Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 6) - Chapter 75 - Denizen Not Requisite Grade

Xavier hovered over the alien Arakashinai city, his black wings flapping lazily as he stared at the notification before him.

21,802 Kill Notifications Counted.

The number was absolutely absurd. He knew he could kill these Arak drones with ease, but… A single soul infused into Soul Strike would kill forty-three of them?

The moment stretched as Xavier hung there. The silence in the area following his attack almost made him forget that he’d expanded the time dilation field. He blinked again and shook himself.

There was still another pattern he needed to test.

The Soul Strike pattern had disappeared from the air where he’d drawn it, leaving only the Soul Harvest pattern where it had been.

Xavier initiated the pattern.

Souls from five hundred dead Arak drones in the city flowed toward him. The lights of their souls filled the air as they swept upward. They didn’t go to him, like they usually would. Instead, they were absorbed by the pattern. The pattern glowed with a brilliant white light just as the Soul Strike pattern had when he’d infused souls into it.

Xavier tilted his head to one side as he examined the pattern, then he tugged on the strand of energy connecting him to it. The souls flowed down the strand and were delivered into his soulkeeping reserve, making it full once more.

The two spells tested, Xavier snapped the time dilation field back to the size he needed.

He took a long, slow breath, then took his time letting it out. Back in the chamber, he’d drawn three patterns. Hovering here now, he realised he only needed to use two of those patterns. He’d intended to use Soul Shatter to help him fill his reserve once it was completely depleted, but now he decided against that.

He was still a little dumbstruck not only that the spell patterns worked, but by how many D Grades he’d slain. Though he supposed most of the Araks down there had been builder drones. They probably had no defensive capabilities at all, making them significantly easier to kill than their soldier counterparts.

Still, even with that in mind, it was a staggering number.

Xavier couldn’t help but examine his Soul Strike and Soul Harvest spells, feeling for their cooldowns. Both spells were ready for him to use. The spell patterns hadn’t affected the cooldowns at all, just as he knew they wouldn’t.

The more he worked with spell patterns, the more insane what he was doing—what he was capable of—felt. And with his ability to stop time, not to mention learn any spell he could get his hands on…

It doesn’t just feel insane. It is insane.

The cooldown for Soul Strike in particular was its most limiting factor—other than the actual gathering of souls. Which, of course, could be quite limiting too. Normally, however, five hundred souls infused into the spell would mean it would take about eight and a half minutes for the spell to cooldown.

If he were to use his entire reserve of over ten thousand souls? It would take almost three hours to cooldown. That didn’t just mean he could only use it once in a time dilation field, it meant he simply wouldn’t be able to use it again in basically any fight unless he was willing to alter time forward, which simply wasn’t always a smart option.

This power… It’s… It’s near godlike. And I’ve barely scratched the surface…

Xavier pushed those thoughts away and focused on the mission. He still had a lot of work to do.

Once again, Xavier put himself toward the task of drawing spell patterns. In the air above the largest Arakashinai city he’d seen—perhaps the largest the world held—he drew one pattern after another.

He didn’t know how many he would need. He also didn’t know if there was a limit to how many he could have at once. That was something he hadn’t tested before—never having activated more than a single pattern at a time.

But with each pattern he drew, another line of energy connected him to it, until there was a mess of strands in the air before him.

The three strands connecting him to the patterns back in the chamber remained. They were a good test, to see if this would ever limit him.

No matter how many he drew, the strands of energy never disappeared. He did, however, feel a weight on his mind after a time. The more patterns he drew and activated, the heavier that weight became—but it was a weight he could bear.

He didn’t know how many he would need for this plan to work. In theory, Xavier could always come back and draw more, but he’d rather not have to if it wasn’t necessary—drawing the patterns still took him quite a long time. As he created one after another, he was careful to keep an eye on the energy remaining in his Time Alteration spell. He wanted to leave himself with at least two minutes of time when the field was expanded over the city.

And he would need to draw more patterns when he returned to the queen’s chamber.

I can’t leave drawing more later as an option.

Xavier nodded to himself when he’d concluded his work. In the air before him, he had drawn two hundred spell patterns. There was a part of him that thought that was probably overkill, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances. He would have drawn more, but he didn’t want to expend too much of his field’s energy. That would only diminish his available time.

The first hundred spell patterns were for Soul Strike, while the second hundred were for Soul Harvest.

The glow from the patterns was intense. To his eyes, it looked as though a small sun hung in the air above the insectoid city. He took a moment to admire his work, staring at the glow before him. Then he looked out at the alien city and its millions of drones, every single one of them controlled by the Arakashinai Queen.

This entire world is about to change.

As he flew back through the tunnel toward the queen’s chamber, a strange sort of calm settled over him. Once he was there, he fell into a trancelike state as he drew the final one hundred Soul Strike spell patterns that he would need for his plan.

