Unchosen Champion

Coop spent the afternoon exchanging ideas and researching factions with Charlie, Shalatha, and Asha-Kali. They went through the tablets he had selected, mostly alleviating concerns he had with establishing the faction. He had never participated in any study groups while he was in school, but he imagined the experience would have been similar.

Coop’s more capricious questions frequently drove them off topic. More than once, he needed Charlie’s responsible presence to remind him about their priorities. He wouldn’t be betting on assimilations anytime soon, even if they had a faction, so he didn’t need to learn the rules. They wouldn’t be subject to the more proper faction wars until after Earth’s assimilation was complete, since in those cases the settlements themselves would be up for grabs. Earth was sealed off by the system for the time being, so he didn’t need to research faction politics. They also didn’t have the type of funds that would be necessary to sponsor Chosen in a different assimilation even if they did become available. Basically, they couldn’t even do most of the cool stuff factions were known for, even if they had one.

They predicted that some limited features, like the faction events and faction disputes might be available, even during the assimilation. They were projection-based services that would occur in designated places where territory wouldn’t be exchanged. Participants went through the same process that the system already allowed with the contracted residents.

If they competed successfully, they could receive more settlement-wide benefits in the form of other buff chips, but Coop wasn’t convinced they would be worth the additional headache. Shalatha retrieved another tablet that went over the known rewards from the chips. They basically turned the territory into a soup of insignificant boosts with the primary purpose of bolstering the population by incentivizing residents into the settlement. Coop thought it was more akin to a marketing scheme for something like timeshares than to actual reinforcement. Not even he cared about stats enough to be excited about +2 Agility at night while inside the settlement’s territory.

However, the main problem was that a fledgling faction would be subject to something that Coop interpreted as hazing, where the established powers would attempt to put newcomers in their place to reinforce the hierarchy of factions. For the most part, the factions behaved as if they ran the show, but even Coop could see that the galactic community only existed thanks to the system wrangling mana and uplifting them. Without the system, those factions would be trapped in their bubbles and effectively lost to the cosmos, forever hamstrung by mana. They were all little fish swimming in the system’s aquarium, believing it was the ocean. Coop wasn’t sure where that left humans; feeder fish being acclimated to the aquarium’s water, probably.

The two zombie librarians were an excellent resource for common knowledge within the galactic community, but that meant that everything they knew was filtered through the lens of the system. Coop had to consider the limitations on their perspective. Still, compared to how much he knew about factions, the system, and mana, they were absolutely brimming with insights.

Charlie wound up volunteering to take responsibility for Ghost Reef’s future human library when he explained how the other librarians had been reluctant to take the books he had scavenged. They’d just need to get something constructed. It would be another project to add to Marcus’s list, but Coop was content with leaving the specifics of development to others at this point.

Charlie’s profession had been slow to start, but managing a library would give her ample opportunity to level it up. Charlie was miffed that Camila’s profession was absolutely flying in comparison. Apparently, Charlie required plenty of advocacy, giving her friend free profession levels whenever they were together, so Charlie was excited to get her own going. If she didn’t, Camila would end up with significantly more attributes, even if Charlie’s class level was slightly higher.

As evening approached, the sun began to shine through the floor to ceiling window next to their shared table. Coop took his leave for the day. He wanted to stretch his legs and take a visit to the pearlescent chambers underneath the fort. It was time to grind.

He had some lingering concerns about monsters building up and expanding into the inner walls, forcing Coop to clear the darkness of swarms once again. At the moment, they lacked the manpower to have phantoms continually patrolling and guarding like they did before the siege. If he could prevent that extra hassle with some short grind sessions, he would.

He said his goodbyes, but before he took more than three steps away from the sofa Asha-Kali lunged after him, clearing the back of the sofa in a single motion that was unleashed like a spring. The quick movement made Coop instinctually try to dodge, with hundreds of thousands of individual engagements for training, but she was so much faster, he had no chance. She snatched both of Coop’s arms and held him still, at arm’s length, pinning them against his body.

“The hell?” Coop huffed through teeth gritted from effort and surprise.

When he looked at her, confused, the lavender streaks in her hair finished turning blood red, and her black nails swirled with clouds of sanguine mana at the tips. The dark red brooch that she wore on a choker around her neck had changed to a deep purple. He tried wrenching his arms free and feebly struggled for a moment before accepting that there was no way he could resist. Her grasp was an unbreakable vise and he felt as weak as a kitten in comparison. He was made painfully aware of the incredible gulf in power that still existed between himself and the much higher level alien.

