Unchosen Champion

When Coop woke up, he had the vague impression that something was missing. It was like his subconscious was trying to tell him that the situation wasn’t quite right, but exactly what was lost to his dreams. After a moment of confusion while staring at the wooden beams in the ceiling, he realized that the steady purring snores from Jett were absent. He was groggy from a late night experimenting with the Legacy of the Mists, but the missing cat startled him awake.

At first, he was worried she had run into some trouble during her nightly patrols and might even need his help, but if there was one resident of Ghost Reef that they didn’t need to worry about, it was Jett. The black cat who controlled the shadows of their territory was probably the most formidable duelist in the settlement, even when including the overleveled Coop. Still, her absence was enough of a wake-up call to get him moving.

After a few moments of frantic contemplation, going through various possibilities of where he should go, Coop threw the covers off and ran up the steps to the lightroom, taking them two at a time and hoping he wasn’t too late.

The lighthouse had picked up an intruder in the cockatiel, and even though Coop had half-heartedly warned the bird of the danger it was taking by entering the lighthouse, he wasn’t sure if he had really done the threat justice or if the bird even comprehended heads-up. Jett was responsible for keeping pests out of the lighthouse in the past, and she had been an efficient and hypervigilant exterminator for decades before Coop had arrived.

When he breached the threshold of the lightroom, he came face-to-face with a startled cat, silhouetted by the dawn light. Jett was an undefined black mass against the panoramic sunrise while Coop’s eyes struggled to adjust to the brilliance of the sun reflecting off of the ocean all along the horizon, but her wide gold-yellow eyes blinked once, providing enough context to figure out what she was doing. She was laying on her back, underneath the edge of the light stand, staring back at Coop from her flipped perspective. Above her, the spectral cockatiel paced back and forth on a black iron rod that stabilized the light, still in one piece, appearing mostly unharried.

Jett tenderly pawed at the bird’s tail feathers, as they danced above her, with a few gentle swats before she rolled back onto her feet, stretched, and yawned. Coop had gotten himself all worked up for nothing, but he was happy to be mistaken. It seemed like Jett had become a bit more relaxed in her retirement, leaving some of her old responsibilities to Coop and allowing him to invite guests into her territory. He should have known, given all of the other residents they had accumulated over the previous weeks that she had refrained from slicing up.

She went down the stairs without any fanfare, leaving Coop and the bird alone. He felt bad about interrupting their playtime, but Coop was especially glad he didn’t find the cat with feathers sticking out of her mouth. He would have felt intensely guilty if he had.

“Crisis averted, huh Birdie?” Coop asked, mostly to himself. The bird’s crown feathers fanned up, but he didn’t get any response otherwise. It was nice that the previously elderly cat was feeling playful.

Coop shook his head and followed Jett’s path back down the spiraling stairs. By the time he reached his bedroom, she was already making herself comfortable where he had previously hibernated, not letting the warmth be wasted. With the cat claiming his bed, everything was as it should be.

He sighed and went the rest of the way down, feeling tired again after waking with such anxious thoughts. Luckily, Sunny was always ready to start the day, and cheerfully encouraged Coop to hurry up and get outside.

A brisk jog with the retriever and an even brisker shower after, Coop sat with Marcus inside the Clumsy Shark at a table near the always stoked fireplace. Only a few other tables were occupied for breakfast, but Marcus had arrived early to claim one in the cozy tavern anyway.

Desmond promptly served the experiment of the day, giving Coop a firm nod that somehow communicated ‘good morning’ and ‘enjoy the meal’ all in one gesture. This time, Coop was able to try the devilish bartender’s experimental breakfast burritos. They looked as one would expect, avoiding any alien colors, but the filling was almost like a thick tomatoey stew. It wasn’t bad for a hearty breakfast. Desmond never missed, as far as Coop was concerned, and he paid his compliments to the chef.

Marcus had already finished eating by the time Coop arrived, but had waited in order to continue their newly established morning ceremony. Coop thought it was like flipping the television on to get the morning update with a local personality: Good Morning Ghost Reef with Marcus Rollins.

“We should be ready for the phantoms to return soon, thanks to the Mana Mill speeding up the accumulation. The other facilities merely increase the capacity. I estimate a week should be enough time to fill the reserves enough to bring them back, as long as we don’t spend it on anything else.” Marcus provided updates as Coop dug into his burritos.

“What about the rest of the Tempest Fleet? Could we at least summon the last two Corvettes and their crews?” Coop asked after he finished chewing a much too large bite.

“I’ll make sure to look into it, but I have to imagine the ships themselves would require a substantial investment of the settlement resources.” Marcus considered before he continued updating Coop.

“I’m going to place some new resource services inside the underground chambers, including greater storage facilities, so that we can keep them secure, and leave more room for residents up top. If the fort is going to house a city, we need to make sure we can accommodate a much larger population than would have been realistic without mana.”

Coop nodded. “Makes sense, but even then, it’ll be hard to make sure there’s enough room.” He thought the normally minimally populated island would get crowded real fast without some kind of expansion throughout the settlement’s territory, to more islands or into the underground.

