Unchosen Champion

“Is he gonna be alright?” Marcus vocalized what the majority of Ghost Reef’s advisors were silently wondering.

“Maybe we started leaning on him too much.” Shane suggested quietly. “Between the Endless Empire and the Sapphire Armada, how many people did he have to kill? We know he was in an uncomfortable spot using his strength like that.” The battle commander fixed his hair as he worried. “If he had ever been fine with killing people, I can guarantee that we would be dead given the circumstances around our arrival.” He looked at Arthur who simply nodded, agreeing with his assessment.

Given Kevin the Hammer’s attempt to take the shard, cursing Jones in the process, Shane’s entire party could have been seen as guilty by association by anyone less generous than Coop, which, realistically, would be just about any other Champion in the world. They were all lucky, in their own ways.

Marcus rubbed his chin. “I bet we could find a therapist among the new residents, maybe get him to talk about it.”

“You guys haven’t been paying attention.” Camila interrupted, sounding a bit frustrating at them for vocalizing their doubts around Coop. “Grinding is basically therapy for Coop, he’ll be fine. Just give him a chance to organize his thoughts.” She suggested. “I’d be more worried if he was moping around again; that’s when we should worry. Instead, he’s working hard to get stronger for all of our sakes. I think he’s shouldering the responsibility really well, considering everything. If anything, he’s grown a lot at this point.”

Charlie frowned as she thought about how the last week had played out. Charlie thought it felt like the assimilation had strapped them all into an unpredictable rollercoaster. Maybe after the last few events Ghost Reef had crested one of the peaks, and was in for more rapid changes. They’d really been having a smooth ride compared to what others appeared to have been experiencing, outside of the siege event, of course. If anything, she agreed with Camila. Coop was keeping everything together far better than she could have. In Empress City, she was the one that had him worried.

In the distance, her mother’s angel wings lit up as she visited one of the camps nearest to where the Ancient Prowlers spawned. Apparently, some of the Sapphire Armada’s soldiers needed to personally discover why the area was restricted at night, but they were strong enough to avoid casualties as long as they disengaged from the monster zone. Madison was healing their injuries.

After the invaders had thrown down their weapons and Coop returned from defeating the Sapphire Armada’s Champion, letting them all know what he thought needed to be done, he had immediately gone off on another grind session. Coop’s Fog of War had engulfed the entirety of the western reef, blanketing the sandbars in a thicker mist than normal. Charlie and Camila wouldn’t have been able to join him to rate his spear throws since their vision wouldn’t extend more than a few feet from within the fog, even if they had the time beyond their own responsibilities. Coop’s intimidating domain spoke to the fact that the Champion was seeking some time alone. If it wasn’t for the occasional spear flying into the sky, they wouldn’t have had any proof that he was even inside.

After the first day, the domain simply dissipated. For a few hours the settlement was in a silent panic because Coop hadn’t returned to the fort and wasn’t in the lighthouse. It wasn’t until the phantoms found the interior of the Mangrove Forest completely engulfed in another massive Fog of War that they figured out he had simply migrated his grind spot to the next logical place. They pieced together that he had completed the Primal Kite’s Slayer quest chain and had moved on to the next set of quests that he had in his sights. That he hadn’t even stopped to eat in the Clumsy Shark in between sessions was yet another peculiar move from the Champion that had the advisors collectively grow more worried.

Charlie scratched Sunny’s ears as she looked around at the others’ faces. They were clearly just as concerned as she was about Coop’s behavior. It wasn’t that it was unusual for him to become immersed in grinding monsters, but the fact that he hadn’t stopped to eat or sleep for multiple days even after multiple grueling battles was atypical. The residents had followed his lead, establishing comfortable routines that provided solace and stability in an unknown future, but now Coop was breaking his own patterns.

After Coop had dropped Hali off, introducing her as the Armada’s leader, and expressed the need to complete multiple tasks at once, necessitating them splitting up, he had marched right off the beach, out into the ocean, and jumped back into combat. He was close enough to step in if the Sapphire Armada’s former army got any ideas, but the fog isolated him while everyone else made their preparations, and really, the fog itself was enough to prevent the soldiers from trying anything. She knew the last minute grinding was Coop’s way of preparing for his own trip, but even she expected him to take some leisure time first. Especially when they considered that he would most likely be kept busy whenever he went on his expedition.

Charlie stood among the ramparts with Marcus, Shane, Arthur, and Camila. Beneath them, the surrendered troops extended along the main trail starting beyond the moat outside the southern gate of the fortress, extending to Coop’s lighthouse and beyond, to the next island. They had set up camps that were observed by pairs of phantoms. Luckily, the outsiders had behaved themselves so far, apparently making an effort to prove they would cooperate in a bid to be given permission to stay. Unfortunately for them, Coop had already decided they wouldn’t be allowed to remain on the island. Coop didn’t make many firm declarations in general. It wasn’t really his leadership style, but the fact that the Sapphire Armada’s people weren’t welcome had been one, and Ghost Reef’s residents respected him enough to go along with just about anything he was that obstinate about.