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Chapter 280: The Famine Beast
🕑 Added 2024-08-26 15:11:01 +0000 UTCAs the Revenant of Ghost Reef moved into European territory, the alien invasions were falling like dominoes. Loch Bridge had been reclaimed in short order and Glenveagh was cleared almost immediately afterwards thanks to the settlements’ relative proximity. Following the second settlement, a mere handful of additional mistjumps carried Coop to yet another set of control points. This time, there were about 250,000 Elite Primal Constructs split between the four fortresses housing the objectives.
Coop paused for a moment, assessing his quarry from a safe distance. Without any Siege Bosses, they wouldn’t even know he was there. He tilted his head left and right, stretching his neck as he considered how the situation was developing. Even after such a short time, he was getting the impression that Europe would be different.
Ever since leaving Iceland, Coop was finding settlements at a decent clip, barely having time to climb back onto the dirt tunnel treadmill before being interrupted by opportunities for combat. Travel times were cut down relative to North America in what was undoubtedly a positive development, both for Coop’s grind as well as the prospects of humanity’s assimilation. The less time he spent traveling, the better, and the more surviving shards, the easier time survivors would have in finding tame territory.
However, less enemies concentrated beneath individual super settlements gave Coop’s grinds less time to establish themselves as well. With the way he was implementing Inheritance of the Mists, the larger the enemy army the better, but his initial impressions of Europe had him wondering if they had avoided as much population consolidation when compared to North America.
Glenveagh had been assaulted by a surprisingly small group given its rise in the rankings. With only 120,000 Primal Constructs and 6 Field Bosses, it certainly wasn’t highly populated with human residents. Though he had considered a few explanations for their prominence on the leaderboards; the settlements also weren’t too far from other surviving civilization shards. Europe had a higher population density than North America in general, so he wondered if shards were more likely to be both found and protected due to that convenience.
More density also meant that the Primal Constructs had less opportunity to establish themselves in remote places, with more people nearby to disrupt their development and more pockets of tame territory limiting their growth. Perhaps that would partially explain why there hadn’t been any obvious standouts on the individual leaderboards as well. The gains were distributed more evenly across the region.
He suspected that the local people had been able to cooperate with each other, more like Neon Park’s territory than the North American continent as a whole, giving what seemed like smaller settlements the chance to succeed. Establishing connections to the different territories would be easier just by virtue of having less ground to cover, assuming they could establish solidarity.
In comparison, each of the areas that had joined the Lighthouse felt extremely isolated, forced to endure the assimilation on their own, for better or worse. Ghost Reef was all by itself in the ocean, the Endless Empire’s strategy had failed due to a lack of neighboring settlements for their Chosen in Empress City to blitz, and Neptune’s Bridge was engulfed by Primal Constructs even before the Underlayer Event had given them a means to establish strongholds. Then there was the Yucatan settlement being the solitary civilization shard in all of Central America, and the Swamp Lord’s base being so isolated within the Everglades, the sole surviving human hadn’t seen another person until Coop arrived months into the process. Coop was already anticipating a more consistent distribution of settlements in Europe, and that mostly signaled good things for his hunt.
Of course, he was simply making some preliminary assumptions based on the first few settlements that he discovered at the edge of European territory. Time would tell if he ended up encountering more settlements on average, but Europe did have a population greater than North America in an area that was less than half the size. Even if the continent didn’t actually start with more shards, depending on their distribution, they could have had a better chance of securing them in the early days. Basically, as Coop made his way further into Europe, his expectations were rising.
The third Primal Construct invasionary force since he hooked a right at Iceland was twice the size of Glenveagh, as was the Loch Bridge shard in what he presumed was Scotland. Coop aggressively assaulted the alien invaders as he found them, though this time he adjusted his tactics to account for his improved understanding of Inheritance of the Mists and the assumptions he was making toward civilization shard distributions.
Given the flexibility of the Revenant class, he saw no reason to become rigid with his ability usage. He had confirmed an efficient way to use Inheritance as a tool for more lengthy sessions of combat, but that wasn’t the only way to use it.
The variable number of enemies at each settlement meant that a single combat style wasn’t necessarily optimal for every situation, and as long as he recognized the adaptability of his class, he could seek to refine his tactics. After running through Neon Park’s subordinates, he realized that implementing the single possessed strikes to clear thousands of invaders at once made the most sense for the longest battles, where it essentially added punctuations to the regular cadence of his extended grinds. The proportional reduction in cooldown from brief empowerments was beneficial to his overall coverage, allowing the ability to spread its influence throughout the battles.
On the other hand, for more moderately-sized settlements, the battles for objectives didn’t last long enough to get more than two or three possessions in total, and he also couldn’t build a proper rhythm where he played king of the hill against the masses in between Apparitions. Dismissing the possessions to maximize their appearances negatively affected his efficiency in that case, like when he cleared Lordship and only benefitted from a single Inheritance cast. While Inheritance sped up the overall process relative to not bolstering his attacks with an apparition at all, they didn’t have as much of an impact as they did in the more extended battles when things ended too quickly.
