Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 74 - Every Kill Counts (Patreon)

Xavier burned through Dark Wyvern after Dark Wyvern, sending Soul Strikes at flocks—

Clutches? Flights? What do you call a group of wyverns?

—of the leathery beasts, taking out ten at a time.

He experimented a little with the strength of Soul Strike, wanting to get a feel for it. Now that it had reached Rank 2, he shot off another one-infused Soul Strike to see how many level 14 Dark Wyverns he was able to take out.

Xavier smiled. Previously, he’d only been able to take out four wyverns with a one-infused Soul Strike. Now, he could take down five.

Which meant he’d only need to infuse two souls into a strike to take down a whole clutch.

Yeah, clutch sounds way better than flock or flight.

He did the math, figuring in his cooldown, and the numbers of Dark Wyvern clutches.

The cooldown on Soul Strike is two seconds with two souls. There are a hundred clutches. If I take a clutch out with a single spell, with two seconds apart…

That was less than four minutes.

He frowned. That would mean refreshing Spiritual Trifecta at least seventeen times. That’ll slow me down a second or two, but not by too much.

Though he didn’t yet know how long it would take for him to deal with the fourth-floor boss, considering how easily he’d dealt with that three-headed hell beast Cerotri Infernum, he doubted it would take too long.

He tested Soul Strike without Spiritual Trifecta active and found a one-infused Soul Strike only killed three of the Dark Wyverns without it.

Sometimes I forget how much that spell does for me.

It didn’t take long for the notifications to start rolling in.

Soul Strike (Ranged) has taken a step forward on the path!

Soul Strike (Ranged) is now a Rank 3 spell.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Congratulations, you have reached level 11!

Your health has been regenerated by 60%!

Your Spirit Energy limit has increased by 200!

You have received +2 Strength, +2 Toughness, +2 speed, +3 Intelligence, +3 Willpower and +8 Spirit!

You have received +20 free stat points!

All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown!

Xavier drew in a deep breath then released a laugh. “Whoa.” He shook his head. He felt like he’d just been granted a title, with how many stats he’d just gained.

And he still had 20 to assign.

Apparently, there were perks to choosing an epic class beyond harvesting souls.

I could get used to this.

He also noticed that his health now regenerated by 60% instead of 50% when gaining a level, and his Spirit Energy’s limit increased by 200 instead of 100. Considering how many points he had in his Spirit Attribute, he doubted that would make a significant difference, but every point was helpful.

With the +8 Spirit, I gain 1000 points to my threshold each level. He paused. More than that, with Meditation adding 14% to Spirit at Rank 10, and Aura-Control adding 10% at Rank 1.

Xavier glanced around at the floating auras in the darkness. The remaining clutches of Dark Wyverns he’d yet to take out. He must have taken out over six hundred of them, to have reached level 11, meaning there were only a few hundred left.

He frowned, looking at his stats for a moment, and contemplating the 20 free points he’d just received. He raised Soultaker, felt the reserve of ten souls inside of him.

My Spirit attribute empowers almost all I do.

He tilted his head up, making a swift decision, and threw all 20 points into Spirit.

You have added 20 points to Spirit!

Spirit increased from an effective 273 → 298!

You have 0 free stat points remaining.

25 points for the price of 20!

Xavier smiled. Shook his head. He shut his eyes—the Dark Wyvern clutches that remained were nowhere near attacking him yet, and he’d hear the flap of their leathery wings and the screeches from their massive maws long before they got close enough to hurt him—and focused on his Spirit Core.

He hadn’t been paying enough attention to his aura. When he’d put on his Shrouded Robes, the balance that he’d found within his core had been disrupted, his aura leaking out again—or smoking, as he liked to think of it.

And now, with gaining a level and so many points in Spirit, he had to adjust it once more.

One day, this will become as automatic as breathing is to me now.

It took him several minutes of deep breathing while in meditation to tweak his core until it was in balance again, his aura once more restrained—that was another thing he’d yet to test.

What effect did his aura have against these wyverns?

He chuckled. So much to do, so little time.

Aura-Control has reached rank 2!

Xavier blinked, staring at the text that just appeared before him. What? Already? He hadn’t expected that. He supposed he was still so new to the spell, any small improvement made it shoot up to the next rank. Maybe adjusting my aura after that much added Spirit wasn’t only a small change after all.

