The night was filled with stars, moons, and blocks of clouds drizzling snow across a battered battlefield that extended for many miles.
Zarian was still standing on the large boulder that Naomi had chucked like it was a mere ball. He was soaking in the monumental success of his party, his heart hammering hard as his Fractured Mind ran through many thoughts.
What a hell of a week. My wife’s casting down enhanced versions of her tears. The strongest gnoll in the world acts like a puppy in my village. And we just finished beating a damn elf prince from another continent.
I didn’t let the darkness beat me this time. I kept it under control. I didn’t let it break away.
The others actually came in to help me. For the first time in a long time, I really needed help, and they were there for me. They didn’t let me down. They saved me.
Is this what the Funnest Granpapa and the rest of my family want to see? Are they watching? What do they think?
Ariana, little sister, look how far these mortals have come. Look how much they’ve grown since their journey began in the Star System. You think of them as bugs. But they will show you how wrong you are.
Zarian looked up at Bianca. She was standing on a panel of light as the winter breeze made her colorful elven dress flutter around her long and graceful legs.
She looked sullen but beautiful, glamorous but deadly, while hefting a javelin of supercharged light over a conquered enemy. She could execute the elf at a moment’s notice.
Zarian looked down at the two who’d acted like the tip of the spear during the fight. They were the ones who’d kept the pressure and dragged the elf down so that his lofty levels, rank, and abilities couldn’t keep him from getting pummeled.
Gilbert was roaring with drunken laughter as Naomi went ballistic from the hype and boasted:
“I did that! Did you see me?! I was on that elf boy’s ass and I punched him! I did that! Look at me! I’m a motherfucking, elf-smashing bitch! Oorah!”
Naomi kept hollering while laying spread eagle. She should focus on using her Earth-Sky Meditation +2 and resting up, but the adrenaline was still running its course through her body. It didn’t help that Gilbert encouraged her, gassing her up.
But who was going to stop them?
Not Zarian.
He was riding on the highs just like them.
“You’re proud,” Para said, sounding more sophisticated than ever before. There was only a hint of a creepy and monstrous edge to her voice. “I’m glad you’re feeling proud of them.”
Zarian turned slightly. He blinked at the thing hovering over his shoulder.
It was a face that he was familiar with. It almost looked like his face, in fact. But it was more feminine, with fuller lips, longer eye-lashes, and slightly more pronounced cheekbones.
She would’ve been a truly beautiful human if she had more than a head held up by leathery threads. She didn’t have eyes either, just more wriggling threads inside of empty sockets.
When her plush lips spread into a smile, she revealed needle-like teeth that could cut through flesh with ease. At least her hair was bouncy and long, looking like a girlier version of Zarian’s curly hair.
“Para?” Zarian asked.
“Yes, it is me, Para.”
She tilted her head to the side. Her smile shrank to a knowing smirk. Then she reached upward and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before backing off a bit. She had him stunned, so she spoke on.
“I’m your parasite. And you’re my host. Thank you for making me much, much stronger. And much, much smarter.”
“Yeah. Sure. Um. What can I say? You’re practically the best skill in my profile. Glad to help,” Zarian said.
“We will have to explore the new things I can do. But here’s a teaser.” Para turned her face down toward Zarian’s hand.
She squinted her wriggling eyes and furrowed her brow. Zarian’s hand stopped being his own, Para taking over to wriggle the fingers before clenching it into a fist.
“I will cause some pain. Is that okay?” she asked.
“Go for it.”
Para made his arm move, holding up his hand. There was a gap in the gauntlets’ gloves where Zarian’s palm showed. He watched as Para made threads under the flesh wriggle visibly against the palm’s skin.
Then sharpened threads pierced out of Zarian’s palm with some blood squirting free. The threads wriggled upward into the air and wavered about.
Zarian understood right away what this meant.
Para had mostly reserved her rapid transformations to doing things on the outside and with the cloak. But that was not the full extent of her abilities, really.
The skill had ‘parasite’ in the name for a reason. She could change the host directly. She could do things without his say so, if she truly wanted to.
Strangely, Zarian felt no fear. He was actually happy about Para’s growth. The possibilities were nearly limitless now that she could do more things inside his body as well as outside.
