Practically speaking, the deluge of notifications had a lot of fluff.
There were messages about the many creatures Zarian had killed over the course of two months. A lot of those had fallen to his skeletons or died when they ran into stormy and destructive aura clashes between him and Para.
Zarian focused on the notifications that mattered the most. The Star System acted to his whims and trimmed the fat, making the review more streamline.
The first notifications dealt with an issue that would’ve given Zarian and his friends negative marks on their Feats of Adventure after leaving the Blood Prairies.
Zarian checked with the others to see if they’d gotten the same notifications about the Mythical Regional Event. He received all confirmations from everyone.
Nobody had to worry about bad marks on their Feats of Adventure. Better yet, the alteration to the event could be the perfect test to see how self-reliant the village had become.
“Does Magi count?” Hannah asked.
Magi, the magical intelligence skill, was still hooked to the runic network at the Central Library Artillery Tower in Ride-or-Die Village. Hannah’s question was a curious one, but the Star System gave no reply.
“Maybe, just maybe, I think the Star System will let that one go,” Zarian said. “It’s like another loophole, but on purpose. We just can’t go full-on hero for them.”
“Understood. Much appreciated, Star System,” Hannah said.
“I think out of everyone, you’re the Star System’s favorite, Hannah,” Zarian said.
Hannah didn’t reply.
Zarian let his thoughts drift to another curious point. He wondered how many regional, continental, and world events were on pause all across Infinita. The Star System didn’t dole out these favors often, right?
There were probably a lot of adventurers and leaders getting held back from moving about as they wanted. Or they risked getting bad marks on their Feats of Adventure, if they were aware of that hidden mechanic.
I broke things so badly I’m like a cosmic-version of I95 when an accident happens, Zarian thought with some grim humor.
There could be a case that all the major events getting held up were to his advantage. Anyone involved with large events would be the types that might want to hunt him down to either seal him away or consume his power.
Eventually, after all events continue where they left off, the Infinita Star System will get even crazier. Ariana is a big concern, but there are many people or things within this one universe who are going to want a piece of me somehow, someway.
That also begged the question of why the System was still keeping major events on pause.
The last time Zarian checked in with the Star System about monumental issues, it had mentioned there were problems with other Systems outside of Infinita. Systems with their own universes.
There was also supposed to be an increase of Outsiders, but Zarian hadn’t come across others like him and his friends so far.
Getting close to the origin point of where all our adventures started is making me all thoughtful. Maybe even a little sentimental.
Zarian felt encouraging impressions from Para that were wordless but easy to understand. She was making it known she was available to help him if he needed it. Zarian appreciated that.
I chose you over a staff for the cool factor and nifty pocket space. If that ever makes you feel troubled about your existence, I’m here for you, too.
Para replied with her own worded thoughts. Thank you, Zarian.
With a subtle nod, Zarian checked his achievements again. He hadn’t exactly counted them during the notification deluge.
Now that everything was more organized, he could see for himself how outrageous his gains truly were. His heart skipped a beat.
“Holy shit!” Zarian exclaimed. “I got six achievements! What about you guys?”
They went in a circle, starting on Zarian’s left where Naomi sat on layers of Para’s folds on top of her bean bag chair. After Naomi, next up was Bianca, then Gilbert, and finally Hannah.
Naomi brought up having six achievements as well, which had her acting like a preening peacock.
Sweeping in with a shining smile, Bianca revealed she had seven achievements!
Not one to fall behind so easily these days, Gilbert had a solid six achievements that were noteworthy.
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Then there was Hannah, who said nothing for a little while and held everyone in suspense. Finally, she revealed the truth. She had eight achievements!
When examining the names of all thirty-three achievements, Zarian noticed three of the rewards related to having drank with trolls, with Gilbert having the best version.
Part of Zarian’s min-max nature – at least regarding the team – wished they all had joined the contest to drink with the trolls. At the very least, Zarian imagined Wallen had gotten Troll Drinker and some other achievements that would help him out in Ride-or-Die Village.
“This is more than I expected,” Hannah admitted, dumbfounded by her gains.
“Don’t you think there are others out there who do insane training and collect a bunch of achievements?” Gilbert asked. “We aren’t the firsts, right? I mean … we got Mister Apocalypse over here who can snap his fingers and make the Star System do dog tricks. But we ain’t too particular about relying on that … so I’m not the only one thinking we ain’t alone out here with these rewards.”
“We literally have the most OP elf across all the Lesser Worlds in our village,” Zarian said. “I don’t even want to know how many achievements she’d stacked over ten thousand years. What makes you think there aren’t others running around the Lesser Worlds with at least ten percent of what she’s achieved?”
“Ten percent of what she’s achieved would be … eh … eh…” Bianca stuck her tongue out to think. Her eyes widened when she found an answer. “A lot! Ten percent of Abuela Ruvaria is a lot!”
“You can always overwhelm the other achievement heavy crazies with your darkness,” Naomi said teasingly toward Zarian.
“Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. I hope after all the work Para and I have done we can just plainly overwhelm them as a wizard.”
Zarian went back to reviewing his gains and rewards. The others did the same. They were going deep into their notifications now, so Zarian figured they could summarize and theorize in the end.
However, he ended up pausing when he and Para sensed sudden bursts or spikes of aura growth and changes coming from his friends.
Some changes were more profound than others, while other changes were subtle and would’ve gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for the sensitivity of Aura Mastery.
Excitement rising, Zarian refocused on his own stuff.
