Unchosen Champion-Chapter 322: Exceeding Expectations

“You’re crazy, man.” Derek mumbled before yawning dramatically. He rubbed one of his knuckles against the bridge of his nose before shaking his head, as if he was disgruntled about being awake at all. It was obviously too early for him, though he had reappeared by the lighthouse in a surprising display of diligence.

Even Derek was working hard. He wasn’t sleepy because he had just woken up, but because he had been pulling an all-nighter to help make sure Coop’s progress wouldn’t have any unnecessary delays before transitioning into the mana well. Coop had enlisted all sorts of people into his personal restoration project, and Derek was meant to play an important role in clearing the way for the second phase of his plan. The duration of the first phase depended on Coop’s progress, so Derek needed to keep track to see if the Coral Forest would be ready for the Champion’s return.

The sun was still in the process of rising, with the air hanging onto some of the limited chill of the previous night. It helped that the majority of the island had been blanketed by the vaporous domain of Fog of War, but it was only a matter of time before the heat reclaimed its place, front and center in the tropical environment. The disconnected mists were rapidly fading in the morning light.

Coop didn’t bother acknowledging Derek, eagerly checking his own status after his first full day of grinding since his big reset. While he could sense that the results had been dramatic, there was something especially validating about seeing the system quantify his progress in numbers.

[Status]

HP - 19205/19205

MP - 2204/71820

Class - Revenant (Level 35)

Profession - Scavenging (Level 221)

Affinity - Spectral, Abyssal

Race - Human (Icon)

Faction - The Lighthouse

Strength - 125 (+3591)

Agility - 125 (+1795)

Body - 125 (+1795)

Mind - 2660 (+931)

Intelligence - 125 (+3591)

Acumen - 125 (+1795)

Unallocated - 0

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Titles - Champion IV, Haunted, Ethereal, Reaper II, Slayer XI, Dauntless, Defiant, Stalwart, Reckless, Stacked, Valor XXIV, Siegebreaker, Underking, Mindbender, Insane

Skills (Active) - Mistwalking

Skills (Passive) - Depths of Madness

Quests - Fortune Seeker (22/50), Upgrade City to Metropolis

Basic Credits - 17,649,186

Coop squeezed his fist, flexing his forearm as he took a deep breath, proud of the progress a single day had brought. He could feel the difference, imagining the mana flow through his veins even if that wasn’t exactly how it worked. The difference in Strength was massive by itself, and that was in spite of the diminishing returns in practical gains. The first day may have only been the start, but it was genuinely a huge recovery in his status.

For context, it hadn’t been until he had defeated the Zombie Lord and conquered the deep-sea oil rig that he had reached level 35 the first time around, and that had only been after three weeks of the assimilation. Back then, he had been assured that his leveling rate was off the charts, having already climbed near the top of the leaderboard for the first time, but compared to his speed now, everyone on Earth had been positively lethargic. In one day, he had recreated the same progress and doubled the amount of stats gained, thanks to his first abyssal skill, Depths of Madness, and his fully realized Path of the Mistwalker. They were both absolutely massive evolutions to his build, marking distinct inflections points in his progress.

To put his gains in another way, in a single day of obsessively focused grinding around Ghost Reef, he had exceeded what guided Chosen were able to do with the help of the sponsoring factions over the course of the entire initiation phase of the assimilation. A month with faction trainers and facilities couldn’t even come close to matching up with the Revenant of Ghost Reef. Derek was at least partially correct. He had made crazy progress.

35 class levels and 19 profession levels combined for more than 2,500 total stats after all was said and done, and it hadn’t even required him to come face to face with death. All the optimizations he had made toward grinding couldn’t have paid off in a grander way. The excitement of his progress had him practically vibrating to keep it going, but he had already defeated well over a hundred thousand monsters.

He hadn’t expected to still be that fast when he had parcelled the different phases of his plan. Between target acquisition, travel times, and actual execution, he had still been defeating each monster in less than a second, all under conditions that were less ideal than having masses of enemies funneling themselves into a battlefield where he could cleave them down. The results definitely exceeded his predictions. Coop couldn’t help but be impressed with his build, even while recognizing that he was barely getting started. Crushing thousands of regular variants in a non-event scenario was far beyond his expectations.

