Unchosen Champion

“Hah!” Coop laughed, feeling like his hope for some celebratory spectacle at each settlement milestone was finally fulfilled. It didn’t matter that the burst of firework-esque magic was for the event instead. He admired the white sparkles as they drifted across the open sky and wondered why they didn’t get a show like this before.

“Stingy system.” He muttered, but he couldn’t hide his smile.

While he was watching, bursts of light shone directly on each of the residents, matching the beam that initiated the fireworks as if it was being reflected back down. It was almost like they would all be abducted by a more classic interpretation of aliens, but instead they were all receiving rewards for their contributions in the siege.

Coop was targeted by a pair of spotlights. One white light distributed his personal rewards, which triggered notifications as they arrived, and a second, glittering gold beam, placed the settlement reward in front of him so that he could reach out and take it.

The settlement reward was another miniature disk, almost identical to the one the Avatar of the System gave him, except instead of red, this one was royal blue. His notifications, in a rare moment of helpfulness, explained that he had received a Faction Founding Chip. Coop extracted the Purification Chip from his spatial storage and held it in his other hand to compare side-by-side.

He chuckled at the redundancy of having two of the things. Maybe it was easier to establish a faction than he thought, but he doubted it. The settlement must have earned something quite special after going through their tribulations, to the point that they broke the system’s scoring.

He wondered if he could use both to create two separate factions, or maybe combine them into a super faction. Was the Purification Chip even the real deal? What were the normal benefits of establishing a faction anyway?

Coop paused and realized he didn’t even know how to create the faction in the first place. The only information he had was that he needed to use the disk. He held back before he started playing with the items like toys, lest he accidentally apply them while he tried to figure them out. Shrugging, he shoved them both into his spatial storage for safekeeping.

He decided he would research factions in the library himself. Now that he didn’t have anything looming over his neck in the form of settlement events or threatening enemies, he could freely spend time pursuing such information, and he was excited to do it. Out of all the residents of Ghost Reef, he had been one of the most infrequent visitors to the library, but that would finally change.

Establishing his own faction seemed like a big step, and it was slightly different from what his primary goals had been in establishing Ghost Reef and representing the factionless, but it wasn’t completely in opposition. The idea of being factionless was really to better represent human interests in the face of the galactic community, without outside influence, but a human faction could easily fulfill that same role. They could unite and endure the Primal Constructs together, denying any of the invaders control over Earth and refusing to be subjugated by outside forces.

If they really decided to start a faction themselves, the question would shift to which chip to use. Ultimately, it would come down to whether or not they believed what the Avatar of the System had to say. Coop felt like she had tried to manipulate them into respecting her from the start, which was why he attacked to try and break the spell. Admittedly, he couldn’t be sure that his intuition was correct, but the fact that Mind was his primary stat meant he should be more sensitive to such machinations compared to any of his companions. He was suspicious of her for some reason, and now that he had a second, real faction chip, he felt like they had a nice backup plan.

That left the consideration of the Avatar’s words; that they were facing the judgment of mana, and failing. Coop didn’t like the sound of an eradication protocol, and no matter what the details were, it sounded like something they would need to prepare for. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the stranger’s words, even if Coop wasn’t sure if they came from a trustworthy source.

He’d give the rest of the residents an opportunity to give their two cents before he took the first step, but he knew where he stood. It didn’t seem like they would be able to ignore the warning and it was too dire to take a chance. That meant they would use the Purification Chip first. He glanced at both chips inside his storage and moved on to checking the notifications for his personal rewards.

[+1000000 Basic Credits]

[You have acquired a new title!]

Coop froze in surprise. He never expected the system to be so generous. Even if he was receiving the top reward, that was a real fortune. A million credits was a ridiculous amount, considering every other quest reward he had seen, though he’d spend the entire sum right away on the Merciful Medical Center. Obviously, the settlement constructions were meant to be collective projects, but Coop had been able to fund them himself.

He imagined what it would be like if he didn’t have Scavenging combined with his habitual grinding feeding him additional credits. It would feel like he hit the lottery. This event may have been the only source of credits for many other people, depending on their professions. It was no wonder the factions touted the benefits of the events to their Chosen. Between the experience and the credits, it really was rewarding, even if it wasn’t flashy.

He checked the title, wondering if it was a participation trophy after the real reward came in the cash prize, not that he’d complain. Every little bit counted.

Siegebreaker - First Place during a Siege Event.

Adds +10% to Selected Attribute.

