Chapter 149: Grind Therapy (Patreon)

The airport’s wide corridors had been engulfed by darkness as the evening settled in. The extraordinarily tall windows once provided excellent viewing of what was a bustling taxiway for passenger planes. Instead, they only displayed a thick, cloudy evening with the barest hints of daylight seeping through a lingering haze as Coop passed the transparent panes.

In the distance, along the inner ring’s still intact wall, torches were pinpricks of light surrounded by large orange halos as rebels took up the watch, preparing for the night. Coop suspected that the overcast weather was a direct result of the smoke that had accumulated during the conflict between the Endless Empire and the revolutionaries. Now that the fighting had ceased, hopefully the ocean breezes would be enough to carry the smothering reminder of the violence away. He hoped they would be able to move on as quickly as possible.

Coop took his time as he moved through the dark, peering into every nook and cranny that he passed, searching for lingering Chosen while engaging Presence of Mind to detect auras. He wouldn’t put it past some obsessive fanatic to maintain their affiliation with the Endless Empire and try to infiltrate the transferred settlement on their behalf, but the airport terminals were devoid of life. If any of them planned to play hero for the Empire, they weren’t aiming to slip into the midst of the new tenants by hiding behind enemy lines. Coop frowned as he considered that he probably already killed the most likely candidates to take on such a task out on the highway.

Even the fact that Coop didn’t find anyone hiding in the recesses frustrated him. He’d been trying to return to his normal self, outwardly projecting his acceptance of the situation, but he felt like he had some pent up energy. He shook his head at himself. Frankly, he still felt bitter and irritable about the savagery he had taken part in. After he had been forced to temper his emotions to avoid completely raining on the revolution’s parade, in the quiet solitude that the corridors provided, he had a chance to reflect on the incongruity of the desire to take out his frustrations through even more violence when that was at least partially the cause of his distress in the first place.

It was good that there weren’t any of the Empire’s Chosen slinking around the interior of the airport, for his sake almost as much as theirs. Camila was probably right about him being too far from the beach; he was missing the sense of stability he derived from Ghost Reef, from having a routine that included regular sleep and food, and his own form of grinding meditation, all keeping him grounded. He stretched his neck in an effort to relieve the tension, but it wouldn’t go away completely without more time.

“It is what it is.” He muttered to the empty shadows, trusting that he was stronger than he had been before.

When he reached the series of perimeter security checkpoints that isolated the terminals he stopped and began channeling a thin, almost invisible Fog of War that would fill the interior of the airport. Standing still with his eyes closed, but with his status open, he tried to put himself into a state of calmness, like he was actually meditating. Slow deep breaths accompanied by deliberate relaxation of his muscles, starting from his toes, moving up his legs, all the way up his whole body until he was loosening the scowl that had been embedded on his face since frustration and fury had embroiled his emotional state.

Even though he was trying to manipulate his bonus stats with Mindbending, he immediately came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be so easy to properly manage his state of mind. It seemed like something that would only happen when he was less conscious of his desire for altering his stats. His channel completed before his bonus stats could reveal any of their flexibility. It would certainly take more than a whim to influence the mental stats. When he hit upon a sudden triumphant discovery, they typically came when he was completely focused in a fight, and most of the time he was desperate to make something specific happen. Overthinking almost seemed detrimental. The earliest example came when he revealed his ability to mistjump, but even properly coordinating with his phantasms had been under similar circumstances.

“I can’t force it.” Coop conceded to himself as he let the Fog of War sweep over his senses through Presence of Mind. He’d find an opportunity to grind monsters and that’s when he’d better explore his abilities.

The main, open sections of the airport were almost completely empty. Almost, because he detected a quiet stalker, slowly weaving between baggage scanners before moseying into the interior of the last one in a row of a dozen, within what seemed like a forgotten corner of the once bustling security checkpoint. It definitely wasn’t human, as it moved on all fours with a lumbering gait and had a fuzzy tail. Coop was pretty sure that there was a chubby cat sneaking around the airport. Of course, Coop detoured to say hello.