Maybe others would’ve feared something like Para having so much power. But Zarian wasn’t like most others anyway.
“Thank you,” Para said.
“What for?” Zarian asked.
“For trusting me so much. Normally, I would’ve eaten my host from the inside-out by now, letting them think they were in control until I took over.”
Zarian snorted. “What stopped you?”
Para bopped her head against his and let out a chuckle. “You being you stopped me. You welcomed me happily. You’ve always tried to keep me fed. You showed me the pleasures of friendship, which is important.”
“Really?”
“Yes. As a parasite, these emotionally charged concepts do not come naturally to me. But ever since you became my host, I learned them from you. I value friendship because of you. I care about things more and more because of you. I’m even willing to sacrifice myself, which is not what a parasite should do, because of you.”
Para bobbed her head from side to side merrily. Zarian’s eyes followed her, mesmerized, while she spoke further.
“The gods may look at you as evil, and our powers may be evil magic, but the moment you became my host, I felt your true nature. You are a good person. I can understand goodness without the alignment because of you. I’m interested to see what more you’ll do.”
Zarian didn’t know what to say to that.
That was the biggest emotional gut punch he could get right now. Especially after beating a Master Ranker and keeping his Overwhelming Darkness from breaking free again.
He still tried to say something, but his throat tightened. His eyes stung a little. He couldn’t say anything.
Para watched him with a big smile. Then, without another word, she touched foreheads with him again before she unraveled her face into parasitic threads.
She returned to being nothing more than a cloak hanging from around his shoulders and his back. In fact, she stopped forming random monstrous parts. She let herself move to the whims of the natural wind, like any mundane and ragged thing of dark red leather and little beads of glimmering light.
Para had no reason to show off right now.
Zarian looked down at his palm where parasitic threads had burst free. They were gone from sight, having returned under the flesh.
His high vitality must’ve healed up the damage, leaving behind some splatters of blood. Or had Para stitched him up regardless of vitality?
Did that mean his health was less of a concern? Could that leave more vitality for his stamina?
There’s only one bad side effect to all of this.
Zarian’s stomach roared like a dangerous beast. His hunger was far, far greater than ever before.
He reached back for Para’s cloak, and the parasite formed a humanoid arm with slender, feminine fingers. She reached into her pocket dimension and passed him a boxed meal of fresh food that was mainly meat.
Zarian chowed quickly, running through multiple boxes. Para used multiple humanoid and girlish arms to pass him more fresh food. She put empty boxes back into the pocket dimension as Zarian ran through meal after meal.
Best skill ever, Zarian thought.
When Zarian ran through enough food to settle down his freakish hunger, he came to a sudden realization. “Damn, if Ruven had lasted a little longer, that would’ve been the perfect time to push the wizardry angle more. We could really learn to work on that without having to rely on Overwhelming Darkness.”
“Yes, I agree. I want to see how well we cast spells together after my recent improvements,” Para said, forming her lower face and neck over his shoulder. She spoke easily just like this. “I think we can even study together and improve our learning. We can certainly multicast spells better.”
“Four spells at the same time? Five maybe?” Zarian asked.
“I think we can be more ambitious than that. Especially if we incorporate the spiders. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. We have many things to check on. And it’s hard to think without food, so I will nourish myself now.”
Zarian nodded at Para’s blooming brilliance and constant need to eat. She passed him a few more food boxes as dessert while also dumping bodies they had stored in the pocket dimension. She multitasked between feeding him some more and consuming bodies.
Seriously, the best skill, regardless of her ability to eat me from the inside out and takeover, Zarian thought.
She ate quickly and efficiently with blood-sucking tubes, flesh-tearing lamprey mouths, and bone-crunching jaws she easily formed with the cloak. Nothing was wasted. She even licked up droplets of blood with tongue-like tendrils.
Then she dropped even more bodies and ate and ate as Zarian ate and ate.
While the duo continued their feast, Zarian glanced up at Bianca, who remained on guard. She had done well. But she was still not the cheery young woman from before.
He looked down at the crater where Ruven looked worse for wear, but not completely dead. They would have to decide on his fate soon, though Zarian had a few ideas.
