Accidental Champion of Earth - Chapter 14: First Champion of Planet Earth

One moment Xavier Collins was standing in the cafeteria of his university’s campus, scrambling to get as much food, drinks and coffeeinto his Storage Ring as possible after being pulled from his class earlier in the day and forced to “fight” a Navy Seal, then thrown back to his campus to fight fifty little green goblins from another world.

The next moment, he was the one being sent to another world. A pocket world… Whatever that is.

It wasn’t the same as being pulled into that room filled with nothingness where he’d first been judged by the System. It was faster. Instantaneous.

Xavier stood within a small room that looked somewhat medieval. Stone floors. Brick walls. A bed was pushed up to the bricks on one side of the room with fresh grey robes folded at the head. A solid wooden chest sat at the end of the bed. It had an open padlock and a key sitting atop it.

At the other side of the room was a small writing desk, with a shelf that looked large enough to fit perhaps five books atop it. There was a wooden stool in front of it, but no writing implements to be seen. A lit candle burned atop the writing desk, providing the only light in the entire room.

What… is this place?

He’d imagined many rooms like this. When reading fantasy novels, or trying to write his own. It looks like… like the room of an apprentice? Was this supposed to be his room? He looked down at himself and blinked. His robes were still in tatters. Still covered in red and green blood. Plus other things he’d rather not list. But while his clothes were ruined and dirty, his body was entirely clean.

Did the teleportation do that? Thinking of all the sci-fi novels and shows he had consumed, he had an awful thought and wondered if every atom in his body had been split apart and put back together during the transfer. Am I even me anymore?

For a few seconds he stared off into space having a full-on existential crisis. Then he shook his head and changed into the fresh set of robes.

A notification popped into his vision.

XAVIER COLLINS, World Defender of Planet Earth, as you are the first of your world to reach the Tower of Champions Pocket World, you have unlocked a unique title.

What? Xavier thought. Another one!?

Title Unlocked!

First Champion of Planet Earth: You are the first Potential Champion of your world to reach the Tower of Champions Pocket World.

You have received: +5 to all stats.

Xavier felt a little shaken as ever more power coursed through his body. After having changed into the new robes, throwing the old ones into the corner of the room, he plopped himself on the bed and took a deep breath, letting it out slow.

So much had happened, and only a single day had passed. He was getting all of these advantages that no one else was. The first this, the first that… He wasn’t complaining, he was just… getting a little overwhelmed.

Before I leave this room, I need to look at my stats. I need to see where I’m at, and apply the 5 free stat points I still have from gaining level 4. He had no idea what would be outside of that door. No idea what the “Tower of Champions” even was.

He brought up his status and personal information for the first time since he had finished his first quest and gained all of those titles.

XAVIER COLLINS

Age: 20

Race: Human

Grade: F

Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth)

Class: Basic Mage

Level 4

Strength: 23

Speed: 20

Toughness: 31

Intelligence: 29

Willpower: 34

Spirit: 31

Mastery Points until next level: 100/12000

Available Spirit Energy: 2000/3500

Available Skill Points: 1

Free stat points remaining: 5

Titles: Bloodied Hands, Born on a Battlefield, Settlement Defender, Quester, 100 Stats, First to 100 Stats, First Defender of Planet Earth

Spells List:

Spiritual Trifecta – Rank 2

Heavy Telekinesis – Rank 2

Xavier’s heart pumped hard against his chest as he saw how high his stats had become in such a short time. He knew that whatever this was, it was only the beginning. I’m only level 4… but with all the titles I’ve gained…

He bit his lip and did some math. The answer came to him quickly. He gained a total of 8 stat points every level—3 of which were automatically assigned, and 5 of which he could assign freely. With all the titles, he’d gained 110 extra stat points.

That’s 13 levels worth of attributes! 13.75, to be precise. Which would make his effective level for someone who hadn’t received all these titles… Level 17!

