Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 41 - Do You Wish To Learn This Spell?

Xavier held his breath as he selected Spell Book from the loot box’s notification.

A moment later, a Spell Book appeared in his hand. It was the same size as the one that Siobhan had sitting in her lap. It was a leather-bound book that looked like it had five hundred pages.

He ran a hand over the cover, feeling the indentations that had been worked into the dark leather. Some arcane symbol had been carved into it. An eight-pointed star. Does this symbol have some sort of significance? He didn’t think Siobhan’s had been the same, though her book sat open, so it was hard for him to know.

Xavier sat down, his back against his loot box, and opened the book. Most of the pages appeared to be stuck together, and so he was only able to open it to a single spot near the middle. I wonder what will happen when I learn the spell. Will this book disappear?

He read the page on the left.

This Spell Book is nontransferable. Only XAVIER COLLINS is permitted to learn spells from this book. If the book is stolen or lost, it will return to him within 24 hours.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. Siobhan hadn’t mentioned the bit about it returning to him. The others were watching him. They clearly wanted to peer at the page, but they were patiently waiting for him to tell them what the spell would be.

He looked over at the page on the right. Part of him dreaded seeing what was there. If it’s some healing spell like Siobhan got, I’ll be sorely disappointed. But if the System worked like he was beginning to think it did, the chances of that were basically nothing.

Spirit Break – Rank 1

Spirit Break is a rare Mage spell that is rarely learnt by human Mages and is only available to those with a naturally strong Spirit. Spirit Break has several different paths, and is an incredibly difficult spell to master.

Spirit Break is an offensive spell that uses the Spirit Energy within an enemy against them. It can break an enemy’s body, mind and magic. As a Mage advances, they may choose to specialise in one area, generalise in all, or abandon the path altogether.

Unlike other spells, generalising in Spirit Break does not hinder the power of each of this spell’s abilities as achieving Rank 2 in Spirit Break is only achievable by rare individuals.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Do you wish to learn this spell?

Xavier blinked. He tilted his head to the side. Another spirit-based spell? The wording sounded quite similar to that of Spiritual Guidance when he’d first learnt it. Though this was different.

Instead of enhancing himself, it… weakened others?

That could have a lot of potential. He imagined what it could have done to the Rat King. Might he have been able to cripple its magic? Destroy its mind? Break its body?

Though Xavier had yet to lose a fight, he’d never had a spell like this. Something that could seriously hinder a strong opponent like the floor bosses he would continuously face.

He smiled, looking forward to testing this spell. Though he wasn’t sure how he felt about breaking an enemy’s mind, he knew that he would have to use every tool at his disposal.

It’s not like I don’t break a lot of bones, what’s adding minds on top of that…

“Well?” Siobhan asked excitedly. Her hands were folded in her lap, and it seemed like she was forcing them to stay there. “What spell is it?”

Xavier saw Justin looked just as eager as Siobhan. Even Howard was leaning forward a bit, though his expression was carefully blank. Xavier didn’t make them wait. He explained to them what the spell was called and what it did.

Then, not wanting to waste any time, Xavier ran a hand over the text at the bottom of the page, beneath the spell’s description.

Do you wish to learn this spell?

Yes, he thought, pushing his will.

You have gained the spell Spirit Break.

The Spell Book snapped closed with so much strength that it hurt Xavier’s hand, which was still inside of it. He pulled his hand out, flapping it with a wince, and the book snapped the rest of the way shut.

Xavier frowned. The pain in his hand went away in a second or so. He looked down at the Spell Book. Part of him had been expecting it to disappear once he learned that spell, so he was a little surprised it was still there. He tried to open the book again, but it wouldn’t budge, even when he put all of his strength into it. And he’d gotten mighty strong in the last few days.

Still, it wouldn’t budge. He frowned at it. “That’s odd.” He didn’t think it was worth using Spiritual Trifecta to boost his strength and try again. Something told him that book wouldn’t open until he had another spell to learn.

It must be connected to the System somehow. Maybe. I don’t know how this all bloody works…

He grinned at the others. “I’ll test the spell out when we enter the third floor. Maybe I’ll be able to rank it up before I reach level 10 and gain my next class.” Something told him that would be an important thing to do, if he wanted to influence what classes he could choose from.

