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Chapter 109: Forward
Coop was wielding an ethereal bo staff as he finished off the last of the Ruin Excavators for the quest line. The pearlescent chamber was getting a break from the constant smashing that normally accompanied his morning star hunting sessions. Instead, the bo staff cracked down on the carapaces of the...
Chapter 108: Mana Dense
Coop woke with a start and sighed dramatically as his blurry vision revealed the old wooden ceiling in his bedroom within the lighthouse. The excitement of whatever he dreamed about lingered, but the details had already slipped his mind.He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and lazily stretched his ar...
Chapter 107: Spar
Coop had been so caught up in testing his strength on the bench, he’d neglected all of the other lifts he normally would have done with a proper routine. Naturally, he always paired chest day with tris and shoulders in the pre-mana times, but he’d have to chalk his first workout down as an explo...
Chapter 106: Just Guys Being Dudes
“Go fish?” Coop asked the table, but he didn’t even get an answer.The Illusionist scooted over for Coop to have a seat next to her. He sat down and she gave him a strained but friendly smile that almost reached her eyes, one that the secretary probably repeated frequently while dealing with th...
Chapter 105: Idle Speed
Coop dismissed his morning star and allowed his Fog of War to finally fade away as he left the pearlescent chambers. He imagined the Ruin Excavators collectively sighing in relief as their tormentor finished for the day. He’d hunted for a bit longer than he planned, but it was just because he was ...
Chapter 104: Market Avenue
While gripping the rake with both hands, Coop raised his arms into the air and stretched his back. A few solid pops along his spine gave him a wave of relief as he exhaled dramatically. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the knuckles of a sand covered hand and took a deep breath. The small reset ...
Chapter 103: Last Stand
Coop managed to get into a solid groove, smashing his way through the regular Ruin Excavators at a constant pace with his heavy morning star. He didn’t need to rush, but he still expanded his hunting grounds to account for the monsters’ spawn rates and prevent himself from catching any downtime....
Chapter 102: The Dreamer
Coop spent the afternoon exchanging ideas and researching factions with Charlie, Shalatha, and Asha-Kali. They went through the tablets he had selected, mostly alleviating concerns he had with establishing the faction. He had never participated in any study groups while he was in school, but he imag...
Chapter 101: Factions 101
Abithik sputtered, staring at the book that Coop placed on his otherwise empty reception desk. At least, Coop thought he was staring. His bony face was aimed at the book, but the lich had no eyes, just dimly glowing orbs inside his otherwise empty sockets, so Coop was making an assumption as to wher...
Chapter 100: Siegebreaker
“Hah!” Coop laughed, feeling like his hope for some celebratory spectacle at each settlement milestone was finally fulfilled. It didn’t matter that the burst of firework-esque magic was for the event instead. He admired the white sparkles as they drifted across the open sky and wondered why th...
Chapter 99: New Year - New Coop
Coop woke up late in the morning. His first sleep-addled thoughts went to the start of the new year. He’d have to let someone more qualified decide how to categorize the first year after mana, but he figured it would represent the start of a new calendar era at the very least. What better way was ...
Chapter 98: Results
Malsteron was internally celebrating the addition of another member to his personal colony. He was among the last of his species, though he wasn’t an individual. His were a species of tubular worms that formed colonies that unified into an autonomous cooperative. Once, there were nearly a million ...
Chapter 97: The Proposal
“You will all die.” The goddess ominously declared as she scanned the onlookers from behind her runed blindfold.After a tense moment of silence that permeated the island, Coop laughed out loud. The shock of the whole situation threw him off kilter. His outburst earned another glare from the beau...
Chapter 96: The Warning
The Siege Boss launched itself toward the Eye of the Storm, using the effigy it had originally carried on its back as an engine to sprint across the beach. The dozens of arms now behaved like arachnid legs and the main body dangled uselessly in the center, almost like the host of an extremely creepy...
Chapter 95: The Effigy
For a passing moment, the entire island was completely still. There were no palm fronds left on the remaining trees to rustle in the gentle breeze and even the calm waves seemed hesitant to disturb the peace. The resolute defenders were collectively holding their breath as they watched Coop slowly b...
