Xavier raised an eyebrow, staring at the elf-spirit as he spoke of a time before the System. The elf had caught his interest. He had heard a little bit about there being a time before the System—and he’d heard those very things from the older version of himself on one of the tower floors.

Rhaalir did not look up at Xavier as he spoke. He’d lost all his pompous, self-importance. He was hunched over where he sat on the chamber floor of the dead troll’s former quarters, within the time dilation field Xavier still had raised, resting his hands on his knees.

There were beings of great power before the System was born, or created—there is much debate as to how it came to pass. Those who lived before the System were powerful, but… unique. They did not have classes as you and I have classes. They could walk any path they wished. I have heard of the Infinite Path, Xavier Collins, but only ever in reference to those who lived before, when the powers of the universe—a universe distinct from our own—were raw and untamed by a governing System.

Xavier listened intently.

You’re saying… I am becoming more like them?

Xavier frowned. That didn’t sound right. The people who came before the System had created the System to bring about the one who would one day become the Weapon of the System and stop the universe from ending… how could he do that if he walked the same path that they once walked?

Shouldn’t he do something markedly different to what they had once done?

I do not know, Xavier. I am not sure if anyone truly knows what the people before the System were like. Their universe ended a long time ago, something I am sure you have come to learn.

Xavier inclined his head.

You have told me much about yourself. About what the System has instore for you. If this is a path that was presented to you, who am I to say anything about it?

Humble is a strange colour on you, Ray.

The elf glared at him. Please refrain from ever calling me Ray again. My name is Rhaalir El Vran Dan Sorensen. I have already shortened it for you, I am not going to barbarise too.

Xavier held up his hands in a grin. Sorry, Rhaalir El Vran Dan Sorensen. I thought we were close.

Never that close. The elf sighed. Regardless, I am not sure how I can instruct you on this path. On… these paths. Wayfarer is a line of classes I’m familiar with, but the class you chose… it gives you a vast amount of freedom that is baffling to one such as I. To think you walk the path of Infinite Paths, just as those who came before did…

The elf trailed off, staring into nothingness.

You don’t need to help me with the class, Rhaalir, only with my Otherworld abilities.

Rhaalir inclined his head. I have taught you all I can about the Otherworld abilities you currently possess. It may be that my time with you has come to an end. You have not chosen a class of the Otherworld line as I expected you to, and I am not sure what other contracts we could make that would benefit you.

The elf-spirit rose from the ground.

I must think on this.

The elf disappeared, to wherever it went when it wasn’t visible to Xavier.

Xavier stood alone in the chamber once more, wondering about the consequences of what he’d just learnt. The class that he’d chosen had something to do with the power those who came before the System once possessed.

It was a strange realisation, one he wasn’t sure how to make sense of. God, he wished he could go back to the floor where he had met himself. Who else could he truly talk to about all of this? Though he knew the older version of himself had been rather tight-lipped about things.

I could use Otherworldly Communion… there must be some spirits from the otherworld who know about the time before the System. And even if they don’t, surely they could give me some insights into the class I’ve chosen.

But this moment? That wasn’t the time for such things.

Xavier looked at his wings and grinned.

He had wings! Not only that, but he was so much stronger than he had been when he had defeated the C Grade Fetid Forest Troll. He had always been a force to be reckoned with, but now… now he was D Grade. And with those titles…

He wished to know just how powerful he had become.

Xavier deactivated the time dilation field where he had chosen his class. He grabbed the chest that he had gained from killing the Fetid Forest Troll, stared at if for a moment, then placed it back down where it was in the chamber.

Xavier would come back for the loot box. It was frustrating that he wasn’t able to put it in his Storage Ring, and he was interested in seeing what was inside.

But he was more interested in seeing what he was capable of.

Xavier retracted his wings as he walked through the tunnel that led out of the cave that the Fetid Forest Troll had until recently called home. The place still smelled of rotting troll, and Xavier hoped that meant no other beasts—or even Champions—would come wandering in.

He stepped outside. The sun was warm against his skin. The air was pleasingly fresh. He took a deep breath and noticed something strange. He could taste different things in the air. The scent of beasts. The fragrance from the trees. His sense of taste and smell had been amplified dramatically.

His senses already improved as he became stronger and gained more attributes, but the change had never been as drastic as the one he was experiencing right now.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the way the sun felt on his skin. Even that seemed different somehow.

