Felicia drummed her fingers on the bar. Despite the hunger that still lingered in her eyes from learning that Xavier was only E Grade on a floor that an E Grade shouldn’t be able to survive on, he could sense that there was still a hint of general disbelief lingering in her about him, and the things he might be capable of.

“Right,” she said after Xavier had told the woman he wanted to claim Ability Acquisition for his Hunt Quest. “Your Hunt Quest.” She waved a hand, and a split-second later, a notification appeared in Xavier’s vision.

Stone Bear Hunt Quest

Reward: Ability Acquisition

You may receive:

- Three ranks in the skill Physical Damage

- Three ranks in the spell Telekinetic Enhanced Strike

- Three ranks in the spell Time Alteration

Or:

Do you wish to trade these ranks to receive an unknown spell reward?

Xavier rocked back on his heels and released a breath. The quest was offering more ranks than last time. For his first Hunt Quest, he’d been offered two ranks for two skills and one spell—this time it was three for one skill and two spells.

A much better offer.

But ranks still weren’t something he felt as though he needed from a quest. He could get ranks on his own. Perhaps if he were D Grade and a much higher level, and different ranks were harder to come by, rewards like this would have more meaning.

The offer of a new spell, however, couldn’t help but grab his attention. He felt as though he’d added a fair few spells to his repertoire lately—Hover Dodge, Telekinetic Enhanced Strike, Time Alteration—and each one of those new spells had become an invaluable asset.

Especially Time Alteration.

He didn’t hesitate, choosing to receive a new spell rather than the ranks on offer was a no brainer.

You have gained the spell: Time Prison

Xavier’s face lit up in a smile as he read the name of the spell.

Time Prison…

He didn’t have to read the description to know that he was going to love whatever this spell would be able to do. Considering how important using his Time Alteration spell had been during his fight with the Stone Bear, receiving a time-related spell was exactly what he’d been hoping for when he’d chosen this as a reward.

“What did you get?” Liana asked. She wasn’t looking at him. Instead, she was staring down at one of her many books. There had been a lull in conversation and she hadn’t hesitated summoning it from her Storage Ring. Xavier, as a fan of reading himself, had to hand it to the woman—she certainly seized any opportunity she could to read.

It was perhaps one of the things about her he liked the most.

I haven’t had a chance to read anything since the System came down. It doesn’t seem important anymore.

Perhaps that could change now he had the Time Alteration spell—he might actually be able to pursue things for himself without guilt.

“I’ll tell you later,” Xavier said. “When we’re outside the tavern.”

Felicia blinked. Sighed. “You received another random spell, didn’t you?”

Liana looked up from her book and frowned. “You can receive spells for redeeming Hunt Quests?”

Xavier frowned. “Wait, you didn’t know?”

“I told you it was pretty rare to receive them,” Felicia said. “They certainly aren’t the standard. For it to happen for you twice in a row…” The barkeep shook her head. Stopped, then nodded. “I suppose the System is favouring you. An E Grade soloing these enemies on the hundredth floor… that definitely seems reward-worthy.

I suppose the System is favouring you. Xavier kept his emotions in check, not showing anything on his face. The barkeep didn’t know just how close to the truth she’d come with that statement. Liana exchanged a look with him—she’d signed a binding privacy contract with him about this, so she knew exactly how true what the woman had said was.

Xavier didn’t want to wait another moment. He opened the spell’s description.

Time Prison – Rank 1

Time Prison allows the user to imprison a target in a small time dilation field. The field only affects the target of the spell, leaving them suspended as though they were frozen in time.

The target, while in this time prison, will be immune to any and all attacks as they have been placed in a pocket of time that does not align with the user’s universe.

This spell’s primary attribute is Speed, while its secondary attribute is Intelligence.

“That’s awesome,” Xavier said after reading the spell’s description.

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Felicia leant forward on the bar. “You really aren’t going to tell me what the spell you just gained is? You just told me you were E Grade!”

Xavier didn’t bother to respond to the woman. Felicia sighed, threw up her hands, and walked down the bar to serve another customer.

“Are you ready to head out?” Liana asked.

“Ready to leave this place already?” Xavier felt as though they’d only just gotten to the tavern. Besides, he was usually the one who would suggest moving forward well before Liana had. Her abilities as a time mage had taken much of her need for urgency away from her.

Xavier drummed his fingers on the bar much as Felicia had earlier. He was feeling a little antsy, if he were honest.

Besides, he wanted to test out the spell he’d just gotten. He was pretty sure he’d seen Liana use the exact same spell on beasts as they’d ran through the forest together.

She used it incredibly efficiently.

But he wasn’t sure about the drawback that the spell had—that whatever target he put inside a Time Prison wouldn’t be able to be harmed. Then again, ideas were coming to him… the spell wouldn’t have to be used on only enemies, would it? What if he was able to save someone by using the spell. If one of his party members—not that he could be with them on the floors anymore—was in danger, could he simply freeze them in time so no harm would come to them?

At first glance this spell only has a single use, but if I’ve learnt anything on this floor it’s that almost every spell can be more versatile than I first think.

“Uh, Xavier?” Liana waved a hand in front of his face. “Heading out?”

Xavier blinked. Considering the speed at which his mind worked, he didn’t think he’d been lost in his thoughts for too long. He nodded. “All right, let’s head out. I just need to find another Hunt Quest first.” He wasn’t going to go on the hunt right away, but he wanted to have one chosen and ready for when he did.

He stalked over to the board again. He couldn’t help but look at the notice for the C Grade dragon. He thought about the egg—he couldn’t help himself—and wondered if he had gold-gaze like that dwarf Gimble had said.