When that was done, he alighted onto the stone ground of the chamber with a grunt, his knees buckling slightly, feeling oddly weak. He’d taken a little longer than he’d expected, but was glad when he found his time dilation field should still last a little over a minute when he expanded it over the city.

It was cutting it close, but by his calculations it should still be enough.

It was the weight on his mind from holding a connection to so many different spell patterns that had caused him to slow down. He had three hundred active now—he’d cancelled out the Soul Harvest and Soul Shatter patterns he’d initially drawn in the chamber, as he didn’t need them anymore.

Xavier could bear the weight, but he knew if he were any weaker it simply wouldn’t be possible. His Willpower attribute, coupled with his ability to split his mind, was the only thing that kept him standing. When he’d drawn the 250th spell pattern something had dripped down onto his upper lip, briefly jolting him out of the trancelike state to find that his nose had started bleeding.

Despite that, he’d kept drawing the patterns.

When he was finally done, it wasn’t just his nose bleeding. It was his ears, too, and a metallic taste filled his mouth.

He’d never felt a pressure like this before, and he couldn’t remember the last time his knees—or any part of him—had felt weak.

For the first time since he’d come up with this plan, he wondered if he was making a mistake. He could handle this pressure, and it would dissipate when the spell patterns were used—at least, that was what he thought would happen.

But what if he was wrong? What if initiating the active patterns increased the pressure somehow? And what if that pressure was too much for him?

After what he’d done when he’d tested the Soul Strike and Soul Harvest patterns, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of invulnerability. A sense of godlike power. Xavier had felt powerful before, so very many times, but never had it made him feel like this.

The pressure won’t be too much.

Xavier didn’t want to turn away from this plan. Didn’t want to back out from it. If initiating a spell pattern caused more pressure, if it actually did hurt him, he would feel it the moment he used the first Soul Strike pattern on the queen.

Until then, he would continue on with the plan just as he envisioned it.

But before he did, there was something else he wanted to do. Something he’d been thinking about ever since he’d learnt about the queen’s ability to create drones.

The Arakashinai Queen looming frozen at the back of the chamber was in the middle of casting a spell. Xavier knew what the spell must be—the spell she used to create her drones.

He was taking a risk, doing what he did next, especially with the pressure that was now bearing down on him from holding so many spell patterns active. But it was a risk he wanted to take.

Xavier altered the time dilation field so time outside of it would move at a perceptible speed. It would shave off another few seconds of the spell’s energy, but that was a price he was willing to pay.

The energy from the spell the queen was casting entered the air. The instant it did, Xavier cast Recursive Analysis. The web of his spell’s energy caught the energy of the queen’s spell.

As the power of the different spells interacted, Xavier pushed his awareness onto the process. He’d never attempted to take a spell from a B Grade. Focusing on the spell took more concentration than he’d expected with the pressure that was on him, but he forced himself to do it.

His eyes widened as he felt what he feared—Recursive Analysis was struggling, its energies were being shredded in the air.

The spell’s going to fail!

Even as he noticed that, something else drew his attention—the Arakashinai Queen, even though she was now moving at an infinitesimal pace, just fast enough for her spell’s energies to enter the air, flicked her insectoid gaze onto Xavier.

She knows I’m here.

Xavier did something on instinct, then. He pushed a bit of Soul Energy into the spell, boosting its power. He wouldn’t have thought such a thing was possible before he’d just done it, never having added power to a spell in this way mid-cast. The only reason it worked, as far as he could tell, was because time was moving so slowly outside the time dilation field, and that was where his spell was doing its work.

He hadn’t used Soul Energy for some time, knowing it wasn’t something he ever wanted to rely on. If he used to much of it, it would hinder him—greatly.

Recursive Analysis is attempting to capture the spell Create Drone.

Create Drone is a Rank 201 spell.

Recursive Analysis is a Rank 150 spell.

…

Denizen’s grade too low to acquire spell—

…

Error

Process interrupted.

Process strengthened.

Process restarted.

…

Recursive Analysis is attempting to capture the spell Create Drone.

Create Drone is a Rank 201 spell.

Recursive Analysis is a Rank 150 spell.

The rank discrepancy will affect the efficacy of the learnt spell.

…

Recursive Analysis has succeeded!

You have temporarily acquired Create Drone with an effective rank of 175.

…

Error. Denizen not requisite grade. Denizen cannot wield a Rank 175 spell.

The temporary spell Create Drone has been adjusted to Rank 150.

The instant Xavier felt the temporary spell entered his mind, he cut off the flow of Soul Energy. Simultaneously, he adjusted time outside the field back to what it had been before attempting this. The Arakashinai Queen was once more frozen in place, only now her eyes were boring into Xavier from where she loomed.

Xavier’s heart thudded hard in his chest. His breathing heavy. His mind clouded. Casting that spell and adding Soul Energy to it… It had taken more out of him than he’d expected—more out of him than it should have.

