Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 84 - 24 Allen Grove Street

There were no record titles for the tenth floor. The notification stated it, the moment it appeared, so at least he didn’t need to worry that he hadn’t gained one.

There were, however, something called Participation Points. He stared at the notifications for a moment. He got his normal titles for this floor. Solo and first clear—that made him wonder, did everyone get a solo title for the tenth floor? It wasn’t as though they were permitted to go in with their party…

Xavier shrugged off the question. It wasn’t important right now.

You have received 100 Participation Points! This is the full number of points that any single Champion can receive from the tenth floor of the Tower of Champions. You will be able to spend these points once you are back in the Staging Room.

What, exactly, will I be able to spend those points on?

He was no longer standing in the arena The System had transported him back to that white room, where it had first taken him when he’d entered his floor. It was slightly disorientating, being back here, but he was more than used to the System teleporting him all over the place.

Though he didn’t receive a record title for this floor—something he was rather disappointed about, considering he’d been doing so well with them—he got something else.

Title Unlocked!

Tenth Floor (Tower Milestone): You have completed the dreaded tenth floor of the Tower of Champions. The tenth floor is unique in the tower, as Champions do not have the ability to go through the floor more than once.

More Champions die on the tenth floor than through floors one and nine combined, and many surrender, not having the courage to face other Champions and risk their own death.

Good job on not being one of them!

You have received +50 to all stats!

Fifty points? To all stats? That’s more than I would have gotten for a record title!

Reading through the title, thinking back to the arena, the eleven other Champions that he’d faced, the opportunity to surrender… he had to wonder how many Champions from Earth would make it through this floor. Considering how easy the floor had been for him—he hadn’t needed to fight at all—it made it difficult to imagine so many Champions died on this floor.

Then again, of course it was easy for him. A True Progenitor.

I might be even more than that…

He frowned. He still struggled to imagine how someone could surrender, after making it this far. Could they really abandon their world for a hundred years?

He wouldn’t judge. If dying was the only other option, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with doing whatever else you could to survive.

It wasn’t long before he was teleported back to the Staging Room. When he arrived there, he glanced around, looking for the others, but none of them had arrived. He was just standing there alone. Xavier ran a hand through his hair.

How could the not be here? The tenth floor was timed. They should have all completed it at the same time, shouldn’t they?

That’s when he noticed there was something different about the Staging Room. It wasn’t exactly how they’d left it. For instance, there were no doors. The exit that took him back to the staircase, that led down to the hallway to his room, then down to the tavern instance, wasn’t there. Turning around, he found that the door to the next floor of the Tower of Champions wasn’t there either.

That’s not good.

He just stood there for a long moment, wondering if his entire party were dead, and thinking about the consequences of that. Would he be able to find their families, when he returned to Earth? To protect them, in their stead? He lowered his head.

They can’t all have lost. Is this my fault, for not letting them train? For taking all of the kills on every floor? For pushing them through the tower too fast than they needed to go?

“We all just wanted to get back to Earth so quickly…” he whispered to the empty room.

The air in the Staging Room seemed to shift. “Where are the others?”

The voice came from behind him. Xavier turned, saw Siobhan standing there, a crinkle in her forehead, worry in her eyes.

“You’re alive!” Xavier stepped forward and enveloped the red head in a hug.

“Of course I’m alive,” Siobhan said, returning the embrace with a squeeze before they parted. “Why would you expect a support class to fail in an arena? We’re basically unstoppable.”

Xavier chuckled. He didn’t even feel embarrassed for hugging her, which under other circumstances he might have.

I can reap souls, teleport, moves things with my mind and control the will of others, and I’m still awkward in these situations? Yeah, that’s going to have to change.

His chuckle cut off abruptly. “I don’t know where the others are.” He ran a hand through his hair again. “I’m sure… I’m sure they’ll be along shortly. How did you make it through?”

Siobhan folded her arms. “I’ll wait until the others are here. I don’t want to have to tell you all twice.”

Neither said what they were both no doubt thinking—that the others might never return. That Howard and Justin could have surrendered. Or worse, died.

Howard would never surrender. He would do anything to get back to his family.

It felt like an age passed when Justin finally arrived. He had a great big grin on his face—hardly what Xavier would have expected, considering he could only imagine what the kid must have gone through.

“You made it!” Siobhan wrapped the teenager in a hug, then held him at arms’ length, beaming.

“I did! So did you! God, that was… exhilarating. And, well…” He blushed. Why would he be blushing? Because of Siobhan’s hug? “I think I have a crush.”

“What?” Xavier spluttered. “You came out of the melee with a crush?”

“You should have seen her.” Justin stared off into space with a stupid grin plastered on his face. “So beautiful. So… powerful.” He frowned, looking around. “Where’s Howard?”

“He hasn’t shown up yet,” Xavier said. A second later, Justin’s eyes shifted to somewhere behind Xavier. He turned around and found the former cop standing there, looking bereft.

Something is wrong. How could it be wrong, if he made it back?

“Howard!” Siobhan ran over to the old cop. “You made it!” She threw her arms up in the air and spun in an excited circle. “We all made it! Our entire party is going back to Earth!”

Justin laughed. He slapped Howard on the shoulder. “I knew we’d all make it through.” He paused. “Okay, if I’m honest, I had my doubts there for a minute… but we did it!”

