Unchosen Champion

Buck took Coop away from the city, further into the suburban sprawl that extended outward from the metropolitan hub. Despite Coop’s assumptions based on his appearance, the big man was talkative. Coop learned that the three brothers were each a year apart and the youngest was 10 years older than Elly. Buck took his position as elder of the family quite seriously, but the brothers knew they were hard to distinguish from each other and didn’t mind when they were confused for each other. They shared a pleasant conversation about their past lives while they traveled. Coop learned more about farm machinery than he really needed, but Buck was interesting enough to pass the time.

They trekked along a state road that continued for hundreds of miles. Pleasant company or not, Coop didn’t want to spend all of his time walking, so after half an hour he was already getting worried about the distance. Thankfully, they didn’t need to travel that much longer. Their destination was still within the city limits and wasn’t all the way beyond the agricultural lands that spread even further inland. Buck directed him into the entrance of an 18 hole golf course and country club. They stopped next to the driving range.

“They come out from over there.” Buck stated, pointing past a group of putting greens to what Coop assumed was the first hole of the golf course. Sure enough, a pack wandered out just as they were arriving. The Primal Trackers walked along the golf cart path and headed toward the edge of the country club.

“Thanks, Buck. I’ll check it out.” Coop said.

“Good luck, boss man.” Buck grunted and headed back the way they came with a wave to Coop.

Coop went after the pack that they had already spotted, following a path that took him around the main building. The country club had been designed to look aged, like an old chateau, so he wasn’t sure what had been caused by the assimilation and what was intentional, but either way it remained fancy. It was the kind of place where industry leaders had expensive dinners rubbing elbows with politicians. He followed the pack of Primal Trackers along the rear of the structure, past a stone landing with a dry white fountain in the center and toward a series of overgrown flower gardens.

He used Salvation to summon his ethereal armor and jogged to catch the monsters. He didn’t let them get any further, managing to attack them by surprise and eliminate one before they could form their characteristic half circle. He pressed the advantage he had taken by striking first and quickly defeated the other four. Coop was still amused by the idea of tracking the Trackers.

He traced the monster’s path back toward the first hole’s teeing ground and came face to face with another pack of monsters. This second pack was exactly like the first, lacking an elite leader and merely a group of five regular level 20ish monsters. The result was also exactly the same, with Coop quickly clearing the pack and moving forward.

Coop continued tracing the monster’s path and eliminating them group by group. The frequency of the packs slowly increased until he was well into the fairway of the third hole. The golf course had formed an interesting environment where the fairways were still short, but the rough had overgrown into wild grasses and thick groves of trees created grassy corridors in between. Coop felt like he was moving through a classic dungeon, except it was open to the sky and very green and pleasant. The monsters appeared to prefer the border between the ankle high fairway grass and the head high rough grass.

By the fourth hole the density of the monsters had become even higher than Peacock Park’s had been. Coop didn’t need to gather huge groups to continuously fight. They were so densely grouped the monsters came to him as it was impossible to ignore when he eliminated their neighbors. His movement through the course may have slowed down, but his quest progress in defeating the Trackers had picked right back up.

Coop’s glaive mowed through the monsters as he gradually cleared each fairway and moved to the next. The golf course had only taken him in one direction so far, but he anticipated the trail wrapping back on itself after only a few more holes.

Coming to this golf course had been a good idea. At the rate he was currently defeating the monsters, if he had another day and a half of grinding he would be able to complete the quest chain. He only had maybe eight hours before he would head back to the park to see how Camila and Charlie’s scouting trip had fared, so he wouldn’t be finishing during this hunt. He’d just have to make the best of his time for now, and come back to finish the quest when he had the chance. If everything went well he would come back that night and finish during the next day.

The monsters were also spawning behind him, but he was pushing forward faster than they respawned. He didn’t feel the need to stop since the density just kept going up. He thought he’d go for a full round of 18 holes, then turn around and cleave his way out. He predicted that he would be more than halfway done with the chain by the time he needed to leave.

After a few hours of progress Coop lit up with the glow of yet another level. He’d managed to defeat 2,000 Primal Trackers in the day despite spending most of it patrolling the streets around the empty Peacock Park and he still had plenty more daylight. He checked his notifications.

[You defeated Primal Tracker (Level 25)]

[+20 Basic Credits]

[Quest Complete! Defeat Primal Trackers IV]

[You have a new quest!]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Defeat Primal Trackers V (0/11111)]

The final stretch was a long one. He still needed to defeat almost 3,000 monsters just to be halfway done with the entire chain, but he was happy to at least be able to see the finish line.

At the tee of the ninth hole Coop stopped. He was on an elevated start that looked over the entire distance to the green. The marker for the cup was still standing with a triangular red flag flapping in the breeze. The way the course snaked back on itself meant that the fairway of this hole was the exact center. Aside from the few packs of monsters on the tee ground and a few more at the green more than 500 yards away the corridor of short grass was almost completely empty. At the elbow halfway down the fairway was a single much larger monster. It was another Primal Tracker, but much bigger than even the elites had been. Coop knew he’d found a challenge. He wanted to keep going, so he got close enough to read the creature’s aura.