Coop jogged over to the security checkpoint before slowing down and approaching the last x-ray scanning machine. He gently flipped the protective rubber cover away from the entrance to the little hideout in an effort to avoid scaring the resident. When he stuck his face in front of the opening to see the kitty, he jumped backwards as it stood up on its hindlegs, leaning backwards inside of its tunnel, against some abandoned luggage. It was trying to make itself seem larger and more intimidating, and let out a deep growl, followed by a bark and even more raspy growls.

“Whoa!” Coop reacted to the growls with surprise.

Coop was definitely mistaken. That was no cat. He shook his head and slid the rubber cover out of the way again, just enough to take another peek. Another look confirmed that the occupant was a raccoon that had made itself a den between discarded piles of clothes and torn suitcases that had been lodged in the machine. Coop used Presence of Mind while trying to sooth the startled occupant.

[Raccoon (Level 62)]

[Bandit Trickster (Mind)]

[Shadow]

“It’s alright, little guy.” Coop whispered, trying not to scare it any further. “I’ll make sure no one bothers your spot.” He promised. “Just be nice to the other residents, alright?”

The fact that the raccoon had already made itself comfortable inside the airport, right underneath the Empire’s noses, told Coop that it would probably be fine. The Chosen of the Empire were uncomfortable with Sunny having any levels at all, but this raccoon already overleveled the vast majority of people in Empress City. It must have been roaming around discreetly for quite a while because they certainly wouldn’t have allowed it to exist so deep within their territory.

Before leaving, Coop rearranged the line barriers, making a perimeter around the occupied luggage scanner so that the raccoon’s den wouldn’t be disturbed. He’d just trust the animal to keep on surviving, and he’d make sure the new people in charge understood Ghost Reef’s and now The Lighthouse’s stance on openly offering refuge to others, even to animals.

Coop hadn’t found any more signs of life in the airport so he was ready to leave it behind. Once he made it outside, he took stock of the crowds that had formed along the runways within the inner portion of the expansive settlement. There were definitely a lot of people. The prisoners were separated into groups that each accounted for far more people than all of Ghost Reef, including the phantoms, by themselves.

Commander Fabiana had organized the rebel army, giving them some more direction in the meantime, now that their primary purpose had been fulfilled and the Endless Empire was effectively defeated. The people who had been fighting the Empire weren’t a disciplined and coordinated group of professionals, but rather a volunteer army of aggrieved citizens. Coop wasn’t sure if they would even stay as a fighting force, but for now, they listened to the Commander of the revolution.

She displayed her leadership abilities, already getting them organized. Most were relieved from responsibilities, being granted a break after the fighting, while two groups remained on duty. They weren’t ready to celebrate a total victory, since there was still the unlikely, but non-zero threat of the Chosen of the Empire who had fled the airport regrouping and counter-attacking, and more importantly, the Sapphire Armada could still make an appearance, though if they were, they would be far too late to make any meaningful contributions to the status of the Empire. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to claim the civilization shard for themselves. The shards and the settlement territory they established were the real prize after all.

One group of rebels acted as guards, occupying the platforms on the inside of the walled ring, dutifully peering into the rest of the city from across the dirt filled debris fields on the outside. Their torches identified the perimeter through the haze, leaving a warm glow all the way around the horizon from the interior of the airport. The other group stood guard over lines of seated prisoners, making sure they didn’t try anything. That’s where he spotted Charlie, Camila, and Fabiana. Coop moved to join them.

As Coop approached, he overheard Camila laying down the law as Fabiana listened carefully. Apparently, he wouldn’t need to emphasize how he wanted to establish their territory as a sanctuary. Camila had been up to the task after the residents of Empress City received the notice that The Lighthouse had claimed the settlement.

Fabiana spotted Coop and greeted him first. “So, your lieutenants tell me you found a way to make a faction.” She remarked as he arrived. The rebels remained residents of Empress City, so they had received the notice that the faction had claimed the settlement. “Are we being enlisted?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. Coop caught the implication that it might be pretty hypocritical of him to take offense to her methods of revolution if he was just going to press them into his own force, but that was obviously not what he intended to do.

