Unchosen Champion

While Coop slowly waded through the shallow water on the way to the mana well, he basked in the feeling of adding another 10% boost to his Mind stat. When even the smaller physical increases of each level were noticeable, a huge jump in stats felt like breaking through a previously unknown threshold. Coop couldn’t stop himself from admiring the changes.

Coop was particularly in tune to the changes that occurred each time his stats increased, at least compared to other people, primarily because of the physicality of his routine and the emphasis he was placing directly on growing his attributes. Even he couldn’t notice physical changes to his body, though. The stats only appeared to change them slightly before tapering off, like Body making the elderly appear a decade or two younger, and Strength slightly improving physical appearances. He was pretty sure the actual physical changes to his body had been maxed out when he first received the Champion title bonus.

The elderly weren’t able to return to their twenties and no one was hulking out beyond what was possible even without mana. Only the effect of each stat continued to progress after the initial investments, so he could still enjoy feeling stronger or faster. He knew Charlie and Madison wouldn’t notice mental changes in the same way. They normally enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles together, but the effect of continuing to invest in Intelligence and Acumen were improvements to Magic Power and Magic Speed, neither of which humans would have a good way of measuring. Strength and Agility increased Physical Power and Physical Speed, both of which were easy enough to test.

While he squeezed his shoulder blades together, still enjoying the Physical Power added by his Strength stat growing, he reflected on the dangers of interacting with the settlement’s clothier. Erasimus had truly delivered in crafting something spectacular, that Coop would find impossible to pass up. However, after the expert salesman had Coop hook, line, and sinker, he reminded the young Champion that there was a cost for his services.

As a result, Coop’s inventory was 350,000 basic credits lighter. The bonus that his new under armor provided was absolutely worth the price, but when he considered some of the services he had purchased with even cheaper price tags, the experience left him shaking his head. He doubted he would have commissioned something that could result in such a hefty fee, so Coop was glad Erasimus had bamboozled him the way he had. Otherwise, Coop would have missed out on such powerful equipment. Still, it was pretty expensive.

His Spectral-Infused Under Armor was a huge step forward for his progression and he didn’t intend to go anywhere without it. Erasimus had explained that, while it had durability, it wouldn’t break down when he took damage because it didn’t apply anything directly to his actual defensive values. Equipment that didn’t need much maintenance was perfect for Coop, since it wouldn’t become a burden when compared to his uncomplicated ethereal summons.

More importantly, because the under armor was fashioned with a specific mana-weave that was dependent on spectral affinity mana, like what he had empowered the settlement with, it would naturally regenerate while inside Ghost Reef’s territory. It had its own limited form of Regenerative Durability. That also meant that he could repair it himself, using his own mana pool, if it became necessary. Basically, there was no reason to expect to lose the under armor anytime in the future. Coop felt safe considering the stat boost it provided as a permanent buff alongside his title bonuses.

The additional 10% bonus added with his Siegebreaker’s 10% bonus, giving him 20% more Mind. It wasn’t multiplicative, but two additive boosts weren’t enough for Coop to rule out the possibility of multiplying his attributes further.

For now, it was like every level gave him an additional point over the default five. Gaining so many stats at once was exciting, but he had to remember that he was still competing with skill multipliers in other builds.

As Coop put some distance between himself and the shore, making his way toward the mana well, he took a deep breath and looked forward. The mana well represented another opportunity to grow, one that wouldn’t be inherently limited in the same way that completing the Slayer quest chains was. Afterall, there were a finite number of individual monster variants out there for him to grind before the quests ran out. An alternative way to progress was always something he had to keep an eye out for, at least if he wanted to avoid globetrotting for the rest of the assimilation. He had some high hopes for the Coral Forest in becoming that alternative.

After a few minutes of wading, the water was up to his thighs, slightly cooler than the afternoon air, but still as warm as a bath. The light breeze left the waves calm, and the bright sun made the water clear enough to watch every steady step that he took as he planted his feet on the patterns created by the flow of waves on the submerged sand. Seagulls made a racket as they flew around the island in small flocks, but otherwise, the area was quiet enough to be used as one of those sleep aid recordings from the before times. The calm ambience was only interrupted by each of his own sloshing steps.

Coop summoned his ethereal armor along with his three-pronged trident, watching as the ghostly wisps emanated from the solidified equipment.