Accidental Champion - Chapter 31 - The Whole Damned Game Is Rigged

The others gathered around Siobhan as she began to talk, though Xavier got the sneaking suspicion that Howard and Justin would already know everything she was about to say, considering they’d all been holed up in the same cabin for the past few hours.

Siobhan raised a finger. “First, I can’t believe how fast you managed to clear this floor!” She shook her head. “It’s absolutely insane. The book says that passing the floor in twelve hours is considered to be an elite-level time. Only a few parties in every instance of the Tower of Champions are able to manage that.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow. Twelve hours in an elite time? Well, if most parties from established worlds complete the first floor in one to three days, that does make sense. And it definitely means we’re well ahead of them. Though that didn’t mean he wanted to spend too much time chatting between floors. He might have a gain on other competitors, but he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise that.

“And that’s because they have expensive armour and weapons and have managed to find a good team!” Siobhan shook her head once more. She had an excited, giddiness about her. “Did you know that Champions can choose their party down in the shared space? The tavern, I mean. They can invite people to their party before orientation begins. That’s how elite teams are formed. Cohorts—the others who can enter the tavern—tend to be location-based, and you can only party-up with those in your cohort.

“You can even change parties, but if you’ve cleared more floors than one of your party members, you have to start from their most recent floor. Also, apparently only a few people are willing to take the risk of clearing the floor on their first way through. That’s actually why so many people from worlds like ours die on the first floor. They don’t think to grind out a few levels before moving on through the floor. They don’t read the book, and they don’t realise how difficult the final boss will be to face.”

Xavier nodded along to what she was saying. “I had wondered about that. It’s good that it has that information in there.”

Howard closed his loot box and sat atop the chest. He leant forward, elbows resting on his knees. “I just hope that others are as smart as our Siobhan here and actually read the manual before rushing in.”

Justin frowned. “Maybe we can let others know? At least those in our cohort. We could head down to the tavern…”

Xavier raised a hand, shook his head. “I don’t think we have time for that. Not right now. And besides, I’m sure everyone will be on their floors.”

“Not necessarily,” Howard said, but he didn’t argue the point.

“The fact that the three of you were able to gain titles when I soloed the floor means I think you should stay in the Safe Zones while I fight. That way, you can each progress even without killing beasts.”

Siobhan bit her lip.

“Is something wrong with that plan?” Xavier asked.

“It’s just, according to the book, not every floor has a Safe Zone.” Siobhan flipped to another page in the manual, ran a finger down it. “Floors 3, 6 and 9 don’t.”

Xavier leant forward. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, the others in a semi-circle around him. “What else does it say about the floors?”

“Unfortunately, it isn’t particularly detailed,” Howard said. “I hoped it would give us a rundown of the floors. Apparently, the floors in the tower haven’t changed in the past…” He looked at Siobhan.

“Fifty thousand years.”

Howard nodded. “The composition of each floor has been identical for a long time, but the System restricts specific information about the floors from being distributed.”

Siobhan flipped to another page, then turned the book around and pointed a finger at a footnote at the bottom. “It restricts distribution of floor knowledge via the written word and other recorded communications, however it doesn’t prevent people from talking about it.”

“Which means those from established worlds who have experienced the tower before pass on valuable information on how to effectively clear levels to their children. Or the highest bidder,” Howard grumbled.

“There’s something about a ranking list. Apparently only those from the top families in the entire Greater Universe are the ones who are able to break into the top 100 for a floor, though every thousand years or so there’s an outlier.”

Justin sighed. “Just like Howard said. Nothing is fair. The rich get richer. And the whole damned game is rigged.”

“Most parties only manage to gain a ranking after farming a level over and over, leaving everything but the final boss alive,” Siobhan said, speaking fast from excitement, like she had so much information bottled up within her and it was all exploding out. “It’s a risk, because they might never get fast enough to get to the top 100, and they don’t know what the records are until they get there unless they personally know someone in the top 100.

“And, of course, they can only do the floor once. So, if they finish the floor in 6 hours, but they needed 5 hours and 59 minutes, they’ll never know if they could’ve edged in. It’s easier for those elites to gain the title of being the first in their tower to clear the floor, like the title you gained for us.”

“You’re gonna have to tell us how you managed that,” Howard said. “I think I’m only just starting to realise how damned strong you are.”

Xavier, who’d been nodding to Siobhan’s words as she spoke, was starting to realise the exact same thing. He didn’t anticipate that they would know about the ranking list. He definitely knew he needed to tell them about the solo title, to ensure they didn’t try and take down any monsters, and now… well, he didn’t know why he was keeping it to himself.

These people had chosen Champion because they wanted to fight for Planet Earth. And how exactly would they use this information against him, anyway? What was the harm in them knowing how strong he was?

What Siobhan had been telling him about elite parties having to grind out levels just for a chance at reaching the top 100, and here Xavier was doing it on his first try without farming a single extra level from the floor, made him realise just how much of an anomaly he must be…

I guess I’m one of those outliers.

