Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 6) - Chapter 62 - Is There Another Way to Live?

Nothing happened.

Xavier was not struck down by a lightning bolt from nowhere, nor was he teleported into a volcano, or thrown into a sun. The Voice of the System didn’t materialise in front of him. A notification didn’t appear. The air in the room didn’t so much as shimmer.

He sat, sunk back in the armchair, coffee mug still clutched in his fingers, eying the space around him nervously and feeling a little foolish for doing so.

A moment ago, a thought had flickered through his mind: I need to take down the System.

The thought had come about because of the cold rage he felt at the System’s most recent actions—changing the parameters of the hundred-and-twenty-first floor.

Xavier shook his head and stood. As he came out of the armchair, it disappeared back into his Storage Ring. The mug of coffee, he kept in one hand. He didn’t cease the Time Alteration spell around him. Instead, he walked through the Tower of Champions and down to the tavern with it wrapped around him, moving past people frozen in the hallway.

The tavern only had a smattering of people. His Farscope took in the space swiftly. His old party wasn’t there. Adranial was, though she sat alone at a table in the corner, a single, untouched mug of ale in front of her.

Xavier made a straight line to the woman and sat across from her before cancelling his Time Alteration spell. The noise of the drinking house burst into life. The logs in the large hearths crackling. The hushed chatter and excited laughter of the few patrons. Sam pouring a mug of ale behind the bar.

And the slight intake of breath from Adranial as she noticed Xavier in front of her. The small inhale was the only sign of the woman’s surprise at Xavier’s sudden appearance. She’d grown up on the most powerful world in the most powerful sector of the universe, much of her life there thus far having been before she’d gained the System. The woman was probably used to people appearing out of nowhere.

“You stopped responding.” Adranial looked him up and down. “I thought something was wrong.” She leant forward. “You said you changed a tower floor?”

“I got distracted,” Xavier said. “And yes. I did.”

A look of sheer incredulity overtook her as she leant back in her chair. The look soon disappeared. She let out a resigned sigh. “If anyone else told me that, I wouldn’t believe them.”

Xavier straightened in his seat. He wasn’t sure why he’d come down here. Not really. There wasn’t anything this woman could do right now. He couldn’t get the word out, like he’d hoped. She couldn’t tell her ancestor using a Communication Stone. None of the other Champions from Earth would be even close to reaching the hundred-and-twenty-first floor, either, so he wasn’t worried for his people.

Adranial raised an eyebrow. “So, are you going to tell me what happened? Or just leave a girl guessing?”

Xavier explained what he’d done, and the consequences of it. He didn’t talk about the pattern of runes he’d learnt to create, or that it had allowed him to permanently learn the Untethered spell. That felt like a topic for another time.

When he finished, the look on her face shifted again as the implications became clear to her. “An impossible tower floor…” She blinked, her shoulders sagging. There was a look in her eyes he hadn’t seen since she’d had to give up her memories. Xavier wondered if it was despair. Then, Adranial curled her fingers into fists. “That… that isn’t fair!” she spat.

“No. It’s not. So many people are going to die because of this.”

“You don’t understand, Xavier. The System is harsh; it always has been. But it’s also always been at least fair. It doesn’t throw impossible challenges like this at people—not if there’s absolutely no chance of winning them.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow at that. Actually, he had to stop himself from laughing. “The System is fair?” he said derisively. Xavier could see how, perhaps, someone who was a descendant of the most powerful Denizen in the universe might think the System was fair. Kind of like how trust fund babies thought Earth was fair pre-integration.

But from the perspective of someone on a newly integrated world?

Instead of arguing with her, Xavier simply sighed. He didn’t want to get into a conversation about privilege, especially considerably his current lot in life. “I don’t know what to do about this.”

Adranial’s fists slowly unclenched. Where a moment ago her knuckles had been white, colour flowed back into them. She gathered herself, a calm quickly settling over her. Clutching her mug of ale, she took a long sip, then lowered it back to the table. “I’m not sure there’s much to be done,” she said flatly.

“What of all those people?”

Adranial looked him in the eye. If she felt for the countless Denizens out there who would unwittingly end up dead because of this, he couldn’t see proof of that on her face. She seemed more concerned with the “fairness” of it. “You can’t save everyone, Xavier. And if you think for even a single moment that this is your fault, then you’re a fool. You have a surprisingly soft heart for someone in your position. I’ve always found it strange.”

A few of the things he’d done rapidly slipped into his mind. The many, many, many people that he’d killed to get here.

Soft heart…

He couldn’t see how that was true.

Xavier gazed at the woman. “Do you care about them?”

Adranial raised her chin. She seemed to take a moment to think about that. “It’s unfortunate. But those I care about will be warned before they reach that floor.”

