Coop wasn’t sure if the Empire’s attempt to take his settlement was already over. It seemed like Kevin was only able to muster himself and two others to defend the civilization shard. Somehow, it was even less than the minimum that Coop had expected.
He went ahead and upgraded the settlement from an Outpost to a Village, there was no reason to wait now that the optional objective to collect the relic was complete. With all of the other requirements met, he just needed to pay the 25,000 basic credits. He would have to purchase new buildings later, even if the rest of his pile of credits was burning a hole in his pocket. He still had nine potential enemies lurking around.
He did check one thing before moving on, he found the transfer tab and noted that it would take three weeks for a challenge to his status to complete now that the settlement was upgraded to a Village. An Outpost only had a three day countdown. He imagined it would take a full siege to hold out long enough to conquer civilization shards as the settlements upgraded further and further. It was a relief to know that he wouldn’t be completely tied down within a close proximity of the civilization shard. If there was a challenge he would have time to return. He quickly checked his notifications.
[Quest Complete! Upgrade Outpost to Village]
[Champion title upgraded!]
[You have a new quest!]
His Champion title also evolved, growing from giving +10 to all stats to +25 to all. With six different attributes it was now giving him a total of 150 base stats. Even if he wasn’t using the 50 that went to Intelligence and Acumen, it was still as many raw stats as his Slayer title. He was happy with that.
One of Olani’s grandkids appeared while Coop was finishing up. He told Coop that they had been hiding out in the barracks until he got back. The Empire hadn’t left the courtyard at all. Apparently, they were afraid of whatever was inside the fort. Olani was there taking care of Jones. So Coop’s next destination was set. Olani’s grandkid ran back to the fort to let her know he was on his way.
Before he left the courtyard, he went to check on Maeve and Desmond. The blast shields had withdrawn and the mana shield disappeared. The walls had all returned to normal, hiding the mana that pulsed within them behind mundane materials. It seemed like they already knew the ownership dispute was over.
When he entered, the familiar comfortable atmosphere and the roaring fire were still present. Coop smiled to himself, it felt like coming home from a long trip. Desmond waved him inside but when Coop spotted five of the missing Empire people he leveled his spear at them. They were all seated at a booth in the back playing cards. Everyone in the room froze.
Maeve was the first to react, “Whoa, don’t worry, Coop, these ones have remained neutral.” Maeve put herself in between the party of five and Coop and assured him that they weren’t a threat. Coop returned his spear but kept his eyes on the potential threats.
She stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders. “Look at you, Coop… you’ve been through a lot huh?” Maeve asked with obvious concern while her eyes moved up and down.
“I guess so...” Coop trailed off while he squinted at the party of five. The party had noticed him enter and were watching him with plenty of concern. They didn’t seem hostile, but he could still tell that they wanted something from him. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay, before I continued.” Coop told Maeve and Desmond. He still needed to find four more unaccounted for visitors.
“Don’t worry about us, Champion.” Desmond responded “No one on this planet will be a threat to us for centuries to come.” Desmond confidently declared and Maeve gave him a soothing smile.
Coop nodded, but before he did anything one of the party of five slid out from the booth at the encouragement of the others and approached him. Coop watched him carefully, not ready to trust them even with the tavern keepers’ assurances. A nearly successful assassination attempt on his life from their faction had the effect of leaving him distrustful as a default.
The Chosen that approached him was a tall, skinny man, with straight light brown hair that was pushed behind his ears to reveal dark brown eyes and a worried gaze. The Empire’s equipment made him look like he was in a wetsuit ready to go scuba diving. Coop inspected his aura.
[Human (Level 26)]
[Vitality Channeler (Acumen)]
[Chosen of the Endless Empire]
[Dynamism]
The Channeler walked up to Coop and offered a handshake and an introduction. “Hey, I’m Shane Peters. As I understand it, you're the one to talk to about staying.”
“I’m Coop.” Coop shook his hand and nodded toward Shane’s booth where four other people were intently observing the exchange. “You representing them too?”
