Unchosen Champion

Coop followed what was becoming a familiar route through the coral maze. The winding trail continued until he reached a massive junction of spiraling pathways. The reddish pink and violet corals opened into a space that held dozens of shrimp monsters that were around level 60, evenly spaced and idling in their positions while sending challenging clicks at each other, warding each other off from their claimed territory. Coop had previously cleared the area, but the vacant spots had already been refilled. It seemed as though the area was in high demand. He assumed that meant the quality of the mana currents was increasing as he traversed the pathways toward the central core of the upper colony.

He ignored the respawns to concentrate on his destination. There was only one trail he had yet to follow. Once he cleared the final pathway, it would mark the end of his self-imposed expedition. Defeating every overleveled One That Hunts was a mission that had proven to be too ambitious, so he had reluctantly compromised with his sense of completion and opted for a reduced goal. Instead of ridding the entire coral colony of every single higher level shrimp, Coop had adjusted his mission so that he was only ridding the top portion of the pyramid of the more threatening enemies. The residents would be able to use the initial coral platform that Coop used to rest as a jump off point, as long as they didn’t decide to venture lower into the depths. Sometimes adjustments were necessary, so he conceded part of his mission, confident that he could return later and pick up where he left off.

Pushing past a curtain of waving anemones, Coop followed the last path as it ramped into the exact center of the gargantuan foliose coral. Coop expected to find a large enclosure that could easily hold dozens of monsters based on his trips around the perimeter pathways. The mana currents that flowed through the passageways all led to the central core, so he prepared to face a slightly more difficult challenge than the previous few thousand shrimp. Maybe they would be closer to his current level and reward him with some undiminished experience.

“Fingers crossed.” Coop whispered to himself. He wouldn’t say no to a few more levels before he temporarily wrapped things up in the mana well.

Coop carefully chose his footing as he stepped into the dimly lit coral passage. The flowing bioluminescence revealed a tunnel that reminded him of the ones created by Felrog. The interior pathway was flat on the bottom with a perfectly symmetrical horseshoe shaped top, and large enough for a full-sized train to comfortably pass through. In this case, the walls weren’t smooth, nor were they iridescent, contrasting with the pearlescent chambers. The corals had naturally formed the tunnel, layer upon layer of mana-reinforced calcium carbonate.

The feat of construction was especially dramatic when considering the tiny polyps remained their pre-mana, miniscule size. The main oddity caused by the presence of mana was that the polyps were excreting their exoskeleton bases in the opposite direction from the surface of the colonies. They were growing inwards instead of upwards without the sun to guide them. The result was that none of the fragile marine invertebrates were exposed on the external surfaces of the coral. Instead of filter feeding on ocean currents, they were capturing pockets of mana and bathing themselves in the unusual energy in safety and seclusion. That was why they had been unusually resistant to damage.

Coop considered if there was a lesson to be learned from the way the mana well’s coral polyps had adapted to being inundated in excess mana. They weren’t Chosen, but they were effectively utilizing mana in a way that normally would only be possible through tools that the system provided. The presence of the mana well was an unusual situation, but the fact that the simple invertebrates almost seemed to hijack mana was interesting. It was the sort of adaptation that he believed could have been produced by millions of years of evolution. Coop wondered if mana’s presence had already influenced some species’ development even before it had been activated, or if rapid mutations within the Coral Forest had been the culprit of the coral polyps’ adaptation. Coop suspected that it was the latter.

As he walked along the path, a light breeze provided a gentle tailwind, ruffling his hair and carrying tiny specks of bioluminescence and the occasional abnormally large radiolarian. The tiny geometric creatures with silicate shells were normally too tiny to see, but inside the mana well all sorts of rules were broken. Everything he witnessed was normally underwater, for starters.

The coral tunnel gradually began to expand as Coop kept walking toward the core of the colony. Other tunnels connected to the growing space, each providing its own gentle breeze, joining the main funnel in traveling inward. It was a bit like walking through some sort of passive wind tunnel, like his aerodynamics were being observed and tested.

Coop remembered one of the times Charlie visited him at Ghost Reef, she had been excited to tell him about an article she had written for the park, needing him to get some underwater pictures. The subject had been the different species of porifera, sea sponges, that were native to the local reefs. She explained that the structure of the sponges passively adapted to local currents in order to take maximum advantage of filtering the water. Coop felt like a similar phenomenon was occurring inside the coral colony, but with mana instead of water.

When Coop finally reached the core, he knew he had arrived at the heart of the colony. In the center of a massive open chamber, the mana currents all combined and formed a slowly rotating vortex that was only visible thanks to the tiny zooplankton that were swept along until they reached the ceiling and scattered along the roof. When they reached the outer walls they sank back down where they were picked back up and dragged into the gentle whirlpool.

