Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 6) - Chapter 10 - Trust

Xavier was glad a fight didn’t end up happening with the party he’d encountered at the entrance to the Hell Moon Thazamar, and not only because their sponsor, Jhanku, was one of the most powerful Denizens in the entire universe.

These people were insanely powerful.

“Your turn, Yarien.” Maricus grinned.

They were on the Tenth Descent and moving through them incredibly fast. They’d already gained the 1,000 clear title for the first Nine Descents, and every time Xavier stepped back and watched these people work, he was in awe.

At first, it was difficult to see just how powerful they were, as the first few descents were ones he figured he could clear with a single spell just as well as they could.

But these people could restore their cooldowns incredibly effectively. He still didn’t know exactly how it was that they did that. He’d noticed energy changing hands a few times. Blood red orbs of it moving from Yarien to Avadina. Pure white orbs moving from Avadina to the other three whenever they needed their cooldowns restored.

If it had come to a fight between him and the four of them, Xavier had no doubt that he would have been defeated—no question. Even using all of his tricks. Even if he had access to the Spirit of Time, he didn’t see how it could be possible for him to win.

He might have been able to escape them, but even that he wasn’t sure about.

These people were in a league of their own, one far above anything his sector or the neighbouring ones had likely ever seen.

Xavier had contacted the others when he was between uses of Time Alteration—they were still training down on the Fifteenth Descent. At one point, Rhaalir had come in his spirit form to observe the party.

“True C Grades,” he’d told Xavier, his voice as serious as it had ever been. “I’m sure of it.”

Yarien didn’t so much as nod at Maricus as she stepped forward.

The elven mage stepped forward, her hips gently swaying as she walked, her blood red robes swishing this way and that. She raised her staff into the air and took a deep breath.

A spell was cast. The tip of her staff glowed with a brilliant light, then black tendrils shot out from it in every direction.

The black tendrils looked like nothing so much as smoke, and yet they had form, sharp enough to sink into the flesh of every demon in the area. The Tenth Descent was one large dome-like cavern with demons that flew on large, bat-like wings. These demons reminded him of The Nightmare—though only in their form, as they didn’t possess the same abilities.

Once Yarien’s tendrils had sunk into her enemies, she clamped her free hand into a fist. This motion made every single one of the demons that had sharp black tendrils stuck in it seize up in midair. They didn’t fall to the ground even as their wings stopped beating—the tendrils kept them aloft like the tentacles of them great kraken.

Blood flowed from the demons, down the tendrils, and straight into the head of the staff where the spell had originated.

Xavier watched as the blood seeped from the staff into the elven woman’s hand. She shuddered briefly, a smile slipping onto her lips.

She lowered the staff. The tendrils disappeared from the air. Every demon in the cavern fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Xavier had watched the woman perform this spell several thousand times now, and yet every single time he saw it he was transfixed by her level of power. He thought the same of the other members of the party. Each of them had a deadly area of effect spell that was enough to take out an entire descent.

Each of them except for the healer. Though the woman did possess abilities that helped the entire party thrive. Without her, they wouldn’t be able to cooldown their spells while inside of the time dilation field.

Though Xavier was impressed with the entire party, Yarien was clearly the most powerful—that must have been why she was the party’s leader.

Yarien shuddered once more as she lowered her staff. Another blood red sphere of magic rose from her and flew over to Avadina. “One more time,” Yarien said, turning on her heel to walk back to the stairs.

Xavier noticed he was staring as he walked, and the elven woman gave him a small smile, clearly having noticed that too. They all returned to the stairwell. They’d been on this descent for a while. This had been there 999th clear.

It felt humbling to be around an entire party that was more powerful than him. Xavier was struggling to remember ever being around Denizens that were stronger than him—except, perhaps, when he’d first arrived on the hundredth floor, but he’d quickly eclipsed the other people there, becoming the most powerful Denizen on the floor at the time.

Xavier didn’t know how he’d ever be able to eclipse these people.

I truly am from a backwater planet, at she ass-end of the universe…

“So, why are you here all alone?” Maricus asked.

They were sitting on the stairs. It had become a little tradition for the lot of them to take a short break before the final clear on a descent. These people, despite taking Xavier up on the offer of using his Time Alteration spell, didn’t seem as though they were in any particular rush.