Naomi and Gilbert were still clowning around, but this time Naomi was mounted on Slip’s back as the eight-legged horse strutted around proudly.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Hannah remained quiet at the top of the tower while keeping watch from miles away. She was soaking in the moment just like the rest of them, Zarian imagined.
Then Hannah said, “You should check the notifications.”
Zarian jumped right on it in between meals.
Nice. That was a huge jump at these levels. They didn’t even have to kill the elf prince to level up. Winning a fight against a Master Ranker while in the lower levels was good enough.
Zarian voiced his level up to the others. They all did the same, regardless of their defeated foe’s presence.
Hannah leveled up from 78 to 79.
Bianca leveled up from 74 to 76.
Naomi leveled up from 73 to 76.
Gilbert leveled up from 73 to 76.
Zarian wondered why he’d gained the most. Then he realized he hadn’t just fought Ruven, he’d also fought the Overwhelming Darkness. It showed in the next notifications.
“God dammit, Star System. I know we’re going through a rough patch, but I want to kiss you right now,” Zarian said.
“And maybe bite you a little,” Para added.
The +2 on the wizard hat was a godsend gift. They needed every scrap of studying boosts they could get to cut through the onslaught of new spells coming their way.
Zarian already had some waiting for him in the advanced voidling grimoire. Grimoire of Black Magic 102 was one level away from resetting and making him have to choose a spell to advance. The hell gator grimoire wasn’t that far behind either.
Zarian informed the others. And they told him of their growth in skills.
Hannah had only seen improvements in her Summon Magical Intelligence +2 skill. Granted, Hannah had stayed far out of the fight, so it made sense that her growth was smaller. She was okay with that since Magi had progressed considerably from this.
The magical intelligence, Magi, was like Para. Hannah had gained the skill-based summoning two months back from one of the newer achievements she’d earned.
All of Bianca’s skills had gone up except for Shining Mark +2. She didn’t get the chance to apply that one on Ruven or it would’ve made the fight easier.
The utility skill not only hindered a target’s vision and focus, it also increased the accuracy of allies aiming at those who were marked. She would have to land a solid hit the next time they fought a Master Ranker.
Naomi’s entire roster of skills had gone up. Psychokinesis +2 was the biggest winner with four new levels, from 29 to 33.
She’d used a lot of that skill to help her move around without throwing herself too hard or breaking the ground under her. And she’d used it for a limited but useful flight, too.
Despite all that, Naomi’s more recent discovery was more impressive.
“It’s Half Ignition, by the way,” Naomi explained. “The thing I did with my aura. I bet you felt it, Zarian. It’s not Second Stage, but I think it’ll get me there.”
“I’ll be shaking in my boots when you start blasting out punches from miles away,” Zarian replied.
Naomi let out a happy growl. She was still hyped up. Zarian didn’t blame her, but she didn’t take all of his attention. Not when he owed someone his thanks.
“Gilbert,” Zarian said.
“Now, now, you don’t need to roll out the red carpet or anything for me. I’m just doing my job. Like a cop. But for the universe and beyond.”
“Still, I have to say this, man. You’ve come a long, long way. We weren’t winning until you made sure we could win against the elf prince.”
“Si, you’re ace, Gilbert,” Bianca said.
“I concur,” Hannah said.
“Still can’t shoot worth a damn, but you’re the man we need most when we’re really hurting.” Naomi reached down from on top of Slip’s back and patted Gilbert on the shoulder.
“You stop all of that now. I don’t need this rain of praise.” Gilbert tipped his cowboy hat over his face. “I’m just doing the work I’m set to do. It’s you, Zarian, who had to hold it down against that awful darkness inside of you. God gave us a mission that’s bigger than all these false idols and idolizers, and I’m gonna walk with you all the way to see it complete. No matter how many elf retards they send.”
Hannah decided not to correct Gilbert on this. Instead, she directed their attention to the next items on the notification overview.
Before Zarian could move on, he got Gilbert’s update. All of the big man’s skill levels had gone up, with Sacrificial Blow +2 being his biggest winner, going from Level 25 to 29.
Then Zarian and the others shared the next notifications they had.
Bianca’s freedom alignment (free good +5) remained the same.
