Chapter 122: Oathsworn (Patreon)

Coop leaned on the end of his ethereal morning star’s handle, slowly shaking his head at the development of his build. The ramping challenges were clearly meant to be undertaken by parties, where individual weaknesses could be covered by allies and strengths could be exploited by a larger group. A powerful, physically resistant enemy should naturally be the target of pure casters supported by the disadvantaged fighters.

Normally, an individual wouldn’t be capable of easily addressing their weaknesses and they would be forced to rely on others to fill gaps in their kit. A physical fighter couldn’t jump into dealing magic damage without a significant investment into different stats, skills, and therefore levels and time. More importantly, they would be neglecting their current line of progress to start another from scratch. If they invested stats into Intelligence it would come at the expense of Strength, making the change a complicated proposition.

The factions recognized the obvious situation and determined that hyper focused individuals assigned to parties was the optimal solution. Meet a magically resistant enemy that is immune to blunt damage? Have the casters focus on crowd control and distraction, and swap the hammer warrior for a sword wielder.

Coop’s Revenant class was certainly an exception. His Mind-based build allowed him to bypass a significant portion of the investment and almost all of the drawbacks with simple passive skills, and more importantly, investing in alternatives didn’t deprive his established strategies from further development. Every point of Mind was increasing his Strength and his Intelligence simultaneously and the only cost was the consumption of a single skill selection for each attribute.

Coop slowly ceased shaking his head in disbelief and nodded once to himself in acceptance. He dismissed his morning star and summoned his spear and shield in anticipation of some travel. It was mission accomplished in the mana well.

Admittedly, he had adjusted the mission a few times to make it feasible, but he counted the expedition a success either way. The top half of the coral pyramid was prepared for Ghost Reef’s challengers. As long as they didn’t venture too far into the depths, there shouldn’t be any surprises awaiting them.

Coop walked across the core chamber of the coral colony to check the center for treasures. The mana vortex had slowly formed a slightly different pattern with the absence of the One That Hunts bathing in the middle. The currents weren’t driven up to the ceiling without the guidance of the creature’s shell. Instead, they formed a whirlpool of glowing vapors that gradually filled the bottom of the core chamber. The gradual flowing pattern made it seem like he was walking on luminous clouds that were drifting in an alien sea-green sky.

He waded through the slow moving currents, completely unable to feel them, as he approached what could have been a still image of the eye of a shrunken hurricane. His hopes for an epic treasure weren’t fulfilled, but he still managed to snag a handful of glowing jewels. They would certainly be useful for arrays as they matched up with Garod’s description of valuable materials. These were definitely the best haul he had acquired during his trip, but Coop had dreams of unique and legendary items to empower his friends.

On his way back out, he checked the notifications received from defeating the boss shrimp. Coop didn’t get his hopes up, knowing that the mana well monsters were slightly different from the invaders, with altered designations that didn’t perfectly align with what he was familiar with. The ‘Elite’ Level monsters counted as normal, so he wouldn’t be surprised if even the boss was just another regular monster, pumped up with mana.

[You defeated The Ravenous (Boss Level 125)]

[+251623 Basic Credits]

[+2 Kinetic Destruction Gem (Legendary)]

[+3 Kinetic Guardian Crystal (Legendary)]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Quest Complete! Trophy Hunter]

A quick glance was all he needed to realize his assumptions were wrong. The giant shrimp had counted as a real Boss, completing his Trophy Hunter quest, and rewarding him with boss materials.

“Nice…” Coop silently jiggled his spear in contentment.

Coop followed the coral passage back toward his rest area and considered the implications of the monster at the core of the colony counting as a true boss. Normally, the bosses he had fought were essentially improved versions of the monsters they represented. Thankfully, regular monsters never had all of the abilities that the Field Bosses wielded, and the Field Bosses had their own special designations with unique names and classes. In essence, they were completely different evolutions from normal variants.

The Stage 1 Boss had really just been a much larger version of the rest of the Ones That Hunt, using the same abilities, just stronger, and with a name. As strange as that was, Coop thought it might be a blessing. He knew that when he cleared one of the mana baths, a different monster would promptly claim the spot. That meant this coral colony could be a farmable boss location. He just needed to wait for another Elite One That Hunts to bathe in the central vortex until it mutated to the next tier. The Field Bosses he encountered would gradually have their arenas overtaken by settlement territories and Coop thought that meant it was unlikely they would have a chance to respawn. The mana well, on the other hand, would remain in its own pocket, independent of Ghost Reef’s territory.

