Zarian watched as Naomi scrolled through her notifications. He didn’t see her notifications directly, but he knew she was looking based on how her eyes unfocused from him and twitched. He saw the corner of her mouth quirk up. She’d reached the note for the new achievement.
“What? It’s divine! That’s my first one!” Naomi barely contained her glee. “Okay. Sorry. I’m going to be a hypocrite with you. I didn’t even think about it. I dumped all one hundred points into Willpower, Strength, and Agility. Thanks, Zarian.”
“No problem. It’s the least I can do.” Zarian smiled at Naomi’s open enthusiasm.
She was more upbeat lately. He wasn’t sure if this was her way of combating the existential dread or if she was putting on a show for him. He wasn’t sure. He could try digging up his free evil +3 to analyze her, but he didn’t want to break further boundaries.
She’d given him a light slap for making her cry.
Not for killing her twice.
Just for making her cry.
She could’ve hit him harder, but she hadn’t.
He owed her a lot for putting up with him. Until he could find a thoughtful way to pay her back, Zarian refocused on his own situation.
He was still kneeling in the grass as the day waned. He had a lot of things to do.
Wishing for some inner advice, Zarian delved into his free evil +3 for himself. A malicious recommendation immediately hit him.
A twisted part of his Fractured Mind wanted to let Overwhelming Darkness reign free. If he was fast enough to eat as many universes and multiverses as possible, maybe he could overpower his Funnest Granpapa.
Zarian set aside the useless evil ideas.
Those were lame and bad.
He went for the more intellectual introspections of free evil +3. His Fractured Mind parsed out what he needed and what was rubbish. Eventually, he found a line of thought that made sense to him.
He should reward himself with some free points once he found control measures for Overwhelming Darkness. He could feed himself points little by little, almost similar to what Naomi had suggested, as he gained more control of the skill gradually.
He needed mastery instead of more power. He needed to be like the Funnest Granpapa, a maestro of control.
“I’m going to save the free points,” Zarian decided.
Naomi looked at him in surprise. “You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
Zarian furrowed his brow. “I’m not completely hopeless. I can learn from my mistakes. I can be patient.”
“I have my doubts. But if you can manage it, I’ll be proud of you, Zarian.” She patted him on the shoulder and left a warm feeling on that spot.
Naomi bounced to her feet.
The difference made by her power spike was immediate.
She left the ground and cleared twenty feet into the air by accident. Her psychic powers snapped and crackled with a slight hum like an electric generator around her. Her body rippled with newfound might and speed, the tension oozing raw physicality.
When she hit the ground again, a sharp smile slashed across her dark face. She licked her full lips and looked like she wanted to fight something and dominate.
Zarian loved that look on her.
Despite everything.
Despite him destroying everything.
Despite his Overwhelming Darkness.
Naomi was a simple woman at heart. A murderhobo and thrill seeker.
He added to his growing list to do something nice for her to repay her patience and for making her cry. He couldn’t really recall what Naomi liked outside of training and fighting.
No, wait, there’s dancing.
Well, at least he had a starting point.
As for Naomi herself, she didn’t run off to hunt something down and test herself. Instead, she turned to him and offered her hand.
Zarian looked down at the dirt and grass under him. His cloak quivered comfortably around him.
Naomi waited without making him rush.
With another glance up at the waning day, Zarian inhaled and exhaled deeply before taking her hand. She helped him up gently, showing superb control, and had him back on his feet again.
She looked behind him and seemed slightly disappointed.
He could guess why.
“I have no idea when the tail will show up,” Zarian said. “It could be tomorrow after we sleep or the next day, or years down the road.”
“Para, girl, hide the tail from everyone else until I get to it first,” Naomi said. “It’s our secret.”
Para held her silence.
Naomi squinted. “Para? It’s our secret, right? You can’t tell Bianca.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“No habla Inglés,” Para replied.