Naomi, Gilbert, and Hannah’s freedom alignment (free for real) went up to +1.
That was all they needed to see to know the growth in freedom was based more on their actions now, which seemed to place weight on defending freedom in some capacity, especially theirs.
Thus, the former neutral types were freer than ever. Or it was much harder for anyone to come in and control them.
“Did anyone hear that bird screaming in the background?” Naomi asked.
“I hear it in my heart,” Gilbert said.
Slip huffed and nipped at Gilbert’s head haughtily. Apparently the Sleipnir didn’t like the idea of birds being in his rider’s heart.
The growth in alignment would’ve been the most amazing part if it wasn’t for the final notifications.
“Oh, wow,” Zarian said. “We can upgrade traits in the Star System.”
“I can’t upgrade Aura Ignition,” Naomi said. “It’s restrictive.”
“This is a pleasant change of pace,” Hannah said. “Perhaps we should hunt down more Masters.”
“Damn it, Hannah. You tell me I can’t say ‘retard’ while you’re saying stuff about hunting a bunch of Level 100s. Next up, you’ll make a farm for them,” Gilbert complained.
Hannah didn’t respond.
“You’re thinking of making a farm for them, aren’t you?” Gilbert accused.
Hannah remained silent.
“I’m not sure if this is the right time to make these major decisions,” Bianca said. “We must do something about this pendejo who nearly ruined everything.”
Bianca had a point. While upgrading a trait was a tremendous boon, Zarian would want some personal time to decide.
Finally, Ruven said something, even if it came out as a croak. “It would’ve been easier if you didn’t resist. It would’ve been for the greater good. But you decided to resist.”
“There’s a joke in there, Gilbert. Do you sense the joke? Do you? Do you, Gilbert? I bet Zarian senses the joke!” Naomi laughed like a loon.
Zarian smirked.
Gilbert heaved a heavy sigh, ignoring Naomi’s verbal jabs. He seemed a little more sober now, and he obviously wasn’t happy about that. With slow steps, he strolled over to the crater Ruven was laying in and looked down at the beaten elf prince.
“Can we call his great grandma? That one is still world bound, right? I didn’t quite get if he meant Purehome or someone else,” the Knighted Healer asked.
“I think Purehome is older and separate from his great grandmother. So we can probably negotiate with the latter,” Hannah said.
It wasn’t a bad suggestion, especially since Gilbert was keeping Ruven pacified. Healing Force +2 could block the healing of a target. Tranquilizer Shot +2 could keep pumping away from range and pacify targets.
Ruven was stuck, making him the perfect ransom.
“So we hand the prince over, then let Zarian have his way with her as part of some major deal?” Naomi asked cheekily. “I’m down if I can be there for it.”
“Now I might still be a little buzzed, but I’m under the impression that he was maxing his free evil there with some trash talk and didn’t mean what he said.” Gilbert glanced back up at Zarian while the Madness Wizard stayed on the thirty-foot boulder. “You were speaking a bunch of hot air, right, chief?”
Zarian didn’t say anything because there was something more pressing coming from behind him he felt with his Basic Aura Manipulation trait.
The moment he noticed, he and Para finished eating and prepared for another fight.
Para shifted the cloak into a dozen sharpened scythes, hacksaws, clawed hands, hooks, bone-tipped tentacles, and even wolfish heads with large fangs. She formed a dozen hands that grabbed the grimoires floating around Zarian’s body, prepared to cast spells.
It didn’t end there.
Para made changes to Zarian’s body from the inside while he hunkered down. He felt her threads intertwine with his muscles more. He felt her follow his every intent, as if she was wearing his flesh while he was still in control.
Para’s nature would’ve been freaky if it wasn’t for how easily she synced up with him through his Floridian Mindset. With their internals deeply embraced, Para could enhance Zarian’s physicality way more than ever before.
As the finishing piece, threads ruptured from Zarian’s palm with a small crimson spray. They grew rapidly, twisted into shape, and formed a solid handle. Then the handle grew into a curved and sharpened form of dark red color.
The parasite nodachi was born.
Following Zarian and Para’s example, the rest of the party prepared for another battle, even if they hadn’t fully recovered. Bianca was the only one who had to stay on guard over Prince Ruven.