“So, ah, I think I have something to tell you guys.” Xavier mentioned the Solo Tower Climber 1 title he’d received first, and that it could be upgraded. Then he pursed his lips. “There’s more. You know that list you were talking about?” He looked at Siobhan. “I… ranked 42nd.”

Siobhan blinked. Justin’s mouth fell open. Howard, who’d been drinking one of the cokes Xavier had given them when he’d left the three of them in the Safe Zone, almost choked on it.

“You… what?” Justin blurted.

Siobhan clutched the manual close. “According to the book… that… that should be all but impossible.”

“You did say an elite team could clear it in twelve hours,” Howard muttered. He stared at Xavier, a little wide-eyed. “He’s got no reason to lie.”

“Just how strong are you?” Siobhan whispered.

Xavier wasn’t sure how to answer that. He supposed he didn’t really know. Even after he’d been able to accomplish what he had, he didn’t feelas strong as he could be. He still only had two spells. While they’d reached Rank 3, they hadn’t gotten any stronger than that.

And he only had a single skill. He’d wondered if he would gain any more skills while clearing the floor, but it had never happened.

“I… don’t know. But I think what you’ve told me is giving me a good idea.” He paused, not really sure what else to say on the matter. “Now… I got two skill points from that loot box, along with ten thousand gold. Does it say much about the System Shop?”

Siobhan nodded numbly. “We should be able to get decent gear through it, though higher-grade gear is stat-locked.”

The word “grade” sparked a thought. “F Grade…” Xavier muttered. “Does it say anything about that? And did you find out how to make more Lesser Spirit Coins, like the hologram said we could?”

“We did,” Howard said after Siobhan was quiet for a moment. It seemed she was still processing things. “It’s a process that involves using Spirit Energy. Apparently, you can spend Spirit Energy to make coins. 500 Spirit Energy lets you make a single Lesser Spirit Coin.”

Huh. Xavier had had his suspicions about that, what with the word “Spirit” being in there. “So we can… make money?”

“It takes a bit of skill.” Justin raised his right hand, palm facing up. A silver coin appeared atop it. “I’ve managed to make about two.” He smiled weakly. “But I don’t have the Meditation skill, which also help with health, so the only way I’ve been able to recoup my Spirit Energy is through eating. Though the book says sleeping works for that too.”

Xavier smiled. I knew Meditation would help with that!He wondered if that was the skill he should get next, as he didn’t have the hours to learn the skill without spending a point for it, but thinking about it, he’d never had an issue gaining more Spirit Energy, and with his Toughness where it was… He sighed inwardly. There’s too much to consider.

“All right.” Xavier faced Siobhan. “I know you have a lot to tell me from that book, and, well, I want to know everything, but right now I need to get outfitted for the next floor. Has it mentioned anything about what the best skills to get are?”

Siobhan seemed to snap back to herself. She nodded. “It mentions Identify and Meditation. Apparently Identify is a good skill because it helps parties prioritise what to loot, and as the skill levels it will give more accurate information about an enemy—like what their weaknesses are. Though that works better on beasts than it does on Denizens.”

Xavier nodded. “I’m not sure those skills will be the best for me to choose right now, not when I’m specialising in clearing floors at speed.”

Siobhan smiled. “No, speed-running might require something else.” She raised a finger, then flipped through the pages with her other hand. When she found the spot she wanted, she tapped a specific point on the page. “From the little you’ve said, I think your best options are the Physical Resistance and Magical Potency skills.

“They’re passive skills that level up naturally while taking damage and dealing damage with spells, but they can only be learned through purchasing them. You’ll be gaining more skill points as you clear more floors, so perhaps that will be a good time to get skills like Running to make your movement speed more efficient. Right now, surviving and dealing damage seem like your best bet.”

Xavier frowned, considering the two skills she’d mentioned. Without looking through the entire skills list again, he supposed she was right. Physical Resistance will help me, well, not die. And Magical Potency… it should make almost everything I do better. It will make Spiritual Trifecta andHeavy Telekinesis passively stronger.

“And these skills will gain more ranks as I fight?” He still hadn’t managed to get Staff Mastery to Rank 2, and wasn’t even sure howto yet.

Siobhan nodded. “Yep!”

“And are there… ways that I can learn more spells?”

“Not until level 10,” Howard chimed in. “Apparently that’s when we can upgrade our class.”

“The class upgrade will be based on our actions,” Justin said. “Unlike the Basic Mage and Basic Warrior classes, it will take into account how you have fought and what other things you’ve done between levels 1 and 10, and also what spells you’ve ranked-up, and what ranks they’ve gained. There are even rarity ratings for different classes and class paths.”

“Though you can buy spell books for certain spells, those are prohibitively expensive in the System Shop,” Siobhan said. “According to the book. But we can outfit you with a new weapon from the store.”

“And potions!” Justin said.

“Level 10 is what a lot of the elite teams try to reach before clearing the first floor within 12 hours.” Siobhan was nodding as she spoke. “Because they want to gain their class.”

Xavier stood up. “All right, then. Let’s get me outfitted and ready. Then, I’m going to tackle the second floor.”