Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 70 - So Much For This Being A Safe Zone

Xavier was pumped and ready to go. As the countdown timer ticked by the seconds until the Tower of Champions opened their doors to him once more, he looked at his stats and information.

XAVIER COLLINS

Age: 20

Race: Human

Grade: F

Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth)

Class: Soul Reaper (Epic)

Level 10

Strength: 136 (146)

Speed: 132 (139)

Toughness: 146 (161)

Intelligence: 188 (231)

Willpower: 153 (167)

Spirit: 212 (263)

Mastery Points until next level: 100000/1000000

Available Spirit Energy: 26500/27300

Available Skill Points: 0

Free stat points remaining: 0

Titles:

Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, First Defender of Planet Earth, Survivor, 500 Stats, First to 500 Stats, Minor Butcher, Third Floor Climber, Solo Tower Climber 3, 1st Third Floor Climber, All 100, First All 100, Third Floor Ranked 2

Spells List:

Spiritual Trifecta – Rank 5

Heavy Telekinesis – Rank 6

Spirit Break (All) – Rank 3

Spirit Infusion – Rank 1

Soul Harvest – Rank 1

Soul Strike – Rank 1

Soul Block – Rank 1

Soul Harden – Rank 1

Skills List:

Physical Resistance – Rank 6

Magical Potency – Rank 11

Magical Resistance – Rank 5

Physical Damage – Rank 3

Assimilate Properties – Rank 1

Scythe-Staff Mastery – Rank 1

Meditation – Rank 10

Aura-Control – Rank 1

Lesser Spirit Coins: 4,070

Xavier was a little taken aback to see how much his Spirit attribute had grown over the past few days. Soultaker. His Shrouded Robes. Gaining 10 ranks in Meditation.

And, of course, unlocking his Spirit Core and learning the Aura-Control spell.

It had made an incredible difference. And all that without actually killing enemies... That was the part that took him most by surprise—that there were ways to improve so much without levelling up or even gaining titles.

In his first few days at the tower, he’d discovered he could gain attribute points by exercising and training. But back then he’d only gained a handful of points.

Discovering his Spirit Core? Ranking up his skills? That served him far better.

And I still have two of those skills to unlock.

But Xavier put learning those skills out of his mind as he stepped up to the Tower of Champions’ door. Holding Soultaker in his right hand—the shaft so tall its wicked, arm-length black blade hovered high over his head—he grasped the doorhandle, then finally entered the fourth floor.

What greeted him was utter darkness. Black as pitch.

All he could hear was his own breath, and the breath of the other members of his party as they appeared around him.

And he could not see a damned thing.

“What’s happening?” Justin said, his voice high, frightened, making him sound even younger than he was.

“Keep it together. This floor has a Safe Zone.” Howard’s voice was strong and sure. “We should be standing right in it.”

Xavier turned to where the others’ voices came from. They were behind him, and suddenly he realised he could see the light of their aura, even if he could not see them. He had not noticed this at first as the light did not spread forth and illuminate anything it touched.

It was an eerie sight. But he supposed a light seen only by those with aura-sight would not be one that illuminated things. There was a certain logic there that he readily accepted.

Still, it was strange seeing their aura, floating in the air, amid an expanse of black.

“This should help...” Siobhan’s voice trailed off. A second later, her aura flared, then bright, orange light burst into their vision. At first harsh in its suddenness, until the warmth of its light flowed around them. A fireball hovered high over her hand, and Xavier was glad she’d gone the generalist elemental route.

“Whoa,” Justin said, the fear that had tinged his voice mere moments ago turning to awe at what lay before them.

The flames’ light didn’t illuminate more than perhaps twenty feet around them, but what he saw took Xavier by surprise. “Good thing we didn’t go wandering off into the dark.”

As the light didn’t reach very far, he wasn’t all that sure of what he was seeing. What he could tell was that they were on a platform made from dirt and stone, like something high up a mountain. The wind was strong, billowing and flapping the sleeves of his dark Shrouded Robes.

Xavier stepped over to the edge of the platform and peered down. But it was futile. Nothing but blackness was down there.

“How far do you think it goes?” Siobhan asked.

Xavier dislodged a small rock from the ground and kicked it off the side. He cocked his head and listened for the rock’s fall, counting the seconds as they passed, trying to recall what terminal velocity was, he’d never paid much attention in physics class—

But the sound never came. He counted a full sixty seconds before he turned to the others. “Very far.” If there even was a bottom at all.

