Xavier soared over a large forest dotted with trees of all manner of colour. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for, but he figured he would know it when he found it.

  The worlds flora and fauna had been completely transformed when the System had integrated Earth into the Greater Universe. The last time Xavier was on Earth he’d mainly focused on trying to clear as many dungeons as he possibly could—at least after he had secured Earth from enemy invasion.

  That meant he’d spent most of his time simply roaming from one dungeon to another, farming them then taking people through the dungeons to powerlevel them. Ultimately, he hadn’t spent much of that time really looking around at how his world had changed, and what kinds of beasts there might be to find in them.

  Xavier could sense the auras of most of the different beasts below him. That was a strange thing, being able to sense auras again. Everything he faced these days was able to easily mask their cores and energies from others. It brought back memories of the earlier floors in the Tower of Champions.

  It was weak beasts that he was after at the moment, however, as he had more powerlevelling to do—only this time it wasn’t humans he intended to powerful level.

  It was a baby dragon and a Spirit Golem. It didn’t take him long to find an area that felt right.

  Six months would pass before he was forced back to the Tower of Champions, and though he looked forward to discovering what the next floors might hold for him, and how he might subvert or master those floors to achieve something others hadn’t, he wanted to take full advantage of the time he had back here.

  Xavier landed by a large, crystalline lake. One thing he’d learnt the last time he was on Earth was that animals here had not only been transformed but relocated a great deal. He’d heard there were kangaroo-type beasts nearby—in America. It didn’t make much sense to him why the System might have done that, but most things in the universe made little sense to him these days.

  He might as well just roll with it.

  The lake had what looked like crocodiles slowly drifting on the surface of the water, devouring smaller prey with swift, sharp movements whenever they ventured too close. There were also these odd, frog beasts the size of large dogs. Their skin shined and oozed with strange looking fluids, and their tongues snapped out like whips to wrap around the enlarged dragonflies that flew around the area.

  Xavier retracted his wings on landing. He looked over at the closest beast—one of the frogs—it looked lazily over at him, didn’t appear to deem him a threat with his aura hidden, then continued its vigilant watch over the nearby insects, awaiting when one came close.

  Whip. Crunch.

  Xavier raised an eyebrow. Did frogs always have teeth?

  Though he could tell the levels of the beasts by sensing their aura alone, Xavier decided to give them a quick scan, just to put names to them.

  {Level 35 – Wretched Frog}

  {Level 45 – Crocodile Snake}

  {Level 25 – Giant Dragonfly}

  Xavier frowned. Crocodile snake? He stepped closer to the water, so his Farscope ability would be able to cover the area, and saw that there was more to the crocodiles than he realised. Just like an iceberg, much of the Crocodile Snake was hidden under the surface. Its body was probably fifty feet long.

  Why the System decided to smash two different Earth animals together to make something new, Xavier didn’t know.

  He straightened up, placed a hand on the Companion Cube, and willed Volkarin to appear before him. The dragon materialised in an instant a few feet away. The dragon’s eyes grew wide as it looked around the area. Volkarin opened his mouth and released a small roar.

  These beasts are too strong for me! Why would you release me around them?

  Xavier raised an eyebrow.

  {Level 0 – Dragon Hatchling}

  “I’ve never known you to show fear, Volkarin,” Xavier said aloud.

  Though he could telepathically communicate with the dragon, he didn’t see the point of doing that at the moment. Other than the beasts in the area, they were alone, and nothing he had to say needed to be hidden. The dragon may not be able to speak without telepathic communication yet, but it could still hear and understand his normal voice.

  Fear? No. I am the Great Dragon Volkarin! One of the seven rulers of the Otherworld. Once the ruler of seventeen sectors! Do not think what I feel is fear, young dragonkin. You insult me your words!

  The Dragon Hatchling, looking nonchalant, glanced at its front talons as though bored.

  Now, feed me, for I am hungry.

  One of the frogs hopped forward. It was still a good thirty strides away, but the movement made the Dragon Hatchling jump. A little yelp of surprise escaped from its mouth.

  Xavier laughed. He couldn’t help himself. Perhaps he shouldn’t have found the little beast’s fear funny, but the contrast between what Volkarin had been like and what the dragon was like now as a hatchling…

  “Don’t worry, Great Dragon, I won’t let you come to harm.”

