Unchosen Champion

Coop was relaxing on a catamaran. He let the ocean breeze wash over him as he savored the feeling. It definitely beat the inside of a prison cell. Even if he hadn’t spent much time inside one, he felt confident in his assertion. He took a deep breath of the evening air and gazed at the cloudless sky in front of them. It seemed like Charlie had managed to consume all of the clouds with her storm for miles and miles.

The horizon was golden with the last vestiges of the day. They were literally sailing off into the sunset. He plopped back into the deck lounge chair and shut his eyes.

“Now, this is the life.” He acknowledged, appreciating the luxury of being sailed on a yacht on calm seas with a tropical island destination. The dog at his feet perked up, but when Coop didn’t say anything else he put his head back down, seeming a little less enthusiastic than Coop felt about being in the open ocean. They’d be at sea for a while longer, still needing to veer way south to head back to Ghost Reef.

A few minutes of listening to the parallel hulls splitting the ocean and they were both already dozing off. For Coop, it was partially the relief of completing an important task and partially just being tired from packing so much activity into the last several days. Even if humans had become sleepless beings of mana, there was no way he would shun the little things that anchored them to reality. As long as he could help it, eating and sleeping would stay high on his list of priorities.

As he ruminated on the delights of slumber, he felt gentle arms wrap around him. When he opened his eyes he got a good look at Charlie’s contented smile. She was hugging him from the side, looking up at him. He couldn’t help but match her smiley expression with his own.

“Thanks so much, Coop.” She whispered, barely even disturbing the breeze.

Coop freed an arm and put it around her shoulders. “No worries. We’re looking out for each other right?” He patted her encouragingly. As far as he was concerned, she had been the first to go above and beyond by coming to Ghost Reef to try to rescue him and Jones.

Charlie looked away, hiding a frown. “You and Camila did so much for me. I can’t live up to the standards you two set.”

Coop looked at her like she was speaking another language. “Weren’t you the one that summoned an entire hurricane out of thin air? I’m pretty sure that was the highlight of this whole adventure. We’ve got clear skies ahead of us because of you.” Coop paused for a second as he thought about it and Charlie looked embarrassed. “That or the cannons would be my pick for showstopper anyway. We might need to have a vote.”

She shook her head, letting her windblown bangs cover her eyes while Coop went ahead and tried ranking the events of the last few days. He held up his fingers and pushed them down one at a time with his other hand, listing what he deemed were the pinnacle events. Camila’s dismantling of the Empire’s guards had to be up there as well. Coop was realizing that it really had been a lot when he added the first Field Boss defeat in the world to his list. It made him even more eager to get home, where the factions and pending global conflict felt so far away.

Charlie waited and eventually interrupted his sorting. “Listen, Coop.” She finally got his attention again. “My mom says she knows how to cure blood curses…”

Coop sat up in the lounge chair, waking up the dog that was still relaxing near his feet. “How?” He desperately wanted to know. There was no point in hiding it. He hadn’t been able to shake the guilt he felt when he left Jones in the line of fire with the Empire and really hoped he could make it right. If they could get Jones back to his old self, it would be even more weight off his shoulders.

Charlie’s eyebrows furrowed. “She said it would be ‘supremely’ expensive and that you were probably years away from being able to do it, at best.” She looked at him hopefully. “But I think you’ll be way ahead of anyone’s predictions. I mean you’ve been blowing away the Empire’s… You’ll have to ask her to explain everything she needs.”

Coop didn’t wait, bringing Charlie to find Madison. The dog trailed them around the boat. Madison was with Emmanuel and Marcus, getting the rundown on Ghost Reef from Camila. He interrupted them to have the healer tell him everything she needed to remove a blood curse. She hesitated briefly, not wanting to get their hopes up anymore than they already had. The facility alone would be a significant barrier that she didn’t believe they could overcome. She also warned him that they weren’t all the same so she would need to check Jones before being completely sure. Coop barely listened, trying to rush her into giving him a list of things to hunt down.

She relented and started with the biggest one. The settlement would need to construct a Medical Center associated with Madison’s faction, The Merciful, for her to be able to perform the ritual. They were prestigious facilities that rarely appeared on newly assimilated planets at all. Their cost compared to other similar options was discouraging enough for most Champions to not bother with the esteemed faction, even if their value lived up to their reputation.

They’d also need to source some rather specific and rare materials, but Coop remembered Caisalya’s promise to have things prepared when he first recruited the herbalist. He trusted the confident plant lady to deliver what they needed when they were ready. She hadn’t given him any reason to think they wouldn’t have access to whatever they needed.

The last barrier was the ritual itself. It was lengthy and Madison would need to conduct it in a specialized facility with the help of someone overwhelmingly strong. Coop knew just the person for the job. Himself, of course. He’d just smashed his way out of a system dungeon with his Strength, if that wasn’t enough for whatever Madison was cooking up then nothing would be.

