Unchosen Champion

Coop offloaded thousands of materials to be distributed among the crafters by the Master Blacksmith, Garod. The diminutive smith had already taken on the role of foreman of the crafters, so he was getting some extra responsibilities. Coop dropped off more than half of his Blight Fangs and Jagged Metal Teeth, the Uncommon drops from Ancient Prowlers and Primal Trackers. Unfortunately, the Ancient Defenders never dropped any materials and he hadn’t accumulated many from the Primal Kites and Ruin Excavators yet.

Still, he left Garod in a daze after leaving nearly eight thousand of the two Uncommon materials he had the most of. It was more than enough for everyone in the settlement to be fully equipped with uncommon gear. Even after dumping as many as he had, Coop kept thousands of both Fangs and Teeth in his spatial storage in case he needed them later, and if he really needed them he could always grind more.

Scavenging may have been a pretty simple profession, but combined with Coop’s grinding, it was extremely rewarding. He imagined that someone else with the same profession would not be quite as satisfied after they defeated 25 monsters. If they wanted to maximize their income, they would probably focus on actually scavenging abandoned locations rather than hunting monsters. That’s why the materials that Coop had accumulated were a rarity. He hadn’t met any other scavengers either.

He carried Jett down the main street, heading back to the lighthouse for the night. He noted that guards had already been posted at the entrances to the interior of the fort, preventing people from stumbling into the Ruin Excavators that could be respawning in the basement.

Coop figured the Ruin Excavators would function the same way the Primal Trackers had when he cleared them out of Peacock Park. They would respawn and slowly reoccupy the areas nearest to their spawn point, waiting to expand until they reached a certain threshold of monsters that he and Jett wouldn’t allow them to keep. The Ruin Excavators would be stuck inside the hive with Felrog the Field Boss, until he could take care of that as well.

Outside the fort, Coop was surprised to find people scattered up and down the beach, as late at night as it was. It had seemed like most people kept inside the fort during their free time, with only a few patrols maintaining the trails, but he spotted soldiers and regular residents alike.

The Cleary Brothers were the nearest, helping an elderly couple team up against lone Ancient Defenders on the dunes close to the moat. He inspected Buck and the elderly man that was joining him in beating up a Defender.

[Human (Level 25)]

[Warbuster (Body)]

[Chosen of the Alliance of Metal]

[Metallic]

[Human (Level 6)]

[(Body)]

[Volcanic]

It seemed like the big man had already gained two levels from the Ancient Defenders and the old man was ready to select a class, though he was still out there getting levels.

On the beach side, Emmanuel had Madison standing on one of his shoulders, like some kind of circus act, while he battered his own pair Ancient Defenders with a tree-sized club. It actually was a driftwood tree that he was waving around like a baseball bat.

Madison’s eyes were glowing with angelic energy as she balanced above the fray, swaying as he swung his weapon, but maintaining her balance. Both the tree and Madison seemed weightless to Emmanuel, as he made quick work of the low level monsters. It seemed like they were developing their own tactics more than trying to get experience, though a quick inspection of their auras revealed that both had gained three levels, meaning they had already defeated over 250 monsters.

[Human (Level 33)]

[Angel of Dawn (Mind)]

[Sage of the Merciful]

[Graceful (Lifegiver)]

[Human (Level 27)]

[Enforcer (Strength)]

[Massive]

Coop continued down the path, but stopped for a second to admire Madison as she hopped from Emmanuel’s shoulder. The glowing outline of her massive angel wings appeared for a split second, lighting up the beach right before she touched the ground, slowing her fall so that she could land softly on her feet as the glow faded.

Charlie had an elderly man joining her to defeat Ancient Defenders. Charlie was expertly using wind to levitate the monster while the old man tee’d off with a walking cane. The monster spun from the impacts, but it couldn’t retaliate or defend without any footing.

Camila was helping a whole group of women, including Laurie, team up against Ancient Defenders, one after the other. The Ancient Defenders couldn’t block the barrage of attacks as the pain train arrived. Camila paved the way, striking the monsters first, before the monster could even react, then the rest descended on them as a pack. Coop checked Laurie’s level, remembering that she was level nine when they first met.

