The second wave had been barely more difficult than the first. While the first wave had only contained beasts, the second wave had contained races of humanoid Denizens. Xavier wasn’t surprised to see that the Endless Horde contained even more variety amongst its ranks than that of those within Queen Alastea’s castle.
Xavier stepped out—or rather leapt clean over the moat from atop the battlements—to fight the different waves. This time, he did it without Spiritual Trifecta and Spirit Infusion active. This second wave of enemies was only one level higher than the last. Xavier wondered how far that pattern would continue. For instance, would the ninetieth wave have level 100 enemies?
There were several thousand enemies in each wave. In the first wave, though Xavier had been limiting his offensive actions, he must have taken out at least fifteen hundred enemies—which was a good step toward his next level.
The wave boss had been taken out by the combined efforts of the queen’s forces laying down ranged attacks from the battlements, hence why he hadn’t encountered the Wolven Prime.
This time, he’d instructed the queen to command her forces to stand down. She’d looked at him warily. It was clear that though she was new to being queen, she was not used to taking orders from people she deemed below her station. However, as she’d seen what level of power he possessed—and noticed the fact that there was no fear in him—she only protested for a short while, and she did say that if any of his party should die she would command her forces to attack.
As those terms seemed perfectly reasonable to Xavier—there was no way he was going to let either Howard or Justin die, and Siobhan would be safe back on the wall—he agreed.
That second wave, Xavier focused hard on his different resistances and that of his Staff-Scythe Mastery skill once more. That’s why he hadn’t activated Spiritual Trifecta. The spell would cause him to be tougher than he needed for this encounter. And though Spirit Infusion could still use a few more rank-ups, he hadn’t used that as he didn’t wish to burn through the enemy forces too quickly—with Spirit Infusion in his armour, the enemies would take far too much damage whenever they hit him.
He wanted all that damage to come solely from Soultaker.
Unlike on other floors, his party were not starved for time like they usually might be. He could slow down as much as he wished. While he definitely wanted to probe the queen for more information as Siobhan had suggested, and find out if there was a library in this place, he knew they would have far more time for that on their second—and final—run-through of this floor.
That’s when I’ll clear the waves as quickly and efficiently as possible, which will give time for the queen to develop trust in both me and those in my party.
The wave contained even more Wolven, which were easy enough for him to deal with. What he was glad for in this wave was that it had a fair few Mages. Human and elven Mages both filled the ranks of the Endless Horde. The Wolven bounded out ahead of them as the Mages came into range, throwing mostly elemental spells.
Xavier could have gone straight for the Mages, but his Magical Resistance skill needed the most help. Besides, he wanted to leave some enemies for Howard and Justin. Without the army backing them up with ranged attacks, the two of them had to fight far more strategically. Where Xavier simply walked forward, swinging his staff-scythe in perfect arcs and devastating, limb-and-head-separating strikes, Howard and Justin had to rely heavily on their defensive and movement skills, not to mention Siobhan’s ability to heal them and get them out of danger whenever necessary.
They’ll be improving far more dramatically than I will in this fight.
Xavier took down even more enemies in that wave than he had in the first, purely because the army on the castle’s walls hadn’t been involved. The wave boss ended up being a human—the first human wave boss that he’d ever faced. Though the Warrior hadn’t been all that formidable.
A supposed tank class that he’d taken down with four Spirit Infused strikes from Soultaker.
Howard and Justin had also taken out their fair share of enemies during that wave, though not enough for them to gain a level.
The next two waves were similar. They still contained Wolven, but this time there were Denizens on those Wolven’s backs. Mounted fighters. Archers and Mages alike.
For Howard and Justin, these enemies were more difficult to deal with. Though it did mean that Justin got to utilise his mid-ranged Air Strike spell and his Winged Flight spell. The Airborne Duellist took full advantage of his class’s abilities. In battle, it was difficult to think of the teenager as a kid anymore.
Xavier kept pushing. He’d ranked up his resistance spells a fair bit on that first wave, and now he focused on those along with Spirit Infusion, which made the third wave go even faster. His staff-scythe burned through the enemies, slicing them apart with ease. It barely felt like he was cutting through anything at all, as though these enemies possessed zero Toughness. Not even the Denizens’ armour helped against the power of his blade.
