Overpowered Wizard B2 Ch21: What We Care About

While Zarian spent the past four months studying to seal his Overwhelming Darkness, his fellow Floridians had taken separate routes to advance themselves. Just like him, they’d often committed to tedious, less rewarding tasks.

However, they hadn’t studied volumes of books to create a legendary technique. Instead, they’d dealt with clearing random packs of weaker monsters or lifting rubble off a trapped adventurer who ended up under a fallen hill of fortresses. Or, in Naomi’s case, having to pick up something big and lift it a bunch of times.

That hadn’t seemed like much. And it hadn’t been, especially for Naomi, Bianca, and Gilbert. So to maximize their growth, those three had to find stuff to do day-in and day-out, almost nonstop and with little rest.

These simple and well-known words, ‘Welcome to the grind’ summed up this part of their lives after the Darkrun Apocalypse.

Naomi had focused on her stats and pushed herself beyond her limits. She’d kept developing her physicality and her Aura Ignition with the help of her psychic abilities.

Bianca had focused on dealing with her trauma after being brainwashed by traditional good. She’d meditated on how free good +5 worked, which was different from traditional good.

Gilbert had leaned more toward being a major support for their young guild members and foreign adventurers. He’d often saved lives at the expense of being a drunken human meat shield and taking more and more punishment.

As for Hannah, she’d stayed in Ride-or-Die Village just like Zarian unlike the other three who’d often gone out into the wilderness for multiple days to weeks at a time. Hannah’s way of grinding and growing had come from completing many side quests that were village related, which made it seem like the Star System truly favored her.

The system went as far as providing enhanced levels with higher than normal vitality when she’d accomplished her quests. Granted, she alone had uplifted the sole human bastion standing against the wolf dragons, wolf kobolds, and the savage creatures of the Blood Prairies.

Everyone’s growth had come far slower compared to earlier adventures. But the time they’d spent on their individual power sets had enabled them to delve deeper into who they were within their roles and what they did best as they progressed.

With each new gain, everyone had kept their fellow Floridians mostly updated, so there wasn’t much they couldn’t account for with each other except for maybe the most recent changes. Zarian had mostly known what he was working with even after four months of not teaming up with his favorite people.

But knowledge wasn’t always the biggest factor. It was more foundational for Zarian’s Fractured Mind, really. One of his party’s biggest weapons was the mind spiders inside each of Zarian’s party members, keeping them all linked.

Thanks to Spectral Spider Network +2, the speed at which information relayed between them was much faster and smoother than before. It was both instantaneous and simultaneous without getting confusing.

Zarian felt Naomi’s rising anger suppressed by a chilling calm as the aura in the air snapped, crackled, popped, and moved with a frenzy with her new ignition technique. He felt Bianca’s cheerless focus as she devoted her all to support with equal measures of goodness and sadness in her heart.

Zarian felt Hannah’s crisp calculations, which were assisted by Magi’s sharp predictions, as the legendary Runic Engineer sat on her architect throne at the top of the tower and laid down suppressive fire from miles away, all with a flex of her runic will. And, finally, Zarian tasted the rare beer Gilbert drained all in one go while riding hard on Slip the Sleipnir’s back, like a medieval cowboy racing to get to the action.

And while Zarian was filtering through all the sensations that his friends were sensing, they could do the same with each other and him especially.

They could feel the impending doom encroaching upon them all, like a ticking time bomb of inevitability. All because Zarian had to play the overpowered wizard role against a relentless enemy while keeping Overwhelming Darkness from releasing fully. It was both painful and exhilarating, like holding back the tide of ultimate destruction, the end of all life in the universe and beyond, just to use a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of its true power.

Gilbert summed it up best while still riding hard from miles away. “God Almighty, if this is their way of trying to save the universe from Zarian, I think they shouldn’t have sent an elf retard to masquerade as an elf prince.”

While also miles away on her architect throne, Hannah replied: “Gilbert, you’re not supposed to say that.”

“I can’t say what now? God Almighty?” Gilbert was flabbergasted.

“Retard.” Hannah sent down another volley of magic artillery that kept Ruven from moving around too easily.

“The universe is on the verge of getting eaten again, Hannah, and this is what we care about?!” Gilbert shouted. “Fuck it! What do I know? I’m here, and it really looks like I’m late to the shindig!”

Gilbert launched off of Slip’s armored back. The legendary Knighted Healer landed hard and skidded to a stop close to the edge of a deep ravine Zarian had created while using one percent freestyle.

There were multiple ravines – some short, some deep – that lacerated the snowy land and slashed apart the nearby forest and fortress hillocks. Artillery fire struck down and shook the earth constantly, filling the battlefield with the roar of violent thunder and bright magical effects and lights that ranged from furious red to frozen blue.

When heavier cloud covers covered the stars and moons of the night sky, a new type of magic artillery soared across the air at slower velocities. The new ordnance erupted into long-lasting yellows flares that shone brightly on the battlefield like instant suns.

Bianca and her squad of elven-dressed copies plucked the artificial lights from the sky. They bent the lights into lasers they sent flying at Ruven’s dashing form. They forced the stubborn elf to zig-zag around them or deflect the lasers with a swing of his staff.