In fact, the more he focused on it now that he wasn’t distracted by making his class choice, the more he realised how many things had changed…

Xavier was no longer human. He was dragonkin, and that had consequences he hadn’t anticipated. His eyes widened as he thought of something. He pulled out some coffee—still fresh from when he’d placed it into his Storage Ring—and took a sip.

If his tastebuds had changed, being no longer human, what if he didn’t like coffee anymore?

There was an explosion of flavour in his mouth, one more intense than he had ever experienced.

“God,” Xavier breathed. “That tastes even better than it did before!” He stood there for a few moments, just looking out at the large, ancient trees that were no longer affected by the Fetid Forest Troll’s rot, and sipped his coffee.

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This made him wonder what else was different about him. He could already feel that his body moved differently, but he’d assumed that was a consequence of having gained so many attribute points in such a short period of time. This was something that Xavier had long become accustomed to. When he suddenly gained a lot of points in Speed or Strength, he had to adjust the way he moved else he’d run too fast—potentially into a wall or tree—or break things he didn’t intend to break.

The mug of coffee he held in his hand, for instance, he had to hold rather gingerly lest he crush the handle.

But that was unusual for Xavier.

The other things…

He expanded his wings outward. They made a pleasing slapping sound, almost like sails being unfurled on an old-style ship. He grinned at the noise.

Now this was strange. The wings were completely different limbs, ones that he had never experienced before, but they felt natural to him—as though they had always been there. He moved the wings around, felt the muscles inside of them tense. He turned around in a circle. He flapped them.

Then he laughed, he couldn’t help himself. He probably looked rather strange, doing this, but he didn’t much care about how he looked.

It also reminded him of the first time Justin had used his flight skill, the one that allowed him to grow wings.

These are far from the wings of a duckling…

That thought made him think of his party. He’d been on this floor for far, far longer than he’d anticipated, and he couldn’t help but miss the others. Despite how much time Xavier had spent here, not much time would have passed for his party. Especially since the majority of the time he’d spent here had actually been within time dilation fields, so even less time had passed back in his own universe than it felt like should have.

Xavier shook away thoughts of his party, and the thoughts of Earth, and the people there, that crept into his mind. Earth was important. Protecting it would always remain a goal for him.

He felt the slightest tinge of guilt—he could have protected Earth for all time if he had taken up the offer from Adranial’s ancestor. His arrogance had been the thing that had made him refuse the offer. Earth would never have been in peril—it would have thrived.

But that guilt quickly dissipated as he looked down at himself. This was where that choice of his had taken him. He would protect Earth. When the Silver River sector and other neighbouring sectors discovered just how strong he had become—and was to become before he stepped off this floor—they would never even think to set foot on his planet.

Xavier looked at his large, leathery black wings once more.

It was time to take them for a test flight. He raised his chin and stared up at the sky through the tall branches, looking for a gap large enough for him—and his new wings—to slip through.

Then he launched himself upward at a dramatic speed.

~

Alexic Kalcav sat inside his tent in the middle of the forest a few miles out from Collinsville. The tent had been provided by his employer, a B Grade ruler of several worlds back in his sector. Essentially, the tent worked as a makeshift Safe Zone in low-level wilds.

On a planet like Earth? He would be able to put it down anywhere he pleased, and it would be powerful enough to stop any beast from getting through.

There were only two beings he was aware of on this planet that would be able to break through it and get inside—one of those beings was Guardian, the golem that protected Collinsville while Xavier was away.

That thing was insanely strong. Far stronger than it had any right to be. It appeared as though it gained strength in concert with its owner, Xavier Collins.

And Xavier Collins had been gaining an unprecedented amount of power as of late.

Alexic’s leg was shaking, bobbing up and down. He sat on a stool, leaning on a small, round table. He had plenty of food at his disposal—enough to get him through several years, if he really needed to.

With the other people in the tent with him, it would last significantly less than that.

The tent was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. He had always been aware of this kind of technology. It worked in the same way as Storage Rings did. Even so, he always found it impressive.

In one corner of the tent was the first person that he had kidnapped from Collinsville. He had brought her here in the night, getting past the guards on the wall with ease.

Guardian had not seen him.

The woman was the mother of one of Xavier Collins’s party members—Justin’s mother.

In another corner, he had the second person he’d kidnapped—Howard’s wife. His master hadn’t instructed him to kill Howard’s children. Alexic had never partaken in the murder of children before. It wasn’t as though he had enough scruples to stop him from doing something like that if the need ever arose, but the System looked down upon those who murdered beings who’d yet to be integrated into the System, and it was under his master’s honour code to avoid killing those under sixteen years of age if at all possible.

