Unchosen Champion

Coop frantically waved his hand around, silently praying that the key on his finger would be recognized by something hidden within the strange mountain before his mana was entirely ripped from his existence. There was no indication that the alien rock formation was anything but the largest meteorite to ever collide with Earth, but Lyriel insisted that there was more to it than met the eye.

It was her plan that had granted him the access key in the form of a ring, and it was her belief that the mountain of solidified mana was an Ark established by the system for the benefit of the Exiles. She asserted that it could administer a vital antidote that would alter the course of life in the universe.

Whether they liked it or not, with the Eradication Protocol firing up, humanity had become anathema to the galactic order. That meant they had been banished and were on the way to joining the ranks of the Exiles themselves. Supposedly, the Ark represented their chance to rectify the final judgment and modify fate itself.

Lyriel’s confidence had been enough to convince not only Coop but also all of his advisors that her plan was worth exploring. It was the only alternative to simply withstanding the rest of the assimilation with the forces of mana running rampant on the planet. As a result, the Champion of Ghost Reef was conspicuously absent from the island stronghold as the residents weathered yet another grand challenge.

However, the violent mana storm within the Underlayer was enough to dissuade anyone from sustaining full faith in the Avatar of the System. It only took moments before Coop was left with the sense that maybe it would be better for him to get back to the beach. Unfortunately, even then, the thought had come too late.

Lyriel stayed close to him, consciously projecting patience, but Coop could tell she was barely holding back her anticipation with the way she dragged him along. She had not only provided the key, but supplied the plan that promised to end the Eradication Protocol once and for alI. It wasn’t something she had only come up with recently, but a longstanding goal that had become her life’s purpose ever since her own experience with a failed integration. For her, this was the culmination of tens of thousands of years worth of persistent determination and the virtual extinction of her people. Her certainty was completely implacable.

As they burned precious seconds with still no reaction from the so-called Ark, Coop couldn’t help but harbor some doubts toward Lyriel’s plan, thinking maybe desperation had blinded her over time. The crystallized mountain that had crashed into the planet seemed like nothing more than a hunk of rock, large enough that it should have annihilated the planet after it slammed through their atmosphere.

According to the Exiles, it was actually a vessel, and it should respond to the ring that she bound to him after he defeated the third Icon of Mana. Maybe she wanted to believe too much because nothing was happening no matter where he waved his hand.

To Coop, the story seemed like a fairytale that the Exiles shared in order to maintain a shred of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. He could imagine needing the lifeline as he also faced an eternal future where a fundamental property of the universe was out to get him and everyone he knew.

It was only that he could envision her desperation that he continued to go along with her proposal. Otherwise, he would have been much happier fighting the forces of mana in a more direct manner, with his spear in one hand and shield in the other. They could take his mana over his dead body if they actually managed to take him down.

Still, if he could raise his voice over the storm of mana to double and triple check with Lyriel that she was sure about the mountain, he would have. Unfortunately, the ambient mana within the Underlayer was in such a frenzy, he was lucky to get a glimpse even a few feet beyond his outstretched hands. All he could do was grit his teeth and struggle through. The mana storm was thousands of times more dangerous than on the surface.

The violent energy raged in his ears and clawed at his body, ripping away his ethereal manifestations in mere seconds after they first appeared, forcing him to confront the scouring intensity with his bare skin. If the system continued to provide a numerical value to his mana pool, he was sure it would read zero with no hope of regeneration. In fact, he wouldn’t have been surprised to discover a debt placed upon the resource, one that threatened to chew through his health like the overuse of an Inheritance.