Unchosen Champion-Chapter 321: Vaporform

The first day of Coop’s grind was coming to a rapid close, but he had no intention of pausing just because the sun was setting. He wasn’t ready to rest after such a brief 12 hour grind.

As time passed, Coop’s companions rotated in and out, leaving him with a series of new people waiting to record his rank after Camila and Charlie. First, Tiny Cleary hung out with a handful of wraiths for a few hours, discussing mana affinities, then Jonah from the Clumsy Shark brought a library tablet to read in the shade. Afterwards, Gibson reviewed his own future hunting plans with his party while they shared an early lunch together. They were replaced by Maeve, who carefully assessed Coop as he came and went, better able to track his actions and status than most, eventually approving after a few rotations. Next, Fred Brown the architect sat with Balor, discussing one of the more complicated construction projects they were undertaking on the lower levels before Amanda and Mikey B took over, sharing a hammock to take a break from all the travel they had done in the Underlayer, and later, Laurie brought a pair of the other new mothers and had a playdate in the sand with their young children while she held the clipboard. They all spared a few hours of their day, taking a break from their normal responsibilities to keep an eye on Coop.

The information revealed through climbing the ranks on the leaderboards wasn’t really that interesting or important, especially not so much as to include so many important members of the Ghost Reef community, but they were showing up almost like they intended to chaperone Coop while his level was low. They didn’t admit it, but they were all just a little worried that he was more vulnerable than usual. The fact that he had started with the most basic of monsters was some consolation, but like Lyriel, even the people who knew him the most wanted to make sure nothing catastrophic happened while he pushed himself to catch back up. Everyone was just a bit overprotective of the Champion as if they were returning the favor for all of his previous efforts. He was probably still the strongest person on the planet, but even he couldn’t escape his babysitters.

Mixed in with the familiar faces that came and went were residents who Coop didn’t personally know, though he recognized that they had been around for a while and had become trusted members of the faction. They made themselves comfortable in the shade near the lighthouse, relaxing in hammocks or sitting on the steps, listening to the waves until Coop reappeared. Each resident understood that he was hyper focused on his hunt, so Coop made peace with his lack of manners when he didn’t stop to get to know each and every person who was supervising his progress.

Recording his ranks wasn’t exactly exciting work, because even at Coop’s extraordinary speed, he was contending with monsters that were at an appropriately low level relative to his status. The levels tapered off as the day went on and by the time the red sunset took hold, he could already feel the ceiling for experience gained from Ancient Defenders approaching. He wasn’t exactly power leveling himself so much as he was speed running. That meant that his opponents only provided the limited experience of beginner monsters.

The way he saw it, there was a window where specific hunting targets were the most efficient. If he sought targets that were too advanced, he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of all the experience earned despite the theoretical challenge. If he sought targets that were too weak, he wouldn’t be rewarded enough to make progress. The limitations imposed by the system and the real physical constraints toward absorption of mana combined with escalating requirements per level meant that level gaps in both directions were an impediment to efficient progress.

Even in the hypothetical scenario where he could hunt individual level 10,000 monsters, assuming he would succeed in defeating them, he wouldn’t leap so far ahead in levels due to the restrictions placed by the system smoothing out the rewards and the physical limitations of mana absorption, transference, and integration. On the other hand, if he could instantly kill 10,000 level one monsters, he also wouldn’t make significant progress after climbing enough ranks beyond them as they provided what might have been exponentially less experience. The sweet spot was somewhere in the middle, leaning in the direction of slightly higher level monsters that more closely matched his own capacity for combat.

Humans and other assimilated beings could only integrate so much mana at a time, and while normal monsters never exceeded the bare minimum, even defeating the Lich had shown a hard cap even with thousands of levels in difference of raw mana. While the optimal window widened with increases in rank such that Elites, Field Bosses, and Siege Bosses were more rewarding to a larger range as he went up the stack, the system maintained some video game logic that prevented a proper twinked out experience, but that was all fine and dandy with Coop.

Theoretically, he could hunt down boss monsters specifically, and forge his level ahead by multiples at a time by virtue of their advanced rank relative to his own, but it was much more his style to find a steady beat and march to it. Why not enjoy himself while he blasted through the leaderboards? He was already imposing limitations on his target choices in the name of efficiency, sticking to the monsters he already had Slayer titles for defeating to improve his experience rate later. If he was looking at a pure time investment, he thought it made sense for him to stick with what he had on hand rather than to move further afield and explore the unknown on the hunt for specific boss rank opportunities. The trade off in travel times would swing the efficiency gauge back to his current strategy.

