Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion - Chapter 85 - A New Energy Source (Patreon)

Xavier, still holding the Sector Travel Key in his hand—it felt oddly heavy, given its size, and he got the feeling the key wasn’t actually made from brass—looked over at the others.

Howard, Siobhan and Justin had just opened their own loot boxes. Their eyes had that slightly glazed over look a Denizen got when they were staring at their notifications. None of them had a particularly excited look on their face, as though their awards were normal and expected.

“Did you guys get a key?” Xavier asked, though from the look in their eyes he could already tell they hadn’t.

Howard frowned, eyes refocusing. “A key?”

Justin shook his head. “No. I didn’t get a key.” He looked at Siobhan. “Did you?”

Siobhan turned away from her loot box and looked at Xavier. She raised her hand, showing an Attribute Token held between two fingers. “I just got one of these.”

Justin rolled his own Attribute Token over his knuckles, tossed it up into the air, then caught it swiftly as it fell back down. Howard raised his own with a shrug.

Siobhan walked up to Xavier. “What kind of key is that?”

Xavier turned it over in his hand, examining it. “It’s called a Sector Travel Key.”

“Sector Travel Key!” Justin’s eyes lit up. “What does that do? It sounds cool.”

Xavier smirked. “It does sound cool. It also doesn’t say anything about what it does, unfortunately.”

“I get the feeling it lets you… travel around the sector?” Siobhan mused, sounding a little unsure.

Howard crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe it’s like a passport? Gives you permission to enter certain places?”

“I suppose it could be,” Xavier said, sounding dubious. He hoped it wasn’t something as mundane as that. A passport wasn’t much use if you couldn’t get on a plane, after all. And he had no idea how to get to another world.

Do I even want to go to another world?

He internally scoffed at his own thought. Of course he wanted to go to another world! Though he knew it wasn’t exactly a priority, considering there would be an invasion going on back on Earth, he figured if the System had given him this, it would turn out to be important in the future.

“The question is, why did I get this while you guys got something different?” Xavier didn’t mind that the others had gotten an Attribute Token and he hadn’t. Though he didn’t know how to use the Sector Travel Key, he got the feeling it was far more valuable. It wasn’t that he would ever say noto more attribute points, it was just that he was confident that he probably had more than just about anyone else at his level would.

“That… doesn’t really seem like a question, does it?” Siobhan’s forehead creased. “You just ranked first on a floor. You made a new record. That’s… that still absolutely boggles my mind, considering how many trillions of Champions would have gone through that same floor in the last few billions of years! Honestly, it’s kind of insane when you think about it.”

Xavier considered that for a moment. “I know that, but the System has never given us different rewards in the past. Now, it’s like its singling me out.”

“The System gives you different titles. Why wouldn’t it give you different rewards from loot boxes?” Howard said with a shrug.

Xavier tilted his head to the side, not feeling entirely convinced. It made him think of that presence he’d felt, just after he’d cleared the floor and gotten that title. That presence that had made him feel like nothing more than a speck of dust.

That presence that he’d been sure wasn’tthe System. At least, his instinct had told him it hadn’t been.

He lowered his head, deep in thought, turning the key over and over in his hand. Could this be a gift from that presence I’d felt? He tilted his head to the side, considering. Could a Denizen really interfere with the rewards a loot box gave?

That doesn’t sound like it would be fair… though this key doesn’t appear to influence how I’ll do on a floor of the tower. If anything, it’s technically worse than an Attribute Token in that regard. At least in the immediate future. So I suppose the System wouldn’t be worried about the outcome being influenced if someone were to receive one of these…

But perhaps he was simply being paranoid. Looking too deeply into this. He didn’t have any reason to believe that this key hadn’t come from the System itself.

Besides, imagining an entity out there that was strong enough to observe him in a floor and circumvent the loot box rewards, right under the nose of the System? The very thought made him shudder.

What would it mean, if I’ve garnered that kind of attention?

Xavier sighed, depositing the Sector Travel Key into his Storage Ring where it would be kept safe. He would definitely visit Sam down at the tavern about this, even if their last conversation hadn’t ended too well. Something told him the man would be willing to speak with him again now.

But first, there were other things to attend to. Like Siobhan, Howard and Justin choosing their classes. He didn’t want to miss out on seeing what they ended up with.

He closed his loot box and sat back on it, crossing one leg over the other. Soultaker was in his Storage Ring, but he imagined he still looked a little sinister, even sitting in this position, with the Shrouded Robes on.

Not to mention his silver eyes.

They’re going to be able to see auras soon.

That thought reminded him of his own aura. He’d neglected to adjust it after he’d gained that last level, not to mention all of those titles, and his balance was out of whack. As the others settled down, sitting on their own loot boxes and going through their class selections with that same glazed look in their eyes, Xavier fell into a deep meditation and focused on his aura.

The last time he’d adjusted his aura, it hadn’t taken him very long. But this time, he’d gained quitea lot of Spirit Energy. It made him worry about when he gained Spirit while being exposed, like when he would be back on Earth.

What if he accidentally revealed his aura, and it gave away his position to the enemy at a crucial moment?

Perhaps as I get stronger with Aura Control, even gaining a vast boost to my Spirit attribute won’t throw me off containing my aura.

Once he’d gained the perfect balance, one that didn’t have his aura flowing outward from him, the Spirit Energy consumed at the exact rate that he recovered it, a notification popped up in his vision and he smiled.

Aura-Control has reached rank 3!

Though he was glad he’d gained another level in Aura-Control so easily, it did make him wonder about the other two Skill Quests.

Celestial Energy… maybe Sam will tell me about that this time.

