Zarian was kneeling on a patch of dirt and grass that wasn’t soaked in blood. He was in a foreign world far from his original world. Hells, he wasn’t in the universe he’d grown up in.

White blocky clouds drifted like fluffy tetris pieces sailing in the wide blue sky. Patches of cobblestone hid under fields of colorful wildflowers. Various creatures, like little drakes and elemental avians, skittered and flitted about around him.

In the distance, he saw a small hill made of fortress fragments with verdant plantlife weaved through its gaps and cracks. There was a small forest to the east where the trees had stone blocks covering their bark. There were many trees like that on Corma, the World of Castles and Caverns, just one in many in the Infinita Star System.

Zarian was kneeling in the grass because he had the biggest humbling anyone could have. He’d become an existential threat across multiple dimensions, to where whole multiverses and armies of primordials couldn’t stop him. His ever-expanding darkness crushed them and consumed them, and his mortal mind could do nothing but fight and struggle to slow it down.

He failed countless times.

He’d watched his own world along with many others get consumed by his out-of-control power. He still kept fighting. He still kept trying. But he was forced to be a passenger for a long, long time.

When it all looked bleak, his Funnest Granpapa had showed up and reversed all the damage. Everything Zarian’s darkness had destroyed and eaten returned to their most pristine state prior to the apocalyptic doom. But not everything was back to normal.

For one, everyone could remember what happened before they died. They would all know that an unbeatable darkness had snuffed out the stars before eating their worlds. The gods might know whose darkness had done that.

How could they not?

Zarian wasn’t the most subtle person around.

Zarian looked at his new skill again, the replacement of his old straight darkness.

Overwhelming Darkness is the edgiest name ever, Zarian thought.

He almost wanted to laugh. He held back because a part of him was still reeling from the aftermath of his rash decisions and the consequences. Still, he found some humor in it all.

This new skill is so stupidly broken I’m going to need some control measures before I could learn to tame this bad boy.

Zarian tried to put Overwhelming Darkness in the beta section.

The skill refused to be a beta.

It stayed in the alpha section as the first skill.

Zarian wasn’t surprised even though he hadn’t expected that. With a name like Overwhelming Darkness, why would it let itself become anything beneath alpha?

Still, he needed to subdue this thing safely.

Could Hannah create ability restraints?

Zarian still had the Basic Lawkeep Aura Cuffs. He had to wear them during his party’s first brush with the local humans of Corma. The cuffs reduced the aura of the wearer.

What if Hannah reversed engineered them into restraints made specifically for Overwhelming Darkness? They would have to work on that together most likely. Only Zarian could trace the runes of a skill in someone’s aura.

I’ll have to see if she still wants to be my friend after what just happened, Zarian thought.

Honestly, he had to check in with many people. Before he could do that, he checked in with himself. Specifically, the notifications he’d set aside.

It was clear to Zarian that killing weaker creatures was the most inefficient way to level up in the Infinita Star System. If it wasn’t for the fight against Bianca earlier, he would’ve gained reduced vitality for those two measly levels.

“Para, you can be my wizard assistant now?” Zarian asked.

“Yes,” Para answered with a monstrous hiss, the entire cloak quivering delightfully. “I do magic. I will help you.”

The Parasite Cloak was practically Zarian’s favorite skill. She was a tattered, leathery, and monstrous thing. Even though she seemed more like a comfy blanket while she was wrapped around, that didn’t stop her from being dangerous to their enemies

As of this moment, she was being cuddly to her host after having died and revived together. Being reunited was nice.

Zarian smiled at her adoration. He reread the detail where Para now scaled partially with Mysticism. If she wasn’t strong before, she was going to be hella strong now.

Maybe she can help me control my darkness.

Was he eventually going to get a magic seal? No lie, that would be cool. Zarian could see himself releasing his sealed restraints to unleash layers of his Overwhelming Darkness. He would need a cheesy line or two.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Before his imagination ran rampant, Zarian moved onto the other important notifications.

Zarian let out a low whistle. He couldn’t recall ever getting this many achievements at once.

Despite the circumstances, he did feel special. It couldn’t be helped. He liked the gold notifications. The VIP treatment remained a favorite of his in this Star System life.

That might’ve been something in his past life – when he was a rich asshole – that stayed with him. He was currently living the life of a homeless Marine veteran and Florida Man who became an overpowered wizard.

Regardless of his convoluted origins, he started opening up all his achievements to see what he gained.

Zarian tried not to laugh.

This was not the time to laugh. It really wasn’t.

But it was hard not to.

Onto the next.

