Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 78 - If That’s Your Idea Of Fun

Xavier watched as a jagged bolt of pure white lightning shot from Soultaker. It streamed through the darkness, heading straight toward the first clutch of Dark Wyverns.

Soultaker was already infused with Spirit Energy. His body, mind and magic was empowered by Spiritual Trifecta. He knew he’d only been gone from this place for a few minutes, but it felt like far too long.

When the bolt of white lightning neared the beasts, it blossomed into a bright, beautiful apparition of destruction. A wyvern larger than the ones it was about to slay.

Xavier had seen this dozens of times now, yet the sight was still something remarkable to behold.

For the others, it was the first time they’d witnessed his current level of power.

And that was only a one-infused Soul Strike. I can do a thirty-infused Soul Strike now, not that I’ve tested it.

Five of the Dark Wyverns were instantly killed. Xavier immediately harvested their souls then sent out another Soul Strike to deal with the remaining beasts.

He turned to the others, not bothering to watch the apparition form. Not bothering to watch the final five wyverns meet their deaths. He’d found he didn’t need to be facing a slayed enemy to harvest their soul. He could feel them.

When the kill notifications came, he consumed the other five souls.

Soul Harvest has taken a step forward on the path!

Soul Harvest is now a Rank 2 spell.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Spirit Infusion has taken a step forward on the path, upgrading to the spell: Spirit Infusion (Offensive).

Spirit Infusion (Offensive) is a Rank 2 spell.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Xavier blinked at the notifications. He’d known Spirit Infusion only needed ten more kills before it ranked up, but he’d expected Soul Harvest to rank up faster than that.

Each spell took 1000 souls to rank up.

As he wondered what ranking up Soul Harvest might even do, as he could harvest to his hearts content seemingly at any range and without any cooldown, he checked his harvested souls.

Harvested Souls: 9/40

Xavier smiled, delighted to see that his soulkeeping threshold had gone up by 10 when he’d gained a rank in Soul Harvest. At least I know it does that.

The more souls he could hold, the more powerful he would become.

He looked at Soultaker, his staff-scythe, and re-infused it with Spirit Energy. I wonder how much more powerful that will make my spells.

As he flicked his attention away from the notifications and his staff—which glowed no more brightly than before—he noticed the others gaping at him.

Howard was the first to close his mouth. He scratched his beard with his tower shield, looking out into the darkness. “That… was you using a soul?”

Siobhan had paled, but the colour quickly returned to her cheeks. She stepped toward the edge of the platform. “That was… that was amazing! The way it formed into the soul you’d taken. I wonder if that would happen with other beasts. Or… or humans.” She tilted her head to the side, in thought. “You said you could infuse multiple souls into a strike. What would it look like if the souls were from different beasts?”

“I haven’t had a chance to find out,” Xavier said. “Though I’m very curious to.”

Justin, his mouth still open. “So, souls are just… ammunition to you now?”

Xavier considered. “I hadn’t thought of them that way, but yes. I suppose so.”

He glanced around the darkness. “How many beasts are out there? It’s unsettling not being able to see them. But it’s almost like I can feeltheir eyes.”

Xavier considered Justen’s reaction for a moment, wondering if it was their auras he could actually feel, even if the kid wasn’t conscious of it. “There are almost a thousand beasts out there.” He turned to look outward. “Now, I think we should get things started,” he said, thinking, no point wasting any more time.

As he only needed two souls to take out a whole clutch, and he couldn’t hold more than 40, Xavier decided he would consume extra souls with Soul Harden. He still didn’t know what benefit he was truly gaining from the spell—especially if he didn’t face any other soul-users—but he figured he would find out eventually.

Looking out at all the clutches, he still struggled to believe how powerful he’d become. Though it constantly made him wonder how he would stack up against someone of a higher level. He knew that in the grand scheme—in the Greater Universe—he was just a baby taking his first steps.

He let out a breath. They still had a little while until the next clutch approached. That was something he’d noticed the first time he was here. The clutches of ten wyverns came in intervals—as though the next clutch was waiting for the first to be dealt with.

If it took a party too long to deal with one, then they would be attacked by another at the same time.

He could just imagine what kind of mess that would put a party in.

This tower is going to kill a lot of Champions from Earth. That, or temper them into something stronger. He wished he knew how his fellow Champions were doing. He knew he was a step above them all—maybe several steps. A progenitor, as Sam called those who gained first-titles. If there was some sort of ladder we could see, showing all the Champions from the five instances… see what floor each party had reached, their times…

He shook those thoughts away. Even if he could see where others were, none of that mattered toward his own path.

“All right. Howard, Justin, attack me.”

“Just, what… stab you in the back?” Justin asked.

Xavier shrugged. “Basically.”