“Yes!” Justin exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. “Hah!”

Xavier raised an eyebrow at the teenager. The kid jumped to his feet and had a look of glee lighting up his face. “What? Good class?”

“A rare class!” Justin beamed at Xavier. He glanced at the other two. They were still staring at their own class choices. Justin sat back down, smiling broadly. “I’ll choose the class now, and tell you when the others have done theirs.” His eyes shifted focus, then he blinked, stood up from his loot box, and lay on the ground.

“What… why are you lying on the floor?” Xavier asked.

“Last time you passed out. Figured I’d skip the step of falling.” Justin looked at him. “Did it hurt?”

“Yes. Excruciatingly.”

“Thanks. I… appreciate your bedside manner.” Justin frowned, muttering, “Floor-side manner?”

A moment later, the teenager spasmed, then went still. When he opened his eyes, less than a minute had passed. He let out a breath. “You weren’t kidding. That hurt like a mother…” He trailed off, his eyes widening. He must have been looking at his new spells.

Xavier stepped over and helped him to his feet. He checked out the kid’s eyes. They hadn’t changed colour, but his aura had shifted a little. It wasn’t that it was stronger—he wouldn’t have gained any attribute points from the class change—but it did seem like… it had more weight. “How do you feel?”

Justin shook out his limbs, rolled his head around his neck, then smiled. “I feel great. And these new spells!”

Xavier grinned back at the kid, and they both sat down and waited for the others.

Though Xavier had been hoping that Justin would be able to choose a rare class, he hadn’t actually been sure that would be possible. He figured that might be a more difficult feat, requiring more than what the three of them had managed to accomplished.

Then he supposed it must be incredibly rare for Champions to get the first-clear titles that they’d managed to get, and those titles were worth much more than the normal baseline, normal titles for clearing a floor.

And they stack on top of those.

Not to mention that Champions in general were probably more powerful as a rule than those who hadn’t come through the tower, as they would simply have access to more titles than most.

They probably get uncommon classes as a rule, too… pushing it to rare couldn’t have been that hard.

That made him wonder about his own accomplishment. How much more powerful, exactly, was an epic class over a rare class? He remembered reading the descriptions for some of those rare classes. They’d sounded interesting, even kind of powerful, but they hadn’t sounded anywhere as strong as the epic classes like Bringer of Destruction and the one he’d chosen, Soul Reaper.

Xavier waited patiently, contemplating what Celestial Energy might be, while he waited for the other two to choose their classes.

At some point, Howard went to lie on the ground. Though it hadn’t seemed like he’d been paying attention to what happened to Justin, as his eyes had been glazed over the entire time, he must have been.

Howard grunted, spasmed, shut his eyes, then went still. When he opened his eyes again, he muttered, “Yes. That’s the one.” His eyes refocused as he made it back to his loot box. Though he wasn’t smiling, his shoulders were pulled back and he was sitting a little straighter than before. Xavier couldn’t help but read a bit of pride in the man’s posture.

Siobhan was the last one to choose her class. Her face was scrunched up and she was playing with a strand of hair as she stared at whatever choices she had. Xavier got an image of the woman in her normal—if normal was a thing that existed since the integration, or ever would exist again—job as a marketer at an indie games company, sitting in front of her computer, her face all scrunched up like that, one hand on her mouse, the other playing with her hair as she thought through whatever it was that was in front of her.

Eventually, a small smirk slipped onto her lips and she bobbed her head, making a hmm noise. She went through the same procedure as the others. Xavier was there to help her up when she opened her eyes.

When she was back at her seat on her loot box, Xavier rubbed his hands together, finding he was more excited than he’d expected to be, anticipating what kind of classes they’d chosen.

“Did you two manage rare classes like Justin?”

Siobhan and Howard nodded their heads in unison. Howard glanced at the others, then was the first to speak.

“I got the choice of three common classes, two uncommon classes, and one rare class,” Howard said.

The others nodded, they must have experienced the same thing.

Interesting, Xavier thought. I had more epic classes to choose from than they had rare classes.

“Fortunately, the rare class sounded like exactly what I was after.” Howard summoned his tower shield, holding it somewhat reverently. “The class is called Shield Sentinel. And the spells sound… impressive.” He tilted his head to the side. “I have gained five new spells. A basic Taunt spell, which says it works to varying degrees depending on an opponent’s Willpower, and is attached to both my Toughness and Willpower attribute.

“A spell called Hold Ground, which I can see working well with my Immovable skill. It deceases the amount of damage I receive when staying in one spot by half.” He ran a hand through his beard. “I see that going up in the future.

“I also received a spell called Martyr’s Defence. It allows me to intercept a strike or spell meant for another.”

“Does it reduce the damage you take from that strike?” Siobhan asked.

Howard shook his head. “No. I take the full damage.”

Xavier nodded. That sounded like an incredibly valuable spell. Out of all of them, Siobhan was the most vulnerable. Though she could heal others and teleport them out of danger, she couldn’t do any of that for herself. Do have Howard able to take damage for her would be quite the asset.

“That’s three. What are the other two spells you gained?” Xavier asked.

Howard gave a smile with a bit of an edge. “Backfire. A spell that puts half the damage I receive back onto the enemy. It doesn’t reduce the damage I take, but…” He shrugged. “I’m already a tank. And the last one.” He ran a hand through his beard thoughtfully. “It gives me the ability to infuse Toughness Energy into my shield and armour.”

Xavier sat up straight. “Toughness Energy? What’s that?”

Howard shook his head. “I’m not sure. But… when I look at my stats, I now have a new line item. I still have Spirit Energy, but, below that… it looks like I have a new energy source.”