Unchosen Champion-Chapter 347: Reclaimed City

A new type of ship waited for Coop in the port of Ghost Reef. The phantom clipper, designed to maximize speed instead of transporting cargo, promised a swift voyage. It was one of the many alternate designs that had been created to fill out the Tempest Fleet, meant to fulfill specialized missions that would cause other configurations to operate at a disadvantage.

Compared to the heavy cannon laden vessels, the clipper had a sleeker design, with just as many sails as the heavier warships, but trading the physical reinforcement for a streamlined hull and angled masts. Compared to the smaller corvettes, the clipper was significantly larger and more fit for exploring the deep sea and the distant reaches away from safer coastlines. It sacrificed storage space and firepower, but if it lived up to its design, it would make up for what it lacked with excessive speed and stability.

The Tempest Fleet had diversified its ships over time, working through the issues that came with ever expanding influence and increased responsibility by incorporating specialized vessels into the navy. This clipper was one such solution, designed for breaking the barriers created by open oceans filled with what were essentially sea monsters. The curving lines made it seem like a racing boat, unhappy with being constrained by ropes, and eager to set off.

The crew didn’t need to delay their launch for long. Coop was at the dock before the breakfast rush within the fort was over, right on time according to his appointed schedule. He had successfully timed his last handful of grinds so that he could still wash up, get a full night’s rest, and eat an enormous meal before leaving, just with twenty five more class levels and five more Slayer titles than when he left the Coral Forest as the end of the second phase of his re leveling plan. Even when he was on leave, he couldn’t help but grind out more levels. It was basically a sickness.

Coop hopped onboard, excited for some more adventures that would inevitably lead to more rewards. The ship would carry him to a prearranged starting point beyond where Coop had explored during his previous adventures abroad. The phantom captain and his mostly human crew knew their exact destination even better than he did, so once he was settled in they set off, throwing coiled ropes and unleashing their impatient ship to the eager ocean winds.

They were heading toward the edge of extended Lighthouse territory, past the limits that had been thoroughly explored by himself and other residents. The boat ride would be an extension of the little break after the mana well before Coop started what he expected to be a challenging trip. He anticipated the challenges he would uncover in foreign lands, so he meant to use the voyage as a sort of mental reset. He propped himself against the prow rail, watching as the waves split against the hull, and relaxed.

Unlike the multi decked galleons that plowed through the ocean with raw power, the clipper essentially skipped across the surface. The lighter weight kept it buoyant while individual crew members used their skills to guide wind into each of the sails at the direction of their phantom captain. The crest of each wave splashed past Coop as the hull sliced the water, but the ship flew across the troughs, planing across the surface and establishing a completely smooth ride, even as they entered the deeper waters of the Caribbean Sea.

As the wind whipped through his hair, Coop checked his status, envisioning how it would change in the coming days. He fully expected his levels to slow down overall, but his stat gains had the potential to increase, or at least remain impressive. Slayer titles were extremely potent in that sense, plus his profession levels would steadily improve as he hunted more normal-ranked monsters, providing a second avenue of gains. The extra boosts would combine to add progression beyond just class levels.

If he wasn’t worried about reaching level 500 specifically, he wouldn’t even pay attention to his class level, but the race was still on, despite his obvious advantage.

[Status]

HP - 62247/62247

MP - 240990/240990

Class - Revenant (Level 421)

Profession - Scavenging (Level 464)

Affinity - Spectral, Abyssal

Race - Human (Icon)

Faction - The Lighthouse

Strength - 200 (+12049)

Agility - 200 (+6024)

Body - 200 (+6024)

Mind - 8310 (+3739)

Intelligence - 200 (+12049)

Acumen - 200 (+6024)

Unallocated - 0

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

Skills (Active) - Mistwalking

Skills (Passive) - Depths of Madness

Quests - Fortune Seeker (32/50), Upgrade Metropolis to Global Capital

Basic Credits - 244,731,294

Coop subtly shook his head, feeling absolute awe toward his attributes. Five digit bonuses were just insane. He had blown right through that barrier with new multipliers and five additional Slayer titles.

His passive stats were demonstrating the kind of numbers that a normal build would only theoretically reach. Active skill multipliers that temporarily applied enormous bonuses to base stats might match what had become his baseline. Coop’s standard operating strength was reaching what he imagined would be the peaks of regular builds.

If he exercised his full Strength, every punch, slice, or spear throw was the equivalent of an ultimate move of someone who evenly distributed their attributes without the kinds of bonuses that Coop had collected. Then there was his Mindbender title, which could shift and combine the bonuses accumulated in all of his stats based on the demands of his actions. His basic attacks had the potential to become ridiculous.

