Gimble sat on the ground. He did not look like he was in the pain that he should be in. He crossed his legs and lay his warhammer on top of them, then shut his eyes. Heals came from other Champions within the time dilation field as they realised what was going on, and it wasn’t long before the dwarf’s wound was no more, and his armour was as good as new.
Finally, the dwarf stood and looked up into Xavier’s eyes. “I appreciate the time spell, Xavier. But what plan are you speaking of? I’m the Raid Leader here. The plan has already been decided.”
The dwarf didn’t speak with a huge amount of conviction, but Xavier couldn’t help but see the frustration behind his eyes. “I think you’ll like what I have in mind.”
The dwarf hung his warhammer from his belt and crossed his muscled arms at his beefy chest. His expression was tight, but it relaxed the longer Xavier spoke, until finally there was a bit of laughter in the dwarf’s eyes.
“This plan of yours could go horribly wrong for you,” Gimble said. “I only sustained a strike from that beast because of the buffs I’ve been given—buffs that I can’t offer you right now. One hit from the Iron Wolf, and a lad like you would be more than dead.”
Xavier inclined his head. “It could go that way… Or it could go perfectly right.”
Gimble ran a hand through his bloody beard. Though his armour was spotless, nothing had been cleaned from his face. “All right. We’ll do it your way. Even if it does sound insane.” He glanced over at the Iron Wolf, and the fallen Champions. “I’ve never… never lost this many Champions in a raid before. We all thought we knew what we were in for, but this Iron Wolf… it’s stronger than advertised.”
Xavier blinked. “What do you mean, stronger?”
Gimble shook his head. “Maybe I’m wrong, but there’s something about it—something different to how I heard it described, and it’s five levels higher than the information I secured… perhaps there was simply something wrong with that information. But I tell ya, lad, nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Xavier shut his eyes.
Nothing like this has ever happened before…
That made him wonder, and worry. The System, as far as he’d known, had never exerted its control over a floor and changed anything. That would be incredibly unfair, wouldn’t it? For the System to break its own rules?
Then again, he was pretty sure it had never sent someone further through the tower, throwing them into a floor they were nowhere near ready for.
So who knows what the System might have done.
Xavier opened his eyes. He supposed it didn’t matter if the System had changed anything. The plan didn’t change. What he had to do next didn’t change.
“That’s very strange,” was all Xavier said in reply to the dwarf. Then, he looked over at the Iron Wolf. He could see the beast moving. It was the fastest thing he’d ever seen, and if he’d made the time dilation field’s bubble any closer to the beast, he was sure it would have already reached it. “No point in dallying. You know what to do.”
Xavier strode forward, heading straight for the edge of the bubble where the Iron Wolf was. With his Farscope, he could see Gimble cajoling the other Champions, ordering them to head to the back of the field and step through. Confusion was written on their faces, but no arguments came.
They had sworn to follow this man’s orders, after all.
Xavier paused at the edge of the time dilation field. He took a deep breath.
Are you sure this is the wisest thing for you to do right now? Rhaalir asked. I will admit, the plan is solid. But—and I hate to ever agree with a dwarf—it does put your life at risk unnecessarily.
Doing this raid at all puts my life at risk.
Xavier cast Summon Otherworldly Spirit. The world shifted around him, turned a colourless grey. He didn’t even glance at the notification that appeared, instead selecting the Spirit of Protection instantly. A part of him wanted to summon the Spirit of Time for this, but he still hadn’t used that option before. He didn’t know what it would do.
Besides, he had control of time enough himself to make this work.
Xavier had spent a great deal of effort strengthening his Time Alteration spell. He could easy encompass the entirety of the Iron Wolf. That wasn’t the problem.
The problem was what might happen when he did.
The Spirit of Protection appeared before him. It was the same spirit that he had encountered the last time he’d used this spell. The man in shining full-plate armour took a step toward Xavier. He paused when he noticed Rhaalir, another spirit from the Otherworld. He tilted his head to the side, and there was a curious expression on his face.
Rhaalir’s face lit up in fear, at least for a fraction of a second. Xavier couldn’t help but find that curious. The elf had done the same thing when he had seen the Spirit of Vengeance—the dragon known as Volkarin.
Is there something about the Spirit of Protection that is frightening to this elf? Xavier thought, containing the thought within his own mind so neither of the spirits would hear it.
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I had heard you’d made a contract. The Spirit of Protection frowned, then turned his attention to Xavier. But I imagine you did not summon me to discuss such things.
No, I did not. I summoned you because I need your power to keep me alive—and this time, I might have to utilise every one of the spells you offer me.
This made the Spirit of Protection raise an eyebrow.
It is good to know that you’ll actually have use of my protection this time. The Spirit of Protection inclined his head. He turned and looked through the time dilation field at what was happening around him. The spirit’s eyes widened when he saw the Iron Wolf standing above them. Do my eyes deceive me, or is that…?
They don’t, and it is. A C Grade beast.
The Spirit of Protection shook his head and chuckled nervously. You can’t seriously be thinking about going up against that thing?
