Unchosen Champion

Coop was immediately put into a defensive position. He was barely able to block the Zombie Lord’s powerful flailing attacks as he recklessly charged into Coop like a frenzied wild animal. The Zombie Lord was fighting like a much larger version of the Agility zombie. Instead of being the size of a regular person, like the zombie variants, he had grown significantly larger. The Zombie Lord had become a mutated gorilla sized monster and he pressured Coop with a surge of attacks. Coop barely hung on to his footing as he struggled to avoid the blows.

One of the Zombie Lord’s arms was longer than the other and was tipped with a bone spike the size of a piledriver instead of a hand. The inconsistent blows combined with his reckless thrashing had Coop struggling to dodge and block. Coop couldn’t grasp even a moment to counterattack.

Coop was backpedaling around the helipad, sweating with effort and cursing his inability to turn the momentum around. The Zombie Lord was constantly driving forward, making Coop feel like he wasn’t being attacked as much as he was just in the way of an out of control monster. Every blow seemed like it was aimed through him and every swing pulled the Zombie Lord into another step forward. If Coop wasn’t quick enough after defending an attack he risked being trampled. The Zombie Lord’s massive size advantage muscled Coop constantly backwards.

Sidestepping didn’t bring any relief, as the bull charge of an attack followed him wherever he went. The Agility zombies had been completely out of control when they attacked, but the Zombie Lord was slightly more restrained than they had been, proving the difference between a human and a minion. It made the onslaught that much more difficult to deal with.

Coop prepared to swap his spear for his sword to try his ethereal swordsmanship technique against the reckless charge, desperate as he was to change the pace of the fight. The close quarter mistjumps might be able to bring the relief that he needed, but before he found a moment to change tactics the onslaught suddenly stopped. The Zombie Lord was winding up a spiked punch with his long arm.

It was slow. Coop easily readied his shield and even snuck a glancing blow with his spear into the mutant’s gut.

The spiked punch collided with Coop’s shield and a shockwave exploded from the point of contact. Both combatants were pushed away from each other, sliding on their planted feet. The Zombie Lord even gouged lines where his feet ripped the helipad. Both had been prepared for the blow and had braced themselves. The Strength in the blow was frightening. It was far more than Coop could display himself. That much speed and power would be impossible to match. Coop did a double take as he reinspected the Zombie Lord.

[Human (Level 40)]

[Commander of Catastrophe (Strength)]

[Zombie Lord of the Breathless]

[(Abomination)]

The Zombie Lord’s stats had changed and his aura revealed that his primary attribute was now Strength. It had been Body when Coop first took notice. He suspected it had switched to Agility at the start of the fight, which had made him so oppressive. The change had been obvious. The Lord had impatiently abandoned his onslaught to try a different approach to breaking Coop’s defenses through pure Strength.

The Zombie Lord seemed like he would directly challenge the Revenant’s flexibility.

Coop realized the situation a little better and restarted the fight. He threw his spear and chased after it. The Zombie Lord had become too slow to completely avoid the missile, turning to the side and allowing it to pierce deep into his shoulder. He reached for the spear, but it dissipated into mist as Coop appeared, with his sword in hand.

Coop slashed and dodged the Zombie Lord. He was capitalizing on the sudden speed advantage that the Lord had ceded to him. The elongated arm had become a disadvantage that made it more difficult to dodge and counter Coop’s quick attacks. The Zombie Lord used arms and legs like a beast to move his large body. With less Agility, Coop was able to keep up, reversing their roles.

The Zombie Lord had to decide which stat to try and overwhelm Coop with.

Coop pressed his advantage, dealing as much damage as he could. The Zombie Lord’s physical defense was extremely high and Coop wasn’t able to pick him apart the same way he had with the Strength zombies. Of course it was going to be a battle of attrition. Coop hacked at the blocking forearms of the Lord, always seeking to slip past the guard and damage vital areas.

The Zombie Lord tried a few counterattacks, but Coop had created an onslaught of his own attacks. All of Coop’s effort went into dealing as much damage as possible before the fight shifted again. Coop’s stats didn’t fluctuate, so he needed to claim every opening while they were available.

When the Zombie Lord’s speed suddenly ramped up, Coop felt his agility advantage slip away. He inspected the Lord to confirm his theory.