Justin looked at the edge of the platform warily. “This can’t be all this floor is, can it?” He looked around. “Usually we have to fight beasts. Do you think they’re out there… in the dark?”

“We’re in the Safe Zone. No harm should come to us here,” Siobhan said, though her voice had a hint of shakiness to it.

A notification popped up in their vision.

You are currently in a Safe Zone. You party has a combined 1 hour they are allowed to spend within this Safe Zone, starting in 5 minutes.

“Only one hour,” Xavier muttered. “That’s not a long time.” The first Safe Zone had given them 24 hours. Though he didn’t plan to spend any time in the Safe Zone, he wasn’t yet seeing a way out of this one.

Howard was staring at the ground with a frown on his face. “Where’s the door to the Staging Room?”

Xavier blinked. He hadn’t even noticed that it was missing. It should have been the first thing he looked for.

Howard kicked at the ground, took a step, kicked at the ground. The last exit from a floor had been a trapdoor, but there didn’t appear to by anything here.

Xavier’s forehead creased. He dipped his head, and an idea came to him. One he wasn’t very fond of. “Siobhan?”

“Hmm?” Siobhan looked over at him.

“How well can you control that fireball?”

“Pretty well. I can extend it maybe…” She scrunched up her face. “Fifty feet before I lose control. Though I can throw it farther than that.”

Xavier nodded. “Can you send it down around the platform? Let us get a better look at what’s around us?” He’d been looking forward to getting back into the Tower of Champions. Aching to find souls to harvest so he could finally test his new spells—and see how his old spells had changed after being upgraded when he chose the Soul Reaper class.

But so far, this floor felt like a disappointment. Where are all the beasts? He was feeling nostalgic for the last floor, where he was able to fight an entire army. That would have been a lot of souls…

Siobhan walked to the edge of the rounded platform. She peered over the side with a wary expression. Then, without so much as a wave of her hand, the fireball moved—it must have been responding to her thoughts—and sunk down to illuminate whatever was below.

There wasn’t much to see, at least not on this side of the platform. Just that they appeared to be standing on a solitary pillar in the middle of a large expanse of darkness. A pillar that seemed to stretch up from a ground that was either miles away or not there at all.

Like a bottomless pit… but it can’t really be bottomless, can it?

He supposed it didn’t matter. He was sure he could survive a fall from a great height, but there simply wasn’t anything to jump down to.

Even if there was, how would he get back?

Not that there’s a door to the Staging Room here.

Siobhan walked around the edge of the platform, her fireball drifting as though of its own accord., until it came upon a wooden door embedded in the side of the pillar of stone and dirt they stood upon.

There was the tiniest little ledge jutting out from the bottom of the door that must only have been large enough to let a person stand with their feet out sideways.

“Looks like we found our exit,” Xavier muttered.

Siobhan grimaced at the sight of it.

Howard peered down at it with a frown.

Justin’s face paled. “That’s… that’s the exit? But… what if we fall trying to get to it?”

“Then I suppose we die,” Howard said.

“So much for this being a Safe Zone.” Justin shuddered.

Xavier was getting the distinct impression that the teenager was afraid of heights.

“Don’t worry, kid, you’ll be all right.” Howard slapped him on the shoulder. Justin stumbled forward a few steps—closer to the edge—then swiftly shuffled back to the middle.

Xavier was glad they’d found the way out, but he was still confused about this floor. “Extend your fireball out. Let’s see what else we can see.”

Siobhan nodded and did so without complaint.

The fireball hovered away from the platform. Once it got about thirty feet out, it hit a wavy, shimmering wall. The light of the flames couldn’t penetrate the wall, only reflecting off it. It made him recall the second floor’s Safe Zone, which had been inside a cavern. There’d been a wavy barrier like this one.

Once he’d stepped through the barrier, he’d been instantly attacked by whatever was on the side. Maybe it’s not so dark through that. But… how are we supposed to pass through?

The fireball hovered in a great circle around the platform. The wavy wall encompassed it completely, and there was no sign of any other platform—nothing to jump toward.

As the fireball wasn’t on their own platform, all Xavier could see of the others was their aura.

“Well, this is strange,” Howard muttered.

