Chapter 30: Ethereal Swordsmanship
It was already morning again and Coop was still on the zombie infested oil rig. Time just flew by while hunting zombies. Coop had spent the second night clearing the third floor of the platform and was getting ready to start on the fourth. He was mentally regrouping before venturing further.
The first floor had held 40 elite zombies that were between levels 20 and 25. The second floor also held 40 elite zombies, but they were between levels 25 and 30 and they also had around 50 normal zombies accompanying them. Coop’s quest progress had started to slow a bit with the addition of the normal zombies.
The third floor interrupted the pattern of escalating levels. There were 40 elite zombies that were between levels 25 and 30 and every one of them was joined by two normal zombies. The extra monsters were nothing but an annoyance, but they usually bought the elite zombies enough time to cancel out Coop’s rapid assault strategy giving them a better chance to fight back. Every engagement was taking him longer to complete. A small benefit was that he was getting a lot more sword practice thanks to the extended fights.
It seemed like he would finish his quest to defeat 200 of the elites after the fifth floor, assuming he kept finding the same number of them each time. His goal of finishing in two days now seemed slightly too ambitious. He couldn't complain very much, as long as he didn’t get left behind. He trusted the girls to make sure that didn’t happen.
He had also wasted some time after entering the third floor. He cleared a portion of the buildings before descending back down to the second floor hoping to take a break in the middle of the night. He kept his break brief because he realized his quest progress was lagging behind his goal, he didn’t want to dally. When he returned to the third floor he found the areas that he had cleared had new zombies in them. It was an unwelcome surprise.
The zombies could respawn after all, but only if he went down instead of up. He wouldn’t be able to return to the ship without resetting the entire oil platform. The worst part about his discovery was that the new zombies didn’t contribute to his quest, even if they were elites. Coop couldn’t go down any floors without risking respawns that would just waste his limited time.
Coop was taking another break at the edge of the platform on the freshly emptied third floor, letting the ocean breeze wash over him. He leaned over the railing and confirmed that the ship was still there. They hadn't left him stranded just yet. He was too high above the ship to yell for their attention. Even if he knew how to do those ridiculously loud whistles, he wouldn’t be able to communicate anything to them. If he whistled and started waving he had no idea how they would interpret it. They might decide he was telling them to escape and actually leave him behind, so he just watched for a little while.
He could see that they had split into three groups. The Honorguard and Outrider couple leaned against the railing on the bow, the Puppeteer and three members of Charlie’s party were seated around a barrel on the main deck, and Charlie and Camila were sparring together at the rear of the ship. Coop would have been itching to get something done after two nights and one day of waiting around on a boat, but it seemed like everyone was patiently biding their time.
Charlie was practicing with her wind abilities while Camila dodged around her. All of Charlie’s spells had delays, but she was able to precast certain things and let them fizzle harmlessly if they became unneeded. She could start a gust of wind and just have it circle until direct action was necessary. Sailing the ship had given her a lot of insight on controlling winds for an extended period of time.
Meanwhile, Camila was dodging invisible attacks without using her skills. He had no idea how she was detecting the gusts of wind. He supposed it was possible she was just dodging unpredictably to give Charlie a challenge.
The Puppeteer and the three stooges were just hanging around on the main deck, huddled near each other in what must have been a private conversation. They weren’t even playing cards or anything. Coop at least appreciated they hadn’t tried to leave.
Coop reviewed the night’s notifications, knowing his personal progress had continued to explode even if his quest progress was falling slightly below his expectations. He was getting plenty of experience from the regular zombies that had joined the elites. They were higher level than even the Prowlers back home.