Unchosen Champion

The sun leisurely dipped below the horizon causing the shadows to stretch until they were replaced by the night itself. Coop found himself watching the sharks as they circled the oil platform. He had been inspecting as many as he could in the dimming light, but none of them had any levels. He had spotted several different species. Blue sharks, makos, and hammerheads were all present, swimming in and out of vision. Thankfully, none of them had gained any magical abilities. The last thing he wanted to deal with was an aggressive shark that could shoot spells at him. Satisfied that if he hadn’t seen any with levels yet, he wouldn’t find one at all, he turned his attention back to the ship.

Coop returned to his companions to find them engaged in yet another argument with the other Chosen. He gathered that Camila and Charlie had intended to join him on the oil platform, but the rest planned on all of them staying on the ship. Instead of allowing them to split up, the Puppeteer from Kevin’s party had forbidden Charlie and Camila from leaving the ship at all. He claimed it was for their safety, as they were valuable to the Empire, but it was obvious that even he didn’t believe his own words.

The pair of girls would have gone anyway, finding his permission irrelevant, except that he had threatened to take the boat and leave them stranded if they entered the oil platform. When Camila pointed out that they couldn’t sail the ship without Charlie, he dismissed her argument and claimed that they would find a way. Humans had been sailing for a lot longer than they had mana and even if they couldn’t, the end result would still have them stranded on the oil rig while they drifted away.

When Coop approached, the Puppeteer addressed him directly. “Better run along, island boy.” He sneered. “We won’t leave for at least three days, so…” He dismissively shooed Coop toward the platform.

“At least three days…?” Coop wondered at the man’s word choice as much as the reasoning for the timeframe. He wasn’t declaring a deadline, but rather the opposite.

“We’ve got our own schedule to keep.”

Coop looked at the girls, who didn’t seem to have caught the peculiar choice of words. “Don’t leave without me, alright?” Camila nodded unhappily, annoyed that they would be staying on the ship, but Coop was fine with it. He’d be able to use all of his abilities to their fullest without worrying about giving away any information to the rest of the Empire. He wouldn’t have minded just the girls accompanying him, but going alone suited him just as well. Once he snagged the spectral relic, he really just needed a getaway driver, and with both of them on the ship, he was confident he wouldn’t be left stranded if they could help it, even if that was the Puppeteer’s plan.

Coop turned to the nearest ladder and waited for the next ocean swell to lift the ship. He took a running start and, timing it with the rise of the boat, leapt from the top of the railing across the gap and over the shark-filled waters. He grabbed at the rungs of the ladder and caught himself without stumbling. He tried to make it look natural. Unfortunately, he still landed in the water all the way up to his belly button.

He scrambled up and out of the water as fast as he could, scared that a predator was on his heels. His aura even detected an entity right on his tail. Once he was sufficiently out of the water he turned to see what was beneath him, but there were no sharks. He watched as a drop of blood dripped from his scraped foot into the waves of the ocean. He had only taken 4 damage. He hoped the sharks wouldn’t be excited by the little bit of blood. He knew some of them had incredible senses.

He squinted to take a better look in the remaining twilight and managed to identify something that was directly beneath him.

[Caribbean Barnacle (Level 6)]

[Abyssal Bulwark (Body)]

[Chosen of the Crustacea Cooperative]

Alright, Coop thought that was enough. Even barnacles were Chosen over him. He didn’t understand the universe at all. He quickly secured the ropes that hung from the rungs of the ladder onto the cleats at the sides and climbed the rest of the ladder with a tenacity that masked his frustration.

By the time he reached the top of the ladder, night had fully blanketed the platform. He exited into a safety cage with a squeaky gate that really needed some maintenance. The salt in the air had done a number on it. When he opened it and stepped past its threshold it announced to the entire platform that he had arrived. Coop suddenly received a notification and paused to read it.

[You have a new quest!]

Coop thought that was a surprise. He checked the quest. The description read, ‘Settle the Infestation (0/200).’ Before Coop could contemplate the meaning of the words ‘Settle’ and ‘Infestation’ something growled at him from the top of the metal stairs that led to the gate where he stood. He immediately cast Salvation and Retribution, equipping himself with armor and his spear and shield combination, while inspecting the source of the growl.

