Unchosen Champion

Landing in the dirt, scanning the area, then throwing a spear as far as possible was a series of actions that were becoming so rote, Coop’s brain was practically switched off while he went through the process. The unwavering Underlayer lacked the personality that made local trips on the surface more engaging. There were no interesting stories being told by local flora and fauna, no hints of previous action in decaying ruins, and no real suggestion of future prospects. As far as Coop could tell, the enormous tunnels were a pristine environment for sterile mana to circulate, and nothing more.

Coop had checked out from the potential of an exciting discovery, instead mechanically noting how many stone pillars he encountered so that he could compare the number to how many settlements were being assaulted by Primal Constructs. Of course, the state of the Underlayer led him to ask questions about its formation. Was it intentionally made this way? For what purpose?

Unfortunately, there weren’t any reliable ways for him to get answers. A worldwide assault was occurring anyway; it wasn’t an appropriate time to deviate from the simple mission he had given himself. Capturing objectives wouldn’t become easier if he could confirm a purpose for the Underlayer or determine the survival rate of civilization shards during the assimilation of Earth. Those were simple curiosities that didn’t change his current mission and would be better sought out after the fighting was over.

Instead, he pushed all thoughts out of his mind and eagerly sent his spear across the plains, aiming to cross as much distance as he could, as fast as possible. He was at ease with being a single-minded hunter.

That’s why he almost tripped over himself, sending his spear off into the distance before recognizing the mass of Primal Constructs off to the side of the Underlayer tunnel. Discovering another settlement had come much sooner than expected. His pursuit had almost concluded too soon.

Shenandoah was only a handful of mistjumps in the distance behind him, but a second settlement was right there. It was close enough to have been more to the side of the massive tunnel than it was farther down, less than 100 miles away from the previous control points in total. Coop had to return his weapon to his armor due to prematurely launching it when the next challenge was so close.

“Damn…” He whispered to himself, quickly escaping the mindset for a long haul in favor of visiting an unexpected attraction.

Coop gaped at the mass of enemies for a moment, losing some of the confidence that had been bolstering him as he grew in the assimilation. From his position, near the center of the tunnel, he could clearly see a single fortress, significantly larger than any of the previous ones he had already conquered, as if the Primal Constructs rediscovered their own modular designs and used them to expand a fort into a massive castle.

In the distance, closer to the edge of the tunnel, masses of Constructs extended to the limit of Coop’s vision, protecting their own hazy castles that each undoubtedly housed individual event objectives. The other three control points were tucked against the outer wall, at the edge of the tunnel, but the quantity of enemies was so large, they were forced to put significant distance in between each other in order to avoid overlapping.

Coop hummed in awe as he tried estimating their numbers. The armies of invaders had to be pushing nine figures across all of the control points.

“The territory of this settlement must be huge.” He concluded to himself, wondering exactly which it was.

He was pretty sure the civilization shard’s control would rival Ghost Reef’s claim, but the event objectives weren’t limited to being placed on a chain of islands and therefore covered much more ground. Coop absently pinched at his eyebrow with his empty hand as he approached what must have been a truly enormous settlement, at least compared to any he had witnessed.