[Human (Level 15)]

[Enchanter (Intelligence)]

[Arcane]

He was impressed. She was making quick progress despite fighting with a large group. It made Coop wonder about party experience. From what he had learned when talking with Captain Kayla, experience was just mana, and presumably the monsters had a limited amount to share among the group. They could certainly defeat monsters faster when they fought together, though. Maybe the increased volume of monsters made up for any sharing that they had to do. Plus, they could complete more of the quest chains that way. Coop shook his head, a little worried about unleashing a horde of people on the island chain.

On the other side of the path, Shane and his party were challenging the Ancient Prowlers, carefully avoiding the overwhelming Vulnerable debuffs. They had come up with an interesting strategy to deal with the tricky monsters. They were relying on illusions of themselves to dilute the damage from ambushes, forcing the monsters to think twice before selecting a target. It was reasonably effective, but they were dependent on the Illusionist's mana pool, and would need to take breaks to maintain her effectiveness.

Surprisingly, Mr. Gibson was leading a second party that was also successfully fighting the Ancient Prowlers. Coop thought Charlie’s neighbor was about the age to either have recently retired or be getting near it. Now, he was lit in radiant blue and white, shining armor with what looked like a light blue energy sword raised in the air. Gibson’s class was evidence that not all of his residents would need to be equipped by the initial group of crafters.

He slammed the tip of the weapon into the sand between his feet and several shining blades poked out of the sand directly in front of him. When the Ancient Prowler dodged one, a second managed to impale it before two more finished it off.

When another Prowler attempted to ambush him, diving through the air from an angle behind him, one of his party members used an ability that conjured a yellow-green whip that shot from his arm and wrapped the monster’s muzzle. Another party member followed up with a crushing blow that knocked the Ancient Prowler forward, away from the party, allowing them to face it together. Once the party defeated the monsters, they quickly retreated to wait for their cooldowns before they fought another pack. Coop inspected them all, curious about who they were.

[Human (Level 24)]

[Argent (Body)]

[Chosen of the Allies of Genesis]

[Human (Level 22)]

[Crushing Palm (Strength)]

[(Patient)]

[Human (Level 25)]

[Malkiian Peacemaker (Intelligence)]

[(Bound)]

[Human (Level 23)]

[Blackflare (Strength)]

[Chosen of the Mourning Souls]

[Chaotic (Eldritch)]

[Human (Level 25)]

[Force Propagator (Intelligence)]

[Chosen of the Kiberius Spirits]

Coop remembered that Mr. Gibson was an Argent, and noted that he had gained four levels already. The others were new to Coop, but he was happy to see more people enthusiastically leveling.

The last fighter that Coop spotted was Sunny, lighting up the end of the beach with a glowing orb above his head. Whenever an Ancient Defender was within range, the orb would blast it with a beam of flaming energy. Coop inspected the retriever, excited to see how much progress he had made.

[Dog (Level 9)]

[Herald of Dawn (Strength)]

[Adopted of the Pack]

[Bright, Blazing (Good Boy)]

Coop was surprised to see two affinities. More than one seemed exceedingly rare, with the only other example that he could remember being Charlie, and it was enough to make her a legend. Of course, Jett had three, so her position as the senior lighthouse keeper wouldn’t be threatened, even if Sunny’s class might be more appropriate.

Sunny stopped hunting monsters and the bright orb above his head slowly faded as he trotted to greet Coop. When he noticed Jett he started hopping up and down, trying to get a better sniff of her. She only tolerated a few attempts before she swatted him in the nose to let him know enough was enough. He got the message and joined them as they headed to the lighthouse.

Coop took a shower and got ready for bed. Jett made herself comfortable while Sunny claimed the first floor. Coop climbed under the covers and finally relaxed. He practiced his aura control after he tucked himself in.

Manipulating his aura was still an odd sensation and he really lacked the finesse to utilize it to its fullest. Right now, it felt like he had two modes: stifling it completely or releasing it fully. He felt hints of more when he tried projecting it in a specific direction, or when he tried to tone it down, but it felt unwieldy and awkward, like he was missing something.