He assured her that he’d have it all set up as soon as possible, encouraging her to be ready as well. The withering look she gave him made it clear that when it came to medicine, she was always ready, and it would be dangerous to suggest otherwise.

Coop considered the barriers and internally agreed that the biggest hurdle would be the construction of the Medical Center itself. The construction options were typically limited by requirements that Ghost Reef had yet to meet. He hoped the level of the settlement wouldn’t hold them back. It seemed like leveling the settlement would take the most time to fix, but if he really tried, he could come up with even worse scenarios. Population requirements would be another difficult challenge. He’d have to recruit pretty heavily if they needed a certain threshold of residents before they could get the building, maybe even think about conquest.

He shook himself out of his thoughts. There was no point in worrying about such specific details until he could check the requirements at the civilization shard. He checked his status to see how many credits he had accumulated during their adventure on the mainland.

[Status]

HP - 4075/4075

MP - 7550/7550

Class - Revenant (Level 45)

Profession - Basic Scavenging (Level 40)

Affinity - Spectral

Race - Human (Rank 1)

Faction - None

Strength - 30 (+755)

Agility - 30 (+377)

Body - 30 (+377)

Mind - 755

Intelligence - 30

Acumen - 30

Unallocated - 0

Titles - Champion III, Haunted, Ethereal, Reaper, Slayer III, Dauntless

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

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

Quests - Defeat Primal Kites II (21/25), Upgrade Village to Town

Basic Credits - 361,448

The Library had been the most expensive building that he had purchased so far, and it was 125,000 basic credits. He hoped having over 350,000 would already be enough for the Medical Center. If it wasn’t, he would just add ‘basic credits’ higher on the list of reasons for him to grind monsters, as if he needed more reasons.

The new hope for Jones allowed him to appreciate his stats as well. He grinned at his Slayer III title. The additional 100 to his Mind stat had come at the perfect time, boosting his Strength beyond what was necessary to break out of the dungeon. It sure would have been embarrassing if he wasn’t strong enough after all that talk. He was pretty sure Charlie and Camila would have gotten them out either way, but he’d have trouble showing his face after deliberately getting himself thrown in there.

He put his status away and rubbed his eyes while he tried to remember all the things he’d need to do when they got back home. Just off the top of his head, he knew he’d need to get all the new residents settled, make sure the ghost army was getting proper training and equipment, and prepare for whatever events that would begin on Day 30. Jones would have helped him brainstorm some possible scenarios, but Coop was going to have to make his own assumptions.

Coop left the group while they continued listening to Camila, who was sounding like a tour guide despite only spending a short time on Ghost Reef. She suited the attention better than the much more timid Charlie anyway, even if the mousy park ranger couldn’t help but chime in with details about the islands that would even make Jones proud. He thought the two girls made a perfect complementary pair for presentations.

He returned to his lounging, dog in tow, at the front of the yacht. When they got back to the island, he needed to make some kind of proper progress on his to-do list. He wanted to get all of the tasks that had to be done neatly laid out and organized. Some things needed to be put on hold, while others needed to be done as soon as possible, but when it was all a jumbled mess of jobs and promises floating around in his head, he was afraid he would miss something.

With barely more than two days until Day 30, he didn’t have enough time to add another rank to his Slayer title, so grinding was a slightly less urgent task than usual. Maybe it would be worth sneaking in a few more levels in the next couple of days, he could just complete the initial parts of a few quest chains to get it done, but beyond that would be too much of a time sink.

Coop was figuring that a settlement event would test more than just his individual strength. He’d see if there were any last minute ways to prepare his ghost army before he started on another grind. It might even be necessary to delay the Medical Center if he needed to purchase more fortifications. It wouldn’t do Jones any good to wake up just to be there when they were overrun.

Balor would also need to let him know if last minute fortifications were even necessary. The second half of the fortress hadn’t had any time for reinforcement. Hopefully, the dwarf-like stonemason would have the walls ready in time for whatever came next.

Then again, he was spiraling down his own assumptions. It was possible the event would require them to travel, in which case the navy would take priority, and that meant constructing a marina and recruiting the rest of Captain Kayla’s Tempest Fleet.

He couldn’t possibly prepare for everything, so maybe the play was to put everything off until after they knew what was coming. It felt like his earliest choices, like delaying his attribute point distribution until he had a class. It had worked out that time, but so had jumping into picking Scavenging as his profession. How would he prioritize his last minute upgrades?

The dog whined at Coop, shoving his muzzle against his legs, recognizing his growing fixation.

“I get it, you’re right.” Coop leaned back and relaxed, exhaling dramatically. “I’ll just keep taking things one at a time. I can’t make a decision with so little information, so I just need to be patient.” Coop sniffed a few times. “But, we’re gonna have to add a bath to the top of our priority list.”

