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Chapter 354: Lake Titicaca
🕑 Added 2025-03-07 16:11:00 +0000 UTCAn ethereal spear shot straight through what Coop had believed was a solid island in the center of Lake Titicaca. Rather than a rock-like surface, the superficial facade provided the same level of resistance as Coop would have expected from a hay bale. The spear plunged into the chilly water and sank into the depths before he activated his mistjump.
For a moment, he wondered if he had overshot the small island and missed, thanks to the distance, but these days, usually the last thing he needed to do was question his accuracy. The island just wasn’t what it seemed.
When Coop viewed the whole lake through his overcharged mana sight, there were several locations worth checking out, but his target was clearly the focal point of the region. Activated mana was concentrating around the island. The currents in the sky were interrupted directly above, forming an eddy that glowed like a wall of illuminated energy within the monochromatic world of mists. Normally, any obvious formation of mana meant either a civilization shard was present or a monster domain had formed.
From his vantage point near the edge of the elevated lake, nothing appeared to be amiss, but his weapon had inexplicably torn through the surface of the island and submerged itself. It continued to sink into the cold blue depths instead of planting itself into the ground like a flagpole as expected.
Coop grunted to himself, vocalizing his mild confusion while standing on a rocky, treeless shore, surrounded by golden yellow patches of windblown grass, in an environment that he assumed would match the island. It was a high altitude plateau with a semi-arid climate that left the vegetation hardy and sparse. He thought it was rather barren, like a desert, but his baseline was tropical and sub-tropical islands and rainforests, so he wasn’t the best person to ask.
While there were empty boats beached on the shore nearby, tied to tiny docks that seemed to lead to nowhere, he preferred to rely on his own movement abilities. Instead, he recalled his soaked weapon and followed his first attempt of traversal with a more angled, practically underhanding it so that the arc was reminiscent of the first few months of mistjumping. The weaker throw allowed him to teleport early and physically land on his target with a relatively gentle somersault.
As soon as his feet touched the artificial ground and he popped back up, he recognized the problem. As he thought, it hadn’t been his aim, despite the 20 mile throw. The island was actually an enormous floating barge made of a type of thick sedge grass that had been painstakingly gathered from the shallows of the distant shores. Coop had been fooled by the thatched ground and glowing energy, believing it was a substantial island and the center of the rumored human settlement in the area.
The floating island was large enough to hold four regulation sized football fields adjacent to each other, and it was absolutely teeming with a cousin of the Primal Kites back on Ghost Reef. The Ancient variants of the metallic jellyfish-like monsters were popping up all throughout the lake, then hovering across the surface to join the smack that had formed on the golden grass barge, near its exact center. It was odd behavior from the normally predictable aliens.
Something about the floating island seemed to trigger the patient ambushers, sending them into a frenzy that reminded him of one of the middle waves of the Siege Event. They were raiding the island, despite its lack of notable features aside from the fact that it was floating. Coop was the only non-invader foolish enough to make its presence known, but of course he would dive into the thick of it. That’s what the Revenant class was all about.
Like the monsters, Coop had been attracted like a moth to flame when he beheld the spotlight of energy emerging from the island. He had expected to find a civilization shard, but instead he discovered a dense hunting ground that would potentially save him some time. He definitely wouldn’t be upset about unexpectedly discovering an ideal grind zone.
Before he went wild, he slid the Soul Shroud across his eyes and confirmed that the energy was emitting from the island, though there were weaker spotlights off in the distance, marking other points of interest around the lake. He decided he would investigate after completing the race to level 500 once and for all. The threshold was too close to pass up.
He twirled his spear, flipping it into another throw that transformed the projectile into a laser of spectral energy. The first level came with the first kill, putting him at level 499. Then, before he could continue, the ground beneath his feet tore away and another monster sought to slice his extended leg clean off.
An Ancient Serpent, the cousin of the snake-like enemies within the Mangrove Forest revealed that both sides of the island were dense with invaders. The thatch ground was surprisingly thick, protruding 20 to 30 feet into the water, but the fin blades of the Serpent had cut straight through, exposing another swarm of enemies swimming below and through the grassy weave.
Coop barely lifted his leg out of the way, unconsciously avoiding the veiled assault from the low level normal enemy while actively quickswapping to his ethereal shortsword. The mists solidified with barely a moment to spare, as the edge collided with the metallic body of the snake, and he bisected the ambushing monster.