  You find humour in this? I once wielded more power than your small non-dragon mind can yet even fathom! And now, I have been reduced to being this tiny, weak creature.

  The Dragon Hatchling let out a sigh, then Volkarin looked expectantly at Xavier.

  Food?

  Xavier shook his head. “From now on, you’ll be hunting your own food. All young dragons must learn how to hunt.”

  This elicited another small roar from the beast. I cannot defeat these beasts! They should be beneath me and yet the power rolling off them makes me shudder in fea—it makes me shudder in rage for the weakness I now feel!

  Xavier could feel the fear the Dragon Hatchling felt. It was genuine, which made him feel a little guilty. Just a little. “Do you have any spells?”

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  I will not gain any spells until I reach Level 1.

  “How will you reach Level 1?” Xavier, for a moment, thought of how humans and other Denizens gained the System. They had to reach the age of sixteen… “Wait, do you have to wait until you’re older?”

  Older! I was dead long before you were born, child! The Dragon Hatchling looked indignant, until Xavier waved a hand at his new body. Volkarin looked down at the baby dragon he now was. Oh. Yes. Age does bring strength. If we were to wait long enough, until this body was that of an adolescent, I would gain levels without even having to fight, simply because I grew in strength. Such is the case for all beasts.

  Xavier frowned. “How many years do we have to wait?” This was not what he’d expected. He didn’t want to have to wait years before he could even train the dragon.

  The Dragon Hatchling shook his head. We do not need to wait. I simply need to kill. The gaining of Mastery Points will help me grow far more effectively.

  “Then the plan doesn’t change.” Xavier pointed at the Level 35 Wretched Frog. “You’re going to kill that beast.”

  The Dragon Hatchling blinked. You intend to powerlevel me. Of course. Apologies, young dragonkin. My mind is jumbled in this body. So many sensations… The dragon released a growl. It was adorable. I feel such hunger. It is distracting. Food?

  Xavier sighed. “Soon you will eat, I promise.”

  The dragon looked up at the beasts, sniffed the air, and shook his head. This will not do. If you are to powerlevel me, then we must do this properly. The beast raised his head. Do you possess the ability to see an enemy’s health?

  Xavier told the dragon that he didn’t, though he recalled that Siobhan possessed a bracelet that gave her that ability. It was something he’d been meaning to look into. It would likely help him a great deal…

  The Dragon Hatchling released a long sigh. It appears you require my tutelage. You possess such power and yet… The dragon paused. This is an ability that can be developed, though it is much easier to gain an item that gives you the ability than it is to develop it by yourself.

  “We don’t yet have access to the System Shop on Earth, and isn’t the item extremely rare? Siobhan only has it because she received it in a loot box.”

  It is rare, and expensive. But necessary. Do you have any skill points? With your class, you should be able to gain this as a skill without any trouble.

  Xavier shook his head.

  Naturally. Well. This simply will not do. The dragon released another of its sighs. The way to learn this skill without a skill point can be difficult and time consuming. It requires much experimentation. You must defeat many beasts while observing their injuries, and how much damage your spells and attacks do to them. If you must hit them five times before their death, then your strike does roughly 20 percent damage. The more you do this, the more accurate you become at ascertaining an enemy’s health, until you eventually gain a Skill Quest… It is a laborious method, but it seems it must be done this way. I have taught it to many a young dragon. I can teach it to you.

  Xavier frowned. That method sounded a little torturous toward the beasts he attacked, but the skill would hold a lot of value for him. Still, he wondered if there might be a faster method.

  “I think I have an idea.”

  He turned away from the Dragon Hatchling and cast Willpower Infusion on the Wretched Frog nearby. This was something he had intended to do already. Making a beast defenceless was a good way to help powerlevel others.

  Purple mist flowed from Xavier and entered the beast. The frog didn’t even have a chance to try and hop away, the mist had moved so fast. It entered through the beast’s massive nostrils, then the beast became docile as Xavier took control. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt a mind as weak as this one.

  Xavier had used Willpower Infusion to discover the spells that an enemy he controlled possessed in the past. That way, he could better command whatever foe he had mental control over.

  The best way for him to discover more information about a different beast or Denizen was to split his mind and place his consciousness within them. And so, that was exactly what Xavier did now.

  It had been a while since he had done this. With part of his mind inside that of the frog’s, Xaiver was suddenly seeing the world from a different perspective. He blinked the frog’s massive eyes and looked lazily around him.

