Unchosen Champion

Coop researched curses in the new library until after the sun had gone down.

Unfortunately, it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to cure Jones anytime soon. The rituals were specialized knowledge that required someone with specific affinities to perform successfully. Coop’s spectral affinity wasn’t one that could lead any rituals that removed curses, and blood curses were even more restrictive.

He stood up from the comfortable library seat and stretched his back. The tension in his neck didn’t go away.

He returned the tablet and thanked Shalatha for her help. She barely kept herself from curtsying before he left, she did invite him to come back any time. He thought it would be a good idea to explore the library’s collection thoroughly. There were plenty of questions he would like answered to satisfy his own curiosity around the system and the factions.

For now, he walked through the dark, along the canal, and back to the tavern. He had a date with a warm bath that he had put off for way too long.

Maeve was more than happy to accommodate him, as usual. She led him up the stairs to where she had prepared for him. Once he was in a warm cleansing bath he really, truly understood how badly he needed it. He did his best to relax and reset, but his uneasiness wasn’t so easy to be rid of. He had lingering doubts about his actions, and a growing guilt that threatened to overwhelm him.

Of course, once he was in the bath, he was powerless to stop Maeve from hanging out. She lounged around and asked about his adventure, congratulating him and consoling him when it was appropriate. She validated his choices, especially when he had to fight and kill the Zombie Lord and then the Empire’s Chosen. Killing was nothing special within the galactic community. It wasn’t like most beings died of old age when mana was there to provide agelessness.

Maeve explained that it was miraculous he had become a Champion at all without killing anyone. Normally, fighting to the death for the shard was the first step for a Champion, but he had skipped ahead thanks to their isolation and the cooperation between him and Jones. Coop wouldn’t have fought Jones over the shard at all, no matter the circumstances.

Maeve also calmed his worries about all of the Primal Constructs as well as the Zombies of the offshore oil platform. The thousands that he had killed were minions and minions were fundamentally different from people. They were really system provided entities that had some conditions placed on their presence. The Zombies were minions that could respawn through the Zombie Lord’s skills, and the Primal Constructs he had been fighting were minions that would grow based on mana saturation and respawn based on their spawn rules. Neither of those types of minions retained memories of their lives nor could they form ideas or have a sense of self. Coop just internally classified minions as monsters for his own understanding.

Coop made a note to return to the library and ask about becoming undead. He’d probably take the question straight to Shalatha to avoid being rude to the director once again. He wanted to understand more about their independence, and what prevented them from being minions like the oil rig zombies.

Maeve also reminded Coop that, other than the humans on Earth, no one else could technically be killed at all. The contracted residents were merely manifestations of their true bodies and would simply be returned, so he shouldn’t worry about them. The monsters were manifestations of mana and mana couldn’t be destroyed, so they would return based on conditions set by the system. Even the plants and animals might be saved, though how the system cataloged planets wasn’t Maeve’s particular area of understanding.

Coop felt like the conversation with Maeve finally put his misgivings to bed. He wouldn’t hesitate to continue upon his path when it was challenged by others.

When it came to Jones, he wasn’t ready to escape his guilt. Maeve tried to convince him that, in the end, it was up to Jones. He could have taken refuge in the tavern until Coop returned, but he made his own decisions based on his personal principles, the same way Coop had. He tried not to beat himself up over Jones’s condition, he needed to push forward for all of their sakes, but it still ate at him.

Maeve had moved to sit next to Coop and lean her elbows on the edge of the bath. Coop was tired of talking about his own misgivings, so he flicked water at Maeve to distract her. When she splashed him back he grabbed her hands to stop her. Then her hands started heating up dangerously. The water matched the rising temperature so he let go before she cooked him.

“Alright! I surrender!” Coop exclaimed as the water bubbled as it threatened to boil over. The temperature returned to a soothing temperature.

Maeve harrumphed, and pushed her blonde hair behind an ear. “I was hoping you’d jump out of the water.”

Coop laughed, relieved to avoid being boiled. “Was that your clever plan?”

Maeve gave him her usual mischievous smile. “The flames of passion burn intensely.” She stated theatrically, exaggerating her teasing while placing the back of her hand against her forehead and leaning away.

They shared a few moments and returned to their normal conversations, where Maeve teased Coop and he only occasionally turned it around on her, and only when she set it up for him to do so. Coop was completely outmatched when it came to the demonic waitress. Eventually, they called it a night.

He couldn’t sleep. Even in the absurdly comfortable beds he found himself staring into the darkness trapped in his own thoughts. He wound up leaving the tavern to hunt the Ancient Prowlers in the middle of the night. He felt the need to keep moving forward and grinding monsters was the obvious step to take.