The second level that came from defeating a new variant for the first time was enough for him to immediately hit level 500, literally two seconds into his hunt, but the surge of adrenaline from being attacked made it impossible to pause. The grind was just beginning. He would only be satisfied with two more Slayer titles.
The excited smile that planted on the Champion’s face was a staple when it came to grinding. Dozens of ethereal phantasms joined him as he flickered between the representatives of the two new monster variants, aggressively destroying what he had to imagine was a hub of activity.
Ancient Kites rushed toward him from all sides and Ancient Serpents cut through the ground or leapt from the waters that were increasingly exposed as the floating island deteriorated. Coop giggled and lunged and stabbed. He activated Vaporform and teleported through the mists that slowly engulfed the center of the lake, like a pocket of fog growing into a rolling wall. His phantasms were silent, but they matched his movements with the ease of veteran warriors.
Throughout his journey, he had pursued every opportunity to grind with the same undiminished enthusiasm. He wasn’t even sure where the eagerness came from anymore. In the past it had been borne of desperation or responsibility, then it was hunger, but ever since receiving Quantum Insanity he thought the motivation had evolved back into ambition. Maybe it was the natural life cycle of forging new paths and developing a build, but as time went on he was feeling eager to break through more thresholds.
Coop received two more Slayer titles in a matter of five hours, completing the quests with undiminished enthusiasm, despite how many times he was repeating the process. He and his spectral companions were defeating more than two monsters every second, the entire time, revealing a shocking density of the Constructs. Meanwhile, the buoyancy of the island had been compromised to the point that it felt like he was back in the Coral Forest mana well, doing his best to balance on the algae bog.
He checked his status while he leaned back and forth to avoid sinking into the rather frigid waters.
[Status]
HP - 91435/91345
MP - 352484/357740
Class - Revenant (Level 508)
Profession - Scavenging (Level 596)
Affinity - Spectral, Abyssal
Race - Human (Icon)
Faction - The Lighthouse
Strength - 200 (+17887)
Agility - 200 (+8943)
Body - 200 (+8943)
Mind - 11540 (+6347)
Intelligence - 200 (+17887)
Acumen - 200 (+8943)
Unallocated - 0
Titles - Champion V, Haunted, Ethereal, Reaper II, Slayer XXXIII, Dauntless, Defiant, Stalwart, Reckless, Stacked, Valor XXIV, Siegebreaker, Underking, Mindbender, Insane
Skills (Active) - Mistwalking
Skills (Passive) - Depths of Madness
Quests - Fortune Seeker (49/50), Upgrade Metropolis to Global Capital
Basic Credits - 255,684,566
Thirty three Slayer titles meant that he had accumulated a third 5% Mind stat multiplier. He was gaining 15% from defeating variants of the Primal Constructs and completing their associated quests, 10% from equipping the Soul Shroud, 10% from his Under Armor, 10% from being the top performer in the Underlayer Event, and 10% from the Siege Event. That was a 55% bonus to Mind in total.
Plus, Quantum Insanity was essentially a 100% base bonus to the attributes gained from class levels, which he always put into Mind. Then, both Adamance and Arcane Comprehension were basically 100% bonuses applied to Strength and Intelligence, and Mind Over Matter, Practical Application, and Clarity of Purpose were 50% bonuses applied to Body, Agility, and Acumen.
Every class level increased his Mind by 15 stat points, which was then distributed into a bit more than an additional 50 bonus stats across his other attributes. Every Slayer title added something like 700 total points.
Coop shook his head at the absurdity of his build. Any of the individual bonuses he had gathered would have been a significant boon to a normal class, but he had continually reinvested in the strategy such that it essentially was the whole build. The Revenant had become an engine that absolutely printed attributes. The more he progressed, the better it became.
If the level reset had been designed to halt his momentum, it had done an extremely poor job. His progress was surging and starting from zero had only allowed him to build potential energy behind a dam that was clearly breaking.
Coop absently directed more phantasms to cull the monsters that continued to invade his Fog of War while he giddily fiddled with his status. He had 81,000 total attributes, which was the equivalent 16,200 regular un-multiplied class levels. Insane! He couldn’t imagine what his status would look like if he had 111 years to keep pushing.