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The ultimate authority with regard to experience gains was his personal class level as opposed to the level of his opponents. Ideally, he would always be fighting monsters that were exactly one or two levels above his current position. Unfortunately, that level of fidelity was impossible without wasting significant time picking and choosing fights. He wasn’t willing to be that exact. Coop compromised by sticking to the brackets established by Ghost Reef’s Adventurer Guild.

Coop’s plan wasn’t complicated, but it took into account the resources he had available. Ghost Reef provided the opportunities, and he would simply take advantage of them. If he could complete the first phase of his plan before his competition made significant progress, he would be well on his way to catching back up. This initial grind was simply resetting the foundation, and he had expected it to take the first month at least. However, it was possible that he had underestimated himself, but he would wait until a full day had passed before making any further judgments.

With the simple goal of progressing his levels, Coop had easily entered a state of mindless meditation where there were no extraneous thoughts. The only considerations that passed through his brain were specific to the moment to moment actions that he was taking.

He needed to hit the perfect timing for every mistjump, his aim had to be immaculate, and the amount of strength applied to each action required exact precision and muscle control. The consequences of any lapse in concentration would be simple, minor issues that didn’t really matter, but he couldn’t help but apply all of his energy to ironing each and every one of them out until the routine was perfect.

Each circuit around Ghost Reef’s fort improved in tiny increments, so slight, the spectators hardly noticed. It was only those that watched him early in the day, then returned in the evening that could really feel the difference, and even then, it might have taken a stopwatch to truly recognize the improvements. Many would never think to watch so carefully, being new residents of Ghost Reef, completely unaware of Coop and his habits. They simply admired the spectacle that he created.

In the grand scheme of things, losing a split second while readjusting a specific attack was hardly remarkable, so it made sense for others to fail to take note. However, repeat the same mistake a million times, and he really could be adding days to his total grind. He’d rather not unnecessarily waste that much time when extra days could be better spent relaxing on the beach.

When he was fully engulfed in the flow of momentum created by his actions, optimizing the timing of his fingertips releasing the spear with the exhalations of his breaths, he was at his best. This was the natural evolution of the time he was running around on the beach with no skills at all, just poking the alien invaders with his first simple manifestations, teaching himself how to thrust the spear without losing power in the extension, learning where to target the monsters by exposing their glowing weak points, and perfecting the first most basic actions when planting his foot and rotating his hips under the guidance of his Haunted title. He had come full circle with the Ancient Defenders. Compared to his past self, he was a completely different warrior.

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Unlike his battle with the Omega Construct, where he was engulfed within a domain of darkness, Coop’s blinders were self-imposed this time. He barely registered the audience of residents on the walls and docks anymore. They came and went, taking breaks to eat meals while entertaining themselves with his grind.

They cheered for the Unchosen Champion, already growing confident that he wouldn’t be weakened for long after observing the physical manifestation of his determination. It didn’t take them long to overcome the initial shock of his level reset, and witnessing his progress for even a few minutes was enough to harbor some doubt that the leaderboards were a proper measure of strength at all. Coop barely recognized their attention, solely focused on spiking his spear into the Primal Kites as they triggered their explosive ambushes, planting his ethereal flag into the crown of their metallic heads, then forcefully pulling it back out as he planted his foot for another throw.

Coop was demonstrating the full realization of a build that had been specifically curated from day one to excel in one specific style of combat.

In his opinion, all of his success outside of grinding had been incidental to the initial design. He could defeat bosses and outduel others because he had focused on becoming a perpetual combat machine, brawling and skirmishing on an infinite scale. He had better travel abilities because he wanted to eliminate downtime, not because he had meant to become a scout or a speedster. He was unimaginably durable because resting to recover resources was wasted time. The story of the Revenant was always one about grinding.

But everyone could benefit from incorporating some of the principles he had followed. That was the message that had permeated throughout Ghost Reef. Their success could at least be partially attributed to the acceptance of efficient repetition: the concept that practice makes perfect. The idea wasn’t much of a secret, but it was often overlooked in regular life. The rest of the world was certainly getting on board, realizing that they shouldn’t just wait for specific opportunities to come to them in order to advance, despite what the alien sponsors had advocated. They could create their own beneficial situations, just as Coop had. Seeing him in action was a demonstration of the possibilities. Anyone could do it.

Coop didn’t mean to advocate for any particular philosophy, but he had inadvertently proven the advantage of simply outleveling or overpowering their challenges with raw stats. There wasn’t any specialization necessary if it was possible to simply progress beyond the expectations of their overseers. If he could do it, so could they.

