Unchosen Champion

Coop’s mana was completely drained trying to maintain the massive blanket of fog that had been conjured by Fog of War. The cost of maintaining the skill escalated exponentially with the area covered, and he hadn’t held back when he dumped his mana into the channel. As the ocean breeze and the consistent waves chewed away at the borders, along with curious residents who scooped and tested the edge, the skill constantly demanded more mana to replenish its losses. It was completely unsustainable.

However, even without feeding the mists with more mana, it remained a dense bank that only shrank gradually. All of the various threats to its stability could only chip away at the totality of the domain. The fog would remain for quite some time thanks to the massive initial expenditure. In the meantime, he completely stifled the wave of Rabid Carriers that were lost in the foggy dunes. They were disoriented by the vapors that turned a portion of the island into an illusory barrier.

There was zero visibility inside the fog, sound was muffled and warped, and smell and taste were stifled. It was like being inside of a sensory deprivation tank, even for Coop, but Presence of Mind completely took over for his muted senses. Based on his own experience inside the Zombie Lord’s cloud, Coop didn’t expect the fog to smother aura skills, but when it came to physical senses it appeared to suppress them all.

When Coop slammed his morning star on an unsuspecting monster, the only glimpse it could hope for would be of the end of the weapon in the moment before it struck. The spikes cut through the fog, leaving tiny trails of turbulence that were immediately absorbed into the rest. Coop didn’t leave any trail himself as he stalked through the mist.

Coop wandered from monster to monster preventing even a single one from progressing across the dunes. The Rabid Carriers had resorted to meandering randomly with no hope of escaping his domain. Where other monsters would be able to flail against the fog, the Carriers weren’t built for any sort of meaningful resistance and the Swarmers were too small to make a significant effort against the mists. Shane allowed the remaining defenders a break as Coop temporarily shut down the threat of monsters for the first time since the siege event began. They prepared for the next wave instead with hasty repairs and some extra rest.

Coop had selected Arcane Comprehension and taken the Path of the Mistwalker anticipating the future options. He had not expected to turn Fog of War into such an excessive instrument of area denial right away. Coop had to admit he was just inexperienced when it came to actual active skills.

The way his previous skills had interacted with his stats had been entirely passive. Retribution and Salvation determined his weapon power and armor durability based on his Mind stat, giving him gear that scaled as he improved his stats, but as far as Coop was concerned, they barely counted as active skills. Most active skills would multiply their effect based on the user’s stats. Coop had experienced this many times in enemies, and knew inherently that skills could empower even a much weaker monster for at least one attack. He might have 1,000 Strength, but a monster with 100 Strength and a skill that utilizes Strength multiplied by 10 would, at least momentarily, match up against him.

Coop’s approach had always been one that concentrated on sustainability. He wasn’t chasing power spikes, so if someone with 100 Strength could briefly match his 1,000, Coop would make his target 2,000 raw Strength instead, pushing the limit further and further. He’d really need to keep snowballing his stats if he wanted to keep it up, but that was the deal he accepted at the beginning of his journey; ramping his stats by any means necessary.

From the very start, Jones had anticipated skills being the primary aspect behind individual power, but Coop was essentially becoming an edge case where his raw stats could match up with others’ skill multipliers. That meant that when Coop did use active skills with multipliers they could end up having ridiculous scaling, like Fog of War’s domain expansion.

If the multipliers were combined with his other absurdly scaled stats, like his unethically large mana pool, the interactions transcended the expectations for their level range. The skill just became busted when so much fuel was poured into it. A balanced caster simply wouldn’t invest as much into Mind as he had, and now he gained an even larger investment into Intelligence than they could hope for, on top of the already extreme mana pool. The whole situation made him wonder what some of the contracted residents could do with their ridiculous levels. Maybe he was already scratching the surface.

As he drifted through the mists he considered how to properly make use of Fog of War. It could encompass a much larger area than before, it was far more robust against disruption, and it was quicker to stabilize itself, but it still had a long cooldown, and if anything, the mana cost had gone up when considering the additional maintenance cost as the surface area increased.

It would take a bit of experimentation, but the next time he used it, he planned on reining it in so that he could concentrate on controlling a smaller area. He’d be ready to give it a shot once the next wave began. The morning was going by quickly while Coop handled the wave of Rabid Carriers. The rising sun added its own pressure to the domain, burning away the mists at the top, but Coop made no effort to keep maintaining the entire fog bank.

Coop’s domain finally dissipated before the timer began its countdown, but it wasn’t long before the beeps echoed across the island once again. He had to admit he was glad the siege event was almost over. He checked the remaining timers while recalling the waves as he waited for the buzzer to sound off.

