Unchosen Champion

The next day Coop and Jones returned to the lighthouse trail. They were on a mission to defeat more Ancient Defenders, and since the only one they had ever seen was near the trail, that was where they began their search.

They cautiously walked along the path while carefully scanning the dunes. The sun was bright and only a few fluffy clouds floated across the blue sky. There weren’t many places that provided cover, so it seemed unlikely that they would be ambushed. Although when Coop brought the idea up, Jones suggested the mechanical creatures might be able to bury themselves in the sand. So Coop, who had been full of confidence in completing their quest after defeating their first Ancient Defender, was now moving much more slowly.

When they finally found their first target it was not buried underneath the sand. It was merely waiting on the beach side of the trail, above the high water mark of the aquamarine ocean. It was periodically wandering a few steps before returning to the same small area. The creature had been following its little pattern for a while judging by the many tracks it had left in the sand. Coop identified it from a safe distance.

[Ancient Defender (Level 2)]

Coop and Jones approached it the same way they had approached the first one. But this time they were more aware of its abilities. They had planned to keep at least one of its four legs occupied at all times, preventing it from lunging at either one of them.

They closed the distance a bit more urgently than the first time, worried that it would preemptively strike at them. Jones successfully distracted it by shoving at it with his trusty rake as his weapon, forcing it to lift one leg in defense. The creature had no choice but to immediately brace itself against Jones’s push with its two back legs, gouging deeper holes into the packed sand. Jones’s increase in Strength was already making itself known.

This time Coop opened up his assault by kicking at the mechanical creature with the flat of his foot like he was kicking open a door. The move successfully baited the monster into defending with its last unoccupied limb. With two legs off the ground and the other two legs bracing the creature, Coop was free to swing the machete into the weaker cylindrical shaft that connected the legs to the body.

It only took one solid overhand swing to dismember one of the creature’s back legs, effectively ending the fight. They were still wary of it swinging its limbs before they carefully removed a second limb and finished it off. Defeating the monster was a lot quicker thanks to their increased stats and the experience from the first one. Coop watched as the rust colored creature blurred like it was becoming a watercolor painting before it rapidly deteriorated into wisps of white smoke and dispersed in the ocean breeze. He briefly wondered how he was supposed to loot it for his scavenging quest before he reviewed his messages.

[You defeated Ancient Defender (Level 2)]

[+2 Basic Credits]

[Defeat Ancient Defenders I (2/5)]

[Scavenge Defeated Enemies I (1/10)]

At first, Coop was surprised. Scavenging was automatic. He found a new line in his status that displayed how many credits he had. Then he felt a little disappointed. The cost of upgrading the settlement was 1,000 Basic Credits. It would take a while if he had to collect them two at a time. His impression of Basic Scavenging dipped. Then again, if he had selected any other profession, or even waited to choose, he wouldn’t know how to get any credits at all. Not to mention, he would never complain about a quality of life improvement like autoloot.

Jones mentioned that they couldn’t see how much experience they received towards their next level. Coop couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed himself. They couldn’t see their level progress at all, but Coop sensed they were close to leveling again. Jones agreed, thinking that there was something intuitive about experience. Jones has some theories about the relationship between mana and experience, but Coop wasn’t worried about the details as long as it worked.

They continued down the trail, south, towards the lighthouse, searching for the next Ancient Defender. The next one they found didn’t stand any more of a chance than the previous one. Jones even discovered an easier way to finish it off by smashing the red light with the handle of his rake. They both leveled upon killing the second Ancient Defender. Coop delayed checking his notifications and continued saving his points. Jones put his free attribute points into Body which made him look ten years younger. He confirmed that each point added 10 HP.

The third Ancient Defender was defeated even more efficiently than the others. Coop took the opportunity when the creature was blocking both of their opening attacks to thrust the machete into its eye rather than attack the bracing legs and it was defeated without the need of incapacitating it.

After the fourth kill they both paused to view their messages.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[You defeated Ancient Defender (Level 3)]

[+1 Basic Credits]

[Quest Complete! Defeat Ancient Defenders I]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[You have a new quest!]