Coop selected Mind with his mouth wide open in shock. Forget about participation trophies, this was the gold medal. He tried to stay calm, but even the mere existence of percentage bonuses to attributes was a revelation. When combined with his build in particular, it was actually ridiculous. He was snowballing before, but this meant he could become utterly uncatchable. As long as he didn’t hibernate for the rest of the assimilation, it would be a daunting challenge to match him in pure stats, and Coop wasn’t sleepy.

Coop calmed himself. He couldn’t ignore the possibility of other ridiculous titles floating around out there, not to mention superior leveling strats, legendary classes, other absurd skill combinations, and equipment bonuses. Still, he’d stick to his strategy of stacking stats, and now he knew there would be even more valuable tools to pursue. He was already looking forward to the next event. It was easy for him to ignore the struggles once he got his eyes on the prizes.

“Hey, Laurie!” He spotted someone to compare rewards with as Laurie strolled through the circle with her baby swaddled across her chest. She smiled with a wave and walked over. “Did you get rewards too?” He asked.

“I sure did! Over 200,000 basic credits and a title that added a flat +150 bonus to an attribute of my choice.”

Coop thought that was a huge bonus even if it wasn’t a percentage boost. It certainly beat out a single Slayer title. “What was your final ranking?” Coop queried curiously, trying to gauge reward brackets.

“387,” She grinned. “Not bad for the level nine you found hiding away in her apartment, huh?”

“Not bad at all.” Coop agreed as he inspected her.

[Human (Level 54)]

[Enchanter (Intelligence)]

[Arcane (Defiant)]

If even the random citizens of Ghost Reef were this strong, they would have a good chance of making it through future hardships together. He congratulated Laurie on her impressive progress as she continued on her way, and flagged Madison and Emmanuel down as they exited the tavern. He inspected the pair as they approached.

[Human (Level 64)]

[Angel of Dawn (Mind)]

[Sage of the Merciful]

[Graceful (Lifegiver)]

[Human (Level 62)]

[Enforcer (Strength)]

[Massive (Titan)]

“Mr. and Mrs. Seraphin,” Coop offered an overly polite greeting, knowing he was about to dump more work on Madison in particular. “How were your rewards from the event?”

Emmanuel grinned and responded first, “We’re rich! And we both got titles that apply +5% attributes! I’m gonna need a calculator to keep the ratio the missus wants me to maintain.” He laughed knowing Madison was right there already shooting glances in his direction.

Coop knew they were both in the top 25 overall, so they must have ended up with the highest tier rewards below his own. He suspected his title reward was unique, which was satisfying in its own right, though he wouldn’t have minded if his allies all received a bigger boost.

When Coop turned to Madison with a smile, she narrowed her eyes, suspicious of his extra polite demeanor. He waved for them to follow him to the shard without saying anything else, accessed the build menu, and spent one million credits to construct the Merciful Medical Center. It would be on the west side of the courtyard, across the street from the canal on the north side. It was much smaller than he expected, but how much treatment would immortals that can heal with magic actually need? He doubted it had many hospital beds.

As the shining white and gold building formed he turned to Madison and smiled as soothingly as he could, which, apparently, wasn’t good enough.

She looked back at him bitterly, seeing right through him. “You couldn’t even let me have one day off? Not even one?” Coop was pretty sure she didn’t mean it, at least not entirely.

Emmanuel laughed and spoke on her behalf, clarifying Coop’s uncertainty. “She won’t admit it, but she’s happiest when she’s mending. She just likes playing around.”

“Ugh, why’d you have to call it mending. That’s so annoying” Madison griped, apparently still annoyed at taking a profession called Basic Mender.

Coop nodded placatingly, not completely ‘in’ on their dynamic, before he tried to be encouraging. “Me and Charlie would appreciate it if you helped Jones as soon as possible.” He said, appealing to her sense of empathy.

Madison just nodded, knowing when to stop messing around. “Alright,” She tied her hair back. “Let’s go check out the facilities.”

They walked across the unfinished stone bridge and Coop eyed the hole in the center of the northern circle that the Excavators had created during their wave. If anything, the area was even more damaged than the battlefield in front of the fort. The Field Boss and the horde of Excavators had left some real destruction that would take proper repairs to clean up. Thankfully, one of Balor’s laborers was already working on creating the street, whispering incantations and kneeling while leveling the ground with a sweeping motion of his hands.

As they walked along the canal, the Merciful building completed the final touches of its construction. It wasn’t nearly as large as the library, more comparable to the town hall. However, the library was a much simpler block of stone and glass when compared to the more complicated newest addition to the settlement.

The hospital was a surprisingly modern looking building. Compared to the rest of the system buildings, it seemed like a better aesthetic fit for a major city’s ritzy, only slightly medieval, downtown, with glass windows on the wings and ornamental flourishes on its peaks and corners. It was especially out of place when contrasted with the nearby fort’s smashed up north western inner wall with the paw shaped crater in the ground.

