Unchosen Champion

Coop had a perfect view of the sunrise. He stood on the final landing and allowed himself a moment to enjoy it. Dawn broke on the 21st day since the apocalypse. He took a deep breath and gathered his resolve. He’d get this quest done and upgrade Ghost Reef. The settlement events were marching closer and he wanted to be ready for whatever new challenges they brought.

He finally had the sky above him, all of the previous floors had their outdoor areas covered in metal grates, pipes, and the walkways of upper floors. The outdoors were like a metal jungle, with light barely filtering down, and the interiors were a mix of unadorned living areas and industrial buildings. The limited space of the platform made everything feel confined, with narrow corridors and low ceilings. He was glad to be in the open air again.

The skyline wasn’t completely clear, as the abandoned cranes were taller still. They leaned over the edges above the open ocean like the framework of unfinished towers. There was an elevated platform that Coop predicted was a large helipad blocking one side of the top level as well. He approached the only structure on the floor, which was at the base of the helipad. A prefabricated office that would have been at home at any construction site he had ever seen. If anything was waiting on the top floor, it would be in the building or on the helipad.

As Coop slowly inched the door of the office open, unsure of what he would find inside, he was smashed in the chin by a heavy blow. He staggered backwards into the wide open area of the top floor before tripping onto the metal rooftops that created the ground of the final level.

Once he got his bearings he spat a mouthful of blood and inspected the zombie that used Coop’s chin like a golf ball. It was taking its time exiting the office.

[Elite Human Zombie (Level 40)]

[Calamity Bringer (Intelligence)]

[Zombie Captain of the Breathless]

[Abomination]

The monster had to crouch to fit through the doorway as it was over seven feet tall once it stood at its full height. It carried a solid black staff that had been used against Coop’s face when he was trying to peek inside. The zombie was wearing a dark red and black robe and stood with posture that made Coop conscious of his own.

The Zombie Captain surprised Coop by smiling at him. Then the creepy laughter began and Coop was wondering about just how intelligent this being was.

Coop dismissed his sword and summoned his spear while adding his shield for good measure. The spear and shield combination was the weapon set he was most comfortable with and provided him with the most mobility. The zombie circled Coop and positioned itself in the widest area of the floor.

The zombie didn’t leave any room to doubt whether or not they would be fighting, raising his staff to the sky and shouting words that Coop couldn’t understand. The tone of the guttural speech that came out of the undead’s throat made Coop glad for their unintelligibility.

Coop prepared his shield, but still hesitated before closing the distance.

The zombie slammed the butt of his staff into the ground and three clones of the staff rose out of large runes that appeared on the ground, forming a triangular perimeter around the zombie. The triangle occupied the bulk of the open area with Coop on the outside of one edge.

Each of the summoned staves at the points of the triangle glowed red with heat causing the air to warp around them. The brightest one alighted with flames for a brief second, like it was spontaneously combusting. The flames were driven into the ground after running down the shaft of the black weapon and the entire staff pulsed as a ring of flames expanded outwards like ripples in a pond. The staff returned to its solid black color before the head’s glow slowly increased in intensity, recharging for another pulse.

Coop hurdled the wave as it approached him. He watched as the zombie allowed the flames to wash over himself, still grinning. The zombie, once again, raised his staff up in the air and chanted a spell. He slammed the butt of his staff into the ground a second time and two flaming crystal pylons grew directly behind him, flanking his left and right.

Coop was forced to jump over another wall of flames before he started to close the distance. He threw his spear at the zombie’s chest. The zombie gave a wide, broken grin and lifted his staff to block the spear’s trajectory.

Before the spear collided with the zombie’s staff, Coop appeared out of a mistjump and pulled the spear into an angled thrust toward the zombie’s head. The zombie didn’t have enough time to readjust his guard and the spear slammed into his partially faded smile with enough energy to conclusively end the fight before it had truly begun.

When the spear struck, an egg shaped flame shield appeared encasing the zombie. It exploded outwards with enough power to launch Coop across the platform. Coop bounced and skidded along the ground before he slid to a stop, passing through two flame waves that burned him fiercely. He checked his health and found that each wave had done almost 100 damage each and the flame shield explosion had done 250 damage.

The Zombie Captain’s magic was far more potent than any Coop had encountered previously, putting a dent into his health despite his magical defenses. Coop turned his attention back to the zombie in time to see him finish casting a fireball at the end of his staff. The end of his staff was leveled at Coop and the fireball rapidly spun before it flew straight at him, leaving a twisting trail of flames and smoke like a burning bullet.

Coop barely had time to raise his shield from his kneeling position. The fireball slammed into him and exploded like a missile, erupting upon the collision. The flames overwhelmed his shield and created a blast cone that dealt more damage wherever Coop was exposed.

Singed, he stood back up and resummoned his spear, having lost it in the flame shield explosion after his first attack. He was forced to jump over another flame wave before he turned his full attention to the zombie. The zombie only had one flaming crystal pylon behind him and he was aiming his staff at Coop like it was a rifle. Another fireball was forming at the tip, rotating at an ever faster rate.

