Xavier stood, surrounded by a myriad of D Grade Great Shell corpses in an ancient forest on a moon somewhere in the Silver River sector. His Spirt Golem was back inside of his inventory. The young dragon that was his beast companion, Volkarin, was safe inside of his Comapanion Cube.

  A C Grade Elite Hunt Squad comprising of four party members sent by Gregori, the B Grade from a neighbouring sector that was Alexic Kalcav’s former master, was currently searching for him.

  Xavier wasn’t usually one to run from a fight, yet he’d already considered doing just that. He’d almost used his Portal Stone to head back to Earth. That was until a notification informed him that this whole moon was currently Portal Blocked for 24 hours.

  A day. That didn’t seem like a hell of a lot of time. He could hide well enough in the forest, couldn’t he? Though something told him that whoever it was that was after him likely had a strong ability to track him.

  And since when was he someone to run and hide? No, that didn’t sound like him at all.

  It was time to pull out all the stops.

  Xavier sighed. Caution and arrogance mixing and fighting within his mind, tugging him this way and that. He had seen what had happened to different versions of himself that were overconfident. Any time he’d used the Spirit of Time to observe different unfoldings.

  How many times had he died facing the Elemental Dragon?

  There are no do-overs here, but at least they’re here to try to capture me, not kill me. That will work to their detriment.

  Xavier glanced around the area, wondering if this was where he should make his stand. He assumed the enemy would make their way to him. He pricked his ears, trying to pick out any abnormal noise. His different spells were running through his mind, but it was hard to know the right choice until he saw his enemy.

  He slipped into the shadows of the trees. Stealth might not be his style, but he felt it was prudent to get a look at his attackers before they got a look at him.

  It didn’t take very long. While Famarial hadn’t given these C Grades directions to Xavier, he imagined any other Denizens that were asked to point toward him would have given him up with ease, especially when faced with a group of C Grades staring them down.

  They walked into the clearing side-by-side. The four C Grade Denizens weren’t on high alert. They looked more casual than anything. Actually, casual wasn’t the right word for these people.

  They’re… bored, Xavier thought to himself, feeling a little bit insulted. Telepathically, he spoke to Rhaalir. The spirit was on the other side of the clearing. Got any insights about these people?

  Xavier had been trying to include Rhaalir more generally in combat, even if not directly. He hadn’t taken enough advantage of the fact that he had someone far older to take advice from along for the ride with him wherever he went, and since he’d given the elf spirit Soul Energy, he could always be relied upon turning up when Xavier called.

  Before the elf spirit got a chance to respond, Xavier took a moment to examine his enemies. He imagined it wouldn’t take long for them to notice he was nearby.

  Alexic’s information seemed spot on. The first of their number certainly looked like a tank. He had bulky armour, and it was clear beneath that underneath he had incredibly broad shoulders. Honestly, he made the descriptor of tank sound more literal than figurative, with how much metal he had encasing him. Like the rest of the C Grades in the group, he was human.

  {Level 310 - Walking Shield}

  The Walking Shield is a tank class that specialises in movement. Unlike most tank classes that thrive standing still, this class is more the unstoppable force to the immovable object. If you see a Walking Shield sprinting toward you, best get out of the way before they tackle you to the ground.

  Xavier was glad he was getting some sort of description of the class from his Identification skill, but he would have liked some information about his enemy’s spells or skills as well.

  He was heartened by the fact that the Walking Shield was “only” Level 310. Xavier had faced a C Grade Skeletal Dragon at Level 385 and an Elemental Dragon at Level 390, and that fight had made him stronger for it.

  If he were lucky, they would all be close to this level.

  Maybe I can take them all after all.

  He swiftly scanned the other people there, splitting his mind as one part listened to Rhaalir’s assessment.

  The second C Grade was an archer—clearly the damage dealer in the party.

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  The woman wore sleek leather armour clad to a slender, muscular figure. The bow she wielded looked to be made from some strange, silver material Xavier didn’t recognise—it didn’t seem to be made from metal. She didn’t even have an arrow nocked, though her hand wasn’t far from the quiver at her hip.

  {Level 305 - Archer of Fortune}

  The Archer of Fortune is in the hunter line of classes. It specialises in tracking down prey, usually prey that has a bounty on their head. Once they have the scent of their enemy, they can mark them. That mark increases the accuracy and damage of their arrows.

  Xavier pursed his lips. He didn’t like the idea of being marked. Sounded like she’d be able to find him wherever he went. But he doubted there was anything he could do about that.

  He scanned the next in line. A man with tattoos covering his entire face and a shaved scalp. He wore little in the way of armour, his ripped chest exposed. He had chains wrapped around each of his arms. Each of the chains had thick links that looked very hard to break. Xavier knew this man would be the binding specialist Alexic had mentioned.

