When Xavier and the others returned to camp, Xavier decided it was about time he have a nap. He honestly wasn’t sure when the last time he’d slept was, and though sleeping wasn’t something that was strictly necessary for him anymore, it was still something he very much liked to do.

Besides, he was sure his mind and body needed it. Maybe even his soul, too.

The bed in his chambers was even more comfortable than he’d expected. It was also far larger than the single bed back in his old apartment. He spread out on it, felt his body sink slightly into the mattress as it conformed to his shape, and closed his eyes.

He doubted he would be able to get much sleep—maybe a few hours—before there was something else that needed his attention, but it was such a satisfying feeling to rest.

He felt the tension that had been pulling at every inch of his body slowly disappear.

It didn’t take him long to drift off.

A notification was what finally woke him. He rubbed at his eyes. Sat up on the bed. And stared at the words streaming across his vision.

“Huh.”

There would be no contender today.

That made Xavier scratch his head. Not at all what he’d been expecting.

He had imagined that every day, for the full five days, someone would come and try to take the base from him. But it appeared as though that wasn’t the case.

Maybe they’ve finally taken my message to heart.

Killing the council had been an act of revenge, but it had also been a tactical choice. That hadn’t been purely something he’d said to justify his actions.

Not purely.

It had shown the sector that he was willing to retaliate, even while he was still only E Grade.

A part of him wondered if, at some point, that decision would backfire. What if one of the other worlds tried to provoke him into coming to their world, and this time, they were actually ready for him? He bit his lip.

That isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

He would also have to be careful when he ventured off to another world, something he would need to do for training. If someone were to discover him, things might not go too well.

I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. There’s enough to do on Earth right now that I don’t need to go gallivanting to other planets right away.

Though no contenders were currently on their way to the base, the notification did say that there would be a potential ally on their way. He had almost forgotten that Denizens would be allowed to come here for the purpose of making alliances.

Xavier sat up. Stretched his arms. He felt wide awake. Rested. Alert. That made him smile. He couldn’t help but remember that, not long ago, he’d been a tired student who never woke up feeling fully rested and alert.

Now, he felt absolutely amazing, basically all the time.

And this wasn’t even the best he would feel. Getting older wouldn’t cause a decline in his health, it would simply allow him more time to become stronger.

Xavier couldn’t be sure that the entire sector had gotten his message yet. He still needed to check on other Safe Zone cities before he could confirm that they were no longer surrounded by enemy invaders, and he had to ensure that other invasion camps had retreated back through their respective portals, but he had a good feeling about this.

He walked out of his chambers and headed down the stairs of the main tower. For the first time since he’d returned to Earth—perhaps for the first time since the integration—he didn’t feel rushed. That sense of great urgency that always pulled on him was now absent.

He still felt some urgency. To move forward. To gain levels. Ranks. There was a lot he needed to do over the next five years. And there were more things to worry about than just what was happening on Earth.

Now that he felt like he was making progress solving his problems at home, he remembered the big problem that his Otherworldly Communion spell had shown him.

In the last ten thousand years, since the Silver River sector—also known as the milky way galaxy—had first started being integrated into the System, it had been purged twice.

Every single Denizen on every single integrated world had been destroyed.

And the insight he’d received from the spell had warned him that the sector was in danger of another purge. He didn’t know how far away that purge was. It could be a thousand years from now, a hundred, or ten.

A weight settled onto Xavier’s shoulders. The weight of not only this world, but every other world in the sector.

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He didn’t know how far away this threat was, but he did know he needed to become strong enough to combat it.

One step at a time.

First, he wanted to ensure Earth was strong. He wanted to put his people on the right path. Not just here, on his base, but all around the world.

I guess that means someone’s going to have to lead.

Xavier panned his vision, gazing at everyone in camp. There were a lot more people here than there had been when he’d first grown the base from the Sanctuary Seed. More than double, since Allegra brought the former captives of Commander Valian’s invasion camp here. Howard, Justin, Siobhan, Allegra, and Melissa were all here, too.

As Xavier stepped out of the tower, people noticed him. They started to gather around him, in a semi-circle in front of the tower he’d just exited. This wasn’t what he’d been expecting. He hadn’t woken up from his nap with a fully formed speech. He’d just stumbled down here to see how things were going.

But he could tell they all expected him to talk. Expected him to say something.

A bit of his old anxiety and social awkwardness came out of nowhere, and he felt a flutter in his stomach. Public speaking never had been his strong suit, after all. But considering all he’d been through since the integration, it really shouldn’t bother him as much as it did. If he could risk his life, not to mention kill thousands and thousands of enemy Denizens—many of them human—then he could talk in front of a crowd.

Especially a crowd that looked up to him. A crowd that knew exactly who he was and what he’d done. He didn’t have anything to prove to these people. That thought alone was a relief.

