Every single Denizen inside of the Hunter’s Home tavern was staring at Xavier and Gimble, who stood by the entrance to the establishment.
Xavier was still holding onto the large treasure chest he’d found in the Fetid Forest Troll’s bedchamber, the one he hadn’t been able to gain access to. He was curious to know what a C Grade beast might find valuable enough to keep inside a locked spatial storage box.
Gimble looked greedily at the treasure chest and opened his hands as though Xavier were going to hand it over without question.
Xavier stepped back from the dwarf and raised an eyebrow. “You really think I’m just going to give this to you without some sort of contract in place?”
Gimble’s arms fell by his sides, and he looked a little crestfallen. “Where’s the trust, lad? I thought we’d gotten to know each other rather well.”
Xavier frowned at the dwarf, eyebrow still raised. “And you wouldn’t ask for a contract, were the roles reversed?”
The dwarf ran a hand through his beard and glanced back at the other members of his party. “Suppose you do know me well, lad.” The dwarf frowned, as though noticing the other Champions looking at them for the first time. He made a shooing motion with his arms. “Mind your business, then!”
Most of the Champions looked away the moment Gimbe had spoken. Xavier wasn’t the only one with a reputation around here, and the dwarf had been here for far longer than he had. If Gimble were to be believed, the only Denizen who’d been on this floor longer was the barkeep herself, who was a permanent fixture of the place, only taking short breaks from being behind the bar at nighttime.
Xavier and Gimble signed yet another contract with one another. Gimble agreed to open the chest, and he didn’t even have any demands, nor ask for payment.
“See, you can trust me, lad. I don’t want to take your spoils, I’m just curious as to what they are,” Gimble said.
Xavier was sitting across from the dwarf at Gimble’s table, with the other members of his party. “Hmm,” Xavier replied. “And this doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m now an asset to you, does it?”
Gimble inclined his head. “Now you get it, lad.”
“Whatever spoils I find inside that box are liable to make me stronger, and considering the favour I owe you… well, the better position I’m in, the better position you’ll be in.”
“You make it sound cold ‘n’ calculated.” Gimble peered at him, then winked. “Which, I suppose, I am guilty of.”
Xavier looked at the box, which was currently sitting in the middle of the table. “How long will it take to unlock that thing?”
The dwarf examined it for a long moment. At one point, his eyes glazed over and he ran a hand through his beard several times. “Hmm. This is a higher grade of treasure chest than I’m used to dealing with.” The dwarf’s eyes became focused once more. “Might be awhile.” He grinned.
“Why are you smiling, then?” Xavier asked.
“Because crackin’ this thing? Seems like it will be mighty fun.”
Xavier shook his head. Though he’d known the dwarf for a little while now, he couldn’t say he always understood him. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
The dwarf frowned. “What, you thought you’d be able to unlock the secrets that lie within this thing right away, did you?” Gimble asked.
Xavier shrugged. “That is what I was hoping for.” He pushed himself off the table and stood. There were a number of other things he needed to do. Many things, even.
For instance, he needed to train like a demon possessed. Not that he hadn’t been already.
There were C Grade enemies in this place that he wished to face, and two of those enemies he wanted to defeat without the help of the raid group. One, because it had the potential of saving Liana’s husband. And the second, because he might finally be able to bring Volkarin into this realm for good.
Then, he’d be able to get off this floor. As much as he’d been enjoying his time here, he had to say he was eager for something new. Something more.
There were so many floors of the tower that he had left to experience, but it wasn’t just the tower floors he was eager to push to. He wanted to get back to Earth and travel to different worlds in his sector. He wanted to see how the other members of his party had been faring without him. He wanted to make sure that no one in the sector—or those around it—were a threat to Earth.
And there were other threats he needed to prepare for, not just fighting these C Grades. There was something terrible heading toward the Silver River sector. Something that would wipe it out completely if he wasn’t strong enough to stop that from happening.
