Overpowered Wizard

They had reasons to celebrate. The results were better than Zarian had hoped, which had him smiling.

He lost his smile when he realized his hand was gripping one half of Naomi’s very well-rounded rear. How had that happened? He could’ve sworn he was keeping his hands on the armrests.

My body … it’s betraying me.

She didn’t jump out of his lap despite the risqué hold on her person.

Instead, she wriggled further into him, squeezing away every inch of space, which wasn’t hard for her as she weighed down heavily on his lap and his hand. His hand disappeared from view, completely pinned.

Somehow, Zarian returned his attention to the gains.

He even requested for the Star System to show the exact amount of stats dispensed from personal level ups. Seeing more of the numbers would help him stay focused.

<Compiling notifications for Naomi Washington and Zarian Sainte-Darkrun for easier viewing!>

<...>

<You’ve defeated 228 Octo Reaver Monsters, 186 Sludge Serpent Monsters, 257 Mire Hound Monsters, 342 Buzz Zombie Monsters, 102 Spiny Crawler Monsters!>

<Congrats, you’ve completed the Legendary Side Quest: Face the Raiding Dungeon Bosses or RUN AWAY!>

<Your skill, Psychokinesis +3, leveled up from 70 to 75!>

<Your skill, Overclock +3, leveled up from 71 to 77!>

<Your skill, Mind Spike +3, leveled up from 63 to 68!>

<Your skill, Primal Huntress Form +3, leveled up from 52 to 62!>

<Your skill, Harmonious Meditation of Heaven and Hell, leveled up from 3 to 9!>

<Your skill, Nascent Soul Robe, leveled up from 3 to 9!>

<Your Dao of Power grew: +3 Willpower, +1 Strength, +1 Mysticism!>

<You’ve leveled up from 100 to 102! +12 Willpower, +2 Strength, +2 Agility, +24 Free dispensed!>

<Achievement rewarded! Unlikely Retreat (Unopened)!>

<...>

<Second, Zarian!>

<You’ve defeated 623 Octo Reaver Monsters, 419 Sludge Serpent Monsters, 878 Mire Hound Monsters, 1535 Buzz Zombie Monsters, 413 Spiny Crawler Monsters, 367 Gloom Hornet Monsters!>

<You’ve copied the skill: Hive Creation!>

<Hive Creation (Level 0): Based on your most monstrous qualities, create a hive of small but numerous creatures using aura, flesh, and life energy. The power of the hive depends on the level and quality of what’s sacrificed. Scales with Wonder.>

<Your skill, Lion Prince, leveled up from 2 to 6!>

<Your skill, Parasite Cloak +3, leveled up from 74 to 81!>

<Your skill, Spectral Spider Network +3, leveled up from 66 to 74!>

<Your skill, Intense Arcana Hat, leveled up from 2 to 9!>

<Your skill, Grand War Mage Body Furnace, leveled up from 2 to 3!>

<Your skill, Advanced Grimoire of the Voidling Exile +2, leveled up from 31 to 35!>

<Your skill, Advanced Grimoire of Black Magic +2, leveled up from 38 to 44!>

<Your skill, Advanced Grimoire of Freaky Morphs, leveled up from 7 to 19!>

<Your skill has advanced! From Advanced Grimoire of Freaky Morphs to Advanced Grimoire of Freaky Morphs +1!>

<Which skill would you like to turn into a spell for the Advanced Grimoire of Freaky Morphs +1?>

<You’ve chosen Hive Creation (Level 0) to become a spell for the Advanced Grimoire of Freaky Morphs +1! Please wait as your skill changes into a spell.>

<You’ve leveled up from 103 to 106! +18 Willpower, +6 Wonder, +9 Mysticism, +36 Free dispensed!>

<Achievement rewarded! Unlikely Retreat (Unopened)!>

<...>

<Achievements opened for Naomi and Zarian!>

<Unlikely Retreat (Epic): You don’t run away enough! Yes, it’s nice to see how powerful you all are. You can slay thousands of monsters that would normally turn most adventurers into breakfast, lunch, and dinner! But not only do the monsters get tougher as you adventure and ascend into the higher levels and ranks, but so do the challenges and events. Here’s a reminder that it’s okay to retreat now and then, even though that’s unlikely with you two thrill seekers: +30 Agility each!>

“I can appreciate the stat dump in Agility. That’s a nice achievement, and I haven’t been working on my speed as much as I should,” Naomi said, going from playful to serious. He became more serious, too, because of her tone. Yet, when he tried to pull his hand free, she shifted more of her weight on his palm as she talked. “But I don’t like how we came out of that with only five levels between us. That’s ridiculous. We killed thousands of monsters with some of them forty levels above us!”

