Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 70 - Sanctuary Seed (Patreon)

You have gained 3 Mastery Points (E Grade).

You have gained 200,000 Lesser Spirit Coins.

You have received a Sanctuary Seed.

Three Mastery Points?

His journey toward Level 101 was looking to be a long one. Xavier released a sigh. The Lesser Spirit Coins, at least, were slowly increasing, even if they weren’t a great deal to him.

This amount of Lesser Spirit Coins will really help the other Champions once they reach this floor. Especially those in my cohort who already got a boost from the contract they signed.

He wondered how that was going. It had been over a day since he’d been down in the tavern. He didn’t really want to have to talk to Sam right now.

“What’s a Sanctuary Seed?” he mumbled. He turned to the others; their eyes glazed over as they looked at their notifications. The last three loot boxes he’d opened, he’d gotten an item that the others hadn’t.

The Sector Travel Key, the Portal Stones, and the Communication Stones.

Now, he’d gotten a Sanctuary Seed. He quickly asked the others if they’d gotten one as well, but they’d shaken their heads.

Is this because I’m a number one record holder?

The Sanctuary Seed materialised in his hand. It was larger than a normal seed—about the size of a small rock—and oval-shaped. He turned it around in his hand, feeling its surface. It had glowing runes etched into it.

Curious, he used Identify on the item.

{Sanctuary Seed – E Grade}

The Sanctuary Seed can be planted in any terrain. Once planted, it grows into a fortified dwelling. The appearance of this dwelling is dependent upon the environment in which it is planted.

The sanctuary that grows from this seed can be adapted and upgraded as needed, acquiring unique defensive and offensive capabilities, and the ability to grow resources.

A telepathic link and portal nexus can be established with the Sanctuary Seed if certain conditions are met.

The Sanctuary Seed bonds with the soul of the Denizen who uses it. It will grow in strength with the user, but the user will suffer if the sanctuary is damaged or destroyed.

Identify has reached Rank 25!

“Damn,” Xavier blurted. “That’s awesome!”

“What’s awesome?” Howard asked.

Xavier held up the Sanctuary Seed. “This.”

“A… rock?” Siobhan smirked.

“It’s a little more than just a rock.” Xavier ran his thumb over the etchings. “It’s a Sanctuary Seed. It can grow a fortress. This… this is going to really come in handy once we’re back on Earth. And, somehow, it’s E Grade.”

“How the hell are you getting so many great items?” Justin looked at his open loot box, his expression forlorn. “I just got Mastery Points and spirit coins…”

Siobhan frowned. “Maybe we aren’t getting extra items because of our contribution?”

“What contribution?” Justin asked.

Siobhan chuckled. “Exactly.”

Howard nodded at Xavier. “And he’s over here breaking records. Of course the System is going to single him out.”

There was a pause after Howard said this, and Xavier could tell they were all thinking the same thing.

The System is watching…

“Where will you plant it?” Siobhan asked, breaking the tension. “It sounds like it could be really amazing. It must grow with the user, right?”

“I’m not sure. I guess we’ll find a good place when we’re back on Earth. Though, we won’t be able to defend the sanctuary when we’re in the tower… And yeah, it said it grows with the Denizen it’s bound to. It also says the user will suffer if it’s damaged or destroyed.”

“Suffer?” Justin muttered. “That’s at the same time not very specific and incredibly ominous.”

Xavier examined the seed for another moment, wondering where such a thing could come from. He imagined what his fortress might look like. He couldn’t help but hope it would be some sort of castle.

Who didn’t want to live in a castle?

He was also curious about the defensive and offensive capabilities it could have.

I wonder how large I can make this thing. Maybe it will be able to help protect others while we’re in the tower.

He imagined the fortress would be incredibly powerful compared with the Denizens and beasts on Earth right now.

They can’t be very high level, if the invaders are only able to send Denizens a single level higher than the highest-level Denizen currently residing on Earth.

That thought made him shudder. He knew that whatever he faced back on Earth he could take. But he was worried what his appearance might cause. To learn the highest level of someone on Earth, the invaders had to send their own people through portals and hope they arrived alive. And apparently doing so was rather costly over such a distance—not only in the lives of their Denizens.

They would have to be pretty cruel to sacrifice their soldiers like that. Cruel, or really desperate.

The moment he started gaining a great deal of levels, he’d wondered what would happen when he returned to Earth. If one of the invaders discovered that Earth had an E Grade, they would be able to send E Grades too—Xavier would be able to demolish them, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once.

They aren’t going to learn my level. I’ll make sure of that.