Coop had been blasted away, too far to throw his spear, so he started running toward the zombie. When he got closer, he threw his spear at an angle and sprinted toward the monster, hurdling another flame wall before the fireball was ready.

Coop anticipated the release of the fireball and mistjumped to his spear the moment the zombie fired it. The fireball’s extreme velocity carried it off the platform and over the ocean. It kept flying until it was well beyond the horizon, like a low altitude shooting star.

While the flame staff triangle continued producing waves of flames, Coop hustled back into his attack distance. He wasn’t interested in taking more damage from the high velocity fireballs and wanted to end the fight before the zombie used any more tricks.

When he got close enough, he threw his spear at the zombie’s chest again. The zombie didn’t grin this time but it repeated its motion to block the spear with its staff. Coop chased the spear as fast as he could, but didn’t mistjump. The zombie seemed smart enough to anticipate it after the first time, and Coop already knew about the exploding flame shield.

The spear collided with the staff and forced the zombie onto his back foot. He had underestimated Coop’s Strength, but it wasn’t enough to break his guard. Coop sped toward the zombie and resummoned his spear back to his hand.

Five steps away from the zombie, it recovered enough to use both hands to slam the staff into the ground. The staff and all three of the clones that formed the triangle simultaneously produced flame waves. Coop was forced into an awkward jump over the center wave, but the other three would begin intersecting in the center of the triangle, where he and the zombie were, creating a chaotic mess of flames.

Coop threw his spear straight up and mistjumped into the sky to avoid the converging flame waves. The zombie aimed his staff at Coop while he was in the air. Coop, realizing he was a sitting duck for the fireballs, threw his spear down at the zombie before the projectile was released at him. The zombie completed the fireball and fired it before the spear arrived.

The fireball and the spear collided just above the zombie, sending a gout of exploding flames toward Coop. He mistjumped back to his spear which had flown through the fireball and appeared just above the zombie. From the zombie’s perspective Coop himself had traveled through the flames with a vengeance. Coop’s aura was fully concentrated on the zombie. The zombie raised his guard in an effort to block the incoming blow, but Coop’s plunging attack still landed true, having gone around the zombie’s block completely.

Coop had stabbed the flaming crystal pylon while his aura washed over the zombie, shattering the pylon, before he twirled on the guarding zombie with the spear tip angled for its neck. He thrust three times with all his Strength, breaking the zombie’s block, before he flipped his grip and with an overhead stab impaled the seven foot tall zombie through the throat.

The Zombie Captain collapsed to his knees. He looked up at Coop with flames coming from his eyes and gave another open mouthed grin despite the spear impaling him. Flames sparked and grew between the gaps where he was missing teeth. Coop was only able to take two steps back and raise his shield before the zombie self-destructed.

The explosion lifted Coop off his feet and launched him backwards. He flew through the air until he smashed into the prefabricated office. The outer wall wasn’t enough to stop his momentum and he crashed through it before he came to a rest against the inside wall.

Coop didn’t move, sore and singed as he was. It had been a short fight, but the Zombie Captain had presented a level of firepower Coop hadn’t experienced before, dealing damage despite Coop’s durability. If the fight had gone longer, Coop wasn’t sure if he would have been able to survive. He really needed some skills to increase his own capacity for damage. His ‘auto attack’ build was perfect for extended fights or monster hunts, but in a duel he needed more firepower himself or every fight would be a battle of attrition.

He had leveled as soon as the Zombie Captain detonated, so he checked his notifications while he tried to catch his breath.

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 40)]

[+5043 Basic Credits]

[+1 Splinter of Ashen Legacy (Unique)]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Quest Complete! Settle the Infestation]

[You have a new quest!]

Coop couldn’t stop himself from groaning when he saw a new quest as his reward for completing the previous quest. He just wanted the spectral relic so that he could go home and upgrade the settlement with all the bonuses.

Instead of checking the next quest, he observed the rest of the notifications. He had defeated an elite that was 10 levels higher than he was. It seemed like quite an accomplishment.

His scavenging had yielded him a nice chunk of credits and the first unique item he had ever seen. Coop had just been hoarding whatever dropped inside of his spatial storage. He had no idea what to do with any of it, but it was mostly just uncommon material items and elite tokens. He occasionally received a rare item, but this was the first to have a new rarity. Scavenging had specifically unlocked the other three rarities through its initial profession quest chain, but it had never mentioned unique items. Coop figured it must be good, but he’d just leave it in there with all the rest until he recruited someone to the settlement that had a use for his growing collection of stuff.

Coop’s health and mana were in relatively good shape, considering the Zombie Captain’s power, he had been lucky to avoid most of the damage and had recovered quite a bit through his titles.

He gave up on procrastinating further and checked his new quest. It appeared to be his first branching quest. He could either settle the infestation through elimination or through cultivation. Either way there was something waiting for him on the helipad.