The rank-up of aura control pushed his Spirit all the way to 300. The few point difference only shifted his aura very slightly, taking a few seconds for him to adjust the balance and hide his aura.

He let out a sigh, realising just how often he’d have to change this. Still, he felt strong. Gaining that level had felt amazing. He hadn’t gained that many stats in a little while.

52 more, and I’ll get that 1000-point title.

But by the looks of it, he’d need to kill double the number of enemies as he’d had the last time to reach level 12.

Xavier refreshed Spiritual Trifecta, the spell feeling stronger already, homed in on the next clutch of wyverns, then sent a one-infused Soul Strike at them.

Only moments ago he could kill five with a one-infused Soul Strike. Now, he could kill six.

He smiled, an idea forming within his mind.

I’m definitely going to get onto the top 100 for this floor.

Xavier took down another thirty clutches of wyverns, standing on the platform, throwing one bolt of pure white lightning after another, brilliant apparitions forming in the dark.

His threshold for soulkeeping—which he’d decided to call the number of souls he could harvest—had gone up to 30 when he’d reached the third rank of Soul Strike, but the Soul Harvest spell itself had yet to rank up.

That made him remember his Spirit Infusion spell. He looked at the Upgrade Quest, which he’d unlocked during the days he’d been stuck unable to enter this floor.

Spirit Infusion – Rank 1

Upgrade Quest:

As you have now used this spell, you have begun your first step on the path to upgrading it to Rank 2.

Available paths:

1. Spirit Infusion (Defensive) – Infuse defensive Spirit Energy into armour and weapons to gain more physical and magical resistance – to upgrade, take 1000 hits to equipped armour while it is infused. Progress: 0/1000

2. Spirit Infusion (Offensive) – Infuse offensive Spirit Energy into armour and weapons to deal damage to an enemy who strikes you, and to deal more damage to enemies you strike (whether with spells, in melee or with ranged weapons) – to upgrade, strike 1000 enemies with infused equipment. Progress: 950/1000

This spell is locked to your Soul Reaper class. Gaining Rank 2 in in this spell will not require you to forget another spell, and this spell cannot be forgotten while you remain in the Reaper line of classes.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Xavier frowned. He looked at Soultaker, still infused with Spirit Energy. It must be helping the damage I deal with Soul Strike. He looked at the defensive option once more, then looked out at the auras remaining—only fifty left.

As he’d taken out the last thirty clutches of Dark Wyverns, he’d wondered about his goal of hitting the top 100.

Wondered if he wasn’t aiming high enough.

Defence is important… but I think, if I go full offense, I can hit number 1.

He tested a one-infused Soul Strike against a clutch of wyverns and found not having the spell enhancing his weapon had cost him a kill, bringing him back down to five.

Every kill counts.

He’d told himself he would test the defensive capabilities of Spirit Infusion. But if he were honest with himself, he wasn’t worried about his defence anymore.

Xavier had come a long, long way from lying on the ground, fending off level 2 goblin attacks. Or almost being killed by the level 11 Black Pumas when he’d aggroed too many of them.

I want to get to number 1. And the only way I do that is by dealing even more damage. By killing even faster.

Xavier raised his chin. He had an instinct for the type of Denizen he wanted to be. For which paths he should take his spells. An instinct he had been struggling to trust. But even if he’d made some questionable decisions getting to where he was, he had gotten here.

He must be doing something right.

Xavier felt his determination set. This was the path he would take, and the means were before him.

He struck out, casting four more two-infused Soul Strikes until a single clutch remained.

Magical Potency has reached rank 12!

Xavier smiled, feeling the slightest shift in his mind, staring at the cluster of remaining enemies. One among that last clutch held the strongest aura of all the Dark Wyverns. He could see the aura, in the distance, in the dark. Could feel the strength wafting off the beast, but even though he knew where it was, it was too far away for him to scan.

He couldn’t help but wonder what the beast looked like.

I’ll be back for you soon.

With his will, he instructed the floating chunk of rock to return to the Safe Zone. He couldn’t have been gone from the others for long—certainly not long enough for them to return to the Staging Room.

As the rock floated, he refreshed Spiritual Trifecta—it glowed more brightly than ever, now, and he wondered what he would look like to the others.

Glowing silver, shrouded in dark robes, holding Soultaker, its long blade high above his head.

And thirty harvested souls held within the pit inside him.