Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 6) - Chapter 67 - Until the Dawn

Perhaps it would be prudent to first learn the strength of one’s enemy before vowing to kill them, Bones said in Xavier’s mind.

Xavier smirked at the soul bound weapon’s words. Bones had been silent, up until that moment when, atop the Kingdom of Eldaarn’s castle battlements, Xavier had proclaimed to King Elric that he was going to kill the Arakashinai Queen.

You know, you’re probably right, Xavier relied. That would have been wise.

Well of course I’m right. I usually am.

Bones didn’t attempt to talk Xavier out of this course of action, however, for which he was grateful. He would have ignored the sentient weapon’s words, but they still would have been a distraction.

King Elric blinked. “You wish to slay the Arakashinai queen?” The man looked baffled. He gave Xavier a pointed once-over, as though assessing his power. “I intend no disrespect, but are you sure that’s something you’re capable of? The Champion we summoned… I didn’t think they would have such power.”

Xavier gave the king a relaxed smile. “I am not like other Champions.”

The world around them remained frozen as they stood within the time dilation field. Hundreds of Denizens of Eldaarn—each of them in the Defender line of classes—lined the walls in the middle of combat with their enemies, the insectoid, ant-like centaur creatures called Araks.

“There is something I need to do before I seek out the Arakashinai home world and their queen to accomplish this task. Something I will need your help with.” Xavier’s gaze was locked on the frozen Arak armies, his mind turning with his plans.

The king raised his chin. “I will do whatever is necessary.”

Xavier nodded, knowing the man’s words to be true as they were bound by a truth-contract. King Elric, too, knew Xavier’s words to be truth when he’d proclaimed to kill the Arakashinai queen, as he was under that same contract.

“You said your Defender line of classes has two spells, cast once every twenty-four hours. I intend to learn one of those spells.”

King Elric wore a deep frown. “Learn one of them? I… I fear I don’t know what you mean. How could such a thing be possible?”

The sides of Xavier’s lips twitched. “Oh, I have my ways, King Elric.” He rested a hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword—Bones. “All I need is to witness the spell being cast.”

When Xavier had first arrived here, he hadn’t seen these Defender spells. Hadn’t known their power. Now, he did.

The other man gave a hesitant nod. “As you say. That is something I can do, though you will have to wait until the dawn.”

Xavier cast his eyes toward the planet’s sun, which neared the end of its journey across the sky. If this planet’s rotation was similar to Earth, it would still be a good few hours until the dawn came. He would have to cancel his time dilation field and experience more time on this floor than he had on most others. In doing so, he would no doubt forfeit any time-based records the floor had.

Though that would be a loss, it would be a small one. Especially if he achieved his goal.

“I will wait, then. Until the dawn.”

Xavier was a few moments away from cancelling his Time Alteration spell when the king nodded. He looked in the same direction of Xavier’s gaze.

“I still have my doubts about you, Champion,” King Elric said. “I know because of the contract that you are not lying about your intentions, but just because you believe you will do these things, doesn’t mean they will come to pass.” He sighed. “There is a part of me, a strong part, that wants to beg you to change your mind. To stand by my side here. I didn’t call forth a Champion of the System to cure us of all our problems. I merely want to give my people the chance they deserve.”

Xavier was about to reply when a look of stony resolve came over the man’s place and he continued.

“But in my heart, I burn for the revenge the death of the queen will bring, and because of that, I will not ask you to reconsider. I will not ask you to simply tip the balance in our favour. Even if it means my people’s doom if you fail, the chance of you succeeding… I would rather you try, and fail, and have us lose everything, then you not try at all. All I ask is that, if you can, you bring back that bitch’s head.”

~

 The king’s vehement words hadn’t surprised Xavier. Though this world had been a peaceful one, once, the universe, the System, had changed that. He hoped that when this was all over, they could once more find that peace, even if he knew such a thing would likely never come to pass.

But if they did not find peace, he hoped they would at least find safety. He had spoken to the king for a short time after the decisions had been made, providing him with some advice as to how to direct the training of the next generation of their people—advice that bogged down to making their fighters less limited.

The king had accepted Xavier’s wisdom, though somewhat begrudgingly.

Change is always hard.

Night had fallen on the Kingdom of Eldaarn. Xavier had ceased his Time Alteration spell hours ago. The moment he had, sounds of battle flooded his ears. Those sounds hadn’t ceased for even a fraction of a second as one hour bled into the next and the stars emerged to dot the sky, those pinpricks of light peering down on a constant struggle that had lasted for centuries and would soon end here.

Xavier did not fight. If he fought, he would risk clearing this floor too soon. He couldn’t assist these people in any way if he wished to remain here—he had no idea what action could tip the balance.

The king seemed to understand this. The other Eldaarn defenders had given Xavier strange looks when they’d noticed him sitting idly on the floor of their battlements. Some of those looks were simply baffled. Most were hateful.

It was easy to understand why. At this castle alone, these people had been fighting for ten straight years without any reprieve. Finally, they summon help, and the man that appears does literally nothing?

They must be so very tired.

Xavier would be enraged too.

Those looks didn’t last long. The king had a way of communicating with his people. Whether they had any faith in Xavier achieving his proclaimed goal or not, they followed the orders of their king and didn’t spare the strange Champion another glance.

Besides, these defenders couldn’t afford to be distracted for long. They had a job to do. Any deviation from that job could spell their doom.

Xavier did feel strange sitting there, almost completely still, merely watching as the fight raged around him. Over time, since he’d gained the Time Alteration spell, Xavier had become used to stillness.