Mana wells were definitely living up to the hype as valuable domains. Between the experience, resources, and materials, Coop expected Ghost Reef to have a lot to gain from farming the zone. Especially, if it was a perpetually renewable location.

Coop checked what his Scavenging quest, Trophy Hunter had rewarded him with. Once again he lowered his expectations. He just hoped the Scavenging quests would continue to upgrade his passive looting. The previous quests, from back when he first received his profession, alternated between upgrading quantity and quality of his scavenged loot. The pattern was right on the money. The reward was another of the very simple upgrades. It was a quality upgrade, but this time he was excited by the prospects. He would now be able to loot Unique items from some boss level monsters.

That meant relics and artifacts might come from Field Bosses, or even the respawned One That Hunts Stage Boss. He had only seen two other uniques and both had come from the Breathless faction that sponsored the Zombie Lord. The Spectral Relic and the Splinter of Ashen Legacy were certainly valuable gifts provided to their Chosen, and Coop hadn’t been exposed to anything like either since then. Coop had already felt incentivized to hunt the powerful bosses when he spotted them, but now that he knew he would be able to reap the crafting materials necessary for the master crafters of Ghost Reef to create unique class items, he definitely needed to make finding bosses a priority.

Coop was feeling giddy about the future as he checked his status to let the good times continue.

[Status]

HP - 9560/9560

MP - 10262/18120

Class - Revenant (Level 118)

Profession - Scavenging (Level 98)

Affinity - Spectral

Race - Human (Rank 1)

Faction - None

Strength - 50 (+1812)

Agility - 50 (+906)

Body - 50 (+906)

Mind - 1510 (+302)

Intelligence - 50 (+1812)

Acumen - 50

Unallocated - 0

Titles - Champion III, Haunted, Ethereal, Reaper, Slayer IV, Dauntless, Stacked, Defiant, Siegebreaker

Skills (Active) - Retribution+, Salvation, Presence of Mind, Fog of War

Skills (Passive) - Mind Over Matter, Adamance, Practical Application, Arcane Comprehension

Quests - Fortune Seeker (17/50), Defeat Ancient Devourers III (0/250), Defeat Primal Serpents III (0/250), Defeat Primal Kites III (5/250), Upgrade Village to Town

Basic Credits - 3,714,117

There weren’t any real surprises other than the unbelievable pace of class levels. It was practically 20 levels in almost 5 days. Unfortunately, it wasn’t entirely sustainable since he needed to wait for the monsters to accumulate levels before he could gain experience from them again, at least when it came to Stage 1 of the mana well. Stage 2 would surely have its own challenges and rewards to match them. If nothing else came up, he’d be happy to jump back in after spreading the word of the opportunities to the residents of Ghost Reef, although he might aim for another Slayer chain completion before he came back. Alternating between the two grinds made sense to him given how one gave more experience per monster while the other gave profession levels instead.

His basic credits were piling up again, but now that he knew they were only a tiny fraction of what factions wielded, he wasn’t as impressed with his total. He had a sneaking suspicion that his crafters would be absorbing a significant portion of whatever he gathered, once he started looting unique materials from bosses, in order to get access to their services.

Other than the major changes to his level and credits, he had completed the Trophy Hunter quest. It was one item crossed off from his to-do list, at least. His mind was drawn back to the partially completed Slayer quest chains. He wanted to target them as well, especially since he knew there were several other variants within the settlement’s territory just waiting for him to engage.

The Defiant title deserved special recognition as well. The additional durability had already made itself known in the fight against the Stage Boss. Coop felt certain that without the title, he would be nursing a few annoying injuries until he could get Madison to heal him. It was about time his durability caught up with his sustain. How much longer would it be until he could consider himself at the level of a boss? Coop shrugged, thinking that maybe he already could.

Leaderboards were next! Coop was already sure of his position, but he could still enjoy the positive reinforcement, so he pulled the list up.

Day 59

1. Coop (Level 118)

2. Ich-Hau (Level 115)

3. Charlie Seraphin (Level 80)

4. Ix-Hau (Level 77)

5. Victor Burke (Level 76)

6. Adrienne Peletier (Level 75)

7. Edmond Leclair (Level 75)

8. Camila Alvarez (Level 74)

9. Israa binti Yusri (Level 74)

10. Ak-Hau (Level 74)

“Oh?” Coop didn’t like seeing how close one of the Hau individuals had managed to get to his position. They had even leapfrogged Charlie. How did those people keep making those massive jumps in level?

