You have defeated a Level 280 Magma Bull!

You have gained 2,000 Mastery Points (E Grade).

Congratulations!

You have completed your first Hunt Quest on the hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. Return to Hunter’s Home to claim your reward and start on your next Hunt Quest!

Hunt Quests completed: 1

Hunt Quests needed to pass to the next floor: 10

Xavier smiled. He’d completed his first Hunt Quest, and there would be a reward at the end of it.

He tilted his head, reading the kill notification.

Two thousand E Grade Mastery Points?

While it was the most Mastery Points he’d gained from a single kill… ever, considering how tough that fight had been—and that he’d needed to bring the Spirit of Vengeance into it—a part of him had hoped he’d gain significantly more.

Still, Xavier couldn’t complain. In fact, he had a massive grin on his face.

That fight had felt good.

He had definitely underestimated the Magma Bull—he certainly hadn’t expected it to be Level 280, or what that might mean for its level of power.

The fact that it had been able to damage the Spirit of Vengeance… that had come out of left field.

It’s over a hundred levels higher than me. Of course it was going to be a challenge.

Xavier tugged on his Midnight Scythe, which was currently stuck fast in the Magma Bull’s skull.

It didn’t budge.

He might have been strong enough to slam it into this thing’s head, but apparently, he wasn’t strong enough to get it back out.

A claw reached over him, long as a short sword and sharper than a razor—and translucent. It slit through the flesh and bone of the dead Magma Bull as thought it was barely there, making an opening.

Now that the beast was dead, many of its defences would be gone—it would be easier to damage its body.

Xaiver tugged on the shaft of his scythe-staff once more and stumbled backward, having to right himself lest he fall.

The Spirit of Vengeance did that strange coughing laugh—it was chuckling.

The spirit beast was wounded. And was it… bleeding?

Since when do spirits bleed?

Xavier shook his head. He would probably get a headache if he thought about it too hard.

You surprise me, young Denizen.

The Spirit of Vengeance looked around, blinking its massive eyes, then shook its large head.

I know where we are. The hundredth floor of the Tower of Champions. The Hunt. It can’t have been long since the last time you summoned me, and yet…

The dragon leant forward, so close Xavier would’ve have been able to feel its breath, if it were indeed breathing. More of that energy bled off it than it had before, smoke drifting into the air.

The Spirit of Vengeance narrowed its eyes.

How did you make it here?

Xavier smiled up at the Spirit of Vengeance. The fight was done, but the spirit still lingered in this world. That was interesting.

It wanted to be here.

He was also intrigued by the fact that this was the same Spirit of Vengeance. He didn’t know much of anything about the Otherworld, other than that he could summon spirits from it, really.

But there had been a part of him that had half expected to have summoned a different Spirit of Vengeance while he was on a floor of the tower. He was in a different universe, after all.

And on this floor? Time didn’t even more at the same rate as it did back in his own universe.

Yet this was the exact same Spirit of Vengeance that had fought for him against the D Grades on the invaders’ world back in the Silver River sector.

Xavier gazed up into the dragon’s eyes.

The System sent me here.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

The dragon blinked. Its head reared up. Then its lips twisted at the sides in a strange grin.

You are an interesting specimen, young Denizen. I do wish for you to call on me again. I always have such great fun when I am with you.

The dragon’s tongue lashed out, tasted the air. It opened its giant maw and took a deep breath in, then puffed energy from its nostrils.

It looked at the Magma Bull’s corpse with longing.

Though I do wish you had the ability to make me corporeal. Then I could truly feast on the hearts and entrails of your enemies.

The dragon’s tongue darted out again. It released a sigh.

Ah, times gone by…

Then dragon’s demeanour shifted. Its eyes narrowed, and it gazed down at Xavier.

Do heed my warning, young Denizen. If you call upon me when true vengeance is not involved, then my actions may have to go against my will. You do not wish for me to become your enemy.

The dragon blinked. Its expression… softened.

However, there are other ways to call me into the physical realm. If you find one…

The dragon smiled once more, then it turned into pure energy and was caught by the winds, streaming away.

Summon Otherworldly Spirit has taken a step forward on the path!

Summon Otherworldly Spirit is now a Rank 2 spell.

…

Summon Otherworldly Spirit is now a Rank 25 spell.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Xavier’s eyes widened.

Twenty-four ranks from a single summon?

He frowned, his forehead creasing deeply in confusion. The first time he had summoned the Spirit of Vengeance, the spell hadn’t gained a single rank.

Why had it gained a rank this time? He had even been warned that he had summoned it mistakenly—at a time when he shouldn’t have, and yet…

Xavier looked over at the corpse of the Magma Bull and wondered if it was because of the opponent the Spirit of Vengeance had faced.