Xavier had acquired an item from the System store that made it almost impossible for someone of his own grade to identify him, which meant that none of the invaders, who would all be F Grade, would have any chance of doing so.

At least this Sanctuary Seed is something I’ll manage to leave behind.

He deposited the seed into his Storage Ring. As he did, he looked at his hands. The modifications to his body from assimilating various properties weren’t as obvious now that he’d advanced, but they still made him wonder about his future.

When he’d brought up his status information after advancing to E Grade, it had shown an asterisk by his name. He didn’t know what that meant. He hadn’t discussed it with Sam. Knowing the barkeep, there wouldn’t be anything he could say to Xavier anyway, what with the System’s restrictions.

That asterisk had stopped him from assimilating more properties, despite his curiosity about their potential benefits.

I haven’t faced anything I couldn’t handle. Yet. I’ll revisit that soon. Besides, these titles are benefiting me more than I expected, especially after reaching E Grade. I thought it wouldn’t make much difference, but I pushed through my Speed threshold again at the end of the last floor, and I should soon break my next Intelligence threshold, as it’s currently sitting at 4,930.

“Do you guys have anything you need to do before we move on to the next floor?” Xavier asked his party.

They each shook their heads. Though it often seemed he didn’t need his party, as he could solo each floor, he was grateful for their presence.

Being able to communicate telepathically with Siobhan and having Justin place the other Portal Stone… it was the only reason I finished that floor so quickly. If I’d been truly alone, I would’ve had to stop and convince Princess Narella not to pursue me by myself, which would’ve wasted precious time.

Besides, without them, I never would’ve considered taking out the entire Endless Horde. They were the ones who planted that idea in my head.

He wandered over to the Staging Room door. Howard, Siobhan, and Justin did look a bit tired—they required more sleep than him, and they’d run all night through that forest the first time through the seventh floor—but they didn’t complain about needing rest.

We’re pushing hard until we’re back on Earth. They understand that.

~

The eighth floor of the Tower of Champions was another easy one for Xavier to clear. They barely spent more than a few minutes there on their first time through to scope the place out. Much like the last few floors, there were people who needed his protection. Except there was no city, no fortress, no goblin keep to clear or princess to escort.

There was a desert wasteland. One filled with rawhide tents and nomadic looking people who mostly wielded spears or staves. The floor reminded him a little of the floor with the Endless Horde, except the enemies were all coming at once, and every single one of them was a beast.

The nomads called this occurrence a Beast Tide. On this world, they raged every ten years.

That’s why their civilisation has never had a chance to flourish—the beasts wipe them out too fast.

He supposed the same thing happened on a sector-wide scale. The Silver River sector had been purged twice. Even if it had been over a thousand years since the last time that had happened, a thousand years—in the Greater Universe—apparently wasn’t all that long.

Just like these Beast Tides were holding this world back, the purges were holding Xavier’s whole sector back.

The notification told him the floor would be completed under two conditions. The first condition was the Beast Tide being destroyed in its entirety. The second condition was that, after the Beast Ride passed through the small encampment, 80 percent of the nomads had to survive. Enough to maintain their culture. Enough to push forward for another ten years.

There were one hundred nomads. Xavier wasn’t going to let a single one of them die.

The System notification told him it would take a full half hour for the Beast Tide to pass through the area. Xavier had examined the area with his Aura Sight. He could see to the end of the beasts easily enough.

He cleared out the tide of beasts in a matter of minutes—mostly because he was rejuvenating his soulkeeping reserve, and being careful not to kill every enemy—then left only one alive before heading back to the Staging Room.

The nomads bowed and prostrated themselves as he and his party passed. The second he left, they’d be able to deal with the final beast on their own.

When Xavier returned to the floor a second time, he cleared the entire Beast Tide in three seconds and gained himself a record-holding title. Which meant that within five minutes of entering the eighth floor of the Tower of Champions, they’d already completed it.

That’s more like it!

He skimmed over the titles. Felt the thrum as another threshold was met.

His head felt numb and lightheaded as his Intelligence was pushed over the five-thousand-point threshold. Then it was like his mind was on overdrive.

God, this feeling… he would never tire of it.

If I’m this powerful now, how powerful will I be in a year? Ten? A hundred?

A thousand?

And how powerful were the truly strong Denizens in the Greater Universe?

He couldn’t help but rub his hands together as he headed toward the loot box. The last few items he’d gotten had been amazing finds. Things that had either actively helped him on the floors, or would be incredibly useful to him in the future.

Xavier could only wonder about what he’d find next.