This was meant to be the moderated portion of the process for reclaiming his levels, where he would be on the hunt for optimized routes and set the stage for future Slayer grinds. He had intended to ease the added pressure of slowing down at higher levels by controlling the level of challenge as he went, but he might be forced to just skip straight to the end at this rate.

He glanced at Lyriel, who was standing behind Derek, in the doorway of the lighthouse, beside a pair of newly added plastic pink flamingos that framed the interior of the entrance. The look on her face said more than any further words. He thought she might actually be scared of his potential, if only he could see her eyes beneath the blindfold to confirm.

“5 levels a day seemed out of reach, huh?” He gloated a bit, unable to pass on the opportunity when it came to the arrogant Avatar of the System.

“You are a truly terrifying creature.” She responded, sounding entirely serious instead of playing along.

Coop smiled at the commendation before amending her statement. “Terrifying for my enemies.” He suggested, drawing a snort from Derek.

Lyriel had spent the previous day exploring the facilities of Ghost Reef while being introduced to various important personnel. Many people were unavailable due to the expansive diplomatic efforts being conducted by the leaders at the same time, but people like Jones, the Cleary Brothers, Gideon, and Madison were in attendance. Then, there were all of the contracted aliens who had committed to the Lighthouse faction in the same way that she had. They remained within Lighthouse territory at all times, while making sure that the faction wasn’t set upon by outside forces.

The contracted aliens and the Avatar may have seemed like they had come from completely different realities, with Lyriel being branded as an exile by the Eradication Protocol, and the rest technically being a part of the galactic community, but the majority of Coop’s alien recruits were similarly ostracized even if it hadn’t been quite so official. The main difference was that people like Maeve and Vronk were still able to access the system, even if they had no faction backing them, or in their cases, controlling them. In terms of the community, they were equally distant, though Lyriel occupied a strange space where the aliens could potentially regard her as the god-like figure she presented to the humans due to their lack of inquisitiveness toward the origins of power.

However, the alien residents of Ghost Reef had already been severely influenced by the humans to the point that they questioned the artificial hierarchy enforced by the factions, and Lyriel was pretty quick to respond to their gentle probing by letting her mask drop, even without Coop goading her to act normal. She didn’t have the patience to maintain the facade for long after spending a bit more than a week with Coop constantly challenging her image.

Upon visiting Ghost Reef, she had been forced to interact with more people over a longer period of time than she had in untold millenia. By the end of the day, she was exhausted on a level difficult to comprehend. Normally, she would have only needed to keep up appearances for a matter of minutes before she would be done with her presentation, but now that she was stuck on Earth, there was no use in maintaining her role as Avatar of the System at all hours. Coop had made her one of them.

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Still, going from such an isolated lifestyle to being bombarded by friendly, but pointed, questions regarding the unknown future had been an ordeal for her as well. Both Lyriel and Coop had been grinding, but in his opinion, using his spear to defeat monsters was the more entertaining role. Rather than accept her own accommodations, she retired with Palisteon to Ghost Reef’s lighthouse where she would be relatively alone.

Coop was just glad Lyriel seemed to be adjusting well enough. He imagined it wouldn't have been easy to go from near total isolation and disconnection from the broader universe to the welcoming atmosphere of Ghost Reef. It certainly could have been overwhelming.

Lyriel took his satisfied expression to mean that he thought she was joking about her assessment of him being terrifying. “No, you really do not belong in the galactic community. I don’t know about the rest of your humans, but you specifically were meant to be an exile.” She reiterated.

Coop shrugged, feeling a bit like she was simply recognizing his desire to be left alone on his beach. He was inclined to self-exile if the opportunity eventually came.

“More of a hermit, I think.” Derek chimed in.

Coop tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows slightly as he accepted the more accurate assessment from someone who knew him a bit better than the beautiful alien. He nodded, thinking hermit was a more appropriate title.

