Earth, a few miles from what was once the city of Fronton.
Commander Alden Trellot stood at the top of a tall mountain, looking through his viewing glass at a metropolitan city. It was interesting to see how far this world’s non-System technology had come in the years before it was integrated. He could see the remnants of metal land vehicles, and even something that looked like it had once flown—this had crashed straight into one of the city’s absurdly tall buildi...
2024-02-01 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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[Author Note: I think this is the end of book 2. Chapter 1 of Book 3 will release as normal tomorrow.]
Xavier couldn’t look past this opportunity. He needed to act now. There was only an hour and ten minutes left before they would be returned to Earth, and though he couldn’t wait to get back there, he was pretty darn sure he wouldn’t be able to access the System Shop when he got there.
He selected the one-hour option and found he had two choices—he could e...
2024-01-31 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier stood in the Tower of Champion’s Staging Room, the doors gone, the loot boxes waiting for their recipients to open them, the other three members of his party staring at him in anticipation.
He stared over at Howard. “I’m letting her come to Earth.” He paused. “Along with her party.”
“Are you insane?” Howard asked.
“That… doesn’t seem like a good idea,” Justin said.
“Let’s hear him out.” Siobhan stepped in front of them. “Xavier wo...
2024-01-30 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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[I was wondering when you’d come to this conclusion, Xavier Collins.]
[If you truly want to befriend me, you have no other choice.]
Xavier had just outlined his wishes, stating that for Adranial to come to Earth, she must make a contract with him. At first, he’d worried a contract would not be possible over a Communication Stone, but according to Adranial, making contracts over long distances was one of the functions a Communication Stone had. He didn’t ask...
2024-01-27 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Xavier stared at the communication stone for a long moment. Everything had been going so well. The tenth floor of the Tower of Champions, the last floor before they finally got to return to Earth, had been easy—he hadn’t even needed to kill anyone. It had been a piece of cake.
At least for him.
Justin, Siobhan, they’d come out of the arena without so much as a scratch.
But now Howard…
Xavier had told the man he wouldn’t kill him, that they would find a way to...
2024-01-26 03:26:13 +0000 UTC
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There were no record titles for the tenth floor. The notification stated it, the moment it appeared, so at least he didn’t need to worry that he hadn’t gained one.
There were, however, something called Participation Points. He stared at the notifications for a moment. He got his normal titles for this floor. Solo and first clear—that made him wonder, did everyone get a solo title for the tenth floor? It wasn’t as though they were permitted to go in with their party…
Xavi...
2024-01-25 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Xavier, still sitting cross-legged at the centre of the arena, his Willpower Infusion spell working on every single one of the eleven contenders around him, tried to wear a disarming smile. He wasn’t the most charismatic person around, so he didn’t know how well he was managing.
“Can any of you tell me about the next floors of the tower?”
He’d commanded each of them to stop, and so right now he realised they couldn’t actually speak. He adjusted the command, al...
2024-01-24 05:12:34 +0000 UTC
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The moment the barrier disappeared, Siobhan ran. She turned and sprinted away from the circle of Champions. The last thing she wanted was to get mixed up in the initial frenzy she was sure was about to happen. She remembered watching the Hunger Games. Being in the thick of things, where death could come in an instant, wasn’t where she wanted to be.
As she ran, she summoned her Divine Guardian. A purple puddle of light materialised on the ground, quickly forming into her const...
2024-01-23 05:38:15 +0000 UTC
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Justin didn’t like this one bit. The barrier around him came down. He took a step backward. It wasn’t that he was worried about killing these people—maybe he should be worried about that, but he wasn’t. He’d do what do what he needed to do to survive, just as he had been doing since the System arrived on Earth and changed everything.
No, what he was worried about was losing.
I want to get back to Earth. Want to find my mother… and I want to protec...
2024-01-20 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier raised an eyebrow as he looked around the arena. This place… it reminded him of the Colosseum in Rome. He would have thought the arena was beautiful, if not for the brutality of what it was used for.
He reread the message from the System.
The Melee is a challenge of survival! You will be marked on your participation!
He frowned, tilting his head to the side. He stood on a small, circular platform, one just big enough to fit his feet, really. There w...