Kill monsters, get experience, level up, repeat.

His hunt turned into a meditation. It was a familiar pattern of distraction that he was relapsing into. The ethereal glaive bisected the monsters and Coop absently sidestepped their ambushes. He had grown far beyond these enemies. Their speed no longer impressed him and their attack patterns had become predictable.

He kept hunting for hours, losing track of the time. Thinking about his past disappointments and lingering on the recent ones, he just absentmindedly defeated the monsters. Eventually, he just stopped his hunt. It was still dark. He wanted to try sleeping again. He shambled toward the lighthouse and checked his notifications.

[You defeated Ancient Prowler (Level 12)]

[+6 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

…

[You defeated Ancient Prowler (Level 10)]

[+5 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Defeat Ancient Prowlers V (4015/11111)]

As he entered the lighthouse, he put his unallocated attribute points into Mind, but neglected to appreciate the physical improvement. He rinsed off in the dark of his old shower and flopped onto his still made bed. Even though it was less comfortable than Maeve’s, he fell asleep while laying face first on top of the covers.

In the back of his mind he knew that he needed to grasp his routine again. Sleeping, eating, and exercising were such fundamental tasks, but it was still hard to break out of a slump even before mana had made them completely unnecessary.

He dreamed. It was the first time in a long time that he could remember dreaming. He was in the middle of the fort, but it was empty. There were no residents and there was no civilization shard. He was alone.

Then he saw his parents, they were worried but they didn’t have anything to say. He could tell by the way they looked at him. Then the Zombie Lord showed up and he was disappointed. Coop got the impression that he believed Coop should have been the one to die if he was going to fall apart anyway. Eric joined him, but he was pointing and laughing instead of merely shaking his head. Coop didn’t think he should gloat so openly considering how he ended up, with an ethereal spear through his skull.

Vines grew out of the ground and lifted Coop into the air, wrapping around his limbs and suspending him helplessly. Caisalya, the herbalist, was directing the plants to carry Coop higher and higher until he was high above the fort’s walls with an unimpeded view of the rest of the island chain, and the open ocean.

A giant was wading through the deep. The water only rose to his thighs even though he was walking beyond the continental shelf. His entire head was covered in a coral-like helmet that sluggishly scraped through the clouds, leaving streaks of white against the blue sky. Massive barnacles covered his body as if he had been lying at the bottom of the sea for ages. Every exhale released steam that formed another cloud. Four arms reached forward, toward Coop, grasping in the air with tentacles for fingers.

A fleet of ships followed the giant, remaining in his wake like ducklings following their mother. They had sails in a huge assortment of colors and patterns and the crews were armed and aggressive, waving blades and aiming cannons as they approached. Coop could barely hear the shouts and chants from the crews. Every step of the giant produced a tidal wave of water, rushing forward despite his plodding speed.

Coop watched helplessly as he was trapped in the tangled vines until the giant reached the walls of the fort. First, the waves smashed the walls, threatening to climb all the way to the ramparts. Then the giant stepped forward. Even though he was large enough to step over the walls, like they were the curb of a sidewalk, he aimed to collide with the wall instead. He kicked his massive barnacled foot through the stone, shaking the entire island with power. Then he kicked again, demolishing more of the wall. Bricks were sent flying in every direction, but the giant persisted until Jones’s fort was nothing but rubble. Coop couldn’t even see the giant’s face, it was completely engulfed in the clouds.

Coop fell down, the vines disappeared, and he landed with a thud in the middle of the empty fort. He was alone again with nothing but the debris and the sound of the waves washing onto the island.

Coop woke up before dawn, as usual. Despite not sleeping for so long while he was on the oil rig, he still couldn’t sleep in. He knew he should go for a jog and get breakfast but he didn’t budge.

He wasn’t alone, despite his dreams. Jett had joined him in the lighthouse. He had no idea how she knew where he was all the time or even how she had gotten in, but there she was. She was purring in her sleep right above his pillow. He had thought she had taken Jones’s curse hard, but she still went to Coop.

Coop didn’t feel like getting out of bed, so he didn’t. He laid around, rolling back and forth until he forced himself to fall asleep again. He didn’t have any more dreams.

When he woke up again, it was already afternoon. Jett was still with him, though she normally slept most of the days away. What was surprising this time was that he had even more company. Charlie’s fluffy head was resting on one side of his chest nestled into one arm and Camila had her chin on his opposite shoulder with her arms locked with his.

Coop shut his eyes to go back to sleep, but it was no use, he’d already slept too much. Still, he wondered who would have appeared the next time he woke up. He thought it was fifty fifty between Balor and Maeve. It would end up a gamble that risked being crushed to death by the stone elemental anyway and he sighed at sleep evading him.

