Overpowered Wizard-Chapter 286: B3: C76: The Underdog

The shadowy wormhole ended and a great light washed over Zarian, his body shooting out into an aura-rich environment. With just that, Zarian’s entire existence took a big breath of relief.

While he preferred the dark embrace of the portal created by his evil and strangely charming wife, returning to somewhere with the proper aura density levels was like having a sip of cold water after going thirsty in a desert.

Zarian was so caught up in luxuriating in a rich aura environment that he paid little attention to how fast he shot out of the portal and where he was heading head first. Looking up a split-second too late, Zarian ran face first into a frost-covered statue.

He plowed straight through, since the statue was only common quality, and kissed his way through more random stone structures, snow-clad hedges, and into the base of a tree tower.

Even without his Parasite Phantom, Zarian was just tough enough to hit like a human-shaped cannon ball and knock the frozen stone-barked tree off its base. The roots tore from the snowy earth with loud cracking sounds as the entire stony tree groaned while collapsing on its side with a booming thump.

Zarian remained laying in the frosty, root-shredded crater where a giant tree once stood for many years, maybe even for centuries.

The wizard laid still for a while, mostly unhurt except for a small portion of his dignity. He let the drifting snow of Early Winter land on him, dusting him like a baker sprinkling sweet powder over some dough.

Zarian didn’t care to move right now, so he focused on circling his aura inside and outside of his body. The cyclic flow was something that took him back to the basics of aura manipulation.

Then he unfolded his aura further and further, expanding miles upon miles, reaching a range that gave him perception over many beasts, magical plants, and a few hidden treasures here and there.

His aura spiraled like gusting winds around the entire area, his arcana hat glowing intensely with blue-red magic as it improved his legendary aura abilities and great mystical might.

“Hm, looks like I landed somewhere on the border between the Stalwart Paladin Kingdom and the Windy Strider Kingdom,” Zarian said, devouring the secrets and stories of the surrounding area.

He noticed the fallen bodies and forgotten weapons of paladins and striders who’ve gone to battle many times over the years.

Numerous notifications came up with every secret and story he devoured, telling him about the background of the bodies and the weapons, learning things that should’ve died with the occupants.

Zarian could follow the trail of unearthed information down a thousand and one routes that could lead to plenty of little side quests, treasures, or ways for him to black mail certain parties in power, if they were still alive.

It would be easy for him to clean out various families of their belongings or simply wipe them out fully if he wanted. But that wasn’t really a concern for him, it was a mere possibility among many others.

After facing powerful foes from another universe, while in a low aura density place, it took Zarian some time to remind himself that many of his abilities were overpowered in this setting. He had to handle everything in the World of Castles and Caverns with kid gloves again.

“The thickest and softest of kid gloves.” Zarian sat up and raised his hand and lit it on fire with his newly copied skill.

<Super Destruction Flame Force (Level 0): The dark green flames of this skill can strike with high potent force and super destructive burn damage. The aura cost matches the vast potency. Scales doubly with Wonder. Scales partially with Willpower and Mysticism.>

“Damn, that’s some good scaling. If only it wasn’t Level 0.”

Zarian watched the dark green flames crackle and pop while burning through his aura considerably. He concentrated and pushed the flames with more force, shooting a stream that made the frosty air scream above his head.

Without Aura Transcendence, the Level 0 skill would’ve been the most horribly inefficient ability he ever had in his profile. With Aura Transcendence, it wasn’t so bad.

Also, this was his first force-based ability, too.

Gilbert had a bunch of those skills, which allowed the Rescue Ranger to manipulate the abilities in a similar vein to how Zarian used Aura Mastery, but with less flexibility in Gilbert’s case.

Zarian having Super Destruction Flame Force and Aura Mastery combined gave him more push, pull, and high degrees of manipulation.

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To prove that point, Zarian shaped the dark green flames into a sword.

Even the Invasion Leader couldn’t do something like this, which made Zarian think the old man had lacked the finesse of a wizard and was some mix between a mage and a brawler. Not a bad combo, and it certainly had its place in combat, but compared to Zarian’s unfair advantages, the magic brawler hadn’t stood a chance.

Zarian shot out of the root-shredded crater with a masterful push of air aura, his flame sword trailing like a burning dark green flag at his side. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the black and sword-shaped wand that was Aura Slayer.

He thought about his personal aesthetics – he blamed that on Bianca for her insistent nagging about fashion – and changed the dark green flame sword into a larger and bulkier greatsword similar to the dimensions of Aura Slayer. Now he had two giant swords of magic and force.