Now that he’d learnt his third spell, he was curious to see if there were any costs to ranking it up to the second rank like there had been for his other spells.

Xavier looked over at the door. He was eager to head to the next floor, but there were still a few things they needed to do.

Siobhan learnt her healing spell, which was called Heal Other. Howard and Justin consumed their Attribute Tokens. Literally consumed. Apparently they had to swallow the large, wooden coins. Xavier winced, touching his neck as he watched their throats bob, imagining the coins leaving splinters.

When the tokens had been consumed, Howard looked a little broader and Justin looked a little sharper and more slender, though the difference might not be all that perceptible if one wasn’t looking for it.

Xavier couldn’t help but look down at his robes and wonder what his body looked like underneath them now. How ripped and strong have I become with all these attribute points? It was a vain thought that he discarded, pushing on to the next task.

He allocated his 5 free stat points. Seeing that he had 97 points in Spirit, and now having just gained a second spirit-based spell, he put 3 points into the attribute to bring it up to 100. He put the other 2 points into Intelligence, bringing it to 92 without the percentage boost from his Magical Potency skill. As much as he enjoyed fighting up close, he wanted to strengthen his spells.

Next, he looked into what new skills he should learn.

After a brief discussion with the others, they all agreed that the most important thing for Xavier was still staying alive.

So he chose Magical Resistance as the first of his two skills, considering how well Physical Resistance had been fairing for him so far.

You have learned the skill Magical Resistance!

Magical Resistance – Rank 1

You are a student of magic, and all those who wield magic must learn to defend against its power.

+5% damage reduction from magical attacks.

+5% Willpower.

Willpower? Xavier hadn’t realised Willpower had something to do with defence against magic, but he supposed that made complete sense. He hadn’t been attacked by very many magical spells.

Being trapped in the earth, and having rocks thrown at him, those hadn’t been purely magical attacks against his person like throwing magical fire, or using telekinesis on him might be.

Maybe I already have fairly strong Magical Defence, he thought. Though he supposed more could never hurt.

The next skill choice was a difficult one. He struggled to decide between Physical Damage and Running. The first time that Xavier had seen the Running skill he’d figured learning it would be a waste of time or a waste of a skill point. He’d figured at some point he would gain a Skill Quest for it, like he had for Meditation.

But despite how much he’d been running, none had come.

That’s likely another advantage Champions from other worlds have… they would have trained skills before gaining the System, and would know how to get Skill Quests for them…

Now, Running seemed like a very important skill. No matter how quickly he’d been able to clear that previous floor, it hadn’t been fast enough. He may have done it before anyone else in their instance of the Tower of Champions, but he hadn’t gotten a top 100 record for it.

Did I just happen to fall into the best strategy for that first floor? he wondered. Am I going to replicate something like that again?

He stared at the skill selection menu, looking at Running. Looking at Physical Damage. He knew which one he wanted to choose. Physical Damage was the obvious choice for him. He was all about raw power, and he was sure this would help with that.

But Running would make him faster…

He contemplated the floor he’d just cleared. Had Speed been my downfall there? Or had it been a lack of strategy? A lack of preparation and awareness in battle?

For all he knew, he could have been seconds away from getting into the top 100. If he’d taken down that Rat King more efficiently…

I’m procrastinating too much. Doubting myself too much. I can always get Running later. He couldn’t afford to waste time being indecisive. There was a difference between taking time to consider a decision and obsessing over it.

Sometimes you just had to do it.

You have learned the skill Physical Damage!

Physical Damage – Rank 1

You are a student of hitting things really hard. Your physical attacks are infused with a strength that improves every strike you land.

+5% damage to all physical strikes.

+5% Strength.

Xavier felt the Strength boost instantly. His muscles tensed slightly as the attribute points were boosted. When they came in titles, the rush was too much for him to perceive each difference. But the more it happened, the more he was beginning to feel it, and Strength was always the easiest one for him to notice changing.

He was glad the Physical Damage skill had a percentage boost to Strength. He hadn’t known if it would.

Xavier looked down at his hands, clenched his fists, and smiled. And this is just what I gain when I’m not fighting. The rewards between floors were beginning to feel more and more important, especially now that he’d gained a new spell.

He looked at the others. It was time to check the System Store. He wondered if they would offer him the Lesser Spirit Coins they’d gained once more…