Shane nodded, “That’s right, we’d all like to stay, if possible...”
“And you don’t have any problems with me killing your friends?” Coop asked with obvious skepticism.
He scratched the back of his head. “I wouldn’t call them friends… We don’t want anything to do with their aggression.” Shane attempted to convince Coop, “If you need to kill them, that’s just the way the world is now, right? They’ll probably try to kill you anyway.”
Coop just shrugged, “They already tried. I was going to hunt you five down next.” Shane’s eyes widened and he looked back at the rest of his party who all returned his concerned stare with trepidation.
“Look, we didn’t have any part of that. We’ve been here the whole time, ever since you guys relieved us from guarding the ship. We declined to participate when Kevin tried to order us around preparing for a fight.” Shane asserted while most of his party nodded vigorously to confirm the story.
“That’s fine, just keep staying here for now. I still have four more of you unaccounted for.” Coop stated to the group.
“Ah, we heard about them already. They went into the fort and never came out. Kevin tried to get into the tavern to ask around, but once he had become hostile to the settlement all of the buildings locked him out.” Shane explained.
“Alright… well stay here anyway, I’m going to confirm things.” Coop told Shane. He waved to the tavern keepers, “I’ll come back once I’m done straightening everything out.” He turned to leave, but he couldn’t avoid Maeve’s impish smile.
“I’ll have a bath ready.” She declared with a wave.
Coop smiled to himself as he went back outside and made his way to the barracks. He had been looking forward to a bath.
Coop thought it would be fine to let people voluntarily stay in the settlement, but he had already been too naive once. He’d confer with Jones and Olani before he committed to letting Shane’s party of five stay. He was already letting Amanda and Mikey B remain anyway. He was a bit concerned about accidentally allowing spies or assassins to move into a position to cause problems in the future.
Before he made it to the main entrance of the fort, he found Balor shaking his head on the stoop of his shop.
“We’re gonna have to start on the roads next to fix this mess.” The dwarf stated while gazing down the main street toward the damaged town circle. “You couldn’t have finished them quicker?”
“I wanted to give them a chance to surrender.” Coop responded. “I don’t want to kill people.”
Balor just chuckled, “You’re one adorable Champion, lad. And now you’ve got quite the settlement territory. That last expansion was a doozy.”
“You can tell? I haven’t even checked the map yet.” Coop was surprised.
“Aye, I can read the earth like the stone of my hands. We should get that bridge done as soon as possible. Access to that gateway would be a boon.” Balor explained.
“Sounds like a plan.” Coop agreed, still thinking about the potential new residents and threats that they posed.
Coop left Balor to his surveying and went into the main entrance of the fort. He noticed Brewbot’s barrel was already gone. Coop shook his head at the memory of the robot and entered the mess hall. When he was inside, Olani’s grandkids stopped him and one of them ran to Jones’s room with a rune glowing on his forehead.
Olani stepped out and a wall of tiny invisible runes shimmered and disappeared from the entrance of the corridor at the edge of the mess hall. She had set some significant looking traps.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“It’s good you’re back.” Olani declared with a nod. “Is everything settled then?”
“The challenge on the settlement ended, but there are still four possible enemies unaccounted for.” Coop told her. “And there’s a party of five that wants to stay… I already told two others they could.” Coop looked past Olani. “Where’s Jones?”
She waved him over, “Come, you should see.” She led him to Jones’s room.
Jones was lying flat on his back in his bed with his eyes closed. His veins were visibly black even through his dark skin. Jett was laying on his chest, protectively eyeing the entrance.
“What happened?” Coop asked with concern.
“It’s a blood curse.” Olani confidently diagnosed thanks to her Witch Doctor abilities. “I can’t do anything about it. He was cursed by the four enemies you’re looking for, but they’re all dead now.” She glanced at the cat. “When the kids found him he was unconscious, surrounded by the four beheaded enemies, with the cat on his chest just like that.”
Coop glanced at his fading buff, provided by Brewbot. He narrowly avoided the same fate thanks to the brewer’s intervention. He was lucky he hadn’t ended up in the same state. He looked at Jones and imagined their positions reversed.
