Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 37 - Time To Exterminate This Rat

The screeching scream launching out of the mole rat’s throat was louder than any other Xavier had encountered.

He leapt toward the other members of his party, facing up at the beast and quickly scanning it as he raised his Spirit Staff of Might.

{Giant Mole Rat – Level 15}

It was the highest-level beast Xavier had seen in this place. The same level the Puma Prime had been. But he was sure this wasn’t the floor boss.

This was just one of its rat-beasty cronies.

Xavier cast Heavy Telekinesis on the Giant Mole Rat.

You have defeated a Level 15 Giant Mole Rat!

You have gained 1500 Mastery Points.

You have gained 1500 Spirit Energy.

Well, that was easy.

The Giant Mole Rat looked like it had been crushed up into the hole it had tunnelled through. Then the rock around it began to crumble, and it fell down.

Straight at them.

“Move!” Xavier shouted, but there was blood running out of his party members’ ears, and the screeching hadn’t stopped. Nor had the rumbling. It was coming through the walls on every side of them.

Oh, crap, the bastard things are everywhere.

Holes began to form at every side. Xavier lost count. They came so fast he couldn’t wait for Heavy Telekinesis to come off cooldown. He activated Spiritual Trifecta, the rush of energy pumping through every inch of him.

Xavier wasn’t afraid for his own life. He was sure he could take whatever came. But he’d brought these people in here and hadn’t let them progress. He didn’t want them dying, especially since he knew they would restrain themselves from attacking. For him.

They’re my responsibility.

As Xavier sprinted past them at the nearest Giant Mole Rat, he saw Howard pull himself to standing, leaning on his great big tower shield. A glow began to emanate from the man, forming a transparent shield in front of him.

He waved for the others to huddle around him. The transparent shield spread outward, encompassing all three. Some sort of tanky protective spell? Xavier wondered.

If he was going to save these people, he couldn’t focus on them. He had to put his entire focus into the fight.

His body glowing in silver, Xavier had six seconds where his physical and magical power would be boosted. He slammed the head of his new staff into a Giant Mole Rat coming up from the ground by Justin’s feet. Then he whirled, slamming it into the skull of another.

His strikes felt perfect, the knowledge he’d gained from acquiring the Staff Mastery skill guiding him through each movement. He knew exactly where to step. Exactly where to hold the staff.

And the staff… its power reverberated in his hands. When his strikes contacted the enemy, he felt the extra power in them. The extra damage he caused. 5% from Staff Mastery. 15% from the staff itself.

He grinned as blood spattered onto his face, revelling in the thrill of the fight like he never had before. Is this Spiritual Trifecta, doing its work? Or is this enjoyment… all from me?

Another Giant Mole Rat came down from the ceiling, ready to pounce straight onto Howard’s head, teeth no doubt sharp enough to puncture the man’s skull. Xavier slammed it into the wall with his Heavy Telekinesis, then swung back around and slammed his staff into the ribs of a Giant Mole Rat that was rearing back on its hind legs.

The Giant Mole Rats came, one after the other. From above. From below. From the walls on either side of him. Until finally, they all lay dead before him. Nine. This thing had nine level 15 cronies. That makes ninety-nine enemies killed on this floor.

With all those enemies dead, there was still no sight of the big boss. Howard and the others were looking a bit battered—one of the Giant Mole Rats had gotten through Howard’s shield before Xavier could stop it. There was a great big slash in the man’s tower shield. He’d been knocked onto his ass, barrelling into the other two and taking them down with him.

Xavier helped Siobhan to her feet, then Howard and Justin next.

Siobhan clutched one of her ears, the other gripping tight around her staff. Her gaze shifted left and right. “Is it over?” she said quite loudly.

Has she gone deaf? Have they all?

Xavier shook his head. “Almost.” He raised a single finger. “One more,” he enunciated the words clearly, in case they needed to read his lips to understand what he was saying.

At least, I think it’ll only be one more.

The rumbling became louder than ever. He turned to the direction it was coming from, making sure to stand in front of the others.

The wall exploded outward. Rocks pelted toward him, slamming into his legs. His gut. His head. He’d had time enough to cover his face and turn off to the side, the worse of it hitting him in the back.

How is a normal team supposed to survive this level?

The rocks kept plummeting toward him. Howard had his shield up. The others behind him. But that tower shield didn’t look like it would hold for long. Every rock left a massive dent and pushed him back two feet.

The idea came, Xavier hoped not too late. He turned, facing the rocks, one hand flung over his eyes, the other flung forward, staff in hand. He cast his spell.

Heavy Telekinesis!

Xavier dropped his arm, opened his eyes.

The rocks weren’t flung backward like he’d hoped. Instead, they were stopped dead in the air. No, not dead. They were hovering there, vibrating on the spot and slowly rotating, being pushed forward and back minutely, as though it was being acted upon by two opposing forces near in power. He peered through them and saw a large, ugly, rat-like face with a weird, wicked smile contorting it, two long, sharp teeth jutting down over its bottom lip.

Like the Puma Prime had been humanoid, so with this rat-thing. It stepped forward. The rocks fell to the ground, splattering it like heavy rain.

Xavier scanned the beast.

