Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 53 - Usurper (Patreon)

Someone slammed into Xavier the moment he appeared in the Staging Room.

Siobhan wrapped him in a tight, but brief, embrace. “You’re alive!” She stepped back, cleared her throat. “We… we thought you might die out there.”

“We saw you leap through that portal,” Howard said. “What on Earth were you thinking?”

Xavier rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I wasn’t on Earth at the time.” He smirked, but his weak joke only got a groan from Justin and a raised eyebrow from Howard.

His party were gathered in front of him. They each looked a little bit shocked. Clearly surprised that he was alive at all.

“What happened?” Howard asked. “Did you face the Lord of the Endless Horde?” He stepped forward, brow creased. “The contribution notification for the floor… it said you defeated the Horde?”

Xavier raised his chin. He smiled. Couldn’t help it. He was back! Finally, they’d finished the floor, made it back to the tower! Their loot boxes sat in the middle of the Staging Room, as they always did, waiting for them to open them.

And he had a class upgrade to choose.

Not only that, he had a new spell that he’d gotten from one of his titles, as well as a System Boon, to discover the details of.

As thrilled as he was feeling to do all of that, he told the others what had happened first. He led them to the loot boxes and took a seat on his own. He wasn’t worried about the time they might take between floors. He was well and truly in the lead. He’d likely have to take off an entire week if someone were to ever catch up.

And the six or so weeks he’d taken on that floor? Well, here, technically only an hour had passed. Two, if he counted his first time on the floor.

I wonder what Sam will think when I return to the tavern, already E Grade. That’s assuming I should even tell him.

“You really defeated him? A D Grade Denizen?” Siobhan shook her head, a look of awe on her face. “That’s amazing!”

Siobhan wasn’t the only one shaking their head. Howard and Justin were too.

“You… took control of him?” Howard asked in slight disbelief. “Made him burn his core from the inside?” He blinked. “That’s, well… that’s damned overpowered.” He ran a hand through his beard. “Could you do that to… to anyone?”

Xavier thought about that for a moment. “I’m not sure. Honestly? I think it was only possible because the man’s core was so volatile. He’d let his guard down. Got emotional. And his barrier wasn’t a mental one. He had a strong mental defence, but it was clear he didn’t have any spells to reinforce that.” Not that Xavier had any mental resistance spells.

Maybe I should look into better mental defences myself.

It was definitely terrifying, what he’d been able to do to others with Willpower Infusion, and he was sure he wouldn’t be the only one to have a spell like that.

The Lord of the Endless Horde might have been D Grade, but he was only Level 201. A weak, low-level D Grade at best. He may have ruled a sector, but it was a weak sector, one he was clearly afraid of leaving.

He’d mentioned these things to the others. Not because he was trying to diminish his accomplishments, rather because he was trying to put them into perspective. He was powerful—and he’d only grown morepowerful after he’d defeated the Lord of the Endless Horde, after the titles he’d gained—especially the unmatched title, which gave him a massive 30 percent boost to all stats.

But he was by no means unstoppable.

Not yet.

The Lord of the Endless Horde had been an arrogant fool, and it had been the man’s downfall. The last thing Xavier needed was to become arrogant himself just because he’d defeated a weak D Grade.

Still, he could bask in the joy of his accomplishment for a little while.

Two unmatched titles. Those words about the System watching… I definitely did something to be proud of.

“I don’t know why you three are so surprised I won.” Xavier smirked. “Weren’t you the ones who gave me the idea in the first place?”

Siobhan glanced at the others, lips pursed. “True, we did give you the idea, but, well…”

“We didn’t think you’d actually be able to do it,” Howard said, rather bluntly, with a shrug.

Xavier leant back. “What? You didn’t think…?” He laughed. “You set me onto this path, and you didn’t think it would work?”

“We knew you could get farther than you thought,” Justin said. He bit his lip. “My Olympic fencing coach used to always talk about how confidence, being sure of oneself, that was what made the seemingly impossible possible. All athletes have to think they can achieve something others can’t. What would be the point of competing if we didn’t think we could win?”

“You went farther than any of us expected you to, Xavier,” Siobhan said. “You’re amazing. Truly.”