“I know it would be more efficient to mix Aura Mastery and the destruction flames while channeling that through Aura Slayer, but I bet I look awesome right now.”

Zarian chuckled, perceiving himself through his own aura. He had on a dark leathery coat with a furred collar, furred cuffs, and glowing runes covering its seams while the buttons remained undone down the middle to show off some of his torso. He had on his elvish leggings and boots. Then there was his wizard hat and lion tail, too.

Paired with two large swords, all of those features already were quite mighty to consider. But there was also the slowly healing damages that exposed the face of his skull and his ribs as last touches.

Zarian flew around to find a frozen lake or pond where he could see himself with his own eyes.

The border between the paladins and striders had large islands with temperate stone forests and other designs that had winding moats and old castles merged with the small landscapes.

The snow of Early Winter covered everything, so he would have to start up his own snowblower act to find a reflective enough surface.

He didn’t mind wasting time doing that. He was trying to distract himself from the horrors of the decision he’d made.

Unfortunately, enough time spent milling about had Zarian stopping mid-air and facing the truth.

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“Star System,” Zarian called, “What’s happening to the Enslavement System?”

A blue notification box popped up in front of his face with a soft ding.

<The Doulos Universe of the Enslavement System is … turning shadowy and dark like spilling oil from the inside out. The process isn’t fast. But the Enslavement System is struggling to stop Luciana’s power. It’s honestly quite horrifying.>

Zarian looked down at his marriage ring before asking his next question. “Do you see a pattern anywhere? Is Luciana’s power attacking at random or moving with a purpose?”

<I’m trying to study the process and update myself on one of the major Ultra Gods who hold my universe on the edge of a knife, and despite my many capabilities, I can’t safely assume if I understand how she is charting her course of corruption. It seems … random. I do not know what exactly conspired between you two while on the other side, but Evil Goddess Shadowfell is not sharing a majority of her plans with me or the other major gods.>

“I don’t think she’ll stop me if I tell you this much,” Zarian said. “I think she’s holding back. She’s trying not to corrupt you entirely, since Infinita is our home. The fate of the Enslavement System is an example of what could happen if Luciana stops holding back.”

The Star System responded in the most appropriate manner based on the situation.

<...>

<...>

<...>

<So… I’m going to have some important conversations with the other System Universes. I think this showing from Evil Goddess Shadowfell will give our universe some breathing room. Maybe not much, but it should be enough for me to set certain parameters in our favor for the next battles to come.>

<In the meantime, it will take three days for the other Floridians to return from the Dying World of Gravity and Dreams to the World of Castles and Caverns. I hope during these three days you can … um … make sure Evil Goddess Shadowfell continues to hold back and be gentle with us all.>

<Please.>

Zarian laughed, his tail whipping behind him.

It was unfortunate that he wouldn’t know if Luciana’s fractured power would hold back on the innocent people of the Enslavement System or corrupt everything while eating the Enslavement System from the inside out. But Zarian wouldn’t blame her for doing one thing or the other.

He’d made the decision.

He’d pushed the button.

He’d pulled the trigger.

Thus, he would take the fault as his own. It was a terrible thing to bear on his shoulders, but he was the Conquest Wizard with free evil +7 for a reason. Hence why he had a lot of stat points in Willpower along with Wonder and Mysticism.

“Do I get a side quest?” Zarian asked.

<Are you going to check your growth?> asked the Star System.

Zarian gave the notification a rictus grin.

<Of course you aren’t. Sigh. How long are you and the others going to avoid checking your growth notifications?>

“Until we register at the Thousand Year Tournament,” Zarian said. “Maybe a little longer afterwards. It depends on how many people want to measure me.”

<Ugh. Fine. I will wait for you until then. But per my parameters, your acquisition of side quests will suffer unless the side quests are significant. And if they are, they’ll upgrade into main quests.>

“Hannah?”

<Yes, of course, she has the epic Side Quest Monger trait, so she can override that for specific moments. But you’ll have to go through her to receive more side quests until you check your growth notifications in full.>

“Fair enough.”

Zarian rotated slowly in the air.

Three days, huh?

No Para. No Floridians other than himself. He could do so much with that amount of time. But it was strange being by himself. Everything was quiet.

He didn’t like it.

He should go find someone to bother. Or he could go bother someone with Luciana at his side. She would need another powerful avatar, wouldn’t she?