The debuffs preventing him from reusing the skill were disproportionately longer relative to the amount of power he channeled from the mists. Using the skills granted by Apparitions was a quick way to lengthen the debuffs as they turned him into a conduit of significant force, but retaining the possession for longer periods would gradually accomplish the same result. He believed that was why dedicating his Inheritance to a more specific objective successfully lowered the cooldowns. He was able to avoid empowering himself in unproductive ways by acutely focusing on individual actions.
The total amount of time spent on any settlement with less than around 1,000,000 collective enemies was short enough that he didn’t need to dismiss his possession early. The time spent personally capturing the objectives would be equal in all situations, and it would be enough time to reset Inheritance of the Mists, so long as he only applied the skills in emergencies, streamlining the experience.
It was the longer battles, where enemies had numbers much higher, that he couldn’t afford to keep Inheritance active the whole time, because the cooldown on his next cast would be pushed further and further out. Waiting a day or more before he could access the power was just too long to meet his current goals.
Coop’s current level of development had him turning the entire Underlayer into the equivalent of his first grind on the beach, where he gradually adjusted his tactics until he could run circuits through the Ancient Defenders. The premise was the same, with minimizing downtime and efficiently distributing his personal resources at the forefront of his considerations. He shook his head for a moment, appreciating his progression before engaging with the 250,000 Elite Primal Constructs that awaited him. They were certainly a greater challenge than individual regular Ancient Defenders with single-digit levels.
Deciding on his gameplan, Coop let his spear fly, preparing to cast Inheritance of the Mists as soon as he mistjumped into the waiting enemies. What did he want? This time, it wasn’t a single empowered strike. He wanted something that would help him go into a frenzy and temporarily sate the hunger he held within through the destruction of the Primal Constructs. The enemies were clearly less than a million, closer to a quarter of what he viewed as the threshold that made possessed strikes more efficient than an extended possession. That meant he would hold the apparition for his assault.
A frenzy was what he wanted, and a frenzy was what he got. The ethereal spear punched into the crowd, crashing into the largest target with a crunch, and as Coop appeared from the mists, gripping the shaft, the possession took place. His normally athletic shape and gladiator chic transformed with a series of grotesque rattles.
A skeletal humanoid with a ragged fur cloak that had deteriorated beyond recognition manifested in his place. The Revenant was transposed by the Apparition, red eyes aglow with power inherited from the mists, emerging from the mana smoke of the Field Boss that had been unlucky enough to catch his spear. He drove forward into the unprepared Primal Constructs, starving for kills.
Rather than being completely human, the skeletal figure that bore down onto the alien invaders had the skull of a stag, topped with a giant rack of bleached antlers, and ornamented with swinging bone trophies secured by dried tendon ropes. The skull established a uniquely horrific helmet for the Champion to wear into battle. The Apparition of the Famine Beast introduced itself with a truly monstrous presence.
Coop’s spear morphed into a jagged ivory bone, terminating with a chipped black tip, with a single rotten feather dangling beneath the barb as decoration. Coop’s glowing eyes barely escaped the darkness within the skull, transforming him into an undeniably horrific figure that would strike fear into any human that saw him.
The strikes that followed matched his grisly appearance. His normally precise techniques were abandoned in favor of a vicious rampage. A crazed storm of violence engulfed the Champion and the Constructs collapsed beneath the pressure.
Clods of muddy dirt flew into the air, kicked up by his feet as he rushed forward, mixing with a stream of mists as Fog of War did its best to give the dirt plains the haunting atmosphere of the thick woods that would have been natural for the legendary beast he had become. A skeletal hand snatched the shield of the nearest Construct, ripping it out of the way. The invader’s arm resisted, the metal squealing as it was forced into the wrong direction, before breaking off with a snap.
With his other hand he stabbed the spear into the exposed metallic torso, once, twice, three times, feeling the tip enter the dirt even after the alien was savagely defeated. When movement drew his attention and he leapt into another group, antlers first, he used the spear to gore the metallic aliens, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he was glad they were only manifestations. Coop fought like a crazed monster, but with stats so far beyond the Primal Constructs, they could do nothing but be ravaged.
The Apparition that possessed Coop was distinct in a way that made Coop take notice even as he allowed instinct to take over. The Apparition didn’t communicate at all. Instead it was snarling in his mind, completely enthralled by the desire to satisfy its hunger. In lieu of guiding Coop through ancient techniques, it showed him what pure unadulterated aggression was really like. This thing wasn’t the type of entity that provided advice, it was the type of monster people made up and used to warn their communities of the dangers found in the wild.
This was an evil spirit from folklore, not a being from an ancient pantheon of gods. Coop embraced its insatiable greed, finding it surprisingly familiar when measured against his push for progression, all while obliterating Primal Constructs one after the other. Coop rode the fury of the Famine Beast, wielding his spear with pure hostility, like he held a deep-seated grudge against each of his opponents for their failure to satisfy his hunger. The dark tip of the bone spear didn’t only seek to defeat the invaders, but to desecrate their very existence in his territory, punishing them for their trespass.