Charlie noticed his breathing changed, “Coop, you’re awake?”

Coop waited a second before he admitted it with another sigh. “I’m awake.”

“You must have been tired.” Charlie observed with some concern.

Coop winced, “I guess so.” He lied. He knew he shouldn’t be moping.

Camila sat up onto her elbows and looked at Coop, “Maeve told us you skipped out on her last night. That’s not very nice.”

“I didn’t skip out, I just went to hunt some Ancient Prowlers. They only appear at night.” Coop explained.

“Mhmm…” Camila poked him. “Next time you’re gonna get pampered, make sure to invite us.”

“What’s up with all the new buildings?” Charlie asked without moving from her spot.

“Oh, I got some upgrades that you’ll love. The big one is a sort of alien library.” Coop started, glad to be distracted from his previous late night musings.

Charlie jumped up, “Really!?”

“Yep, I didn’t get to explore it much yet, but you should check it out. I’m not sure what they have in their collection yet, but it's huge.” Coop encouraged her. “The other surprise is a clothing store.”

It was Camila’s turn to jump up in excitement, “What kind of clothes?” She asked with unsettling seriousness.

“I dunno, but it's like a boutique that takes custom orders.” Coop explained.

“Ooh, What are we waiting for? Let’s go shopping Charlie!” Camila commanded, satisfied with his answer.

Coop just laughed at the dilemma that Charlie faced, she wanted to go to the library but she couldn’t say no to Camila. He couldn’t blame her, Camila rarely showed this specific brand of enthusiasm. It was enough to make Coop want to go with them, even if he had a healthy fear of Erasimus Doomthread.

Camila was the one to stop them. “Before we go, we wanted to let you know that we planned to head back to the Empire’s settlement tomorrow and get it over with. We thought you might want to come. You know, to scout out the opposition.”

Coop thought it was a pretty good idea. The Empire had already made it clear they would be his enemy, he should see what he was dealing with so that he could prepare properly.

“How long will the trip take?” Coop asked.

Camila looked at Charlie to let her respond. Charlie hesitated before answering, “The ship ride will take around 10 hours, but we will have to find my parents and we don’t have a timeframe for that. My mom was still with her faction when we left.”

“We’re planning on being back by Day 30 even if it means we have to do it again to get Charlie’s parents.” Camila continued.

Coop nodded. He would be away for anywhere between a day or a week. Without Jones, he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. No one would have enough time to steal ownership of the civilization shard, but he’d have to trust Shane’s party so soon.

“Let me think about it, I’m not sure if I’m ready to leave the fort again so soon. Especially without Jones.” He concluded.

The girls understood and Charlie was the first to express it. “Okay, if you don’t come we’ll look for someone who can help Jones and bring them with us.” Charlie offered while Camila nodded.

“We’ll do a little recruiting, subtly.” Camila promised. “Look at how many people defected from our squad. 9 people out of 20. We’ll be able to bring more.”

Coop thought that was a good idea. The settlement still needed every advantage it could get, and more residents would be good for business, which would feed back into the settlement.

“Good idea. I’ll talk to Shane and see how comfortable we are with each other and decide if I’m coming after that.” Coop decided. “In the meantime, I just got an idea.”

Coop pulled out the spectral relic that he had taken from the oil rig. Charlie and Camila both stared at it wide eyed, surprised by its sudden glowing appearance.

“What’s that?” Charlie asked.

“It’s the thing I had to get from the oil rig.” Coop explained. “I’m gonna put it in the light room. It’s supposed to empower the settlement with mana that matches mine.”

He led them up to the top of the lighthouse.

Coop placed the glowing relic inside the lantern behind the massive lens that had previously shone across the ocean as a beacon for Ghost Reef. The Zombie Lord had kept the relic on top of an obelisk, so Coop thought the lighthouse would be an appropriate upgrade.

After he set the relic down and pulled his arm away, the relic hovered into the center of the lantern and began to glow more intensely.

Charlie gasped when a massive pulse of ghostly green energy exploded out from the lighthouse across the settlement’s territory. It looked like a shockwave had erupted from the light room, but it harmlessly passed through palm trees without disturbing them and left the calm waters tranquil. The fort was penetrated by the energy and the shockwave continued out into the ocean.

The shockwave matched the color and density of the gentle wisps that dissipated off of his ethereal armor and the mist that he used to teleport. After the wave of energy had passed a shadowy green vapor lingered in the air. It extended to what Coop imagined as the limits of Ghost Reef’s territory.

They stood together at the top of the lighthouse and watched as the mist slowly dissipated.