Chapter 12: Primal Kites
Coop left the fort motivated to expand his horizons. He had decided to check the next island in the Ghost Reef chain. While he hadn’t explored the mangrove forest at all yet, he was a bit scared of heading in there. The thick muck combined with the tangled mangrove roots would make any movement a real challenge, especially in a fight. He would need to adapt a new combat style before setting foot in the mangroves. Coop didn’t feel ready for such a challenge yet.
Instead he would head to the eastern beach, the one that he hadn’t visited a single time since mana was introduced to the system. All his battles had been up and down the west beach or between the lighthouse and the fort, so he wasn’t sure what he’d find. Across a shallow channel from the eastern beach was the next island in the chain. During the highest tides the water between the islands would only reach Coop’s waist, so he could easily wade across.
As he left the fort behind, he glanced toward the Mana Well that had carved itself into the ocean off the west coast. Coop judged that it had graduated from a sinkhole to a canyon at this point. He hoped it wouldn’t continue to expand. Even though it looked to be more than a mile, maybe even two miles offshore, he was a tiny bit worried that it would swallow the island if it grew indefinitely.
He took a fork in the trail that cut across the dunes and led to the eastern beach. The scrubgrasses were the main feature on most of the interior of the island. He didn’t spot any monsters among the grasses. The flat open areas were roamed by the local sandpipers who flew in short bursts only inches off the ground. They were joined by the land crabs that never seemed to leave the entrances of their holes, where they stood waving a single claw at each other. He wasn’t sure if they meant to be threatening or inviting. He was just glad none of them were bear-sized.
Coop thought calling his destination the eastern beach was a bit of a misnomer. It really faced more south than east, unlike the west beach that was on the west side and faced west. It didn’t help his sense of direction that Rock Key wasn’t so considerate to just be an obvious geometric shape. If the lighthouse wasn’t visible from every corner of the island, he would probably manage to get lost.
The western beach itself was pristine. It was a wide, picturesque white beach with the calmest waves on the island. It was backed by evenly spaced palm trees and framed by the mangroves on one end and the rocky point that held the lighthouse on the other. All Coop needed was a lounge chair and a piña colada with a tiny umbrella and he might be willing to abandon his ambitions of defeating monsters in favor of enjoying an extended vacation.
With a deep sigh, Coop waded into the water, heading toward the next island. The beach itself was already outside of the settlement territory, but there didn’t seem to be any enemies gathering strength anywhere in its vicinity. It was even more peaceful than the eastern beach.
Halfway across the channel, the warm waters reached just above Coop’s knees. It was too shallow to properly swim and it was too deep to highstep, forcing him to just drag his tired legs through.
Coop didn’t have time to gripe before something large breached the surface of the water with enough energy to splash Coop, 20 yards away. Coop summoned his shield and raised it to protect his upper body while keeping an eye on the water in his vicinity, afraid of what might still be swimming as much as whatever leapt out of the water.
His large round shield blocked water and sand that had been thrown in the air. Coop spotted what had been hiding under the sand as it hovered above the surface. He quickly identified it.
[Primal Kite (Level 10)]
A new monster. Coop was surprised at the level jump between the Defenders and this thing. He didn’t have time to worry about whether he skipped something when a pulse of energy slammed into his shield. The attack had enough power to force Coop a step backward, but his shield protected him from any damage.