“His very existence would disturb the harmony of the community. To turn such a mundane activity into an achievement worthy of recognition by the system does not align with normal expectations. It is abnormal. An abomination.” She tilted her face toward the fort as she continued. “The state of this settlement might be proof enough that branding humanity is the correct choice. The assimilation is an apocalypse: a desperate experience, horrible, and terrifying as the weight of the galaxy suddenly presses upon lone worlds. There should be no room for frivolity and comfort, and yet…” She gestured toward the fort. “That’s the majority of your development. How much of that is a reflection of its Champion and how much is a species-wide identity, I cannot say. However, that much adaptability is a deviation, to be sure.”

Coop could feel her stare from behind her blindfold as she let her gaze fall upon him. “There are individuals living here who have attained significant triumphs, but they have only done so through feats of galactic proportion. That World Beater that prefers to bake blue bread is a perfect example. But you…” She shivered as if she was a bit too close to a venomous snake. “You engage with these pathetic manifestations,” she pointed at an Ancient Defender that was milling around on the shore, “and grow your status like that? In such a short time? It is unnatural.”

“Okay, now you’re going overboard.” Coop argued. “Pretty much anyone could do what I just did. You’re just being fooled by my class level. My actual power level is as high as it was at the start of the Underlayer Event, so these invaders just happen to be a cakewalk.”

Both Lyriel and Derek looked at him skeptically, not arguing against him, but obviously not accepting his position.

“C’mon.” Coop voiced his mild exasperation as they silently ganged up on him. “You could do that too, Derek. All I did was kill a few hundred thousand low level monsters.”

“Not a chance.” He responded. “I couldn’t even clear this beach right now, even two hundred levels above them.”

“Well, that’s just an ability limitation, not like some restriction on your potential.” Coop continued.

“No, dude. You’re an actual freak.” Derek doubled down. “It took me weeks of partying up for the Ancient Defender Slayer title. That’s only 16,000 kills and I’m a support class that’s in high demand. There’s a reason why everyone else hunts in shifts, takes breaks, parties together, or trains extensively with Ledwidge. It’s ‘cause they haven’t lost their minds, unlike you.” He aimed a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m with the pretty alien. We might be excessively adaptable, like she said, but you’re crazy.”

Lyriel nodded in agreement, finding common ground with the dubious company. It seemed like even at her indefinable power level, she doubted her capability for the specific task of an extended grind.

Coop grunted. “I don’t see the difference, I’m just rushing through the process. The whole settlement is basically boosting me with all the work that has gone toward optimizing the territory. Besides, I’m taking a break now, right?” He glanced back and forth between the two. “It’s practically the same.”

Derek shook his head, giving up on convincing the literal Icon of Humanity that he was anything other than some beach bum lighthouse keeper. “Well, I’m afraid if you keep this up, phase two of your plan might need to be delayed a bit. The Mana Well will not be ready when you are. Even with the help of Lady Hai Yun and her supporters, we’ll need weeks to reach the bottom, at least, given the mutations we’re encountering.”

Coop clicked his tongue in disappointment, not wanting to go straight to Slayer grinds so soon. “What level are the shrimp monsters?” He wondered, hoping there would be a bridge available for him to connect his planned phases.

“They all still match their levels with the day as they appear, so they’re approaching 200 when they first rise up, then grow roughly twice as fast if we leave them alone.” He put his hands out. “We haven’t been able to tame the zone, unlike the settlement territory, so it just continues to escalate with the assimilation.”

“Hmm… I guess I could stick to the top level for a while, then make my way down to help.” Coop adjusted his plan a bit, feeling like he had such a good start, taking extra time elsewhere was no problem. “Either way, I don’t want to skip to the Slayer grinds until after the Mana Well.” He clarified.

“The monsters on the deeper levels are presenting as question marks, even for Charlie and Camila.” Derek stated. “I don’t know if even you should come down until you’re above, like, 450. The environments just seem to feed them more mana the further we go.”

While Coop felt like he could be more flexible than that, given his well-established potency, he took the Bard’s assessment seriously. If he wanted to avoid Slayer titles until after he fully explored the Coral Forest Mana Well for experience opportunities, he wouldn’t be able to exclusively grind level 10 Ancient Defenders and Primal Kites, level 15 Ancient Prowlers, or level 25 Primal Serpents, Ancient Devourers. Climbing the ranks would take way too long.