Coop shook his head. “No. We’re not making anyone join or anything like that.” He scratched his cheek, considering how to explain the situation with the Purification Chip. “It’s probably a good idea to stay in our territory, though. Basically, we were informed that the assimilation isn’t just a welcoming party for our planet joining the galactic community.” Fabiana scoffed at the idea of it being a party with all of the strife they had already gone through. “It’s also a test to see if we’re allowed to exist at all. Based on our technological development, we aren’t passing, and failure means eradication.”

Fabiana narrowed her eyes skeptically. “That sounds a bit unbelievable, even given aliens and their magic, and… well, everything else.”

Coop shrugged. “Marcus is getting Jackson up to speed and wants you to join. He’ll have to explain all the mana and system business anyway. They’re in a breakroom behind a wrecked captain’s lounge on the top floor, in the middle of the structure.”

“I know the place.” Fabiana scowled. “I was brought to see the Champion and his Viceroy once, right after they relocated the shard from the park to the airport. Figured that’s where we would need to finish them off back then.” She spat, having held a long grudge against the Empire since she had evidently been involved even before they claimed the shard.

“Are these people gonna be alright?” Coop wondered, gesturing between the guards and the surrendered prisoners.

“Miss Camila already made it clear there wouldn’t be any executions, though I don’t know how you expect us to keep them all placid.” She waved at the seated Chosen. “In case you didn’t notice; there’s still more of them than us. I expect them to feel brave over time, especially after you’re gone. You obviously don’t intend to stay.”

Coop pointed at the parking garages, with the prison tower hidden in the center. “Run them through the prison and let the warden do her thing. I bet there’s all sorts of features that the Empire wasn’t tapping into. I’m sure you can sort them out with the warden’s help.” Coop looked around at the Chosen, not particularly impressed by anything about them. “Really, if anyone wants to leave, you can just let them. Honestly, most of them have already fallen behind the monsters’ leveling curve, so they’re hardly a threat to us. Not to mention the ones that refused to fight in the first place shouldn’t become a threat. Maybe if you give them the choice to stay, they’ll be more inclined to play nice.”

Fabiana glanced at the prisoners and didn’t disagree. Without a mob at their backs, they were a pretty sad bunch. She called a few of the rebels over and started organizing groups to be taken to the prison before she headed into the airport herself.

“So, what do you think?” Coop asked the girls, just wanting their general thoughts on Empress City.

Camila was shaking her head. “Place is still a dump. It’s not even big enough to complete our bonus objective. Really didn’t think it could get more disappointing, but here we are.”

“It’s actually pretty close to 100k, but even if we combined both settlements we’d be short after the numbers settle, and that’s including the phantoms. Marcus was practically drooling as he imagined turning it into a city full of convenience though.” Coop pointed out. “He probably sees it as a blank canvas, a clean slate, where he can put all his idealistic ideas in place. I think he’s going to try to smooth over all of the hostilities by getting them to work together building it.” He shrugged again. “What about you, Charlie?”

Camila and Coop looked over at Charlie expectantly. While she was always quiet, she had been unusually timid ever since they started fighting on the mainland. Charlie was staring at her feet, letting her hair cover her face.

“Charlie? You alright?” Coop asked, realizing something was wrong when a single drop of water escaped her hair and landed in the dirt.

She finally looked up and her freckled face was stained with tears. She sniffled once before she shook her head, tousling her already messy hair. Camila was at her side even before Coop moved.

“Sorry.” Charlie mumbled. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“What happened?” Camila asked gently, though it seemed like she would immediately murder whatever upset Charlie, whether it was alive or not.

“We killed a lot of people.” She uttered quietly, as if saying it out loud made it more true. “I killed a lot of people.”

Coop nodded in understanding, slightly embarrassed by his self-centered reaction to the carnage that they all had a large part in. Of course he wasn’t the only one bothered by the violence, but he had been entirely focused on managing his own feelings.

