Unchosen Champion

Grandmaster Balor Rockshaper had his stone face pressed against the pane of self-cleaning protective glass that kept him separated from the outside. The palms of both of his hands were splayed out as he forced his eyes as close as possible, careful not to miss a single instant. He couldn't help but admire all that humans had created, but it was all moving so fast he couldn't let himself blink.

"It's not going anywhere, Balor." Jones chastised him for his juvenile behavior, despite his superior age, with a chuckle.

"Bah!" Balor responded, refusing to budge. They had made the windows strong enough to bear even his weight for a reason: so anyone could look.

A handful of other passengers had friendly smiles on their faces as they observed the childlike curiosity present in one of the most famous people on the planet. Jones jokingly apologized on his behalf, but they didn't mind his behavior one bit. They were all equally engaged with their surroundings, despite the routine act of traveling back to the capital on public transportation. The windows projected holograms of distant locations on the sides, but Balor thought it wasn't the same as seeing it with his own two eyes.

Most of the other passengers were adventurers returning from an expedition on the surface, or caretakers who had been making sure the Underlayer conditions remained perfect, all far away from their homes in the core of Ghost Reef. Even if they had seen the various habitats a thousand times, they still enjoyed the views and were periodically inspired to make one place or another the destination for their next holiday trip.

Balor had been thoroughly infected by human curiosity over the years. He stared at the open plains, covered in yellow grasses with an expression of absolute wonderment painted on his face. As he watched, he could visualize the sporadic breezes with the way waves rolled across the seemingly endless glades. He imagined what the wind would feel like on his sun-drenched stone skin, as if he were out there on his own.

Scattered trees created large islands of shade where multiple species relaxed. They were like natural communal areas in the vast plains, and without the pressure to kill, unlikely combinations of life shared the space peacefully.

Amazing creatures wandered through the nature preserves, leisurely grazing and interacting with each other. Giraffes, antelope, and a herd of wildebeest slowly meandered along the shore of shallow lakes, or among the slightly thicker stands of trees near the water, many having recently completed an enormous migration across the region. Their hides contrasted with the cerulean blue water, pale green leaves, and golden prairie in a way that made them seem like living miniatures.

A family of lions sunbathed on a flat rock, watching as a pair of cheetahs sprinted through the grass, not driven by hunger, but for play, still honing their natural instincts as they developed into adults. Whether they awakened or not was entirely up to them, but their speed without utilizing mana completely mystified Balor. The feeling was magnified when he looked down toward the closest family of elephants beneath the skyrail and he got a sense for the absolute mass of some of the animals outside. Even the babies were giants that were a bit clumsy with their size.

Humans didn't truly understand how special the continued existence of unempowered life was within the galactic community. It was rare enough to even have ancestors who qualified as such advanced forms in the first place, but it was almost completely unheard of for them to continue to survive after mana was fully activated.

While there were a few well-known exceptions, namely in the Blessed Mau Collective, the activation of mana and the arrival of the system normally marked the end of the previous benchmark for life. The introduction of the system and monsters filtered those who couldn't be controlled, on one end of the spectrum as well as the other. Until he met humans, he never thought anything of it, but now that he looked at it from their perspective, he saw how grim a fate it was.

As an example, the geology that formed Balor's predecessors simply didn't occur naturally after his people were awakened by mana. He was essentially a member of a completely new species thanks to the introduction of the system. If the conditions to establish similar patterns occurred in the wild on his home planet, the result would be a mana monster at best. Certainly, when they first evolved, many potential formations were simply left to disappear.

In his case, the external interference was probably for the better if one valued consciousness. It awakened those with the capacity to a world of possibilities through the cultivation of mana. Without the push, his whole planet would have remained lifeless, lacking the processes that magnified the quantity of activated mana.

He might never have been able to witness, let alone appreciate, the sights before him if not for the forced evolution. Without mana he and his people would have taken forever to evolve into thinking beings, if they ever did, but one trip around Earth and it was clear that the overall process of integration into the galactic community was an attack on what already qualified as a valuable existence.

He was aware that humans debated all sorts of philosophical questions regarding their role in the universe, but for him it was obvious they had every right to fight to preserve life as they knew it, no matter the consequences for people like him who stood in opposition. He hoped that he would have been brave enough to accept their extended hand if he hadn't already been lucky enough to end up on Earth in the first place, but he was sure there would be others that could.

He and Jones were traveling back home through the Underlayer after spending a significant amount of time abroad. They had been touring recently finalized memorials that the old caretaker thought would be of interest to the grandmaster stonemason.