He stared at the callused palm of his hand, trying to wrap his head around his development. The truth was that he didn’t actually feel that different compared to what he remembered before mana activated. He watched as he clenched his fingers, squeezing his fist, and really felt the potential power fill his veins as they bulged in his forearm. He kept squeezing until the bonus to his Strength started to escalate, with Mindbender shifting stats away from Body, Intelligence, and Acumen in equal measures. Then, after exceeding 25,000 in bonus stats, when he released his hand and the stats shifted back, he could have fooled himself into believing nothing had changed at all.

It wasn’t like he had to be careful not to smash things when he touched them. If he wanted to demonstrate his Strength, it still took effort, but that feeling of pushing his limit was extended further and further out. It was almost like his stats scaled with his actions. Rather than a flat increase, his attributes stretched his maximum while maintaining the normal standard. He couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be to simply exist with super strength activated all the time.

Maybe that was why he hadn’t become a genius as his Intelligence increased. He briefly wondered if he should go back to school to test whether or not his intellectual potential had increased as well. He shrugged, dismissing the idea for the time being. He doubted he could find transcripts of his old standardized test scores to compare, and that was ignoring the more pressing threats of extinction or planetary annihilation that he should probably take care of first. He’d rather just make the time to visit Emmanuel’s gym and see where his new max lifts landed and extrapolate from there on all his other stats.

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As he sought more variants of the Primal Constructs, he was sure his stats would get even more ridiculous. At least, that was the plan. It was difficult to imagine how far he could push, especially if he had all the time meant for integrating new species into the galactic community. 111 years was a long time and the assimilation was full of evolving opportunities. It was almost too bad he had more pressing deadlines, but he would make do with the time he had.

While he could have gone virtually anywhere outside of his island settlement to hunt more Slayer titles, his advisors had collectively decided that South America would be next on the agenda for the Unchosen Champion. Of all the continents, when he had suggested the idea back during the summit in the Heartland, they had opted to focus on the one with the least representation.

He wasn’t particularly worried about the Primal Constructs themselves, recognizing his rather absurd stats, but he was aiming to pace himself for other reasons. Recalling his experience with the terrain in the Yucatan Peninsula and the amount of time it had taken to properly navigate, he thought it would be wise to enjoy the boat ride before things grew more difficult. The old forests of lower Appalachia and the renewed Everglades had required significant effort as well, and neither represented an equivalent amount of ground he was meant to cover.

Coop shook his head as he considered the extent of a mission that encompassed an entire continent. When it really came down to it, even the Mangrove Forest on Ghost Reef had required a significant expenditure of time and focus when he first ventured along the oversized root pathways. If he wanted to uncover each Primal Construct variant, he couldn’t just mistjump across the landscape, and he knew better than to expect a simple leisurely stroll through mana-infused rainforests.

When he was hunting down the High Priests of the Cult of Chakyum, he had to rely on others to point him in the direction of points of interest. Otherwise, he might still be wandering around Belize. Going from Belize to exploring all of South America was a major jump. The scale of his intended task was hardly comparable, so he thought it was reasonable to brace himself for what was to come. It would be his biggest adventure yet. The plan was more or less the same, but he was a lot more independent than he had been in the past. Whether it was a measure of his abilities or experience, he could afford to set his sights a bit higher in terms of scale.

He really had limited knowledge with regard to the actual environments that he would encounter in South America. The whole continent wasn’t the Amazon rainforest, or at least, he didn’t think it would be, even though it was basically the only ecoregion he could name off the top of his head. Then again, who really knew what mana had done when the assimilation began.

Apparently, even Ghost Reef’s more experienced scouts had been thwarted in their efforts to fully map the continent. They were forced to rely on the Underlayer connections to penetrate most of the interior, but even then, they had failed to make contact with every known human territory.

Despite the difficulties, they were fully aware of all the various official settlements, thanks mostly to the leaderboards, but also from word of mouth. They had vague locations for each notable human stronghold through dialogue with the many individual and small groups that had found their way to Ghost Reef during and after the Underlayer Event. With the additional data, his advisors had formed a loose plan to have Coop visit as many places as possible to supplement the Lighthouse’s own strategy to network throughout the continent.

Not all of the points of interest had civilization shards, but somehow, word had spread throughout the continent and connections had been formed between locations, tenuous or not. The Lighthouse intended to string them all together. Coop would be but one catalyst.

So, his companions had a rough itinerary planned, with specific locations he might want to visit to uncover as many monster variants as possible, but in the back of his mind, he felt like a few Primal Constructs types would slip through the cracks. He was already okay with it, counting on some variants to stay hidden enough for him to have an excuse to return and explore further in the future. The assimilation wouldn’t be any fun if he had no more avenues to progress, after all.