As the sun set, his circumnavigation of the fort had become a wall of splashing chaos. As he flashed into the presence of Primal Kites and simultaneously summoned two or three phantasms to copy his actions on the nearest ambushing monsters, he broadened his coverage. The split seconds spent staking the ground with his spear, then sending it to the next hidden enemy were dramatic flashes of violence hidden in the wake of his patrol, repeated by ancient ghosts of equal potency.

The jagged circle that had been connected by his laser-like throws had become thicker, at least three splashes wide in most instances, as he sought ways to multiply his efficiency with the many tricks accumulated over millions of battles and hundreds of levels. He had evolved so much that the battle with such simple monsters was a completely different game.

The red sunset gradually darkened, and the layer of clouds that rolled across the ocean highlighted the mana in the air. Only the enormous shadow of the alien mountain in the distance contrasted with the crimson veil, casting its outline upon the bottom of the clouds.

When night fully arrived, Coop stopped.

He had gained more than a level per hour, but that really was only the beginning. The Ancient Defenders and Primal Kites had been checked off his mental list. It wasn’t his grind that concluded, but his rotation.

He planted his feet on the dunes in front of the main stone wall of the fort, and a massive wave of mists burst forth. He covered the interior of the island with Fog of War, letting it spill into the wide moat outside of the fort, forming his domain as the next stage of his grind was initiated.

The sneaky Ancient Prowlers claimed their leveling zone in the darkness of night, active only when the conditions benefited them the most, but this night they were greeted by the thick mists of the Revenant. Rather than panic, the monsters remained perfectly still, assessing their surroundings for potential victims of their pack-led ambushes, relying on their advanced camouflage to turn the tide back in their favor. Though they were similar levels to the Primal Kites, they had a higher minimum level at 10, and had a denser concentration of spawns that would lend itself to even quicker kills. Coop was sliding up the scale.

The invaders perceived nothing but the thick vapors that whispered of Earth’s legacies. They utilized more than the typical senses recognized by humans, looking through the lens of mana to perceive auras beyond sight or sound, but the aura-sense was of no help. Coop had his own form of impenetrable camouflage within the domain of Fog of War. He was no different than a mere breath disturbing the swirls of mist.

The mists started to periodically flash as an ethereal blade manifested directly from the clouds, carried by wisps that only solidified into the form of the Revenant at the point of collision.

Coop weaved across the dunes in Vaporform, fully utilizing his improved ability to perceive mana to ambush the ambushers. His trajectory was impossible to follow as the combination of Fog of War and Vaporform allowed him to be everywhere at once. It was only when it was time to strike that he reclaimed his physical form from the mists and revealed his ethereal short sword to the opponents. His personal domain had become far more deadly as he adapted to his own evolved skills.

Unfortunately for the spectators, the presentation of his abilities had concluded. From the perspective of the residents on the walls or near the lighthouse beyond the edges of his domain, all they could see was a fog bank that lingered on the interior of the island. It shrouded the scrubland and caught the limited light of the moon and stars in its ethereal surface, seeming like a smooth white-tinged smoke, but the action that occurred beneath was hidden beneath the cloudy veneer.

The first day’s show was over, but the grind continued. The Ancient Prowlers were cleaved in groups of five, one after the other, as Coop haunted their spawning zone. He burned his mana aggressively, living within the vaporous world, maintaining Fog of War, and actively using Vaporform regardless of its heavy resource cost.

The real test of this grind was in sustaining his tactics. He pushed himself to kill the monsters faster and faster, trying to reach an equilibrium through his Reaper title. It was an impossible task, but he had suspected it would be difficult before it had begun. The monsters lacked the resources to rejuvenate a mana pool of 60,000. It only took an hour for Coop to start running low enough to encourage another adaptation.

He had a simple, if surprisingly greedy solution: expand the domain. He spent more mana letting Fog of War spread across the island, hungrily consuming more and more real estate. It pushed until it was flowing along the surface of the shallow marshy waters within the Mangrove Forest, twisting between the lanky roots that entangled the zone. The fact that his maximum mana pool was undiminished, despite the level reset, was something he intended to leverage to its fullest.

Loud splashes echoed between the branches of the overgrown mangroves. The aquatic forest was coated in mists while Coop baited the local monsters, ethereal trident held ready, adding more variants to his grind, and bolstering his ability to sustain Vaporform while going after the Prowlers. The mangroves represented a break from his wraith-like movement, pinning him in place while he lured the Primal Serpents to action.

His plan for the night was as simple as his plan for the day. He would rotate between the dunes and the mangroves, pushing to see how far he could climb before he allowed the first full day to conclude.