[Human (Level 40)]

[Commander of Catastrophe (Agility)]

[Zombie Lord of the Breathless]

[(Abomination)]

Coop had been waiting for the Zombie Lord to switch back to Agility. Coop didn’t allow himself to be put on the back foot again, even as the Lord ramped up his assault.

Instead of falling back into a defensive posture, Coop ramped up the attacks using mistjumps to further enhance his own speed. Coop handed off the sword to himself, rounding the mutated man, and dealing surprise attacks. The Zombie Lord couldn’t build the same momentum as he had at the start of the fight thanks to Coop’s ethereal swordsmanship.

When the Zombie Lord started to catch on to Coop’s movements, Coop was once again anticipating the change. Coop tossed his sword up and over the Lord and as the Lord spun to follow the sword, planning to capitalize on Coop’s sudden appearance, Coop resummoned the sword back to his hand and stabbed the Lord through the back.

The Zombie Lord roared in pain and frustration and spun to face Coop, who had tricked him by withholding his mistjump and using his tossed weapon as bait.

When the Zombie Lord swung at his unarmed opponent, Coop mistjumped to the sword that remained stuck in the Lord’s back.

Coop removed the sword and swung at the Zombie Lord’s neck. The sword cleaved halfway through before the Lord shifted his body to avoid death. Blood poured onto the helipad, shooting like a fountain from the Zombie Lord’s neck. He fell forward, away from Coop, holding one muscled arm against his throat. Coop continued his pursuit with a predatory grin on his face, still being rewarded for proper technique by his Haunted title even at a time like this.

The Zombie Lord raised his head and roared again. This time something strange happened that Coop wasn’t anticipating. Dark smoke started billowing out from all around the Zombie Lord, covering the helipad in a thick blanket that grew and grew.

At first Coop tried to step away from the enveloping cloud, putting distance between himself and the Lord, but it expanded across the entire helipad and rose enough to block out the sky. Coop didn’t have time to ponder whether to retreat before he lost track of which direction was which. The black smoke swirled and churned, confusing his sense of direction.

At first it was silent. Coop whirled whenever he heard something, ready to strike out with his sword or block with his shield, but the sounds were inconsistent. They came from every direction at once and Coop never caught sight of anything but black smoke. The smoke was making sizzling sounds that came from every direction, making it even more difficult to find his opponent.

Coop lamented the fact that this smoke ability was so similar to one he had been interested in taking when he last chose skills. Confusing his senses was enough to be a powerful game changer in a pitched battle. He tried to keep his breath steady and concentrate on finding his enemy, ignoring the sound of his pounding heart filling his ears.

The Zombie Lord found him first, appearing out of the smoke from behind. Coop was stabbed by the bone spike on the elongated arm and stumbled forward, narrowly avoiding being impaled with his desperate movement. Coop’s many layered defenses prevented a more grievous wound from the surprise attack, his ethereal armor provided enough resistance for him to react at least. Coop was fully concentrated on detecting movement and sounds with his eyes and ears but was still ambushed.

The Zombie Lord wasn’t finished, suddenly appearing directly in front of Coop baring his teeth in a gorilla’s snarl. Coop raised his sword, but wasn’t quick enough after nearly being stabbed in the back just a second earlier. The Zombie Lord sank his teeth into Coop’s spear arm. Coop retaliated with a headbutt, using his helmet for maximum damage. He was surprised when his head met no resistance, passing through billowing smoke instead of colliding with the Zombie Lord. The Lord had vanished back into the smoke.

Creepy, inhuman laughter traveled across the smoke covered helipad.

“What do you think of my trump card?” The Zombie Lord asked in an inhuman, gravelly voice, gloating as if he had already won. Coop still couldn’t figure out where the sound came from.

Coop didn’t dignify the question with a response, instead closing his eyes and concentrating on his aura, abandoning his vision. He sensed the Zombie Lord and dismissed his sword, swapping back to the spear. He noted that his opponent’s aura had changed once again.

[Human (Level 40)]

[Commander of Catastrophe (Intelligence)]

[Zombie Lord of the Breathless]

[(Abomination)]

Coop threw his spear through the smoke, with his eyes still closed. He heard it sink into the Zombie Lord’s flesh and mistjumped to it. He kicked the Zombie Lord and pulled the spear out from where it had impaled his chest.

“I’m not that impressed,” Coop answered through gritted teeth, raising his voice over the increased sizzling sound, while thrusting the spear downwards, seeking to kill the collapsing Zombie Lord.