“Today was the first time I killed anyone.” Charlie whispered before she choked back a sob. “It’s like it wasn’t real before. I wish I could go home, but there’s no going back.”

“Hey, it’s alright, Charlie. Things will get better.” Camila consoled her.

Coop sighed before he decided what to do. “Come on you two.” Coop ordered as he started walking away from the buildings, toward the city.

Camila had already started apologizing to Charlie, as she had been working hard during the entire assimilation to shield the mousy girl from the worst parts of the apocalypse. She paused to glare at Coop, as if he was being insensitive. “Where are you going?” She demanded.

“The three of us are gonna go back to that golf course and blow off some steam. I’ve been feeling completely out of sorts myself.” Coop encouraged them to follow. “I bet you two can finish that Slayer grind with all the growth you’ve had.” He directed them in the general direction where he remembered the main spawn of Primal Trackers to be. If he was lucky, he’d find the Field Boss too.

Camila was doubtful. “Doesn’t seem healthy.”

Coop put his palms out. “Probably not. But it’s kind of productive and it’ll be distracting.”

He grabbed the shoulder of one of the rebels and gave him an order as well. “Would you go find the Commander and Subcommander and let them know we went to a golf course that’s, uh,” Coop sort of pointed vaguely in the right direction. “It’s on a state road on the way out of the city.”

“The Halloway Club?” The man asked, then elaborated when Coop didn’t have an answer. “Sorta looks like an old European estate?”

“That’s the one.” Coop confirmed, remembering that it seemed like a villa, and impressed that the guy knew it.

“Nice. I used to be a member. Played the course regularly. You're gonna play a few rounds?” The man queried conversationally, as if the assimilation was a complete after thought.

“Something like that. It was full of monsters last time I was here.” Coop explained.

The man nodded. “I’ll let Commander Fabiana know.”

As the trio left the airport, Coop kept an eye out for more random people hiding out in the city. It had seemed desolate before, but he thought it had really been abandoned after the siege event tore through. It took a bit of weaving through neighborhoods before they found the correct road, but once they found it, they easily retraced the path that Buck had shown him in the first place.

They skipped the club house and headed straight for the first hole. Coop did the honors and destroyed the first pack after quickly inspecting them. They had continued to level, but were only in the lower 50s. It was a far cry from their status when they had their early Field Boss. They had been exceeding most other monsters’ level, turning the fairways of the golf course into an open air dungeon. Coop checked his notifications to confirm his quest credit.

[You defeated Primal Tracker (Level 55)]

[+57 Basic Credits]

[+1 Blight Fang (Uncommon)]

[Fortune Seeker (18/50)]

Coop didn’t think Fortune Seeker was actually meant to be completed. Wasn’t the requirement of defeating 50 unique regular monsters completely unreasonable? He couldn’t even imagine a reward that would make it worth it. Hopefully, he would complete it without going too far out of his way while he hunted monster variants for their Slayer quests.

Coop looked at the girls expectantly, then he pointed toward the first fairway, dimly lit by the moonlight after night had overcome the evening. “Have at it!” He was acting like he had brought them to an amusement park, and both of the girls had taken stances like teenagers that were too cool to have fun.

“Marcus is only gonna be busy for so long, then we’ll have to go back and get into all the boring administration stuff to make sure the two settlements are properly connected. That means you’re on a time limit to get your Slayer titles. Let’s see how badass you guys are now.” Coop tried encouraging them.

“Are you just going to watch?” Camila wondered skeptically, knowing Coop’s inclinations.

“Yep.” Coop confirmed. “Unless the Field Boss is back. I’ll take care of that. Everything else is up to you.”

Camila sighed, apparently giving in to Coop’s idea. “Alright.” She turned to Charlie. “You remember when we first fought these things?” She waited for Charlie to nod. “Let’s do the same thing, but I’m gonna group up a whole bunch of them. Put your storm in front of the green.”