Balor finally recognized how silly his impression of the fort on Ghost Reef had been after being shown what the Roman Colosseum was like, and experiencing the full extent of the Great Wall of China. But despite broadening his horizons to such an extent, the island structure had earned a special place in his mind. He was pretty sure humans felt the same way. The fact that they all still called Ghost Reef home was proof enough.

But it wasn't just the past achievements in his field of expertise that truly impressed him. The trip itself had been eye opening. Humans had been pushing avenues of development that he had never witnessed or even imagined in the galactic community. They were constantly redefining the basic concepts behind crafting right before his eyes. That's how he ended up glued to the views outside of their futuristic mode of transportation.

Humans had effectively moved their old planet into the underground, carefully seeding countless interactive environments and properly establishing the natural cycles that made regional climates unique before mana completely transformed them. They carved their way through the stone tunnels of the Underlayer, reshaping them to suit their purposes. They took complete control of the leylines for their own convenience in unimaginably ambitious projects. And now, after less than a hundred years, Balor could witness the fruits of their labor.

The terraforming efforts of alien invaders had left Earth with empty fields that were ripe for development. Humans transformed them into their version of paradise for all.

As a builder, he could hardly imagine the intricate complexities necessary to get things right for living and breathing environments to become self-sufficient. At certain points it seemed like humans even surprised themselves when utilizing mana to be almost completely free from material constraints.

Life was surprisingly peaceful when all the essentials were accounted for, especially considering the competition that had been ingrained in their DNA. The pressure created by the Eradication Protocol had helped, even within the wild animals, making it so that the survivors had experienced a common enemy that made infighting seem unwise. The traits that had helped them survive were passed on and regional communities had formed even before the Underlayer projects began.

Between the initiative of humanity and the determination of their awakened animal allies to maintain the connection they had with their unempowered kin, they had somehow accomplished unprecedented successes in many different fields, all in an incredibly short amount of time. Whenever problems arose, they sought solutions.

Balor was riding on one of the technological results. A sleek commuter train, powered by mana, that circled the entire globe. It silently glided above the varied habitats across the world on elevated lines, sequestered within a rigid tube to prevent collisions and contaminations. It was one of many that formed an intricate network of transportation and gave global access to the residents of Ghost Reef. The entire Underlayer was a mere day trip away.

Every chasm, those valuable connections that siphoned mana to the surface, had been reclaimed and utilized by the new Lighthouse civilization. All across the surface, outposts offered launch points for constant surveys and expeditions. For humans, maintaining even the mana enhanced zones up top was an unspoken commitment that had them consistently progressing through their own system of levels and experience while gathering new resources to use in experiments.

After Coop and the other powerhouses of the Lighthouse claimed every Mana Well in the world, the organizations of Ghost Reef took responsibility for monitoring the changes and mutations that took place elsewhere. With mana, zones on the surface were constantly shifting in potency, so there was a lot that went into designating appropriate challenges for those seeking to progress. It was quite a contrast to the control they had claimed over the leylines in the Underlayer, where everything was in perfect balance.

Balor watched as African Savannahs stretched all the way to the horizon. Rain clouds were rolling in the distance, showering a different section of scattered forest while real sunlight was siphoned to the rest. At the edges of the wide tunnel, he could just barely make out the filtered lights from communities that had been carved into the walls, rising up in tiers so that they overlooked the scenery without encroaching on each other.

If not for the small underground offshoot of the capital, he would have had trouble recognizing the region as underground at all, and quite frankly, as a creature of stone, he was a true expert on such things. The living atmosphere, clearly defined skies, landscapes stretching beyond the horizon, and the natural cycles taking place were that effective at overwhelming the senses.

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Half a billion humans lived on Earth as the assimilation period approached the end. The Lighthouse had established an absolute safezone in the Underlayer, then transformed it into their own, but they had also applied a soft touch while taking back the surface. The whole planet had become their charge and he was shocked at how diligently they studied every variable.

Compared to the expectations of the galactic community, half a billion in population was a completely ridiculous number. New factions rarely rose to such numbers even after countless cycles and planetary conquests. But for the Lighthouse, humans were only a portion of the total. There were a billion phantoms just to further widen the footprint of humanity, and that still wasn't all.

Balor had been a member of the galactic community for a long time, but Earth by itself already rivaled what he had experienced among the stars. That went for both living creatures as well as unique habitats. It really made Coop's strict appreciation for the different environments of his home planet make sense. Balor was glad the faction had followed suit.

