Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 6) - Chapter 12 - This Dragonkin Is Insane

Xavier was beginning to grow fond of the party he’d encountered.

They moved through the different descents of the Hell Moon Thazamar with an efficiency he’d never experienced before.

At first, Xavier had been humbled by their power—admittedly, he still was humbled by the power. They were his betters. Stronger than him in every way, and it was something he needed to never let himself forget.

But he felt something else as he watched them fight.

Eagerness.

Xavier wanted their powers. Wanted their level of strength.

More.

He wanted to exceed each of them—and he knew that he could do it. He just needed time.

Though the power they possessed was well beyond his own, he knew it wasn’t unique. These C Grades were far stronger than any Xavier had encountered in the past—they were certainly far stronger than the Elemental Dragon he’d faced back on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions—but they were also typical for this side of the universe.

Perhaps typical wasn’t the right word—they could very well be elites in their own right, but according to Rhaalir, they weren’t so high above their peers to be considered unique.

The elf spirit had actually endeared Xavier with confidence after he’d seen that Xavier was finally taking the threat of the powers that were out there seriously.

[For now, these people may be out of your league. But one day, you will be well out of theirs,] Rhaalir had told him. [That is why I wish to remain by your side. That is why you have been able to gather who you have gathered around you. In my previous life, and in my time in the Otherworld, I have seen their like before, but I have never seen yours. You cannot compare what you are now to them, not when you are so near to the beginning of your journey.]

When they reached the Fifteenth Descent, Xavier introduced the new party to his companions. Yarien didn’t seem interested in the company he kept, especially after she scanned them. Though her eyebrow did raise at the sight of the dragon and the Spirit Golem.

Maricus was amiable enough when they passed through, as was Avadon, but in a stand-offish sort of way.

It was Avadina that took an interest in Xavier’s companions—the Spirit Golem, specifically, had caught her eye.

“How in all the worlds did you get your hands on one of these? Especially being from a backwater planet!” The words had tumbled out of the demonkin woman’s mouth. She stopped herself after a moment. “Not that there’s anything wrong with coming from a backwater planet—clearly it worked for you.”

“I received it in a loot box.” Xavier crossed his arms. “From the Tower of Champions.”

That had gotten their attention. Xavier hadn’t spoken much about his time in the tower to these people. He hadn’t told them a great deal about him at all.

“And how is it you travelled all the way here?” Yarien asked.

Xavier smiled at the woman. “I wondered when you would ask that question.” Since he’d signed a contract with these people, there didn’t seem any harm in showing them what he had. He summoned the Universal Travel Key to his hand. He raised it up. “I used this.”

Maricus’s eyes bulged. Avadina took a step forward. Avadon’s forehead creased.

Yarien’s expression didn’t shift, but Xavier sensed a sudden tension in her.

Xavier had known a Universal Travel Key was valuable, but the way they were each looking at what he had in his hand made it seem far more valuable than he’d first expected. “What?” Xavier asked. “I thought this might be how the four of you got here.”

Yarien, like Avadina, took a step forward. Xavier could sense some hesitation in the way she moved. “Do you understand what it is you have there?” Her voice was soft, with a hint of awe.

Xavier inclined his head. “A Universal Travel Key,” he said, stating the obvious. “It allows me to travel anywhere in the universe…” He tilted his head to one side. “Though I figure you already knew that.”

“Yes,” the elven woman said. “I did know that.” She glanced over at the others. It was clear some mental communication was happening between all the different glances that were exchanged.

Xavier wished he could speak telepathically to all of his companions at the same time. That was something he could easily do in the past with his old party using Portal Stones, but he couldn’t very well hand the Spirit Golem a Portal Stone—spirits couldn’t communicate using them.

It likely would have worked with Volkarin, but he already had a method of communication with the dragon.

Yarien looked back at Xavier. “What do you know of places like this one?” She made a gesture to encompass the entirety of the Hell Moon Thazamar.

“I know there are other places like them,” Xavier said. “A lot more. And that the System doesn’t govern them.” He also knew the place was somehow run by the use of runes, but he didn’t think that was the question the woman was asking him.

Yarin nodded. “Indeed. There are many places like these Hell Moons out in the universe—but there are only so many that are accessible.”

Xavier frowned. “Accessible? Can you explain what you mean?”

The woman seemed momentarily confused by his lack of understanding, but she carried on. “These three Hell Moons are in disputed space. Entities have tried to lay claim to the moons before.” She shook her head. “It never ends well.” She touched a hand to where the symbol of her sponsor was. “Having a strong sponsor keeps us safe in places like this, but getting here is the difficult part. There isn’t a permanent portal open to Thazamar, or the other two Hell Moons, and no single entity governs the entirety of this sector, despite it being one of the oldest in the universe. Worlds change hands more than Spirit Coins around here.”

“So how did the four of you come here? Are you from this sector?”

“No. We’re not from this sector.” The woman pulled something out of her Storage Ring. It appeared in her palm. Xavier recognised it immediately—a Sector Travel Key.

“All we needed to do was make it into the sector, then we could travel here unhurried and unharmed. But this Sector Travel Key is nothing like the Universal Travel Key you have in your hands. Getting into this sector is an easy enough feat to manage for those who know how, but there are dozens of places like this in the universe that are hoarded by the sectors that hold them.”

Xavier blinked. “Dozens?” He looked over at Volkarin. The dragon had told him of a few places, but not dozens. Xavier thought about the runes in the walls and frowned. “How similar are they?”

