Unchosen Champion

Coop came and went from Ghost Reef frequently over the years. As he explored new corners of the planet in search of the forces of mana, he couldn't help but be drawn back not long after. Then, when he was home, he couldn't sit still, too eager to get back into a grind.

The settlement was slightly different every time he came back, rebuilding itself at an unprecedented rate, but the overall atmosphere was always the same. The sense of being safe and secure was a reliable welcome home, no matter how long he was gone.

He would have liked to take a more active role in the redevelopment of the settlement, but his priority was to do what he did best. There was no one that would fault him for continuing to grind, so he made his peace with leaving everything else in the hands of experts. As long as his sanctuary remained, he thought he was happy.

After the Apparition of Gaia empowered the warriors of Earth, humans easily secured a broad range around the island settlement. They were only limited by the oceans themselves, rather than resistance from their enemies. After securing Ghost Reef, they split into different groups, carefully expanding their influence so that a perimeter of safety appeared around the core of the Lighthouse across hundreds and then thousands of miles until they were providing relief to the animals far beyond the original territory.

The first priority was redeveloping the navy so that they could properly project their power across a broader range. Before the residents repaired their homes, they were reconstructing the port and manually building ships. One at a time, they launched new vessels, and with each ship, a crew set off to free another island or port from the forces of mana.

At first, almost all the residents of the island settlement continued to fight, specifically to liberate the homes they had evacuated, but one by one, they realized that there was no going back to the pre-mana days. The places they had left could only be remembered and memorialized, so thoroughly had the world been changed by mana and battle. It was a final confirmation that home was somewhere in Ghost Reef, where they had fought side by side with eternal companions and sworn comrades rather than on unreclaimed land.

No matter how much Earth resisted, the introduction of mana had resulted in dramatic changes to the already extremely varied planet. Skipping past the changes in geography, even the local environments were forever transformed, and not necessarily by the armies that had sought to wipe humans off the face of the planet or the wars that had occurred between animals and monsters.

Weird, unpredictable shifts were taking place, sometimes making it difficult to even locate where cities had once sat, and other times altering the landscape in ways that were more comparable to Mana Wells like the Coral Forest than to more familiar pre-mana habitats. The surface of the planet had taken familiar ecosystems and made them surprisingly alien, full of new variations of mana monsters and environmental effects.

The animal strongholds accommodated for the new regions, adapting and enduring as they always had, but for humans it wasn't so easy to reconcile their successful resistance with the changes that had taken place regardless of their collective efforts. It even caught Coop by surprise the first time he came home and found Ancient Defender-like creatures had started respawning on Rock Key, where the fort had once sat.

They weren't Primal Constructs, they were simply manifestations of mana itself, lacking the direction of the system, but remembering an older arrangement and repeating it like one of the frequently mentioned echoes. It was a known phenomenon that Balor had even brought up when they first met: the memories of mana echoing across the system. In this case, it was more of a local reflection, like the undead that had appeared in the ruins of the Yucatan settlement after the Lich was defeated. Similar zones appeared all across the planet as Earth went through the final stages of mana activation. The forces of mana were defeated, but they weren't exactly gone. Their designs provided a foundation for new mana monsters to establish combat zones all across the planet.

Normally, the developments they were encountering only occurred after the assimilation completed and they were welcomed into the galactic community, but thanks to humans, animals, and the forces of mana, Earth had gone through an accelerated process in assimilating mana. While still hidden behind the planetary shield, and bound to never be integrated into the system, the inhabitants of the planet were settling into a new arrangement the hard way, without support or guidance.

Other planets within the galactic community naturally ceded ground to the wild mana of their planets. Even shards that fully upgraded only ever maintained a handful of subordinate settlements and they would have been connected by Underlayer route rather than on the surface. It seemed like Earth was following known patterns at an intensified rate, but Coop was just one who wasn't satisfied with lacking control over their own backyard. Maintaining the planet would be a permanent challenge that would require significantly more manpower than they currently had, but it was something he felt they would absolutely have to do. The effort would just look more like how they had arranged the mana well than passive zones that they could simply leave alone.

As humans returned from their excursions on the surface, most of them had to confront a change in their priorities. Rebuilding was the first and most pressing objective for the majority, but many others followed Coop's lead, envisioning themselves as proper stewards of the planet and the animals that had been equal comrades in the Eradication Protocol. For the time being, Coop and the other adventurers merely set a foundation for future excursions by eliminating the forces of mana wherever they were found and reestablishing Outposts to be connected by the growing navy and recovered Underlayer chasms.

At the same time, Ghost Reef was carefully reconstructed, layer by layer in the underground, with the builders experimenting with fabrication methods that might resist future attacks. Manual construction had resisted returning to pure mana within the Underlayer in the past, but the crimson haze had attacked everything made by human hands and had even temporarily taken hold of the leylines. It required further investigation, but as long as the leylines were within the Lighthouse territory, they had some semblance of security.