“Sounds good to me,” Howard said. Xavier raised an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder at the man. Howard had a little smile on his face. “What? It probably won’t even hurt you. I might as well enjoy getting a few hits in.”

“Well, I guess if that’s your idea of fun…” Xavier chuckled.

Justin, who had his sword drawn now, looked down at it. “All my instincts are shouting at me not to do this. Sparring is one thing, but you won’t even be fighting back.”

Howard nudged him with his shoulder. “We might not even be able to do any damage to him. You remember when he took on that army, don’t you?”

Justin nodded. “How could I forget?”

Xavier sighed. “Come on, I’m the one who’s going to be attacked here. If anyone should be nervous, it should be me.” His Shrouded Robes offered barely any protection at all. In fact, they didn’t offer anyphysical protection, only magical. Though they did have a repair feature he was interested in testing out.

And Howard was probably right. This plan might not even work if the two of them were unable to injure him.

Justin rolled his shoulders, gripping his sword. His face shifted. Ever since they’d entered this floor, fear had wafted off the teenager—his fear of heights rearing its head. But it was as though he’d just put on his game-face. An intense look of concentration overtook him. He nodded sharply.

Howard slapped him on the back. “Good man.”

Xavier hadn’t really bothered to watch these two in action. When they had been gaining a few levels back on the third floor, he’d been too busy fighting the soldiers. And when they sparred in the Staging Room, more than half the time Xavier hadn’t even been there. When he had been there, he’d been locked in meditation, not paying close attention to what the others were up to.

Xavier faced forward. It was strange, knowing that the two people at your back who were supposed to be on your side were about to attack you. He wasn’t afraid, but it was an eerie feeling.

He glanced over at Siobhan. She had a look that seemed to be equal parts worry and determination. Her staff was on hand, and she looked ready to heal him at a moment’s notice. She nodded sharply at him.

Xavier looked at the oncoming clutch. It was still a little ways a way. He wasn’t sure if he had to be actively engaged in combat for her to gain Mastery Points from his kills. He waited a moment, heard Howard and Justin step forward, lunging toward his back.

The anticipation proved worse than the attacks themselves. Two red-hot lines cut down his back. Though they were sword strikes, they felt more akin to cat-scratches. Troublesome, a bit painful, but mostly just a minor annoyance. He looked at his health. It had gone down by 4%, which surprised him a little bit.

They hit harder than the soldiers back on the last floor. And those soldiers were higher level.

They still wouldn’t pose a true threat to him. Not when he could no doubt take them both out with a single spell. But part of him realised it was interesting to find that they could harm each other within a Tower of Champions floor at all. They wereallies, after all.

A Champion could betray the other members of their party. Kill them during a floor. Though why they’d want to do that, Xavier didn’t know.

The damage was quickly healing, but before his health could return to 100%, Siobhan had already cast Heal Other on him. He was bathed with light, the pain—such as it was—instantly disappearing.

Xavier sent a two-infused Soul Strike at the clutch slowly heading their way. When the Dark Wyverns died, he didn’t need to ask Siobhan to know she’d received Mastery Points.

He’d gained half the amount he usually would. For a moment, that rankled him, but he’d known coming in that that would be the case.

“All right. This works.” Xavier motioned to Howard and Justin over his shoulder. “Come on. Don’t stop at one. Make me feel it.”

He knew he’d gain levels faster if he wasn’t letting Siobhan feed off his Mastery Points by healing him, but he also knew that gaining levels wasn’t his only goal.

He could farm levels to his heart’s content, especially on a floor like this, and gaining a level with his epic class got him a lot of extra stat points—stat points that would make it easier for him to get the number 1 slot on these floors—but this seemed like a good way to make sure his skills and spells didn’t lag too far behind, and that the others got a chance to rank-up their skills as well.

He had to imagine that Howard and Justin would be able to gain ranks in Physical Damage by dealing constant damage to him. Siobhan would get ranks in her Heal Other spell, as well as gain levels quickly.

And that was half the point of this exercise. He wanted to help power-level these people, so they would be more valuable assets when they returned to Earth. But he didn’t want to have to wait for them.

This way, Siobhan wouldn’t have to lift a finger toward the enemy. All she’d need to do would be heal him.

Howard and Justin began their attacks once more. This time, they didn’t let up at one. They kept striking him, over and over. Xavier watched his health, which was falling faster than he could heal it.

They’re doing well. Maybe this will actually work.

A smile kicked up the sides of Xavier’s lips as he looked at the remaining ninety-eight clutches. He could only take out ninety-seven of them so as not to accidentally clear the whole floor.

But that should gain Siobhan quite a lot of levels.

All right, let’s see how many more ranks I can gain before I hit level 12.