Xavier wondered what their lives were like outside of this place.

He blinked, looking over at Maricus. It was the first time in a while one of them had actually asked him a personal question. He considered whether or not he should answer. Considered how much he should tell them. “I’m not here alone,” Xavier said.

This got the attention of the others. Avadina and Avadon had been chatting quietly to one side. Bickering, more like. Xavier wondered how long the demonkin twins had been stuck together. Yarien had been sitting quietly, her legs crossed, eyes closed in some sort of meditation.

They all turned to face Xavier.

“You aren’t alone here?” Yarien asked. There was a dangerous edge to her voice. “Are you laying some sort of trap for us, Wings?” She glanced around. “Where are these friends of yours?”

Xavier smiled, in a way that he hoped was reassuring. He was a little surprised by their level of caution—he was also aware that these people didn’t know anything about him. He was a mystery. The unsponsored Denizen who could stop time and was hiding his true identity.

“They’re no threat to the four of you. I can guarantee that. They’re training down on the Fifteen Descent. I brought them here to help bring up their levels.” He paused. “Only one of them is D Grade. The others are E Grade.” He didn’t mention that the D Grade was a Spirit Golem.

Even on this side of the universe, Spirit Golems were rare and sought after.

“You brought E Grades here?” Yarien raised an eyebrow. “And you’re… Power levelling them? And you say you aren’t a time mercenary.”

Xavier levelled her with a serious look. “I am no sort of mercenary. I can’t be bought.”

This remark was rewarded with a smirk. “People say that, but everyone has something they wish for.”

“Why aren’t you sponsored?” Maricus asked abruptly.

“Maricus,” Yarien said. “I thought we agreed not to ask such questions.”

Xavier tapped his foot on the ground. He idly looked over at the wall, where he knew a rune was hidden just behind the stone. He’d gotten better at sensing them, training his concentration as he’d mostly been sitting on the sidelines as the others cleared the floors.

Sitting on the sidelines was a very different experience for him.

“It’s all right.” Xavier released a breath. “I’m not good at keeping secrets anyway.” He raised his chin and looked at Yarien, for he knew it would be her who made the decisions for the others. “Though I’d like a contract before I divulge anything about myself—one that secures my protection, and the protection of my companions would be nice too.”

He’d been tossing up whether he should bring up signing a contract of this type with them for a while now. Simply asking for one implied he was worried about his safety around them—it was an admission of vulnerability.

But he figured he’d proven himself as an asset with these people, and it was hard to make allies without a little bit of trust.

They’re going to want to keep me around.

At least, that was what he was betting on.

Yarien went quiet for a moment. She didn’t glance at the other members of her party. Didn’t look to them for approval or permission. “I didn’t think you would want a contract. Signing one would reveal your name to us.”

Maricus was glancing from Yarien to Xavier. Xavier couldn’t help but see the curiosity in the swordsman’s eyes. He’d been wanting to know more about Xavier since the entrance to the Hell Moon.

“I think it’s worth it,” Xavier said.

She inclined her head. “Very well. It doesn’t cost us anything to sign. We aren’t the type to sell titbits to information brokers, anyway.”

“What if he’s one of the Wanted?” Maricus said. His gaze was locked onto Xavier as he spoke.

Xavier raised an eyebrow, looking at the man. “The Wanted?”

Maricus furrowed his brow. “There are people in this universe that are hunted. People we’re bound to tell Jhanku about. If we sign a contract with you, and you end up being one of them…”

“Then one of the contracts would have to be broken,” Xavier muttered. He’d never thought of what would happen if there were two conflicting contracts. “Then the first contract I’ll sign will state I’m not one of these Wanted.”

“You might not know,” Avadina said.

Xavier sighed. “Trust me, I haven’t done anything significant enough to warrant being wanted by anyone.” He paused, because he knew that was a downright lie. “At least, I haven’t done anything warranting being wanted on this side of the universe.”

Still, he supposed, technically a lie, considering Adranial’s ancestor had been watching him—probably still was, come to think of it.

But he’d never even heard of this Jhanku, so it felt true enough to him. Which was a good thing, considering what happened next.

Yarien looked over at Avadina. The demonkin’s eyes had gone white once more. “He speaks the truth. As he knows it.”