Zarian felt a familiar and solid weight land against his chest. It was much lighter than when he first wore the Divine Revival Charm. That was back when he was Level 14 and his mortal shell was much weaker.

He traced his fingers over the intricate engravings on the gold medallion. He touched each of the seven different colored gems embedded in a circle around the medallion.

Yeah, he was going to keep this one. He hoped the others who didn’t have a Divine Revival Charm wouldn’t mind.

Maybe he could pressure the Star System to cough up some more. Not now. Not when the wound was still fresh. But maybe later.

Zarian’s free evil +3 bubbled under the surface, somewhere close to his life energy and soul. It felt like a distinct magic, slightly separated from aura, vitality, and the others.

His free evil +3 called for him to use its power, but it couldn’t do anything more without him reaching for it. He was free to be evil or not be evil. The cunning and smarts were there whenever he wanted to use them.

He would explore that later.

He looked at the next achievements.

Is it screwed up that I kind of like this new trait? It goes well with Uncanny Valley and Lore Eater, honestly.

Other than that, he didn’t feel like the Honored Outsider fit him anymore. The Dreaded Outsider was more fitting now.

Hell, he could see it in his origins.

The Honored Outsider was gone. The Dreaded Outsider waited in its place behind his name and tag as a 21 yr-old Human. Behind that was Dungeon Master.

Now for the last achievement

“Oh, shit.”

Zarian’s heart raced.

He nearly pulled the trigger.

Nearly.

Then he remembered the more his stats grew, the stronger Overwhelming Darkness became. It was a catch twenty-two situation.

He almost wondered if leveling up Overwhelming Darkness first would help him control the doomsday skill. Once he had more control of Overwhelming Darkness, then it would be safer to invest his huge dump of stats.

But how could he deny all of those free stat points?

They were begging for him to invest them all now.

He could imagine how huge and mighty his Mysticism would feel if he placed all 100 Free points there. He would recover so much aura so much faster he would’ve been way better off at the end of the fight with Bianca.

Granted, Willpower was a great choice for the Parasite Cloak +2.

Wonder was a great choice because Wonder was an unfairly amazing stat. Many of his spells scaled with Wonder, either mainly or partially.

“I should stay strong,” Zarian said. “I should do the smart thing and not invest all the stats. I’m in control of myself, I swear.”

I will do better, Zarian promised himself.

“You should give yourself a little to bleed the edge off,” Naomi advised.

She’d been standing at his side the whole time.

Naomi Washington was a dynamic, no-nonsense, and beautiful black woman. She was the Marine Recruiter who’d helped Zarian get into the Marines. It wasn’t her fault that he’d fallen out with a bad conduct discharge. She was just trying to help him despite his issues back then.

Now she’d played up her role as his right-hand woman, sometimes with the wisdom of a twenty-six-year-old, and sometimes as a thrill-seeking freak who wanted nothing more than action and adventure and to rise beyond her mortal limits. She was the atypical murderhobo and big sister of the party.

“It’s 114 Free Points. And 14 of those points came from leveling up from 64 to 66,” Zarian explained.

Naomi blinked. She was leaning on her Tranquil Mind +2 to keep her cool. Her first skill must’ve advanced recently because Zarian had only known it as Tranquil Mind +1 until now.

Everyone in his party needed to update each other on their growth later. Once they could get past how their party leader was a doomsday threat, the Dreaded Outsider.

“Where did all those points come from?” Naomi asked.

“For being a freedom leader. Want to be one?”

Naomi knelt on the ground beside him. She offered her hand. Zarian accepted and thought about the concept of freedom. A blue notification appeared.

He heard an eagle cry in the background. But it wasn’t an eagle. It was a magical bird that didn’t exist back in the old world. Still, he felt a little more patriotic and gung-ho.

“Yes,” Zarian said.

Naomi gasped. Her brown eyes blinked rapidly while she tried to get used to her alignment change and new position. As someone with the free for real sub-alignment, she was hard for others to figure out or control. That would pair well with her psychic abilities.

Zarian tried to use his Basic Aura Manipulation to feel for any outside forces around Naomi without digging into her directly. The alignment magic didn’t work like aura magic even though they could get intertwined with each other.

Still, when he tried to press his aura manipulation onto her, he felt major resistance. He could break through if he pushed harder, but there was no need.

“Whoa, I felt that. Something trying to break my boundaries and getting repelled. That was you, wasn’t it?” Naomi asked.

“It was. You’ll need to invite me whenever I’m trying to do stuff with your person. Free for real extends against everyone, friends and enemies.”

“Hm, interesting. I’ll let you inside me whenever you want, okay?”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”