The dog’s reaction was instantaneous. He laid flat on the ground and inched backwards, away from Coop while looking up at Coop’s face and looking away over and over, like he was hoping Coop would change his mind.

“Oh? You know what baths are, do ya? Coulda’ fooled me.” Coop laughed. “I’m gonna have to give you a name too.” Coop leaned back and thought about it. The dog watched him curiously, tilting his head slightly and waiting for the selection. He sat down and kept waiting while Coop furrowed his brow and rested his chin on his hand. Coop hadn’t realized how difficult it was to come up with the perfect name while being scrutinized by the recipient. Names were kind of a big deal.

While he was stunlocked with indecision, Charlie and Camila rejoined him and asked what was wrong. He was taking the job of naming the dog very seriously, but they had thought it was something far more dire based on Coop’s expression. They were both relieved and disappointed when they realized his struggle was to think of the perfect name.

Camila suggested Sunny and that was that. It was decided with one bark from the dog, that he would be called Sunny from then on. Coop was relieved that the first suggestion was met with approval.

Nightfall had come quickly, and the trio chatted in the darkness of the moonless night. The sea sparkled with light from the stars and The Eye of the Storm loomed behind them like an enormous, protective shadow. The separation of the sky and the sea lost all definition, creating an illusion of traveling through space. Coop kept an eye on the wake of the ships to ground his perspective and avoid feeling dizzy while gazing into the distance.

When they arrived at Ghost Reef, the girls planned to check the civilization shard first, renounce the Endless Empire, and check out their profession options along with the other new arrivals. It would be late at night, but they’d visit Maeve and Desmond in the tavern for a meal to celebrate their escape and safe arrival to their new home.

Coop wondered how the settlement was getting on. He’d pulled an all-nighter on Day 23 to finish the Ancient Prowler quest and they left Ghost Reef early the next morning. Now they’d be arriving on the early morning of Day 28, before dawn, so it hadn’t been much time, despite so much happening. Still, he was curious to see if Balor had managed to complete the bridge to the other half of the fort. The training program for the phantoms should have been completed already, so he wondered what their initial lessons would look like. Would the phantoms get classes at level five? If they did, would they be unique to each individual?

Then there were the new residents that had arrived before them. Would Shane and his party have been able to settle everyone in already? Were the new arrivals having second thoughts, or was there any unrest? When the girls asked him what he was worried about now, they dismissed his concerns right away, scoffing at his constant fretting.

Charlie’s neighbors had been prepared to leave ahead of time and anticipated significant hardship in their travels, so they wouldn’t be a problem. The rest of the people were all networked through Laurie’s mommy group. Was Coop really anxious about a group of new parents with infants starting a revolt? Did he forget about his nearly 8,000 ghost soldiers that had come back to life with the sole purpose of defending the settlement on his behalf? They assured him that everything would be fine.

Coop knew they were right, but he was still worried about how Ghost Reef would be received by those who hadn’t seen it before committing to living in it. Honestly, he knew it was a bit unreasonable to be so concerned with their perceptions, but he couldn’t help it. The islands had become important to him even before all the craziness with mana, so he was a little defensive over how they would be received.

Eventually, the definition of the horizon began to return, but it was still late in the night, much too early for dawn. Not to mention they were facing West. A pale green glow slowly expanded from directly in front of them until it reached either side of Coop’s peripheral vision. It reminded him of pictures of the aurora borealis, but low on the skyline. Instead of the Northern Lights, it seemed like they were witnessing Tropical Lights. Teal and turquoise swirls expanded along the horizon and slowly reached the sky with fingers of aqua that disappeared against the black of night.

As they got closer, Coop finally realized it was Ghost Reef. The light was emanating from the lighthouse. The normally invisible Spectral Relic was affecting the mana within the settlement’s territory, making it slightly visible even from a distance.

It was beautiful.

Coop hadn’t noticed it from within the territory, but as they got closer he watched as colorful mana ascended from the surface of the ocean. Peering into the water, he realized the mana was drifting underwater as well, like dim blue and green pool lights were meandering with the ocean’s currents.

“Wow…” Charlie mumbled in awe.

Camila was slowly nodding in agreement. “You should make a rule that anyone coming to your settlement has to arrive at night…”

Coop thought it would make an incredible first impression. Once they were well inside the territory it was harder to spot the coiling mana forms, but the night wasn’t as dark. Now that he knew it was there, he could tell that the night was ever so slightly illuminated in a bluegreen that matched the wisps of his own ethereal armor. Looking up at the stars revealed an uninhibited view of the astral bodies. The mana didn’t cause any light pollution as far as he could see.

When the glow became more pronounced, the rest of the party and the crew had paused their actions to watch as they approached the island. Coop thought that even Sharkbait looked impressed, though the only change in his expression was a slight upturn of the corner of his eyes.

“That’s your place?” Derek asked, sounding the most respectful Coop had heard so far.

“Yep.” Coop affirmed. “Welcome to Ghost Reef.”