[Scavenge Defeated Enemies I (4/10)]

Completing the quest had rewarded them with a full level and 100 basic credits. It had also chained into another quest, this time to defeat 25 Ancient Defenders. They were intent on leveling to five through fighting these creatures anyway, so they continued their hunt. They didn’t run into any problems, defeating half a dozen more of the mechanical creatures before they doubled back to return to the fort.

[You defeated Ancient Defender (Level 2)]

[+2 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Quest Complete! Scavenge Defeated Enemies I]

[You have a new quest!]

[Defeat Ancient Defenders II (6/25)]

Coop’s scavenger quest also chained into another that required him to loot 50 more defeated enemies, but more importantly it rewarded him with spatial storage for scavenged loot. Up to this point he had only received Basic Credits from scavenging, which didn’t seem to need spatial storage. He was excited by the prospect of receiving even more things from his profession. But Coop was even more enthused by the level he had received in Basic Scavenging. It also rewarded him with five attribute points! Of course, he also hoarded those like toilet paper before a hurricane.

A few more kills and they were bathed in the white glow of another level and received the welcome notification.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

They defeated a couple more creatures before encountering something new. The next Ancient Defender they found was standing with a second Ancient Defender. They considered avoiding them but ultimately felt comfortable enough to take them both on.

Coop and Jones split up so that each would fight one Ancient Defender at a time. They knew to avoid giving it the space to lunge at them and had yet to encounter any other dangerous maneuvers. Coop began his assault by kicking at the mechanical creature and forcing it to block. He attempted to jab the machete into its eye from around the blocking leg, but the creature blocked with a second leg before Coop could do any damage.

Coop didn’t give it any room to counter attack and used his offhand to grab the first leg and yank the creature off balance. He tried to elbow the creature with his mainhand as it stumbled but was once again rebuffed, this time receiving minor damage for his effort. The armor of the mechanical creature was significantly harder than his elbow.

He heard Jones groan in pain and redoubled his assault on the mechanical creature. Coop was struggling to get around the defense by himself. He tried another combination using his shoulder to ram into the first guard and a desperate imitation of a side kick to draw the second guard. It succeeded but he was at such an awkward angle he could only swing his machete at the body with a downswing, catching the armored shell instead of the more vulnerable eye or leg connectors.

However, his swing had caused the creature to lean forward toward the sand, exposing its back legs to follow up swings from the machete. He quickly destroyed the creature before hustling over to Jones who was barely holding his target at bay.

The Ancient Defender hadn’t expected Coop’s reinforcement and was quickly defeated by their seasoned combination of attacks. Thankfully, neither of them had taken much damage.

Jones had a minor injury to his forearm that they bandaged. He had received it from the creature swinging its arm after he thrust the rake between its guard, aiming for its eye. He had only lost a few HP from the attack, but was regretting not putting more points into Agility. He would have been able to defeat it if he had. He was considering whether or not to use his next points to correct that regret, but at this point Coop was convinced that he should save them for after they unlocked classes, especially if he was aiming to be a ranged caster. Jones suggested that physical speed would be useful no matter what class someone had, which Coop thought was a good point, actually. No one should turn down move speed.

They returned to the fort after defeating the pair of Defenders. Coop’s Ancient Defender quest had progressed to 10/25 and his scavenger quest was just beginning at 4/50 while Jones’s Ancient Defender quest was at 9/25.They were both level four, but would have to wait until tomorrow to hit level five. Coop felt like a kid on Christmas Eve with how much he was looking forward to his class.

—

Jett Black had earned her retirement. She enjoyed what she knew were her twilight years, satisfied with her achievements.

She had recently received a new attendant to aid her in keeping the light and he was dutiful in assisting her. Nowadays there wasn’t much that still required her attention. Her duties as Royal Guard of the Light had taken on the cadence of retirement.