[000:00:00]

[000:00:03]

[050:00:03]

[100:00:03]

Coop was proud of Ghost Reef’s residents. They had persevered through so much already, despite having limited numbers and minimal time to prepare. They’d faced off against overlapping waves and field bosses and they had been unflinching. So many other settlements had fallen. Each individual three day wave spawned an insane quantity of monsters, easily over 100,000, but they were still standing.

There was a lot of credit to go around between the capable leadership of the commanders, the absolute loyalty of the phantoms, and the inspiring performances of individuals that were growing into powerhouses themselves. They hadn’t had time for a training montage, but the siege had been a crucible that forged them into a true fighting force.

Looking forward, there was only one known monster left; the Ancient Piercers hadn’t participated yet and Coop knew they were within the settlement’s territory. That meant the other two remaining waves would be new variants. It was the final stretch and they’d already made it this far, Coop felt galvanized to push through the rest.

As the buzzer that indicated the ninth wave’s beginning sounded across the island, Coop faced the dunes and was surprised by a gust of warm, humid air blowing past him. He spun around and found himself face to face with an enormous snout. The wild pig had decided to leave the fort, jump across the moat, and stop right behind Coop. Coop heard the iron gate at the front of the fort slam shut after letting the pig exit.

He figured the pig’s presence was as good a sign as any that the next wave would be the Ancient Piercer variant. Coop remembered them being large gorilla-like monsters with a spiked crown and a spiked tail. They were the highest level regular monsters he had seen, so he expected them to receive a decent boost for the event.

Coop stepped aside, deciding to let the Eater of Worlds take the lead on this one. It wasn’t like Coop had any experience with the Piercers and he knew the pig must have spent most of its time dealing with the monsters on the second island. On the bright side, Coop thought that would mean the Piercers were unlikely to have a Field Boss, since they were constantly culled, but it had been a while since any of the waves had one and Coop knew he had a habit of jinxing himself. He hoped he didn’t this time.

The wild pig growled and grunted, but the only monsters on the beach were the sporadic Rabid carriers that were still lingering as their wave continued. The parties of defenders kept them under control with their coordinated strikes, resuming their duties after Coop’s Fog of War had finally faded away in the rising sun.

Coop stepped a bit further away as the pig drooled and became more vocal. On the other side of the island a cloud of dust and sand was rising. As it grew closer, the sound of a stampede reached the fort. The island seemed to vibrate. Loose stones fell from the damaged areas of the southern wall and the surviving palm trees shook like they were trying to discard any leftover loose coconuts. The Piercers were blitzing across the dunes in a rush to attack the defenders, charging forward while letting their spiked crowns lead the way.

The pig trotted forward and Coop reluctantly followed. Hopefully, he’d get some clues for dealing with the Piercers from the pig so that he wouldn’t need to figure their skills out on his own. He inspected the leading Piercer as the pig picked up speed.

[Brutal Piercer (Level 65)]

[(Strength)]

[Minion of the Primal Constructs]

The Piercers were big boys and had the levels to match. They were rushing forward, barrelling past the Rabid Carriers in a frenzied charge. Coop was intimidated by the speed and enthusiasm that the 12 foot tall monsters displayed, but the pig seemed ready to face them head on and started rushing forward as well. The Piercers propelled themselves forward on their thick arms and kept balance by keeping their spiked tail elevated behind them. Coop took solace in knowing he could disrupt the wave with an excessive Fog of War, though he already knew that would only temporarily halt the charge.

Coop paid close attention as he anticipated a great clash between the large monsters and the even larger pig. Would the pig ram the monsters or would it seek a weak point that Coop hadn’t identified?

Coop’s anticipation was denied as the pig stopped its own forward charge about 20 yards in front of the first in the stampede of monsters.

The frontrunner Piercer levitated into the air, flailing its thick arms and heavy tail while trying to retain its balance while the Pig’s eyes burned with energy. With a crunch that overpowered the stomping of the monsters the floating Piercer was crushed into a perfect cube as if it was inside of an invisible trash compactor. Then it was pulled toward the pig like there was a tractor beam summoning the monster to the beast’s waiting maw. With another crunch it was mashed into an even smaller cube and the pig opened its mouth wider to accept the now bite-sized monster. It chomped down and finished the monster off like it was a small treat.

The mana smoke from the defeated monster leaked out of the pigs snout on both sides, combining with the glowing eyes to give it a demonic presence that Coop couldn’t help but admire. The beast gave a monstrous squeal that made Coop step back even further, though he had trailed pretty far behind in the first place.

The pig’s bulk increased as if it had absorbed some of the mass and stats of the defeated monster. A metallic crown appeared on the pig, joining its already threatening tusks, and the pig charged into the incoming stampede, without any reluctance, and started flailing and goring the monsters with its tusks and new spiked crown.

Before Coop reacted another monster levitated from the crowd and crunched down until the pig ate that one too. The pig got slightly bigger and the metal crown seemed to grow even more menacing, adding another spike.