Feeling giddy as hell, Zarian couldn’t help but look up at the others in wonder of their own achievements.
Scrolls rained down, appearing from thin air. Naomi fidgeted around with a big grin on her face. Bianca had gotten off her bean bag chair and danced on one of the elevated tiers to their sunken floor forum. Gilbert nodded in satisfaction with a small cask of beer in hand.
Hannah was breathing deeply, her aura blazing vibrantly with a surcharge of extra energy that stuffed her to the brim. She felt more like a blazing puzzle, both powerful and highly complicated, with humming pieces rearranging and slotting around to solve mysteries and engineer solutions.
Para, our gains are immense. Based on what I can feel, I think the others have gained a lot of new stats and changes, especially Hannah, Zarian thought.
We did put a lot of pressure on Hannah. We threw her into harsh situations that’s outside of her normal role. And all she had to rely on was her crafting and her one body enhancing ability, Para replied via thoughts.
Zarian had plenty of advantages that allowed him to switch from fighting upfront to fighting from afar. That wasn’t normally the case for Hannah, who relied on crafts and kept herself out of harm’s way.
Most people with Hannah’s abilities would’ve stuck to their traditional role as support or crafter. But Hannah wanted to go beyond the heavens, go beyond the universal System, and get closer to the ultra gods.
She had no choice but to push herself to become more OP. She had to become a terror that could handle herself from close or afar.
In fact, Zarian could see that three out of five members of their party could fight with flexible ranges. Himself. Bianca. And Hannah.
Despite Naomi’s incredible mightiness and accomplishments, Zarian couldn’t say if she was truly effective from afar unless it was a big and easy target. Then there was Gilbert who had no abilities that could strike from afar.
I think that’s okay. Gilbert has shown how powerful his build could be in ways that I can’t reproduce, Zarian thought.
Shall we look at the other updates? Para thought.
Nodding, Zarian put aside his curiosities about the others and focused on himself again.
The new scrolls, the Scroll of Increased Life (Legendary) and the Scroll of Bestial Transformation (Epic), had niche uses and temporary effects. He had four more from prior, including the Scroll of Godly Banishment (Legendary), the Scroll of Mountainous Castle Fusion (Legendary), the Scroll of Death Blight (Legendary), and the Scroll of Friendship Revival (Epic).
Altogether, he had six scrolls he could use onetime each.
These are some powerful items, and I’m already powerful enough, and my party is filled with powerhouses large and small.
Zarian felt a nervous shiver crawl up his spine. He took stock of the other items he had that applied well in combat or serious scenarios.
His inventory included the Lesser Star Shard Flask (Legendary) and the Good Suppression Orb (Divine). He also had his Divine Revival Charm (Divine) inside of his soul, his Ride-or-Die Darkness Adventurer Bottoms (Legendary) covering his lower half, and his Greater Cuffs of the Twenty Dark Locks Style (Legendary) on his wrists.
He had more items, of course, but those eleven were the most important as of now.
There’s no way I’m going to need all these powerful items, right? Zarian thought.
I doubt that we’ll face any worrisome challenges, Para transmitted via their mind. We are too strong for such unless we are facing an army of divine beings. We are only facing the mortal leadership from the Stalwart Paladin Kingdom and the remains of the Grimrock Warlock’s forces.
Ariana warned us a while ago that the Grimrock Warlock was making preparations that were hastened by the Darkrun Apocalypse, Zarian thought.
Yet, I still believe we will be fine, especially if we stick together and attack each objective as a complete party. Then the chance of anything going wrong will be reduced, Para argued. Forgive me for being tough, but I know what’s wrong. You’re worried that another Darkrun Apocalypse will happen. It won’t. Now in the words of the glamorous Bianca: ‘Dale! Let’s go!’
Zarian let out a long breath. He appreciated Para’s tough approach.
Sometimes she could fall silent and exist in the background. Sometimes, she became a powerful personality that could push to the forefront.
But as someone who was his cloak, battle kilt, parasite, and closest companion, it was easy to recognize she had come a long way. She had reasons to feel confident.
Zarian refreshed himself on his scrolls. He swept his aura perception around the room and identified the other scrolls.
Naomi had the Scroll of the Intense Gravity Field (Legendary).
Bianca had the Scroll of the Shining Stage (Legendary).
Again, because of how strong they all were, Zarian had a hard time imagining anything pressing them to use those scrolls. But whatever tried to make the attempt against the Floridians would be in for a hell of a surprise.
Moving on, Zarian checked on his alignment to see if it had grown.
That wasn’t surprising. He would probably need to conquer a good aligned kingdom to make his free evil grow further. Or maybe he would have to face something scarier than a good +7 arch cherub.
What if I can grow it by using evil politics? Zarian mused. That would be a hilarious way to do it. I bet it would work even better with free evil.
Can I do politics? Para wondered.
Why not? Zarian replied.
Both the wizard and the cloak wondered about taking over a good kingdom with evil politics. They imagined Para doing most of the tackling while trying not to demand for tasty sacrifices and playing up being a benevolent evil.
The thought was so funny, Zarian couldn’t stop himself from cracking up and laughing like a maniacal villain. The others didn’t bat an eye except for Gilbert who just shook his head at the Madness Wizard.
Before Zarian decided on his trait upgrade, he jumped into looking at his skills. All of his training and studying with Para had paid off big there.
His nightly cultivation had paid off as well, which would explain the achievement for it. However, there was some concern about his cultivation growth and the effects of that between him and his darkness.
Worry later, enjoy the gains now!