Unchosen Champion

“You know what?” Coop spoke to himself as he cast Retribution and his spear manifested from a swirl of mists that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, solidifying at the exact moment that his hand snapped shut. “Let’s just say I gave everyone else an extra week, just as a little favor.”

He stared at his spear with a determined look as he watched abyssal mana leak between his fingers. Both of his affinities were comfortably in equilibrium as he prepared for the grind. He firmly nodded to himself, silently reiterating his assertion as he stepped off the stoop of Ghost Reef’s lighthouse.

Six months into the assimilation, and he was essentially redoing day one. He couldn’t help but chuckle cynically at his current state of affairs.

The fine sand of Ghost Reef’s western beach greeted him like a long-lost friend. As he gazed upon the scenery, he couldn’t help but smile at the palm trees that had regrown in bunches, creating pockets of shade along the crisp white beach. It was nice to have an excuse to be back, no matter the circumstances. His first targets were all along the smooth stone path that weaved through the sparsely vegetated dunes. It was something like a reunion between old rivals.

Ancient Defenders had become the starter enemy for anyone initiating their leveling journey on Ghost Reef, as infrequently as that happened these days. Coop had carefully reviewed the leveling guides created by the Adventurer Guild, including the color coded map overview that indicated the expected levels of monsters in each of the various zones. It was a detailed accounting that he would adapt for himself. There were certain monsters he intended to save for later as they still held Slayer quests for him to complete. Instead, he would start by focusing on the ones that he had already defeated thousands of times.

He rotated his shoulder, glancing at the small audience that was in attendance to see him off. They supported him in their own ways, with a shy thumbs up, wagging tail, or a sly smirk.

Coop had spent the night meeting with different residents of Ghost Reef, making sure that he was taking advantage of every possible benefit as he restarted his leveling journey. It would have been easy to feel discouraged, but even a passing analysis would reveal that this was turning into an opportunity. The fact that he would be getting twice as many stats per level should have been enough incentive, but adding on the possibility to even partially correct any perceived deficiencies in experience was icing on the cake.

The first time he leveled in the earliest days of the assimilation, he was stumbling through the process, clueless as to what the system had in store for humanity. There was no guidance for someone like him. Aside from knowing that he needed to get stronger, he had no idea how he was meant to do so.

This time, he had the entire infrastructure of a well-organized and rapidly growing settlement available to back him up. That wasn’t just a small benefit. To put it in perspective, Ghost Reef was the hub of a true galactic faction, fledgling as it was, and factions were meant to be the ultimate authority on individual advancement. Chosen relying on their sponsors were thought to be the most advantaged individuals within an assimilation, for example.

Through Coop, the Lighthouse sought to prove its advantages. At the moment, Coop had nearly 20 different buffs, whether granted from edible consumables, well-rested bonuses, or individual abilities of support-based residents. They would obviously benefit his journey in ways he hadn’t been able to enjoy the first time around.

He had over 100 different elixirs, phials, potions, flasks, and tinctures crafted by Elder Olani and Sojjah the Alchemist stored in his inventory. The consumables weren’t only meant for emergencies either. They expected Coop to be chugging the expensive resources at every opportunity, maintaining special limited-time bonuses as much as possible.

He had all the stacking perks for being within the settlement’s territory after completing every bonus objective he had ever been offered while collecting city titles earned by the residents. Collectively, they added more bonuses than he cared to account for, but they would do everything from improve his combat efficiency to increase the capacity for experience gains.