The possessed version of Coop shambled through the tumultuous mists, ivory limbs catching the Underlayer’s illumination in strange ways that cast shadows upon the man within. He aggressively hunted down the bewildered Primal Constructs. The bones of the Apparition clicked and clacked and his own ragged breath only added to the atmospheric effect of a monster on the hunt, teaching the invaders fear. If only the domain was established in a proper forest, the atmosphere would have created the true scenario of a beast unleashed among sacrificial offerings.
The Famine Beast’s overall silhouette had become lanky and grotesque. Rather than flexing his muscles, the emaciated figure contorted itself to drive into parties of invaders, sending the spear into their imagined hearts and digging them out. Unlike his normal tactics, he was willingly incorporating the other skeletal limbs to claw and pierce the metallic victims at the same time. He knocked them down with the clattering antlers, then stomped on them with clawed feet, while grabbing and spearing their desperate allies.
He fought insatiably, like a starving zombie, until all four control points were wiped clean of Primal Constructs. When he released the possession, he was covered in sweat, finding that the frenzied style of combat of the Famine Beast was more demanding than normal, but also like he had been living a nightmare. He shook his head at the sense that he had tapped into something that existed inside of himself that was a bit dark.
As he caught his breath, he observed that the slightly extended possession had placed Inheritance of the Mists on a cooldown that would last longer than it took to capture all of the control points. Adding the time spent traveling to the next settlement and it would be near perfect, depending on the distance. Tactically speaking, holding the possession had been a success.
Scanning the leaderboards, he confirmed that he had cleared a settlement called River Shannon. While it was another feather in his cap, there was no reason for him to hang around. None of the residents of the local settlements had made their way down into the Underlayer.
Once the objectives were turned blue, he kept going, and once again, the next settlement was close. It was like he was revisiting Neon Park’s subordinates from the main hub.
Coop grunted at the armies around the settlement, confirming that it was much larger than the previous three. The control points had been placed nearer to the center of the tunnel, south and west of River Shannon. Two Siege Bosses idled among the armies, silhouettes slightly hazy due to the distance alone. Judging by the numbers, he guessed that this settlement was comparable to both of the larger subordinates of Neon Park in Boston and Cherry Hill. This would be a battle ideal for single empowered strikes rather than an extended possession.
Coop dove in, targeting the nearest Siege Boss before making himself comfortable inside of the control point with his partial domain and phantasmal companions. Forcing the Primal Constructs to him was his favorite part of this event and utilizing all of his abilities to make their attempt to secure the objective would never cease from bringing him satisfaction.
The additional percussion of empowered strikes as he was joined by Apparitions for individual attacks created a gratifying rhythm. Coop danced among the invaders, smashing through their coordinated parties with his own strength, building his momentum, and drawing more and more enemies into combat. Then, once he reached the climactic point, time slowed as a possession took root, peaking his anticipation with the brief pause. Finally, all the power was released in a devastating attack that essentially reset the battlefield.
As long as there were more enemies, the cycle would continue, and Coop relished every moment. He just wished he could live in a world without the consequences of the Settlement Events, which was admittedly a bit unhinged. Just let him fight, preferably near a beach.
Coop defeated 1,500,000 Elite Primal Constructs, 70 Field Bosses, and 2 Siege Bosses while liberating the control points of a settlement called Gwydir Forest. While the number of Elite Primal Constructs was exactly in the middle of the two larger subordinates of Neon Park, Gwydir had an extra Siege Boss, introducing the first time Coop noticed true variance in the invasion forces. While it was interesting, he could only speculate that the difference was the result of a specific rule he hadn’t caught onto.
Gwydir was not a place he had ever heard of, but the fact that its population could sustain such a massive enemy army could only mean that it was huge. He figured it would be a good idea to make a note of such a place, even if it didn’t sound real. To Coop it sounded more like the name of a sword for one of the knights of the round table than a settlement, but he already knew his knowledge was limited.
Another day was winding down and Coop was pressing forward. He could see the glow of control points in the distance to the west, so he went straight there after leaving Gwydir Forest. The shorter possessions meant that he was ready to keep the grind going, with no limitations on his skills.
To his surprise, the next challenge was even greater than the previous one. As Coop did his best to estimate his enemies, he could at least confirm he wouldn’t be finishing before the next day started. The next settlement had twice as many Elite Primal Constructs and 3 Siege Bosses for him to play with.
If Europe’s high population density resulted in more settlements of these sizes, they would be in good shape. Coop aimed his spear, happy that his grind would continue.
Comments
Joran Spans
It's about access to the underlayer, there are certain access points, but not all settlements have them close by. Ghost reef has 1 right in the middle of town, but it was explained that neon park marched their army to the access point. A few chapters back, it was also said that the shamans of 1 of the settlements (mages) were making an entrance to the underlayer. So it could be the case they haven't found an access point or don't want to waste the time finding 1
Conrad Manaugh
Maybe they produce more enemies with time….
Gunmetalrhino
It would appear that people are gathering at the biggest settlements. Strength in numbers and all that.
Corwin Amber
Is it expected that so few of the settlements (even the bigger ones) don't have any humans fighting the enemy?