Had the previous opponents simply not been… worthy?

I need to learn more about my Otherworld spells. A lot more.

Especially since the Spirit of Vengeance had clearly been trying to tell him something.

There might be another way to summon it to this world… and there might even be a way to make the dragon corporeal.

Though he wondered about the latter—wouldn’t that mean it would be less resistant to taking damage, if it were more fully in the physical realm, as the dragon had called it?

Perhaps—but that could also mean it would be more powerful…

He shrugged those thoughts away and stepped over to the corpse of the Magma Bull, tilting his head to the side.

Xavier had completed his first Hunt Quest. One of ten until he could move onto the next floor. Though he wasn’t sure he would be rushing to reach the floor one hundred and one.

From everything he’d experienced on this floor, it was clear to him that he had a lot to learn. A lot of skills to strengthen, a lot of spells to rank up, and more than that… he needed to learn how to utilise the skills and spells he already possessed in a better way.

Xavier touched a hand to the corpse of the Magma Bull.

There was something he couldn’t help but consider. A skill he had been neglecting since after he’d faced the Endless Horde back on the fifth floor of the Tower of Champions.

Assimilate Properties.

He had been worried that the skill had been… turning him into something else. Turning him into a beast. He’d even encountered werewolves, where the Identify description had said they had been cursed because of the way they had changed their own bodies…

That had only made him worry even more about the skill.

But, as he had been worrying about the damage his otherworldly spells might have on his soul to the point where he had neglected those spells, he was beginning to realise he had been overly cautious.

Assimilate Properties can only make me stronger, and with how strong the beasts I’ve been killing lately have been, maybe it’s finally time for me to do something with it again… the properties I gain from them will be far, far stronger than what I have used in the past.

And if the skill did turn him into… something else?

Well, perhaps something else was what Xavier Collins needed to become to be the Weapon of the System.

Though there was a problem with that—he didn’t possess the Dismantle skill, and even if he did, it wouldn’t be strong enough for him to cut through the Magma Bull…

When he had done this on the fifth floor, he had been relying on Justin’s Dismantle skill. But now, he was alone on this floor but for the other Champions from other worlds and sectors. While he might be able to call on them for help, perhaps try and hire one of them to do this task, it didn’t seem like the right thing.

Besides, it wasn’t as though he had much money compared with D Grades—he wouldn’t be able to offer them enough.

Xavier hadn’t earned many skill points as of late. The System seemed to be getting stingy with handing them out—it appeared as though it would rather have Denizens unlock them another way.

But Xavier still had a few he’d been keeping in reserve.

I might not be ready to Dismantle the beasts I’ve killed on this floor so far, but if I can rank up the skill enough…

He didn’t want to have to rely on others here. He wanted to be able to do everything he needed on his own.

Xavier brought up the list of skills he was able to acquire with his skill points and quickly located the one he was after.

You have learnt the skill Dismantle!

Dismantle – Rank 1

Beasts are one of the most abundant resources in the Greater Universe. Some might see using resources from the corpse of a beast as sacrilegious, others as honouring the life it had lived, and respecting its sacrifice.

Either way, no one can deny its practicalities.

Xavier smiled. It felt good to learn a new skill, even if he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to fully utilise it.

I can use my Midnight Scythe do dismantle beasts to begin with, but eventually I should pick up a true dismantling item.

Xavier was getting ahead of himself. Before he started dismantling beast corpses, there was a Denizen he wanted to find.

And that meant there was another Hunt Quest he needed to acquire.

As he headed back to the Hunter’s Home tavern, speeding through the forest, ignoring the beasts he came upon along the way, he contemplated the fight he’d just been in, and the Spirit of Vengeance he had summoned.

There is another way to summon the beast… and I need to learn more about my otherworldly spells…

It was a good thing Xavier had the perfect way in which to do that, because there was another otherworldly spell he had been neglecting.

Otherworldly Communion.

The cooldowns on his two otherworldly spells were quite long, but that didn’t mean he should avoid using them. As soon as he got his next level up—and he didn’t think that would take all that long here—they would both be refreshed.

And he could always use Restorative Spirit, the imbued ability connected to his Midnight Scythe. He was only able to use that once per day, but that would be more than helpful.

Xavier slowed down his run when he was coming close to returning to Hunter’s Home.

In a clearing not far from the tavern, he checked his surroundings, and was satisfied he was alone. Though he knew his Otherworldly Communion spell would essentially stop time for him, he still didn’t want to be surprised by a beast attacking him the moment he came out of it.

Xavier breathed deeply, coming up with the question he wished to ask the spirit he was to commune with.

Then he prepared himself to cast the spell.