Coop’s hunt was a corollary to the overall effort of the Lighthouse to make contact with as many people as possible, and as such, he would have many different guides on his trip. The Tempest Fleet had already circumnavigated the Americas, establishing preliminary connections with some of the coastal settlements that still existed on the east coast, and they were in the process of exploring the vast river systems with newer, specifically designed vessels. Diplomats, ambassadors, and scouts were already moving through the lands, whether from the coasts, on the river expeditions, or through the Underlayer ahead of Coop.

Unlike almost every other continent, the representatives of the South American survivors were mostly only known through rumor and unofficial connections. That was the main reason it would be the subject of Coop’s third phase of his re leveling plan.

The clipper skimmed across the water as if it wanted to prove itself with its speed and Coop just enjoyed the trip. He spotted land several times before they actually approached the coast. When they did, it was well into the afternoon, closer to evening, and the shore was to the south.

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The ship slowed down to better navigate what he assumed was the end of their journey. They aimed toward the mouth of a massive bay that was filled with abandoned ultra large container ships. Some had shipping containers stacked 20 high above sea level, while others were empty, and not all of them appeared to still be seaworthy after mana had activated. They were half sunk, with entire forests of trees growing from their basins, like giant rusted islands pockmarking the relatively protected interior of the bay.

Groups of people were waving from the ends of the longest breakwater Coop had ever seen, welcoming them to the massive harbor. Apparently, they were expected. Coop waved back before he approached the captain.

“This it?” Coop wondered, thinking he could mistjump the rest of the way if they had already arrived.

“Not quite, Champion.” He directed Coop’s attention by pointing ahead. “The main Outpost where you’re expected is on the other side. It’ll be at least another two hours before we arrive.”

“Oh?” Coop was surprised, looking at a port that rivaled the largest he had seen in Florida. He was surprised it wasn’t their destination. “Where are we?”

“Panama Canal.” The captain answered, seeming impressed with it himself. Coop, supposed as a phantom, the man predated its construction.

“No kidding.” Coop expressed his own surprise. The phantom clipper really was fast, crossing a significant distance in a short time. “It still works?” He asked.

The captain seemed unwilling to commit one way or another, but Coop saw for himself how the actual locks used to elevate ships to the flooded lake on the interior were defunct. Instead, it seemed like thousands of sailors had been using mana to reestablish a way through. Months of effort had finally provided the Tempest Fleet with a more convenient route between oceans.

The clipper proceeded at a slower pace than when they were on the open ocean, having to weave through a wide artificial waterway after crossing a lake-like body of water. Oversized trees leaned over the water, nearly uniting to form a ceiling above the wide canals.

The ship moved forward steadily, and Coop noted several mana pylons protected by small forts along the way. The Lighthouse had daisy-chained mana pylons from the Yucatan all the way through Central America.

When they finally reached the Pacific Ocean and looped around to yet another more marina-like harbor, there were already nearly a hundred phantom ships idling in the protected waters. Coop was caught by surprise, but not because of the heavy presence of allies, but when he was presented with a massive city skyline.

Panama City was way more developed than Coop had ever imagined. There were more skyscrapers than he had seen in Miami in the days before mana activated, and most of them were still standing, though they were clearly abandoned. The buildings were overflowing with vegetation as branches and trees broke through glass and extended from the interiors, escaping onto empty balconies and transforming the enormous steel edifices into towering walls of green. Pink and white flowers dotted the lush surfaces and flocks of birds danced in between, chasing each other from building to building while squawking loud enough to echo across the water.

Humongous canopies emerged from the rooftops, 50 and more floors above the ground, sprouting individual tree crowns that covered entire city blocks in beautiful verdant imitations of geodesic domes. Vines were hanging from the extended branches, nearly reaching the street level from the highest points between buildings. Roots and trunks practically burst from the lower levels of the buildings, claiming the urban development for their foundations. Coop couldn’t help but stare at the ridiculous waterfront.

On the ground level, the streets were completely engulfed in greenery, but people had formed wide tunnels among the branches and roots to pass through. It didn’t take long before he spotted one of the familiar mana pylons, and he realized that the thousands of local survivors had already been incorporated into Ghost Reef’s network. The city had become a hub for the Tempest Fleet’s burgeoning Pacific exploration at some point while Coop was exploring the Fallen Zone.

The clipper pulled into an open slip in the nearby island marina, connected to the rest of the city by a short bridge. Carrying Coop was just the first part of their journey, as they would be bound for Oceania in the coming days.

A group of people were waiting to help tie the ship in. Coop recognized them from when he first started exploring the Yucatan, before he connected with the Jaguar Sun. The warriors of the Crossroads were all the way down in Panama, doing their part on behalf of the Lighthouse.

“Welcome back.” The leader greeted Coop. “We will guide you through the gap.”

They were men of few words, so Coop just followed along with an assenting nod.