Chapter 94: Icon of Mana
Coop targeted the Prime Construct’s remaining weak points, desperate to prevent the Siege Boss from fully charging its ultimate attack. The purple star that continued to expand above Ghost Reef seemed like it would go supernova if the boss wasn’t interrupted. The boss made no effort to continue ...
Chapter 93: Prime Construct
Coop left the fort behind. Instead of waiting for the slow-moving boss to trek across the island and challenge the defenders while flattening the fort, he would meet it in the field directly. It wasn’t like the fort’s walls would do anything to protect them. The giant Construct was large enough ...
Chapter 92: Eve
The Construct attack was over in a matter of hours rather than days. The brevity was in stark contrast to all of the previous waves, and the break they had earned before the final was an incredible relief. But it had been brutal.Coop defeated the final Ruin Construct in the darkness of the night to ...
Chapter 91: The Conduit
The Primal Construct army had abandoned their orderly march once they met the phantom defenders, preferring to fight in structured parties of five rather than a full battalion. It was the doctrine that all the factions followed: parties that consisted of classic archetypes seeking to engage other si...
Chapter 90: The Primal Constructs
The tenth wave deviated from the pattern.Coop and the Eater of Worlds remained at the forefront of the battlefield for the duration of the ninth wave, each defeating tens of thousands of the Brutal Piercers before they reached the fort. They fought day and night. Coop allowed his Fog of War domain t...
Chapter 89: Hostile Takeover
Supreme Champion Jerry the First stewed in agitation while he sat with the remaining advisors of Empress City. They gathered around the bar in the captain’s lounge that Jerry claimed as his throne room discussing their current predicament. His new pick for Viceroy led the debate, allowing Jerry th...
Chapter 88: Mistwalker
Coop’s mana was completely drained trying to maintain the massive blanket of fog that had been conjured by Fog of War. The cost of maintaining the skill escalated exponentially with the area covered, and he hadn’t held back when he dumped his mana into the channel. As the ocean breeze and the co...
Chapter 87: Paths
The Rabid Carriers weren’t as simple as they had first appeared. He expected the Carriers to be easy pickings without the support of other more agile monsters. They moved sluggishly, but with purpose, and when they took damage they weren’t deterred until they were defeated. Coop initially assume...
Chapter 86: Breach
Coop wasn’t sure if his maneuver had been ill-advised, but it was too late to take back. He mistjumped to the ramparts after warning the defenders of what was coming.Gromokan had been bringing devastation to the fort’s walls and needed to be stopped as quickly as possible or the settlement would...
Chapter 85: Stacked
The defenders of Ghost Reef had barely defeated the Unveiled Blade before the next wave began. Coop had been uneasy as the fight dragged on because he was worried that it wouldn’t be over in time. The adversity of the challenges became significantly more demanding as they overlapped each other and...
Chapter 84: Unveiled
The Field Boss had evolved, entering a clear and distinct second phase. The boss had withstood the defenders' onslaught for most of the previous day and the entire night, but it had finally had enough. Gaol was abandoning its static, defensive posture in order to retaliate with an obviously more...
Chapter 83: The Veiled Blade
As soon as the sun rose, Coop’s False-Light Eye buff dropped off. The sudden expiration was as if the natural light had actively dispelled it from his status. Coop wasn’t seeing the world in green wireframe anymore, though he still had green stripes temporarily burned into his vision. It wasn’...
Chapter 82: The Fifth Wave
[000:00:00][000:00:00][000:00:00][000:00:00][000:00:10]The next wave was coming.Coop had spent an uninterrupted 25 hours hunting the Tormenting Kites. The shallow waters around the patch reefs outside of the west side of the settlement had become his personal roaming grounds. How much the fifth wave...
Chapter 81: The Prodigal Daughter
Another day of the siege went by and the Frenzied Excavators finally ceased spawning. Ruin Excavators appeared in the darkness but they behaved the way the Ancient Defenders did, listlessly waiting for someone to get in range and otherwise being harmless. Coop took note of the potential Ruin Excavat...
Chapter 80: Torment
Coop glanced at the ridiculous number of timers on the edge of his vision and tried to parse how far along they had come as left the basement and made his way back to the courtyard. He’d lost track of the time and was surprised to find it was night again when he reached the open air.[000:00:00][00...
