Arriving back in the Staging Room felt like some weird déjà vu.

They had completed the eleventh floor incredibly quickly, and on their first run through.

Despite what Xavier had said to the others, he was a little annoyed he’d lost out on the solo title, but he wasn’t about to hold it against them.

He was impressed with what they had managed to do. It wasn’t that he thought Romalda deserved to have that town. In a just universe, the townsfolk—however foolish they were—would have been allowed to keep their land and not have to leave it.

But this universe wasn’t just, and at least everyone had come out of the situation alive.

And we managed to complete the floor before the wave even started.

Justin leapt over to his loot box. His wings sprang out briefly, letting him glide down straight in front of it.

Xavier frowned. Looked around. The Staging Room was larger than it had been when they were going through the first ten floors. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed that the first time they’d returned here. Perhaps he’d simply been too focused on the floor they were about to go in.

“Anyone else notice this place got bigger?” Howard asked.

Siobhan nodded. “Yeah. When we talk it even creates a slight echo. I guess it will give us more room to spar and practice.”

Howard grunted. “I guess so.”

They strode on over to the loot boxes. Like a kid on Christmas morning, Justin had already opened his. Xavier smiled. The other members of his party had never gotten loot as good as what he’d gotten, but he supposed that might change, now they’d achieved a record clear for the floor.

Xavier knelt by his loot box. He couldn’t help but feel a little giddy about the whole experience too. There was something about receiving loot that was just inherently exciting, even if he wasn’t really expecting to get anything much of use.

Xavier undid the latch with a click, then flung up the lid.

You have gained 25 Mastery Points (E Grade).

You have gained 600,000 Lesser Spirit Coins.

You have received a Farscope.

Xavier frowned.

The last time he’d gotten a loot box, he’d received 6 E Grade Mastery Points. This was a definite step up, but for him? It was basically nothing.

Xavier was Level 161 now. The next thing he wanted to achieve was advancing to D Grade. But that still felt rather far away.

I’m not going to gain enough Mastery Points on these weak floors.

But that was to be expected. The quests back on Earth were how he’d gained levels, and hopefully there would be more levels to gain when he returned.

That’s all right. I’m not clearing these floors for levels. I’m clearing them for titles.

There was a small part of him that wished he could still be back on Earth, clearing dungeon after dungeon. The rush he’d gotten from that had been… quite exhilarating.

But he knew the tower had a lot more to offer than the dungeons back on Earth ever could. There were a thousand floors of the tower, and they were only going to get tougher to complete. Depending on how fast he moved through them, there might come a time when he came to floors that were simply too much for him. Where he would have to grind out the levels, farming the floors over and over before he became strong enough to complete them.

When Xavier had first come to the Tower of Champions, he’d thought going through all one thousand floors was something a lot of the elite Champions did—assuming they didn’t get themselves killed.

But apparently even the strongest Champions rarely made it past the hundredth floor.

Xavier skipped past the Lesser Spirit Coins. They were a drop in the bucket to what he had at his disposal. Instead, he looked at the item he’d received.

Farscope. He raised an eyebrow. He liked the sound of that.

The item had appeared in his hand. From reading the name of the item, Xavier had expected it to be a small telescope—like the ones ship captains used in movies—but that’s not what he was holding in his hand.

It was small, round, slightly concave, and looked to be made from some sort of thin glass. It was also red, like blood. He held it up. It looked like a contact. Something someone might wear to improve their vision, or to change the colour of their eyes.

Interesting.

Xavier used Identify on the item.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

{Farscope – Radius: 100 Meters}

Farscope is an item much beloved by melee fighters and mages alike. Farscopes are rare items that require a soul bond to activate, and can only be used by the first Denizen who touches them. Because of this, the conditions of them being for sale within the System Shop or in other markets are rarely met.

The Farscope lets the wearer see everything around them for the radius the item is rated for. The wearer is able to see behind them, and even past objects that would otherwise block their view.

Never play cards with someone wearing one of these.

This item can grow in power if the right requirements are met.

Xavier’s eyes widened as he read the description. He liked the sound of that. One hundred metres wasn’t a huge radius, but it was a start.

The way to increase its power, however, was more than a little vague. If the right requirements are met didn’t really tell him all that much.

He held the Farscope higher.

Now, how do I put this damned thing in?

He furrowed his brow, frowning at the little lens. He’d seen people put on contacts before. His mother wore them every day—she’d hated her glasses. It had always looked like an unpleasant experience.

“What have you got there?” Siobhan asked.

Xavier glanced over at the woman. “It’s called a Farscope. I’m supposed to put it on my eye…”

Siobhan chuckled. “And what, you’re hesitating?” She shook her head. “The Great Xavier, the strongest Denizen on the planet Earth, a True Progenitor and more besides, worried about putting on a contact?”

