Chapter 69: The Alpine Flower
Coop offloaded thousands of materials to be distributed among the crafters by the Master Blacksmith, Garod. The diminutive smith had already taken on the role of foreman of the crafters, so he was getting some extra responsibilities. Coop dropped off more than half of his Blight Fangs and Jagged Metal Teeth, the Uncommon drops from Ancient Prowlers and Primal Trackers. Unfortunately, the Ancient Defenders never dropped any materials and he hadn’t accumulated many from the Primal Kites and Ruin Excavators yet.
Still, he left Garod in a daze after leaving nearly eight thousand of the two Uncommon materials he had the most of. It was more than enough for everyone in the settlement to be fully equipped with uncommon gear. Even after dumping as many as he had, Coop kept thousands of both Fangs and Teeth in his spatial storage in case he needed them later, and if he really needed them he could always grind more.
Scavenging may have been a pretty simple profession, but combined with Coop’s grinding, it was extremely rewarding. He imagined that someone else with the same profession would not be quite as satisfied after they defeated 25 monsters. If they wanted to maximize their income, they would probably focus on actually scavenging abandoned locations rather than hunting monsters. That’s why the materials that Coop had accumulated were a rarity. He hadn’t met any other scavengers either.
He carried Jett down the main street, heading back to the lighthouse for the night. He noted that guards had already been posted at the entrances to the interior of the fort, preventing people from stumbling into the Ruin Excavators that could be respawning in the basement.
Coop figured the Ruin Excavators would function the same way the Primal Trackers had when he cleared them out of Peacock Park. They would respawn and slowly reoccupy the areas nearest to their spawn point, waiting to expand until they reached a certain threshold of monsters that he and Jett wouldn’t allow them to keep. The Ruin Excavators would be stuck inside the hive with Felrog the Field Boss, until he could take care of that as well.
Outside the fort, Coop was surprised to find people scattered up and down the beach, as late at night as it was. It had seemed like most people kept inside the fort during their free time, with only a few patrols maintaining the trails, but he spotted soldiers and regular residents alike.
The Cleary Brothers were the nearest, helping an elderly couple team up against lone Ancient Defenders on the dunes close to the moat. He inspected Buck and the elderly man that was joining him in beating up a Defender.
[Human (Level 25)]
[Warbuster (Body)]
[Chosen of the Alliance of Metal]
[Metallic]
[Human (Level 6)]