Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 7) - Chapter 15 - Lab Rats

In a dark tavern a mere few minutes before dawn’s kiss would bless Collinsville with its golden light, Justin sat at the edge of his seat.

Xavier still had that same foolish grin on his face. He raised his chin and summoned a mug of coffee from his Storage Ring. Steam wafted from the mug, and he took a small, casual sip.

“So, what did you find out?” Justin asked. “Come on, man! The suspense is killing me!” He looked as though he would jump right out of his chair.

Xavier stared at Justin, then pointedly looked at the mug in his hand, then at Justin again.

The young swordsman blinked at the mug then slapped himself on the forehead. “You can use your Storage Ring again!”

“Indeed,” Xavier said. “And that’s not even the half of it.” He took another sip of coffee and shut his eyes, releasing a soft sigh as every muscle in his body relaxed for the first time in a long time. He sunk into the chair with a warm smile.

The coffee he’d summoned wasn’t from Earth. It was something he’d been purchasing from the System Shop during his most recent stint in the Tower of Champions, and it was absurdly expensive. What they served in Collinsville’s main tavern was good—much better than the last time he’d been here, too—but it didn’t hold a candle to what he preferred to drink.

Not for the first time as he sipped his coffee, he couldn’t help but think of the encounter he’d had with the older version of himself. A frown marred what had been a calm, relaxed expression. That man had given him the best coffee in the Greater Universe. It had been exquisite. Xavier still hadn’t found that coffee again. He probably wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Bastard.

He tried to expunge that memory from his mind, sipping his coffee once more.

The coffee wasn’t the reason every muscle in his body relaxed. Well, it wasn’t the only reason. Having access to his Storage Ring once more was more of a relief than he’d imagined it would be. Everything he’d gathered was in there. His small fortune of Spirit Coins, his books, all the little comforts he’d grown to enjoy in the few breaks he made himself take.

And his writing had been in there, too.

Xavier hadn’t stopped writing, after all. He had several volumes worth of content that he couldn’t wait to upload onto the System Shop. With his cores being shattered and the fate of his world and sector in his hands, he’d tried not to think about what would happen if he truly lost access to everything he’d written. In the grand scheme of things, it seemed entirely inconsequential. Self-indulgent, even.

Despite that, the feelings had persisted, even if he pushed them down.

It’s not self-indulgent. I’m entitled to have an outlet. A passion for more than what the System and fate demands of me.

“What else did you find out?” Justin asked, looking just as eager as ever.

“I’ll tell you soon, but there’s something else I want to do.” Xavier released a breath. He’d been thinking about this since returning to Earth. Now, he was finally in a position to actually do it. “I want to talk to you, Siobhan, and Howard about something.”

The serious tone of Xavier’s voice made the young swordsman’s eagerness fade. “Something important, from the look of you. Knowing them, they’re probably already awake. I can contact them, if you like.”

Xavier smiled. “I have access to my Communication Stones again. They’re already on their way. I asked them to come as you were waking.”

Howard and Siobhan had each asked half a dozen questions of him through the Communication Stone, stopping only when he’d told them he wanted to talk in person.

It wasn’t long before the door of the tavern burst open. Howard spotted their table and strode straight for them. Siobhan entered the tavern only a few seconds later.

“You got it to work!” Siobhan beamed as she came over.

“I feel like I’ve missed something.” Howard looked at Xavier and Justin, already at the table. “What did you want to talk to us about?”

The two sat down. Xavier could see all three of his old party members were bursting with questions. Even the usually stoic Howard seemed to be struggling to keep himself under control. Xavier almost left them in suspense for a little longer, but he figured at this point that would only be cruel.

First, he caught Howard up on what they’d talked about yesterday. About his new Reality Core, his strange advancement to “Tier 2,” and how that shouldn’t be possible in this corner of the multiverse.

The former cop took these things in stride. As Xavier talked, he couldn’t help but notice the crease lines in the man’s forehead smoothed a little. Xavier’s strange advancement was reassuring to the man.

When Xavier was ready to explain why he wanted to talk to all of them, he leant back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the hardwood table. “Out of everyone in the Greater Universe, you three are who I trust the most. And though it’s made complete sense for me to go my own way and leave the three of you behind, the more time that passes, the more it doesn’t quite sit right with me.” He sighed. “There’s more that I can do for you. And not just for you, but for others.”

Xavier paused and sipped his coffee. He wasn’t sure how to phrase what he wanted to ask of the three of them. “Earth is weak.” The others raised their eyebrows or frowned at this, and he continued. “As a whole, I mean. If you take me out of the equation, it’s the weakest world in the sector. And our sector is a weak one. That makes sense, of course, given that it’s only been integrated for a relatively short time. But I don’t want Earth to be weak without me around. I don’t want this sector to be weak without me, either.

