Unchosen Champion

Coop leapt from the deck of Windchaser and landed in the clear shallow waters off the shore of Belize. A pair of needlefish fled with the waves to escape his sudden presence, but he paid them no mind. He was focused on the shoreline as he pushed through the water until he was stepping through the edge of a thick treeline. He did his best to be swift, but a few days at sea had left his legs a bit wobbly. Still, other than the fish and a group of unchosen olive-throated parakeets, who chirped at him for his disturbance from their perches in the leafy canopy, he went unnoticed.

Since Coop wanted to remain circumspect for his initial investigation of the Yucatan settlement, he had requested a destination that was well outside of the civilization shard’s territory. The pirates were extremely familiar with the area, as it had been a major haven for buccaneers who set up camps while plundering Spanish settlements all along the coast. The nearby atolls and reefs had proven invaluable for those trying to avoid capture by the colonial powers.

The area wasn’t actually the stomping grounds of the Tempest Fleet specifically, but they had awareness of The Baymen who were the local pirate authority of the time and recognized the area despite the centuries that had passed since their last visit. Coop had the impression that even though it wasn’t the Tempest Fleet’s turf, the pirates of the period were more fluid with their movements. Crews were also less static than he imagined, swapping ships and disembarking whenever a location met their fancy. It was rare to have as loyal a following as Kayla did, but even the Tempest Fleet was adding new faces to replace those who sought what could essentially be seen as a vacation.

The pirates chose to take Coop to the north of Belize, near the border of Mexico, where a protected bay had been a frequent protected stopping point for various crews. They had selected a known neutral location that pirates had used to trade and recruit back in the day. Coop disembarked by himself, leaving Mikey B and Amanda with Sharkbait as they quietly drifted away from the shore. Coop would give them a signal using his ethereal spear once he determined that Corozal would be a safe enough place for the ship to make port. The plan was for them to make a temporary camp before committing to the location to get a feel for the area and its monsters. If it was suitable, they would begin a taxi service, much like what Empress City and Neptune’s Bridge would be receiving, connecting the outpost to the network of territories centered around Ghost Reef. Rather than simply waiting for Coop, the support group would busy themselves by coordinating with the rest of the fleet and relaying messages back to the main settlement regarding the status of the newly claimed territory.

By Amanda’s calculations, Corozal would be over 200 miles away from where she detected the civilization shard. If necessary, they could cut that distance in half by moving to the southern tip of Belize, but Coop preferred to err on the safer side that avoided premature detection. Even though he knew he was signing himself up for a challenging journey through mountainous jungle, they were also looking for a decent place to establish a permanent outpost.

He had only kept a single mana pylon for himself, and even though they could construct additional pylons back home, he didn’t have any inclination to waste one by placing it too close to another growing settlement. Corozal was in a middle point that he considered distant enough from the Yucatan shard to be safe from interference: far enough to have time to establish itself before the larger settlement expanded, but close enough to serve as a launching point for his expeditions. If they ended up with more mana pylons, Cancun would be next, allowing Ghost Reef to take the Yucatan peninsula away from the Yucatan settlement, giving his island settlement a foothold on another landmass should they desire it.

Coop watched as Windchaser headed back into the Corozal Bay, standing among thick mangroves at the edge of what was really only a small town before the assimilation. He cracked his neck, shook his shoulders, and readied himself for combat before slipping deeper among the leaves. Invaders, high level animals, enemy Chosen, he’d face them as they came, one fight at a time. With a brief nod to himself, he started traversing through the stubby mangrove coastline, keeping his eyes open, listening for anything out of place in the jungle ambience. Realistically, his regular senses wouldn’t be able to compare with Presence of Mind, but he watched all the same.

Casting Invocation, his ethereal sword and shield manifested in his hands with haste that greatly exceeded his previous experience. He took a second to admire the responsiveness of the mists as they hardened into his familiar equipment. When Invocation had merged Retribution and Salvation, it also improved their abilities to summon weapons and armor. His equipment felt more robust, and he had to wonder if they had increased stats after his last skill upgrade. They already scaled with his personal growth, but there was no rule that said they couldn’t improve themselves as well. To have them also push forward, better taking advantage of his stats, would compound the benefits of all of his new Slayer titles. After the Sapphire Armada presented a surprising challenge to his own progress, he welcomed any opportunities to leap forward yet again.

It was only around 300 hundred feet before he would arrive at the dirt road that encompassed the perimeter of the town, but the vegetation would make it a challenge to travel directly. His shorter ethereal sword would be preferable for the time being, compared to most of his polearms, though he doubted anything would be waiting in the short section of forest that he would pass through. The thin strip he was cutting through would certainly minimize the opportunity for a chance encounter.

He was forced to duck and sidestep long branches that struggled to elevate their leaves, reaching for sunlight or rooting into the leafy dirt ground. He considered using his sword like a machete, clearing a path, but decided to take his time, staying relatively quiet until he became familiar with the potential enemies of the region. For all he knew, his next Slayer title target would already be nearby.