Xavier blinked. “Unfortunate…” He knew the woman was cold and calculated, but he was having trouble believing this reaction of hers. “A lot of people are going to die.”

“I’m aware.” Adranial shook her head. “You think I’m heartless, don’t you, Xavier Collins?”

Xavier took a moment to think about that. He sunk back into his chair. Sam came around, placed a cappuccino in front of him, one he hadn’t ordered but was grateful for. He’d finished his own cup of coffee already. Absently, he nodded at Sam. The barkeep looked between them, gave Xavier a lingering look, seemed like he wanted to say something, then headed back to the bar.

He will have heard the entire conversation.

Xavier hadn’t bothered making it private. He wanted the information to spread, after all. And he didn’t mind if others heard about the rest of it.

Instead of responding to Adranial, he sipped at his coffee, letting his thoughts coalesce. Did… Did he truly care about all of the people that were going to die because of this? Yes, and… No.

Right now, it was something out of his control. There were an infinite number of people out there in the universe, in the multiverse, that were suffering and dying by the trillions. Hell, trillions was hardly the right number. Quadrillion. Quintillion. Sextillion.

These were numbers Xavier was aware of. He had a working knowledge of how many they were. But even now, with his advanced Intelligence, he couldn’t truly fathom that many people.

How could anyone care about that many people? People they didn’t even know? Had no relationship to whatsoever?

In the before times on Earth, on occasion he would feel guilty for not thinking about all the terrible things that were happening in the world. For not doing something about it all. But if one got caught up with the injustices and the miseries and the deaths happening everywhere, it would likely paralyse them, throw them into a deep pit of despair.

He’d seen what it was like when he’d lost all hope—well, not him, but a different version of him. The Xavier he’d met on the eightieth floor.

Hope is for fools and Disney movies.

God, that guy really needed a hug.

Adranial didn’t prompt him to speak, despite how long the silence stretched. She simply sat across from him, a contemplative expression on her face as she nursed her ale.

Xavier raised his head, looked over at her. “I have a question.”

She cocked an eyebrow.

“If you could stop all of those Champions from heading onto that floor, or at least warn them what they would encounter, would you do it?

Adranial didn’t hesitate. “I would.”

Xavier nodded. “I don’t think you’re heartless, Adranial. Though I do think you’re a product of the Greater Universe. I think the way of life with the System pushing conflict, showing how cheap lives are, has been distilled into you from the instant you were born.”

Adranial tilted her head. “Is there another way to live?” A frown lined her brow.

“No,” Xavier said. “I suppose there isn’t.” He downed the rest of his cappuccino, then stood. “But maybe one day there will be.”

Adranial looked baffled by his statement, the lines on her forehead deepening, but she didn’t call him back.

Xavier walked across the tavern, giving Sam a small nod. The barkeep looked at him expectantly, then seemed slightly disappointed when he headed straight for the exit.

Outside the tavern, the door closed behind him, Xavier let out a breath.

He shut his eyes. The weight of all those people’s lives had been resting on his shoulders ever since he’d received that notification. The cold rage that flowed like ice through his veins hadn’t gone anywhere. It didn’t consume him, like the hot rage he sometimes felt. Didn’t threaten to alter or control his immediate actions. Instead, it seemed to just sit at the edge of his awareness, always there when he looked for it.

Xavier let go of the weight of all those deaths. It was surprisingly easy. Maybe even too easy. He certainly didn’t feel soft hearted as he did it.

He let go of the responsibility. Of the guilt. The despair. He couldn’t let those things get to him. Couldn’t let them infect and consume him like he’d seen happen to his counterpart on the eightieth floor.

But even as he let that all go, the goal in his heart remained. Not the one given to him by the System, to save the universe, to stop it from ending—though that goal remained as well.

The goal of destroying the System.

I’ll tear it down. I’ll tear it down and still save everyone from the end. Life doesn’t have to be like this.

Not for the first time, Xavier envisioned a peaceful universe. One where the energies that permeated everything were cultivated for power that helped, healed, and created, not just destroyed. One where the lifespans people were granted could be enjoyed to their fullest. One where Denizens of all races could band together to make something better.

The System had the ability to alter universes toward its goal. Maybe Xavier could alter them again, toward a different goal. A different end.

He released a long, slow breath.

Xavier was a fighter. That much was clear. He could see himself fighting, every day, for as long as it took. He enjoyed it. He relished the power he was building. Relished the destruction he could wrought.

I wonder if I’ll have a place in the universe I want to create.

He opened his eyes and suddenly felt a thousand times lighter, a burst of energy flowing through every inch of him. A grin slipped onto his face at the mere thought of his insane new goal.

Another impossible goal. Another thing to strive for.

He relished the challenge.