Coop felt despair growing in his chest, “This is my fault. I screwed up.” He raised a hand and pressed his fingers into his forehead. “I knew that they thought he was the Champion. I let them believe it. They wouldn’t have done this to him if it wasn’t for that.” Coop was ready to berate himself, feeling a new source of guilt that he wasn’t prepared for.
The elder interrupted him. “Don’t speak nonsense. Did they not try to kill you too? An elder cannot take every responsibility. He volunteered to take them on a tour of the fort. He could have avoided them, but he still believed in old social values.” Olani’s eyes took a distant look as she remembered her village.
“Those invaders never even knew me and the kids even existed. We kept our heads down.” She looked at the supine form of Jones. “Anyway, he’s not dead. The cat saved him from anything worse happening. You just have to find someone to remove the curse.”
Coop pet Jett, then he thanked Olani for keeping an eye on things while he was gone and made absolutely sure that the other four were dead. The look in her eyes told him that she was positive. He knew Jett was a high level, but she must be strong too, it wasn’t just for show. He left the group and went back to the courtyard.
He needed to go see the brewer. The robot could block the curse, maybe it could remove it as well.
He rushed to the barn-like brewery, jogging down the side street and arriving with some haste. As soon as he entered the building he was assaulted with the smells of chemicals and wood. The robot appeared out of some mechanical contraptions that were extended along the walls. Coop had no idea what they were for and he didn’t feel like he had time to wonder.
“Greetings, Champion. Congratulations on a successful defense.” The robot offered.
“Can you cure the blood curse?” Coop jumped straight to the point and asked the burning question.
“This one cannot. Curses are complicated to remove and require knowledge of specialized rituals. This one has inadequate understanding.” Brewbot explained. “There are many factions that share such information. It is possible to recruit someone with the appropriate expertise once the settlement progresses further.”
Coop nodded, thinking about what step to take next. He could prioritize developing the settlement, and he could expand his network to try to find someone with a class that could help.
“Well, thanks again Brewbot. I believe you saved me from a much worse outcome. Let me know if you need anything.” Coop proposed, he was going to gather everyone else to see if he could shake out any hints.
“This one does not deserve such praise. Be well, Champion.” Brewbot humbly replied before it turned back into machine parts.
Coop left the brewery and went through the fort’s main gate to return to the dock. Camila and Charlie were still waiting on the ship with Amanda and Mikey B. Coop invited them to disembark and they joined him on the dock.
Charlie stretched and gave a huge sigh of relief. It had been hard work to maintain the sails and navigate the ship. She gave a friendly smile to Coop when she noticed him watching her.
He caught them up on what had happened. The shard had been defended, Shane’s party of five wanted to stay, and Jones had been cursed. Charlie was upset to find out about Jones so she and Camila went to see him. Charlie had known Jones longer than Coop had after all.
Mikey B and Amanda joined Coop as he headed back to the tavern. Coop decided he was going to have them and Shane’s party use the shard to quit the Endless Empire and allow all of them to become residents of Ghost Reef. He didn’t think he was doing an adequate job protecting the settlement, so he’d try to enlist some help even if he risked a future betrayal.
Coop entered the tavern and beckoned for Shane to bring his party and join him outside. Shane quickly gathered everyone and they all joined Mikey B and Amanda. Coop inspected the aura of each of the other four as he led them near the civilization shard. All seven of them edged away from the shard so that Coop was the closest to it.
[Human (Level 26)]
[Dragon Knight (Body)]
[Chosen of the Endless Empire]
[Ancient]
[Human (Level 26)]
[Tomb Blade (Strength)]
[Chosen of the Endless Empire]
[Human (Level 26)]
[Illusionist (Mind)]
[Chosen of the Endless Empire]
[Human (Level 26)]
[Bloodseeker (Agility)]
[Chosen of the Endless Empire]
It seemed like Shane’s party was relatively balanced compared to the others he had seen. That was good.