Still, the realization that they had such enormous gaps in their understanding of mana had many of the rebuilders once again changing focus. It wasn't enough to simply accept that the civilization shard had been influenced by Coop and therefore they were safe. Curious humans formed a third portion of the population and returned to the Ark as scientists and xeno-archaeologists, slowly picking apart the inert object to learn as much as they could and confirm that the Underlayer wouldn't suddenly turn against them once again. The cells that had once held the forces of mana like incubators within the Ark were completely gone, but the apparatus that had siphoned mana from the core left them enough clues to study, inactive as it was.

After ten years, almost everyone had returned to Ghost Reef full-time, slowly restoring themselves and their homes. Patrolling the surface rarely uncovered any hint of the forces of mana, and was instead an adventure in the chaos of mana, like delving directly into a mana well. Coop was among the last who continued to fight, but his most recent return heralded a celebration.

"Do we really have to do this?" He grumbled to his longtime advisors, fidgeting with the formal clothes that had been forcefully put on him by Erasimus Doomthread, Camila, and Laurie.

"Yes." Jones, Madison, Marcus, and Arthur all stated in unison, tired of his excuse-seeking. Charlie covered her mouth to laugh at him from where she was watching. Elder Olani just shook her head in the background while Balor looked almost as confused as the Champion.

Coop sighed, but they had already explained to him why a parade was necessary multiple times. It clearly delineated the end of the fight for survival and allowed them all to move forward together. It was the positive conclusion they all needed. It was just that he couldn't accept why his participation was so important.

The surviving humans had changed dramatically from the fractured societies they had once been a part of, but they still had to prepare for the long term future role that Coop had suggested for the Lighthouse. The time before the planetary shield was lifted would be perfect for them to prepare and get organized. They didn't want to waste the opportunity established by their forced isolation. Almost a hundred years remained, and a lot could happen in that amount of time.

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After the celebration, the first faction elections would be held, though rather than different groups vying for control, it was more like selecting an individual leader to guide the Lighthouse into the future. The term seemed ridiculous to Coop, but Marcus and the others were taking into account as much of their new reality as possible. That the people of the Lighthouse were entirely united and fully committed to working together was almost as strange as the fact that they wouldn't die from old age, but they were leaving pre-mana baggage behind and beginning anew.

It didn't really matter for Coop. His position as founder of the faction and Champion of the core settlement was something that no one would ever think of challenging. That he was responsible for bringing phantoms to life made him a national treasure to the point that many worried about even letting him move freely on the surface. If he wasn't so strong, they would probably lock him in a safe and protect his existence with their lives, but instead, he continued to grow.

"Hey, is that other thing ready yet?" Marcus asked, drawing a few glances among the others in the know.

"Not even close." Coop muttered, his secret project over the years not so secret as he experimented with broader ideas concerning mana, visiting the Ark in search of hints almost as much as he stayed on his beach when he returned.

"C'mon." Marcus continued. "I heard you've even invited Elly, Lyriel, and Palisteon. Them plus the Cleary Brothers, Charlie, Camila, Madison, and Gibson means the group is growing rather large. How are you going to hold out on your advisors?"

"I needed a broad range of levels to compare…" Coop started to explain before deciding it would be better to avoid revealing too many details. "It's just not ready yet." He concluded.

"At this point, just about everyone is aware that you are working on a new system." Arthur came right out and said it. "If you open it up, you will be able to collect valuable data and receive feedback from more perspectives."

Coop grunted. "That's not really what I'm doing. Rather than remake the system, I just want something that can help define and guide progress." He quickly explained. The system had a clear purpose of control and conquest, neither of which he was chasing after.

Marcus started ushering him forward before he got too into his thoughts. "It's fine, you can take your time, but you should know that there isn't a soul in the Lighthouse that won't try to help you. That's who we are now. There's no need to worry about the prejudices that poisoned us in the past."

Coop frowned, considering if that might have been something he was actually worried about. He shrugged, as he realized it was true that he didn't want to reintroduce such a clear hierarchy such that it might sow unnecessary division. He should have known how well his advisors understood him after so many years, but also it really wasn't ready.

"Let's get going." Marcus pointed him to the new teleportation runes, claiming the last word on the conversation.

Coop teleported to the Underlayer ahead of his companions, still thinking maybe it was about time he started publically testing his pet project afterall, but as soon as he arrived all thoughts were sent away by the roar of a crowd. He hesitated in surprise, feeling the foundation of the landing area shake from the enthusiastic cheers.

