Todd Herzman

Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 23 - Think Outside the Box

Added 2023-11-01 06:00:05 +0000 UTC

Xavier had to formulate a plan. Had to think outside the box the System had put him into.

During the break between waves, despite it being the longest break he’d had in a while, he’d struggled to make any actual progress. All he’d really done was look at his stats and realise his plan had been a foolish one.

If he sped his way straight to E Grade, he could be missing out on a grand opportunity.

But doing the math? He needed to gain thirty levels before he would be able to break through the thresholds for Strength, Speed, and Toughness.

With the way the waves were, he would only be fighting a single E Grade enemy per hour. Even when he gained thirty-five million Mastery Points or more, it still wasn’t enough.

Not until every enemy in a wave is E Grade. And I’m nowhere near ready to face that.

Xavier leant against the parapet. Within the next minute, the war drums would sound. The horns would blare. Yet another wave would come for him. He released a long sigh, feeling the weariness that had settled into his body and mind.

How do I push my level forward faster? Is that even possible here?

Maybe he was thinking about this all wrong. It wasn’t specifically his levels that he needed to push forward—it was his stats. That was how he’d gotten where he was in the first place. Staring out at the oncoming wave, he wondered what he could do… differently.

Titles. He needed more titles.

The two titles he’d just gained were the first titles he’d gotten since coming to this floor. But there must be other titles that he could gain during these waves.

Think outside the box… Think outside the box.

He wished he could find a list of titles and what he needed to do to gain them. He knew there were some common titles that everyone could gain—like his survivor and butcher titles. There must be other common titles out there as well.

Xavier tapped his fingers on the parapet’s stone.

Think, think, think.

The war drums sounded, and he sighed. Once more, he threw himself over the wall. At least he could vent some of his frustration at the enemy.

Strength, Speed, Toughness…

He was far too strong to simply train those attributes now, wasn’t he? Even if I could train them, how long would it take to get a single attribute point? As he fought, purple mist flowing from his staff to turn enemy against enemy, his mind turned the problem over and over. That’s when a though occurred to him. He’d gained a fair amount of Toughness from his Physical Resistance skill.

Huh.

It was almost like the gears in his mind had finally begun to turn as an idea struck him.

Skills.

He hadn’t gained any more skill points since coming to this floor, something that had been rather disappointing. But his skills brought him quite a boost with their percentages. And what skill had he thought about getting several times, but never gotten around to it? Running. And if there ever was a skill that he could simply learn, well, he had to imagine it was running.

I’m about to look exceedingly foolish, Xavier thought, but didn’t care. As a plan formulated in his mind, Xavier began to do laps around the castle’s moat while in the middle of fighting a wave of the Endless Horde.

Yeah, I definitely look like an idiot.

He was confident he would be able to get through this wave with the use of Willpower Infusion, Soul Strike, and Heavy Telekinesis. It would be better if he were to find the E Grade boss and turn it against its own, but he didn’t believe it was necessary.

So he ran. Focusing his powerful mind upon his running technique. He’d never been much of a runner, even in his parkour days, but he’d learnt a thing or two about running technique on YouTube—he just hoped it would be enough.

Performing proper running technique while holding a massive staff-scythe in the middle of a battlefield with over ten thousand enemies wasn’t exactly something he ever imagined doing, but the novelty of it refocused his attention.

It only took ten minutes of continuous running before a Skill Quest popped up.

All that running in the halls of the tower… I must have had really bad form.

Skill Quest Unlocked: Running

To unlock Running, run with good form for 100 miles starting now.

Progress: 0/100

Xavier clapped his hands together. One hundred miles. Considering his Speed attribute was currently sitting at 707, such a feat shouldn’t be difficult at all—even in the middle of a battle like this.

Why have I never thought to do this before?

He supposed he’d never felt like he’d had the time or the reason.

And so, that’s what Xavier did during wave 1,005 of the fifth floor. With perfect running form, he did laps around Queen Alastea’s castle while killing and reaping the souls of his enemies.

By the time he faced the final enemy—the E Grade wave boss—a notification popped up in his vision.

Skill Quest Complete!

You unlocked and learnt the skill Running!

Running – Rank 1

Running is one of the oldest and most basic skills a Denizen can possess. Whether you run for endurance or speed, you are now a student of this most ancient skill.

+5% efficiency of movement while running.

+5% movement speed while running.

+5% Speed.

After reading the notification then checking his stats to find gaining that skill had earned him thirty-four points in Speed, Xavier smiled far too widely.

The E Grade wave boss, seeing his smile, hesitated as it rushed him. It was another elf, though this time it was some sort of elven knight. It wore a set of full plate armour with beautiful patterns worked into the metal, and wielded a great, two-handed sword as long as a short spear. Xavier couldn’t see the elven knight’s expression through his helmet, but he didn’t need to see it to know the elf was afraid.

He knows what I’m capable of. Knows he can’t win.

Xavier softened the man’s mind with Spirit Break before sending Willpower Infusion’s purple mist flowing from Soultaker, and in less than a moment, the elven knight turned that great sword upon himself.

Xavier watched in mute fascination. There had been a red glowing energy surrounding the man. Toughness Infusion? But a quick command dispelled the energy, dissipating the glow completely.

The kill didn’t take very long.

Xavier sent a barrage of attacks—spells and slashes from Soultaker. Within a minute, the E Grade wave boss had been destroyed.

You have defeated a Level 125 Elven Knight!

You have gained 35,000,000 Mastery Points.

I guess I was right about him being a knight.

Xavier released a breath. He wasn’t sure how much time remained before the next wave. He’d been focusing solely on gaining the Running skill. Now he’d acquired it, he ran back to the battlements. As he went, he noticed he no longer had to concentrate so intently on his technique. It reminded him of when he’d learnt his first skill upon arriving at the Tower of Champions. Staff Mastery. He no longer had that skill—it had morphed into Scythe-Staff Mastery when he’d gained his epic class.

Still, it was hard to forget how amazing it had felt wielding his staff after having gained proficiency in it in a moment. Like the techniques had been downloaded straight into his brain Matrix-style. For his Running skill, it wasn’t quite the same. Perhaps because he’d needed to gain the skill by showing his proficiency. But though it wasn’t quite as profound a change as that first skill he’d gained was, running with perfect form had become a habit. His muscle memory had adopted it—at a faster rate than it should have—and now it was second nature.

And this is only at Rank 1.

Gaining that one skill hadn’t brought him everything he needed, but it was a step in the right direction.

I just need to keep thinking outside the box.

When he reached the wall and climbed over the parapet, the others were all still there to greet him. A quick back and forth had him explain what he intended to do. When he was done, Siobhan made a “hmm” noise.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Assimilate Properties,” she said.

Xavier crossed his arms. “I think I’ve exhausted every avenue when it comes to that skill.”

“Maybe, maybe not…” Siobhan placed her hand, palm facing up, in front of her. A book appeared atop it. She flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning them until she found what she was after. She nodded. “I think you’ve been going about the skill all wrong.”

Xavier thought about all the things he’d tried. All the painful things he’d tried. “How so?”

She pointed to a passage on the page. Though rather than have Xavier read what it was, she was silently reading it out to herself. Siobhan often did this. She was briefly reacquainting herself with the material before she summarised its content.

When she was done, she smiled and bobbed her head in a nod. “Yes.” She tapped the page. “I think this will work.”