Unchosen Champion

It was already morning again and Coop was still on the zombie infested oil rig. Time just flew by while hunting zombies. Coop had spent the second night clearing the third floor of the platform and was getting ready to start on the fourth. He was mentally regrouping before venturing further.

The first floor had held 40 elite zombies that were between levels 20 and 25. The second floor also held 40 elite zombies, but they were between levels 25 and 30 and they also had around 50 normal zombies accompanying them. Coop’s quest progress had started to slow a bit with the addition of the normal zombies.

The third floor interrupted the pattern of escalating levels. There were 40 elite zombies that were between levels 25 and 30 and every one of them was joined by two normal zombies. The extra monsters were nothing but an annoyance, but they usually bought the elite zombies enough time to cancel out Coop’s rapid assault strategy giving them a better chance to fight back. Every engagement was taking him longer to complete. A small benefit was that he was getting a lot more sword practice thanks to the extended fights.

It seemed like he would finish his quest to defeat 200 of the elites after the fifth floor, assuming he kept finding the same number of them each time. His goal of finishing in two days now seemed slightly too ambitious. He couldn't complain very much, as long as he didn’t get left behind. He trusted the girls to make sure that didn’t happen.

He had also wasted some time after entering the third floor. He cleared a portion of the buildings before descending back down to the second floor hoping to take a break in the middle of the night. He kept his break brief because he realized his quest progress was lagging behind his goal, he didn’t want to dally. When he returned to the third floor he found the areas that he had cleared had new zombies in them. It was an unwelcome surprise.

The zombies could respawn after all, but only if he went down instead of up. He wouldn’t be able to return to the ship without resetting the entire oil platform. The worst part about his discovery was that the new zombies didn’t contribute to his quest, even if they were elites. Coop couldn’t go down any floors without risking respawns that would just waste his limited time.

Coop was taking another break at the edge of the platform on the freshly emptied third floor, letting the ocean breeze wash over him. He leaned over the railing and confirmed that the ship was still there. They hadn't left him stranded just yet. He was too high above the ship to yell for their attention. Even if he knew how to do those ridiculously loud whistles, he wouldn’t be able to communicate anything to them. If he whistled and started waving he had no idea how they would interpret it. They might decide he was telling them to escape and actually leave him behind, so he just watched for a little while.

He could see that they had split into three groups. The Honorguard and Outrider couple leaned against the railing on the bow, the Puppeteer and three members of Charlie’s party were seated around a barrel on the main deck, and Charlie and Camila were sparring together at the rear of the ship. Coop would have been itching to get something done after two nights and one day of waiting around on a boat, but it seemed like everyone was patiently biding their time.

Charlie was practicing with her wind abilities while Camila dodged around her. All of Charlie’s spells had delays, but she was able to precast certain things and let them fizzle harmlessly if they became unneeded. She could start a gust of wind and just have it circle until direct action was necessary. Sailing the ship had given her a lot of insight on controlling winds for an extended period of time.

Meanwhile, Camila was dodging invisible attacks without using her skills. He had no idea how she was detecting the gusts of wind. He supposed it was possible she was just dodging unpredictably to give Charlie a challenge.

The Puppeteer and the three stooges were just hanging around on the main deck, huddled near each other in what must have been a private conversation. They weren’t even playing cards or anything. Coop at least appreciated they hadn’t tried to leave.

Coop reviewed the night’s notifications, knowing his personal progress had continued to explode even if his quest progress was falling slightly below his expectations. He was getting plenty of experience from the regular zombies that had joined the elites. They were higher level than even the Prowlers back home.

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 29)]

[+506 Basic Credits]

[+1 Essence of Undeath (Uncommon)]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

…

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 26)]

[+314 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

…

[Settle the Infestation (120/200)]

Another level and more profession levels added to his ever growing Mind stat. He reset his sword grip, admiring his improved stats. Coop hoped that he would never grow numb to the physical increases that he felt each time he added to his attributes. It felt good to level.

Coop left his nook and followed the narrow metal walkways to the set of stairs that would take him to his next challenge. He didn’t linger, climbing the stairs and entering the fourth floor, but he did pause as he stood on the landing.

The first monster he spotted was clearly different, it wasn’t idly sitting like so many of the previous ones. Instead, it stood alert, twitching, as it stared directly at Coop with completely white eyes. It was hunched forward in a way that reminded Coop of how long distance runners awaited the start of a race, not all the way to the ground, but leaning forward, ready to go. He used his Presence of Mind to identify it.

[Elite Human Zombie (Level 32)]

[(Agility)]

[Minion of the Breathless]

It was higher level and had a different primary stat than the previous elites. Coop prepared to engage. He would just have to learn about this new Agility variant on the fly.

The zombie moved first, raising its head and howling at the metal grates blocking the sky. Dozens of screeches and yells filled the air in response. The zombie didn’t bother with rounding the corner that connected their walkways to get to Coop. It leapt onto the railing and using hands and feet it jumped toward Coop’s position.