Xavier tried not to show an expression of surprise as he looked at the demonkin healer. “You detect lies?”

“I like to think of it as uncovering truths,” Avadina replied.

The contract didn’t take long to draw up. Every one of them signed it. Xavier felt the muscles in his body untense. His shoulders relaxed. He hadn’t realised how much tension he’d been carrying around since he’d met these people.

He simply wasn’t used to being with those stronger than him—wasn’t used to feeling as though at any moment, he could be crushed at their whim.

“So, dragonkin, who exactly are you?” Yarien asked.

Xavier looked at the elf, the human, and the two demonkin. “I’m a True Progenitor from the planet Earth, which was integrated into the Greater Universe a few months ago.”

~

Months.

Yarien watched the dragonkin—the dragonkin who’d once been human, which explained why he was happy to hang out with those that weren’t of his own race; not all dragonkin possessed those same sensibilities, being as insular as they were—step onto the Tenth Descent.

Now that the man had signed a contract with them, guaranteeing not only his privacy, but his safety, he seemed considerably more at ease.

Knowing why the dragonkin had been hiding his identity, Yarien wasn’t surprised by how tense he had been. If she’d been in his position, she would have done the same thing.

That’s a lie. I never would have gotten into this position in the first place. I’m far too cautious to ever take a risk like the one he’s taking.

Yarien and her party had only come to the Hell Moon when they’d known they would be able to handle everything that came at them, and being sponsored to one of the strongest Denizens in the universe helped ensure that they wouldn’t come to any trouble with others that showed up in this place.

At least, it was most of an assurance. There were still those out there that would attack a sponsored Denizen without any care for reprisal, but to stumble upon one of them was the rarest of things.

Which was why she’d been so wary when they’d first come across this dragonkin called Xavier.

He hadn’t told them a great deal, but he’d told them enough.

A True Progenitor. Yarien had never come across one of those before. All the Sector Rulers, she knew, were Progenitors—those that ruled at Jhanku’s behest. Most of the Planet Rulers were too.

But none of them were True Progenitors.

Jhanku himself, however, was a True Progenitor.

The dragonkin still hadn’t revealed to them what his actual class was, but that was fair. It wasn’t as though they’d divulged to him the names of their classes.

But he was about to show them something of his power. After singing the contract and feeling more at ease, he’d offered to deal with the final clear for the Tenth Descent—as long as his cooldown was restored.

Yarien had nodded. The request was more than reasonable.

She stopped herself from shaking her head in awe as he walked out into the descent. It wasn’t just the fact that he was a True Progenitor, it was that he’d only been integrated into the System for a few months.

And here he was, on the other side of the universe to his home planet, clearing descents on the Hell Moon.

Yarien hadn’t known such a thing would even be possible.

Xavier shifted his soul bound weapon into what looked to be a scythe-staff. Yarien tilted her head to the side. The dragonkin had shifted that weapon of his into half a dozen different things—but never once had he turned it into a scythe-staff.

He’s some sort of reaper?

She didn’t need to ask the question, for what he did next proved exactly what he was.

Thousands of beasts came into being. No, they weren’t true beasts—they were ethereal. Transparent. Spirits. But there weren’t summoned spirits—not from the Otherworld, nor anywhere else.

These were soul apparitions.

Yarien had seen a reaper at work before, though it had been a very long time. Perhaps several hundred years. Reapers tended to work alone, in her experience. They were a class that was often shunned, for people feared those with the power to snatch souls.

Rightly so.

Yarien had been unsure of what the dragonkin’s level of power was. Even watching him now, she couldn’t tell. He obliterated every single one of the demons on the entire descent in a single spell, but that was something she and two of her other party members were capable of.

Still, the way he did it was remarkable. And her and her party had been alive for at least five hundred years—Maricus was the youngest of them. He’d just turned 504 a few months ago.

It would be pretty disappointing if they weren’t able to one-shot the descent.

And here this dragonkin—this child—was, showing a level of power far beyond what he should have possessed.

Yarien was sure that Xavier wasn’t as strong as herself—well, she was about 99 percent sure. But that was beside the point.

He’d accumulated the power he did possess in…

Months.

“How was that?” Xavier asked as he turned around to face the others. Every single demon on the descent was dead. They didn’t even have any wounds.

“Remarkable,” Yarien replied.

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