“Oh, so that’s how it is!”
Zarian held in a laugh as Naomi tried to use pitiful Spanish to argue with Para. Unfortunately for Naomi, the Parasite Cloak +2’s fluency in Spanish was much higher.
Para easily ran circles around Naomi and made the epic Rumble Psion look incompetent at the language despite the cloak being a four or so months old.
Zarian led the way back to the Ride-or-Die Fort.
By the time they were halfway there, Para was helping Naomi with rolling her R’s better. Zarian enjoyed the background noise as he examined everything in his profile, along with one more new addition that he couldn’t quite figure out.
How did I get this? Zarian wondered.
Thinking about it further, he might’ve gotten this from resisting the darkness for a long time. By not letting his mind fade away, he gained a divine trait that was a universal law.
Nobody could break or lessen his Willpower. Nobody could mess with his mind or emotions. His soul was secured depending on what soul technique an attacker used.
He didn’t really think of that as a major concern until he had another realization. Sinfeast couldn’t screw with him anymore. The same went for many other gods with trippy powers that traumatized people, leaving marks on their mind and soul.
My mind is really a fortress. A Floridian Mindset.
That was going to be important going forward. He was a weapon of multiverse-level destruction, after all.
Zarian dipped into his free evil +3 again and learned of numerous ways evil-doers would try to take advantage of him. There were plenty of ways for do-gooders to try trapping him forever.
“What are you thinking?” Naomi asked him, bumping her shoulder into his arm.
He smiled at her restraint. She only moved him a little instead of a lot.
“A bunch of people are going to want to abuse me or trap me,” Zarian said.
Naomi’s abilities crackled and popped around her. Her next step shook the ground with a heavy psychic force. A tremor passed through the earth. Dirt, grit, and rocks flew up around them for dozens of feet in all directions.
She clenched her fists and raised them up. The air bent and warbled around her knuckles as she exuded the epic power of a Rumble Psion.
“I won’t let them,” she said, huffing. “You’re our Zarian.”
Ah, I see, she’s still dealing with what just happened.
He was still dealing with it, too.
It was a lot to process.
Zarian still smiled, feeling a little warm inside, as he traced his finger over the medallion on his chest.
Naomi calmed down as she looked at his medallion. Then she brought her medallion out of her soul. They were matching. Their Divine Revival Charms glinted under the sun, each gem glimmering brightly.
“Yeah, well, let’s see if everyone else is on the same page.” Zarian absorbed his medallion back into his soul.
Naomi did the same.
They reached the fort’s main entrance.
“Stony’s gone.” Zarian blinked up at the smashed gatehouse.
There was rubble everywhere. The cubes from Hannah’s Cube Maker Magic +1 were magically tough. But Stony was way tougher.
“Stony ran away. He wanted to go home after dying to a darkness he couldn’t fight,” Naomi explained.
Zarian frowned.
They’d lost their Level 105 Wall Crusher Master. That was one big and tough-as-hell giant. But Overwhelming Darkness had traumatized the poor guy, pushing him to desert his post.
Losing him like that hurt a little. Not because of the loss of Stony’s giant might, but because Zarian liked Stony.
Glancing behind him, Zarian saw the battlefield was still filled with thousands of dead kobold bodies. Nobody had collected them to feed the Dancing Librarian Dungeon.
He currently had no eyes inside of the fort. All of his spectral spiders had expired when Zarian had killed himself without a quick enough revive.
I really shot myself. Man, I don’t hold back any punches.
“Let me see how bad it is with my own eyes.” Zarian continued forward.
Naomi followed beside him.
The Parasite Cloak +2 fluttered and wavered like a monstrous flag behind them. More importantly, the cloak had a small glimmer of reddish purple magic to it now. Almost like dying stars preparing to go out forever while on the edges of the ravaging void.
It was beautiful. It remained so to Zarian, even when the cloak shifted forms.