Black lightning struck Coop’s raised spear blasting him away from the Zombie Lord. More lightning exploded all over the helipad, striking the platform repeatedly. Coop was helpless to dodge. The smoke that covered the helipad was a thundercloud, producing a constant series of lightning strikes that arced across the arena, vertically and horizontally, forking wildly in all directions.

Coop heard the inhuman laughter. The Zombie Lord believed he was victorious, he didn’t bother hiding his presence any longer. Coop was being struck by lightning over and over while the Lord was spared completely.

He slowly walked over to Coop’s kneeling position. Coop was scorched from head to toe and had smoke rising from his body, mixing with the ethereal wisps that escaped from his armor. The Zombie Lord wanted Coop to know that he had defeated him, that the zombification buff he had applied by biting him would turn him into a zombie, and that Coop would serve him as a loyal subordinate, forever. His story would take on a new direction, one where he fought loyally for the Undead.

He knelt next to Coop.

Coop kept his head down, one knee against the ground, bracing for more lightning as he was struck repeatedly. With a closer look, the Zombie Lord was momentarily impressed with how long Coop withstood the bombardment. The darkness of the thundercloud was briefly interrupted by each blinding flash of black lightning and the Zombie Lord squinted to avoid being blinded while Coop was struck.

Another flash of light and Coop was on his feet, sword in hand, swinging at the Zombie Lord’s neck, with a crazed look in his eyes.

If there was one thing Coop was strong against, it was magical damage. His Mind attribute added magic defense and his Mind Over Matter skill protected him from half of all damage by shielding his health pool with his mana pool, further reducing the impact of magical attacks like the black lightning.

As Coop’s sword sliced the rest of the way through the Zombie Lord’s neck, the Zombie Lord had time to watch Coop be struck by black lightning once without flinching, then again, and again.

His Abomination title had gifted him with an additional 100,000 health, but it had been whittled away by a lower level challenger to the point that he had to desperately use his ultimate ability. He wanted to ask how he was impervious to his magical onslaught but the sounds wouldn’t come before his head hit the ground. The last thing he saw was Coop slowly walking through his Calamitous Storm, absorbing the lightning strikes like they were nothing but a trivial distraction.

Coop appeared to be the true monster between the two.

Actually, Coop was desperately trying to get off the helipad. He would have sprinted out of the storm if he wasn’t afraid of falling off the edge of the oil rig. The storm had confused his senses so much he didn’t know which way to go. He was so weakened, the fall from the platform would be enough to kill him.

He found the edge of the helipad and followed it until he found the way down and out of the lightning storm. He stood near the Zombie Captain’s flame wave triangle, in front of the office, and watched the storm. He hoped it would dissipate quickly. He still needed to retrieve the spectral relic. Coop watched the smoke rise from his own hands, amazed that he could withstand such an assault, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He had barely survived the fight and wouldn’t have been able to withstand the storm for much longer. He had dipped to below 200 health out of 2150 and only had 1,144 out of 4,000 mana remaining before the Zombie Lord’s death. The Zombie Lord’s death had recovered over 1,000 health and the levels he gained had also brought him back up from the brink of death, but even that had been diminished while he fled the platform. Each of the black lightning bolts was dealing 100 damage to Coop’s health and mana. He had been struck over 20 times before he made it out.

Coop was lucky that the Zombie Lord had such a large health pool to recover from. If the fight had left him with less than 200 health, he would have been killed by the lightning before he escaped the cloud.

Coop kept waiting so that he could collect the spectral relic. In the meantime he checked his notifications.

[You defeated Human (Level 40)]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Quest Complete! Eliminate the Zombie Lord]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[You have acquired a new title!]

[Title options available]

Coop had some powerful mixed emotions when he realized what he had done. Aside from almost dying, he had been in a fight to the death, and won.

But he had killed a person. The Zombie Lord wasn’t just another monster. He was a human being.

Sure, he had a big time Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on, and he had been trying to kill him as well, but he still felt intensely guilty at the thought of taking another person’s life.

Even worse was the implication that all of the zombies were also still people. He didn’t know all the rules of the universe, maybe they really were people. Back home, some of his friends were demons and Balor was literally a stone. Had he been gleefully murdering people this entire time? What about the Primal Constructs?

He didn’t let his trepidations overwhelm him. There was no way the Primal Construct’s monsters were people, same for the zombies. This was the new system he had found himself in. They had all behaved like monsters and tried to kill him. He tried to shake it off, but the horror of killing people remained in the back of his mind.