Day 256
1. Coop (Level 508)
2. Charlie Seraphin (Level 446)
3. Camila Alvarez (Level 446)
4. Platinum (Level 446)
5. Hai Yun (Level 446)
6. Sila Tupua (Level 446)
7. Imara (Level 446)
8. Tzultacaj (Level 446)
9. Safiri (Level 445)
10. “Super” Siwarak Supitaya (Level 445)
Every time Coop checked the leaderboards, he did so after he had received a massive boost of levels. It made it seem like his lead was slowly growing over the rest of humanity, but he wasn’t so sure if it was truly sustainable.
The rate that his companions were leveling was surprisingly smooth, though the rate was also decreasing over time as they pushed through diminishing returns. He wasn’t sure if they were locked to the development of the overall assimilation yet, but if they weren’t, they must have been close. He doubted such coordinated levels would have been achievable even if they were intentionally sharing experience.
If he didn’t keep up the pace, he suspected that those who opted to pursue Slayer quest chains would soon close the gap. Coop nodded in understanding, feeling like he needed to push forward and set a proper example for anyone that might try and follow.
It had taken him 78 days in total to regain his lost levels, more or less, but his stats had basically gone nuclear as he recovered. He wasn’t done yet. The third phase would continue until the system or mana forced him to stop.
“Coop! You in there, bro?” A surprisingly familiar voice echoed from beyond the edge of fog. “Where you at, brother?”
Coop zeroed in on Mikey B’s voice and let his Fog of War drift from that direction, clearing a tunnel toward the floating island. Coop meandered over to the edge of the woven sedge grass as his domain faded, then waved at Ghost Reef’s earliest scout team once the air opened up.
Amanda and Mikey B were in a pre-mana rowboat along with a handful of locals. Apparently, Coop had been hunting at the nearby settlement’s monster lure. Rather than walls, they had invested in diversionary tactics that reduced the threat of Primal Construct incursions on their main population center. Compared to a normal settlement, they only had to defend against a fraction of the number of monsters thanks to a series of floating islands baited with energy that attracted the invaders, and apparently also worked on the Unchosen Champion.
The actual settlement was located on a real island called Amantaní. It was a larger island than Ghost Reef, dominated by two low mountains and completely covered in terraced gardens. They grew things like potatoes, quinoa, and wheat, all by hand. Each garden was much smaller than a typical farm, ranging from a few feet to about the size of a swimming pool, but the whole island was a patchwork of stone-lined squares and rectangles, from the shore to the peaks.
About 200,000 people lived within the shard’s territory, separated on multiple islands and with several enclaves on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It was a significant growth in population compared to pre-mana times, but evidently, many survivors from La Paz and other coastal cities had found their way to the tamed territory. The main island only held 10,000 people, but even that was larger than they had before the assimilation began.
Amanda and Mikey B had been working their own way through the continent, following the Andes mountains with a series of expeditions, while Coop weaved through jungles, coasts, and wetlands. Like all the other members of his faction, they were on the lookout for their wandering Champion and they had messages and suggestions for his trip.
The main news they carried was that Marcus and a delegation of the Ghost Reef advisors were heading to the last major settlement in South America and they thought it would be a good idea for Coop to participate. They had made contact with the benevolent, but strangely passive emperor who had evidently taken control of thousands and thousands of miles, from Patagonia through all of Argentina and Chile, and were set to meet sometime soon. Even the Avatar of the System was on board, sailing with the others to see what another one of Earth’s leaders might be like.
Upon hearing about the meeting, even the residents of the settlement on Lake Titicaca chipped in, being familiar with the powerful armies that roamed through the southern portion of the continent. Though they only mentioned meeting with the kings, they chuckled at the idea of Coop paying tribute to the emperor, but when he asked why they decided amongst themselves not to spoil the surprise.
The meeting was to happen relatively soon, so Coop would have to go on his own, rather than sailing along the coast, if he didn’t want to miss it. He figured his presence wasn’t mandatory, but he was still curious, and more than a little worried about his friends putting themselves in danger by convening with a potentially dangerous force. It would probably be better if he was there to make sure nothing went awry, or rather, if things did go wrong, he could make sure no harm would befall his companions. At least, that’s how he saw his job as Champion.
Comments
андрей ткач
Thanks for the chapter!
