Unchosen Champion-Chapter 367: Faelis Minor

Only Faelis minor lingered in the twilight sky above the core world of the Blessed Mau Collective. For the interim period, the smaller companion star of its binary system was a soothing presence that took center stage for a solo performance. The blue-colored celestial body cast its mellow glow upon the landscape, delicately illuminating the curved tips of an endless series of sand dunes.

Zalanth was its solitary devotee, arriving to witness its performance with hushed movements. She leaned her elbows on the railing of her elevated private balcony to observe the horizon from her penthouse suite. From her perspective, individual grains on each dune peak twinkled, reflecting light as her body shifted and caused her perspective to subtly change. Rather than a dark sky filled with celestial bodies, this planet had shifting constellations embedded in its topography, painting new pictures with the breeze of each day. It was unquestionably beautiful.

The hours that preceded the rise of Faelis major were her favorite of each celestial cycle. Her quarters glistened with a comfortable azure that accentuated her own skin, reflecting from the smooth walls designed for alien visitors to the representative world of the powerful feline faction. At the same time, the native cats formed lazy piles of fur on giant flat stones that decorated the sandy landscape, absorbing any remaining heat from the absent primary star while making the best of their universal break time. As a result, the world was uncharacteristically still.

For a few hours, the many stony oases hidden between ridges of soft sand were eerily calm. The quietude was only interrupted by the bubbling fresh water springs as they provided a cadence for the tiny glowing sprites to dance above. The sparse trees scattered throughout the terrain, trunks disproportionately thick compared to their diminutive leaf caps, stood like silent totems on the sand. The incredibly rough bark that protected the trunks had been marked by thousands of claws, but no scratches were being added in the twilight period. The popular trees were all unoccupied for a brief period.

None of the feathery grass tufts that lined the walkways on bouncy stalks were being batted by agile paws, nor were the stems hiding any rambunctious ambushers looking to play. The forests of catnip that snaked between sands and connected the oases were serene rivers of green, with just a touch of mist collecting above their crests, caught between the taller dunes of golden sand.

The planet may have been a perfect core world for the Blessed Mau Collective, but for former Prime Commander Zalanth, it was just a bit too warm when both suns were out. The low axial tilt meant that the temperature was consistent throughout the year and the fluctuations within each day were as extreme as it got. It was a bit like living within an all-encompassing incubator, perfect for naps, but not for productivity. She vaguely missed the seasonal variations of her home planet, finding the lack of variety a bit uncomfortable.

Zalanth sipped a cool herbaceous brew, held in the palms of both her hands, enjoying the best time of the day as her mind relaxed. As she watched, Faelis major was preparing to rise. After some time, when it was just barely below the edge of the planet, sending streaks of light perpendicular to the horizon, she took one last deep breath and finished clothing herself, placing her cup on a counter for later.

She left her private quarters through an automatic door and followed the elevated walkway that separated any guests from the cat habitats below, designed to prevent outsiders from disturbing the native inhabitants. As usual, she was the only person privileged enough to be staying within these particular accommodations, though that was partly because she was a personal guest of the elder council and partly because it was that rare to be offered the opportunity to visit the feline core world.

The complex where her quarters were situated had been isolated from any potential visitors, regardless of how limited they were, to keep her presence in absolute confidence. In fact, she was the lone non-feline occupant of the entire global capital, if that’s what the most populous of the sprawling cat habitats could be called.

She headed toward the Department of Strategic Planetary Initiatives to be briefed on the previous day’s observations. Faelis major was already above the horizon by the time she approached the carpeted megastructure cat-house that contained her office. The insistent heat pawed at her exposed skin as if demanding it be noticed. Before she went inside, she paused, absently plucking at the shoulder of her casual dress, and asked herself how she had become this person. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

She scrunched her face as she considered how the warrior who had risen to become Prime Commander of the Endless Empire would have never been caught waxing nostalgic about seasons, spared a thought toward the twilight hours of an alien dawn outside of tactical considerations, sipped on a drink for creature comfort, or even dressed in clothes that reflected anything outside of pure utility. She shook her head, absently running her fingers along the thin faded scars along her neck and collar bone, feeling as if the effects of her exposure to humanity would be forever revealing themselves, for good or ill. Her life was forever altered when her former God-Empress assigned her to Earth’s conquest; it didn’t really harm for that change to be reflected on more than solely her psyche.

Zalanth hummed in contemplation as she stepped through the threshold, ready for another day of studious observation. Inside, she was immediately confronted by the arguing of her feline assistants as they had a spirited debate on some new development. Their voices verged on panic, but that wasn’t completely unusual in of itself. While this was not the first time the inexperienced interns that had been assigned to her office were in a minor tizzy, something was slightly more desperate this time around.