“Asha!” Shalatha exclaimed, also surprised by the librarian’s abrupt action and clearly concerned about violating the system contract.

Asha-Kali’s solid black pupils expanded as wide as possible, making her seem unfocused before they slowly started to shrink, staring past Coop’s own eyes like she could see directly into his soul. Her face was frozen with a sneer, revealing her slightly too long canines. They were cute when he first discovered Shalatha’s, but they were scary in this context.

Coop’s peripheral vision blurred until it faded into nothingness as he was entranced by her silver-gray irises. They swirled as they reclaimed her eyes from her shrinking pupils. Before he knew it, there was nothing left of his perception except her eyes. The pinpoint pupils trapped his own. No sounds and no distractions were left. Just Asha-Kali.

She finally broke the spell, speaking in a hiss and spitting words out like they would burn her painted lips. Coop couldn’t tear his own eyes away from hers as he hung on every word.

“The dreamer crows thrice - A desperate ally requires aid, a trap is set, a stronger foe lies in wait. - Unnatural influence spreads, concealed, waiting, unblinking, bathed in crimson. - Hope and despair each lie within the forbidden summit’s heart. Beware!”

Asha-Kali’s gray eyes rolled back and Coop was back to himself with her whispered voice echoing in his mind. She let go of Coop’s arms before she slumped toward the ground, collapsing like an emptied vessel. Coop caught her by her arms, reversing their positions as he held her fragile body up instead. He was surprised by how frail she suddenly became. It was a far cry from the seemingly unstoppable power she just displayed while grabbing him. Her brooch had returned to dark red and her hair’s streaks melted back to the more familiar lavender color they always had been, but she was out like a light.

“What the hell was that?” Coop nearly shouted as adrenaline rushed through his veins. He fought to stay in control as his fight or flight instincts continued to go into overdrive. For a moment, when he saw her sharp canines, he honestly thought she was going to eat him, then she started raving like she lost her mind. He hadn’t been attacked, but it still felt like it, and whatever she said seemed monumental.

“...Kali.” Shalatha whispered, the Undead girl still startled herself.

Coop squinted at Shalatha, hoping for a bit more of an explanation.

“Asha and Kali were twins in life.” Shalatha stated simply, as if that was enough.

“What about all that stuff she said?” Coop asked as the single word, ‘Beware,’ rattled around his head along with his frazzled nerves.

Shalatha frowned as she put her arm around Asha-Kali to take her from Coop. “If you heard anything, it was a message transferred directly to you. She collapsed as soon as she grabbed you, from our perspective.”

Coop looked at Charlie who nodded in agreement, with her expression still one of shock. If Shalatha had told him it was a hallucination, he might have believed her, but she inadvertently confirmed that he had received a message.

Shalatha tried to warn him off, seeing his expression change as he reconsidered the words. “It’s really better if you don’t linger on whatever you may have heard. Many people have essentially gone insane after obsessing over seemingly prophetic words. It’s a profitless endeavor...”

“Was that a prophecy?” Coop didn’t think that would be possible, even with mana, but what the hell did he know? If mana was omnipresent, could the system control fate itself by twisting interactions to meet its needs?

Shalatha sighed. “No, but Kali’s affinity made her a reader. Kali can’t make predictions, and her observations were always more like guesses that reflected the instant she dipped into a leyline. She may have tapped into something that was accurate at the moment, but by the time you decipher it, too many things will have changed for it to be reliable. Heeding her words might even have the opposite effect than what you expect, and the worst part is that it might not even be meant for you in the first place.” Shalatha continued to discourage his inclination to etch the words into his memory.

“She seemed to be trying to give a warning.” Coop was struggling between the warnings of the two librarians. A warning, and a warning to ignore the warning. He squeezed his hands closed, finally getting a grip on his nerves before he relaxed. “Should we take her to the medical center?” Coop offered his arm.

“She just needs to rest.” Shalatha made Asha-Kali comfortable on the sofa. “Sorry you had to see this.” Shalatha apologized shyly. She could probably tell that Coop had been slightly shaken.

“Don’t worry about it.” Coop tried to sound convincing, but he was still distracted by Asha-Kali’s words.