He tried adjusting his aura slightly, a tiny bit at a time. He wasn’t a container for the aura, it was something that was always around him. He was the snowman inside of a snowglobe and his aura consisted of the little bits of snow that settled on the bottom when he stifled his aura, and swirled around him when he released it. If he could control the individual snowflakes he felt like he would finally be using his Presence of Mind skill properly. His current skill level was so limited, all he could do was shake the snowglobe, but he couldn’t find any way to fine tune his control.

Coop spent some time nudging his aura around, he tried shaping it inside of its radius, and he tried dividing it into slices, all with limited success. Eventually, he felt two paws press against his head, clearly trying to get him to stop.

“Sorry…” He apologized for disturbing Jett with his aura. It was time for him to sleep anyway.

He’d need to keep practicing, later. It seemed like there was always something looming around the corner, waiting for him to hurry up and get to it. Even now, the Field Boss lurking underneath the fort was a problem, but it seemed relatively under control, as long as they didn’t let the Ruin Excavators build up too much.

Jett had done well on the southern half of the fort and she seemed prepared to also take care of the north. The army would be getting trained by Ledwidge and properly equipped by the crafters. The residents were already actively leveling and Captain Kayla was enthusiastically rebuilding her fleet. Hopefully, it would all be enough to succeed in the settlement events.

With Marcus focused on development of the settlement, it seemed like Coop would be able to concentrate on his own progression. He knew that establishing a sanctuary would mostly just be a headache, even if it was the right thing to do, but he wasn’t regretting his decisions. He just needed to get Jones healed up and himself leveled up.

Coop had to appreciate the stability of Ghost Reef. He could only imagine the hardships that other people were facing, with or without civilization shards, around the world.

—

Hai Yun watched a glowing ember drift on the chilly mountain breeze, floating into the smoky night sky. She heard footsteps approach her position on the palatial balcony of her family’s ancestral home. She didn’t turn around.

“Transportation has been arranged, Mistress.” The attendant stated while facing the floor in a low bow. Hai Yun watched the flames leap into the air and said nothing. The attendant left her to her thoughts. She listened to his footsteps fade away, still watching the flames.

Growing up, she had dreamed about leading her family while cursing her fate to simply be married off. When the universe twisted her fate and gave her the chance to lead, this was the result. Thousands of years of sustained rule going up in smoke. She was never destined to lead the family. It was meant to be one of her older brothers. Even now, she imagined whispers that the alpine flower should never have stepped forward when her grandfather died.

She always wanted to join martial arts training with her brothers, but was instead forced indoors to preserve her beauty and avoid damaging her skin in the sun. Her lessons were bent toward ladylike skills that would make her a more desirable wife, ideally to a foreign CEO or politician, where she could make connections that would benefit the family. They had miscalculated. Proper martial training would have benefitted all of them when faced with the invasion, but being fluent in English didn’t matter so much when everyone had a universal language skill.

Hai Yun etched the image of her family’s mountain top city burning to the ground into her mind. Despite being a chilly night, the flames had warmed the entire mountain, melting the snowflakes that coasted on the breeze and replacing them with embers.

She gathered her resolve and left the balcony, footsteps echoing along the opulent tiles until she met the remaining loyal attendants. 150 souls along with their families putting their lives in her hands. The 50 fighters that had survived since the apocalypse, leveling alongside first her grandfather and then her, were among them. They had braved the Mana Well from the beginning and now they continued to place their trust in her. She didn’t deserve it, but she already had plenty of practice hiding her thoughts. Etiquette demanded that a proper lady in her position would control her emotions.

When mana came to Earth, nearly the entire city had been Chosen. However, almost 80% of the people declined the offer, displaying an ancient loyalty to the family that couldn’t be stolen by a brief offer from alien interlopers. Even those that accepted sponsorships had remained loyal to her family, trusting them to lead as they always had, and cleverly used their positions to collect information to share upon their return.