But he was never one to partake in that stillness outside of the time dilation field. The stillness was usually accompanied by silence, and it was usually a private experience for him. A sanctuary in the middle of whatever situation he was in.

Now, sitting there, watching others fight a battle he knew he could win, he started to feel antsy himself—just like the king had when Xavier had first brought him into his time dilation field.

Time was moving forward. The Defenders were fighting, nonstop. The Araks threw themselves at the walls, climbing them without the aid of ladders, their many legs able to dig into the stone. From the ground, they leapt more than halfway up then skittered straight to the top. Bolts of lightning and balls of fire streamed down from the mage towers. Arrows slammed into, and through the armoured insectoid race.

Many Araks fell. Far more than ever made it to the top of that wall.

Those that made it to the battlements were met with an impenetrable shield field created by multiple Tank Defenders, then they were swept away as that shield wall closed in on them, short swords stabbing out, pressing them against the wall they’d just desperately made it up.

Arak fliers came from above. They never made it far inside Eldaarn before plummeting from the sky.

As Xavier watched, he could see the pattern of the fights. Could see just how hard this balance was to maintain. Though no enemies ever got past their battlements, he saw how close a thing it was, that these people’s continued successful defence was balanced on a knife’s edge.

That only made Xavier twitch more. Closing his eyes didn’t help—he couldn’t block out the clamour of battle.

Midway through the night, Xavier finally managed to find a way to pass the time, as the minutes and hours seemed to stretch far longer than they ever had before for him. He couldn’t block out the noise the defence of Eldaarn created, but he could flood his mind with something else. A buffer between him and the world.

Xavier found that buffer inside the different rooms in his mind. He walked through so many of them, observing the spell patterns he found within, examining the runes he was both familiar with and unfamiliar with, studying their lines and curves before moving onto the next room and doing it all over again, until he found the rooms he hadn’t been able to enter.

He could not break through them. Not here. Not with his mind so distracted as it was. But he could, however, at least look at the locks. Push his presence against them. And wonder at what he would discover once he was through.

Xavier was beginning to believe that the more he learned about runes, the more he would learn about the universe itself. Studying these, becoming a master of Inscribing…

It could be what made all the difference to both his goals.

A hand touched his shoulder.

A part of Xavier’s mind was acutely aware of all that was going on outside. Even closing his eyes, he didn’t remove his Farscope lens—he never had since he’d first put it in—so he could see everything.

Still, he’d let the king walk over to him. Waited until the last moment to drag himself out of those mental rooms, to tear his attention away from the runes.

“It’s time,” the stern-faced Elric said. He looked to his people. There were more defenders on the wall than before. Xavier had seen the defenders trade shifts. Knew this happened many times. There weren’t enough defenders in reserve for them all to take a break at once. In fact, the breaks these defenders got never lasted for more than a handful of minutes at a time.

They spent that time eating, sleeping. A meal scoffed in a heartbeat or two, then their eyes were closed as they leant against the back wall of the battlements. Another heartbeat, and they were asleep until roused.

Now, Xavier could see that not a single one of the defenders were in reserve.

“This is a delicate moment,” the king said, a layer of tension thick in his voice. “The time when we are most vulnerable, most likely to falter. The spells end, and for a fraction of a second we are weaker before they are active once more. They will begin to become inactive soon. You will see it. It will not happen all at once. It happens over the space of an hour. One defender’s spells will end; they will cast them both again. This takes less than a second for each person to do, but they must stop fighting during that time. Must be protected. The spell takes all of one’s attention to cast. We have worked at this. Worked at achieving the perfect synchronicity to make this happen.”

Xavier took in what the man was saying. He had wondered how this would work. If there would be any sort of delay. When the king had first told him the spells were recast in the morning, he imagined every defender doing it all at once. A little thought made him realise that would never work, however.

“The first spell to be cast is the one you wished for. The first of us will have their spells end here, then it will flow down the walls, one defender at a time.” Without preamble, King Elric strode back to the nearest defenders, bringing up his shield and interlocking it with a line of other tanks doing the same.

Xavier stood. He walked forward a few steps along the stone battlements, until he was a couple of feet away from King Elric’s group. The sun peeked over the far mountains in the distance, flooding the Arak army with an orange glow, bringing a hint of warmth to what had been a cold night.

The sun’s warmth here felt weak after all the time he’d spent on that world with four suns, but its heat was still welcome. He drew in a breath, but the stench in the air was acrid and rotten from the constant smell of death. It did not bring him the sense of calm he’d hoped for.

Before any of the spells ended, Xavier cast Time Alteration. As he often did, he kept the field wrapped around himself. Altering the flow of time so it appeared to crawl outside his field, Xavier watched and waited.

Xavier blinked. He noticed the instant the first defender lost access to the two spells. The man’s movements became sluggish in comparison to a moment ago. Less crisp. The strength of his arm, of his legs, muted. Slower. Weaker.

It was King Elric.

The man dropped back through the shield wall, other tanks stepping forth to fill in the gap that formed. Xavier slowed time further. Took another step forward. King Elric’s eyes dropped close, his head lowering. His hands still held his shield and sword, but whatever process he was going through looked necessary.

The spell can’t be cast while fighting. I’ll ensure I’m prepared for that.

The instant the energies released from the man, the spell making the King of Eldaarn glow intensely, Xavier cast Recursive Analysis, capturing those energies in a net.

Recursive Analysis is attempting to capture the spell Territory Defence.

Territory Defence is a Rank 150 spell.

Recursive Analysis is a Rank 150 spell.

There is no rank discrepancy.

…

Recursive Analysis has succeeded!

You have temporarily acquired Territory Defence with an effective rank of 150.