“I want those who wish to gain power for the right reasons to be able to become strong, and to become strong fast. I’ve been thinking deeply about the impact I want to have on our sector. Not just our sector, but the entire universe… I want to be a force for good. I want to spread peace with my power, not create more conflict. There need to be more people out there who feel the same and have the strength to help make that happen.”

“That’s a grand goal. One the two of us share.” Howard intertwined his fingers before him on the table. “How do you intend to make it happen? What, exactly, are you asking of us?”

Xavier inclined his head at the man. “I’m asking the three of you, if you’re willing, to become… Like me.”

Justin perked up. Siobhan frowned. Howard tilted his head to the side.

“How?” Siobhan asked, the first to talk. “We aren’t Progenitors, Xavier. And we certainly aren’t True Progenitors. You’ve gained so many titles that are simply impossible for us to gain now with how they’re awarded.”

Xavier waved his hand at that. The Universal Travel Key was safe within his Storage Ring, and he was finally able to access it again. More than enough time had passed since the last time he’d activated it that he was now able to activate it once more. “There are places I can take you to gain titles. Yes, it won’t be the same. I can’t make the three of you into True Progenitors. But those titles, any titles, they may be the reason I got a jumpstart in my power—and I won’t lie, they’ve made me far stronger than I should be—but they aren’t the only reason I’ve been able to accomplish what I have, they just helped me get where I am.

“You three know I’ve met other versions of me. People who are True Progenitors, who gained the same titles, but… They aren’t on my level.” He smiled. “I know how that sounds. But think about Empress Larona. She is powerful. A True Progenitor who has been around for a thousand years, yet she won’t be able to face the World Destroyer when it comes here. I don’t doubt there are other True Progenitors in this sector, too.”

Howard grunted. “All right. So, regardless of titles, you’ve still gotten damned lucky to be where you are. Being able to stop time, your class allowing you to attain any spell or skill. And now this new core of yours.” He sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, Xavier. I like what you’re saying. I’m not power hungry, but when I think of what I could do with half your power, the changes I could make. Well, I certainly see the appeal. I just don’t know how you expect to make it happen.”

“I’ll be honest, Howard, I’m not exactly sure how this will play out either. But I have ideas, and a plan. All we need to do is start testing them out. I thought of all this before I gained the Reality Core, but I even have some ideas about that.”

“Ideas,” Justin muttered. “So, we’ll be like, your lab rats?”

“That’s not how I would put it,” Xavier replied. “But essentially, yes. Assuming you agree.”

“Agree?” Justin burst out of his seat. “How could I not? When do we start? How do we start?” He rubbed his hands together. “What happens next?”

Xavier chuckled. “Well, at least I know one of you is onboard.” He looked at Howard. “What about you? Willing to be a test subject?”

Howard smiled. “Oh, I’m willing. As long as you don’t take me away from my family for years at a time.”

“I have some ideas about that, too, actually. And you, Siobhan?”

“I’m a support class.” She shook her head, a lock of her red hair over an eye. “I want to get stronger, but I can’t imagine doing what you can do. But yes, of course I want to try. As long as your tests don’t get us, you know, killed.”

Xavier shrugged. “I doubt that will happen.”

“It’s confidence like that which makes me feel entirely reassured.” Siobhon smirked.

“Let me rephrase—I won’t let that happen.”

Justin was still standing by the table, practically vibrating with energy. “Are we starting now? And you still haven’t told us what you discovered in that trance of yours!”

“All in due time, grasshopper. All in due time.”

~

After a quick visit to the System Shop, where he intentionally didn’t look at how his story was doing on the Entertainment Feed, Xavier took his old party members back to the clearing a few miles out of Collinsville. The clump of foul-smelling stuff was still there—the impurities that he’d dispelled from his body. Now that the time dilation field was no longer active, keeping the smell away, the whole clearing was filled with it.

The others crinkled their noses at the smell, staring down at the disgusting black substance.

“That was inside you?” Justin said. “Man, that’s disgusting.”

Howard grunted. Siobhan clamped her nose shut.

Xavier frowned. He tilted his head to the side. “Maybe this isn’t the best place for this anymore…”

It wasn’t only the foul-smelling liquid that made him think that. As he pushed his spiritual sense outward, he couldn’t help but feel how thin the ambient Celestial Energy was in the area.

When he’d trained inside the time dilation field, he’d pushed his spiritual sense farther and farther out to cultivate more Celestial Energy. He’d exhausted the entire vicinity. Though, even in his trance-like state, he hadn’t taken any energy from Collinsville.

It wasn’t a problem, really. The ambient Celestial Energy had been totally empty in this area only the day before. Now, while it was thin, it was definitely coming back. He estimated it would only be a week, maybe even less, before the area was full again and ripe for cultivation.

But for his current purposes, he didn’t want to wait that long, and he needed more than this weak, thin energy.

“You don’t say?” Justin said. “It reeks.”