[Elite Human Zombie (Level 21)]

[(Strength)]

[Minion of the Breathless]

Coop didn’t waste any time analyzing the information. He just recognized that it would be the highest level monster he had ever fought, and it was also an elite. It didn’t seem very fast. Coop was able to throw his spear up the stairs before it had even begun moving down. The zombie didn’t even flinch as the spear impaled it through the chest. Instead it wrapped both hands around the shaft of the spear and started pulling it back out. Coop didn’t let it finish, using his Ethereal set bonus to resummon his weapon back to his outstretched hand.

The zombie wasn’t quick and it wasn’t particularly coordinated, but it was still able to shamble down the first few steps toward Coop. He had no room to make space as the area at the top of the ladder was a simple area that had one way in, and it was up the stairs. It was like the staircases of a parking garage, but all industrial stainless steel with grated tread.

Coop met the zombie halfway up, desperately thrusting his spear in the narrow space that they were confined to. He didn’t have enough room to do more than stab at the zombie and keep it at bay. The zombie, for its part, didn’t seem bothered when being impaled repeatedly. It ignored most of the blows, occasionally reaching to grasp the spear that kept pushing it back up the steps.

Coop changed tactics slightly by stepping back and readjusting his grip to raise the spear over his shoulder. He tried a powerful overhead swing to stab the zombie’s brain, but the monster lowered its head and instead of taking the blow through the face, headbutted the tip of the spear. To Coop’s surprise the zombie’s hard skull denied the spear any purchase.

The zombie was able to gain some ground thanks to Coop’s failed attempt to defeat it. It raised both arms like it was celebrating before it swung them down at Coop. He raised his shield and blocked the attack. The Strength of the zombie’s attack nearly overwhelmed Coop, who was flung backwards down the rest of the stairs and into the squeaky gate. The impact broke the hinges of the gate and it noisily clattered over the top of the ladder that Coop had entered from and could have used as a last resort to flee.

Coop hadn’t taken any damage from the blocked attack, but he still lost 57 health and 57 mana from his collision with the metal gate. Presence of Mind hadn’t lied about the zombie prioritizing Strength. Coop shook off the blow and reset himself into a combat stance with his shield and spear ready. He was changing tactics again. He stabbed at the zombie’s legs. He wanted to disable the monster just like how he and Jones had defeated their very first Ancient Defenders. Once he immobilized the zombie he would find a way to kill it.

It was easier said than done. It was like the zombie’s bones were hardened to the point that they were unbreakable. Coop barely managed to keep himself from getting cornered in the tight space. His spear attacks were constantly impaired by the metal walls. If it wasn’t for his shield he would have been severely wounded. Instead he was only battered against the walls whenever he needed to block one of the zombie’s slow telegraphed attacks. He was steadily taking damage anyway, the zombie was so strong he ended up losing health from the incidental collisions.

Coop was losing the cage match between himself and the elite zombie. He had a broken and bloody nose from having his shield smashed into his own face. He was bleeding from his exposed elbows and the back of his head from slamming into the steel tread on the floor. He felt bruised all over. His health had dropped by 700 points.

He hadn’t tried escaping further into the platform by evading the zombie and rushing up the stairs to continue his quest for the relic, but he didn’t think it was a good idea. He had already learned the hard way about getting the attention of multiple monsters when he first met the Primal Kites. They’d only get more dangerous the more he attracted. He needed to figure out how to defeat them before he ventured further.

A stroke of luck was his savior in the end. He had whiffed a spear thrust and managed to stab the zombie through the ankle right at the top of its foot. Removing the spear took the foot with it and the zombie stumbled on the suddenly shortened leg before tipping over. There was no hesitation when Coop spotted an opening, he had too much practice battling monsters to miss an opportunity when he was given one.

The zombie lost both of its arms at the elbow before Coop started going for the head. He had to give up on impaling the brain and instead stabbed the monster through the neck multiple times before successfully beheading it.

The small landing was lit with the pale white light of Coop leveling. He viewed his notifications as he sank against the opposite wall of the zombie and the stairs, battered and bleeding.

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 21)]

[+255 Basic Credits]

[+1 Soul Shard (Rare)]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Settle the Infestation (1/200)]

Coop noticed the quest progression and realized that he was in for quite a few more of these fights. He returned to viewing the description of the quest and found the rewards. The final reward of the Infestation quest was the spectral relic, but it implied that there would be multiple ways to complete the quest. Either way, he’d need to kill 200 of the zombies to begin with. That’s just how it was going to be.