{Rat King – Level 20}

Xavier shook his head. Level 20? He already knew the System wasn’t fair, but he’d thought the tower might be different.

How could a normal party, one from a world like this, expect to survive against this thing? Maybe they would be able to escape. But then, how could they get back to the Safe Zone?

The Rat King held a staff in its hand. Unlike Xavier’s, it was twisted and gnarled. It looked more like a massive branch than an actual magic staff, but it glowed with power all the same.

The beast had a long, thick, prehensile tail that whipped back and forth behind it, tearing rivets into the wall. The Rat King had more bulging muscles on it than a steroid-infused bodybuilder on comp day. It stood nine-feet tall and had an odd beard that made it look like some sort of homeless wiseman or Viking god, the way it was clutching at its staff.

At least, it would have looked like one if it weren’t a damned rat.

Unlike the Puma Prime, it didn’t wear armour. But fortunately for Xavier’s eyes, it did wear clothes. Red robes the colour of blood. They were sleeveless and open at the front, but at least they covered its lower body.

“You have come far to meet your deaths, humans,” the Rat King said. Its voice was absurd. Raspy and high-pitched at the same time, though still menacing.

Xavier stepped forward, hoping to put the damned thing’s attention onto him. He raised his chin. Heavy Telekinesis had already reached the end of its cooldown, but Spiritual Trifecta had worn off and would need a few more seconds. Maybe I can stall this big rat beasty for a moment.

“We didn’t come here to meet our deaths.” Xavier clutched his staff, puffed up his chest. Honestly, he felt more than a little ridiculous, and the raised eyebrow of the Rat King told him it wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. “We came here to mete out yours.”

The Rat King threw its head back and laughter filled the cavern, echoing off the rock walls. Its laugh was so loud it made dust and dirt fall from the ceiling, but at least it didn’t make his ears burn. They’ve stopped ringing. That damned screeching has finally ceased. Maybe the others will be able to hear again soon.

He didn’t know how fast their healing was. I should have looked for health potions at the System Shop. I might have still had a few Lesser Spirit Coins to afford them. Honestly, he simply hadn’t thought he would need them. He still didn’t think he would. But he hadn’t expected to have the others along with him. That hadn’t been a part of the plan. If I tell them to run, will it just shift the Rat King’s attention onto them?

Xavier grinned as Spiritual Trifecta reached the end of its cooldown. He took his staff in both hands. Time to exterminate this rat. He sighed inwardly. Did I really just think that? Damn, that’s cheesy. At least I didn’t say it out loud…

The Rat King finally stopped its laughing. It wiped a tear off its cheek. “You may have killed my children, but they were weak. They were nothing compared to me.” It raised its staff. “I am the Rat King! I rule over the underearth with an iron—”

Xavier didn’t have time for a villainous monologue, especially one from a rat. Not when he was trying to clear this floor fast. He cast Spiritual Trifecta then Heavy Telekinesis a second later, already leaping into the air toward his enemy.

The Rat King wasn’t flung back far, however. It only stumbled a few steps, shock widening its eyes.

Just like the Puma Prime, it appeared to have a resistance to magic. And that resistance must have been quite high, considering how much stronger Xavier had gotten between floors.

He gritted his teeth. Maybe I just need to get some more versatile spells.

Xavier, midleap, struck out for the Rat King’s head. That’s when he noticed the almost imperceptible glow about the king. Some sort of protective spell? Is that why it was able to resist my telekinesis?

Well, whatever it was, Xavier would break through it.

The Rat King’s tail whipped out from behind its back. Though Xavier was plenty fast enough to avoid it, he realised the ten-foot tail wasn’t aiming for him.

It was aiming for the others.

Xavier grit his teeth, following through on his strike. The Rat King’s head snapped to the side, blood flying from its mouth and splattering onto the cave wall.

There was a loud thud behind him. Flesh hitting metal. Xavier couldn’t glance back. There wasn’t time to. All he could do was hope the others would be okay.

Xavier managed to get in two more strikes before he kicked off the beast’s chest. He flipped backward in the air.

Back when he’d done parkour, he’d learnt a few tricks. Flips, strictly speaking, weren’t parkour—he remembered the vast number of arguments and memes about it. But they did look cool. So he’d learnt how to do a wall flip. Though, nine times out of ten he hadn’t managed it.

Hopefully this is the one time I do.

With his newfound strength and speed, he’d kicked off the beast way too hard. He almost slammed into the ceiling, but managed to catch it on his feet and kick off that too.

I wonder if I can learn some sort of acrobatics skill…

He rotated in the air and ended up landing on his feet. As he’d been in the air, he’d seen the others. Howard was picking himself up off the ground on the far-left wall—that tail-whip must have thrown him straight into it, even though he’d gotten his shield up in time to block.

Rocks flew at his party members.

Xavier, landing in a crouch facing the Rat King, cast Heavy Telekinesis again, once more blessing its short cooldown. He cast it on the rocks, stopping them from reaching his party just in time.

He wished he could fling those damned rocks straight at the Rat King, but that didn’t seem possible.

The Rat King had a wicked smile on its face as Xavier ran toward it. It slammed its staff into the ground. The ground shook, opened up beneath Xavier—

And swallowed him whole.