Unchosen Champion

With the settlement safely in the hands of the nonhuman residents and no Icon of Mana to hunt down, Coop would be able to fix his attention on the Underlayer Event itself. The meteor mountain wasn’t going anywhere, so like on the surface, he put it out of his mind and concentrated on the battles to come. Maybe, when the event was concluded, he would take a touristic trip to the bottom of the meteor mountain, just to satisfy his curiosity. As far as they could tell, there wasn’t much else to visit within the Underlayer.

When the event countdown finally began, no one needed to say anything before people were taking up their positions in the front line trenches. People rubbed the dirt off their hands on their Ghost Reef Standard Issue Armor, activating their full-face helmets and readying their weapons ahead of the initiation of the event.

Each of the last 10 seconds were punctuated by an unnatural beep that echoed through the tunnels of the Underlayer. Coop imagined the sound mirrored within the mana domes of each settlement. He couldn’t help but smile a little as he took his place front and center in the front line trench as the anticipation built.

The traumatic time of the Siege Event had somehow evolved into battle scars that made him proud. The patterns in the system’s events were a forced reminder of their experiences, and Ghost Reef was heartened by them. They had made it through that ordeal, so they could make it through this. Coop’s ethereal spear was held with a loose grip, comfortable, but ready, and his allies wore grim faces of confident determination beneath reflective visors and dirt-streaked skin. The Primal Constructs had picked the wrong battle.

Every time the number counted down, shifting from 3 to 2, and finally 1, a strangely nostalgic alternate tone rang out. Coop watched as the timer finally hit zero and a loud buzzing announced the start of the Underlayer Event. His eyes left the system display and darted across their dirt covered no man’s land, seeking the first hints of their enemies.

“Southeast!” Jonah the waiter called out from the rear battle trench before the system’s ringing broadcast had completely faded from their ears. Immediately afterwards, Coop heard the gravelly voice of Fred Brown, the renowned architect that had helped design all of the buildings on the surface yell, “Southwest! It’s close!” from behind the interior mound.

Coop didn’t need to turn his head in either direction because looking directly south presented him with a similar scene to what the others were witnessing. A large disc of energy appeared first, like a ceramic plate that superimposed itself onto the ground, claiming a large area of the empty dirt and transforming it into a clear cylindrical arena with translucent borders. A distinct red light glowed from mana embedded in its center, and rather than being a solid object, it seemed more like a marker, designating the area as an objective.

Once the bottom plane was completely formed and the walls of light stabilized, a different set of tall metallic walls began forming from the ground up, beyond the outer edges of the arena-like objective. The structures grew one pixel at a time, outlining the foundation of an extremely simple square metal castle that climbed up from the dirt with the clear intent of guarding the cylindrical arena, confining the objective within its borders.

The construction process was similar enough to purchasing a service from the system to be completely familiar to the defenders. The invaders were arriving from off-planet.

When the protective castle was completed, obstructing the central platform from view mere seconds after it appeared, a formation of Elite Primal Constructs climbed to the top. They posed like proud sentinels on a tall wall, with energy from their spawning still wafting from their shoulders and drifting into the Underlayer’s glacial current.

If the defenders had never seen the aliens before, they would have seemed imposing and dangerous. Unfortunately for these particular Construct manifestations, they had arrived beneath Ghost Reef. The residents were unimpressed.

The outer walls of their fort formed a roofless square fort that was around 50 yards across and several stories tall. The defenses were made of what appeared to be a lightweight lusterless metal that matched parts of the alien manifestations. To Coop, the structure seemed modular, with jigsaw-like connections at each corner and around what he assumed was the main entrance. Otherwise the walls appeared solid. Coop expected a few thousand Primal Constructs to be waiting inside, at most, and there were four of the structures.

The standard design lacked any consideration for different environments and completely lacked the type of defenses incorporated in Ghost Reef’s relatively simple brick fort. There were no moats, cannon portals, or pillbox slits to be found. Instead, it relied on manual defense and manufactured high ground. Nothing else. It was in complete contrast to the trench system the defenders had already established. Even the parapets and battlements just seemed like a simple walkway with a half-height wall protecting the outside. With all the time in the world to prepare, the aliens had only brought the most basic of defenses.

“Tch.” Coop expressed his disappointment with a scowl.

The red light emitted from the control point the invaders guarded gave their gray utilitarian strongholds an eerie haze that silhouetted the mannequin-like features of the soldiers who had appeared at the tops of the walls, one group at a time. The color made them seem wicked as their layered group shields started powering up across the edifices, ready to protect against an early assault while catching the sinister light.

