Xavier had remained on the moon that held the hunting grounds until the Portal Block had been lifted. Another Portal Block did not come into effect.
He had worried that it would.
When he’d left the Chains that Bind and the Divine Helper alive, he’d thought it might be a huge mistake. If they lived, and reported back to their B Grade master, couldn’t they simply lock down the world for longer? Until reinforcements could arrive? They might not know his exact location, but they knew he was stuck on this planet.
But that wasn’t in the cards—something Rhaalir reassured him about.
Portal Blocks like that will have a delay before they can come into effect again. A minute, at least, before they lock the place down once more. Even if the order has been given, Rhaalir had told him. It will be more than enough time for you to get out of here.
The portal that he’d used to come here was no longer active. He’d had to use his Portal Stone, which meant leaving one of the pair behind in this place.
It was a loss—a huge one—but remaining on this planet long enough for the normal portals to come back into effect was not a good idea.
Besides, he had a plan to retrieve it. Not himself—he couldn’t risk that. The moon might be watched. He would send someone here to get it. Someone these people didn’t know worked for him. Once they knew he was no longer there.
Xavier now sat in the war room at the bottom of his tower in Collinsville. Earth wasn’t somewhere he’d intended to return to so swiftly, but there wasn’t much he could do about that right now.
This was where he was safest.
Xavier wasn’t afraid. Fear didn’t bubble up in his chest or make his breath quicken. But after that talk Rhaalir had had with him, after the warning the binding specialist had given him, he thought it would be wise to move forward with a different level of caution.
A level of caution he had never really afforded himself.
Alexic sat at the table to Xavier’s right. Guardian stood at the end of the room, expressionless, but staring at the Spirit Golem that was sitting at Xavier’s left, with Rhaalir piloting it.
“You spoke to an information broker without binding them to silence?” Alexic shook his head and sighed. He seemed to bite his tongue, as though there was something else he wanted to say about Xavier’s actions.
“That was unwise,” Rhaalir said, his voice a monotone, coming out of the Spirit Golem.
“That’s putting it lightly,” Alexic muttered. Then he looked at Xavier, eyes wide, as though expecting the man to react to his words poorly.
“It was stupid,” Xaiver said. “I made a mistake, and I’m well aware of that.”
Alexic took a deep breath. “I am glad you got out of there alive.”
Xavier palmed the Storage Rings he’d looted from the Acher of Fortune, placing them on the table. As one couldn’t keep Storage Rings inside another Storage Ring, he’d secreted them into an inside pocket of his robes. He hadn’t tried looking inside of them. He knew that a C Grade’s Storage Rings would have protections on them. Even trying to look could destroy the entire device. That wasn’t something he wished to risk.
“I took these from one of the C Grades.” He placed a few more things on the counter, each making a small click of metal on wood as he did. The other items were the Storage Rings from the Walking Shield. He’d looted that man too, after he’d killed him. “And these from another.”
Alexic’s eyes widened. “These will be tracked! The Collector will know you’re here!”
The Collector. That was what the B Grade was called. The one that was after him.
“I assumed as much,” Xavier said. “That’s why I took them to Earth. He can’t send anyone powerful enough to take me here. Not while the restrictions are in place.” He looked at Alexic, pushing one of the Storage Rings toward the man. “Do you know how to safely get into one of these?”
Alexic hesitated before gabbing the ring. He held it in his palm. “I know how, but I don’t have the skills anymore. Not since… Since I broke that contract.”
“How long would it take you to gain the skills again?” Xavier asked.
He could take them to another world to break them open, but that was too much of a risk. Xavier wasn’t sure how long it would be before The Collector would send others to this sector in search of him, but he already had two agents—those Xavier had left alive—in Silver River.
Even if Xavier sent someone else instead of himself, no one he sent would be safe from the C Grades if these rings could be tracked.
Alexic held the ring in his hand, turning it over as he examined it. He frowned. “I’m not sure. That depends on… How many resources I have access to.”
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Xavier inclined his head. “I’ll get you what I can, if it’s reasonable.”
He knew it would take a little while, but he had time. He wasn’t desperate for whatever was inside those rings, and he wanted to actively build up the resources he had on his home planet—Alexic being one of them.
Xavier was looking at things a little differently than he had just the day before. He’d thought he could venture out into the sector in relative safety. Thought that he would be one of the biggest powerhouses around. That no one would be able to mess with him.
That had almost backfired on him. Hard.
The C Grade Elite Hunt Squad might not have been able to take him down, but they’d gotten close. Too close. Even if they ended up being no match for him in the end. The Collector wouldn’t make the same mistake a second time. Even if he wasn’t a true B Grade as Rhaalir suggested, that didn’t mean he wasn’t a formidable force, one that Xavier was nowhere near ready to deal with.
And who knew how many C Grades he had at his beck and call, ready to send to this sector to take out little old him. Well, not take out. Capture. Capture and attempt to enslave.