Unfortunately, they had no access to a civilization shard. A Mana Well had formed among the mountain peaks and her grandfather declared that they would utilize it to carve their own path to survival. He was killed by the elite monsters outside the well in the first three days.

Hai Yun carried on his legacy as the only present family member when he died and accepted the challenge herself. She developed a system with her attendants that allowed her to remain in constant combat at the threshold of the well while her party members rotated in shifts. A mere girl, valued only for her beauty, was leading the world in individual power. Not even the alien factions could compare.

She was overwhelmingly successful and her magic provided hope to the city, but her brothers each had their own plans. When they returned, they individually worked towards their new goals, ignoring their prior responsibilities to the city. Her eldest sibling had accepted a sponsorship from The Royal Temash while the second brother became Chosen of the Heaven’s Breeze. Their parents were away during the apocalypse and the absence of their grandfather led each of the brothers to decide it was time to become head of the family and lead the city into a new era that embraced an alien faction.

The dispute quickly escalated to violence. The city, internally weakened while the invaders were constantly on the assault, finally had its defenses breached. With all of the strength she had accumulated, she couldn’t stem the tide. A fortified mountain city that had withstood thousands of years of human raids finally toppled due to internal strife. If she survived, she promised herself she would return. First, she would seek the safety of a settlement where she could guarantee protection for her loyal attendants while they collectively gathered strength.

The path down the mountain was historically treacherous. The snow capped peaks were safe thanks to the difficulty in accessing them. A siege was virtually impossible, but coming and going was also made challenging. The danger was enhanced by the incessant assault of elite monsters. The Mana Well was within the mountain peak itself, but it spewed its monsters all over the slopes, with the lone island being their walled city. The area was dense with centipedal metal creatures that rushed through the pine tree underbrush and smothered their foes beneath their weight while stabbing with their countless needle-like legs.

Hai Yun stood on top of her wagon, in the center of the parade. The wagons were being physically pulled by her attendants instead of beasts, completely exposing them to the elements and the demons of the mountain, but they didn’t waver. She weaved her spells, defeating the monsters as they attempted to kill her defenseless followers. With only 10 wagons, most of them were on foot, leaving them vulnerable to the fast moving creatures. Her enormous dragon shaped flames swept along one side of the path and swallowed the grotesque creatures, melting them even while they struggled to push their attack. Wide gouges of singed rock marked the path of her dragon, cutting through the pristine blanket of white snow that covered the mountain.

Warriors held the monsters on the other side back, with reinforced bodies or weakened ancient weapons that were only kept as artifacts of history rather than for continued defense. Desperation had brought them out of their display cases.

Her second dragon rose into the night sky gleaming purple before blinding flashes exploded from its form. It shot bolts of lightning that caused the monsters to involuntarily fold up into rigid balls as their legs tightened in on themselves, giving her warriors a chance to destroy them with practiced strikes to the monsters' vulnerable red eyes.

It took hours for the procession to escape the mountain. Her dragons were constantly in motion, but no matter how much she did, there were always more monsters. They didn’t even have time to collect the dead as they kept moving down the mountain toward safety. The elite monsters around the Mana Well had continued to get stronger without the influence of a settlement’s territory, and, at this point, were outpacing all but her own progress.

The assault continued until they made it to the valley, far enough away from the Mana Well for the monsters to lose interest. A modern highway extended through the valley giving them a smooth path that would have made her merchant ancestors fold over in jealousy. The survivors let out a collective sigh of relief. The first trial was over.

Hai Yun allowed her circling dragons to fade and retired to the inside of her private wagon. Her attendants would assume she needed to recover her mana, but once she was safely inside, she wept.

Two wagons had been destroyed and over four dozen people had died. This was only the first step of their journey. A journey she had decided on. It felt like she had killed them herself. If she was stronger, maybe she could have saved more. The levels she had earned from eradicating elites with her elemental dragons was an insult in comparison to the lives she had lost.

She knew they had no choice. Staying in the doomed city was the same as dying, but it didn’t take the weight off her shoulders. When she regained her composure she returned to her position within the veiled seating in the front of her wagon. They had to keep going and they would expect her to stand firm.