“I’m not sure it will be a problem. We don’t have access to any of the service upgrades for the apartment buildings at the settlement’s current level, but once we do, even the smaller apartment buildings will certainly become more efficient in terms of real estate.” Marcus assured him.

“You saying they’ll get taller? That could be a problem if they extend too far beyond the walls and we get attacked.” Coop paused as he reconsidered if having the housing on the edge of the fort had been a good idea after all.

“Taller buildings is certainly a possibility, but with mana involved maybe there will be more alien upgrades as well.” Marcus predicted.

Coop imagined some real sci-fi solutions like warping space. “Actually, that doesn’t seem that unlikely.” He realized as he mentally accessed his spatial storage, finding a precedent from much earlier in the assimilation, but he had to ask himself if it would be okay for living beings to be physically manipulated like that. Then again, his mistjumps were doing something pretty wild to his own body. When he assessed himself, it was so far so good.

Marcus leaned forward conspiratorially. “Not to mention the defensive upgrades we might be able to add to the wall even if they do get taller.” Coop’s eyes widened as he looked around to make sure Balor hadn’t snuck up on them, but the bar was clear and no one was downing mugs of ale like the stone dwarf would in the morning.

Marcus continued once Coop nodded to himself in acceptance. “Mr. Gibson’s party has begun exploring the tunnels that connect to those pearlescent caverns. It seems there are a whole series of them underground. The Ruin Excavators spawn deeper inside, so we won’t be worried about respawns where we build. For now, we’ll just claim enough territory to roughly double the town’s surface area without leaving the fort. Rather than expand beyond the walls, we have the option to continue expanding underneath instead. Personally, I believe that’s the wisest course, but I’ll leave it up to the combat specialists, and yourself of course.”

Marcus shifted in his seat. “After the soldiers return we will have a slightly different problem.”

“The barracks are all messed up?” Coop tried anticipating the issue.

Marcus shook his head. “No, housing-wise, the fort does need to be repaired for them to return to their barracks, but now that the entire fort is available, we have plenty of room for a large army. However, the problem is that they are just too numerous, even as they were, to keep as a standing army for our current population. Financially, it can’t be done. The settlement will bankrupt itself trying to maintain their salaries.”

Coop shrugged, pretty confident in his personal ability to generate credits if necessary. “We can give them the option to become regular citizens. They can help defend the fort just like any other resident if it comes down to it.”

Marcus continued his nervous shifting as he continued. “Actually, I think maintaining the large army is important for future conquests. They may even become a requirement when you start expanding beyond Ghost Reef. The phantom army can be the force that secures whatever you decide to take. What we need is more residents to sustain them, which can also come from expansion.”

Coop started to object, feeling quite satisfied with leaving Ghost Reef as a welcoming place for people to voluntarily join, but Marcus cut him off. “I know you have no interest in conquest, but I think with your growing presence, it’s inevitable. Think about our neighbor, Empress City, the conditions just aren’t great. We could improve the situation for all those hiding out in the fringes.”

“I dunno…” Coop was really uncomfortable with the idea of deliberate expansion. He really just wanted to turtle up on Ghost Reef and invite people to be safe from the Eradication Protocol after they established a faction. He believed it was an ideal location and could become a beacon for other people. Forcing people to accept his help, even if it was for the greater good, was beyond the responsibilities Coop was willing to accept. Even becoming a Champion had pushed it, and if it wasn’t for the limited options, he would have avoided it to focus on his own development. Leveraging the advantages he had accumulated to crush others just wasn’t in him. He’d rather hang out on the beach and keep leveling to maintain a sanctuary for those who came.

“Charlie warned me you’d be hard to convince.” Marcus nodded as he watched Coop’s internal struggle. “She said you’re a true hardcore PvE’r and will shy away from PvP. I think she’s the only one on the planet that understands the basis for your mentality, cause I have no idea what she was talking about.”

“It’s probably better that way.” Coop admitted as he started on his second burrito. She wasn’t exactly wrong, but when it was put in terms like that Coop could see how he might need to broaden his ambitions. Depending on the genre, even a PvE’r might need to defend their grind spot from challengers or griefers, and more often than not, the purpose of gathering strength was to wield it. Still, it was a large leap, going from being willing to defend his territory, to looking to dominate. Coop sighed, feeling like wanting to help people kept getting more complicated.

Marcus continued. “Anyway, I’m not saying we start seeking out global conquest here, but you know we’ll need to make moves after the Avatar issued such a stern warning. Mana’s judgment would be something we should at least warn others about.”

Coop was still reluctant, not really seeing how conquest and transmitting a warning were the same. “I guess…”

“Forget about it for now, it can wait until after the faction meeting and the settlement upgrade. Let’s move on to more fun topics.” Marcus started, knowing exactly how to improve his Champion’s mood.

Before Coop could eagerly ask, Marcus anticipated his next question. “Yes, the Big Beach Bash Bonanza will be ready for the upgrade. There’s a former wedding planner among Laurie’s people and she’s already been taking care of the arrangements, recruiting volunteers, and organizing the catering.”

