Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 83 - You Have Been Warned

Xavier, still sitting cross-legged at the centre of the arena, his Willpower Infusion spell working on every single one of the eleven contenders around him, tried to wear a disarming smile. He wasn’t the most charismatic person around, so he didn’t know how well he was managing.

“Can any of you tell me about the next floors of the tower?”

He’d commanded each of them to stop, and so right now he realised they couldn’t actually speak. He adjusted the command, allowing them to move but not attack him—or, for that matter, each other.

Xavier had been careful, when he decided to do this. Julian Myers, the Navy SEAL who’d sacrificed his life, had wanted to take the peaceful way out of that first challenge, and the System had killed him for it. But this was different. The options of surrender had been given, and the System had merely told them to they needed to remain alive—it hadn’t said they needed to kill.

“Y-you’re not going to kill us?” the guy with the chains wrapped around his fists said. He’d been the one who’d teleported directly behind Xavier at the start of the match.

He’s definitely got some power behind him, at least, for a normal Champion who’s gotten this far in the tower.

Xavier supposed he didn’t really know what normal was, all he had to compare with were the other Champions in his party, and the ones in his cohort, and none of them were even close to reaching this floor yet.

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d all be dead.”

The other Champions glanced around at each other, all of them wore wary expressions, none of them seeming particularly trusting. Xavier couldn’t blame them. He felt nice and relaxed, but that was because he was the one in control.

Xavier raised a hand. Several of them flinched. He sighed and shook his head. The hand was supposed to be placating, not threatening. “I hereby swear on the System that I’m not going to kill any of you unless you somehow threaten my life. We can even make a contract on that, if you like, though as there’s only a few minutes left…”

“I believe you,” said a mage in blue robes.

One thing Xavier noticed was that only a few of the Champions had visible auras—the rest had theirs hidden. Xavier had since learnt that one could get items that would help hide their aura before they had the ability to. He wondered if that’s what was happening here, as many of these Champions would have come into the tower with money, considering they’d come from established worlds unlike himself. If they were high enough level that they’d already learnt Aura Control? Well, that was an interesting fact, too, as he was pretty sure most didn’t do that until they were much higher level, as they needed to discover their Spirit Core to manage it.

“The man’s right. If he wanted to kill us, he would have. And this challenge… it’s never needed to be to the death.” The mage tilted his head to the side. His eyes glowed blue. “Besides, I can tell when someone is lying.”

Xavier blinked. He can tell when someone is lying? That’s an interesting ability. He could see how that would come in handy. He nodded his head at the man in thanks.

“And why should I trust yourword on that?” Chain-Fist asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Blue-Robes offered up a simple shrug. “You really don’t have to. It doesn’t bother me one bit. But since he’s spared all of our lives, I figure we owe him something in return, don’t you?”

Chain-Fist blinked. Then a smile split his face. “I’m so glad I don’t have to surrender!” He smashed his fists together. They made an awful, metal crunching sound. “My brother is never going to hear the end of this. He never even made it past the tenth floor.” He walked over to Xavier and sat across from him. The fear that the teenager had felt a moment before seemed to have disappeared, though if Xavier looked closely enough, he thought he could see a hint of it in his eyes. “You must be a Progenitor!”

A few eyes widened. It seemed as though many of the other Champions mustn’t have figured that out.

I suppose Progenitors—let alone True Progenitors—must be incredibly rare.

“I am.” He didn’t feel the need to offer up that he was a TrueProgenitor, or that he’d made it to E Grade already. It seemed wise to keep that to himself. “Now, what can you tell me about the next floors?”

Chain-Fist shook his head in wonder. He opened his mouth to speak when something stopped him. Instead of saying words, he… choked, gripping his throat. Xavier was reminded of when he’d seen the barkeep, Sam, trying to tell him something he wasn’t allowed to. The System had always stopped him. Prevented him from doing so.

“What’s happening?” another Champion, an elven woman wearing white robes, grasping a gnarled staff that looked like nothing more than a fallen branch, but was clearly an item of far more power than that. “You said you wouldn’t harm us.”

“The System.” Blue-Robes looked up at the sky above them. His eyes glowed blue once more. “It’s watching.” He closed his eyes. “I… I can feel it.”

Champions from different worlds are forbidden from sharing information about the Tower of Champions whilst in the Tower of Champions. You have been warned.

Xavier swore under his breath. He stood up, the words hovering before his eyes, and stared up at the sky. “Really?” He gestured upward. “That’s what you’re going with?”

Chain-Fist was still gripping his throat. Though he wasn’t choking anymore, his breathing was still raspy.

Blue-Robes stared at Xavier. “It is not wise to speak in such a way to the System, Progenitor.” He tilted his head to the side. “You must be careful.”