A white cylindrical building reflected the sunlight from the center of the facility. On each cardinal direction, extending from the central building, a two storey rectangular wing extended outward, forming an equal-armed cross. In between each wing were manicured courtyards with stone pavers, shaded benches, and elevated shrubbery. The southern hall terminated with an open lobby, like the front wall had been removed from a modern hotel entrance, leaving it unrestricted to the public.

As they entered the premises, Coop’s eyes were drawn to gold lighting beneath his feet. Lights were embedded in the floor along both sides of the hall, separating comfortable lobby seating on the edges from the central walkway. The lights created contrast between the shadowed white walled waiting areas with gold highlights that filtered through the spacious open air chamber.

Each light was covered with partially translucent caps, filled with some motile liquid that cast complicated shifting shadows on the smoothly curved white ceiling. The patterns imitated movement, drawing his eye. He thought he saw a diorama of clouds rolling along above him, but when he looked directly, it transformed into sunlight filtering through a jungle canopy, then when he looked away again, it seemed more like flocks of birds taking flight. It was all quite operatic instead of the sterile atmosphere that a hospital would normally reinforce.

Hopefully, the price hadn’t been inflated to include luxury accommodations. He was primed to grumble after making the huge purchase if they didn’t get what he paid for, which was specifically the ability to cure blood curses.

At the end of the alcove, five aliens were waiting to greet them. One alien stood front and center, while the rest flanked them from a few steps behind, on either side. All five wore thin white clothes that had gold embroidery and were reminiscent of a traditional nun's habit with a cape, but with no cap or veil. Instead of anything on their heads, they were all completely bald with their scalps as shiny as the gold highlights around the central building. They even lacked eyebrows. Coop had the slight impression that all five of them had reptilian facial structures, but they were still pleasant to look at in a sort androgynous way.

Emmanuel and Coop let Madison lead the way, as she had transformed back into the all-business physician with a presence that demanded respect as soon as she entered the building. It was like a switch was flipped. Even Coop, who had no experience in a medical environment, seemed to instinctually realize she was in charge within the premises.

The center alien dropped to one knee and the rest went down onto both. Then, while staring at Madison’s shoes, he spoke with a light voice. “Honored Sage, it is our pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are students of the third column.”

“Yes, yes, that’s fine, you can all stand up.” Madison disregarded the reverence they tried to show. She pointed at the center alien. “Would you please show me around the facilities? And could the rest of you prepare the ritual chamber for a blood curse procedure?” She made requests that didn’t sound like questions at all.

“Of course, Honored Sage.” The aliens responded in unison without change in their expressions. Coop was just a little creeped out by the synchronization.

Madison turned to Coop. “I’ll take it from here. Just know that setting up the ritual will take anywhere from a week to several, depending on the facilities and the curse.”

“But, it’ll work?” Coop couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes.” Madison confirmed. “But, I’ll need you there at the end.”

“No problem, do you need Caisalya to provide materials?” Coop readily agreed and wanted to help if he could.

“I’ve already spoken to her and Olani. We’ll coordinate everything before we begin.” Madison answered before she turned to Emmanuel, “Honey, could you watch the door? Stay close in case I need you?” She asked sweetly.

“Yes, dear.” He agreed, happily. Coop looked over at Charlie’s father and he just smiled back before leading the way to the threshold of the building. Madison followed the lead alien through a door that had been invisible within the back wall while the other four went through a separate passage that was equally concealed.

Coop nodded to himself, that was one major task started. Coop said goodbye and left Emmanuel standing like a statue at the entrance of the hospital, obviously playing the role of bouncer, whether it was necessary or not.

Coop headed back to the civilization shard, glad that they had accomplished a major goal on the way to healing Jones. Just like with the settlement upgrade, it was only a matter of time.

At the shard, he accessed the army menu to return the phantom soldiers and pirates that had sacrificed themselves for the defense of the settlement. However, instead of a flashing button promoting reinforcements, he found the option was grayed out and inaccessible. The button itself had a gradient that was reminiscent of a loading bar. It didn’t budge while he watched it and it was barely 10% completed. He frowned, disappointed. He checked the navy and found that summoning new ships to complete the Tempest fleet was also unavailable, despite the open dock space, though the bar was closer to full.

The civilization shard claimed that the settlement needed to gather more mana. Coop crossed his arms as he considered what that would actually mean. Was there a way they could regenerate mana, or was it necessary to simply wait?