Millions of other species had also joined the Lighthouse. Individually, the empowered populations of any single species leaned closer to numbers that might be reasonable for new initiates to the galactic community, measured in the thousands at most. All combined, they made no sense. The diversity of life on planet Earth exceeded every reasonable estimate by a terrifying margin. Some fluke of nature had created a wild outlier that stood apart from the galactic standards and the Lighthouse had brought it all together.

As the golden plains outside the train transitioned to a coastal region, Balor perked up. They only had a few moments to admire waves sweeping onto the shore where coastal species sunbathed and surfed. Next was an incredible ocean that served as the base of many underwater chasms connecting to the surface.

Developing underwater chasms had been an incredible feat of engineering, but humans had taken to the problem with urgency after Coop welcomed the first nautical species to their faction. They even wanted the unempowered fish to live comfortably with their awakened brethren, but that meant properly establishing the connections from the Underlayer to the oceans on the surface.

Balor stared at pillars of water that appeared to reach into the sky, disappearing beyond the clouds. The water that wrapped the stone columns was so calm it was practically motionless outside of streams of rising bubbles. Massive cylindrical barriers of mana prevented the water from splashing into the seas, a method that had been reverse engineered from the Ark.

The stone pillars inside had transformed into a base for all kinds of corals and sea creatures of every color darted across gaps. If he hadn't already known these chasms were the same as the ones on dry land, he never would have guessed. They had been transformed into live aquariums by the creatures of the sea after humans established the waterways.

Mountainous islands dotted the horizon between the columns. They were covered in lush greenery and pristine beaches cut by flowing rivers that reminded Balor that Ghost Reef had been a relatively minor habitat compared to what else was out there on Earth. Huge waves jostled the coasts, a hint at the energy of the surface.

The train bypassed enormous tropical waterfalls that were so tall, most of the falling water drifted into clouds before landing in the ocean. Dolphins raced each other as the train flew past, leaping from the surface one after the other before veering off toward the underwater communities that were linked to the rest of Ghost Reef via canals and aqueducts.

It had only been a hundred years, but humans had done some truly incredible things. To think they would have even dug oceans into their Underlayer absolutely blew his mind every time he saw them. They would be home shortly, entering the city that most considered to be the best part.

Balor quickly switched sides as they reached the outskirts of the main human development, pinning himself to the opposite window. He braced himself as the moment he always dreaded rapidly approached. First, colorful farmfields filled their views with perfectly organized rows of flowers and crops, framing the occasional windmill before slightly more dense infrastructure appeared. Then, they were entering the megalopolis that all humans called home in one form or another.

Giant stone sculptures abutted the main parkways guiding visitors into the core of the city, providing huge districts with heroic mascots. The one that drove Balor crazy was the one of himself, somehow created with more care and skill than even he could currently produce. It loomed over their path on the left, his gleaming armor and oversized hammer depicted in hundreds of feet of smooth marble, reflecting soothing light from the distant lighthouse. The park at his feet was full of visitors. Children climbed on his greaves, their parents watching and taking pictures from beyond the base.

Balor leaned against the window, ignoring the ground level, looking up at his own face. "How did they get so much blasted detail into the beard!?" He grumbled, drawing an amused chuckle from Jones.

It was simply impossible to do what they had done with the old system of crafting. Crafters like Balor used to simply follow the system's guidance with the appropriate materials. Like with skills, professions had been left in flux when the system abandoned Earth. That meant that even a grandmaster like him had to adapt if they didn't want to be left behind.

Balor had too much pride to simply retire from a competition, so he kept at it. It was only thanks to his thousands of years of experience with mana that he maintained a respectable standing among the leaderboards. He had always been a bit of a maverick, adding a personal touch to his assignments, which is what had set him apart from others within the system, but all humans were that way.

That's what that beard was. A personal touch that any artisan worth his salt would identify as a stroke of brilliance.

To make matters worse, his depiction was paired up with Vronk's. The giant ogre looked even more imposing on the right side of the parkway, roaring at the sky, club held high, all the power he represented diligently depicted by the human sculptors. Balor would have wished for Garod's statue to be matched with his, but they had placed the grandmaster blacksmith inside his mech for his depiction, so even that would have emphasized Balor's short stature.

Everytime he saw the massive sculptures he felt an inexplicable inspiration to produce a project of his own. As a result, all the rings that expanded outwards from the central hub had at least one bridge or parkway created by Balor himself. He couldn't help it. Human crafters made him feel that competitive. It wasn't right for them to be so skilled in so many different areas while being so new to mana.