They moved somewhere else, to an area deeper within the forest, even more miles out from Collinsville. Here, the ambient Celestial Energy was actually thicker than it had been before he’d started training in the last spot. As far as he pushed his spiritual sense, he couldn’t reach the thin energy of his last location. His sense didn’t stretch that far. Not yet.

They were at the foot of a large, rocky mountain. The base of the mountain was dense with trees, and Xavier could hear hundreds of beasts around the area. Though the beasts were strong enough to have their cores veiled, he pulled some Reality Energy from his new core and burned it, enhancing his spiritual sense and allowing him to feel the ghosts of their presence—even with their veils.

He raised an eyebrow. There were more beasts in the area than he’d thought. Thousands more. Despite this area not being all that far from Collinsville, it looked as though it had been untouched by Denizens.

But he didn’t need beasts for what he wanted to do.

The others looked around the area he’d stopped in. They were all drenched in sweat from the run here. Xavier could have made his way to this location first and used a Portal Stone to bring the others, but he wanted to see how they handled trying to keep up with him. He’d had to run much slower than he could run for them to even have a chance, but it was a good opportunity to observe them.

They’d each pushed as hard as they could go. Unsurprisingly, Justin was the first to arrive, Howard the second, and Siobhan came up the rear a good ways off.

After scanning the area with his spiritual sense, Xavier tilted his head to the side and activated his Farscope lens. That was another thing he’d figured out during that focus-trance back in the tavern. It wasn’t just his Storage Ring he could use now—it was all of his items.

Visual stimuli flooded into his brain as the radius of his sight became incredibly massive. With his Farscope ability active, he could now see 1,000 metres around him—all around him. Even down into the Earth, where he was surprised to see there were several tunnels, with large, heavily furred eyeless moles scurrying through them, digging even deeper down. Though the tunnels were pitch black, and the moles didn’t need to see, their bodies gave off a warm, red glow.

Heat. I guess they’re blind fire moles?

After a few more moments of looking around, Xavier deactivated the Farscope lens. Ever since he’d first gained the Farscope lens, he had always kept it active, never deactivating it. If he were honest, he’d never even thought to try. The lens had naturally drawn on his spirit energy. He would have had to search for the trickle to even notice it.

Now, with how much more powerful his spiritual sense and even his other senses had become, he wanted to ensure that during his training and in combat he didn’t become so reliant on the Farscope lens as to let his other senses languish.

Returning his attention on the immediate area, he found his old party members looking at him expectantly.

“This is where we train,” Xavier said.

He turned from the mountain and took a few steps into the dense forest. Before they’d left Collinsville, when he’d briefly visited the System Shop, he’d picked up a little something that would make this plan go more smoothly.

Xavier summoned the item from his Storage Ring and held it in his palm. He couldn’t help but smile at the ease of which he did that. He’d grown so used to having Storage Rings that using them had become natural. When he’d lost that ability, he realised how much he’d started to take them for granted.

The item that rested on his palm was a small seed. It wasn’t a Seed Sanctuary, like he’d used for Collinsville, but it was something similar.

This was called a Roving Seed Base. It was a spatial item in its own right. The only reason he’d been able to hold it inside his Storage Ring was because it hadn’t yet been activated. He glanced around the area, glanced back at the mountain, then nodded to himself before sending a trickle of energy into the seed.

Xavier tossed the seed roughly three hundred feet away, throwing it straight through the dense trees and up over the canopy, where it arced through the air until it finally plopped down to the dirt.

Xavier raised his chin and walked forward through the trees. The others followed behind. If they had questions, they didn’t ask them. They’d seen him use a similar seed before, so they must have a good guess of what he was doing.

The ground trembled. Ahead of them, the trees were being sucked straight into the earth, disappearing in a ruffling of leaves and the snapping of branches. With every step they took, the dense forest ahead of them rapidly cleared until it was a flat expanse of grass.

Xavier stopped at the edge of the newly birthed clearing and waited. The others spread out around him. The ground trembled once more as structures began to grow out from the dirt.

Four structures sprang up to the left of the large clearing. Each structure was roughly the size of a three-bedroom suburban house. They even resembled suburban houses in their architecture, though they had no driveway and lacked a garage, they did have smooth, stone paths that led to their doors. There was a good distance between the houses, and lush gardens popped up around them.

To the right side of the clearing, another structure rose. This one was larger than the houses—more like all four of the houses put together. It resembled a large, one-storey tavern with a very tall ceiling.

At the centre of the clearing, a circle formed in the grass. The grass was sucked back into the earth and replaced with the smooth surface of brown wood. It wasn’t planks of wood, like floorboards. It was one huge piece.

Xavier opened his arms, gesturing toward the Roving Seed Base that had just sprouted seemingly from nothing. “Welcome to your new home for the foreseeable future.”

He smiled at the new base. It was a little rustic, but it was a good start.

This was going to be fun.