the System was about to send him back to the Tower of Champions?

But he’d gained a great deal of satisfaction as he’d been working on his story. Reading He Who Fights With Beasts by Pantaloon had ignited something within Xavier that had lain dormant ever since the System had come down. A part of him that he wanted to cultivate.

There had to be more to his life than simply training and fighting and training and fighting. Xavier gave very little time for anything else. He didn’t even give much time to the friendships he’d started to develop with the people around him.

He was far too focused on training for all of that. Which, he supposed, was more than understandable given the pressure he was under. Given the responsibility that sat on his shoulders. Given all the things he wanted to accomplish, and the things the System was pushing him toward.

But he needed something else in his life, didn’t he?

And that was what his writing had become—so Xavier made a decision.

He turned to Yarien. “Do you know where the nearest System Shop is? I’d like to make a visit there before returning to the Tower of Champions.”

The elf raised an eyebrow. “I’d remark that there’s a System Shop in the Tower of Champions, but of course you’re well aware of that.”

“This is something I need to do before I return.”

Yarien looked into his eyes, a question in her own, though she didn’t ask it. “Though the Hell Moons are in unclaimed territory, there are inhabited worlds in this sector. I can get you to one of them easily enough.”

Xavier could have used his Sector Travel Key, but he wanted that to be available to him when he returned—and he had no idea whether that was going to be in a month or a year. “You would do that?”

“The service you’ll be providing my party in the future is well worth the use of a single Portal Scroll.”

Portal Scroll. Xavier hadn’t even heard of those before. He had Portal Stones, but nor Portal Scrolls.

That made something occur to him.

He pulled out one of his sector-wide Portal Stones. He could have handed this to Volkarin or Romalda, but to him it made more sense to give it to Yarien, as they would be with her and her party anyway. “I’m hoping you’ll all still be in this sector when I return. This will help me get to you.”

Yarien took the offered stone. “When you aren’t on a floor, you’ll be able to communicate with me using the Communication Stone I gave you.”

The Communication Stone pair they shared was universe-wide. That was good, but it also made him realise that he wouldn’t have any contact with anyone back on Earth, unless Adranial happened to be on Earth at the time.

“I suppose you don’t want to take a moment to hang around,” Yarien said.

Xavier shook his head. He could have stayed longer. A lot longer, with the time dilation field active. But now that he knew he was returning to the tower soon, he was actually eager to.

He wanted to know what was on the next floor—wanted to know which floor he would be taken to. He also hoped that his old party would be down in the tavern. It would be good to check in on them, and good to meet up with Sam, too. He wondered if the man knew about the new timeline that Empress Larona had given him.

It would even be good to see Adranial. It had been a while.

“I have one more favour to ask you. Something tells me I’m not going to be able to make my time dilation field flow through a portal to another world—it’s not that powerful yet. When I drop the time dilation field, if you and Avadina could…”

“Refresh your cooldown? Of course.”

Xavier nodded thankfully. He didn’t want to feel too rushed when he made it to the System Shop. His Time Alteration spell would cooldown in less than an hour, but he didn’t want to waste a single moment.

He said his goodbyes to Volkarin and Romalda, explaining to them what was happening. Volkarin responded gruffly, while Romalda was excited to remain to claim more titles.

“I expect you to still be here when I return,” Xavier told the necromancer.

Romalda winked. “I’m sure I’ll be around.”

Yarien summoned something from her Storage Ring. It was a blue scroll with a ribbon wrapped around it. She pulled on the ribbon and unfurled the scroll. There was something written on it, and Xavier couldn’t help but widen his eyes slightly.

They were runes.

Yarien didn’t speak a single word, but it was obvious she was flowing a bit of Spirit Energy into the scroll, as it began to glow brightly. The scroll flew out of her hands to hover a little nearby. Then it burst into dust particles and disappeared.

In its place, a portal formed.

Xavier couldn’t help but think of the town scrolls he’d used to use when playing Diablo II back in the day.

The time dilation field was still active as Yarien turned to him. “The world I’m sending you to is called Laracon. The capital city, which is where this portal leads, is Ravni. This world is similar to the Hell Moons in that it’s not claimed by any one powerful entity—it’s a Free World. Though the ruler of the world is A Grade. It shouldn’t be hard to find a System Shop. They’ll be dotted around the marketplaces.”

Xavier frowned. First, he didn’t comment on the fact that the ruler being A Grade still didn’t mean he was considered a “powerful entity.” He supposed that meant he wasn’t near as powerful as the true rulers in this area of the universe.

“A Free World? Why wouldn’t any of the bigger conglomerations of sectors claim it?”

“It’s good to have places like these,” Maricus said. “They’re considered neutral territory, to a degree. There are a few channels in which trading happens between different empires. Free Worlds are one of them, though they are one of the more… Unofficial channels.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t comment on it. “Thank you, all of you, for your help.” Without ceremony, Xavier ceased the Time Alteration spell. The field disappeared around them. Avadina raised her wand, and a ball of light flew from it straight for Xavier’s chest. When it hit, his cooldown was refreshed.

He released a breath, then stepped through the portal that would send him to a city he knew next to nothing about.