Unchosen Champion

Coop launched a heavy spear into the air and counted silently while it flew toward the sky, shrinking with the distance until it seemed like nothing more than a matchstick. He had already returned to the Primal Kite grind, happy to keep it going now that he had a decent way to hunt the monsters. After Balor bailed on his tour, he had the rest of the day free, so he settled onto the sandbar when it was still early in the afternoon. This time, he only had an audience of one human observing his throws.

“Hm. That one was far too long.” Jones pointed out from a half submerged lounge chair, taking the role of judge from the pair of girls. Despite living on a tropical island, it was the first time Coop had seen the old man get his feet wet.

“I know, I couldn’t help myself that time.” Coop admitted. It was hard to find the right balance of arc and weight with all of the varying distances, and sometimes he just wanted to let it rip. Finesse wasn’t exactly Coop’s primary focus. Most of the time he was forcing himself to be as strong or as fast as possible to match up with ever increasing threats. It was a weakness that Ledwidge had already identified for him. "It was still pretty close.” He argued, knowing that he could have launched the spear even higher if he let himself.

Charlie and Camila were busy with other tasks, and couldn’t lend their expert eyes and fastidious scoring criteria to Coop’s grind. Jones’s patient and much gentler guidance was filling the absence. The girls were busy recruiting for the faction. Camila was given the job of reviewing applications as the first member, after Coop had promoted her to an Officer position. Her first order of business was recruiting Elder Olani to be the sleuth that the old gossip was born to be.

The faction had default ranks to begin with, including Chosen, but that was reserved for sponsorships. The ones who were joining were simply Initiates for a trial period until they became Members. Coop was the Founder. The ranks could be changed, with roles designated and responsibilities altered, but they would worry about that before the real faction was formed. Every few minutes, Coop received a notification letting him know that another of their residents had become an Initiate of The Lighthouse. It seemed like everyone who was factionless was finding an official home, in the eyes of the system. They were welcome to stay factionless residents of Ghost Reef if they so desired.

The old man had joined Coop in the shallows, planning on catching up on all the details of the happenings around the island chain while he was in his curse induced coma. The fort’s guided tour was temporarily put on hold until Balor was ready for it to resume, but Jones only needed a passing glance to see what the problems were. The senior caretaker was much more optimistic about the fort’s prognosis when compared to the alien contractor.

Coop cast Legacy of the Mists and a shirtless spearman with a smooth conical helmet leapt from the mists a quarter of a mile in the distance, near the edge of his Fog of War domain, demolishing a Primal Kite when it attempted to ambush the intruder. Sand and water cascaded around the phantom as it assessed the damage.

“Sumerian.” Jones observed, somehow recognizing the equipment of the spearman, even in the distant shallows, like the old archaeologist was participating in some kind of gameshow. The spearman disappeared while Coop’s heavy ethereal spear solidified in his hand after wrecking his own target.

An agitated meow brought Jones’s attention back to Jett, who was cradled in his lap, waiting for the pets that had paused when he spotted another historical phantasm.

“Whoops, sorry little lady.” Jones apologized kindly as he rubbed his finger and thumb in front of both her ears. She shut her eyes in contentment, flattening her ears to help him reach the best spots. The real island reunion had finally taken place when the senior lighthouse keeper noticed her peer walking through the settlement. It still boggled Coop’s mind that the pair had been on the island for something like 25 years together.

“Are you sure I don’t need to join the faction?” Jones reiterated, not for the first time. He was still a member of Collegia Universal, his original sponsor.

“You heard the lady. It’s all about the territory and the mana inside it.” Coop threw his spear again, targeting a Kite that had spawned a bit closer to the center of the sand bar. He grunted with the effort of trying to get the perfect arc, enough strength to launch the heavy weapon, but not too much to overdo it.