  {Level 330 - Chains that Bind}

  The Chains that Bind class is all about locking the enemy down. Those chains don’t just bind limbs, they can provide harmful status effects that can hinder an enemy’s options.

  Xavier moved onto the last in the party. The healer. A woman wearing white robes with her arms crossed in front of her. She didn’t wield a staff but instead had a slender wand in one of her hands. Unlike the others, she looked wary. Her eyes darted left and right, and Xavier could sense fear in her. There was a reluctance in her posture that the others didn’t share.

  {Level 300 - Divine Helper}

  Divine Helpers are Denizens pure of intention. They are support classes through and through, without the ability to harm enemies at all. Though this makes them incredibly reliant on others, they never have trouble finding a strong party as their healing abilities are often without equal.

  Xaiver bit his lip. Looking at the Divine Helper, he couldn’t help but remember something Alexic had told him—that his former B Grade employer, Gregori, collected people. He forced any who had potential to sign contracts with him. That was the entire reason he was after Xavier, a Denizen from a whole different sector that had gotten his notice.

  That made him wonder about the four Denizens who’d just walked into that clearing, especially the healer, who looked hesitant and frightful. Chances were this woman—maybe all of them—were here against their will, following orders on consequence of death.

  Xavier wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Most of the enemies he fought, he knew for a fact that they wanted him dead. But he’d taken out entire armies that were just following orders, and feeling guilt about that… Well, he’d never be able to climb his way out of it, considering the number of people he’d killed.

  Yes, Xavier liked to save innocents when he could. But when he couldn’t, dwelling on it wasn’t an option. Not a sustainable one, anyway.

  I can’t scan them, Xavier, Rhaalir replied in his mind, so my insights won’t be on the same level as yours. However, I can tell you that these people, despite being a party, aren’t used to working together. Also, you still haven’t told me what the hell is going on!

  They’re here to capture me and take me to that B Grade Alexic used to work for.

  Oh. Well, that isn’t good.

  Your insight is greatly appreciated.

  Xavier checked the cooldown on his Time Alteration spell. It was half a minute from being done. The party stood far enough apart that if he used that, he might be able to deal with them one by one—or at least deal with one of them first.

  That, however, wasn’t an option.

  The Archer of Fortune sniffed the air. She must have caught a whiff of him, as she turned her head directly to where he stood in the trees. A smile appeared on her face. The others all looked in his direction without her having said a word.

  Mental Communication. They must all have Communication Stones, because why wouldn’t they?

  Xavier knew that, despite their levels being lower than beasts he’d killed in the past, he should still be wary. A trained party of Denizens was a lot different to facing a beast, and not only because there were four of them.

  Though Famarial’s insight about them not having worked together much was comforting when he’d been expecting a crack squad of Denizens that had been with one another since they’d gained the System, like many Tower of Champion parties from integrated worlds.

  An arrow was in the archer’s hand incredibly fast, nocked on her bowstring, feet taking on a perfect stance.

  The Walking Shield and the Chains that Bind sprinted toward him the instant they caught sight of him, while the healer took a step back from the others.

  Xavier knew the best plan when facing a party was to take down the healer first. Then, it would be wise to take out the damage dealer next. That was straight out of the MMOs he’d played in the past. Looking at the party poised to attack, Xavier realised he hadn’t done something like this before. He’d faced armies of enemies. He’d gone to different planets and fought groups of D Grades.

  But a party like this wasn’t something he’d encountered before.

  Xavier’s thoughts whirled, his mind splitting into many parts. As he formulated a rudimentary plan, he turned thought into action. He cast Portal as the first of the arrows loosed from the Archer of Fortune’s bow reached him. He had the portal’s twin appear directly in front of the Chains that Bind. At the same time, Xavier expanded his wings and launched up into the air. As he did, he moved the portal. It was slightly larger than himself and his wingspan. A shield that would stop any projectiles from reaching him.

  The second spell he cast was Time Prison, directly on the healer. He didn’t know how much damage he would be able to do to each of the attackers, and while he could have slammed a Soul Strike onto all of them first, he wanted to take the healer of the equation just in case it didn’t kill them all in one hit.

  It would be a little too easy if it did, and this didn’t feel like an easy fight.

  The spell worked instantly. The timid-looking Divine Helper was frozen in another time stream.

  Even flying in the air, he made sure that he was close enough to see all four of them with his Farscope ability. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them. The Archer of Fortune was the one who looked the most surprised. Clearly, she hadn’t thought her arrow would miss.

  They’d come here expecting to face someone far weaker and slower than themselves. Someone they could bind and intimidate and take back to their B Grade master, Gregori.

  Instead, they found him.

  Gregori wanted to send him a message by killing his people back on Earth. The man should have left it at that, because now Xaiver was ready to send a message back in return.

  Accidental Champion!

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