After only three leaps, the zombie was flying through the air, both arms outstretched and mouth wide open, as if it was aiming to tackle and chew on Coop. He raised his shield to block the monster, but instead of just a collision, the monster grasped onto the shield with one hand and pressed both feet against the shield. The zombie reached over the shield and scratched at Coop’s face, then switched its arms to tear at his shield arm.

Coop squinted with blood in his eyes and tried to shake the monster off. Coop’s Strength allowed him to easily hold the human-sized monster with his one arm.

Coop used the full extent of his Strength to slam the shield into the post and handrail of the walkway. The zombie was annihilated by the force of the attack. Coop was already bloodied and had taken multiple scratches. They only reduced his health by a total of 45, but he had regenerated less than half of that from defeating the monster. Coop had to be worried about a death from a thousand cuts when facing these things.

He looked up and witnessed the horrifying sight of three dozen of the monsters vaulting along the handrails of the walkways in a rush to attack Coop. It was like facing down a pack of rabid zombie chimpanzees.

Coop didn’t have the time to retreat, the monsters would be upon him before he escaped, so he readied himself for another messy melee. In a small reversal, he would have to use his superior strength, compared to his reliance on his speed against the previous zombie variant.

As they reached him, they viciously attacked any part they could reach. They used their hands and feet to scratch and their teeth to bite his arms and his legs. The monsters were weak, but they were nimble. If Coop hit them with either his sword or his shield his target wouldn’t be able to recover, but they were quick, and aggressively counter-attacked whenever they had the chance.

They weren’t limited to fighting individually either because of the narrow walkways. They were flying in from above and came at his flanks, completely unconstrained by the narrow corridors of the oil rig. They climbed and leapt off the metal pipes and rails that formed the bulk of the platform, lining the walls of the buildings. They were still human-sized, but they were hunched over, using their arms to move as much as their legs. They were coming at him from below as well as above. He had already been worried about his flanks, but never even considered above and below.

Coop cleaved one that leapt from above. It couldn’t alter its trajectory before meeting his sword. He bashed another with his shield, defeating it completely with a blow that normally just stunned other monsters.

He elbowed one that jumped onto his back and tried biting his neck, folding it in two and launching it into two other zombies. They all collapsed like bowling pins. He jumped into the three fallen monsters and finished one with a stomp and used his shield to defeat the other two.

Another landed on his back and he fell backwards in an ill-advised wrestling move that killed the zombie, but exposed him to even more of its fellow monsters. He kicked one out of the air as it dove toward him and rolled away before they could pile on. They were relentless and sacrificing his footing had been a major error.

Out of desperation he threw his sword into the air and mistjumped while more zombies joined the scrum. He exited the fog high in the air, nearly to the next floor, adrenaline pumping from the barely avoided dog pile. Gravity dragged him back down in what felt like slow motion and zombies dove through the air to attack him before he had made it halfway to the ground.

He swung his sword at two in the air, beheading one and removing both arms of the other. As he landed he trampled another, stomping down on it for good measure, then used his shield to charge down the walkway.

He smashed through zombies like a rampaging elephant, but they were like a pride of lions desperately scraping and biting in an effort to take him down.

Gritting his teeth he swung his sword in a barrage of swift attacks. He didn’t need all of his Strength to destroy these zombies. His most powerful blows were overkill. Their bones weren’t as reinforced as their cousins on the lower floors. He accepted as many attacks as he landed, even with his shield blocking most. But when his attacks landed a zombie was defeated, when they scratched him he lost a tiny fraction of his health.

He was slowly losing health overall, but he pushed himself to make sure the pack of zombies would reach its limit before he did. He maintained his focus in an effort to minimize the damage he took. His footwork had improved since he first stumbled around in the sand of Ghost Reef while fighting Ancient Defenders. Now, he was able to efficiently step away from attacks and shift his weight into counterattacks.

The zombies weren’t that much faster than he was, there were just a lot of them and they attacked with such reckless abandon it was difficult to keep up. They gave no thought to self-preservation.

Coop really turned the tide when he started incorporating more mistjumps into his fighting style. The monsters were so aggressive that his sudden movements completely stymied them. They ran into each other before receiving a sword to the back, or they just kept going and crashed into metal walls and railings.

The real trick was in the sword toss. Instead of flicking it into the air he just dumped it a few inches above where he wanted to hold it and teleported a few feet at a time. To the monsters it was like an instantaneous sidestep, they could do nothing about it and utterly failed to predict it. Most of the time they took his blade to the back as punishment for their enthusiastic charges.

Coop returned their ferocity with clinical precision, mistjumping in and out of position with smooth attacks that were uninterrupted by the teleports. He wasn’t rampaging any longer. All it took was a sidestep to dodge a lunging zombie, followed by a mistjump that saw the monster beheaded the moment Coop completed the teleport. Instead of wild swings, a quick shove with his shield, followed by a sword thrust to defeat one monster was enough, and a lunging strike into the next zombie before the first had fallen would top everything off. Coop was thinning the horde with decisive strikes.