[Field Boss: Primal Tracker (Level 35)]

[Andamarius the Blight Howler (Agility)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

Coop knew a boss when he saw one and this one definitely qualified. It’s appearance was almost the same as any of the other Primal Trackers, but it was oversized and it was a different color. It was laying in the middle of the fairway, occupying almost the entire width of the empty space. The boss was almost the size of a bus. All the grass was dead in a perfect circle around the monster, turned brown with decay. Its metallic scales were mostly brown, but streaks of chrome lined its spine and joints, not to mention its glinting spiked teeth and jagged claws.

The reflections off the shiny metallic plates reminded Coop of the very first day when he was scared out of his mind. He had seen metal reflecting from the mangrove forest and near the entrance to what became the Coral Forest Mana Well. It made him wonder if there were field bosses from the very beginning, or if they evolved over time, and more importantly, if he would find any back home. He hoped not. He’d prefer Ghost Reef to be as safe as possible.

Coop wasn’t sure if he should be fighting the huge wolf shaped mechanical monster. Coop acknowledged that he needed to defeat a Siege Boss for his settlement quest, but this was a Field Boss. Surely, the quest would have merely said Boss if any type would do. Plus, he was on a mission right now, to complete the quest chain to defeat the Primal Trackers. This beast wasn’t a part of that. He could just turn around and start fighting the respawns on the previous fairways.

Then again, he wasn’t going to finish the quest chain today whether he tested the boss or not. If he needed to defeat a Siege Boss this might be a good opportunity to get an idea for the difficulty the boss title would indicate. A normal monster and an elite monster were quite different in terms of both power and abilities. He could at least gauge what the next step up would be and retreat if it seemed like it would take too long or he needed reinforcements.

Coop dismissed his glaive and summoned his spear and shield to improve his mobility and defenses, but before he engaged the boss he acknowledged that he was trying to lie to himself. Once he started fighting, he wouldn’t be able to completely disengage. These monsters lived up to their name as Trackers, they had a debuff that made sure the fight wouldn’t reset until they were done. No, he couldn’t fool himself. He saw this challenge as an opportunity.

Coop couldn’t figure out if he was psyching himself up or psyching himself out. He admitted that he was worried that there were Field Bosses lurking back on Ghost Reef. He wanted to make sure he was keeping up with the Primal Constructs so that home would continue to feel safe and secure. Seeing those metallic reflections during the apocalypse had shaken him more than he expected. He stepped forward and made his decision, he’d put that fear to bed.

Once he was 100 yards from the monster it stood up. Three glowing red eyes lit up on its head, forming a triangle. When he was 50 yards away it raised its head like it was an actual wolf getting ready to howl at the moon. The sound that came out was horrible. It was unnatural, like a freight train’s air horn but warped with mechanical distortions. Coop was stopped in his tracks and even his vision was affected. It was like all of the blues, reds, and greens in his sight were separating from each other ever so slightly. When the sound finally stopped he had notifications.

[You resisted Blight of Mortals: Curse of Death]

[You resisted Blight of the Weak: Petrification]

[You resisted Blight of the Helpless: Fragility]

It was too late for second thoughts, but Coop still had them. He didn’t need to continue his charge because the field boss covered the last 50 yards in four leaping bounds. Every clawed foot formed another brown patch in the green fairway where it connected.

Coop had to dive out of the way to dodge a double swiping slash from the monster’s front claws. Side steps would be useless if he wanted to avoid taking direct hits. He rolled and regained his footing in time to throw his spear into the exposed flank of the boss. It landed with a solid thump as it penetrated the metallic scales that armored the monster. The spear was sticking out where the ribs would have been, but it was like a toothpick compared to the mass of its body. Coop wasn’t sure if the damage would even register to the monster.

The Field Boss slid to a stop, leaving long gouges in the ground where its claws tore the surface and exposed the dirt. It whirled to face Coop, now further toward the tee, and was completely unbothered by the tiny spear lodged in its side. Coop recalled his spear and prepared himself. He’d go for the eyes next.

The monster took one leap to land directly in front of Coop. Without stopping it twisted its head and opened its mouth ready to chomp with gleaming chrome teeth. Coop tossed his spear up in the air, but still had to jump sideways to dodge the gaping maw before he could mistjump out of the way. He raised his shield and collided with the chin of the metallic monster, avoiding the teeth, but still felt like he collided with a train.

Before he bounced off the ground he mistjumped to his flying spear and plunged onto the back shoulders of the still moving monster. His spear stabbed through the metal scales, finding purchase and preventing him from falling as the monster’s momentum carried it forward.

The monster finally slid to another stop, kicking chunks of green fairway into the air, and turned back to where Coop had been standing. Coop took the opportunity to heft the spear above his head and leap forward, stabbing the Field Boss in the center eye with a crunch. The monster reacted violently, ripping its head away and throwing Coop off. Coop crashed onto the ground and rolled back to his feet with his shield up, leaving the spear lodged in the monster’s head.