Howard’s forehead was creased, his eyes looked sad… He brought up his head and stared at Xavier.

Xavier stepped over to the man. The excitement and good mood seemed to dim as Justin and Siobhan noticed the man’s expression, that he wasn’t celebrating like they were. Xavier got a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Howard? What is it?”

Howard’s gaze slipped downward, as though he were struggling to maintain eye contact with Xavier. No, this was more than that. This was shame.

“Whatever you had to do to survive, it’s okay. Whoever you had to kill—”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” Howard’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.

“I don’t understand,” Siobhan said. “What’s got you feeling this way?”

“I had to do something terrible to survive.” Howard’s gaze was locked on the floor now, as though a tremendous weight were pulling it downward. “And I don’t know what the consequences will be.” He shook his head. A tear streamed down his face.

Xavier put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, we’re in this together. We can fix this.”

“She wants to come to Earth.”

Xavier blinked. “She?”

Howard held out his hand. A moment later, something appeared inside of it. A stone… and not just any stone. A Communication Stone.

“How…?” Xavier was confused. “How did you get that? And who is she? Who are you talking about?”

“She controlled me. Made me want to fight her. Then…” Howard placed a hand on his head. “She sifted through my mind. Broke it up. Looked through my memories until she set eyes on you.”

Xavier still didn’t understand what the man could have done wrong here. “Wait… was she from our sector?”

Howard shook his head. “No. She was from very, very far away. She said…” He swallowed. “She said if I wanted to live, I had to make a contract with her.”

“A contract?” Siobhan’s face paled. “She forced you to make a deal? What kind of deal? Why didn’t you fight it?”

“She killed everyone else. Without any trouble whatsoever. Her power… it was on an entirely different level to my own. There was nothing I could do. If I’d surrendered…”

“You wouldn’t have been able to come back to Earth. Not for a hundred years. You wouldn’t have been able to return to your family.”

Howard dipped his head in shame. “You have to kill me.”

Xavier stumbled backward. “W-what?”

“You can’t be serious!” Justin blurted, at the same time as Siobhan said, “We’re not going to kill you!”

Howard bit his lip. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know what the contract would be when I agreed! I just didn’t want to surrender… a hundred years away from Earth… you don’t know my wife’s name, my daughter’s name… how could you protect them, if you don’t know who they are, or how to findthem? So I couldn’t surrender. I had to get back here! So I went along with it for as long as I could. I read through the contract. Trying to find… to find a loophole. Something that I could use to get out of it, or if… if signing the contract risked Earth, then I would surrender, for I knew it wouldn’t be worth it.” The man thrust the Communication Stone toward Xavier. “Take this. That’s… that’s part of the contract. I have to give this to you, then I have to set something up when I return to Earth, something that will allow her to pinpoint our location. That’s why you have to kill me, Xavier. Because whoever this woman is, bringing her to Earth… it’s too much of a risk.”

Xavier stared down at the Communication Stone in the man’s hand. “This doesn’t make sense, Howard.”

Howard’s frown deepened. “I know. I shouldn’t have signed! But don’t you understand? It was the only way to get back here! Their names. My wife, her name is Kelly Jacobs. Our daughter’s name is Rebecca. Our son’s name is Michael. We lived in West Fronton, on Allen Grove Street—24 Allen Grove Street. A small, two-bedroom house with an ancient pick-up truck on the lawn and roses flanking the front door. My wife, she liked gardening, we have a vegetable patch in the backyard. Rebecca…”

“Howard, stop.”

Howard shook his head. “I need to tell you. Everything about them. Kelly, she’s beautiful. Her eyes are the colour of sapphires. Her hair is light brown. Her freckles make her look younger than she is. Rebecca—”

“Howard!” Xavier gripped the man’s shoulders so tightly he felt something give in. He loosened his grip as the man’s eyes finally came up to meet his. “I’m not going to kill you.”

Howard was about to talk.

Xavier raised a hand, continued. “No, Howard, I’m not going to let that happen. Our whole party will be getting back to Earth, and you don’t need to tell us everything about your family because you’re going to be able to find them yourself!”

Xavier sighed. “The woman who made you sign this contract, she could have put anything in it. She could have sworn you to secrecy, but she didn’t. She saw through your memories. Saw the type of person you really are. That means she would have known that the second you returned, you would have spilled everything about what happened to me. So why didn’t she swear you to secrecy in the contract?”

“I…” Howard trailed off. “I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter. I won’t simply lose levels or stats or the System if I don’t fulfil the contract, Xavier. It’s death-locked. If, when I don’t return to Earth, I fail to do as she asks within twenty-four hours… I’ll die. And when I get back there… see my family… dying is going to be the last thing I’ll want to do. I don’t think I’ll be strong enough to resist this if they’re by my side. So you have to kill me now. I refuse to betray you. To betray Earth.” He thrust the Communication Stone forward.

“The woman,” Xavier asked. “Did she tell you her name?”

“Adranial,” Howard said. “She told me her name was Adranial.”

“I’m not going to let you die, Howard.” Xavier finally looked down at the Communication Stone in the man’s hand. He took it from him. “Let’s see what this Adranial wants.”