Xaver tapped a finger on his chin as he looked at the different beasts. He wasn’t about to ask anyone for advice on which beast to choose, especially when the majority of the Champions in the room would no doubt walk straight to the barkeep after he’d left to make a bet on him.

He smiled when he found the one he wanted. “This sounds interesting.”

Xaver grabbed the flyer from the noticeboard.

Do you wish to accept the Hunt Quest for the Scorpion King?

One must be on a hunt for at least two days before going back on a quest and choosing another hunt. No Champion can be on two hunts at the same time.

He nodded to himself and mentally accepted the quest, depositing the flyer into his Storage Ring. He’d been careful to gauge the reactions of the different patrons around him with his Farscope after he’d taken down the flyer. Most of them guarded their feelings well, while a few of them… it was etched on their face that they thought facing this beast would be suicide for him.

Good. That means it will be a worthy challenge.

Facing the Stone Bear had been… well, with the strategy he’d devised, it had been almost easy, and easy wasn’t something that he was after.

Though as he contemplated fighting this Scorpion King, Xavier had to remind himself to be cautious—to not be overconfident. He might have been able to take down the Stone Bear fairly easily given his spellset and strategy, but if he hadn’t been so careful in the way he’d fought… the Stone Bear likely could have ripped him to shreds in only a few strikes.

There was one more thing he wanted to do before leaving the tavern, something he didn’t want to keep putting off. He walked over to the bar and got Felicia’s attention. The woman cocked an eyebrow, cleaning a glass with a rag. “What is it?”

“If I tell you what spell I just gained, will you share some information with me?”

Felicia smiled. “Now you’re talking.”

“First, I need confirmation that this is actually something you know.”

“I do know a lot of things.”

Xavier didn’t deign to respond to that. “I’m looking for a large number of low-level enemies.”

Felicia smirked, clicked her fingers. “I knew it. The scythe was a dead giveaway. You are a reaper.”

Xavier straightened. “I suppose there’s no need to hide that anymore.” Word was definitely going to get out that he was on this floor. He already knew that there were people outside of his sector that were aware of him—Adranial was proof enough of that. He didn’t know if anyone in the tavern was from the Silver River sector, but even if they weren’t, he had a feeling the information would make it back to his enemies soon enough.

Felicia leant forward over the bar. “I think I have just the place for you.”

Xavier left the tavern with a new spell, a new Hunt Quest, and the knowledge of how to finally get an abundance of souls for his soulkeeping reserve.

Not only that, he also had a way of making money—betting on himself. He hadn’t come to the floor with any spirit coins to his name after buying his new gear, but he was damned sure he was going to be walking out of this place a rich man.

Xavier smirked. Betting on himself wasn’t the only way he could make money, either—he could always spend some time creating spirit coins. And doing that while in a time dilation field… why hadn’t he thought of that before? He frowned, wondering if there might be any restrictions to doing that. It seemed far too overpowered if there wasn’t…

He also came out of Hunter’s Home with a new goal—to fight and defeat the C Grade dragon and steal its egg to use as a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance’s soul.

It was ambitious, that was for sure, but Xavier never shied away from ambitious and seemingly impossible goals. He wouldn’t be here if he had.

Liana didn’t seem at all interested in facing a bunch of low-level enemies. Xavier couldn’t blame her. He knew what he was about to do wouldn’t be a challenge—it was essentially just farming souls. They parted ways and agreed to meet up later back in the grove. Xavier couldn’t help but notice that the woman became far more at ease the moment they stepped out of the tavern. Considering she’d come to the floor by herself… he was beginning to get the idea that like Xavier, the woman was quite the introvert.

Probably why she suggested leaving the place so early, and why she only talked to me and Felicia while we were there.

Xavier moved as swiftly as he could through the forest. Felicia had given him a token, one that he’d never seen before. It was called a Locator. The second he activated it, it dissolved into a mist-like substance and shot straight through his nose, giving him a weird feeling of warmth. At first, he’d thought it was some sort of weapon—a trap the woman had had him activate—or maybe something she would use to track him.

But he’d made sure it wasn’t something dangerous when she’d given it to him, so those were just the slightly panicked thoughts of a paranoid mind.

A split second after it had shot through his nose, an arrow appeared on his mini-map. The arrow pointed toward where he would find these low-level beasts.

He’d opened up a contract with the woman making sure she wasn’t sending him into some sort of trap that she could have people bet on, but even so he was still suspicious.

When he made it close to the destination—a little green flag on the mini-map showed him it was nearby—he slowed to a stop and looked around the area. His Farscope could only stretch so far, one more thing to add to the list of things he needed to upgrade.

It’s a shame I can’t see beasts’ auras anymore.

Xavier walked toward the green flag. He was still inside the forest. The area didn’t look much different to where he’d been training with Liana. Except… it was quiet. Incredibly so. He couldn’t hear any insects, or birds in the trees. He stopped walking, licked his finger, and raised it into the air, realising his suspicion was true.

There wasn’t even any wind.

Well that’s ominous.

He started walking again, feeling wary. He was here to face low-level beasts, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something else lurking around the area. Felicia hadn’t told him what he should expect here. He didn’t like how suspicious his mind had become. He kept trying to think of ways that she might have tricked him into coming down here.

Does it matter? Whether it’s a trick or not, I’m here now…

Xavier heard a noise, in the distance. At first, he couldn’t really discern what that noise was. Then he felt vibrations in the ground.

It was a stampede. A big one. And it was headed his way.