“Maybe there’s light on the other side of the barrier,” Siobhan said.

“But… but how do we get through?” Justin asked. “It’s too far away.”

Xavier judged the distance, thinking about that. If I did a running jump, with my strength as high as it is, would I be able to get through that wall?

Even if he did, there was no telling what was on the other side. He would just plummet straight down. Fall and fall until he hit the ground. Or, if there was no ground, he would fall forever.

The fireball flew back toward them, then came to hover above Siobhan’s head. She frowned at the edge of the platform then raised her staff. “I might be able to create platforms with my earth element.”

“Like steppingstones?” Xavier asked.

She nodded. “But… I don’t know how well I’d be able to keep them up.”

“Do we really think the System is just… making us figure out a way off this rock?” Howard scratched his beard with the top of his shield. “Seems rather cruel.”

“When have you known the System to be kind?” Siobhan asked.

Howard grunted. “Suppose you’re right.”

The five minutes that they were allowed to remain in the Safe Zone before the twenty-four-hour timer began was almost up.

That’s when Xavier spotted something. A large, floating chunk of rock, about half the size of the platform they were already standing on. Except this platform didn’t appear to have anything keeping it up. It emerged from the darkness, hovering through the air like Siobhan’s fireball had done.

And it was heading straight toward them.

“I guess that’s our ride,” Xavier said, stepping over to the edge. He tilted his head to the side. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d come to this floor alone.

Would he have just stood there, locked in the darkness, unable to see a damned thing? Or would his eyes have adjusted? It didn’t appear as though there was any light in this place, so he wasn’t sure what his eyes would be adjusting to, exactly.

He frowned. No, I wouldn’t be in complete darkness. I could cast my Spiritual Trifecta spell on myself. He wasn’t sure how far that light stretched, but he supposed it would have been better than nothing. Besides, he’d gained enough points in his Spirit Attribute that the spell lasted the same amount of time as its cooldown.

Xavier cast the spell upon himself. A brilliant silver light enveloped his body. It was stronger than it had been, with his Spirit attribute at an effective 263. It instantly lit him up with strength of mind, body and magic. It felt like someone stuck him with epinephrine and he’d downed five cans of Red Bull. He took a deep breath, flexed his muscled, and grasped Soultaker in both hands.

When the floating platform was still a few feet from reaching the one they stood upon, Xavier leapt over to it. “You guys stay here,” he told the others. “Head through the Safe Zone door if I’m not back in forty minutes.” Though he didn’t want to be without Siobhan’s light, he was worried about what might be out there.

This floor wasn’t at all what they’d been expecting, and as he wasn’t planning on clearing it right away, he could take a moment and check things out.

I don’t need to put so much pressure on every single second. I’m already well ahead of all the other Champions.

Howard frowned deeply. Siobhan leant on her staff. Justin looked as though he was trying to hide the relief on his face at having been left behind.

Xavier landed easily onto the platform, glad that it didn’t shift under his weight. The moment he stood on it, he felt a mental connection to the platform. He furrowed his brow, focusing his will upon the odd connection, and nudged the platform to float back out of the Safe Zone.

It did so, responding instantly to his will.

The silver light from Spiritual Trifecta spread farther than he’d expected it to. He supposed he tended to use it in the light, not in the darkness, which was probably why he hadn’t thought to instantly use it when they’d arrived. It had never held this utility to him before.

Though it didn’t extend as far as Siobhan’s fireball, and he couldn’t move it away from himself like she could make her fireball hover.

It will have to be enough, unless I can think of something else.

Not sure what he should anticipate on the other side, but knowing that each time in the past that he’d stepped out of a Safe Zone he’d immediately been attacked, Xavier used Spirit Infusion on Soultaker.

Spirit Energy flooded into the staff, illuminating it in a silver glow much like the one around himself.

The energy was stored strongest in the blade, making the dark blade look even more vicious and powerful than it already was.

The platform hovered through the wavy, shimmering wall surrounding the Safe Zone. On the other side, Xavier’s eyes widened. Here, the darkness was still all encompassing. But it wasn’t just the blackness that Xavier could see.

There were hundreds—maybe thousands—of glowing patches of aura.

Though he couldn’t see what beasts or Denizens produced these auras, it was clear to him that whatever they were, they were flying, unhindered, through the expanse of darkness.

And ten of them were flying straight toward him.