Chapter 36: The Last Tour
Coop had grown to love being the junior caretaker of Ghost Reef, but dream job or not, that wasn’t his role anymore. Instead, he was now Champion of Ghost Reef and the responsibilities had evolved along with the title. In a way, becoming Champion resembled a significant promotion even without an appropriate pay raise. He was working hard to set the settlement up for success in the long term future, just like he had planned for his class.
Coop thought it was amazing how much had changed in the last three weeks. Of course, it had all started with meteors unleashing mana on Earth, so maybe it wasn’t all that amazing. It was actually pretty reasonable to expect a cataclysmic event to cause some significant changes.
The changes hadn’t only been external to Coop, he had personally changed quite a bit as well. Ignoring actual magic, he had finally let go of his avoidance behaviors when it came to the guilt he felt over his parents’ deaths. He wasn’t the hollow, unattached person he had been when he was afraid to exist without distraction. His parents had been kind and helpful and Coop was ready to carry that legacy into the harsh new system as much as he could.
He wasn’t afraid to credit Ghost Reef itself for giving him the opportunity to sort himself out. The drastic change in scenery, to that of a tropical island paradise, had given him a chance to appreciate plenty of little things again. His mana affinity pushed him beyond the threshold to finally be willing to reflect on himself without fear.
He had not only become personally invested in the well-being of other people, like Jones, Charlie, and Camila, but he also cared for the settlement as a whole. Ghost Reef had other residents that he wanted to provide a haven for. Some of them were contracted through the system, like Balor, Desmond, and Maeve, and others had arrived as refugees. Olani and her grandkids had washed up on a flimsy raft and he was glad to welcome them. He hoped others would make it to the sanctuary that they were building together.
Then there were others who may not even count as residents even though they had been on the island before he was. Coop wanted to offer them the same protection anyway. The burrowing owls, sea turtles, and unaccounted for swimming pigs all deserved protection from the invaders. The reef itself was worth defending. They were all going through the same assimilation together and none of them had asked for it.
Of course, mana itself had wrought the most obvious personal changes. Coop had strength, speed, and durability like he never imagined, and he had set himself up to snowball even further. He had actual magical powers that allowed him to summon ethereal weapons and armor, and he could detect and read mana auras. He needed to develop his powers to the best of his ability so that he could build and keep Ghost Reef a safe haven.
He cast Retribution and summoned his ethereal spear, watching as misty vapors appeared, thickened, and became a tangible weapon. Then he dismissed it, returning it to mist that dissipated in the night air. He was repeatedly summoning his weapon to advance one of his passive skills. Practical Application reduced the mana cost of abilities as he used them, so he periodically conjured a weapon to improve his efficiency. Eventually, he hoped to have his abilities be completely free of cost.
Coop watched the dark water of the ocean, extending to the horizon in all directions, as the ship cruised back to the island chain. He reflected on how he had carefully selected his class and skills, and how they had exceeded his wildest dreams. It was an early gamble to withhold his attribute points until he had a class, but it had paid off delightfully. He had effectively tripled the value of those first five levels by delaying his allocation. He couldn’t credit his wisdom, though, he had to admit it was pure luck that it had worked out.
His Revenant class was the real standout. The description had promised to provide necessary flexibility in order to achieve singular goals. The class had absolutely delivered so far. Coop couldn’t wait to get more skills and expand his class’s options. He had no regrets about choosing to become a Revenant. He certainly wouldn’t trade it for any of the other classes he had come across so far.
Ghost Reef had supplied him with opportunities to grow beyond what the factions seemed capable of. He had a variety of monsters to fight in a relatively dense area, and he hadn’t even explored the rest of the chain of islands. Exploring should certainly be near the top of his to do list. He would be able to better plan his leveling if he had a proper assessment of the nearby monsters.
Camila and Charlie had told him about the monsters they found on the mainland, and Coop found the news disappointing. There had only been one monster type anywhere inside and around the city. Coop had already found almost half a dozen variations around the main island alone, and that wasn’t counting what was waiting inside the nearby Coral Forest Mana Well. He’d still make the trip to the mainland to try and complete another invader quest chain, but for now he wasn’t done with his starting area.