The final captive was none other than Xavier’s own mother. The woman was the most unpleasant person he had ever kidnapped, and was currently unconscious—she was much easier to handle that way.

Alexic had the ability to create traps, ones that only he could deactivate. Each of his captives currently sat on one of those traps. If they tried to move away from them, the trap would activate, and as weak as these people were they would die instantly. Fortunately, none of them had the ability to teleport.

Staring at his captives, his leg shaking uncontrollably, Alexic wondered how he had gotten to this stage of his life. When he had kidnapped the first victim, the Guardian golem had been less powerful than it was now.

But something had happened, in the last minute. He’d sensed a massive outpouring of power from over at Collinsville. For a split second he had thought it must be Xavier returning. But he had quickly discovered that wasn’t the case.

The aura had shot out, rippling past him, and he distinctly knew that power came from a construct.

Guardian had become D Grade.

Which meant… Xavier Collins was now D Grade. The very person he had been ordered to send a message to. It didn’t make sense that he had gained so much power so quickly. To become D Grade so soon after becoming E Grade…

It wasn’t just unheard of, it was impossible! At least, it should have been impossible. Certainly no one on this side of the universe had ever done something like that, and from all that he knew…

It baffled his mind.

When he had kidnapped each of these people, he’d been tossing up between two plans. Now… he didn’t know if he would be able to get off this world alive.

“Guardian knows you are in there!” came a voice from outside.

Alexic shot up to standing. His eyes widened. Sweat beaded on his brow, dripping down into his eyes. He stared at the tent’s opening.

Justin’s mother and Howard’s wife both perked up, the women staring at the tent flap just as he was. They had begged him to release them. He had ignored them. He could have hurt them, but he hadn’t.

Eventually, they had stopped speaking.

A large shadow fell upon the tent.

The golem had found him. How in the Greater Universe had it found him? Alexic had been terrified before he’d known the thing could discover where he was hiding. He had thought he might still be able to get out of this alive…

“Release the prisoners,” Guardian said. “Guardian does not wish to make a mess, but if Guardian is required, Guardian would enjoy crushing your tiny body into powder.”

Alexic’s mouth had never felt more dry in his entire life. The golem’s voice didn’t sound particularly terrifying, even though its words were, yet Alexic knew how powerful the thing must be. Even before it had advanced to D Grade, he had realised its power. He had no doubt it would be able to crush his bones with ease.

Just like Xavier Collins, the golem had been far more powerful than he had at first imagined.

This is a very delicate situation. I can’t simply surrender. I don’t think that golem would bother sparing my life, not after what I’ve done. Reasoning with a golem… that would not be an easy feat.

He was still shaking. Alexic was a little disappointed with how his body was reacting. He was a spy, an assassin. A rogue. He was many things, but he wasn’t a coward. Yet his body was betraying him.

There had been many times where his life had been at risk… but none of those times had felt quite like this one. He had never miscalculated something so much before as he had this.

I can’t reason with the current leaders of Collinsville, either. They’re only running the town until Xavier returns. I can’t trust their word. They do not speak for him.

Alexic swallowed. “If you enter the tent, the captives will die.” He explained to the construct the traps that were in place.

There was a pause. “Guardian thinks you are bluffing. You will die too.”

Alexic sighed. “And if I surrender, you will let me live?”

“Guardian has not yet decided your fate. Guardian likes the idea of your bones being crushed for what you have done.”

Alexic looked at the people he had kidnapped. He shut his eyes. “I am contracted to kill these people. There is only one way that will not happen. I must speak with Xavier Collins on his return. Until then, the people inside of this tent will remain alive—me included.”

Another pause followed his words, then the golem spoke. “Guardian is intrigued. Guardian does not think Xavier will take too kindly to what you have done here.”

“Unless the man can stop time, he will be forced to make a contract with me if he wishes these people to live,” Alexic said, sounding rather more confident than he felt.

Whatever happened now, Alexic knew this was the last mission he would ever do for his B Grade master.

Alexic wondered what would happen to this planet should he not return. His B Grade master had always been someone who held a grudge. If his message wasn’t received, then he would only escalate.

He would wish to get a stranglehold upon this Xavier Collins, and if he wasn’t able to, then he would crush the True Progenitor in whatever way that he could.

The end of book 4.