The only reason why Coop kept leveling in huge bursts was because he kept finding formidable enemies. Slayer quest chains weren’t responsible for the majority of his growth anymore, though the stat bonuses were what elevated him to the realm of power that led to his success in the first place. The Siege event had pushed him way forward and now the mana well had given him another boost, but both were only rewarding because the enemies were pushing the envelope of power to what he presumed was the system’s limit. Even if he looked back, defeating elites on the oil rig had jump started his progression in a big way and he was barely prepared for that after his first Slayer title.

It was nice to see both Charlie and Camila reaching the top tier as well, but this Ich-Hau individual had absolutely exploded in levels. It was the second time Coop had anticipated his growth to be unparalleled, only for one of these mysterious strangers to overshadow his increase in levels with an even larger increase. At least this time Coop had started with a big enough lead to keep it. He was still annoyed.

Coop strongly suspected that the rest of the names were brand new because other people were falling into the same pattern as him. There were other groups exploiting mana wells by now, and some of them had probably started even while the settlement event was occurring.

He shook his head to himself as he mistjumped through the Coral Forest, heading back to the entrance. Droplets of seawater splashed against him as he manifested on new coral platforms. The Ones That Hunt had resumed their sentinel duties, though he confirmed that they all remained below level 65. They ignored him as long as he didn’t disturb their mana baths, and he left them for his residents.

The monsters inside the mana well appeared to gain around two levels a day once they positioned themselves within the mana currents. He wasn’t sure what determined their initial level, but the lowest he had seen was 56 which was roughly a baseline of one level per day. The way he saw it, the lower level was a rising tide that as long as his residents could manage to defeat, would lift them all up. If Ghost Reef could maintain a level a day for every person that wanted it, they would be unstoppable. The regular Primal Construct monsters would be the stepping stones that were settled by the territory, but the mana well would be a launch pad for those that could make use of it.

Without any combat, he made quick time traveling back to the mana well’s entrance. The distance between the coral colony and the mana well’s surface connection was probably only about a mile, but since it was uneven terrain consisting of coral platforms with waiting monsters and physical obstructions Coop couldn’t just launch his spear and mistjump across. He wondered if the boundary of the well increased the further down it went.

Beneath the entrance, Coop took a moment to admire the sheets of water cascading over the edges and gazed up toward the sky. The open sky was a welcome relief from the incessant dripping of the coral ceiling. It seemed like he had just missed the sunset, but there was still enough light to see churning thunder clouds above Ghost Reef. Coop realized the drizzle wasn’t from the waterfalls. It was the first rain of the year, though the gentle misting hardly qualified as rain.

Coop tossed his spear over the edge and mistjumped back to the surface. The fresh air that filled his lungs was a welcome change. The damp caverns made the humidity before a rainstorm seem positively refreshing and he embraced the feeling. After a few deep breaths, he started wading through the shallow water to the island.

Coop scanned the horizon as he casually pushed through the water. When something caught his eye he paused and squinted. There were three fishing boats accompanied by one of the ghost pirate ships in the distance to the west, beyond the reef.

“Hm.” Coop thought that was an interesting development. It seemed like visitors had arrived while he was occupied in the well. Coop thought it was a strange coincidence that he had fought all those shrimp monsters while potential shrimp boats were on the surface. It seemed like he would need to get himself updated when he got back to the fort.

There weren’t any Primal Kite ambushes on the way toward the shore, so he made quick time. When he arrived at the end of the beach, beneath the towering lighthouse, he was distracted by the idea of turning in for the night. It had been a few days with nothing but short naps on the uncomfortable coral platforms, so the bed in the lighthouse practically screamed for him to go enjoy its comfortable embrace. Unfortunately, he’d spent enough extra time down among the corals, neglecting the settlement, so he trudged along the clean stone path to meet with either Shane or Marcus to find out what he missed. He could at least take some of his Champion responsibilities seriously.