“None of those killed were Master Rankers,” Zarian said calmly, even though he felt nothing of the sort. “Yeah, it does feel ridiculous, but that’s how it is. On top of that, we can’t gain much experience now that we’re at the peak of adventurer power on a Lesser World. We’re supposed to ascend to the next realm and adventure around the Greater Worlds to get back to the real grind.”

“Yeah, well, it’s still pretty badass what we did out there,” Naomi grumbled, swaying back and forth. Then she bounced up and down. “That’s the most powerful I’ve felt while only using Half Ignition. I can’t wait to see what I get from harmonious meditation and soul robe when those advance. I’m almost tempted to push it while we’re here … but … I don’t want to leave the others behind.”

Zarian found that interesting to hear from Naomi. It was usually something he would concern himself with.

He wriggled the fingers of his pinned hand, prodding upward, finding areas where the weight yielded softly. Naomi wriggled her lower body in return, making it hard for Zarian to gather his thoughts before speaking.

“They aren’t easy to leave behind anymore,” he said. “Not Hannah. Definitely not Bianca. And Gilbert’s going to be the most important for times when things get too dangerous. My right arm is still healing from fucking it up with Lion Prince.”

“Oh, shit.” Naomi shifted to one side. She’d been sitting on his right hand the whole time.

Zarian regretted saying that last part. Even with the damage, he could endure the pain for what he had in hand.

“Sorry. Forgot about that,” she said. “Anyway … before we get too distracted … Can you answer something for me?”

“What is it?”

“Why the heck did you copy Hive Creation out of all things? Hm?” Naomi turned about on his lap to look directly into his eyes.

Zarian’s gaze slid to the side.

Naomi leaned over to maintain eye-contact.

Sighing, Zarian admitted the truth. “Originally, I was going to get Barb Shot from the spiny crawlers. I knew Morph’s advancement was coming up where he can turn a skill into a spell. But … I was looking at the zombies and I came to a realization.”

“What?”

“I enjoy being a creepy wizard who uses unusual and nightmarish spells to win.” He beamed a big and cheesy smile. “I’m not even going to hide it anymore. I like playing with unethical moves.”

Another golden notification appeared for both of them to view. The Star System was taking Zarian’s closeness with Naomi as permission for her to see his gains right away.

You know what? The Star System got it right with this one.

<Your Advanced Grimoire of Freaky Morphs +1 gained a new spell!>

“You just want to make Geneva Conventions your bitch, huh?” Naomi asked, twisting about some more on his lap. “To be fair, I’d make Geneva Conventions my bitch, too, but you’re just taking it to the next level, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Zarian said.

“You’re a bad, bad Marine, Private Sainte-Darkrun.” She settled her knees into the gap between his armrests, mounting his waist, her chest in front of his face.

Her hands settled on his shoulders as she slowly swayed in a rhythmic motion.

With their clothes still on, she said, “I guess you need your Staff Sergeant to put you in your place. We don’t let bad Marines go unpunished in my Marine Corps.”

“Aye, Staff Sergeant.”

Zarian checked with Para again.

She was still secluded in her special mental room.

He focused on the Parasite Cloak +3 and manipulated the chair himself, which was something he’d hardly done before. He reshaped his parasite until it was only a belt around his waist.

He had to grab Naomi from behind, making her slide forward onto his waist so he could hold her up.

While his shapeshifting, amorphous parasite was handy for a lot of situations, it didn’t feel right to use Para without her being fully conscious. He did, however, use his tail to reach into the parasite belt and throw out an entire bed.

Zarian backed into it and fell over, lying with Naomi in a mounted position on top of him.