Coop was satisfied. “Good.” He couldn’t wait for that. It was almost two weeks away still, but it would be the proper welcome party he promised the residents, and it would be the official celebration for their victory in the first event, the settlement upgrade, and the returned phantoms. If the system continued to deny him celebratory fireworks for settlement upgrades, they would make their own. “How’s the treasury?”

Marcus winced. “It’s pretty light. A lot of the new services don’t actually bring any income since they interact directly with the settlement rather than the residents or other services. They’ll be helpful in the long run, but they required upfront payments that put us back quite a bit. Then there’s the fact that we are taking on some construction ourselves. We may save the recruitment cost that the system would charge, but we are purchasing all of the materials instead, and that makes the construction cost actually higher than it would have been through the system. We’re effectively subsidizing our citizens for now.”

Coop gestured at Marcus and sent him a million credits. They weren’t doing him any good while they sat in his inventory.

Marcus’s eyes went wide as he read his notification and found the sudden influx. “How rich are you? I thought the medical center would put you out for a while.”

“Grinding is good.” Coop shrugged, going back to his burrito. “You sure we need more citizens to maintain our army?” He asked facetiously.

Marcus grunted before he continued. “The only other thing was that Erasimus Doomthread was asking for you.”

Coop nodded. “I’ll pay him a visit today…” He said with his mouth full. Coop would have to keep an eye out on the rest of his wallet when he was around that Clothier. He had ways to siphon credits without his customers realizing what they were getting into.

Coop continued after he finished chewing, “I’m going to take a little expedition into the mana well this afternoon, after I visit the crafters. You probably won’t be able to get me in case of an emergency.” He sideeyed his first advisor “Will you be alright?” Coop asked, knowing it would be the first time Marcus was in charge of the settlement by himself.

“We’ll be fine.” Marcus assured him as he prepared to head out. “I’m going to hole up in the town hall and burn through some of these funds.” Marcus took his leave and Coop finished his food by himself until even more pleasant company joined him.

Maeve sat in the freshly vacated spot across from him and chit chatted about the comings and goings of the tavern. The demons were extremely pleased with their luck at being contracted to Coop’s settlement. It was both the most profitable contract they had been on while also being the most fun. Human personalities were a bonus that they hadn’t experienced on any other planet.

“I can’t believe you humans were keeping these wonderful drinks to yourselves.” Maeve playfully grouched. She was apparently also becoming a big fan of coffee under the tutelage of Camila.

“There’s all sorts of stuff that mana is keeping from us.” Coop pointed out. “I’m not sure how much we’ll ever be able to bring back, but coffee is definitely just one of many treats you’d probably enjoy.”

Maeve hummed. “Be careful, Champion. If you keep providing us with such surprises, we’ll stay forever.”

“I won’t try to stop you.” Coop admitted, not even sure if he had that kind of veto power at the end of their contracts. He had to assume that as Champion he probably did.

“As solemn a declaration as you’d be like to give.” Maeve laughed before she went back to work, preparing for the busier lunch rush and even busier evening.

It seemed like everyone was in good spirits. The relaxed vibes of the tropical island paradise overwhelmed the tension from the apocalypse when monsters weren’t breathing down their necks.

Afterwards, Coop dropped by The Seraphin Gravity Gym. “Morning, boys.” He greeted the Cleary brothers. “Back day?” He double checked as the three brothers each stood in front of a barbell with their hands on their hips, catching their breath. They all looked identical even though they were different ages, especially when they synchronized their mannerisms.

“That’s right. You wanna hop in?” One of them asked.

“For sure.” Coop confirmed, knowing that the weight would be low. Going through the motions was enjoyable regardless, providing more nuanced control over his mana boosted physicality the more he practiced.

He took his time warming up before he joined them for deadlifts, bent over rows, and weighted pull ups. Emmanuel was still at the medical center with Madison, so Coop used the weights that were setup in advance for the brothers and didn’t chase any more personal records. It was a pleasant time in the morning sun with Elly, joined by Olani’s grandkids, cheering them on.

The brothers told him about how the construction crew had erected the mana experimentation barn immediately after the cafe. The building had gone up in a matter of hours, like an Amish barn raising.

The brothers, along with the professor, had already started working on their first experiments with mana. The first research they were working on was figuring out if they could be utilizing mana as a replacement for electricity. The brothers in particular were worried about the summer heat on a tropical island and hoped to figure out how to get air conditioning without recruiting some kind of ice mage for each building.

Coop sincerely wished them luck, though he had been mentally prepared for the heat the moment he accepted the junior caretaker keeper job that brought him deeper into the tropics in the first place. The Cleary brothers’ discoveries would be applicable to a wider variety of applications, but the big boys were particular with their initial goal of comfort.

After the casual workout session, he found himself standing inside the master blacksmith’s shop, waiting for the dog eared owner to come out from the back. He wanted to ask some questions about the mana well.