She remembered the hordes of invaders that plagued the lighthouse before she exterminated them. Instinct alone had allowed her to accomplish her tasks, but age had brought some wisdom and sense of self. The memories kept her senses resolute but she didn’t need to worry. Her attendant had been diligent enough to prevent invaders from taking any interest in returning. She continued to patrol, but in retirement it was more of a comfortable stroll through the familiar comforts of the lighthouse. Her domain.

Then, suddenly, for the first time that she could remember, she found herself outside of her domain. She was meeting with a representative from one of the most powerful factions in the universe. They were isolated on a vast golden platform that floated like a disc among the clouds of a nebula.

Jett stared at the strange creature, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of what it was. It was mostly human in shape, but it smelled like a cat. It had cat ears and stared back at her with cat eyes. A cat tail swayed calmly behind the creature as it observed Jett. Jett was uncomfortable, she was not in her own territory, and she was too old to be looking for a fight.

Before Jett could flee, the creature gave a small bow and began to speak. “Greetings, little one. I am Sterling Marius Princeton the Third, a humble ambassador from the Blessed Mau Collective, and I have brought you a gift, if you desire it.” Jett understood gifts, her current human attendant was generous with them. The cat man continued, “This one would grant you awareness, knowledge, and understanding. Will you accept this gift?” Jett meowed and she was awakened.

The Blessed Mau Collective had no interest in Earth itself, the Collective was well beyond vying for individual planets. If the recognized factions of the universe were able to be quantifiably ranked in terms of power, The Blessed Mau Collective would certainly have a single digit rank on its own. But even the single most powerful faction wouldn’t dare challenge the Collective, for the number of factions that would volunteer to fight on their behalf was innumerable. If someone was able to add up all the support that The Blessed Mau Collective received they would probably come to the conclusion that cats ruled the universe.

The felines of Earth were granted the opportunity to join the Collective. All of them. Most declined the offer, not prepared or not understanding enough to accept. Still, the number that did accept was in the thousands and the Collective’s wealth was no worse for the wear despite winning nearly one billion sponsorship bids. Thus the faction that had spent by far the largest number of credits and offered the most sponsorships was satisfied. The Blessed Mau Collective looked forward to introducing its new brothers and sisters to the rest of the universe.

Jett was returned to her lighthouse. She was greeted by disaster. The light was off. The lighthouse was damaged. Her attendant had utterly failed despite her brief absence. She was angry. She rushed out of the lighthouse to punish her disappointing attendant only to find him, unconscious and defeated, covered in blood.

She felt bad about her intentions to punish him. He had clearly fought valiantly. Despite his loss, something she had never experienced, she would accept that he must have done his best even if it had been inadequate. She decided she would protect her attendant for now, as she was a generous cat.

She gazed back at the lighthouse that had been her home for her entire life. The light really was off. Her watch had ended. It was a sad sight, but it was also exciting. It was time to expand her domain. She would return to consolidate her territory when she was satisfied. She watched over her attendant as he recovered.

When he finally woke he was distinctly rattled. She watched from his shoulder as he packed her treats. She was once again satisfied with her decision to forgive him. He gaped in the distance after he left the lighthouse, though she had to admit she was too near-sighted to understand what he found so confounding.

Then he took them both to the great fortress on the other end of the island. She knew it was home to another attendant, but he only visited her domain sporadically. On the way, her attendant nearly lost himself when a small, tasty looking fish jumped in the shallow water. He sprinted into the fortress without even glancing at it.

Once they settled, her attendant asked if she was okay. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, and that he should check himself, since he still hadn’t washed the dried blood from his previous battle. But her gift of language only allowed her to understand, she lacked the vocal cords to respond.

Finally, the other attendant, attendant #2 arrived and spoke the words that she could not. Once they gathered together again attendant #2 spoke of his experience receiving a sponsorship. She recognized the interview, but she had been sent back before she had been given any orders. Likely due to her higher standing compared to attendant #2 who was given all sorts of directions that she, as a cat, would never have followed anyway.

Her two attendants eventually made a plan to help her conquer the rest of her domain after they rested. She thought that was satisfactory and would let them do so. She would take on the responsibility of securing the territory. She could sense invaders already in the fortress. She would not let them be for long.