All right. Let’s not get ahead of myself. I still don’t know what awaits me outside. He looked at his attributes another moment before throwing all 5 of his free points into Spirit, bringing it up to 36 and making his Spirit Energy limit 4000. Though he still wasn’t sure exactly what each attribute did for him, he knew Spirit helped his most powerful spell: Spiritual Trifecta.

Without that spell, he wouldn’t have survived, and he certainly wouldn’t have killed all of those goblins so quickly. It’s a rare spell, and I chose to generalise in it, which is even rarer… and I seem to have an affinity for Spirit, starting at 10 stat points… is that why I was able to complete my quest faster than everyone else?

He also wasn’t worried about min-maxing his stats anymore, not after he’d received all of those titles. He likely had as much Strength, Toughness and Speed as any Warrior of his own level, and far more than any other Mage.

One thing he didn’t know what to do about was the skill point he’d received. He looked at the door of the room. Maybe there will be people out there who can help me. This is supposed to be where my tutorial is, right? He remembered what the information had said about being a Champion:

Once a Potential Champion has been tested against other Potentials and found to meet the requirements, they will be sent to a pocket world to experience their tutorial, where they will be pitted against other World Champions to fight for rewards, upgrades, powerups…

He hadn’t read more than that, and right now, he really wished he had.

Why am I still waiting in here? I’ve already proved I should be here. In fact, I’ll be the first from my world who has! He smiled. A tutorial is just the thing I need to figure out what the hell is going on.

Xavier stood, looked down at his robes, then nodded to himself and muttered, “Time to see what this new world has to offer.” He made sure the Storage Ring was on tight—it seemed to magically adjust to the size of his finger—held his staff in his left hand, then opened the door. As he did, he realised there was a key sitting in the lock. He took it, stepped out of the door, and locked it behind him, then placed the key into his Storage Ring.

The hallway was long. Really long. Looking off to the left, he saw hundreds—maybe thousands—of different doors. The same was true for the right. The architecture was like the room he had been in. Stone and brick. Scones along the walls held lit torches, illuminating the space in flickering flaming light. It reminded him of a castle, which only made him more excited.

Every twenty doors or so was an archway. He headed to the closest and found a circular stairwell leading up and down. There hadn’t been any windows in his room, so he had no idea what might be outside.

I guess I’ll head down. Maybe I’ll find out.

He wished he had more information about what this place was. He had thought he might be greeted by someone when he arrived, but so far it looked like he was the only one here. I suppose I am the first one here… Though when he had read that he would be pitted against other World Champions, and then that he was the first from “Planet Earth” to arrive, he had to wonder if there were other races from other worlds here.

Maybe I’ll meet some races who are more friendly than the goblins…

He sighed and headed down the stairs. As he walked, he checked in on his health.

Your heath is at 65%.

He blinked when he saw it. His health should have been around 50%. Maybe 55%. Though it felt like a lot had happened since he’d reached level 4, less than ten minutes had passed. How had he regenerated 15% of his health in that time?

I guess that’s thanks to all my Toughness? He supposed the Toughness attribute was a mix between Vitality and Endurance like in a video game. And Speed is Dexterity and Agility. But I’m still wondering why I don’t have a Perception stat. Surely my senses are important?

As he walked down the stairs, he took a few chocolate bars out of his Storage Ring, eating them with the excuse that they would help his health regenerate and gain him more Spirit Energy.

He’d chomped down ten chocolate bars by the time he’d made it to the bottom of the steps. Disappointingly, that had only added 50 points into his Spirit energy and healed his health by about 5%. Still worth it. He stashed the wrappers in his Storage Ring, not wanting to litter. I should make sure to keep it clean in there…

At the bottom of the stairs was another hallway, this one far wider than the last. Though it lacked all the doors the floor he had just left had, it did have the same archways. To the left was a dead end. To the right, a single door.

He headed down the quiet hallway, his steps echoing ominously in the empty space. There hadn’t been any enemies here—not yet—but he couldn’t help but feel wary. I haven’t spoken to anyone since all of this began. I’m a loner… but I could really use some company right now.

When he opened the door at the end of the hall, he had been expecting to find an exit. A way outside. Instead, he’d entered…

“A tavern?”