Zarian faced the oncoming presence with his body and mind braced. He watched as a small form walked across the cold air with nothing under her feet. In fact, she went bare-foot just like Bianca.
She was a small slip of a girl. Or she seemed that way from afar. When she drew closer, Zarian saw she had enough curve to seem both mature and young at the same time.
The petite woman had pale skin that glowed under the lunar lights of the moons, as if she was some faerie creature walking out of the pages of fantasy. She wore a green and brown dress that seemed plain at first glance, but that was far from the case. Zarian could feel the high density of magic coming from her clothing alone.
Above her shining emerald green eyes, she wore a circlet of vibrant green and gold vines. Her head was further topped by long golden-silver hair that fell like a shiny waterfall past her narrow shoulders and down to her ankles.
Despite her large volume of hair, Zarian could see the sharp tips of her elven ears poking out from both sides of her head. That seemed to be the cherry on top to what he was facing.
He wasn’t sure if he should assume the worst. But there was certainly some danger.
The elves seemed like late-game enemies in this world, and this elf seemed way more dangerous than Ruven, even if based on composure alone.
Zarian didn’t bother using Identify. He wasn’t in a powerful enough position with Overwhelming Darkness fully sealed.
For now, he held his parasite nodachi in preparation. He waited as the petite elf woman finished her walk across the air and stopped on the boulder he stood on.
She was only ten feet away while Zarian and Para aimed their many abilities and magic at her. She didn’t look at them. She looked down at the crater Ruven’s beaten body was laying in.
Everybody was tense and quiet. Then Naomi let out a frustrated huff. “Should’ve showed up earlier. I would’ve kept the aura ignited.”
Naomi’s body was heavily debuffed right now. But Zarian knew she would try to throw down anyway, even if it meant using her psychic powers from a distance.
Do we have to fight? Zarian wondered.
He decided to lean on his Wonder stat. It was decent enough as his third highest stat.
He lowered his parasite nodachi and straightened his posture. Para stayed ready with her many limbs for savage melee and evil magic.
Zarian took his time before opening up.
“You know, I was just thinking earlier it would be nice if we get more fights like these. There aren’t many creatures who can push my party this hard so we can have our big comic book team up. Maybe we have to pay the Forever Green Empire a visit for more occasions like these.”
Zarian gave the elf woman a cheeky grin.
She took her time to respond.
“I don’t know what to say.” Her voice was on the youthful, girly side. But there was a hint of wisdom that went beyond her appearance.
“Why’s that?” Zarian asked.
“There are many matters of importance conflicting at once.”
Hearing this, Zarian went all in with his political savvy. He – or Para – made the parasite nodachi unravel and slurp back into his palm. Then he reached behind himself and pulled out a cigar case from the pocket dimension.
He took out a single cigar, leaving five remaining in the case.
Para used a claw to cut off the end. She fished out a runic lighter from the pocket dimension and lit the cigar for him.
Zarian had a couple of puffs. He enjoyed the smoke fully, letting it roll around his mouth, before blowing gray streams into the wintry wind. He hummed to himself a bit before he went a step further.
He reached back again and pulled out a clean, bone-white skull.
Almost instantly, Para read his Fractured Mind and hacked the bottom of the skull from the top. Then Para pulled out a small cask of beer from the pocket dimension. She pulled the cork from the hole before pouring the beer into the makeshift skull bowl.
Once the skull was filled with beer, Para plugged the beer cask and put it away in the pocket dimension.
The skull wasn’t a perfect drinking implement, but it had a certain style to it. Zarian enjoyed himself. He smoked his cigar and drank beer from the skull of a previous enemy.
Everyone waited for him, and he let them wait while having a few more puffs and sips. He let the silence linger. Then he extended his arms off to the side.
Para formed a head over his shoulder. She still maintained her battle prowess, but she was ready to try new experiences.
Para was way smarter now. More cultured. She could savor the taste of politics, puffing from the cigar before tasting beer from the skull. The parasite smiled with delight.
Smiling in return, Zarian said, “So you don’t have a clue on where to begin, huh? Don’t worry. I have you covered as long as you do what I say. First, start with saying whatever else comes to mind so I can better tell you what else to do.”