Coop felt like he hadn't really heard the sound of unbridled joy and relief since before the apocalypse began. Confetti rained from every window, rooftop, and from the spiraling ramps that climbed the massive column in the center. Streamers and brightly colored paper caught in the steady breeze of the Underlayer, and covered the wide park avenues with vibrant pinks, yellows, blues, and greens. The first generation of children born after the apocalypse were hoisted on their parents shoulders, stretching out their tiny hands, eyes as colorful as the confetti stretched wide at the explosion of festivities. Supposedly there were twice as many housecats as there were people in Ghost Reef after everything was said and done, and the same was true for domesticated dogs, but the size of the crowds seemed to demonstrate how their unity elevated their impression. He wouldn't be surprised if the parade had 100% human attendance.

The capital had ultimately shifted underground, and a metropolis had formed around the base of the chasm, surrounding the massive stone pillar that had been fashioned into a lighthouse. Thousands of apartments were carved into its edifice, climbing all the way back into the lowest underground layers of Ghost Reef. Near the ceiling, creeping vines made progress on the column, making it seem like a thin canopy on a massive tree.

Even the civilization shard's citadel had been refashioned within the column at the center of the city, surrounded by the radiating parks that served as wide city streets, filled with manicured vegetation and simple paths. Rows of buildings slotted into the space between parks, rather than the other way around, and the community extended for miles, currently only connected to the sister city that had formed from the researchers of the Ark at the base of the deconstructing spaceship to the northwest. Between the layers of the underground, the Underlayer capital, and the Ark Base, Ghost Reef was by far the largest city in human history.

The Underlayer had been purpose built for colonization, but the original Exiles never had the opportunity to reap the benefits of their plan, captured by their own penalties before they even got started. In Earth's case, it was humans who took the next step to claim the intended underground sanctuary, turning it into their own.

Coop had only been all the way down to the Underlayer a dozen times since conquering the Ark, spending most of his visits to Ghost Reef on the island at the surface, in the research base at the Ark, or visiting the various layers at the insistence of different residents. But the city in the Underlayer was what most represented the new human civilization that had formed during the Eradication Protocol. He did his best to control his surprise and offer a genuine smile and wave to the cheering people as his companions appeared behind him, ushering him forward, so that a fresh wave of cheers ran through the crowds.

They wanted him to do a full lap around the central pillar, and the residents had squeezed onto both sides of the main park-like boulevard, collectively celebrating their declaration of victory over the Eradication Protocol. He had been resistant due to not really seeing his contribution any differently from everyone else, but one look at the people that were using his presence as an excuse to party made him want to deliver.

All those who had fought on the surface were joining him for the parade, and that included the animals. Sunny strutted out front, carrying his own leash, while Vronk walked with the wild pigs, and all the others who had defended Ghost Reef from Icons of Mana contributed to the atmosphere.

The city had transformed into an open-air banquet. Long tables stretched down the park avenues that connected to the main boulevard, covered in the foods they had learned to manufacture with mana. No one could consciously eat a roasted boar or fried chicken, recognizing that the animals were their brothers and sisters in mana, but many still had an appetite for meat. One of the many avenues of new research had been on the manifestation of ingredients to allow people to continue to eat, regardless of their proficiency with mana, inspired by the services that had once been provided by the system.

The rest of the day was a series of speeches and party games. Coop found himself swept up in the activities at the end of the parade, eating and competing with strangers that were closer than family.

Barrels of beer and casks of wine were tapped, their contents flowing freely among the cups of the participants. There were endless toasts to match the endless desire to celebrate. Music played throughout the city and bards sang of heroic deeds that had occurred across the world, both from the local survivors and those who had sacrificed themselves for the rest along the way.

Through mana, no effort was forgotten. The Last Stand of Devil's Tower, The Shieldwall of the Sinking Pier, and the Bitter Harvest of Delirium were popular tales, but there were almost as many songs as there were people during the Eradication Protocol. The memorials across the planet uncovered the feats of humanity even in outposts that had otherwise disappeared without a trace. Everything was recorded in the mists.

It helped that every time Coop visited the Underlayer, it had been with the express purpose to sit with the civilization shard and rebuild an interface from scratch. Each time, he summoned more phantoms. Reunions with lost companions were no longer out of the question and even Coop had been confronted by the Oathbroken Deathstalker that he had personally killed in the Yucatan. She had promised to beat him in the next life, but with the way Coop had progressed, it would take a hundred more to have a chance. Every phantom was another person treasuring a second life, dedicating themselves to the society that was currently partying the day away, even ones that had been enemies in their past life. It was hard to reconcile the new humanity with the memories of their fractured existence before mana had activated.

As the artificial night descended on the subterranean city, mirroring the cycles of the surface, the city was lit with millions of torches. The base of the pillar had been carved with layers of names. Every human recorded in the mists was marked down, dead or alive, and those with living ancestors were remembered. With enough phantoms they might all be reunited one day, but many took the time to visit those who weren't there to celebrate right away.

Rather than a somber note to end the day, it was a hopeful one. A united humanity moved forward with a victorious heart. The war was over. Ghost Reef was safe and they had plenty of room to grow.