By the time there were only a handful of the agile zombies left, Coop had developed his rapid mistjumps to the point that he didn’t take damage from the monsters anymore. When the last one’s head was lopped off he checked his notifications. He wanted to confirm that these elites counted for the quest.

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 33)]

[+514 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

…

[Settle the Infestation (160/200)]

Coop was gratified to find that they did count toward his quest. The fight had been intense, but it ended quickly. He made up a lot of time, but when he checked his health and mana he realized he would have to take another break to recover. Whatever time he made up with the quick fight would be lost waiting to recuperate.

Coop’s health was still a comfortable 1,650, but his mana had dipped all the way down to below 1,000. His mistjumps combined with his Mind Over Matter to drain over 3,000 mana during the short battle.

The Bloodthirsty title was really paying off in the health regeneration department. Coop never expected his mana to become the problem, considering his hyper investment into the Mind attribute. On the bright side, mana did recover a lot faster than health so he wouldn’t need to wait as long if the pools were reversed.

He wandered around the fourth floor, confirming that there were no more zombies hiding in the dark, isolated corners, while he waited for his mana to recover. He didn’t find any monsters, but he did find a relatively untouched breakroom. There were some undisturbed sodas, and Coop thought it was the perfect opportunity for some product placement. What could be better than a drink after a zombie fight? He grabbed one and sat down.

It was gross. He wasn’t even a fan of sodas in the first place, and a warm one after not consuming anything so sugary for so long was a bad choice. He gave it up after a few sips.

He shrugged it off and gave up holding himself back from checking the leaderboards. It was Day 20 and the factions should be returning the vast majority of their Chosen today. Only the very special would be kept until Day 30, as every day they were with their factions added to the cost of their sponsorships. Camila and Charlie had shared the Empire’s opinion that the diminished returns from training beyond Day 20 were just not worth it. The Empire was all about leveraging the early training into territory gains, so they would all be returned by Day 20.

Checking the leaderboard he found his position was 12,998,435. He was definitely closing in on the top 10 and he still expected to get at least one more level before he was done, hopefully tonight. He checked the top 10 list to see how far ahead they were.

Day 20

The Lich (Level 45)

Banshee (Level 45)

Zombie Lord (Level 40)

Hai Yun (Level 30)

Tzultacaj (Level 30)

Platinum (Level 30)

Karl Ekberg (Level 30)

Aram Sangha (Level 30)

Safiri (Level 30)

Alonzo Rios (Level 30)

Coop did a double take when he realized level 30 was still worth the top 10. He had just hit level 30! He was tied with fourth place! And apparently 13 million other people were also tied, but he was still surprised. His mana needed to hurry up and regenerate, he knew he had at least one more level coming from these zombies.

Banshee had leveled twice since he last checked, two days ago. More surprisingly Zombie Lord gained his first levels since the leaderboards began. He gained a massive four levels in the last two days. Coop had gained five in the same time period so he was still gaining on every entry of the top 10.

Tzultacaj rejoined the leaderboard as well, it was the first time Coop had seen someone fall off and then return. They were last on the leaderboard on Day 12. Platinum had also first appeared at the number 10 spot when he checked on Day 18, gaining a level was enough to push them up. Hai Yun hadn’t leveled again since he last checked, but they were still holding strong.

Coop assumed most of the rest were fresh from their factions. It seemed like level 30 was the Day 20 training limit. They held no advantage over Coop anymore, at least when it came to levels. He admired his status while he waited for his mana.

[Status]

HP - 1655/2100

MP - 1542/3900

Class - Revenant (Level 30)

Profession - Basic Scavenging (Level 25)

Affinity - Spectral

Race - Human (Rank 1)

Faction - None

Strength - 15 (+390)

Agility - 15 (+195)

Body - 15 (+195)

Mind - 390

Intelligence - 15

Acumen - 15

Unallocated - 0

Titles - Champion II, Haunted, Ethereal, Bloodthirsty, Slayer I

Skills (Active) - Retribution, Salvation, Presence of Mind

Skills (Passive) - Common Language, Mind Over Matter, Adamance, Practical Application

Quests - Settle the Infestation (160/200), Defeat Ancient Prowlers V (605/11111), Defeat Primal Kites II (11/25), Upgrade Outpost to Village

Basic Credits - 173,903

Coop knew that being on the leaderboard didn’t really mean anything, but comparing his progress gave him validation when it came to his build and his efforts. The confirmation that he wasn’t inferior to the Chosen lifted the weight from his shoulders once again. And he was just getting started.

He rested in the break room and watched his mana tick up. It would probably be dark by the time he was ready, so he made the best of his leisure time.

He tried removing the blood and grime that had caked onto him during the last couple of days, but it was no use. He needed soap. Plus, he’d just get more gunk on him before he was finished, so it was futile. His armor seemed to resist getting dirty. The ghostly wisps appeared to keep the surface nice and clean. His sword and shield were similarly cleansed. His gear looked brand new, but damn did he need a shower.