2024-01-19 04:11:21 +0000 UTC
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Howard’s eyes widened as his Bulwark barrier burst at the might of the warrior’s hammer strike. He cursed the System for putting him into this situation. For throwing him into an arena, forced to fight other Champions.
At least they aren’t Champions from Earth…
He wasn’t a fool. When his Bulwark spell had been up, he hadn’t just stood there idly watching as it was ever more weakened by the hammer-wielding warrior attacking it. He’d been infusing Toughness En...
2024-01-18 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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You are being sent to The Melee in 3 seconds. Prepare yourself!
Prepare yourself?Siobhan gulped. I’m not bloody prepared!
She gripped her staff more tightly than she ever head. When she’d first been integrated into the System, she’d fully intended to go the route of a damage-dealing mage, but things had changed soon after she’d met Xavier. That man didn’t need her dealing damage, and another path had become the one she wished to walk.
2024-01-17 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“You really think we have something to worry about?” Justin asked.
They were sitting around a table of their own in the tavern. Xavier had taken a seat, nursing his whiskey as he’d listened to them tell the parties present all the details about the floors they’d just been through. When they reached the end, the three of them came to join him, and he’d told them of Sam’s words, and that he hinted a warning within them.
“I don’t know.” Xavier shrugged. “But we sh...
2024-01-16 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier tapped his fingers on the bar as he watched Sam. The barkeep picked up the Sanctuary Seed again, then held up the Seed Garden, then finally looked at the Portal Hub.
“Having all this…” Sam shook his head. “It’s rather amazing, you know.” He smiled, wistfully. “I’ve been doing this caretaker gig for a while. Seen a lot of Progenitors. Seen them strive, succeed, fail. Many of the Progenitors I’ve encountered haven’t had to deal with invaders. You would think tha...
2024-01-13 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Stepping into the tavern always felt like stepping into a different world. Xavier breathed in the smell of mead and ale and beer. Felt the warmth of the many fires burning. He closed his eyes and let it all settle over him for a moment.
Then he strode over to the bar. There were a few parties scattered at different tables. He noticed some of the Champions nudging at each other and gesturing toward them—and they weren’t all people he recognised. Word about what he’d done must have ...
2024-01-12 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys!
I've just released a complete box set of another of my LitRPG series over on Amazon. Three books, a finished, complete story, over 380k words. And right now, it's only 99c! Or free on Kindle Unlimited.
It would really mean the world to me if you checked it out. I value all the support I've gotten from every one of my readers here on Patreon, on RR, and on Amazon, and am so glad I get to continue writing for a living thanks to all of you!...
2024-01-12 03:09:23 +0000 UTC
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For the second time, Xavier materialised on the Tower of Champion’s ninth floor. He’d felt a little foolish when he’d grabbed the doorhandle, assuming a sprinter’s position, his scythe-staff still within his Storage Ring—he figured holding the weapon as he ran might slow him down, even if only by a small amount.
There were many hundreds of spiders within the dungeons, though Xavier hadn’t kept an exact count, he had been able to significantly replenish his soulkeepi...
2024-01-11 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier peered into the final chamber of the Tower of Champion’s ninth floor, looking up at the floor boss.
“This seems easy enough,” he muttered. He looked away from the chamber and at the others. “All right. Time to head back and refresh this floor.” He smiled. “We’re almost there. Almost to the tenth floor!”
Siobhan had a frown on her face. “Something feels too easy about this.”
“Too easy?” Justin scratched at his nose. “Of course it’s ...
2024-01-10 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier cocked his head, listening to the far-off roar. The sound echoed through the ancient-looking stone hallways.
Howard stepped forward, a hand on the haft of his double-bearded axe. “No notification appeared.”
“They don’t always,” Justin said. “Only on certain floors. The first few floors never had any, remember?”
Xavier nodded. He walked over to the exit hallway. There wasn’t a door, only an arch. The roar was still echoing, though it sounded even farthe...
2024-01-09 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier felt a definite sense of déjà vu inside the Staging Room. He tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck satisfyingly. The loot boxes sat at the centre of the room, just like they always did. He felt a thrill of excitement, staring at his.
He hadn’t expected to be this excited about the loot boxes, not when he had plenty of Minor Spirit Coins in his Storage Ring, but it seemed as though the System was handing him the very things he might need in the future.
