Chapter 8: Haunted
Coop had two new titles that came out of nowhere. He had missed one notification for the Haunted title, as he got it when he unlocked his affinity, and he had received the Ethereal title after choosing his skills. He didn’t expect titles to be given out so freely by the system. When he first saw them, he imagined them to be exclusive rewards for major achievements like claiming the settlement. He wouldn’t complain, but it made him a little worried about what other people were accumulating.
The description for the Haunted title didn’t provide much clarity for Coop. It indicated that he would be more ‘in tune’ with spectral entities and it would have some effect on his aura. Other than the aura skill that he didn’t take, he still had no clue about these auras. He suspected that they would come into play in the future, since he had now seen them mentioned more than once, but for now he would try not to worry about them.
However, the other half of the title description did worry him. It basically confirmed that ghosts were real. Had they always been real or were they another consequence of adding mana to the system? Either way, he wasn’t sure being ‘in tune’ with them was a benefit at all. He wasn’t sure he would be sleeping as comfortably inside the centuries old fort thanks to this title.
On the other hand, the Ethereal title was pure gravy. It was a reward for taking the full set of ethereal skills offered by his class. The combination of Retribution, the ethereal weapon skill, and Salvation, the ethereal armor skill, awarded it. The title indicated that it would prevent the summoned armor and weapon from being unwillingly separated. Coop would need to experiment with his new skills, but he was already having fantasies about calling summoned weapons like Thor’s hammer.
Coop nodded to himself as he returned to the mess hall. He had no complaints about his Revenant class choice. All of the skills had already delivered even more than he dared hope for. Even the skills he was the least sure about were already showing promise.
He had been selecting his class and skills all night. The dawn light was reflected in the clouds above the towering walls of the fort. He would have liked to watch the sunrise over the ocean this morning, but he’d have to skip it today. Coop consoled himself, confident that the future held plenty more to see.
Jones was in the kitchen of the mess hall, cooking breakfast. He and Coop were still settling into some semblance of a routine. Many of the regular everyday activities had been rendered optional with the introduction of mana. They could go longer periods without sleeping, and they weren’t sure if eating and drinking were necessary at all anymore, though they were still taking the time to eat a meal everyday. After going without electricity for almost a week, many of the perishable items were already spoiled or on the verge of going bad. The coolers they were keeping them in only kept the tropical heat at bay for so long.
They wouldn’t run out of food despite the lack of refrigeration. The island was always stocked with plenty of nonperishable foods and had plenty of natural resources. They were prepared for the possibility of an interruption to their deliveries in the event of a hurricane before mana had come into the picture, and now they needed to eat even less. Jones had tried to not let any of the food go to waste regardless, and he wanted to figure out how to make foods that provided tangible benefits. He hadn’t been successful so far. Coop suspected it was due to the ingredients being from before mana became a factor.
When Jones entered the mess hall from the kitchen, both he and Coop froze. Coop had a weird feeling of heaviness tickle the back of his brain that made him squint at Jones, and Jones had beads of sweat form on his forehead as he stared, wide-eyed, back at Coop. After only a brief moment, the feeling dispersed.
“Did something just happen?” Coop wondered.