Unchosen Champion

The darkened sky doused Coop with a gentler rain than what he had left behind when he delved into the temple. He closed his eyes when he reached the open air, angling his head into the drizzle, feeling deeply exhausted. He took a moment to let the rain wash over him and provide a small mental reset. The droplets struck his face and he turned his hands to catch a few drops in each of his palms. The arm of mists caught the rain as if it was real, and he felt the normal sensations as water splashed between his fingers.

“Cool skill.” He muttered to himself, watching as he clenched the misty digits into a fist, then released it. He hoped the Infusion ability would be enough to keep him going until he could see the battle through, but it was definitely asking a lot of the new skill.

Coop made his way across the rubble pile that had substituted the enormous pyramid and gazed upon the rest of the former settlement. Without the civilization shard, he wasn’t sure what to call it. The framework of the city would be added to the ruins of pre-assimilation developments without the protection of a shard’s territory soon enough.

For now, it remained one of the most populous settings on the planet, except the residents were feral minions without a master. They filled the roads and fought within the wreckage of the incomplete temples with groups of Jaguar Warriors. Members of the local resistance had pressed forward, unshaken by the insanity that had taken place upon the central temple, leaving the security of the jungles in favor of engaging in an urban guerilla campaign while others held the line. Coop imagined that the individual mud-covered warrior with his pit traps hadn’t moved since the battle began, but the group of stealthy ranged warriors were probably sneaking through the ruins in order to pick enemies off.

However, the main event didn’t involve the lowly skeletal Acolytes. The Empowered Bone Titan was still in play. It was so large, towering over the rest of the settlement, it was impossible to miss. Coop made his way to the edge of the temple and watched as the Bone Titan kicked through a stone edifice, sending enormous boulders flying as if they were weightless. It violently spun its torso in an effort to free itself from the annoyances of the Jaguar Elites.

Another pair of thermal lasers raked across its exposed femur, aiming to disable the massive skeletal construct, but ultimately failing to have a significant effect beyond momentarily drawing its attention. As it turned its head, purple lightning arced across the bones of the minion’s upper body, highlighting cracks that had formed in the gargantuan skull, and sending gouts of energy exploding out of its eye sockets and jaw as it spun around, receiving another massive blow from Tzultacaj. In the purple and crimson light, Coop spotted dozens of giant claw marks that were gouged across the ivory surfaces of the Bone Titan. The Jaguar Sun hadn’t given up on the enormous enemy.

Coop’s spear appeared in his mist-hand, solidifying with a speed that shocked him enough to cause him to hesitate. He checked the weapon to make sure it was really ready, and to his surprise, it was. The difference was only a fraction of a second, but to Coop, who had summoned thousands of weapons with each iteration of Retribution, the difference was obvious. His quickswaps always required compensation for the lag in between manifestations, but he was able to fit them in his backswings or while evading his opponents as long as he was proactive. The speed that his current spear solidified represented an advancement that could help enhance even his basic techniques. Coop tossed the spear up and down as he appreciated the evolution of his skill, feeling like a pitcher in extra innings.

He turned his attention back to the minions of the Lich, satisfied with his spear, and considered how to help given his current physical state. Recognizing that he was already just about spent, he considered the feasibility of diving into the minions first, in an effort to fully utilize his Reaper title recovery to get himself back into physical shape. The problem was the lingering exhaustion after being stretched thin by his application of Inheritance of the Mists. It wasn’t something that he could recover with health and mana, as important as both resources were. Jumping into the melee was asking for a bit much in his current state, but it might be what was necessary.

Coop stood at the pinnacle of the pyramid with the night sky brightened by flames and magic despite the sun’s retreat beyond the horizon. The rain had diminished to a light drizzle. Without the swirling death mana that had clouded the settlement followed by the series of domains that had imposed themselves on the horizon, nightfall had actually brought improved visibility. Coop had a clear perspective of the settlement.

Before he made any commitments to where to apply himself, he realized his renewed contribution to his allies might need to wait a bit longer. In the distance, at the end of the highway beyond where the Bone Titan and the Jaguar Sun contended with each other, a disturbance in the battlefield was taking place.