By the fourth wave, Xavier was getting too close to his next level to hold things in anymore. He felt an impatience growing within his chest to get to the final clear for this floor. Though he knew it would only take an hour on the outside, on the inside it could take days depending upon how many waves he was able to clear.
He assaulted the oncoming enemies with everything he had, using his ranged Soul Strike spell with human, elven, and Wolven souls for the first time. White bolts of pure lightning shot forth all around him. Brilliant, terrifying apparitions sprang into being as the enemies around him were slaughtered, the soul damage moving through them with no possible defence. The ghosts of humans, elves and Wolven alike charged through the ranks of those they once fought alongside.
It was quite a sight.
Xavier was gladdened by how easy it was to clear the wave—he did it in a matter of minutes, thousands of bodies lying dead all around him—but he hoped the latter waves, ones beyond ten, or twenty, or thirty, would provide more difficulty for him.
I’ve no way of knowing how many waves to defeat to take the top spot. Which means I’ll simply have to fight until I no longer can.
He couldn’t help but feel excited at that prospect.
As the enemies died around him, a notification popped up in his vision.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Congratulations, you have reached level 14!
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 smiled. He’d gained quite a bit in the last few waves. As for his skills, Physical Damage had gone from Rank 7 all the way to Rank 12. Staff-Scythe Mastery had doubled, going from Rank 4 to Rank 8. It hadn’t been the only skill to double either, with Magical Resistance going from Rank 5 to Rank 10. He’d felt the shift in his Willpower, his resolve toughening ever more.
It finally felt as though he was balancing out his skills, though there were still a few heavily lagging behind. Assimilate Properties, which had given him a massive boost the first time he’d received it, one he still benefited from, was a big one he wished he knew how to rank up. Aura-Control was also only at Rank 3. But he knew that would change in the future. He hadn’t been doing more than simply balancing the burn of his Spiritual Energy within his Spirit Core. Once he delved deeper into those skills, he figured they would advance quickly enough.
As for his spells, Soul Harvest and Soul Harden had gained two more ranks. Considering how many souls he’d harvested, then used to harden his soul, he was surprised he hadn’t gained more. But he couldn’t complain at the spells both being at Rank 6—it brought his soulkeeping threshold all the way up to 200, after all.
Soul Block was perhaps the one part of his repertoire he’d neglected the most. He’d tried the spell out a few times, but it actively worked against him wishing to rank up his resistances. He knew he was selling the spell short by not using it, but he planned to change that on the first wave of the refresh, knowing that would have the weakest enemies of all the waves, so they wouldn’t contribute as much to his resistances anyway.
He’d already decided that he should generalise with the spell. He knew it would mean he would weaken the strength of each block by a third, but he figured that was as good a price as any for such versatility.
Xavier wasn’t going to face the fifth wave at all. He knew he would need to take each of the enemies within the wave down to consider the floor cleared, but he was eager to get the real clear of the floor started. The moment he’d gained level 14, they’d returned to the Safe Zone door. He’d felt a pang of guilt as he’d walked past Queen Alastea without a word, and it felt… it felt as though he was abandoning her and her people.
But he’d pushed past that feeling.
She won’t remember this. She’s stuck in a time-loop, or she’s a fabrication by the System. The moment we leave this whole instance will probably cease to exist.
That’s what he hoped for, at least. He didn’t want these people to suffer the pain of defeat. He figured these feelings were irrational, but he couldn’t help himself. In the past, he’d gotten emotional about characters from TV shows or in novels, or the characters he’d written himself, so it made sense that he would have genuine feelings for people who appeared far more real than characters he would have found in fiction—even if they weren’t real at all.
Which he still didn’t know yet.
When they returned to the Staging Room, Xavier headed straight for the System Store’s interface. He touched a hand to the crystal atop the pedestal. He hadn’t bothered collecting the corpses from those waves. Instead, he’d been creating Lesser Spirit Coins—it seemed far more efficient. Especially since he could do over 9,000 by the time his Spirit Energy ran out now.
He’d created 54,144 Lesser Spirit Coins while on that floor, and now had over a hundred thousand of them in his Storage Ring.
