Unchosen Champion

Coop woke up before dawn with Jett nestled under one arm. He was grateful she let him keep the pillow this time. Coop gently scooted her over before he jumped out of bed. He was filled with motivation this morning. There was only one more day before the leaderboards appeared and he had discovered a new ridiculous skill that he wanted to master as soon as possible.

He washed his face and moved up to the top of the fort for his morning jog and stretching session. He filled his lungs as he admired the sunrise. Despite the changes, Ghost Reef was undeniably still a paradise. The waves of the aquamarine ocean sparkled with reflections of the morning sunlight.

As Coop ate his oatmeal he considered a few things. Now that the plan for his class and build had culminated into the Revenant class he felt like he should start on a new aspirational plan. His personal goal was simple, but vague. His parents had left him with a decent life philosophy to be kind and help others and he would strive to honor that legacy.

He had articulated it to Balor as wanting to survive and to do so by defeating the Primal Constructs, but when he truly considered it, survival wasn’t really the best word to describe his goal. Really, his goal, or his desire, was to win. Of course, survival would be the primary condition, but winning might be a slightly different thing.

He had been slighted by the factions of the universe when none deemed him worthy of a sponsorship offer. As petty as his motivations might be, the Primal Constructs weren’t the only faction that needed defeating. Besides, wouldn’t there be other factions vying for control of the planet at the expense of humanity?

It was too early to start philosophizing on the nature of proxy competition between alien factions within the galactic community. He chuckled as he gave up and returned to what he did know and what he thought should be his aspirational goals.

The leaderboards would become available on Day 10. There were leaderboards for individuals and for settlements. Wouldn’t it be fun for the factionless to be at the top? Coop shook his head, reveling in his general lack of responsibilities beyond his own personal ones. At least he could leverage his gathered strength to offer a helping hand to those who needed it. He might not be truly noble, but he could still do some good.

As he exited the fort to test his new ‘mistjump’ on the familiar Ancient Defenders he kept his train of thought on the leaderboards. They would be the best source of intelligence on the rest of the planet while they were isolated on their island.

The factions’ influence would be limited by time. People would rapidly gain levels while at faction training facilities and boot camps until a maximum of Day 30. Once those boosted people returned, Coop was willing to bet that a significant number of them would not be prepared or dedicated enough for a continued grind. He predicted that many would be lazy about continuing to gain levels, especially if they started with a huge head start.

Coop could play the tortoise to their hares.

He tried to imagine a person being power leveled for a month and then being given a quest to kill thousands of the same mob after being titled ‘Chosen’. He laughed to himself as he drove an ethereal sword through the armored body of an Ancient Defender. He would switch to the spear and start ‘ghostwalking’ once his mana fully recovered from casting Salvation.

Would it be faster to hunt stronger monsters? Coop thought the answer wouldn’t be a clear yes or no. However, he was absolutely certain that constantly hunting stronger monsters would be more dangerous, even deadly. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.