There was no finesse or strategy that Coop could learn from watching the rampage. That didn’t mean he’d let the pig have all the fun. He swapped his morning star for his spear and shield combination and prepared himself to at least match the energy of the Eater of Worlds.

Coop threw his spear at one of the leading Piercers further inland from the area the pig was claiming. The weapon zipped through the air, aimed for the monster’s head. He was testing how robust the crown of spikes would be since it seemed to be the primary weapon of the enemies.

When the spear collided with the monster it pierced the metal skull and barely lost any momentum. The decapitated monster’s torso crashed into the sand, spraying debris as it landed, and began to dissipate before it stopped sliding. The spear continued into the flank of a second monster, crashing it onto its side with a hole carved straight through the monster’s body. The spear finally smashed into the ground with a splash of sand that tripped up two more of the charging Piercers, destroying arms and legs on the way.

Coop had momentarily forgotten that these were just normal monsters. They were very high level, at 65, and their bulky statures made them seem imposing, but they didn’t even have elite stats. Size-wise they were intimidating, but while size was important, it wasn’t everything, though he wouldn’t dare tell that to the pig that grew even more after chomping down on another Piercer.

As Coop mistjumped into the crowd, spending 0 mana, he smiled to himself, appreciating how far he had come: Free mistjumps and the Strength to demolish these monsters. He quickly defeated the two knocked down Piercers and threw his shield into another’s crown. It had expected to ram Coop, but was instead met with his solid hoplon. Coop appeared behind the shield after another mistjump and thrust his spear forward in an expert attack that defeated the stunned monster.

One more spear throw multi-kill and Coop was far enough inland to claim his own domain. He cast Fog of War, this time trying to keep it under control so that he could maintain it indefinitely.

Coop let it expand until it covered most of the scrubland, inland from the dunes, blocking one third of the Piercers before they could reach the fort. The pig had claimed the center third and as he continued to eat, he had grown at least twice his original size. The last third, which ended with the beach, was the target of the casters and ranged defenders. It was the section with the least damage, and even from across the battlefield, Coop spotted Charlie at the top of the ramparts directing gusts of wind at the shore to control the space.

A volley of cannon fire flew over Coop and the pig, thinning the Piercer wave as the residents established their positions. The number of cannons was notably less than when they started, with the significant damage to the wall reducing the operable cannon portals to half the original number, but half was still a formidable volley. Coop noted that the cannons even seemed to do more damage than when they started. Each one landed with a much larger explosion than he remembered in the early days of the siege.

As he mistjumped between Piercers he considered the fact that even the cannons required an interaction of mana to be fired at all. Did that mean the power of the cannons could scale with the user? He thought it was possible. Mana seemed to gatekeep every physical reaction, but was there a purpose for the system to micromanage that much, or was it just a natural phenomenon caused by the presence of mana? He’d have to wonder about it later.

The Eater of Worlds towered above the center of the battlefield and Coop watched as it stomped and gored the Piercers. The pig seemed to have reached his maximum, about twice his starting size, which made him seem like a two-storey building. Each time he consumed an enemy he grew a bit larger, and it appeared to stack each time he ate another monster, but at some point he ran into the limitations of the skill. The cooldown looked like it refreshed about 10 times before the first boost wore off.

The few Brutal Piercers that made it past the ranged defenders or the giant pig leapt across the moat, tearing through the air in order to slam their crowns into the wall with earth shattering force. They used their thick arms and tail spikes to smash and break the stones down before they were defeated by defenders. The amount of damage they did to the wall was significant, these were the most potent threat to the fort outside of a Field Boss yet. With the fort already weakened in several places, Coop wouldn’t be surprised if there were more breaches before they were done.

For Coop’s part, his misty domain didn’t leak a single enemy. They would have to get through him and his fog before they reached the already breached section. With his mistjumps completely free and his spear and shield equipped, he tore through the formidable monsters like he was possessed. He was a nightmare tormenting the mists, mercilessly cutting down confused enemies, from any direction at any time.

In the past, when any monsters charged through his fog, they were often able to disrupt it, but that wasn’t as meaningful a threat on an individual basis anymore. His opponents would need to be substantially more disruptive, though the mass of Piercers were collectively having some impact, they were still wrapped in fog after a few steps into his domain. The Piercers ended up tripping over themselves as they became trapped and confused. Their response was to swing their tails wildly, attacking the fog, but even that wasn’t enough to disperse his fog to a significant degree.

The more controlled domain he had established was draining his mana, but it was only slightly more than he could sustain. If he drank one of Olani’s mana tinctures every hour and didn’t spend any more mana through Mind over Matter he could make up the difference just by killing enough monsters and recovering tiny amounts from his Reaper title. He predicted that he would run out of mana tinctures first, but it wouldn't be until after the Rabid Carriers ceased spawning.

Coop settled in and liberally applied his mistjumps. He was the monster when they were inside the mists.