Though they were juniors, they were still the ascended felines that took on humanoid forms, and none were less than members of the lower council of the Blessed Mau Collective in terms of rank. Few among the felines took on the evolved forms, but all of those who did were responsible for all the rest, as if divinely called to serve. Her assistants were no exception.

Zalanth barely reacted with surprise when presented with the scene, though she couldn’t help but be marginally curious toward what caused their current dismay. Earth was always good for an eye opening emergence, and the one at the center of them was almost always the same.

Obviously, Earth’s Unchosen Champion had done something to disrupt the galactic order. She shook her head at the straightforward deduction. It couldn’t have been another settlement event performance as they had strangely failed to activate since the last absurd showing, so she anticipated a personal achievement instead.

Though the Underlayer Event had been a spectacle, it had been a drama that was drawn out, revealing the global reach of the core settlement representing the Lighthouse. By establishing an official faction, they were already playing by different rules that ignored the confines of the assimilation and its focus on civilization shards. They were spreading their territory in a way that exceeded even the wildest hopes of a planetary sponsor, proving their local dominance. At this point, she expected that future settlement events would be exhibitions for the Lighthouse to demonstrate their rapid evolution into a planetary powerhouse.

No, whatever had caused her assistants to react, it was sure to be something that made waves in the community. The Lighthouse had already accomplished so much, it had to be something else, something even more off the wall. Or maybe she was already growing jaded toward the miraculous triumphs that sprouted from humanity.

Zalanth recalled when Coop erased his own level, causing those bettors who supported frontrunners to have a fit as they watched their fairweather wagers collapse. None of the experts on assimilations had seen anything exactly like it, but from the outside, the galactic community was able to clearly observe that he had not died when he went from first place on the leaderboards to dead last. That meant those gamblers had a choice to accept their losses or ride their bets to the end. She wondered how those who made either choice fared just a few months later. She, at least, knew her confidence in the Unchosen Champion wasn’t misplaced after experiencing a dozen other highs and lows.

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That his level reset had come after he defeated what the system claimed was a Region Boss, the ultimate high for such a fledgling warrior, made even less sense. Whatever was happening on planet Earth continued to push the envelope in terms of what an integrating species could hope to accomplish. Even Zalanth herself, should she be manifested on a battlefield, would fail to rise to that of a Region Boss. The Endless Empire relied on artificial constructs for their boss ranks and the Blessed Mau Collective was entirely feline, with hidden guardians none dared meet occupying such positions. Essentially, a Region Boss was already rising beyond conventional warfare, so to have one be defeated by anything less was an upheaval of the natural order.

Afterwards, Coop spent an inordinate amount of time as the weakest individual on his planet, even when considering non-principal species, to the point that Zalanth had grown nervous for him. At the same time, the rest of the representatives of his species suddenly began racing in ways that sent millions of individual humans to the heights that would have led entire integrating worlds.

Zalanth couldn’t imagine so many pinnacle elites existing at the same time, but the leaderboards didn’t lie. Then, for no reason that they could see, the subject of her consternation absolutely exploded in levels himself. His individual progress redefined what they believed was physically possible as he pulled levels from nothing but manifestations rather than slaying integrated opponents. While the rest of his kind sent ripples through the galaxy, he annihilated eons of understanding, forgoing the necessary sacrifice of life in favor of accumulating his own experience from the assimilation itself.

And that was after just a single day of unnatural growth that yielded 35 levels. It was remarkable, but what came after defied reason. Those who valued consistency had switched their allegiance, and their finances, to Charlie Seraphin or Camila Alvarez while the less risk averse cheered for names like Platinum, Imara, and Sila Tupua who had appeared to take on the mantle vacated by the Unchosen Champion by demonstrating unusual growth while the former leader wallowed at level 0. As Coop unexpectedly climbed the ranks, entire economies of credits shook in fear, somehow writing him off as if basic logic had ever applied to him or the rest of his species in the first place.

When the escalation of levels continued, there was a spirited debate among the felines as to whether or not the sensors had somehow been providing them with false data. Perhaps Coop had not actually been level 0, but had somehow deceived the leaderboards so that the rapid rise was actually a natural correction.

Such a suggestion might have been considered heresy anywhere else in the galactic community, but the elders of the Blessed Mau Collective were shockingly unorthodox. They seriously considered such a possibility, and ultimately, based on Zalanth’s own experience, decided that the measurements were reliable. Humanity was the unstable variable in that particular equation. To underestimate their potential was the exact mistake they wished to avoid and the reason for the creation of Zalanth’s position within their faction in the first place.