  Xavier was now not only looking from two different perspectives, but technically three, for his Farscope ability allowed him to see everything within 100 meters of where he stood.

  You took control of the beast? Volkarin asked.

  Xavier inclined his head.

  Volkarin walked up to the docile frog and sniffed it. How does this help?

  Xavier concentrated.

  Your health is at 100%

  He frowned. The notification was for the frog’s health. Well, that was likely to get confusing. He willed the System to show him the information a little bit differently—this was something he had seldom ever actually taken advantage of.

  Xavier tried that again.

  Wrteched Frog’s health is at 100%

  Xavier grinned. Surely this would be a better way to gain the skill he needed. He just had to observe how much damage this frog took from him.

  Xavier was about to cast one of his spells when he realised no matter what spell he cast, this beast would die in a single strike. He sighed and walked over to the Level 35 Wretched Frog. He raised his hand, then flicked the frog on the head.

  His claw went straight through the beast’s skin and into its skull.

  The beast died instantly.

  The Dragon Hatchling came over to where the frog lay dead on the ground. Volkarin sniffed the corpse, then began to dig into it with his teeth. The skin was clearly incredibly tough, but as this was an F Grade beast, it turned out Volkarin was able to cut through it without Xavier’s help.

  Xavier had thought he’d found the perfect training grounds for the dragon, but it turned out this would require a little more thought.

  Once you have the skill, Volkarin said in his mind, still devouring the deceased frog with slurp, slurp, squish, chomp sounds. Then you will take me to face an E Grade. If my first kill is a beast of a higher grade than my own…

  Xavier blinked. He looked over at the dragon. He hadn’t even considered that, which made him feel a bit foolish. He grinned, an idea forming within his mind, though it was one that seemed mighty crazy the more that he thought about it.

  Still, if it were to work…

  “I would have thought you would wish to face something closer to your level, considering…”

  With your mind control power, it opens up other avenues, the dragon hatchling replied. We should take advantage of them.

  Xavier inclined his head. “Indeed. We really, really should.” He was grinning now, his wild idea turning in his mind.

  Xavier looked around the area. At the Wretched Frogs and the Crocodile Snakes.

  Time to find something stronger.

  Xavier took something out of his inventory. He had intended to train Volkarin and the Spirit Golem on Earth, but he was beginning to realise he was thinking too small.

  Far too small.

  What he held in his hand was something he had been dying to use since the moment he’d gotten it. All he needed next was to figure out the destination he should travel to, which meant he needed to talk to someone who had far better knowledge of the sector that he was in than himself.

  The item in his hands was large, chunky, and made of bass. He used Identify on it.

  {Sector Travel Key}

  This is a teleportation device that allows the user to create a portal every twelve months to anywhere in the local sector. The portal is one way and only lasts for ten minutes. The portal does not reopen again for a return trip for one month.

  Xavier had been saving the first use of this Sector Tavel Key for something very important. Before he returned to the Tower of Champions, he intended to seek out the Empress Larona. He needed to speak with the woman about the fate of their sector, and what she might have seen him do. If she had any idea of how far away the threat to the Silver River sector was, it would mean he would know what kind of timescale he needed to work on to save it…

  Truly, any insights he was able to gain from the C Grade empress would, he was sure, greatly help him.

  Travelling through a sector, he knew, was rather expensive—which was why a Sector Travel Key was valuable. But the stronger one became, the easier it became to afford such travel. Xavier was already D Grade. He should have enough wealth—and be able to gain more easily enough—that travelling through the sector was no longer as expensive as it had been back when he’d first spoken to Sam about this as an F Grade Champion.

  A hell of a lot has changed since then.

  Which meant, in theory, all he needed to do was use this key to travel somewhere that had a portal or teleportation hub of some sort, then he might be able to move more freely through the sector. And though he didn’t think his Portal spell was strongly developed enough to take him from one world to another yet, that was one of the next things on his list of imminent goals.

  Besides, he could always leave one of his Portal Stones on Earth. That way, he would be able to return to Earth easily enough, as the Portal Stones he possessed were sector restricted, not world restricted.

  And, in fact, he might be able to move through the sector more easily than he’d thought…

  The wheels turned once more in his mind.

  Portal Stones…

  There was someone he needed to talk to. Someone he hadn’t made enough use of.

  Accidental Champion!

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