Xavier didn’t like this feeling. This feeling of being hunted. It didn’t suit him—not one bit.
“What are you to do next?” Rhaalir asked. Though Xavier had trained with the Spirit Golem for some time on that moon’s hunting grounds, it still felt strange hearing the elf’s voice coming out of that thing. The personality simply wasn’t there.
Xavier sighed. “I need to take some precautions.” He looked at Alexic. Strange, how he kept finding the man to be an asset. “You were a spy. Tell me, is there a way for me to more effectively hide my identity out in the sector?”
The man blinked. He tilted his head to the side. “You already have something shielding you from being scanned, but it’s feeble. It’s not going to stand up to a C Grade’s scrutiny—maybe not even a strong D Grade’s—even if it does work on me. It’s also obvious its faking what…” He cleared his throat. “Who you are. Not everyone bothers to hide their level and class, those who do, when its obvious, are warranted extra scrutiny.”
Xavier nodded. For the longest time, he’d had an item that stopped people from scanning his true level. It also showed others that he was human. He suspected it wouldn’t hold up against those that were much stronger than him. Alexic was only confirming those suspicions.
“What do you suggest?”
Xavier didn’t want to hide his identity, if he were honest. He’d fully intended not to bother when he stepped into the wider Silver River sector. But he was beginning to realise that might not be the smartest decision.
He was a burgeoning power in the area. That made him a target for those far more powerful than himself. And who knew how many powerful Denizens out there had their eyes on him?
Five years of having Earth restricted had seemed like a very long time to him up until that moment.
Adranial’s ancestor… What if his intentions aren’t as positive as they seem?
Adranial had signed a truth contract with him. That was true. But a truth contract, he had learned, wasn’t completely infallible. There could be issues with them. For instance, they couldn’t identify what was a fact, and what was simply something the person who’d signed the contract believed.
Adranial’s memories had been altered so that she could become connected—loyal—to Earth. That was how she’d gained access to their Tower of Champions.
What if her memories had been altered in another way, before then? More heavily? So the truths that she’d spewed forth to him might actually be fabrications?
Well, now you’re just getting paranoid…
He shook thoughts of Adranial’s ancestor away. If that man wanted to find him, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to hide.
Even so, it was feeling more and more necessary to take precautions. Xavier was no coward, but he was smart enough to know when he shouldn’t step directly into the firing line.
Though, perhaps that was only something he was just starting to learn, considering all the danger he’d put himself into in the past…
“Class Grafting,” Alexic said.
Xavier raised his eyebrows at the former spy. “Class… grafting? What does that entail?”
Alexic seemed hesitant. Xavier gestured that he should speak. The man shifted in his seat. “It’s not enough to simply shield yourself from being scanned. You had that part right from the start. You need to make sure that when you are scanned, something else shows up.”
“But what shows up now is too obvious of a lie,” Xavier replied.
Alexic nodded. “You’re the type of person who gets noticed, Xavier Collins, even if you might not realise it.”
Xavier tapped his fingers on the table. The strength of his taps was like the beat of a drum. He’d always had a bit of nervous energy, growing up. That had only increased since the System had integrated him into the Greater Universe.
He still wasn’t very used to sitting still—unless he was reading or actively meditating.
Xavier released a sigh. “I’m going to have to look like someone else, aren’t I?”
“At the very least, you will have to wear a mask,” Alexic replied.
“A… mask.” Xavier was still having second, and third thoughts about this whole concealing his identity thing. He was powerful. He should walk on any planet and hold his head high. He should be able to crush anyone who got in his way.
“This is necessary,” Rhaalir said, speaking through the Spirit Golem. “Swallow your pride, Xavier. Hiding one’s identity when they step into dangerous territory isn’t something one need be ashamed of. Something you will come to learn is that no matter how powerful you become, there is always someone out there who is stronger. Always someone out there who can crush you beneath their boot as though you were nothing more than an insect. Usually, those people don’t care to do it—others are far too beneath them to warrant their notice, let alone scrutiny. But you? Well, Alexic is right. You are getting noticed. Do yourself a favour and don’t intentionally walk under that boot.”
Alexic turned to the Spirit Golem, looking a little incredulous. Xavier got the feeling that people where he was from didn’t often speak their minds to those who were in charge. Or, more likely, they never did spoke their minds.
Xavier released another sigh, this one of resignation rather than exasperation. “I know, Rhaalir. You’re right.”
But it won’t always be that way, Xavier thought to himself, feeling confident of that fact. One day, I may very well be the strongest Denizen in the universe. The System wouldn’t have singled me out to become their weapon if that wasn’t a possibility.
He would crush The Collector. Break all his contracts. And when he did, he wouldn’t be masking his identity. He’d be standing proud.
Sitting in his war room, shielded by the safety of the restrictions on his planet, becoming the Weapon of the System felt like a faraway dream—not something that was actually possible.
But becoming powerful enough to crush The Collector? That was much sooner on his path.
Xavier faced Alexic once more. “What do I have to do?”
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