Xavier kicked a pebble. It soared all the way to the edge of the arena and slammed into the stone wall that surrounded them, turning to dust on impact. “The System refuses to tell me anything.” He looked at Blue-Robes, at Chain-Fist, and all the other gathered contenders that were currently in his control. “You don’t understand the advantage you have, being from established worlds. My people are going in blind.”

Blue-Robes, his head still cocked to the side, smirked. “The advantage we have? I wonder why one such as you even wishes for information on the floors.” He waved his hand toward Xavier. “You are a Progenitor, and, considering what you’ve done to the eleven of us… you don’t need any more help. Progenitors have access to titles that no one from an established world could ever gain, and if they harness that… tell me, are you in the lead for your instance of the Tower of Champions?”

Xavier nodded, almost surprised that the System hadn’t stopped him.

“Do you know how difficult such a feat is?” He put a hand to his chest. “I’ve been training since I could stand, well before I had access to the System. I’ve been tutored by powerful experts on the Tower of Champions. I’ve been given every possible advantage one can find on an established world, and so have the other members of my party.” His forehead creased in concern at word of his party. “We have managed to keep the lead on only half of the ten floors, despite all of that. If you knew the families we came from… And yet here you come, out of nowhere, not knowing a thing about the System, nor the tower, and you have shown us how terribly weak we are in comparison.”

Xavier conceded the man’s point with a short nod. “I need to be strong. My world is being invaded.”

“Hmm. Indeed. What sector are you from, Progenitor?”

Chain-Fist released his throat. “Should we really be talking to him? The System…” His eyes were wide in fear. “It certainly doesn’t seem to wantus to.”

Blue-Robes raised his chin, looking down his nose at the other man. “It is wise to fear the System, but remember to read what it is actually telling you. We are not divulging tower secrets here.”

“This is not how I expected this floor to go,” Chain-Fist muttered.

“Then you don’t know your history.” Blue-Robes sighed. “The tenth floor of the tower is where many Denizens from far afield have spoken. It brings Champions from all over the Greater Universe together in one place. Many think it is only to fight, but there are other things to be gained.”

“Participation…” Xavier muttered. The System hadn’t said what participation was. He’d thought it would be foolish to tell them where he was from. Maybe he was wrong about that. They still didn’t know his level, couldn’tknow his level. And mentioning his sector wasn’t the same as mentioning his planet. There were no doubt countless worlds in his galaxy that had been recently integrated into the System. He was only from one of many. “I’m from the Silver River sector.”

Blue-Robes lowered his head. “I am from the Blue Heart sector.”

Chain-Fist looked unsure, but he no longer looked quite as afraid as he had a moment ago. “Dragon Scale.”

Another Champion stepped forward. An elven woman. “The Great.”

“The Great?” Xavier raised an eyebrow at her. “Your sector is called The Great Sector?”

The woman shrugged. “I was not the one who named it.”

Chain-Fist chuckled. Shook his head. “I’ve never heard of any of these sectors! Sometimes I forget how big the Greater Universe truly is…”

The others mentioned their sectors. No two Champions had originated from the same one. The time was slowly ticking by, and something told Xavier he wasn’t going to gain any useful information from this encounter, but he was gaining something else important. He may have been the one who’d stopped the others from fighting, but to his eyes, it looked like they didn’t want to fight each other at all. At least, most of them. Some had anger burning in their eyes.

There wasn’t always just a simple, black and white choice. Fight, die, surrender… there were other options. Less obvious options. And if he were less powerful, he was certain, more difficultoptions.

He lowered his head in contemplation, listening on the peripheral to what the others were saying, comparing their experiences, mentioning how old, or strong, or important their sectors were—apparently Chain-Fist had parents who were B Grade, that took Xavier by surprise, though he wasn’t sure why.

When he returned to Earth, perhaps he should take this mindset with him—that fighting wasn’t necessarily the only answer to the problem of invaders. Oh, that didn’t mean he would tolerate them on his world. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill the enemy wherever he found them.

He knew for a fact that it might be too dangerous to keep an enemy alive, as it would risk the invaders finding out his level, and sending higher level Denizens to Earth in return…

But still, maybe there wasn’t only one solution to every problem. And maybe—in time, when he became strong enough—there might be alliances to be made, ways to ensure Earth’s safety in the Silver River sector, and the Greater Universe at large.

Alliances won’t stop what’s coming to our sector. The threat my Otherworldly Communion spell showed me. But maybe, if I have help from others, like Sam’s empress, I can find ways to level up even faster, become even stronger…

Xavier watched the timer, which he’d placed in the top-right corner of his vision, as it ticked down to zero.

The tenth floor had been nothing like he’d expected.

I just hope the others survived this.