The Dragon Knight was a tall statuesque blonde lady that had a massive shield strapped to her back and a jagged sword at her hip. She was clearly the tank, though other than the shield her gear was as thin as Camila’s with exposed arms and legs. The shield was at least as tall as she was and wide enough for three of them to stand behind.
The Tomb Blade was a short middle-aged bald guy with thicker armor than the rest. He had a black longsword and a smaller rectangular shield attached to his forearm. Coop figured he was an off-tank with higher damage than the Knight. Tomb Blade might even fill a similar role to Coop’s Revenant.
The Illusionist was a pleasant looking middle-aged woman that even in her robes looked like she belonged in an office. He bet that she would provide plenty of crowd control with a class like that.
The Bloodseeker was a willowy older gentleman with multiple bows of different sizes strapped to his back and a quiver at his hip. He wore his leather armor like it was a suit even though it wasn’t that fancy, and his white hair was neatly combed. His eyes pierced into Coop, revealing a level of attention that was unusual.
Coop nodded to himself, committing to his idea.
“Alright Shane, here’s the deal.” Coop watched Shane gulp and wondered why this party of five still seemed afraid of him even after things had been settled. “I want you to tell me what you can offer the settlement going forward. I’m inclined to let you stay and play cards in the tavern, but it would be better for all of us if you contributed something.” Shane exchanged glances with his party while Coop continued. “I’m gonna have Amanda here be the settlement scout and Mikey B will be her escort. So what about you guys? You have any special talents? Professional experience?”
“Well, I was selected by the Empire to receive leadership training, but other than that I was just a plumber. Not so useful anymore.” Shane shrugged before he looked at the Bloodseeker who subtly nodded once. “Arthur here was a retired… analyst. The rest of us were just regular people. Real estate agent,” The Dragon Knight tilted her head letting some loose locks of blonde hair fall forward, “Secretary,” The Illusionist gave a friendly smile, ''and a Bus Driver.” The Tomb Blade raised an arm to wave.
Coop raised an eyebrow, catching the obvious implication that Arthur wasn’t regular like the rest of them. That was all fine.
“Arthur, do you know anything about blood curses?” Coop took a shot and asked for Jones’s sake.
Arthur’s eye twitched, surprised that Coop could apparently see his class, and had associated Bloodseeker with blood curses, but he didn’t let any emotion slip into his speech. “No, sir. I have no information on any curses.”
“Alright, and Coop is fine.” Coop offered.
“Understood.” Arthur accepted unquestioningly. Coop decided that he was some kind of retired spook. That could be useful if he was really onboard with joining the settlement, maybe dangerous if he wasn’t so committed.
“So here’s my proposal,” Coop began, “I’m sure you all noticed that we’re pretty lax on security. If you’d like to stay I’ll have the five of you take over that responsibility.” Coop watched as a couple of them nodded while the rest just looked relieved they would be allowed to stay even with conditions. “I’d like to continue to be welcoming to anyone who arrives, but not so welcoming that I keep inviting people who would try to steal the settlement. Does that sound alright?”
“That sounds great.” Shane responded with relief.
“Alright then, let’s have you all properly defect from the Empire.” Coop led them over to the shard. “You can all take professions while you’re at it.” The surprised looks he got just made him further disappointed with the factions. They were missing a lot of stats by not having professions.
“Keep in mind when you pick your professions that we are on an isolated island. Some professions might be overly limited with what resources we have available.” Coop reminded them. “And you’re really going to want to level your profession in addition to leveling your class.”
Coop watched as they abandoned their faction. He inspected their auras to confirm they were no longer designated as a part of the Endless Empire. He noted that the auras no longer displayed their Chosen title either, though he wasn’t sure if they lost it completely or if it was merely hidden from him now. Satisfied that all seven of them had left the Empire he let them choose their professions on their own. They milled around the shard and discussed their options.
After a few minutes, he walked through the group and interrupted their conversations, “If any of you want a specific building constructed for your profession, or any other reason, let me know.” He accessed the shard menu himself.
It was time to explore the upgraded options of the settlement and spend some of his accumulated credits.