Naomi moved with she-hulkish speed and power to chase after the elf. A green-blue aura crackled from close around her flesh, trailing behind her like the long tail of a human-shaped comet. She was moving nearly as fast as the elf at speeds so dizzying it was hard to track while she used Aura Ignition in a way that was far different from the usual.

This newer version of Aura Ignition was felt too weak to be the true Second Stage. However, it was less of an overwhelming burden to her body while granting more control, enabling her to use her skills. Naomi’s stack of abilities combined with this smaller form of Aura Ignition was powerful for her, letting her keep up and use her psychic powers.

Naomi and the elf’s blurring bodies hopped over ravines, swerved around piles of rubble, and skipped past craters as dark and elemental powers struck at the ground around the two. The dark powers landed the hardest, of course.

As for Zarian, he was standing on a thirty-foot tall boulder Naomi had thrown earlier. He couldn’t move as easily while he focused on controlling his apocalyptic power.

With every release from one percent freestyle, he felt himself about to tear apart, constantly fighting to stay human. But he stayed focused. He stayed unyielding to his own weakness. He refused to let his darkness break free once again.

Determined, Zarian slashed and hacked up the land with giant lances and cleavers of darkness. Each of his attacks were so large they could’ve executed titans.

His power was awe-inspiring. It could lay waste to civilizations. But it was obviously too big, too unwieldy, and too inaccurate against an extremely nimble target like Ruven.

The Level 112 Slayer Scout Master stayed one or two steps ahead of outright destruction. He outran Naomi’s  psychic melee attacks. He vaulted away from thumping magic artillery sent by Hannah. And he dodged around laser beams and hard-light sword attacks from Bianca and her clones.

Nothing could slow the stubborn elf down

Then Gilbert swaggered into the scene and unleashed Tranquilizer Shot +2. An invisible but palpable force unfolded from around Gilbert’s armored body.

The ability to slow enemies or make them fall asleep had always seemed like an afterthought of a skill. It was always easier to apply as much damage as fast and hard as possible unless the Floridians wanted to capture someone. On this night, the least favored crowd control skill and its +2 advancement became king.

The big, blue-eyed, and drunken man moved into Ruven’s path. Explosive artillery fell in a line to the right, cutting off that direction. Zarian’s one percent freestyle carved the land to the left, keeping Ruven stuck in a single lane. 

Bianca dashed over the air on steps of captured light and unleashed more suppressive light beams at Ruven’s head, threatening him from above. Then there was Naomi dogging Ruven from behind.

Ruven had done nothing but run away from her as she chased from behind. There was no going backward for him.

So when Ruven inevitably ran into the Knighted Healer, who was standing at the end of the big magical trap, the elf prince couldn’t outright dodge the expanding tranquilizer force. Then things only got worse for the stubborn elf from there.

Naomi unleashed a short-range Mind Spike +2 for the first time. She’d bided her time until now to catch the elf prince off guard.

Ruven snarled from the direct psychic damage to his head. He lost his footing for a split second, which sent him tumbling fast past Gilbert.

The Knighted Healer stood with a drunken grin on his face. He tipped his wizardly cowboy hat with a single hand, as if in greeting to the elf prince.

Naomi grabbed Gilbert by the collar like she was plucking a tin soldier off the floor. She ran with him held behind her as Gilbert let loose a long hee-haw, his tranquilizer energy pervading the air and seeping into Ruven’s body still.

Despite the crowd-control and psychic brain damage, the Slayer Scout Master corrected his movements with sharp grace. He dodged aside a big, ignited, psychokinetic punch from Naomi that could’ve broken his head open.

As he slowly but surely became more impaired, Ruven swung his staff at Naomi. She blocked with one hand and returned fire with another powerful punch. The elf prince grunted as he deflected her attack aside with a swing of his staff before returning another hit of his own.

She blocked again and returned fire once more. They traded blows like this, picking at each other, trying to leverage their advantages and abuse each other’s disadvantages.

But in a battle of attrition, Naomi was winning. Ruven was looking slower now while running backwards against Naomi and Gilbert.

Bianca joined the party. She dropped clones of herself in the path of Ruven’s retreat. The elf still couldn’t go left or right as Hannah and Zarian demolished the land just to keep him stuck in the lane.

He chose the most predictable escape option, upward.

At that point, Para unleashed what she’d been working on this whole time. With Zarian focused on freestyling with his Overwhelming Darkness, the Parasite Cloak +2 kept a spell prepared before unleashing it. Black and gray flames fanned out across the air in one enormous wave aimed at Ruven.

With everything working against Ruven, the elf prince finally showed off his special abilities outside of staff mastery and super speed.

Green runes appeared in the surrounding air. He pointed his staff at the wave of Black Fire as the surrounding runes spiraled into concentric circles. Then they released a bright flash, followed by a large wooden trunk that was as tall and thick as a Californian Red Wood.

He conjured more of those giant logs. They punched through the Black Fire and slammed down on Zarian’s position. None of them hit as Slip the Sleipnir launched off the ground and kicked his eight legs off the sides of each flying trunk.

