Unchosen Champion

Coop was feeling pretty proud of himself. He had successfully made some new friends, in spite of a rough start, and their strength was definitely impressive. They were already leading him through the jungle on yet another hike, but this time he had been assured that they would take him to the stronghold of a High Priest.

Upon landing in Belize, Coop had suspected that he would need to make a spectacle of himself in order to get the attention of the Cult of Chakyum. That way he wouldn’t need to search them up himself since they would come to him, but he wanted to delay enacting that plan until he had a better lay of the land and understanding of the scene. He figured carving his way through monsters would be a good way to get noticed, but meeting with local guides like this was much better. Finding friends that could guide him to the cultists was a win-win.

It seemed like most of his initial encounters with others started off a bit rocky, with people being suspicious at the minimum and leaning toward hostility as a default. There had obviously been a significant amount of conflict in Central America and it wasn’t all caused by the Primal Constructs. When the locals were confronted with an unknown human intruder, they deemed him a potential threat, and they were quick to fight for their lives. There was no way to blame them. They were doing their best to live another day in a dangerous area, and it wasn’t like Coop did himself too many favors. He was basically tripping every defensive measure they took and he had a disturbingly oppressive aura if they had the ability to detect it through his always active Presence of Mind ability.

No matter how he looked at it, he felt like preemptively defending themselves was a completely reasonable response to his appearance. He was interfering with the established dynamic of the region with his presence alone. The scenario was different when he was in their territory as opposed to his own. If they attacked Coop while he was in his own territory, he would retaliate with deadly intent, but in their house, they deserved the benefit of the doubt. He wouldn’t admit it to any of his new companions, but he would probably extend the same line of thinking even to a Priest. Their lives would hang on whether or not they were reasonable enough to communicate with him before committing to a life or death struggle. At least in theory.

In a way, he was proud of the variety of ways people had developed to survive. Their determination to continue gave him hope in a way that he hadn’t felt when the only outside interactions Ghost Reef had were with Empress City and the Endless Empire’s Chosen. There would be countless examples of humans finding innovative ways to keep going. So far, three different groups had three different strategies that had all kept them alive. The Corozal citizens concentrated on their profession levels and fortified their area with clever traps, the Crossroad warriors had garrisoned deep in the jungle and worked in a close cooperative with each other to maintain their isolation, and Coop thought the Jaguar Sun were basically super heroes fighting on behalf of everyone else.

He was really impressed with Tzultacaj. He was the one who started the Jaguar Sun through his actions alone. He accepted the challenge from the Primal Constructs right away, then confronted the Cult of Chakyum when he determined them to be at least as monstrous as the invaders. His dogged persistence and righteous cause inspired others to join him in his efforts as he went. The man was a fighter through and through.

His firepower was to the point that Coop believed it was even comparable to Charlie’s. The two also shared a bit of a theme, though there was something different in the flavor of their skills. The Aeromancer brought the lightning from a thunderstorm that might sweep through the tropics. It was familiar and dangerous. Tzultacaj wielded something more primordial, like the thunder from storms that forced dinosaurs to take shelter. Coop couldn’t consciously parse the difference as it was just an impression he had felt when witnessing both of their skills, but he knew there was uniqueness to each of their abilities. They may share an element at a basic level, but there was something fundamentally distinct between them. He thought this aspect of the system was neat.

When the contracted alien residents immediately associated his Spectral Affinity with those of the undead, he suspected they were identifying a similar phenomenon. There might be some overlap, but he wasn’t actually undead. When he imagined the maze of paths, he figured the affinities established zones of similarities that evolved into a gradient of skills. Tzultacaj and Charlie were thematic neighbors, where Charlie’s path took her off toward natural elements and Tzultacaj angled toward Coop’s backyard, tapping into ancestral strength. To further complicate things, Charlie and Tzultacaj had also focused on contrasting archetypes, with the Aeromancer a backline caster and Tzultacaj an in-your-face brawler, but still, the similarities were there.

Coop had also taken a good look at Tzultacaj’s weapon and found himself enthralled. The Inheritor’s axe was a Unique item with special abilities tied directly to the Inheritor class. Upon wielding it, Coop had been met with the sense that it didn’t belong to him and absolutely never would. It wouldn’t work any better than any other outdated piece of equipment if he attempted to use the axe himself. The weapon was bound to the Inheritor in a similar vein to the way Coop’s ethereal weapons were bound to him. Coop wanted to see the stats of the weapon to compare with his own and maybe confront Garod with an example of a comparable item to those the blacksmith was crafting. Maybe there was a discount opportunity there.

Coop was a little jealous that his summons weren’t given the same special classification. He knew it was because he was using his class abilities to manufacture the weapons. Tzultacaj was using an actual ancient axe that had been enhanced by the system after being passed down through his family for generations through some kind of hunter’s rite. Really, Coop had the advantage in flexibility, but the weapon was still cool. It even had protection from being disarmed, though it was a lot more violent than Coop’s ethereal weapons and armor being tied together.

Tzultacaj had only tried to split Coop’s skull in half. It was the axe that had exploded upon being separated from its owner. The effect had even surprised Tzultacaj as no one had removed his weapon before. Coop valued mistjumping way more than some damaging effect, so it wasn’t a trade he would make willingly. He couldn’t imagine much utility coming from exploding, though he had some ideas that weren’t completely outside the realm of possibilities.

After relatively brief introductions, the pair of warriors didn’t waste time lingering in their camp site. Once Coop described his mission and they realized their shared alignment, they set out, leaving the blast zone behind to be reclaimed by flora. If anyone stumbled upon the flattened area before it recovered, Coop couldn’t imagine what they would think. It was like a crop circle in the middle of a jungle. He supposed aliens were already confirmed to be real, so maybe it wouldn’t bother anyone.