Zarian paused to consider his relationships with the … lovers … of his life. There was the magical Ruvaria. There was the determined Naomi. And there was the mysterious Luciana.

Out of all of them, Zarian could see his relationship with Ruvaria ending some time soon depending on how he dealt with her outrageous family. The one with Naomi was a long-term project he had to handle with care.

Lots and lots of care.

“I’m not sure about you anymore, Luciana,” Zarian said to his marriage ring. “Are you really intent on keeping this marriage because I inspire you? Isn’t there anything more you want? If you want to try out other options or something–”

Luciana cut him off, her goddess voice resounding around him with a throaty and seductive growl. “I don’t care about other options. I’m set on what I want. And what I want is you.”

Zarian stumbled while midair. He’d never heard Luciana act so forcefully before. He stammered a little as he replied. “I’m in love with Naomi…”

Luciana clapped back. “I will fight her in the field of love and war. I will win you as mine somehow. We have plenty of time before you reach me in God Land.”

Zarian closed and opened his mouth. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Good Goddess Lovewar is helping you, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is. She is my best friend despite everything. It is a fruitful relationship, and we have plans within plans.” Luciana’s confidence sounded like velvety thunder, affecting Zarian without any divine magic or any overt manipulation. She was striking with pure charisma. “Who do you think will win? One defiant mortal woman? Or an Ultra Goddess?”

Zarian responded with the best contrarian answer he could come up with. “Neither, because I’m the one who wins. Because I still have to choose, don’t I?”

Luciana hesitated.

Zarian kept going. “Don’t get too cocky, Luciana. It was interesting adventuring with your avatar. But it’s going to take more time to win me over. Naomi has the biggest lead right now. And I think that mortal woman will surprise all of us. So, in this case, you’re starting from far behind.”

“So … I’m the underdog?” Luciana sounded weird asking that. “How … interesting. I don’t mind this. I can fight from a losing position and prove something. Is this what it’s like to be mortal?”

She sounded excited.

Zarian sighed, feeling like he’d fanned the flames instead of cooling them. Maybe he could wait to take Luciana on their next date. At the very least, the strange turn in conversation was fun and light.

But it didn’t stay that way for long.

The next words out of Luciana’s goddess voice shoved aside their situationship and gave Zarian a fright that was scarier than anything imaginable. Even being enslaved by the Enslavement System didn’t compare to this.

“My dear husband, I’ve happened upon a premonition of warning. The Star System will learn of this soon, so hear my cry first. Ariana Darkrun is going to stir. It is not yet time for her to wake fully, but even a simple physical shift from her is catastrophic. You must act quickly before one of your great treasures is destroyed.”

Luciana’s warning triggered Zarian’s Lion Prince somehow.

The flow of causality struck down on him with the weight of doom so destructive, so terrifying, Zarian’s Lion Prince became a bane instead of an aid.

Reality squeezed upon him from the outside and the inside. His muscles stiffened and slowed. His power felt dimmer. The darkness inside of him raged, crashing against the locks of his sealing style, pushing the boundaries of his control, quickening the dangers of Sealing Entropy.

It took everything for Zarian to get in control of his overwhelming power and fend off the tangible effects of reality shaking in fear from the stirring of The Dragoness.

Not even the full wakefulness, just a mere stirring.

Ariana was rolling in her sleep and making the universe shudder in fear.

Finally, the Star System caught on with a red notification that appeared all across the universe and over Zarian’s head.

<The Killer of The Original Dragon … The Dragoness, the Ultimate Queen, the Greatest Destroyer … has cast a universe-wide boon. All dragon-type creatures and followers of The Dragoness will have double stats, double vitality, and potent destruction magic infused with their offensive abilities. This universe-wide boon will last one day.>

Zarian turned west and flew with all of his power in and out of the void. The terrible odds, the weight of causality flowing badly against him, kept holding him back, slowing him down. The fear of an entire universe bore down upon him through Lion Prince as his little sister flexed a portion of her destructive power.

Zarian didn’t care that he had bad odds and causality flowing against him. He didn’t care about the reality of an entire universe being afraid. He had to get back home. He had to save his daughter and the kids of the Ride-or-Die Guild.

Zarian pushed and pushed harder than ever before, bending reality even when it was set against him. He pushed and pushed and pushed.

***

<Lion Prince (Level 28): You can assert your claim upon reality based on your point of view. This can shift causality in your favor. However, you must weigh the risks of chance, challenge, and change, which may lead to terrible odds. This part of the skill scales with Willpower. The tail itself scales with all of your stats plus a little more.>