Xavier wasn’t sure how to feel about what they’d done, but he took it in stride. He was glad for their initial encouragement, though his confidence had wavered several times—and the confidence of his party had definitely wavered too.

Hope, he realised. They were trying to instil hope.He would remember that, for when they returned to Earth. He assumed there were a lot of people back there who would be in need of hope.

Xavier clapped his hands together. “Well, uh, I suppose I should thank the three of you. I’m not sure I would have gotten as far as I did, if you hadn’t put that idea in my head in the first place. There were so many times when I wanted to give up. If my plan had only been to get the best record for the floor, I might have returned here soon after the one thousandth’s wave, when things were getting… very difficult.”

That’s when he’d developed Willpower Infusion in the first place. He would have come back strong, even without that spell, even without advancing to E Grade… but doing what he had? That was so, so much better.

Xavier was eager to look at his new class selections, and so he broke off from his party. The others opened their loot boxes, but he figured he shouldn’t do that until he had his next class. He knew the amount of Mastery Points he would gain from the loot box wouldn’t be much, but he’d waste them if he hadn’t chosen his class before opening it.

He stepped over to the opposite side of the Staging Room, near the heavy balls that could be hefted up to increase one’s Strength, and sat cross-legged on the ground facing away from the others.

First, he looked at the new spell he’d received.

Core Burn – Rank 1

Core Burn is a unique spell only available to those who have tapped into the ability to influence another’s core. It cannot by learnt from any book, scroll, or class upgrade.

This spell makes an enemy burn through the energy within their main core, and can cause a chain reaction, burning through the energy of the enemy’s other cores if they have been revealed.

This spell is most effective against those with a weak mental and spiritual defence.

This spell has only one path.

As this is a unique spell, handed out by the System because of your accomplishment, it is bonded to your soul and cannot be unlearnt.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Xavier smiled. When he’d seen the name of the spell, he’d expected it to be something like this. That’s exactly what I did to the Lord of the Endless Horde. He was a little surprised to find that the spell was only Rank 1. A part of him had hoped that when he learnt a spell as an E Grade Denizen, it might start at Rank 50.

But he supposed that was too much to ask for.

Still, he was eager to test out his new spell. He looked over at the door to the next tower floor, tilting his head to the side, wondering what the sixth floor might be like.

Surely it will be nothing like the fifth floor, with near endless waves attacking me over and over…

He knew there could be a huge benefit in another floor like that, but he was tired of the same old thing. Besides, he wanted to get back to Earth as soon as possible.

I could probably clear the rest of the floors today… though I suppose I haven’t slept in a very, very long time.

He blinked, realising… he wasn’t exhausted. His robes weren’t damaged, either, so he didn’t need to infuse Spirit Energy into them to repair them.

Maybe advancing took away my need for rest, and the System healed me when it returned me here.

He looked at the next thing the System had granted him.

System Boon – Usurper

System Boons are one of the rarest gifts granted by the System in the Greater Universe.

Usurper is a one use only System Boon.

This boon gives a Denizen the ability to challenge the ruling Denizen in any region they are currently in. Once activated, it will teleport the user to their desired enemy. The System will then preside over a death duel between the user and the ruling Denizen.

Each Denizen will have one day to prepare for this duel, and neither can be harmed or harm others during that time.

Xavier’s eyes widened as he read through the boon. Not only had he not known System Boons existed, he’d had no idea what the System Boon would be able to do for him.

This is a powerful gift, but one I must use very, very carefully.

He supposed it made sense to receive something like this after what he’d just done—defeating the ruling Denizen of an entire sector. But it wasn’t just a challenge, it was a death duel. He would have to be sure he could defeat whoever it was he faced if he were to ever use this.

The fact that both Denizens would have a day to prepare, but wouldn’t be able to harm others or be harmed during that time was rather interesting.

If I can’t harm others, it would be difficult to gain Mastery Points during that time.

It also only specified that he would be teleported, meaning he would be taken into the depths of enemy territory for this death duel.

What would protect him after the duel?

I guess that’s something I’ll have to figure out if I ever have reason to use this.

Considering all he’d been through so far, he imagined he would definitely have reason to use a boon like this.

Finally, it was time to look at what classes he had available to upgrade to.