Xavier and his party arrived in the Staging Room soon after the death of the Dark Lord Altruin. Once the dragon and its rider had been killed—in a single slash of Xavier’s scythe-staff—Xavier had stood at the top of the castle’s tallest tower and looked out on the city, waiting patiently for the floor to end as he read through the various notifications that had popped up in his vision.
His eyes had widened as he’d read through one of them. He had gotten a solo title for completing this floor, something he wasn’t sure that he would get. When he had asked Adranial about getting a solo title for the floor, she’d said that it might not be possible. As far as she’d been aware, there hadn’t been any accounts of anyone soloing the floor.
To solo the floor, one had to be without their party, or without a party entirely, and they must not let the other parties on the floor attack the enemy—which means that every single member of the other parties would have to either decide to remain in their safe rooms and simply not fight, or that they would have to all be killed.
Something that would be close to impossible for a single Champion to be able to pull off.
Xavier hadn’t needed those conditions to be met, as he’d taken out the enemy army and the Dark Lord before the other parties had even made it to the city walls.
The solo clear title that he received wasn’t a normal solo clear—it was a first solo clear, which meant that Adranial was right—no one else had ever achieved this particular feat.
No one but Xavier.
But that wasn’t the only title he was happy to see that he’d gotten. He had received 2,000 Participation Points on the floor—the highest number that could be achieved, as he was the only Champion who’d participated.
It was twenty times the amount he’d gotten when he’d completed the tenth floor, and back then he had gotten the highest amount possible too.
He was glad he’d decided to take out the army, as he was sure that had added to the number of points he’d received. Generally, in the process of clearing this floor, the collective alliance would have dealt heavy damage to not only the defending army, but the Dark Lord himself.
Xavier had done it all on his own.
Justin shook his head as Xavier told each of them about the titles he’d gotten.
“That’s just… too easy.” Justin grinned. “You’re too powerful for these floors, man! Way too powerful.”
Siobhan looked up at the ceiling. They were standing near their loot boxes. Only Justin had opened his up yet. Just like after the last floor, he’d headed straight for his box and grabbed his loot as fast as he could.
“I wonder how the System feels about what you’re doing,” Siobhan said. “I hardly think it designed these floors to be defeated so easily.”
“I wonder if the System even thinks at all,” Howard muttered.
Siobhan’s vision snapped straight onto him. “Should you talk like that?”
Howard shrugged. “If the System wanted to strike me down it would have by now,” he said, his tone casual, but Xavier couldn’t help but catch the little hunch of his shoulders and the minute glance up at the ceiling, as though waiting for the System to strike him for those words.
Nothing happened, of course, and Xavier was glad for that.
“If the System didn’t want me to participate on these floors it could easily ban me from the tower,” Xavier said.
“Careful,” Justin said. “Wouldn’t want to give it any ideas there, man.”
Xavier opened up his loot box. Howard and Siobhan did the same nearby. There wasn’t anything much of worth in this one. No amazing item like the Farscope he’d gotten, or the Sanctuary Seed. Xavier couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. All he’d received was a scythe-staff—one that was weaker than the one he already possessed.
“Why would the System give me this?” Xavier muttered as he turned it around in his hands. Considering how easily he’d completed that floor, getting the first solo clear record, he had been expecting something… more.
Maybe the System is messing with me.
Xavier and the others headed back down to the tavern. Xavier could have searched through the System Shop for an item to buy. He had a great deal of money, and now a high number of Participation Points, which he could use to buy things in the shop as well, but he didn’t think that was necessary right now.
He and the other members of his party would be stuck in the tower for a good few floors until the System let them return to Earth. He wanted to obtain as much money as he could before reoutfitting his gear. The problem, often, when he bought gear, was that he outgrew it so very quickly.
Maybe I can talk to Adranial about that. Or even Sam could have some advice. If there is a weapon I can obtain that can grow with me… then I would never outgrow it, and it could stay with me.
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Once more, he couldn’t help but think of that weapon he’d seen in the System Shop. The Stave of the Otherworldly Void Reaper, even though he doubted it would match that description, it was still something he felt himself aiming toward.
Maybe one day I’ll get my hands on that, or something like it.
Howard insisted on getting a drink this time around, citing the fact that they weren’t exactly in a rush—not now that they’d gone through two tower floors in record time.
Adranial frowned when he stepped in. There was no crowd in front of her this time. It looked like, for now, she’d told everyone she needed to tell about the eleventh floor. In fact, she and her party had been on their way out as he came in.
“Did you forget something?” Adranial asked.
“No,” Xavier said with a straight face. “We’ve simply completed the twelfth floor.”
Adranial’s mouth fell open, and stayed that way for a good long moment before she shook her head. “You can’t be serious? You’ve… completed the floor already?”
Xavier told her about the titles he’d gotten.
Adranial lowered herself into the nearest chair with a bit of a stunned expression on her face. “That’s crazy.” She looked up at him. “You’re crazy. Even crazier than you were through the first ten floors!”