She roamed into the basement level of the grand fortress. She was disappointed with its condition. It was damp and subsiding to the ever present ocean. Here she found her foes. They only had a moment to sense something was wrong before her predatory form ripped them apart. She meticulously cleared room after room until she reached the end of this basement section, where the fortress had been sliced in half leaving a portion exposed to the water. Her attendants would need to fix this at a later date. She doubled back to clear the other side’s basement.

She had received four level up messages which she was pleased with. She put her unallocated points into Agility and five into Body for good measure. She nodded to herself and continued defeating invaders. None of them were prepared to deal with a superior predator such as herself and they continued to be fertilizer for her gathering strength. By the time she reached the end of this half she had gained another two levels, putting her at level six. She once again put all her points into Agility and five into Body.

Before she had a chance to review the rest of her messages she identified a new threat. She wondered what it was and as she wondered its identity was revealed.

[Ruin Excavator (Level 5)]

She would not tolerate its presence so she attacked as she had so many times before. However, this enemy was tougher. It had received her fangs but had not been destroyed like so many others. Frustrated at her opening salvo being rebuffed she was forced to use her feline grace to avoid its retaliatory attacks. It failed to even dishevel her fur before she had picked it apart with her claws. It had been decades since she played with her food like this, but she was satisfied with the result. The lone creature had given her another level when it would have taken dozens of the lesser invaders to do the same.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

As she preened, another of the new invaders appeared from a hole in the ground. She could tell this one was special. As she wondered why, its identity was once again displayed.

[Elite Ruin Excavator (Level 7)]

Unacceptable. She engaged from the shadows without the creature noticing her presence, but her opening attack was even more ineffective than the previous. How dare these crunchy things defy her fangs. She was once again forced to pick it apart, piece by piece, using her claws, and avoiding retaliation with her feline grace. She was an arbiter of death in these shadowy halls and she would prove her place by defeating any who opposed her.

When the creature finally submitted she had removed more than a dozen pieces from it. She would have taken a hundred if so required. She was rewarded doubly for this victory. She found that acceptable.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

She placed her points into Agility and for the first time, Strength, for she wouldn’t allow these crunchy creatures to continue defying her opening attacks. She also viewed the rest of her new prompts.

Her affinities had been revealed, though to her they were obvious. Darkness, Sharpness, and Silence, of course. Her coat was black as night, her claws were sharp and deadly, and her prey never heard even a whisper of her presence. She was satisfied.

She was notified that leaderboard access would be unlocked in the future. She wasn’t interested. She was sure that she would be in her rightful position, at the top.

At level five she had also unlocked several class options based on her affinities. She briefly perused the options before arbitrarily selecting the one with shadow in the name, since it reminded her of her coat. Next she browsed the skills. These were based on her affinities and class. Her eyes glittered at so many of the options, but alas, she was limited to five choices. Giving them no more thought she quickly chose the ones that would aid her the most during her hunts. She observed her status as she returned to her attendant’s sleeping quarters.

[Status]

HP - 200/200

MP - 100/100

Class - Sentinel of Shadows (Level 9)

Profession - None (Level 0)

Affinity - Darkness, Sharpness, Silence

Race - Cat (Rank 1)

Faction - Blessed Mau Collective

Strength - 20

Agility - 35

Body - 20

Mind - 10

Intelligence - 10

Acumen - 10

Unallocated - 0

Titles - Awakened (Sapience), Venerated (Faction Bonus), Chosen

Skills (Active) - Identify, Claw (Racial Bonus), Shadow Refuge, Shadow Step, Tactical Strike

Skills (Passive) - Common Language (Limited), Feline Grace (Racial Bonus), Hidden Killer, Instant Reflexes

She would obtain the rest of the delightful skills soon enough, she was sure. On a whim she Identified her young attendant.

[Human (Level 4)]

It was good that he was leveling, she feared he would become useless if he fell too far behind. She rewarded him with her presence.