The end is coming, Xavier thought. And I need to be ready to stop it. There was no way that he would simply abandon his sector after he had spent so long trying to protect Earth. He wouldn’t be able to evacuate the entire planet, either. It was true that he and those he cared about would likely find a way to get out of the sector, but that would leave billions of people behind to die.
And that wasn’t something Xavier was ever going to let happen.
He stepped over to the board. The rewards that he gained from a Hunt Quest were simply too good for him to ignore. Now that he was D Grade, facing enemies that were the same grade as him, he would need to kill enemies even faster than he’d already been doing if he was going to have any hope of actually gaining further levels in this place.
Xavier couldn’t help but have his gaze fall on the C Grade beasts on the board. There hadn’t been a Hunt Quest for the C Grade beast he’d just destroyed—not every beast on the floor was categorised.
If there had been a Hunt Quest for the Fetid Forest Troll, then a team of Champions would have likely killed the thing much earlier than he had. He had to thank Gimble for letting the thing live when the dwarf had originally come across it.
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He tapped his foot on the hard wood of the tavern floor. As always, whenever he stood there, he couldn’t help but stare at the notices for both The Nightmare and the C Grade dragon. Those were the enemies he truly wished to go after.
But he wasn’t ready.
Instead, he took a notice for what seemed like a fairly straightforward Hunt Quest, then he stepped over to the bar and ordered some coffee.
No matter what was going on, he tried to remember there was always time for coffee.
He sat at the stool. Felicia stared at him from the other side of the bar. Her gaze went to the wings at his back.
“What the hell, Xavier? Where did those wings come from?” Felicia asked. She leant forward on the bar. “Is it a new spell you gained?”
Xavier grinned back at the woman. She placed his order on the bar before he’d even made it. He wrapped his fingers around the warm ceramic and brought it to his lips, taking a sip. “Always wanting to know my secrets. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had an interest in me beyond that of a barkeep.”
“You know that I do. Everyone wants to bet on you—even though they used to bet against you. And now, after that C Grade you killed…” The woman shook her head. “Honestly, it’s a wonder you aren’t dead by now.” Her eyes widened. “You changed your race, didn’t you?”
Xavier didn’t confirm nor deny. He simply took another sip of his coffee.
“Holy System, you did change your race!” The barkeep shook her head. “I knew I’d seen some changes in you, but I never thought you would actually take the plunge.”
“You didn’t?” Xavier asked. “And why is that?”
“Most people, when given the chance, remain what they are.” The woman shrugged. “It’s just the nature of things. Though, of course, that isn’t always the case. Still, there can be unforeseen consequences to changing one’s race.”
“Unforeseen consequences?” Xavier raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, Xavier! They’re unforeseen!” Felicia sighed. “Some races aren’t exactly… well-regarded in the Greater Universe. We all have warlike cultures, that’s something that’s difficult to avoid given how the System governs.” She looked up at the ceiling and made a gesture I didn’t know how to describe, though it seemed like it might be either one of thanks, or one of warding. “But there are races out there who are more brutal as a rule.” She narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down, then stared at his wings again. “What exactly did you become?”
Xavier could tell the woman already had an idea of what he was, but for whatever reason she didn’t want to be the one to say it aloud. “Dragonkin,” Xavier said.
Felicia shut her eyes. “Dragonkin. Of course.” She opened her eyes and stared at him with a serious expression. “Dragonkin are one of the most feared races in the Greater Universe, and they don’t often take kindly to other races becoming them.”
“They don’t?” Xavier acted nonchalant, sipping his coffee, but he was intent on finding out more from the woman. She was often someone he could come to for information, but if he seemed too eager, she’d likely wring something more out of him than what race he’d changed to in exchange for what she knew.
“No, they don’t. They have one of the most ancient cultures in the Greater Universe, much as humans do, but theirs… it doesn’t vary as much as human culture tends to.”
