Chapter 192: Human Spirit
Coop woke up with a start after a dreamless sleep. He found himself lying on his back, alone, in the partially collapsed cavern. He was feeling exhausted, as if he had been on an intense bender the likes of which were only depicted in movies for comedic effect.
“Ugh…” He groaned as he tried lifting a hand to his forehead, but his arm didn’t react the way he expected, staying limp at his side, stinging with pins and needles.
The ground all around him was stained with dried blood that could have been the trigger for an adventure full of mystery and intrigue except that it had obviously come from him. Mystery solved, he concluded with a disappointed frown.
He ached enough that he was afraid to try to move any more, preferring to contemplate his life choices while scanning the area with just his eyes instead. There wasn’t anything in his immediate vicinity, so he relaxed slightly, gazing upwards with his freshly scarred limbs splayed out at his sides. He took deep breaths to ease the pounding in his head and waited to regain the feeling in his limbs. Above him was the clear night sky, stars twinkling as if amused by his pitiful display.
He couldn’t lie around forever, and he wasn’t sure how long he had already spent blacked out. His first impulse was to further assess his surroundings for threats. With another groan, he sat up making the pressure in his head increase, but the underground cavern was empty.
A cool breeze tickled the tip of his nose as the night air sank into the valley and flooded the underground cavern that had been opened up by the battle between himself and the Icon of Mana. Huracan’s heat had finally dissipated from the valley. The High Priest’s physical influence was gone, but the result of his actions had left a significant scar on the region. The sand had ceased falling from the gap in the surface, leaving giant piles that formed a rough outline of the edge of the collapse. Coop could see that the crack in the surface snaked far into the distance, following the shadowy contours of the valley as it slid between rocky hills.
The Icon was gone, defeated by the final empowered slash that he had been granted by the Battlemaiden. The attack was powerful enough to nearly defeat Coop just from executing it, so he didn’t think it was too much of a surprise for the equally leveled Siege Boss to have met its demise after being subjected to the direct blow. Coop’s unchecked notifications slowly blinked in his peripheral vision, and he confirmed the kill.
[You defeated Siege Boss: Inevitable Conclusion (Level 175)]
[+242731 Basic Credits]
[+1 Voidstone (Legendary)]
[+1 Eye of Shadow (Unique)]
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]