Even worse was how rewarding killing people appeared to be. The Zombie Lord had been level 40, but his death had given Coop two full levels. He hoped it wasn’t widely known how much experience killing a single person would yield. It was something he wouldn’t share at least.

He checked his new title and was presented with two options. His new title was Reaper, and it apparently overlapped with his Bloodthirsty title. The two titles would combine and he had to choose the result. He considered the two options.

Evolve the Bloodthirsty title to ‘Recover 5% of defeated enemy health on kill.’

or

Evolve the Reaper title to ‘Recover 2% of defeated enemy health and mana on kill.’

It was a tough choice that allowed Coop to distract himself from his fears. His mana recovered so much faster than his health that he hadn’t believed mana recovery was necessary, but fighting in some of the brutal melees against the Agility zombies had revealed an imbalance where he had sustained his health through recovery while his mana dipped from shielding his health and mistjumping during the fight.

On the other hand, his passive skill, Practical Application, would eventually make all of his abilities so cheap that he might not even need to use mana any more. At that point his mana and health would just be equal parts of his total health pool, and his Mind stat would be double what his Body stat received. His mana would always eclipse his health. He didn’t want to overinvest into mana only to have it become partially obsolete in the future.

Still, he decided to take the Reaper title evolution. His health recovery per kill would still double, from 1% to 2%, and he would also get his first mana recovery ability. It would be the more useful title for the near future even if its very long term prospects became limited. Hopefully, he would accumulate more tools by the time his Practical Application made mana less necessary.

A few more minutes and he didn’t need to wait any longer, as the Zombie Lord’s storm cloud had finally disappeared. Coop went back up onto the helipad to grab the spectral relic from the Zombie Lord’s obelisk so that he could return home.

When Coop swiped the relic he realized he didn’t know what to do with it. He didn’t have any pockets. He looked at it in his hand and wondered if he could put it in his spatial storage. As soon as the thought crossed his mind the relic disappeared. He confirmed that it was in his storage, but didn’t understand why it was able to join all of his scavenged items. He was pretty sure the spatial storage was only meant for items acquired through his profession, but maybe he misunderstood what his profession actually was. Was scavenging limited to what was autolooted? If he ever received a profession level while physically picking something up he could confirm that it wasn’t so limited.

As he left the helipad he couldn’t prevent a glance at the beheaded body of the Zombie Lord. There was a lot of blood. He paused and considered whether he should just leave him there.

He held his nose and went to the body. Their fight had concluded near the edge of the helipad toward the center of the top floor. Coop was actually right above the destroyed office, if he had traveled the correct direction through the smoky thunderstorm he would have escaped easily with just a few steps.

Coop had the grim thought of looting the body. He didn’t want to. He decided to trust his scavenging profession to reward him with autoloot when necessary. He wouldn’t be rifling through dead bodies any time soon. He’d do his own scavenging when it didn’t make him uncomfortable.

Before Coop could decide whether to turn around and walk away or maybe dump the body into the ocean a notification appeared in his face without his prompting, something that had never happened before.

[Warning!]

[Champion status has been challenged!]

[Civilization Shard ownership is under dispute!]

[75 Hours before ownership is forfeited.]

“What the…” Coop was surprised as he reread the notifications, only vaguely recalling settlement mechanics from Day 2 of the apocalypse. It wasn’t like he had an opportunity to see messages like this before. “That’s how it is, huh.” Coop mumbled to himself.

Charlie and Camila had warned him that the Empire would have designs on his settlement, but they had all been naive in believing that the rescue squad wouldn’t just go for it. Even if they took it, they’d be stranded on Ghost Reef unless they had Charlie on board, and Coop trusted her as much as anyone.

At worst, they expected Kevin the Hammer to report the settlement’s existence to their leadership, then return with reinforcements to try strong-arming Coop into handing it over. That was a problem Coop had intended to prepare for. Challenging the shard outright was an aggressive move to take without a solid plan.

While Coop came to terms with exactly what was happening he was struck in the back by a devastating blow. A burst of magical dark energy shot through Coop's torso and out of his chest in a plume that extended a dozen feet forward. His chest remained intact, but his back had been pierced. All of the health he had recovered from the Zombie Lord was gone in an instant. He lost 1,100 health and mana and was even worse off than he had been while fighting the third highest ranked human on the planet.

Coop was down to 125 health and 100 mana.