His other, higher level options were the Primal Trackers around Empress City, Ancient Vanguards and Primal Lurkers in the Everglades, or else the even higher level Ruin Nebulas and Ruin Tracers in the Yucatan Peninsula. Neither option was a part of his original plan, since he was specifically avoiding travel times as well as leaving the support of Ghost Reef too far behind. Still, it could be done.

He supposed paying the Jaguar Sun a visit wouldn’t be a problem, and he was sure that the monsters in the region that had already provided Slayer titles would be higher level than the ones in the vicinity of Ghost Reef’s fort, but he didn’t want to commit to such an adventure until he absolutely had to.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Coop promised, thinking there was a chance he could stick to Ghost Reef’s offerings without prematurely hitting up the invaders with Slayer titles available. “The Ruin Excavators might still get me there.”

Before he left for greener pastures, he had at least a few more days worth of progress awaiting him around the island. The Mangrove Forest could comfortably provide 10 or 15 more levels before exhausting the local variants, and then there were the tunnels that extended beyond the various levels of their underground expansion. He couldn’t let the Ruin Excavators miss his reunion tour and if he stuck with them for a while, he should be able to put himself within striking range of the weakest mana well monsters.

“Alright, man.” Derek muttered, angling to wade back out to the Mana Well. “Before I go, what’s your rank?” He asked.

Coop checked the leaderboards after exactly one day had passed.

Day 186

Charlie Seraphin (Level 333) Camila Alvarez (Level 328) Platinum (Level 308) Gibson (Level 307) Imara (Level 303) Buck Cleary (Level 301) Emmanuel Seraphin (Level 295) Sila Tupua (Level 295) Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Simpson (Level 294) Sefu (Level 293)424,064,129. Coop (Level 35)

Coop read his rank outloud.

“Huh.” Derek grunted. “That’s it?”

“What do you mean that’s it? After all of that about how crazy I am?” Coop challenged.

“I dunno.” Derek continued. “Just thought you would have climbed a lot more after leveling so quick.” He took a second to read the previous ranks. “I guess you passed almost ten million people. That’s kind of a lot.”

Coop wasn’t really sure what to make of it either, but he just assumed that the humans that had survived this far into the assimilation were making consistent progress. The fact that there were almost ten million survivors at less than level 35 was kind of amazing, though they could primarily be accounted for as citizens within the largest settlements. Virtually no one in Ghost Reef was that low, and if they were, it wouldn’t be long before they progressed further.

“I figure most people who have survived are keeping up with the progression of untamed basic monsters at the very least.” Coop suggested. “So the ranks should really start moving once I hit 150 or so, right?”

“Makes sense to me.” Derek replied, glancing up at Lyriel.

“Of course, the weak will be the first to fall.” She confirmed. “It is not their fault, but that is the way of things.” She stared them both down from behind her blindfold as they looked at her like she had said something wrong. “You realize four hundred million is an extraordinary number, though, don’t you? I believe it would be difficult to find entire planets anywhere in the galactic community with such excessive populations. If even four thousand survive the full duration of the Eradication Protocol, it would be miraculous.”

“Sheesh.” Derek responded. “What a downer. I’m gonna get out of here before she really kills the mood. Take it easy out there.” Derek declared sarcastically before bidding the Champion farewell with a wave over his shoulder.

Lyriel watched him go for a few moments before speaking again. “I only speak the truth.”

Coop climbed the steps of the lighthouse, gently moving past Lyriel as he sought the comfort of home. “I think we all know, but we’re working hard to defy expectations. The truth is that we would like to be doing even better.”

Lyriel followed him inside, questioning the unrealistic goals of humanity as they went. Coop did his best to explain the human spirit after gently forcing her to step back when she trailed into the shower enclosure behind him.

He was going to clean up, take a power nap, then head to the Clumsy Shark to refresh as many buffs as possible before resuming his grind. He figured there would be two hours of downtime before he started up again.