“Please come back soon.” She said over her shoulder as she turned her attention back to the other librarian.

Coop glanced at Charlie, who still looked astonished. “I guess, I’m gonna head out.” He confirmed, feeling a bit like he was asking for permission.

Charlie slowly nodded and looked over at Asha-Kali. “Are you sure she’s okay?” Charlie asked Shalatha and received a firm nod from the librarian for an answer. She looked at Coop with obvious concern still on her face. “I think I’ll stay for a bit.”

“Alright, see ya later.” Coop finally took his leave with a wave, but he was preoccupied by the experience. He tried to listen to Shalatha’s warning and not worry too much about what he had heard, but he really couldn’t find the fortitude to ignore it completely.

On his way out of the undead archive, Abithik flagged him down before he reached the doors and confirmed that Lakan had taken the children’s encyclopedia into the special collection for safekeeping, but left a message for Coop urging him to take the treasure back. Coop left it. Maybe the special collection librarian would grow to appreciate Earth that much more as he was exposed to the book. Charlie would be able to collect it after they built the human library.

Once Coop stepped outside, he took a seat on the white steps leading up to the library. He took a few deep breaths, trying to reclaim his calm and get back into vacation mode.

It was a bit of a wake up call, like Asha-Kali had known what he was thinking, about moving beyond the Primal Constructs and looking forward to greater challenges, and said, “Be careful what you wish for.” He didn’t like feeling helpless and weak, and it wasn’t the first time it had happened recently. The Avatar of the System had been even stronger than Asha-Kali, and the librarian was on a level that Coop would need to work to catch up to.

He closed his eyes, and let the warm tropical air wash over him until he really was relaxed again. Little by little, he’d get to the next level. It didn’t seem like there was much point in comparing himself with other humans when the future threats could be so much stronger.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the same cockatiel from the lighthouse. This time it was closer, in the crown of a coconut palm at the edge of the canal. It was making a small squeaking sound as it rubbed its beak back and forth that Coop found oddly soothing. He inspected the curious bird, considering how he’d catch it.

[Cockatiel (Level 14)]

[Spirit Guard (Acumen)]

[Chosen of the Twilight Phoenix]

[Spectral]

“Hmm…” Coop hadn’t expected it to be Chosen, but in retrospect, he should have. The fact that it had the same mana affinity as himself was the real surprise. Had it been attracted to his settlement because of the spectral relic?

Coop raised his hand with one finger parallel to the ground to act as a perch and called the newcomer. “C’mere, birdy.” He tried whistling and making kissing sounds to get the bird’s attention. The bird eventually swooped down after staring at him with head feathers pointing straight up. It skipped his finger and landed on his shoulder and paced back and forth twice, to Coop’s delight.

“That’s a good bird. Do you wanna stay in the settlement?” Coop cooed at the bird. He was recruiting an entire menagerie at this point.

The bird whistled and Coop nodded at what he interpreted as acceptance. Then the bird hopped to Coop’s head, plucked a beakful of his hair, and flew away. Coop sucked air between his teeth in shock and rubbed his scalp as he lost track of the cockatiel.

“What was that about?” He mumbled to himself. He shook his head in confusion, but at least the brief interaction got him moving again. Apparently, his increased durability didn’t suppress the pain of having a chunk of his hair pulled out.

In the town circle, residents and phantoms continued working under the setting sun. The banging of hammers, sawing, sanding, and shouting echoed from the construction site. Coop checked out the progress on their first regular human construction as he let Asha-Kali’s words sink into the back of his mind. Technically, the pirates had already built their small piers on the sea wall, so the experiment was really on the skill of the human workers.

The residents were still actively working on the coffee shop across the street from the tavern, but Coop thought it was coming along nicely. It should have been a safe choice to experiment with their capability. However, judging by what they had already built, it seemed like they had made it significantly more complicated than necessary. They seemed to be shooting for a high end place, with artsy flourishes, rather than a purely utilitarian building. He guessed it was the influence of the award winning architect and the designer not fully appreciating the amateur laborers on their first job. On the other hand, maybe Coop was underestimating them.

It looked like there would be an elevated patio or terrace on either side of the few steps to the main entrance, facing the town circle. A low barrier with room to hang plants was halfway completed along the exterior as phantoms brought planks to finish it off. The deck would allow lounging customers to watch the shard and the canal beyond, and eventually, Coop imagined, crowds of people passing through the main intersection of the settlement. The coffee shop certainly had the potential to become a nice spot when they were finished.