The core of the city, still anchored by the massive lighthouse embedded into the pillar that led up to the underground layers, had to be repeatedly expanded over the years. The central column was covered in landings and platforms, looking over towering, organic skyscrapers that Balor hardly understood. Humans had leapt ahead in terms of technology and mana-materials such that he preferred to concentrate on his own areas of expertise as much as possible. It was too much to understand, and it was all constantly changing so that it felt futile to try and keep up with everything.

Supposedly, the skyscrapers were living structures, their exoskeletons inspired by the calcium carbonate formations of coral polyps. Instead of animals, they were covered in green plants that photosynthesized mana from the light and allowed the buildings to self-maintain while also providing clean air to the structures. The pristine white stone peaked through canopies of green, red, and purple leaves in a way that even Balor found pleasing. At night, with all of the vegetation backlit by custom lights, it was a real treat to see. When holidays came, they were all coordinated in exquisite detail.

The buildings themselves weren't completely filled in, leaving large open sections at various points on the way to the top. It made the individual structures look like a series of tall buildings stacked on top of each other with smooth flowing stilts in between instead of a singular construction. The empty spaces created elevated parks and landings that connected to the newer floating islands that dotted the skies above the capital and the mid-levels of the central pillar itself. Skybridges and elevated aqueducts further networked between the buildings, wrapping around extensive vertical farms, and each lined with more greenery than any other material. Balor spotted an airship leisurely taking off from one of the landings at the edge of an elevated greenspace, joining others that were already giving birdseye views of the city to the passengers as they carried them to their destinations.

As a side effect of the gaps in the buildings, the light from the central lighthouse was visible throughout the region, like a soothing nightlight that could guide them home if they were lost. Between the surface and the Underlayer, the faction had really embraced its name. He didn't think it was a conscious effort so much as something that happened naturally as every resident did their best for the community as a whole.

Their train continued to shoot toward the city center, crossing mixed neighborhoods filled with life and activity. Wide canals of crystalline waters that connected to different lakes and even the underground oceans circled the rings of the city, often with bottom lights that matched with the nearby buildings. Beneath the surface, the waters were full of life, and on top of the surface, they were filled with sleek ships that acted like trams to get around the massive network of parks, gardens, and structures. Dedicated pedestrian bridges that had been crafted by Balor himself were adorned with hanging gardens that flourished with exotic blossoms and were constantly filled with people watching the boats go by and just enjoying the scenery.

Balor hadn't understood the purpose of such extreme planning when they first began expanding across the Underlayer. Traffic just wasn't a consideration in the galactic community, but as Ghost Reef's underground capital developed, he was impressed with their foresight. They were serious about proper city planning and urban development from the start.

Humans enjoyed a variety of methods to travel beyond simply walking, and they had everything covered from short trips to cross-city and cross-planet methods. They were even working on their own form of teleportation that might bypass the chasms, but that was one field they were still working on.

Tall multi-level colonnades formed the bases of the high-rise buildings, creating sheltered public spaces below them as the communal structure of the fort inspired future generations of architecture. These were filled with small artisan shops, interactive exhibits, and of course food vendors selling synthesized delicacies of every variety. The ground level of the city managed to feel almost wide open, but the height of the buildings established a population density that allowed the settlement to declare itself the center of everything.

The capital extended all the way to the edges of the Underlayer. Instead of stopping there, the city climbed up the walls, creating tiers that could view the city from the perimeter. More airships went back and forth from the edges to the islands, but everything else was connected by footpath, biketrail, rail, skybridge, and aqueduct.

Then, from the edges, the city extended into the other environments, remaining on the fringes to avoid interrupting the natural ecosystems that they had carefully formed. The urban development would never encroach on the natural environments, instead being constructed on the edges of the tunnels. According to the city planners, trillions of people would eventually be able to inhabit the Underlayer of Earth without interfering with the animal habitats. Balor couldn't even begin to imagine it. It was possible to have a home with a view of the golden savannahs or any other environment while working directly in the core of the city.

He had overheard many conversations where humans discussed how they had leapt into the future. He wasn't sure what they had in mind, but the current city was certainly beyond his imagination.

As he and Jones exited the train, he took a deep breath, glad to be back even after a short trip across the world. He may have been a bit primitive compared to the futuristic platform, but his signature was all over the foundations.

Holographic screens displayed arrival times and departures while travelers calmly disembarked, being received by their families as they all prepared for the biggest day of their assimilation. Balor was happy to be a part of their big day.

"Let's go have some drinks." Jones suggested. "Desmond will be waiting for us, I'm sure."

Balor nodded, smiling to himself as he admired the rest of the city. "That sounds like a good idea."