Coop took a moment to admire the incredible spectacle as he stepped past the threshold of the tunnel and into the open space. The core of the coral colony was at least as large as the pearlescent chambers beneath the fort, if not larger. It was lit by incredible blue and green bioluminescence that had gradually collected along every surface, but was especially dense in the center where the currents combined. The central feature was the unhurried twister where the mana currents intertwined until it seemed like a slow motion tornado held the entire chamber up like a magical column. The calm flow was almost lazy, but Coop instinctively knew the air was thick with mana, sensing that it was energized in some mysterious way.

As he watched, stunned by the spectacle, he noted that the currents appeared to be flowing around some sort of central structure. In between clouds of plankton and bioluminescence he occasionally caught a glimpse of smooth dark brown wall. It was difficult to spot because it reflected the light, but there was something solid inside the vortex. As he watched for another peek, he saw the wall again, shiny and multicolored.

Given that he had made it to the core and not found any more Ones That Hunt, he thought his mission was complete. It was time to head back to the surface. Discovering the incredible exhibition of mana currents was a pretty neat reward, but he figured he should stay on task and remember his original purpose. A spot where such an incredible amount of mana flowed would definitely have some equally impressive jewels forming. Coop didn’t want to leave behind treasure without even a cursory search.

Coop stepped forward until he could pass through the whirling mana vortex, seeking a gap in the wall, or any type of groove where the tiny jewels would form. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pass through anywhere. The shiny wall seemed to be the limit for the mana currents as they flowed around the perimeter until they reached the ceiling. Coop tapped at the wall with his warhammer, finding the smoothness to be much more like a shell than any of the other coral walls.

The idle observation allowed him to finally connect the dots of what he was observing, he stepped backwards, eyebrows climbing as the breeze pressed against his back. A giant shell inside of a whirlpool of mana? He didn’t need more than one guess why that seemed like a familiar setup after days inside the mana well. As the realization dawned on him, the wall seemed to expand outward, passing through the mana vortex and steadily following Coop. The gentle swirl of mana became a chaotic cloud of stirred vapor as the focal point for the currents disappeared and they all shifted and collided with one another, churning in an expanding zone in the center instead of flowing up toward the ceiling and out to the edges.

The shell continued to unfurl, revealing scutes of fire engine red alternating with mahogany brown along a massive carapace. Coop inspected the monster he had inadvertently discovered lounging in a dense mana bath. If there was a Stage 1 boss, this was it, for sure.

[The Ravenous (Boss Level 125)]

[(Agility)]

[First of the Hunt]

Coop leapt forward, seizing the initiative and swinging his warhammer at the head of the monster while it adjusted its bulk to climb onto its segmented legs. The giant shrimp had been curled on its side with its cylindrical carapace awash with mana, but as it stood, it gradually revealed its true size. Coop’s hammer smashed against the crown of its head as it rose, with a huge leap to keep it in range, but the monster didn’t flinch, absorbing the strike with an intimidating indifference.

Coop landed and backed away while his Fog of War spread across the chamber, mingling with the gentle mana currents and filling the room. He watched as the shrimp fully hoisted its body up until it stood 25 feet tall, dragging a thick lobster tail behind it, with eight pointed claws rising above its shoulders like segmented flagpoles, and dozens of smaller graspers stretching from its torso. He considered retreating, but didn’t want to leave before he tested the boss. The last time he left a boss alone it had returned with a vengeance, and he’d rather not have a repeat of the same situation.

Coop threw his brittle shield up toward the monster’s face, and instead of defending itself with one of its eight claws, it let the shield crack against its forehead, then ignored the harmless ethereal shards. Instead, one of the claws twitched and Coop reflexively flinched away as Presence of Mind barely warned him of the motion. The tip blasted into the ground like an abrupt thunderclap striking where Coop was standing a split second previously. The attack emitted a massive amount of heat that, even without a direct hit, caused Coop’s skin to redden and sweat.

The claw actually left a perforation that hissed in the cooler air, with a molten center, and lined with charred rock, in the coral surface. It was the first time Coop had seen anything have an impact on the coral’s structure at all. Even if it was merely a four foot divot, he worried it would have been a deadly blow if it struck him directly and that was ignoring the impact of the incredible heat at the tip of the claw.

Coop steadied himself as his Fog of War completely filled the chamber with a thin mist, churning along with the mana currents, but remaining undiminished. He already knew the shrimp monsters were extraordinarily resistant to physical damage, which normally would have made them extraordinarily difficult opponents for Coop to handle. Legacy of the Mists had been carrying him by providing magic damage that perfectly countered the smaller variants, but the attacks were limited by mana. He had already dumped 4,000 of the essential resource on Fog of War, so he needed to be tactical with his strikes or he would run out of mana before he defeated the monster. The shrimps weren’t Primal Constructs, they didn’t have a red light highlighting their weakness, and Coop wouldn’t be recovering any mana from his Reaper title, so Coop decided to jump straight to his standard backup plan. He had 12 attacks before he would chew into his allotted Mind over Matter buffer.