Mana had never been a consideration when he accessed the shard to construct new buildings, but maybe he had never built enough to deplete some hidden reserve. He failed to come up with a reasonable explanation on his own, especially when he considered what the Avatar had told them about mana’s omnipresence, though he recalled how she drained all of their mana upon her arrival and frowned. He also remembered that Balor mentioned the fort’s mana reinforcement was tied to the civilization shard, so he wondered just how much pressure they had put on the settlement during the siege. The end result was the same whether he understood it or not. They had to wait for this as well.

Instead of starting the welcome back party, he went to the tavern to grab brunch. He would put Marcus on finding more information regarding the settlement’s mana. It seemed like something the town hall and clerk would be suited for investigating.

Inside the tavern, he sat with Olani as she ate with her grandkids and Desmond served him something new. Apparently, the residents had been trying to get the devilish bartender to add some more familiar recipes, with slight twists. In this case, the experimental dish of the day was similar to french toast, but instead of sweet or sugary, it had a thin but savory gravy. And the bread was baby blue.

“Man, that’s good.” Coop mumbled between bites to the amusement of the grandkids. They were clearly looking at Coop as some kind of role model and he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it.

As usual, Desmond’s cooking was delicious, but Coop was beginning to suspect that cooking with mana involved was cheating. Though, he had to admit, experience was probably also a significant factor, even if most of it was from cooking for aliens without taste buds. Coop polished off his meal, tapped the counter to transfer some credits, said his goodbyes, and headed for the library.

Shouts of “No! Over there,” and “Yes! Stack them on top!” drew Coop’s attention as he passed through the tavern’s doorway into the courtyard.

On the other side of the town circle, Marcus and a combination of a few residents and a few dozen phantoms were hauling materials that had been contributed by the carpenter and the quarry. One of the residents was taking an executive position, standing on top of a pile of wood and directing the rest as they planned out the first non-system provided construction.

Coop took a moment to interrupt Marcus. “You need any more help?” Coop offered.

“We’ve got it completely under control. Come on, you let Shane take care of the battle tactics, let me take care of the settlement.” Marcus insisted as one of the phantoms tripped over a stack of flat stones, dropping what he was carrying as he went down. Marcus shook his head before he continued. “Mr. Fred Brown up there was an award winning architect before he retired. He’s gonna be moonlighting as our foreman.” Marcus waved toward the shouting man and shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes. At least the designs should be nice.”

“Fair enough.” Coop watched as the foreman struggled to get the phantoms organized. “When you get a chance, could you look into how we can recover settlement mana? We can’t accept reinforcements until we have more.”

“I already looked into some of the settlement resources. The shard just passively collects several different things, and I believe mana was one of them. There are service buildings we can construct that will yield more or increase the reserve capacity.” Marcus explained.

“Of course there are service buildings.” Coop sighed. “In that case, could you track how much we recuperate over the course of a day. I’d like to get some of those service buildings, especially if it’s really slow.”

“Sure thing. I’ll get on it this afternoon.” Marcus agreed, equally motivated to bring the phantoms back.

That was good enough for Coop, so he left the makeshift construction crew to it. Before he left, Marcus elbowed him to get his attention and pointed out Balor, who was done pouting and was sneaking glances at the construction crew from the side of Vronk’s bakery. Sunny sat facing the dwarf, giving Balor’s slightly hidden spot away with a tail that waved in circles. Coop was glad the stonemason was showing interest. Coop left Marcus with a thumbs up and walked the opposite direction along the canal, toward the library.

Properly utilizing the library had been a long time coming. As he passed through the tall glass doors, the cool air of the library felt refreshing. Only a handful of seats were taken by phantoms quietly browsing tablets in the first floor lounge areas. Coop made his way straight across the carpeted lobby to visit the head archivist, the lich, Abithik. Coop needed directions, but he also had been hanging onto a potential treasure for a long time.

The skeletal lich greeted him politely. “Congratulations on a miraculous defense, Champion.”

“Thanks, it looks like we’ll be repairing for quite some time.” Coop admitted, suggesting they could have done better.

“The fact that it’s possible to repair is truly remarkable.” The lich continued to praise the defenders. “How can I help you today?”

“I have some research to do, but first…” Coop smiled and extracted a random book out of his spatial storage, looted back on the mainland. As he slid it across the reception table, Abithik raised his hands as if he was afraid to touch it lest it bite him. Coop wasn’t sure if it was because the boss of this library didn’t recognize a book or if it was because he immediately identified it as extremely valuable. Honestly, it was hard to read a skeletal face. There were literally no expressions.

“You interested in adding to your collection?” Coop prompted with his eyebrows raised.