“Similar enough. In titles, and the way the different descents—or floors, or chambers—operate.” Yarien narrowed her eyes. “Why do you ask?”

He shook his head. “Just a theory of mine, one I doubt I’ll be able to test for a very long time.”

Xavier still knew very little about the Universe Hopper who’d created this place. He knew that they’d used runes. He knew that they’d created this place in unintegrated space—which meant that Denizens could travel to unintegrated space without bringing the System with them, though he didn’t know how something like that might be possible.

And… Well, that was about it. He’d tried using Otherworldly Communion to discover more information about the woman, but the spirits he spoke to gave just as little information as the one he’d spoken to in the first place.

It was a puzzle, one that he was determined to solve—at least in the long run.

Xavier absorbed what Yarien had been telling him. He raised his Universal Travel Key and looked at it. He thought about the portal locks he’d found on different worlds, and what it might be like in a long-established sector—just how difficult it would be to actually enter one.

“So, what you’re trying to say is that there are a bunch of places like this one, but it’s very hard for a Denizen to go to all of them, and train in each?” Xavier asked.

That was one of his long-term plans—to go from one part of the universe to another, clearing places like this, hoarding as many titles as he could manage to gain. He’d already become significantly stronger since arriving at Thazamar, and not just because of the levels he’d gained, the weapon proficiency, or his betterment of Body Cultivation and Time Alteration—much of that newfound strength was because of the titles he’d gained. The normal, 0.5 percent to all stats from each descent clear, and the 1,000 clear he’d gained from many of the floors.

This made him think of just how many titles might be available out there in the Greater Universe. These people said there were Dozens of places like this one. If the titles were similar to that of the Hell Moons… what if he were to gain 10,000 extra stat points a dozen times?

And if there truly were this many titles available, and the rewards for gaining them were so significant, how could his advantage of being a True Progenitor even be all that strong? Was having a heard start really all that significant?

He’d gained a lot of titles at the start from the Tower of Champions, but he’d lost the chance to gain a great many more when the System had snatched him and thrown him into the hundredth floor.

It was from that experience that Xavier realised that while titles were incredibly important, having tons and tons of  attribute points was only a piece of the puzzle.

You needed to have the other pieces fall into place too if you wanted to be truly powerful.

But that didn’t mean getting as many titles as he possibly could wasn’t important.

Yarien nodded in response to Xavier’s question. “That is exactly what I’m saying. There are very few Denizens out there that have been able to travel and clear all of them—those Denizens are now the true rulers of the Greater Universe, and they protect their territories with everything they’ve got, forbidding other Denizens from gaining the same advantages.”

Xavier considered this. “Surely it’s not just travelling to these places that’s an issue?”

Yarien frowned. “Why would you say that?”

He looked at the Universal Travel Key in his hand. “This… Can’t be so rare? I found it in a loot box after killing a C Grade troll on the hundredth floor. It was… Not a normal loot box—I needed to get someone to unlock it.”

Yarien glanced at Maricus. The dark swordsman stepped forward. “The hundredth floor? I know that troll—that loot box. It’s considered a randomised System reward, as the loot found within that box is never the same.” He summoned his great sword to his hand. “It’s how I got my soul bound weapon.” He shook his head. “Gods, that was a long time ago.” He ran a hand alongside its edge. “I soloed the floor so I wouldn’t have to share the loot box. It tends to be the recommended route for that floor. Some ToC theorists say the loot box isn’t actually random—that the System caters the reward based on the Denizen that completes it, but as well all theories of that nature, there is no proof.”

Xavier frowned. He assumed “ToC” meant “Tower of Champions,” and supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that there were theorists out there. Were there academics out there whose main field of study was the tower? That was a strange thought. “There was only one other Denizen soloing the floor when I was there, and most of the Denizens left before they were strong enough to fight C Grades.”

Maricus scoffed. “That’s because you would have shared the floor with people who didn’t know what they were doing.” He cleared his throat. “No offence. But in the established sectors, we have the accumulated knowledge of trillions of Deniziens having been through the Tower of Champions. That knowledge can only change hands through word-of-mouth, that’s true, but we have our methods. That’s information that is hoarded, too. So it’s no surprise it didn’t reach you.”

Avadina spoke up. “You’ve been integrated into the Greater Universe for a matter of months, and you’ve already completed the hundredth floor?”

Everyone went silent for a moment. Xavier tried to put on what he thought was a humble smile. “Only recently. It was the last floor I completed.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll be returning to the tower for the next floor in about five months.”

“And your break from tower is Thazamar?” Avadon blurted out. He looked to his twin sister. “This dragonkin is insane.”

“I agree,” Avadina replied.

Xavier chuckled. “I think the four of you are insane.” He held the key up once more. He couldn’t help but see the eagerness in these people’s eyes when they looked at it. Their desire.

They, just like me, want to be able to travel to every single place like this in the universe—even if those places are behind enemy lines.

He still didn’t buy that there wasn’t another way to do that. There had to be a way to travel through the different sectors unseen. Had to be a way to avoid the portal locks. To get where one needed to do.

I’ll find out one day.

Xavier returned the Universal Travel Key to his inventory.

The party glanced between each other. Yarien gave each of them a significant look before nodding once and finally turning to Xavier. “Tell me, Xavier, can your Time Alteration spell move through a portal?”

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