A phantasm leapt toward the monster’s right flank while Coop summoned a solid shield. The plate-armored ghost smashed its mean looking spiked warhammer into the giant shrimp’s ankle. The segmented leg was as thick as a tree, but the magic damage caused an explosive reaction, tearing a chunk from the monster’s lower left leg. Coop dove out of the way of another claw strike while the phantasm struck a second time and disappeared. The monster maintained its balance while Coop rolled back to his own feet. 11 phantasms to go.

A second phantasm repeated the attack, smashing the weakened ankle twice before disappearing in a puff of mist. The Stage Boss teetered to the side just as it tried to strike Coop with a third claw. The attack went wide, leaving another indentation in the coral floor. The boss smashed its freshly shortened leg into the ground to recover its balance. Coop knew that these shrimp monsters had poor lateral movement and if he could disable the legs, he had a good chance of picking it apart. He had 10 phantasms left.

Coop adjusted his position, sliding away from the front of the shrimp toward its undamaged side. He prepared to attack the opposite base leg, this time two segments up, at what he would call the knee, though it was inverted on the shrimp. This much larger shrimp didn’t need to charge toward him to put the claws into range, so Coop wasn’t worried about its tail continuing to provide mobility. He just wanted to make it so that the monster wouldn’t be able to turn to face him.

As he cast Legacy of the Mists, sliding to the side of the monster and anticipating the phantasm’s attack, he was forced to raise his shield as the monster revealed surprising articulation of its claws. One of them twitched and struck at Coop while he was flat footed from readjusting his position. Coop reflexively summoned a second phantasm to buffer the unavoidable attack as he raised his shield and braced as best he could. He fully expected to be injured.

The claw exploded against his phantasm’s ghostly kite shield, causing the summon to burst into smoke, then smashed into Coop’s own shield with a sound that ran throughout the chamber. Coop didn’t have his feet planted, so he flew backwards and rolled along the rough coral surfaces until he bumped into the perimeter wall with enough force to knock his breath out.

The ethereal shield had split in half and dissipated from the direct impact, and Coop used his hand to check his arm, shoulder, chest, and stomach for injuries. His skin was raw from the heat and he felt lucky everything was functional after such a powerful blow connected. When he raised his fingers to his face to look for blood he was surprised to find none, and he didn’t have any debuffs from broken bones or torn muscles.

Coop stood back up, awed at his improved durability. If this was before he had the Defiant title from defeating the first Siege Boss, he was sure he would have broken at least a few bones. The Blight Howler had broken his ribs by knocking him into a tree and Felrog had torn his hamstring and broken bones with much weaker attacks than what The Ravenous had just landed.

He flexed his singed, but otherwise undamaged shield arm and looked up at the approaching shrimp monster. Coop couldn’t help but grin at his foe. The fact that such a powerful monster could land such a mighty attack and he could walk away from it was practically a miracle. He dismissed his warhammer and summoned his morning star, feeling like he was the one that deserved the boss title now. He had 8 phantasms left.

Coop stayed on his toes as he and the shrimp boss closed the distance between each other. He might be durable, but he wasn’t unbreakable, so he had no intention of getting hit again. Now, he knew the claws could strike in a much wider arc than he anticipated, but his own range was almost as impressive thanks to Legacy of the Mists.

A phantasm leapt from the mists around the monster’s left flank and landed a devastating overhand blow against the shrimp’s weakened knee. The monster began toppling forward with its momentum carrying it toward its opponent. Coop summoned another phantasm, directly in front of the monster, and the phantasm launched a massive uppercut from beneath the falling shrimp, smashing through the monster’s jaw in an explosion of sharp teeth and chitin, before disappearing.

The shrimp barely paused, surprising Coop when its grasping claws braced its body against the ground and prevented it from fully collapsing against the coral floor. Of course it could crawl. It was finally moving like an actual shrimp, instead of some kind of dinosaur, rushing forward with a slap of its tail while its graspers carried it along the ground.

Coop strafed, trying to maintain his distance with a mid-range position, but the dangerous claws triangulated toward him. They moved like antennas, keeping the point directed at him while the ones that had already been fired slowly retracted back into their folded firing positions. Coop went all-in, deciding to conclude the fight or retreat after a final salvo. The fact that the shrimp had become more mobile after he disabled the legs was irritating, but it also put its head within the strike zone of his phantasms.

He summoned a phantasm, which slammed its ethereal morning star into the back of the monster’s head. Before it disappeared, a second phantasm smashed from the opposite side, combining its force with the recoiling monster. Coop summoned two more phantasms to repeat the attacks, then another directly in front as the monster hesitated in its rush to close the distance toward him. The forward phantasm struck the damaged jaw of the shrimp, causing it to buck backwards.

All five summons disappeared in puffs of smoke and Coop called his final allotted phantasm above the shrimp’s back and watched as it slammed the top of the monster’s head. The graspers that were powering the monster’s movement all stopped at once, flailing out from both sides of the creature as it went still. The giant shrimp slid on the ground, kicking up small bits of debris from the coral surface, before coming to a rest directly in front of Coop’s position.

Coop was spotlighted by the glow of receiving a level while the huge monster’s corpse started losing color and disintegrated into mana smoke.