He exited the demolished office and regarded the aftermath of the Zombie Captain battle. The final self-destruction had blasted a hole into the ground that led to the fifth floor. There were also scorch marks from the three cloned staves also exploding. It was an impressive amount of destruction. The others who were waiting on the ship probably heard the explosions during that fight. He hoped they wouldn’t panic and leave him with how close he was to finishing.

Coop made his way up the staircase to the helipad to see what his final challenge would be. He hoped it involved less fire or really just less zombies.

Coop thought he needed to be careful what he wished for. A human sat on a metal throne on one end of the helipad. He had an obelisk behind him that glowed with a familiar green ghostly aura from the top. He found his spectral relic, but first he inspected the person.

[Human (Level 40)]

[Commander of Catastrophe (Body)]

[Zombie Lord of the Breathless]

[(Abomination)]

A human. This was different.

The man stood up, “So you’re the one that's been fighting my troops.” He leaned forward, not shy about getting a better look at Coop from across the helipad. “I expected a small army, or at least a high level group.” He broke into a grin, “You must be pretty strong!”

Coop didn’t know how to respond, this final encounter had begun significantly friendlier than he anticipated. He managed a shrug, as his mind slowly caught up with all the clues that he had picked up on the leaderboards and in his zombie fights.

The man seemed to be coming up with his own theories about Coop. “You’re sponsored by an Undead faction, aren’t you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “That was quite an audition, if you’re here to join forces.”

Coop slowly shook his head, “I’m not sponsored.”

He squinted at Coop and frowned. He stood up from his throne and continued inspecting Coop, making up his own mind about who had challenged his minions.

“You’re the Zombie Lord.” Coop verified.

“That’s right. My new identity, gifted by my faction. Fitting right?” He spread his arms flaunting his identity. “And you’re the one that has been killing all those poor, poor people.” The Zombie Lord responded, shaking his head sadly.

“The Zombies?” Coop questioned.

“They were still people. I had to turn them to save them.” The Zombie Lord nodded seriously. “Oh, don’t worry too much about killing them, I can bring them back. Their souls are bound to mine.” He comforted Coop, misunderstanding Coop’s confused expression. “In fact their combat got me some levels, so I should thank you. I hadn’t leveled since I finished converting the last of them.”

“They didn’t seem like people… except maybe that Zombie Captain.” Coop pondered uncomfortably.

“He’s a good one right?” Zombie Lord smiled proudly. “I had to use something special to keep his class, even if it was slightly corrupted.” The Zombie Lord continued. “He was one of the few who had also been Chosen.”

When Coop didn’t respond, he explained further. “I’m sure you see what’s going on. Desperate times are upon us. Humans are joining the rest of the universe, but we are late. We need to stand together and join under a powerful banner to ensure our continued existence.” The Zombie Lord rationalized. “The Undead are the most powerful.”

“Being a Zombie doesn’t seem like much of an existence.” Coop pointed out.

“Ignorance is bliss.” The Zombie Lord responded earnestly, not clarifying who was blissfully ignorant; Coop, or the zombies. “You may not be connected to the Undead yet, but you should be… We can make a deal. You join us and help me expand.” The Zombie Lord gave Coop a friendly grin. “We can save humanity.”

Coop’s notification revealed an elaboration to the branches of his current quest.

[Eliminate the Zombie Lord 0/1 or Establish an Alliance 0/1]

The rewards for each option were shown. Eliminating the Zombie Lord would reward the title Reaper, and add one level. Establishing an Alliance would reward the title Zombie Captain. An alliance would also bolster the strength of Ghost Reef with the Breathless, all residents current and future would join the Breathless faction of the Undead and contribute levels to their masters.

Coop controlled his expression as he considered the options, before he responded. “I think you’re right about humanity needing to stand together… but against the Primal Constructs. I don’t think joining a faction and conquering Earth for them is the right thing to do.” Coop argued. The Zombie Lord’s friendly demeanor quickly darkened, but Coop wasn’t done. “Why should we deliver our planet to anyone?”

Strengthening his settlement was exactly why Coop had come to the oil rig in the first place, but he wasn’t interested in joining the Undead and converting his settlement to one of theirs.

On the other hand, Coop didn’t think he was ready to kill a human, so he still sought an alternative. “I’m only here for that.” He pointed at the spectral relic in the top of the obelisk behind the Zombie Lord’s makeshift throne. “If you give it to me, I can just go.” Coop offered.

Zombie Lord spat on the ground. “Not a chance. I only offered an alliance for your sake. I’ll turn you into another Zombie Captain and take your ship myself.” He gave Coop a sinister grin. “I’m not delivering the planet to anyone. It was already delivered to me!”

The Zombie Lord stomped one leg on the ground, then the other. His metal throne shook from the force. He stood up straighter, then lurched forward before his back arched and he faced the sky. His muscles bulged, his skin tore, and one arm elongated until it dragged on the floor. Both legs expanded into tree trunks and he roared, baring sharp inhuman teeth. He locked eyes with Coop, still showing his teeth.

Then he charged.