Halfway across the island, Coop could already see that the fort was unusually lit up with dancing flames along the southern wall. The brand new marina looked amazing, even from a distance, and he promised himself to make a thorough visit in the daytime. The big fancy building really made it seem like they were a functioning town with proper governance. The twin trebuchets, one on each end of the roof, only added to the grandeur. If he was on one of those fishing boats, he would have stopped before entering the channel as well, just in case someone was a bit trigger happy on the siege equipment.

As he approached the crossroads, he encountered a strange situation. There was an individual man standing in the sand before the moat’s new bridge with both of his arms spread, shouting a conversation with several residents on the walls as he kept his distance. The brand new gate was firmly shut.

Coop meandered closer, down the middle of the damp path not doing anything to mask his presence beyond simply being in the dark of night. It was clear the residents were antagonistic toward the visitor, but he found it odd that they didn’t simply expel him if he was a problem. The southern wall had begun with repairs, but Coop noted a few fresh signs of damage and wondered if the stranger had been the cause. It looked like boulders had been tossed into the exterior wall near the front entrance.

“...Be embraced by Chakyum! Join Chakyum in victory over the invaders!” The man was proselytizing in front of the entire fort. He sounded frustrated as he continued to rave. His message wasn’t being embraced by the listeners in any way, shape, or form.

Coop shook his head at the oddity. He didn’t interrupt, letting shouts from the wall tell the man where he should shove Chakyum, and chuckled at the vulgarity.

At least with the Empire, he had the impression that most of them weren’t really zealous believers, and were just flying the banner out of convenience. They believed in safety in numbers more than anything else. It was uncomfortable to Coop when someone actually deified their faction, whether it was the God-Empress of the Endless Empire, or whatever this Chakyum was about. Every fanatic he had encountered ended up fighting him to the death.

All the togetherness and embracing that this man was advocating didn’t sound all bad. Consolidating power gave Coop the impression he wanted to turn Ghost Reef into a subordinate state, but he could be forgiven for misunderstanding their position, given the diminished population. Then he heard the guy mention consumption and Coop raised an eyebrow.

A golden arrow zipped through the air at the man, fired from the eastern edge of the southern wall, near where the original breach had appeared, apparently trying to find an angle that caught the man off guard. The arrow left a trail of glittering sparks, but before it struck the stranger, a dark green energy shield intercepted the projectile, revealing an even greater transparent proximity shield that engulfed the entire area around the crossroads, including where Coop was already standing. If anyone tried to leave the fort, they would also end up inside the shield. It seemed like that was the plan. The man was challenging anyone that dared to come into melee range.

Coop’s eyes followed the green forcefield as it pulsed and faded before he spotted floating debris at the apex of the larger shield, each bit shining in the flickering illumination of lit torches along the walls.

The debris appeared to be tiny gold or silver triangles that darted along the exterior as if they were microorganisms with minds of their own. The stranger never stopped speaking, even when the golden arrow was snuffed out by the dark green energy shield. He was obviously confident in the protection skill he had incorporated. Coop finally inspected the man’s aura as he continued to half negotiate and half threaten the residents who were clearly fed up with being his audience.

[Oathsworn Human (Level 115)]

[Son of the Forgotten (Strength)]

[Chosen of The Venati Collectors]

[(Malignance)]

“Huh.” Coop muttered to himself, surprised for the second time by a level 115 in a relatively short period.

This was the second highest level human on the planet, Ich-Hau. It had to be. That might partially explain why the residents were hesitant to deal with him. He doubted anyone was even able to identify his level. Even if they could overwhelm him, they would be risking injury or worse engaging with him, and the situation didn’t seem to actually be that urgent. Coop hadn’t heard any whispers of the guy’s faction, either.

Coop distinctly remembered how the Zombie Lord had believed he was doing what was best for humanity as they joined an unknown galactic community. While the message was vaguely similar to what this stranger was spouting, and he also had a suspicious title, there was nothing else that clearly indicated he was representing the undead in any way. Still, Coop saw where this was going; the same was as the time on the oil rig. The oathsworn fit the bill of another fanatic, and a powerful one at that. Coop didn’t like the way the guy was throwing his weight around, and he’d come to the wrong place to do it.

Coop cast Fog of War and let a wall of fog slowly drift out of the darkness toward the back of the stranger at the edges of the torchlight. The man continued to demand an audience with the Champion of Ghost Reef in a way that sounded like he would have an audience whether they brought him out or not. Coop allowed the mists to welcome the stranger to his domain. His wish to meet the Champion would be granted.