The boss located Coop and raised its head to howl again. Coop had to resist covering his ears as the sound seemed to physically vibrate the air around the golf course. The grass around the monster withered and died while the howl continued. When it finally ended, the monster faced Coop. It seemed disappointed to find the tiny human hadn’t also withered and died.

It didn’t linger in its disappointment and it once again charged at Coop with a leaping bound. Coop avoided the double swiping attack with another dive, but the monster hadn’t let its momentum carry itself out of range this time. It whipped around and he only had time to raise his shield as the monster’s tail collided with him.

The tail swipe smashed into Coop and launched him off the fairway, through the tall grass until he collided with an oak tree deep in the rough. Coop heard a sickening pop when his torso met the trunk of the sturdy tree. His shield had exploded before it dissipated into mist. He didn’t even know his summoned equipment could be destroyed, but the tail swipe had made it evaporate after one direct hit.

Coop’s health was at 2551 / 3375 and his mana was still 5304 / 6150. The blocked tail swipe had still taken over 600 health and colliding with the tree added even more damage. All of his damage mitigation had certainly saved him from a more devastating result, but he also had multiple afflictions. Tracker’s Blight with no countdown at all and a single Broken Rib debuff that required a full day of recovery while at full health to heal. Coop assumed that a broken rib would also be his diagnosis if he found a doctor and only one day of healing would really be a miracle. He pulled out one of Olani’s healing tinctures and drank it. It tasted really nice but only healed him for 50 health. Every little bit could count though.

He stood back up noting that the Field Boss had remained on the fairway, knowing that its challenger wasn’t done, but waiting anyway. It seemed like the monster’s inclination was to track a weakened foe and take its time before defeating its enemies. Coop wasn’t that weakened yet, though, so he made his way back through the grass without summoning his shield. When he made it back to the edge of the fairway, the Field Boss raised its head to howl once again.

“Oh, shutup.” Coop grumbled as he felt his eardrums vibrating in his head. The leaves of the trees behind him started to change colors and fall off like it was autumn. These trees were in the tropics where there were only two seasons, wet and dry, and had never experienced an autumn. He tried to take a deep breath, but only managed half of one as the combination of his injury and the howl made even breathing difficult.

When the howl finally ceased, he had resisted several more Blights thanks to his extremely high Mind stat. The wolf-like creature looked at him curiously before preparing another attack. Coop remained unarmed and unshielded, but as soon as the boss’s head was in a stable looking position he mistjumped to his still embedded spear.

Standing on the base of the monster’s snout as it started to charge he yanked the spear out and stabbed a second red light ‘eye’. The jab resulted in another crashing pop. The boss halted its charge, abandoning it to shake its target off. The sudden teleport had caught it off guard, but it was still strong enough to throw Coop away. He rolled through brown grass wincing in pain, but only taking negligible damage.

The boss wasn’t done and even as Coop resummoned his shield, it was already bearing down on him with both front claws. Coop smashed into the first claw, shield first, and allowed it to throw him out of the way of the second slash. His shield shattered once again, and Coop’s armor hadn’t protected him from receiving one large gash from the longest center claw. His armor prevented it from tearing through his chest, but he still came away bleeding from around his left shoulder and down his right hip. His health was down below 1400 and he added a bleeding affliction to his growing collection. He only rolled once before he was back on his feet.

The monster bared its teeth and snapped at Coop before he resummoned his shield. Coop was forced into another desperate leap out of the way, leaving him rolling on his back, exposing himself to another bite. He mistjumped to his spear, but immediately fell off the monster’s rapidly moving head, dragging his spear out of the second destroyed eye. The wolf monster whirled to face Coop, charging with its claws. Coop jumped out of the way then had to hurdle a tail whip as the boss slid past him.

When Coop turned, the monster was also turning. They faced each other down, from 25 yards apart. The green fairway of the golf course had turned into a brown, blighted, area. The grass was washed out and dead and the light breeze blew bits of dirt and leaves around in the air between the two combatants.

The Field Boss leaned its head back and prepared another howl. Coop planted his left foot firmly in the dirt and threw his spear with all the strength he could muster just hoping to shut the monster up. The monster’s howl started for only a split second before the spear lodged itself in its exposed throat. The sound changed from a distorted mechanical horn to an even worse grinding sound as if the freight train it was imitating had jumped its tracks. The monster spasmed, violently shaking so that Coop felt compelled to step backward. It seemed like the boss couldn’t stop the howl once it began and it was building pressure.

The monster fell backwards and the metal on the creature’s throat swelled until it exploded. A piece of shrapnel smashed into Coop’s armored chest knocking his breath out of his lungs and throwing him onto his back. Coop involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut and scrambled to catch his breath. He noted several new notifications and expected more debilitating afflictions.

When he sat up he anticipated an injured and enraged Field Boss ready to finish him off. However, the explosion had been larger than he predicted, leaving a crater as if artillery had struck the beast instead of just his spear. Its body was evaporating on one edge of the ditch and its decapitated head was disappearing from the other.

Coop laid back down on his back in relief, taking shallow breaths to avoid aggravating the pain he still had in his chest.