Xavier wondered what a culture of dragonkin would be like. “I was hoping I could find an instructor. Someone who could show me… how to better use my body now that it’s changed.”
Liana scoffed. “In all my years behind this bar I’ve seen one party of dragonkin step into this place. They didn’t take too kindly to, well, anyone.”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure I like your odds.”
Xavier leant back and took on a thoughtful expression. This complicated matters. “They’re rare?”
“At least in this corner of the universe.” The woman motioned to the other Champions in the bar. “Most people here are from the same, or neighbouring sectors. For all I know, there could be a version of this floor entirely comprised of dragonkin Champions.” She shuddered. “Glad I’m not looking after that one.”
Xavier frowned. “Are they really that bad? Seems a little spiciest, making such claims about an entire race.”
“I’m only telling you what I’ve heard. Maybe it will be easy for you to find someone to help you in the ways of the dragonkin. I could easily be wrong,” Felicia replied, though the way she said the words made it sound like she didn’t doubt the truth of what she’d said one bit.
Xavier hadn’t come here to have a conversation with the barkeep, not really. He’d wanted to see Gimble, grab another notice from the board, and poke into Liana’s room to make sure she was still all right in her time dilation field.
Other than that, he had things to do.
One of those things was figuring out how his Spell Credits worked. He supposed the woman across from him might know, but before he asked, he simply focused on one of the two credits he’d received when he’d chosen his class.
He was still a little miffed that he’d only received two. He’d been hoping to learn a bunch of new spells when he’d chosen this class. It certainly offered him a hell of a lot of attribute points for each of his levels, but he wanted more than that. He’d always gained a fair number of spells when choosing a new class…
Xavier sighed inwardly. He nodded to the barkeep and said his goodbyes, then he ducked through one of the doors in the tavern that led to the rooms this place held. He came upon Liana’s and withdrew the key she’d given him for the room from his Storage Ring and peeked inside.
The woman lay on her bed, suspended in time, just as she’d been the last time he’d checked. She hadn’t moved an inch. She would be like that for as long as it took for Xavier to defeat The Nightmare. Only then would he be able to drag her out of it.
Today was not that day.
Satisfied that she was okay, he left the tavern and leapt straight into the air, flying high above the trees until he found a secluded area in which to cast Time Alteration. He dropped down and focused on the Spell Credits he’d yet to use.
That was when a notification sprang up in his vision that he hadn’t seen before.
You have two Spell Credits to spend.
Spell Credits are unique to only a few different classes in the Greater Universe. They allow a Denizen to choose from any approved spells available to them.
There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen.
You may choose from the following categories…
Xavier’s eyes widened as he saw countless different categories displayed before him. They didn’t appear to be in any particularly easy to discern order. There were categories spreading from healing magic to holy magic, to necromantic magic and gravity magic. And so, so many more.
He scrolled down the notification. Seeing so many different categories to choose from was honestly incredibly disorientating. He also wondered what the description had meant by “There are limits as to how a spell can be chosen.”
He seemed to be able to choose from anything.
That’s because of my class, Wayfarer of the Infinite Path. No spells are barred from me.
At least, that seemed to be the case.
As he focused, he found that he could easily search for categories. Because of that, in front of him he was looking at ones that were familiar. Soul magic and reaper magic—it was interesting to him that these were under two different categories—as well as time magic and mind control magic.
Xavier stared at the mind control magic category, wondering what other spells he might be able to access. Right now, he only had two spells pertaining to mind control: Willpower Infusion and Core Burn. He hadn’t managed to gain any more of those, despite how often he’d used Willpower Infusion.
He also only had two time magic spells: Time Prison and Time Alteration.
He tilted his head from one side to the other and thought there would be no harm in checking what different spells he could choose from in the mind control category.
A notification displayed before his eyes.
If you choose to look at the Mind Control Magic category, then you must choose the spell you wish to learn with one of your Spell Credits from this category.
Do you wish to continue?