He stared at her a moment. “Well, when you put it that way…” Xavier was about to shove it straight in his eye when he remembered his ability to quick equip clothes and armour. He figured it would work on equipment like this…

With a slight nudge from his mind, a notification popped up.

Would you like to fast-equip Farscope?

Yes, Xavier willed.

Which eye would you like to equip?

Xavier blinked. He tilted his head to the side. He hadn’t considered this. It should be an easy enough question, he supposed.

He remembered the one time he’d tried archery. The instructor had talked to them about dominant eyes. Xavier hadn’t even known dominant eyes were a thing until that quick archery lesson.

Xavier was right-handed, but his left eye was his dominant one. Should he place the contact on that eye?

I’m overthinking this.

Xavier chose his right eye, the non-dominant one. He could always experiment and change it later if he wished.

“Whoa,” Siobhan said. “Your pupil just turned red. Weird.”

Xavier was barely paying attention to what she was saying. He took a step back, trying to wrap his head around everything he was seeing.

The description had been right. He could see everything within a hundred metre radius. He could even see through the walls nearby!

It was that very thing, seeing through the walls—or rather, what was on the other side of those walls—that was doing his head in.

There was nothing on the other side.

Absolutely nothing.

Xavier took a breath, exhaled slowly, then turned his attention to the rest of his surroundings. Not with the eyes in his head, but with the ability of the Farscope.

This… wasn’t like normal sight. It was more expansive. It was like having a 3D image and being able to move through it, except he could see from every angle, as though he had multiple eyes floating around the space.

God, this is weird.

The human brain had not evolved to see things this way, but it had been some time since Xavier had become something far more than simply human.

Besides, he remembered something he’d read once. An experiment had been done where people were asked to wear these goggles—or maybe they were glasses, Xavier couldn’t remember—that flipped everything they saw upside down.

At first, it was incredibly disorientating for everyone involved. But, after a little while, the brain adapted to the new type of input.

Xavier stood there, concentrating on what he was about to see. Waiting for his brain to adapt. He figured it should have happened faster, but the Farscope was a strange thing to get used to.

Siobhan stood a few feet away from him on his left, and Xavier could see behind her. The back of her head. Down her back. Her shapely… well, suffice to say he could see everything.

“What’s it like?” Siobhan asked.

Xavier’s eyes widened. He looked up at the woman—through his actual eyes. Even with the Farscope on his right eye, he could see her clearly and with perfect depth perception. He hadn’t lost any vision in the eye he’d equipped the Farscope to.

Still, it was a very strange sensation. A part of him wanted him to take the Farscope off. The stimuli he was receiving was almost too much.

“It’s strange. The item lets me see everything in a hundred metre radius, from every angle.” He tilted his head to the side. “It’s a lot to take in.”

Siobhan put her hands on her hips, shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I can imagine. I can also see how effective it could be in a tactical situation. Having eyes on the back and sides of your head, being able to see at any angle… that’s powerful stuff.”

Xavier nodded. It was. Though he had to wonder how it would be helpful to him at this stage in his journey.

“So, what item did you get?” Xavier asked Siobhan.

Howard and Justin stepped over to them, and they stood in a circle, all facing one another.

Siobhan raised her right hand, palm up. Something appeared atop it, summoned from her inventory. A gold bracelet with a blue gemstone. “It’s called a Health Seer. Pretty self-explanatory. It gives me the ability to see the percentage of health that any being has.”

Xavier smiled. “That’s pretty fantastic.”

“I suppose.” The woman shrugged. “I guess I got it because I’m a healer? I can see how it would be good for helping those not in my party…”

“It will be amazing when fighting stronger enemies, too” Xavier said. “We’ll know exactly how much damage our most powerful spells can do.”

Siobhan perked up a bit. “Huh. I suppose I wasn’t thinking about it in that context. I tend to consider the wellbeing of our party first.”

“And that’s exactly what makes you such a great healer,” Howard said. “Always thinking of our needs first.”

Siobhan crossed her arms. Initially, Siobhan hadn’t wanted to be a healer. It was something that she’d fallen into, but she’d gone along with it because she knew how valuable it would be.

Now, though she crossed her arms and was even pouting a little, there was a little smirk turning the corner of her lips. She liked what she did. And she was good at it. Besides, it wasn’t only healing that she was capable of—it was summoning. If not for her, they wouldn’t have been able to get everyone out of that town so quickly back on the Eleventh Floor.

She’s the reason we completed the floor so swiftly, before the waves even started coming. This time, it wasn’t because of me.

That made him worry a little. The record clear they’d gotten was more a fluke than anything else.

What if someone else got the same fluke and took our spot?

But considering how long the tower had been around, if someone else was going to stumble on the same solution, surely they would have done it by now.

Xavier shook those thoughts away. He didn’t expect to hold the record clears for all eternity. He would have them as long as he had them.

“Howard, Justin, what items did the two of you get?” Xavier asked.