The interior was mostly just framing. A team was already laying a surface down on the inside while preparing for the flooring, and others were arguing about dimensions while measuring the ceiling with the inexact method of holding their arms out and comparing the width to their materials. At the rate they were going, it looked like they would be mostly done in a single day, assuming nothing needed to be redone afterwards. It was another impressive effort by the residents of the settlement.

In the distance, Coop could see that Marcus had purchased more service buildings to generate the materials necessary for their own construction, including a lumber mill behind the carpenter. At least it was relatively small, barely occupying the same amount of space as the quarry.

Unless it was forced, they wouldn’t ever completely get away from the system’s contracts, since those buildings automatically produced various items and materials that they would otherwise be unable to acquire on such a remote island without establishing shipping channels with other regions. The system’s offerings were too convenient when it came to production, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t supplement the settlement with their own services. The redundancy would protect them in the event that they lost contracts for any reason.

Coop was happy to see that Balor was actively participating with the rest of the construction crew. The master stonemason was retrieving materials and observing while Hana’s father, the teacher with carpentry experience, carefully crafted wood joints. Coop was sure there would be skills and professions that made the process easier, but it was cool to see human experience still being used and the stonemason behaved like he was respectfully watching an artisan at work. The system, or mana itself, wouldn’t be able to pull the rug out from underneath them if they established themselves through their own labor.

He left the crew without interrupting their work and crossed the bridge to the northern courtyard. He angled to the east entrances of the fort’s wall while admiring the laborer’s completed job of smoothing the northern circle. The laborer had begun paving the main street, starting at the northernmost point, the town hall.

Coop had to bypass the huge crater that destroyed two of their service buildings during the siege. Marcus had simply replaced the services on the other side of the pizza-slice shaped block.

He traveled into the fort’s damp basement and made his way to the original tunnel that Jett had revealed to him. He wondered if it would be a good idea to seal it off in the future. Before they did, they would need to establish a more direct entrance to the underground chamber. It would be easier to keep an eye on the entrance if it wasn’t hidden in abandoned supply rooms within the unused basement. Guards could make sure nothing came out while preventing residents from wandering inside. They would be able to add Ruin Excavators to their guided grind zones.

While he strolled through the dark tunnel, enjoying the light breeze that flowed along with him, toward the chamber, he appreciated the smooth tunnels once again. The Excavator Field Boss, Felrog the Soul Snatcher, had done a commendable job, though Coop didn’t think the boss had been responsible for the greater chambers. Even though they were unusual, they seemed to have been formed by a more natural process when the planet shifted at the start of the assimilation. The pulsing pillars that illuminated the underground were definitely beyond the capability of the boss.

Coop looked around the chamber, finding that the regular Ruin Excavators had retaken the open caverns. The small scorpion-like monsters were scattered in the dim blue light that emanated from the glowing pillars. A few skittered on the edges of the shadows along the walls, but none of them were nearly as active or mobile as the event versions. Coop was a bit disappointed not to find any elites, but there might be some hidden within the depths of the tunnels if he really sought them out. For now, he would just chip away at the quest chain while preventing a buildup of monsters in the darkness.

Coop summoned his ethereal morning star and strode into the arena, keeping his eyes up, waiting for an ambush. When none came, he cast Fog of War, letting it consume a bit less than half of his total mana pool in order to fill most of the chamber in thin swirling mist. It wouldn’t be dense enough to blind his opponents, but the regular monsters had no ranged abilities and it would give him maximum awareness through Presence of Mind. These opponents had no counter for his area skill and the calm atmosphere was perfect for a stable bank of fog that required little, if any maintenance.

Unfortunately, the monsters were spread thin and not particularly excitable like the ones that had been charging toward the center during their siege wave, so he was only able to capture a few dozen inside of his domain at a time. It was good enough for a lazy grind session, but wouldn’t do when he was really chasing numbers. In any case, it wouldn’t be a complete day unless he did at least some grinding, so he started banging away.

While he smashed the weak monsters with his morning star, he couldn’t stop thinking about Asha-Kali’s message. He didn’t even try to interpret anything, but he didn’t want to forget the impression it had left on him, just in case.