So it didn’t bother him at all when he spent the majority of that on 200 Lesser Health Potions. He’d never actually needed to use a health potion in the past, but considering the nature of this floor… it seemed prudent.
Xavier also looked through the different skills on offer. He felt as though his skills were well rounded at the moment. His plan had been to spend the skill point after he inspected the fifth floor, but he didn’t know what he would benefit from the most. As he looked through the skills list, he heard the others chatting and eating food—which made him wonder just how many days they would need to spend clearing different waves.
The queen had assured him that she had enough food to last months during the siege, though she knew they couldn’t be there for months, so food wasn’t something that worried her.
One wave per hour… we surely won’t be there for that long. One week would be one hundred and sixty-eight waves.
Xavier stared at one of the skills he’d been putting off getting for ones that had been more useful to him during the floors. But, as he couldn’t decide on what else to get, he finally bit the bullet and chose it.
You have learned the skill Identify!
Identify - Rank 1
You are a student of deduction and investigation. Your skills are such that by simply touching an item, you may learn more about it.
At this rank, this skill can only be used once every 10 minutes and is limited to touch.
Xavier blinked. He was fairly surprised by the skill’s limitations, but he supposed as far as skills went, this one shouldn’t be all that difficult to rank up. All he would need to do was use it a lot, right? It feels almost more like a spell than a skill.
Xavier summoned his Sector Travel Key to his hand and scanned it normally.
{Sector Travel Key}
Just as before, what appeared wasn’t helpful at all. Now, he focused on the key resting on his palm. Identify.
This item is too advanced for Rank 1 Identify. Improve the skill before trying again.
Well, that was disappointing.
Xavier deposited the key back into his Storage Ring and summoned a Lesser Spirit Coin into his hand, using the Identify skill on that instead.
{Lesser Spirit Coin}
Spirit Coins are the main currency in the Greater Universe, and the only currency usable within the System Store. The Lesser Spirit Coin is worth the least of all the different coins and can be produced with ease by Denizens in the F Grade.
Identify cannot be used for another 10 minutes.
Xavier smiled. Though the skill didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know, he instantly saw its potential.
This will definitely come in handy. I wonder how many things I’ll be able to identify around Queen Alastea’s castle?
Though he knew it wouldn’t help him identify an enemy very well—not if he had to touch that enemy first. He supposed that as the skill progressed, he would be able to use sight alone for the skill.
Once he’d chosen the skill, he still had 20 free stat points to apply.
He thought through his choices and, instead of throwing all the points into Spirit as usual, he split it between Spirit and Intelligence. Something told him his Soul Strike spell wouldn’t pack the same punch against enemies in the fifth floor’s later waves. When he spent the points, he now had an effective 374 Intelligence and 483 Spirit.
Xavier smiled. He knew the others had made a fair amount of progress during those waves, each of them gaining another level and reaching level 11. They’d also ranked up a few of their spells from their new classes. He could see their aura having already strengthened. Once again, a part of him wished he didn’t have to do the floors solo—especially one like this—but he wasn’t willing to lose out on the title.
He stood and walked over to where Howard, Justin and Siobhan sat on their loot boxes, having finished their quick lunch. Xavier looked from them to the door to the Tower of Champions.
He felt good about this next floor. Felt excited for what they might discover from Queen Alastea—even if she didn’t end up possessing a library. He didn’t know how long they were going to spend on that floor. How many waves he would be able to endure before they had to retreat back to the Safe Zone.
But what he did know, was that no matter what, he would be challenged. If those waves were never ending, there would—eventually—be one that was too much for him to handle.
Something about that was absolutely exhilarating.
The pit inside of him—the one he’d managed to quiet soon after gaining his Soul Reaper class—stirred, its hunger mounting. This part of him wasn’t only excited about the challenge. No. This part wouldn’t stop wondering how many souls he’d be able to harvest.
Thousands and thousands and thousands.
With unrestrained excitement, Xavier smiled at his party, and spoke, “Are you three ready?”
All three gave their assent.
It was time to take on the fifth floor of the Tower of Champions.
Time to face the Endless Horde, and see just how long he would be able to endure.