Xavier ran his fingers through his hair as he looked out at all of them. “I’m not usually one for speeches. My words tend to be better on the page than they are aloud. But I figured I ought to say something, since you’re all gathered here.”

His head dipped down. Then he remembered something he’d been taught early on in school, to pick a person or two out of the crowd and just focus on talking to them, rather than everyone.

So that’s what he did. He focused on the members of his party. People he’d been fighting beside. People he’d drank with. Slowly, he felt a little more relaxed.

“I have just sent a message to Earth’s enemies. One I already know is spreading through the sector, from one world to another. That message is that Earth is off-limits. That the invasion forces need to leave. That our people should no longer be killed or enslaved. And that if they are… there will be dire consequences.”

There was a hush after his words. People glanced at each other, but they didn’t say anything.

“I will need time to investigate. To ensure that this warning has been heeded.” He paused, his gaze drifting from Howard and Siobhan to the others gathered. Many looked unsure. As though they didn’t believe what he was saying could be possible.

So he explained to them how it could be.

After that, people visible relaxed a bit more. He could see it in the set of their shoulders and the general way in which they carried themselves.

And he was glad for it. There was much to do. Both in the base and outside of it. He wanted his people—for everyone within this camp was a citizen of the new society he was trying to foster here on Earth—to feel safe.

The first step in that would be empowering them all. Every single one of the former captives, the ones that Xavier had saved, and the ones that Justin and Allegra had saved, were only Level 1. They hadn’t so much as killed a single enemy—beast or Denizen. Not even John Hammond, who seemed to have his head screwed on straight, had ventured out of the base to fight.

He’d probably get killed out there, being so low level.

But it was time to change that. It was time to change a lot of things in this place. Time to find blacksmiths and alchemists. Time to find gardeners and cooks. Time to harvest crafting materials and see if it was possible to connect to the System Shop. Time to find people of all types to help the cause.

And it was time to find not only the family of his party members, along with his own mother, but the families of everyone else here. With the number of Blood Trackers that he possessed, he could only use so many at a time, but fortunately after he’d found Howard, he’d discovered Blood Trackers could be reset and used on someone else.

The task list kept getting longer in his mind. Overwhelmingly long.

Part of him was excited at the prospect of accomplishing everything on the list, but he also knew he couldn’t keep it all in his head, nor that he could do it all on his own. He needed…

An assistant.

“Guardian, at your service!” Guardian, the golem defender that he’d summoned for the base, saluted Xavier. The massive construct swayed slightly in front of Xavier—from the force of his salute, perhaps.

Xavier smiled. “I have a few things for you to do while I’m gone, is that alright?”

Guardian lowered its hand, resting it by his side, and cocked its large head. “Guardian is here to help. Guardian would much rather do something than stand around waiting for something to happen.

Xavier gave Guardian some orders. The golem constantly nodded as Xavier spoke. He wasn’t sure if it was endearing or annoying, which was a common way he thought about the golem.

Once Xavier had finished telling him everything that needed to be done—all the tasks that he was struggling to fit inside of his head—the golem stopped nodding.

Guardian tapped a foot on the Earth. “Guardian is glad you are finally using its services. Guardian is here to serve. I have put the tasks in order of easiest to complete to hardest to complete. Gaining a System Shop requires your base meet a certain threshold. Your base does not yet meet this threshold.”

“What threshold does the base need to meet?”

Guardian stood there for a moment. The golem went completely still. Xavier couldn’t help but count the time.

Fifteen seconds passed before it replied.

“Your base needs to have one hundred of its citizens reach Level 30 before connection to a System Shop becomes possible.”

Xavier blinked. “The base doesn’t even have one hundred citizens.”

“Yes. One of the tasks I have added to the list it to gain more citizens.” Guardian nodded to itself. “Though that should be self-evident.”

Xavier released a sigh. He supposed it wouldn’t be too difficult to achieve. He imagined plenty of people would want to join him once he made his presence known. And getting his citizens to Level 30 shouldn’t be all that hard, either. There would be plenty of beasts around for them to fight, not to mention the dungeons nearby for them to power level inside.

He just knew how important gaining access to the System Shop would be for his people.

Xavier stood there a moment, contemplating the best way for all this to happen.

Guardian tilted its helmet-head to the side. “Why do you sigh? My data tells me you have been back on your planet Earth for less than forty-eight hours. You have accomplished an unprecedented amount in that time.”

Xavier smiled. The construct had a point. It hadn’t yet been a full two days, and he had over a month here before he would be returned to the Tower of Champions.

“I will coordinate the levelling of the citizens.” Guardian made a shooing motion with its massive arms. “You meet with the new arrival the System is sending. They should be here soon.”