Chapter 366: Stormbound and Warbound
“Champion Coop!” Sila Tupua exclaimed, approaching with a big smile on his face. “Excellent strike!”
“Thanks.” Coop responded after he turned toward the leader of the subjugation force and grinned back.
Sila was bleeding from several wounds where the spikes of Elite Primal Construct Insurgents had struck him, but he seemed to be in good spirits despite the damage. Coop had only interacted with the Champion of New Zealand a few times, but from what he knew, the man was as tough as he was kind. A few punctures wouldn’t slow him down nor would they diminish his good-natured attitude.
“How’d it go?” Coop broached, gauging the army’s subdued satisfaction as mostly a positive.
There hadn’t been any cheers at the end, but to be fair to them, a week-long battle with an equally leveled Region Boss was the greatest ordeal they had ever undergone. Instead of celebrating, many had flopped to the ground, relieved that what must have seemed like a quadruple overtime ended in their victory. Obviously, it could have gone much worse.
Unlike Coop, who could engage with the oversized boss monsters directly, most people found it easier to develop complicated strategies that opened their enemies up to special attacks that were specifically designed to take them out. Teamwork was essential, but whether that level of coordination was an extra pressure weighing on them or a source of support and motivation was up to the individual.
For the army formed by people from all over Oceania, Sila was a major focal point, utilizing some abilities that were superficially similar to Coop’s Inheritance of the Mists. There were no possessions, but together he and his allies were able to generate avatars who could launch devastating attacks or support their efforts, empowered by entire arrays of people. Sila served as a nexus for their powers though he wielded plenty on his own.
There were some parallels to the way Hai Yun operated with her entourage, except Sila directly incorporated his allies into his personal abilities and they were bolstered in turn. Coop saw Hai Yun more like the step in between the partnership that Camila and Charlie relied on and the broader framework that Sila had built. It seemed like there were as many potential strategies as there were individual personalities.
To Coop, who was entirely focused on his own progression, it was all wildly complicated. When they were strategizing on the way, the rotations and coordination necessary for their plan made him glad he had gone in a slightly different direction. Adding more individuals may have broadened the pool of mana that could be wielded, but it also introduced countless potential failure points. Whether it was the Mists or the Abyss, Coop was a conduit for his own mana only. When it came to supporting his friends, he could do it with his spear.
“You arrived much faster than expected! Once it was clear we had the upper hand we decided to have you finish it, but I had no idea the end would be so definite!” Sila laughed. “We still had some fuel in the tank.”
Coop rubbed his cheek with a finger. “My bad, did I overdo it?”
“No, no, we didn’t want to lock you down for much longer either.” He added thoughtfully.