Chapter 244: The Boardwalk
Coop spotted the lodge on Placid Lake while it was still far in the distance. The night after the Lighthouse’s official induction into intergalactic relations had already come and gone and Coop hadn’t wasted any time while mentally recovering from the crash course in the affairs between sovereign states. He covered significant ground traveling up the mainland peninsula, intent on fulfilling his own role in safeguarding the faction.
The pastel purple and gray-blue sunrise that started a brand new day reflected off the surfaces of water like a mirror, disguising the horizon. The effect highlighted the man-made structure, causing it to stand out against the natural environment while it was still far away. The lodge rose above flat ground on top of slender stilts that were reflected by the smooth water around it.
Almost the entire Florida mainland had been transformed into a grassy river by the unimpeded Everglades. If not for the cypress stands rising from swamps, drier pine rockland strips, and the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, the peninsula might have become a calm shallow reef wedged between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the unique natural region had been reinvigorated, reclaiming territory from Orlando all the way through the southern edges of the peninsula. Thousands of wide grassy rivers slowly crawled across the land, flowing so gently as to seem still, collectively forming a distinctive realm that encompassed the entire region.
Luckily for Coop’s navigational skills, the path to the Outpost was mostly linear. His allies built a boardwalk that weaved north from Empress City, crossing the wetlands almost the entire way north. Even while his spear throws shot him across the sky at an increased pace, with his thoughts in the stars, he wasn’t able to get lost, so long as he kept the trail in his vision.
At night, when he first started traveling, there were patrols periodically moving along the boardwalk, claiming the narrow strip for the Lighthouse, keeping it safe. Groups of Empress City residents carried torches that warded away the darkness. They may have felt isolated by the encroaching night, but from above, Coop could see that they weren’t solitary beacons, but a slow chain of coordinated teams shifting between rest stops. Everyone was doing their part.
It was morning by the time Coop reached the end of the line, leaving the patrols behind as they settled into the relative security of the small hut-like guard posts that had been constructed periodically along the trail. He adjusted his next spear throw to make a soft landing at the edge of the final small island, surrounded by a donut-shaped lake, happy with how quickly he reached his destination.
The Outpost was closer to Orlando than he expected, probably somewhere in what was previously Osceola County. He had to praise his allies for successfully carving their way so far north. The ground covered was comparable to the space between Corozal and Cancun, keeping in mind that Earth had been inconsistently stretched by the activation of mana.
Even if the land hadn’t grown, it would have been unforgiving to cross by foot. Mr. Gibson had excitedly explained how his party had spearheaded the path through the expansive Everglades while Coop roamed the rainforests of the Yucatan. The highlight being when they defeated a wild Field Boss and used its nest to establish an Outpost at the end of the line. On the way, they had discovered two different Primal Constructs for Coop to hunt.
Coop made rapid progress traversing the wilderness, in large part thanks to his Mistwalking skill evolution, but because of the approaching settlement event, he hadn’t allowed himself to stop and introduce himself to the local monster variants. The invaders were being spared from his consideration for the moment. Instead, Coop concentrated on making sure he avoided losing his way.
Jackson and Fabiana’s forces out of Empress City had channeled the energy of the citizens of South Florida into productive projects after Coop and Marcus’s successful influence after the conclusion of their civil war. While Empress City was largely limited by mana as they constructed a much larger settlement than Ghost Reef itself, they harnessed the excess vigor and took to taming the trail northward with enthusiasm. Multiple Guild Houses sent their members in an effort to ensure that the project was successful. They knew they would benefit from having access to the wilds or a land connection to their neighboring settlement, depending on the nature of the Guild.
Coop hadn’t spent any time visiting Empress City, merely passing through on his way north while it was already dark. He did use a portion of their limited mana to use one of Ghost Reef’s newer settlement abilities to make his own mission slightly easier.
Champion Projection was awarded when Ghost Reef became a City and it gave him the ability to transport himself to one of the subordinate settlements at a significant cost to both shard’s mana pools. It was a one way trip, but it saved him the initial boat ride from Ghost Reef to the mainland.