The first one had been a real struggle, but he would continue to adapt. He had already learned a few things and didn’t expect to have such a hard time every fight. Considering the very first kill had caused him to level he expected to make a lot of progress during this new hunt.

He didn’t understand what it meant for a monster to be elite. Coop’s attributes reflected a power level significantly higher than his actual level, and yet this zombie was able to mostly stand toe-to-toe with him. When it attacked it did so with a strength that Coop could barely resist with his shield, but when Coop attacked he was able to inflict wounds with ease. Other than that, the monster was slow and Coop didn’t feel overwhelmed by its strength outside of its main attack.

The problem was the zombie’s bones were overwhelmingly strong and its two-handed attacks were also dangerous. Coop suspected that both features could be explained by the creature using skills rather than just the zombie’s stats. An active attack skill and a passive defense skill.

Coop also noticed that his health, which had been significantly depleted during the fight, had been partially restored. His Bloodthirsty title regenerated 1% of the zombie’s life as his own and the zombie’s health pool must have been absolutely massive. If Coop hadn’t removed its head, the zombie would probably have been able to continue fighting until the sun came up.

The zombie’s head and body were still there, lying on the floor. Coop jumped back up and poked at the corpse, but only confirmed that it was definitely dead. Every monster Coop had ever fought had evaporated into mana smoke immediately after being defeated. Why didn’t the zombie evaporate? The zombie wasn’t a Primal Construct, maybe that was the difference.

Coop shook himself out of his own thoughts and dismissed his spear. He summoned the short sword that he had tested occasionally against the weak Ancient Defenders. Coop observed the environment. From what he could see in the dark it was all tight spaces, narrow metal walkways barely wide enough for two people to pass, steel staircases with small landings, and compact prefabricated buildings that promised to be claustrophobic on the inside.

The length of the spear and the glaive would have some pros and some major cons. He would be able to keep enemies from getting near him as they wouldn’t be able to flank him easily, but he wouldn’t be able to make any wide swings or easily protect his back. The sword would give him much needed maneuverability against the slow zombies, and even more importantly, allow him to go for the neck even in confined spaces.

Coop cracked his own neck and rotated his shoulders before heading up the stairs. He would regenerate his health using his Bloodthirsty title. He just had to take less damage than he gained after defeating each zombie.

The next landing took him to the first level of the platform. He had to decide whether to continue going up or traveling along the narrow walkways of this level. It didn’t take much to decide to stay on the first level. There was a zombie at the first intersection of walkways, leaning against the steel railings and staring absently at nothing.

Coop didn’t waste any time jogging down the walkway with his shield up and sword pointed at his target. Inspecting the monster he prepared for another fight.

[Elite Human Zombie (Level 23)]

[(Strength)]

[Minion of the Breathless]

It was a few levels higher, but otherwise the same. The monster stirred as soon as Coop got closer as if he had triggered something when he reached a certain radius. It didn’t seem to use its eyes to see him. Coop rushed the rest of the way and swung the short sword in a flashing arc toward the monster’s neck.

The zombie turned its head and caught the sword with the side of its head, once again surprising Coop with how hard their skulls were. Coop quickly brought his sword down a second time and landed a staggering blow into the zombie’s shoulder.

The monster stumbled forward from the blow and Coop raised his shield. The zombie ran head first into his shield and Coop tried taking its head once again. His curving slice was suspended by the zombie’s raised forearm.

Before the zombie could bring itself upright, Coop pressed the attack, this time aiming for the arm that was raised in defense. He would take the arm at the elbow if the zombie insisted on offering it.

Coop had a significant speed advantage with his Agility clearly much higher than the zombie’s. The sword allowed him to press that advantage and really emphasize how much faster he was. Coop was able to apply a flurry of attacks with his sword while the zombie struggled to use its hardened bones to defend its more vulnerable joints.

As soon as he captured any advantage, Coop desperately pushed to capitalize. He had squashed any hesitation out of his combat technique 10,000 fights ago. The second zombie that Coop encountered learned his tactic the hard way as Coop had rushed an opening at the very start of the fight, and now he wasn’t letting go of the momentum.

The zombie’s arm fell to the ground and Coop slashed it in the ribs before winding up a much stronger strike toward the neck. The zombie tried lowering its head again, but Coop had anticipated the move this time, and he connected with his target. The zombie’s body and head both hit the ground at the same time on opposite sides of Coop.

Coop spun his sword with a flourish and observed how much health he had regenerated. Satisfied, he looked for his next target. He was just getting started.