Para created veiny hands, insectoid scythes, mandibles on long muscled necks, multi-jointed hacksaws, bestial skulls with large chomping teeth, bone-plated tentacles, tendrils ending with hooks, and other nightmarish forms. Each part of Para’s creative and glimmering body gnashed, snipped, slashed, grasped, and whipped at the air around Zarian and Naomi.
Even while under a clear sky day, they looked like a scary pair with a monstrous eldritch entity backing them. Even without Para showing off, Zarian’s profile by itself was scary.
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Origins: Zarian Darkrun, 21 yr-old Human, Dreaded Outsider, Dungeon Master, Freedom Leader
Level: 66
Class: Madness Wizard (Legendary)
Alignment: Free Evil +3
Traits: Dark Affinity (Rare), Overpower (Epic), Identify (Rare), Aura Channeler (Rare), Fractured Mind (Uncommon), Basic Aura Manipulation (Rare), Frenzy Zone (Uncommon), Uncanny Valley Effect (Rare), Void Mysticism (Rare), Lore Eater (Epic), Thematic Law/Floridian Mindset (Divine), The Dreaded One (Epic)
Alpha Skills (5/5): Overwhelming Darkness (Level 1), Parasite Cloak +2 (Level 27), Spectral Spider Network +1 (Level 22), Grimoire of the Mad Voidling Exile (Level 24), Summon Wizard Hat +1 (Level 24)
Beta Skills (8/15): Grimoire of Black Magic 102 (Level 21), Grimoire of the Dread Mire Hell Gator (Level 19), Tranquil Mind (Level 0), Adrenaline Jolt (Level 0), Willful Might (Level 0), Wondrous Speed (Level 0), Mystic Toughness (Level 0), Rune Alteration (Level 0)
Willpower: 244
Strength: 39
Agility: 40
Wonder: 194
Mysticism: 470
Free: 114
Achievements: Honored Outsider (Divine), SSS Dance with White Silk Reiki (Epic), Heroes of the Eternal Garden Kingdom (Legendary), Divine Knock Knock (Divine), Junior Manslaughterer (Uncommon), Initial Pacifist Gauntlet (Rare), First Human Gnoll Elder of Corma (Epic), SSS Genius Beyond the Lore Eater (Epic), Boon Wrecker (Divine), Befriending Gods (Divine), Rare Dungeon Master (Rare), Lizard Slayer (Uncommon), Divine Enemy (Divine), Dreaded Outsider (Divine), Freedom Leader (Divine)
Spells: Bloody Lifesteal (Uncommon), Raise Advancing Skeletons (Rare), Black Fire (Rare), Quagmire Pit (Uncommon), Dread Mire Bite (Rare), Dread Mire Bellow (Epic), Void Step (Epic), Void Authority (Epic), Void Layer (Legendary), Dread Mire Hell Gator (Legendary)
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Yeah, Zarian was pretty sure his profile was ridiculous for someone at Level 66. He was the Dreaded Outsider with a Floridian Mindset. Might as well call him the Dreaded Floridian, honestly.
Who around his level would fight that?
“Zarian!” Gilbert roared drunkenly, red in the face.
He was striding across the rubble that was lying around from the smashed gatehouse. He had his hands balled up into big, knobby fists.
“Hey big guy.” Zarian gave him a cheeky smile. “So, I died. Killed everyone. An ancient ancestor of mine fixed everything. And now we’re all back.”
Gilbert entered a run. The former cop and now legendary Knighted Healer charged full steam ahead at the Madness Wizard.
“Para, let the boys be boys,” Naomi said, walking off to the side.
“Okay!” Para contracted into a mostly normal cloak that glimmered only a little.
Zarian rolled his eyes before taking a heavy punch to the face. He let Gilbert get six solid, uncontested hits.
Then Zarian stopped being a punching bag. He fought Gilbert man-to-man, fists to fists.
This brawl was a long time coming.