A second disc followed the same pattern off in the distance, further establishing the Primal Construct formation. If Coop imagined the positions of their castles overlayed onto the surface, they seemed to be trying to claim each of the main islands in Ghost Reef’s chain beyond Rock Key, plus the entrance to the mana well. They weren’t quite close enough to cover for each other, and they swung out and away from the dirt trenches that the defenders had prepared, mirroring the natural sandbar formations on the surface.

Though their positioning would require the defenders to climb out of the trenches to reach the furthest structure to the south, the fact that the invaders were forced into that arrangement made him glad that they were surrounded by the ocean. It seemed like the Primal Construct strongholds were bound to dry land, and that meant that he wouldn’t need to run around the Underlayer to confirm there weren’t any hidden Construct lairs closer to the edges of their territory. The one directly in front of him would have been in the shadow of the lighthouse, on the opposite side of the shallow channel. It wasn’t far at all.

Before Coop could tap into Presence of Mind, stretching it in order to inspect the nearest auras of his enemies, taking the first action of any encounter, an explosion of deep purple shadow spikes erupted to the southwest. Clods of dirt were sent flying across the battlefield, raining into the trenches, and setting off a chain reaction of violent turbulence.

The roaring clamor of the initial bouts of upheaval were followed by a green-tinged mushroom cloud that marked the spread of decaying venom, eroding whatever the shockwave touched at the barely formed alien fortress. Icy snowflakes sharpened like shurikens swirled in a vortex around the explosions, forming twisters of frozen blades, and bone pillars blasted from the dirt as if connected to enormous springs, finishing off the amalgamation of destructive assaults while the human defenders peeked above the edges of their trenches and protective mounds.

When the chaos finally settled down, a cheer rose from the closest portion of Ghost Reef’s soldiers. Coop squinted through the debris and wafting clouds of mana smoke to see what had happened for himself.

One of the four fortresses was destroyed as soon as it had solidified, spawning in a section of the no man’s land that had been rigged with traps under Elder Olani’s direction. After the torn and twisted back and side wall disintegrated, only the presence of the circular platform indicated that anything had been among the craters. The control point was glowing red, and had somehow gone undamaged despite the destruction painted in the dirt throughout the area.

Coop blinked in surprise as the haze drifted away. If all they needed to do was topple these enemies, they were a quarter of the way done in the first seconds of an event meant to last a month and a half. That couldn’t be right, could it? He checked the individual scores, trying to properly comprehend the potentially excellent start.

Underlayer Event Individual Scores:

Zach Miller - 573 (+573)

Elder Olani - 522 (+522)

Jessica Littenberg - 299 (+299)

Jose Molina - 251 (+251)

Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Simpson - 215 (+215)

Guillermo Echeverra - 212 (+212)

Bowman King - 189 (+189)

George Prado - 137 (+137)

Henry Foster - 102 (+102)

Platinum - 1 (+1)

Even though there were a bunch of names he didn’t recognize, he was pretty confident they were all newer residents of Ghost Reef. Just to be sure, he checked the settlement scores as well.

Underlayer Event Settlement Scores:

Ghost Reef - 5,000 (x1)

Neon Park - 2 (x13)

Shinjuku Gardens - 0 (x25)

Gangcheon - 0 (x15)

Nyiragongo - 0 (x13)

Can Gio - 0 (x11)

Silvervalley - 0 (x11)

Englischer Garten - 0 (x8)

Ordesa - 0 (x7)

Aotearoa New Zealand - 0 (x5)

Coop wanted to call a timeout just to digest the opening moments of the event, but as he shook his head to himself a gate opened in the central fort with the hiss of metal hinges, revealing more of the enemies that intended to defend the middle control point. A Field Boss, framed by the red light, led the way with a handful of Primal Construct squads at its flank. The invaders at the top of the walls leaned back and flailed their weapons in a silent salute, posturing as if they were unconcerned with the loss of one of their forts.

This event seemed like a game of territory control, but the invaders started with possession of all four objectives. The closest fortress to the southwest had already been annihilated by the prepared skills of the human residents, but the defenders still needed to claim the point to maintain the autonomy of the shard’s territory. That left the two central structures, one hidden behind the closest one, and a single stronghold at the east flank of the middle base, as well as claiming all four points. Despite the early losses, the invaders didn’t seem discouraged.

Coop concluded that this was an objective based event. The manifestations weren’t as important as the control points. As long as the cylindrical arenas were claimed by the Primal Constructs, they were unconcerned. Coop nodded to himself as the Field Boss stepped forward with its companion parties.

Even without seeing the auras of the enemies, Coop recognized their forms. They had the same structure as the Constructs that appeared during the tenth wave of the Siege, which is why the defenders hadn’t been surprised by humanoid opponents. They were the same 5-man parties with a melee tank, melee damage dealer, a physical ranged attacker, a caster, and an armless support that had already been soundly defeated upon their invasion on the surface by much weaker iterations of the current defenders.