Casting a spell had never felt like this before.

Are you all right?

A voice sounded in his mind. Bones, his soulbound weapon. The sentient weapon had been quiet much of the time Xavier had been on the Arakashinai home world, letting him focus on what he was doing. The longer the soulbound weapon spent with Xavier, the more it seemed to understand his moods—when he needed that quiet, and when he needed to talk.

I’m fine, Xavier replied out of hand.

Except, he didn’t feel fine. He all but collapsed backward, his knees once more feeling uncharacteristically weak. Quick thinking made him summon an armchair from his Storage Ring, allowing him to land in that instead of on the chamber’s stone floor.

You don’t need to lie. I may not be able to feel what you feel, Xavier, but I can get a sense for what you’re going through. There was a pause. I have often thought you have gone too far, often thought you have pushed yourself too hard, or taken on a challenge you shouldn’t have. There are times you’ve listened to my cautions, and times you haven’t. Each time you haven’t listened I’ve been proven wrong, and you’ve shattered any expectations I’ve had of not only you, but what’s… What’s possible at all. Still, I worry…

You haven’t tried to talk me out of doing this. Are you about to start?

There was another pause from Bones, this one longer. Xavier used the time to check how much Soul Energy he’d flooded into the Recursive Analysis spell to get it to work. For him to feel this way, he must have put more in it than he should have—

A frown lined his face. His Soul Energy reserve had become far larger since the last time he’d used it—which was expected. He’d gained a lot of levels and attributes since then. As he looked at it, he couldn’t help but notice he’d hadn’t used nearly enough for it to have affected him. He had used a great deal, and it would take time to recoup that energy, but he wasn’t close to stepping over the line. Wasn’t close to it having a negative effect on him.

Let alone one this strong.

It’s the weight on my mind, the pressure of holding all these spell patterns active, he thought to himself. That’s what’s making me feel this way, only it seems to be getting worse the longer it goes on.

He sank deeper into the armchair.

I don’t know, Bones finally replied. I want to talk you out of this, or at least… Caution you. You could have drawn fewer patterns, could have worked up to what you’re about to do. You still could. I would have hoped you were wise enough to see that for yourself.

Xavier considered that. He’d chosen a course of action and had locked onto it, wanting to see it through to the end. But what if that end… Ended with his death, because he was too stubborn to change?

He released a sigh and looked up at the Arakashinai Queen, the massive insectoid Denizen’s eyes locked on his. A hundred different scenarios raced through his mind. The pressure affecting him was intensely limiting. He’d theorised that using one of the patterns, or cancelling them out, would reduce that pressure, step by step, until they were all used up and the pressure was gone.

But there was a chance he was wrong about that. There was a chance the pressure could become more intense, or that it could have a lasting effect on him. If that were the case, casting spells—like Recursive Analysis—could become very difficult for him.

This wasn’t the only way Xavier could have fought the Arakashinai Queen. The queen was B Grade, but highly specialised, and without its drone army inside the chamber.

He had a high chance of being able to defeat her without drawing spell patterns at all.

But he had to assume the worst about the weight he was experiencing. He had to assume it wouldn’t simply disappear. If he assumed otherwise and was wrong, it could easily get him killed.

He might be able to escape once the fight started, but in this state, he wasn’t so sure.

To his reckoning, he had three solid options before him.

The first option was to cancel out the majority of the spell patterns. He didn’t think he could only cancel out a few to test whether the pressure lessened—it might be too hard to judge. Then, he could continue the fight with less patterns.

The second option was to abandon this fight completely and return to the Kingdom of Eldaarn through the portal, recoup his energy there, then return when he was ready. That option would have him cancelling the time dilation field back at the castle.

The problem with that was the queen could simply close the portal, stopping him from returning, assuming she realised that was where he came from—and she no doubt would have had one of her drones see him on the castle wall and already made the connection.

If the queen closed the portal for fear of his return, that might very well end the floor. Even if she didn’t, when he returned, it would give her time to prepare.

His final option was to carry on with the plan, pressure be damned.

Xavier shut his eyes and focused the full force of his mind on the pressure he was experiencing. As he did, he felt its source. The patterns. All three hundred of them. Pulling on him. Pulling on…

On my soul.

He gritted his teeth. Set his mind. Then opened his eyes and climbed out of the armchair, returning it to his Storage Ring as he did. As he stood, his knees didn’t buckle. The weakness that had overcome him wouldn’t be evident from an outside observer, though the blood that still came from his nose and his ears certainly would. He couldn’t simply shrug off the pressure and ignore it, but he could push past it. Could put it into a box in his mind, even if it took him everything to manage it.

“The plan doesn’t change.”

Xavier initiated the first Soul Strike spell pattern, infusing it with ten thousand souls.