2024-01-06 06:00:01 +0000 UTC
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You have gained 3 Mastery Points (E Grade).
You have gained 200,000 Lesser Spirit Coins.
You have received a Sanctuary Seed.
Three Mastery Points?
His journey toward Level 101 was looking to be a long one. Xavier released a sigh. The Lesser Spirit Coins, at least, were slowly increasing, even if they weren’t a great deal to him.
This amount of Lesser Spirit Coins will really help the other Champion...
2024-01-05 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Xavier stepped back into the Staging Room, feeling accomplished. There were an infinite number of universes. In many of those, he imagined Princess Narella had died while being escorted to the Galavantian Kingdom. Or that she hadn’t reached the place in time. Hell, there might even be Champions who simply abandoned the woman in the forest to farm monsters.
All in all, he was finding the Tower of Champions to be… a rather cruel invention for anyone who actually summoned a Champion.
2024-01-04 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Xavier did not want to spend two days in this place. He needed to know exactly how to get to the Kingdom of Galavantian, so he was willing to follow the princess’s honour guards as they led the way, but he wasn’t willing to make this take any longer than it needed to.
He was foolish to think he could blast through the last floors in a mere matter of hours. Foolish to think that some complication wouldn’t arise. The difficulty level of this challenge might be well below him, but th...
2024-01-03 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Xavier grasped the doorhandle, ready to enter the seventh floor of the Tower of Champions. He was a little worried that the System would force a break on him—like it did after he’d completed the third floor. Back then, he’d not been able to enter the next floor for ninety hours as he’d passed the first Milestone.
That better not happen again.
A notification appeared as he touched the handle.
Congratulations! You have cleared the first six floors of t...
2024-01-02 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Xavier returned to the Staging Room like a man on a mission, sprinting up the stairs with a sense of urgency he hadn’t felt since his body had been degrading. It turned out what he wanted and what he needed were two very different things. He wanted to linger on the last few floors and give his friends more levels. He’d thought that’s what they needed. Him to be there to help powerlevel them.
But he’d been distracted. Everything was feeling too easy, and that was a trap. Only a s...
2023-12-30 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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A bright light filled the stone room. Colours blossomed from this light, just as they had blossomed from the Spirit of Protection when he’d summoned it.
Who will I be communing with this time?
The brightness of the light dimmed until a figure could be seen. The figure was smaller than the last spirit he’d summoned. It looked humanoid and wore pristine white robes. Like the spirit before it, its features were obscured beneath a large hood.
Greeting, Deniz...
2023-12-29 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Xavier gazed at the enemies remaining on the second floor of the goblin keep. Even with all his spell and ability experimentation he was still moving through the floor faster than the other members of his party had.
Once the imbued ability, Buffer, had ended, Xavier twirled his scythe-staff about him, lazily lopping off the heads and limbs of any goblins dumb enough to get within range. There was no difficulty to this, and so he took little enjoyment from the fight. He also didn’t gai...
2023-12-28 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Killing these goblins felt like the easiest thing in the Greater Universe, to the point where it was difficult to test his new abilities on them.
His Soul Shatter spell, which caused a burst of soul damage against an enemy, harnessing their own soul, had two paths: area-of-effect damage, or single-target damage. As it was still only Rank 1, he could use either path.
When he cast it for the first time he used it as an area-of-effect spell. It cleared the entire first floor of the k...
2023-12-27 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Once Xavier concluded his conversation with Sam, he’d turned and faced the ten parties sitting down at the tables around the tavern. Some sat close together, drinking and talking loudly, others farther apart, huddled and whispering. One party sat at the far corner of the tavern, drinking with a quiet determination. There were only three members of that party. He could guess what had happened to the fourth.
With all the Denizens—adventurers—in the tavern, weapons at their ...
2023-12-26 06:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Xavier walked into the tavern at the bottom of the Tower of Champions. His gaze panned around, taking in the different parties. There were currently ten parties in the tavern, more than he’d ever seen before. Warriors. Mages. Most parties had at least two of each. Only a couple of them wore equipment that hadn’t been handed to them at the time of integration, though the majority had a single piece of new equipment—something they must have gotten after clearing the first floor.
He ...
2023-12-23 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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