The defenders didn’t have the phantoms to run interference on the Primal Constructs, but they weren’t as severely outnumbered or outleveled this time around. Those who had faced them before were excited by the prospect of a rematch.

Coop’s Presence of Mind finally revealed their exact details while he prepared to engage with the Field Boss that had made its presence known. He would aim to mistjump straight in and demonstrate their mistakes by crushing the biggest threat himself.

[Elite Ruin Construct (Level 170)]

[(Strength)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

[Elite Bane Construct (Level 170)]

[(Strength)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

[Elite Spite Construct (Level 170)]

[(Agility)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

[Elite Scourge Construct (Level 170)]

[(Intelligence)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

[Elite Ancient Construct (Level 170)]

[(Acumen)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

“170? That’s it?” Coop hesitated. He remembered thinking their levels combined with their elite status made these enemies seem completely unfair during the Siege. This time, he was worried about diminishing returns for his own experience gains given how small they were.

“Wait a moment, Champion.” Arthur requested during Coop’s moment of hesitation. Shane was shouting to hold fire while Camila climbed out of the trench herself. She was smiling in a confident way that bordered on deranged. Her expression made Coop wonder about his own unhinged grin. He inspected the Field Boss, letting his allies fill their roles.

[Field Boss: Ancient Defender (Level 170)]

[Axorzon the Tarnishing Pike (Body)]

[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]

“Oh… That’s an Ancient Defender Boss! We never got to see one of those.” Coop pointed out, excitedly, as his mood changed with the reveal. He was ignoring the change in air pressure and whipping winds that threatened to strip the topsoil from the surface of the Underlayer. Charlie was building something while Coop had a rare opportunity to spectate.

The Field Boss was pretty similar to the four-legged mechanical crab variant on Ghost Reef’s beaches, except this one had two extra legs and its protective shell had layers of red-brown protection overlapping each other like the scutes of a turtle shell, and of course, it was the size of a house. Coop was delighted to see it, though he suspected it wasn’t long for this world. The reveal of the Ancient Defender Field Boss made up for the disappointing initial presentation of the Primal Constructs.

“Keep an eye on me.” Camila commanded those in the trench, leaning forward like a long-distance runner preparing for a sprint. “You won’t want to miss this.”

A flash of light sparked from somewhere high in the sky, despite a lack of visible clouds, and Charlie’s opening salvo began at the exact moment Camila shifted forward. A thick column of lightning slammed toward the ground, with fingers of electricity sparking around its perimeter, just as Camila blasted across the no man’s land with superhuman momentum. The crackling energy and bombastic elemental roar even made Coop flinch.

The cataclysmic blast of thunder as the lightning struck was punctuated by the sound that always reminded Coop of an aluminum bat hitting a homerun. Coop tried to keep an eye on Camila, but he wavered when the light nearly blinded him while she extended a straight right punch, bracers glowing an impossibly bright searing blue. She connected with Charlie’s magnificent lightning bolt with perfect coordination. The image that burned into his vision as he blinked was of Camila’s slender body in front of a wall of incandescent energy that overwhelmed every other feature of the already plain Underlayer, while her arm extended in a classic right hook.

When his eyes opened again, Camila’s Perfect Counter ability had redirected Charlie’s lightning strike so that it rushed forward, parallel to the ground, still flicking fingers of brilliant white that arced into the air and across the dirt. Orange streaks of superheated soil skipped into the air in its trail, briefly turned molten by the energy along the perimeter of the blast.

An instant later, the combined attack vaporized Axorzan, reducing the Field Boss to a temporary flash. The multiplying of Charlie’s already absurd damage with Camila’s counter ability empowered the attack to continue through the boss’s armored metal carapace and into the newly formed fort that the monster had intended to protect. The metallic walls were illuminated with superheated energy, and the sentries on the wall melted as they were caught in the resulting blast, their energy shields popping like overstretched soap bubbles, sending colorful sparks soaring across the horizon.

Camila followed the lightning, not particularly far behind thanks to her ridiculous speed and unfair manipulation of momentum, snatching the lives of the remaining Primal Constructs while they were stunned by the side effect of being too close to a lightning strike made exponentially more powerful by the combination attack. The ones that had avoided the lightning through pure luck were crumpled like empty aluminum cans by the Interceptor’s follow up attacks.

The second fort of the Primal Constructs began despawning before a minute of the event had gone by. Coop batted his watery eyes in disbelief as Camila triumphantly strolled back, the air still buzzing with residual energy. As he watched, a thought came unbidden: maybe they had over prepared a bit for this level of challenge.