The Sleipnir bounded between multiple trunks in the same volley before landing back down in front of the boulder Zarian and Para stood on. Slip released a mighty neigh, as if sounding proud to stand guard over the spellcasters.

That seemed to be the end of the retaliation from Ruven. He was now using blue runic magic to run across the air, which didn’t stop Naomi whatsoever. She braced herself, while still holding onto Gilbert by his collar, and launched into the air as well.

She stayed in flight by sheer psychic prowess alone, even if she wasn’t proficient at it. At the very least, she could throw herself around like a rocket.

Bianca joined Naomi and Gilbert, and the trio hounded Ruven across the sky. Meanwhile, Hannah lit up the air with shockwave blasts in front of Ruven.

While they did that, Zarian had to turn his Overwhelming Darkness on the giant tree trunks. They were transforming into wooden constructs with arms and legs, almost like treants. Apparently, there was a phase two after summoning flying tree trunks as an attack.

Slip the Sleipnir neighed in indignation, as if offended that the giant logs would persist as threats. The eight-legged horse dashed forward for more action. He rammed into one of the treants and stomped hard to break off huge slabs of bark with his steel hooves.

Zarian let Slip battle a towering, trunk-grown monster many times bigger than the Sleipnir. The boy wanted the action, so he could have it.

As for Zarian, he conjured one wide ring of serrated darkness and spread it out with a snap of a finger. He cut down the rest while Slip stomped all over the body of the one he was facing.

Each dying treant struck down with a groan and rumble. Then all became still around Zarian after Slip killed his treant and neighed in victory. It was right then that Zarian realized something. He couldn’t use Overwhelming Darkness any longer.

He cut himself off from the spider network and left the rest of the fight to the others. He focused inward, as if he was going to cultivate again, but not quite.

He cycled his breathing and felt the bead of darkness inside of his soul. This was not an accurate showing of how massive and terrifying this entity could end up being, but it was there. And it was raging inside his soul.

He felt how it wanted to break free and go on a rampage once again. He felt how the darkness wanted to eat everything.

He still remembered the taste of the many worlds, galaxies, and universes he ate across multiple dimensions. He even salivated at the thought. He was growing hungry. Part of him wanted to feast and feast forever, regardless of morality, regardless of all the lives that would end to satisfy his eternal darkness.

However, he still remembered the countless years of struggle against something that was out of his control. He remembered how he refused to quit, forcing him to suffer. For too long he’d carried the burden of having an undying but futile determination, all while losing constantly.

Zarian refused to lose again.

He pressed down on the monstrous sensations. He pushed his entire Willpower and Floridian Mindset against the raging darkness inside. He took a risk and dumped all his remaining free points on Willpower, pushing it from 267 to 404.

He felt a surge of power from Overwhelming Darkness, but he stayed locked in as his willful mindset refused to yield. He refused to quit. He refused to lose. He wanted to have control and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Zarian wasn’t sure how long it took, but he found equilibrium. Then he committed to chants and hand-signs for a specific technique, the biggest reason he’d studied the many books about sealing.

“Overwhelming Darkness: Twenty Dark Locks Sealing Style Technique. Lock All Twenty Dark Locks. The Dreaded Dragon Sleeps Away Inside Imprisoned Legend. One Hundred Percent Seal. Full Control.”

The mini cubes in his gauntlet’s vambraces moved up and down before disappearing. The pressure inside faded. The night stopped being his servant to bend and manipulate at whim. Then Zarian released a sigh of relief.

He opened his eyes and saw Naomi closing out the fight in the sky. Naomi was getting juiced up by a combination of Adrenaline Jolt +2 and Sacrificial Blow +2 from Gilbert.

The adrenaline skill was more potent than ever, buffing Naomi’s ridiculous physicality to even more ridiculous heights. The sacrifice skill had a new advancement letting it work on others, empowering Naomi’s next melee blow at the cost of Gilbert’s health.

Naomi punched straight through Ruven’s staff and destroyed it. Her punch landed on the elf prince’s torso where a barrier of runic power covered him. She smashed the barrier into pieces with a strident crack that resonated for miles.

Her punch didn’t stop there. It kept going, glancing off Ruven’s side as he dodged the full blow at the last split second.

That was okay.

Naomi’s glancing punch turned Ruven’s ribs and half of his torso into one colossal mess. He became a limp thing of broken bones, bruises, and bleeding lacerations. He fell hard from the sky and landed with a final, crater-forming thump.

Ruven didn’t get up from that.

He wouldn’t want to, as Bianca stood on a hovering panel of light in the air above. She held aloft a large javelin made of light and would throw it if the elf prince budged only a little.

Ruven didn’t budge.

Naomi and Gilbert crashed down together, the both of them looking ragged from the blitzing chase. Naomi’s ignition was gone, leaving her body strained and badly busted. Apparently, even the weaker version of Aura Ignition could still cause her some damage. Gilbert used his Healing Force +2 to help them both out.

Zarian nodded at the results. The landscape was smashed, totaled, and completely ruined. But the Floridians had won their first fight against a Level 112 Master.