Meanwhile, small portions of the broader community had their attention periodically pulled back to Earth because of the vast numbers of potential elites and the spectacle of an open field on the leaderboards. The fact that none of them were Chosen diverted many, but enough paid attention to the rise of the solitary human faction to reactivate the betting markets from time to time. The millions of factions that had made the mistake of testing the Lighthouse did much of the work in spreading the notoriety of humanity while they advocated for realignments in order to either contend with or minimize the rising force hidden behind the planetary shield of Earth, but the vast majority still remained blissfully unaware.

No matter how unusual, assimilations were simply a small part of life within the galactic community. There were active wars that touched upon a thousand worlds at once, constant faction events, and other forms of conflict competing for attention, and that was ignoring domestic and internal faction matters that virtually everyone encountered. No matter how fascinating, Coop was a single being, and Earth was not even a speck of dust in the broader community. Only the Lighthouse would be worth any recognition, but even if they fully conquered their planet, a faction with but one world hardly earned accolades. At best, they were a slight novelty, having formed prematurely. All the rest was, at best, one of many evening game shows running simultaneously for entertainment.

The Blessed Mau Collective stayed completely out of the conversation, watching and waiting on their own. Their attention could shift the conversation, but that was precisely why they kept their interest under wraps.

Then, another round of shocks came when Champion Coop conquered a mana well with the type of enemies that should have existed far beyond the conclusion of their assimilation, well into the future of the planet. There were mana wells with layers that had gone uncontested for thousands of years on well-developed worlds, due to anomalous mana formations, but in less than a year the Unchosen Champion of Ghost Reef made one such emergence his own, claiming it for his faction. As a result, more and more took a passing interest in Coop and the Lighthouse, though interest often waned rather quickly.

There had been quite a few times when Zalanth considered disbelief to be a reasonable reaction. She was sure the current debacle would be something similar, confident that she was beyond such utter shock after 500 days of observing planet Earth.

“What has he done this time?” She queried, heralding her arrival with a monotone question, deciding that no matter what she guessed as the answer, it would be incorrect.

“Lady Zalanth!” The lead assistant started, finally acknowledging her arrival. “It’s the whole planet! It’s gone!” She cried while she rushed forward, grabbing the edge of Zalanth’s dress as she bowed forward, her black and white tail whipped back and forth and her ears folded against her head, tears welling up beneath her eyes.

“It’s gone?” Zalanth repeated, unable to hide her confusion, needing further clarification before she knew how to react, but the other assistants matched the lead’s melancholy demeanor.

“The open leaderboards briefly flashed ‘Integration Error’, then disappeared!” She continued, getting a hold of herself and standing up straight, smoothing out her uniform as she did so. “The archives were immediately updated; it’s as if humanity never existed!” She added, failing to fully recover her composure.

“What!?” Zalanth gasped, finding such a declaration completely unbelievable despite her experience. To erase them from existence after they had already made such waves? As useless as it was preposterous.

Zalanth didn’t wait for clarification, rushing over to the main console to check for herself. Sure enough, her assistant had spoken truthfully. The assimilation of planet Earth was no longer an active listing, instead claiming that its status was pending, but any evidence of the species that had inhabited the planet was gone, as if it was one of the multitude of barren worlds collected by the community over time.

Before she realized it, she had her fingers covering her mouth. A range of emotions hit her, starting with the desire to mourn before she grew angry. Those damned humans! What in the world was all that insanity for if they were just going to disappear?

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, knowing she would have to take this directly to the elder council. She asked herself; was this a precursor to something else, perhaps a failed assimilation? An actual assimilation failure was rare enough that most in the galactic community barely thought about what it actually meant beyond a passing fancy.

At most, she estimated that one in one hundred thousand active assimilations failed, and whenever they did, it was always something that occurred at the tail end of the process. A failure wasn’t even among the realm of possibilities at this stage, so it hadn’t crossed her mind, despite monitoring the assimilation so closely. However, there was no reason for a planet’s status to be pending other than to declare the end result. The fact that humans were achieving success after success had really buried the possibility of them being found lacking. She shuddered at the thought, hoping that maybe it was something else.

Adding on to the fact that it was so rare for an active assimilation to fail, most planets were simply incorporated into the galactic community, lacking the life necessary for an extended integration. If observed from that perspective, the number of planets rejected by the system was astronomically low. As usual, humans were truly pushing into uncharted territory.

“Prepare your things.” Zalanth ordered her three evolved feline assistants. “We will gain an audience with the council at once.”