Oh, I’m dead serious.
Dead is exactly what you’ll be. The spirit turned to face him. It is not my duty to give advice, but in this case, I cannot help but do so. You have potential—I have seen that. Do not squander it. I implore you to turn away from this fight. Whatever it is that you are trying to prove, it is not worth losing your life.
Xavier stared into the eyes of the Spirit of Protection with a tilt of his head. I won’t be losing my life. Not with your protection.
The spirit took a step toward him. There is only so much my spells can do.
Xavier was standing right at the edge of the time dilation field, ready to push it forward, ready to make it encompass the C Grade beast. I might not even have to withstand a single strike, if things go well.
And if they don’t?
Xavier turned his head, cracking it with a pop. He sighed. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Before moving forward with his plan, Xavier brought up the different spells that were now at his disposal.
The Spirit of Protection is working its power through you. You have gained access to 5 limited use spells.
Bulwark - 3/3 uses remaining
A protective barrier against both physical and magical attacks that protects those within it.
Shield Wall - 3/3 uses remaining
A temporary barrier that will prevent enemy access. Typically used to block gates, hallways, or other passageways during combat.
Karma Armour - 3/3 uses remaining
This spell creates a glowing suit of armour around the user that reduces 50% of damage received and returns that damage to the enemy.
Saving Grace - 1/1 uses remaining
This spell prevents all damage on the user from a single attack, unless that attack is beyond the damage threshold.
Floating Shield - 10/10 uses remaining
This spell creates a glowing shield the user can control with their mind, able to block attacks. Multiple floating shields can be controlled at once, however this takes a mental toll on the user.
Time until spells become unavailable: 5 minutes
Xavier tilted his chin up and looked at the C Grade beast that loomed over him. Even now, on the other side of the time dilation field, he could see the beast moving. It was hard to perceive, but he’d spent enough time looking out from bubbles just like this one at what lurked outside of them.
He knew it was moving.
That thing is fast. Damned fast.
He’d seen it attack. Seen it kill. He took a deep breath, and let it out. For a moment, he considered the words of advice he’d been given—the words that told him to turn around and give up.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
He began casting the Spirit of Protection’s spells. The first spell he cast was Bulwark. He doubted the protective barrier would blunt much of the damage he was surely about to take, but even if it only blunted a small portion of it, it would help him.
The second spell he cast was Karma Armour. The glowing armour that appeared around him looked strange to his eyes, as its light blocked out part of who he was—who he had become—but if it kept him alive, then it didn’t matter what he looked like.
Next, he cast every single one of the Floating Shields, splitting his mind in several parts so that he could better control them. He used them to cover every inch in front of him that he could.
Then, he cast the Shield Walls.
And finally, he cast Saving Grace upon himself. It was the spell he was hoping would have the most impact. The one that would take away as much of the damage as possible. He knew that it wouldn’t negate all of it—it would be impossible for an E Grade to be able to cast something that could stop a C Grade from doing them any harm, but he had to believe that it would be enough. That the damage threshold the spell had would be high enough to stop him from getting killed.
With all those defences enabled, Xavier cracked his neck once more, let out a long breath, and nodded to himself.
He was ready—whether he felt ready or not.
There was another spell he had, too. Something he hoped would be enough to protect him. Something he could put over four thousand souls behind.
Xavier pushed the time dilation field’s barrier forward. This was the most critical moment of what he was trying to achieve. He needed to trust himself to get it right—and he needed to trust the people outside, the Champions whom he didn’t even know but for the Raid Leader and his party.
Good luck, Xavier Collins, Rhaalir said.
There’s still time to turn back, the Spirit of Protection said.
The time dilation field’s bubble stretched along the ground. At the same time, the bubble shrunk behind him.
Xavier wished he had Speed Infusion. Right now, that was the only thing he knew that could help him turn the odds more in his favour.
The time dilation field seemed to take forever as it crawled across the ground toward his enemy. Then, all at once, it reached the Iron Wolf. The instant a part of the bubble touched the beast, it sprang to life.
Somehow, it already had its eyes on him.
Those were the eyes of a true predator.
There was no fear in those eyes—not a hint of it. Xavier put all of his tremendous mental faculties toward the next task. If he were to achieve this, the battle would be won—and, most importantly, he would live to see this thing dead.
Xavier stared down the Iron Wolf as he worked. God, the thing moved fast! He felt time began to shift as he manipulated the time dilation field that surrounded the two of them. All he needed to do was change the flow of time faster than the Iron Wolf could kill him.
Being up this close to a C Grade beast made Xavier feel more vulnerable than he ever had in his entire life. It was as though, gazing up at that thing, he was facing his own mortality.
The most powerful Denizen in the entirety of my sector is C Grade, and yet here I am thinking I can do something like this.
And it turned out that he couldn’t. Before he was able to full turn the flow of time around, making it so the Champions outside of the time dilation field could throw every single thing at this beast over hours—maybe even days—without it being able to fight back or defend itself, the Iron Wolf was on him.
Its paw snapped out toward Xavier’s face, and he was sure it would take his head clean off.