Xavier sat across from her. “So, tell me about the next five floors of the tower. That way, I won’t have to come back each time.” He paused. “Don’t worry, I’ll still fill you in on how we clear them… though I’m not sure how helpful it will be.”
He explained exactly how he’d cleared the twelfth floor. Adranial just frowned at him, her forehead growing more and more creased.
“You just… jumped into the city and killed everyone?”
Xavier shrugged. “That about sums it up.”
“It is a good plan,” Domical muttered. “For those who can manage it.” He turned to Adranial. “This mad bastard clearly doesn’t need our help.”
“This mad bastard is going to get it whether he needs it or not,” Adranial replied. She ran a hand through her hair. Xavier wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her like this. It didn’t take her long to compose herself, however.
Adranial spent the next hour detailing the next five floors for Xavier and his party. Xavier sat back and relaxed, listening intently as he sipped his drink. It felt good to be here. Good to be sitting down, already ahead of the game. He didn’t often take a moment to appreciate what he had gained, but now felt like a good time to do that.
His friends were all safe. Their families were safe. Earth was safe. And the Tower of Champions was his to master.
There were problems in his future he needed to face, like what happened when the five years were up, and Earth was no longer restricted. He had already made several enemies, ones that clearly didn’t care about the threat he’d made to the sector. There were even enemies he’d made outside of the sector itself.
Then, of course, there was the threat to the Silver River sector that he was sure the Empress Larona was concerned with.
Beyond that… there was something else.
Adranial’s ancestor wants me for something, even if they won’t tell me what that is.
Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t good.
But even with all of that ahead of him, Xavier felt a sense of confidence. A sense of peace. Perhaps he was being prideful. Arrogant. But he felt as though he could handle anything that came his way—and handle it well. That’s what the Greater Universe had shown him, after all.
That it was impossible for him to fail.
Once the explanation of the different floors had ended, Xavier leant back in his chair. He was onto his second drink now. The alcohol didn’t taste very strong, and he didn’t feel it alter his mind in any way. Sam said it was the strongest thing he could serve, but apologised that it wasn’t enough.
Xavier had never thought he might lose his ability to get tipsy, but he supposed it wasn’t really all that much of a loss. He wasn’t drinking so that he could get drunk, after all. He was simply drinking for the taste and the atmosphere.
He had never liked getting drunk—being in an altered state. It simply wasn’t for him. And now, when there was so much responsibility on his shoulders? It didn’t seem like the right thing to do, anyway.
He looked at the others around the table and smiled to himself.
Friends.
He’d never had much of those before—he’d never really had any of those before. Not like this. His party spent so much time together, went through so much together, that they were starting to feel more like family than friends.
At least, the good kind of family. The type of family you choose.
Adranial looked as though she’d been ready to leave after everything she’d said about the floors. Xavier held up a hand, stopping her. “Wait a moment, would you? I have a few more questions.”
The woman nodded. She didn’t seem annoyed. In fact, it looked as though she liked his company. A small smirk played on the side of her lips as she sat back down. “What is it?”
Xavier interlocked his fingers together on the wooden tabletop and leant forward. “I’m wondering if you can help me with something.”
Her smirk grew. “Yeah? Help you with what?” She winked.
Xavier blinked. Had he said something else? It looked as though her mind was elsewhere. “I need a weapon that will grow with me. The weapons I buy from the System Shop… I outgrow them too quickly. It almost doesn’t seem worth buying something again.”
There was the slightest hint of disappointment in Adranial’s eyes as she leant back in her seat.
The others around the table lost interest in what they were talking about. Another conversation began to start up to either side of them. Howard was talking to Domical. They were frowning at each other. Both made grunting sounds as some form of communication. The human and the demonkin looked rather different, but they acted startlingly similar.
Justin was talking to Larson, and Siobhan was chatting to Elsie.
“You want a Soul Bound weapon,” Adranial said.
Xavier tilted his head to the side. “I do?”
Soul Bound.
Xavier hadn’t heard that exact term before, but some spells had been bound to him in the past, for picking his reaper line of classes… maybe this was something similar.
“You do.” She summoned a staff to her hand. Xavier wondered if he’d ever actually seen a weapon on the woman before. Howard had said she hadn’t needed one during the melee. “I’ve had this staff since before I could even wield it. It might not be powerful enough for someone such as yourself to wield right now, but one day it will grow far stronger than anything you can currently wrap your fingers around.”
The staff didn’t look all that powerful or unique. It was… well, it almost looked like nothing more than a long, fallen branch. If one, for a moment, ignored the runes that were etched into its sides, or the crystal at its top.
“How does it become more powerful?” Xavier asked.
The woman shrugged. “It feeds on a portion of my Mastery Points. That might seem like a disadvantage, but it’s actually the opposite. When you have all the time in the Greater Universe to progress, the speed at which you gain levels doesn’t need to be outrageous. Sometimes, it is better to slow things right down so one has the requisite time to become proficient in their skills and get them to a high enough rank and accrue more titles along their way to the next grade.”
Xavier nodded. He understood that approach well enough.
“So, where do I get one of those?”