With an epic-quality bed underneath them, Zarian waited for her to pick up from where they left off.

His heart sank when he saw the wooden smile on Naomi’s face. “I think I’m going to break the role-play before we go too far.”

Zarian felt a cold and uncomfortable flush of disappointment wash over him.

Rising, he prepared to make his case. Naomi stopped him with a hand on his chest and a look that was a whirlwind of passion, inner struggle, want, fear, animosity, vulnerability, and something both feral and human. Then she leaned down, teeth flashing and glinting, and gave him a small pinch on his bottom lip. When she let go, she leaned back and sighed heavily, and Zarian was left under her, stunned, waiting for an answer.

It took a while before she spoke.

“I have to pause for now,” she murmured. “I can’t go all the way yet.”

“Why?” Zarian grunted.

“I have to be real about this, since, you know, you’re the greatest power in this universe. And since you’re the greatest, I’m gonna devote my life to you and do whatever you ask of me. But I need your help in return to keep fighting the good fight and to grow my power.”

“I know that. But what’s stopping us from doing what we want and seeking power later?”

“Because … I love you, Zarian. And there’s the danger of falling completely in love, and I don’t think I can handle that just yet. That’ll destroy me.”

“What?” Zarian blinked in confusion.

Naomi sighed. “I love you. But I’m not ‘in love’ with you just yet. And I can’t handle that ‘in love’ part just yet. Or you’ll see a pathetic version of me. The me without ambition. Without a care in the world for anything else other than being ‘in love’ and that’s kind of ugly.”

Zarian was still confused.

Naomi chuckled sardonically. “It’s not a secret I’m screwed up. I know this about myself. I’m an addict to what I worship.” She let out a soft huff. “So I can’t go all in with you just yet. Not until we’re at the top. Not until I can challenge all of you like nobody else can. If I fall completely ‘in love’ with you, I’ll lose that fire.”

She rested her hands on his chest and looked deep into his eyes. “You have no idea how hard it is not to be my younger self, acting like an addict with you as my drug. To where I’ll absolutely wreck myself and all of my dreams just for you, my handsome, ultra hot man-god. I’ll ruin things with us. Then I won’t be the woman you deserve.”

“So … we can’t do anything?” Zarian sounded dumb to his own ears.

But he wasn’t really using his Willpower stat. He was just another full-blooded male at the whim of his own urges while facing a dangerous and beautiful woman like Naomi.

Granted, he’d been hurt before. And he didn’t have that much experience. He’d dealt with being on his own and alone except for the Marines, the foster families, and his little sister.

He should feel jaded.

Yet, he didn’t feel jaded enough to push Naomi away or draw up his defenses as he should. A part of him hoped Naomi wouldn’t crush his heart. Or maybe she would reconsider.

“We will do something. I will pay you back, and it’ll be fun for me, too,” she said. “But I gotta be careful, or you’ll make me fall in love all the way.”

“What do you want, then?” Zarian grumbled.

Naomi remained cool and collected. “In order to save myself, I need to test myself. I need to face your Overwhelming Darkness first. I need to make sure I’ll stay the course no matter how much you try to make me fall all the way in love with you too early.”

“That’s it? You want to fight me first?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s it, really.” She slowly retracted herself off of him.

Love what you’re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

The moment her touch and heat faded away … Zarian felt pain, loss, and hate.

It wasn’t a terrible hate. It was more petty than anything, but it was definitely there.

So you want to face the wrath of a young ultra god, huh? Zarian thought darkly. Fine. You better be ready to face my judgment if I have nothing else to smite with Overwhelming Darkness.

She chuckled a little, almost in an awkward matter. She was reading his mind. Or reading his feelings. There was still that glint of want in her eyes, but she wasn’t going to act on it.

And he wasn’t going to hide his displeasure or pretend everything was fine. He wanted her to know how he felt regardless of rationality.

Standing up, Zarian harrumphed and walked awkwardly to the cool lake, his tail flicking angrily behind him.

He turned his irritation to his leggings. They were confining him.

He controlled strands of the parasite belt, taking the leggings and boots off and storing them in the pocket dimension. Naked, he stopped and turned back to glower at Naomi.

She stopped chuckling. Her gaze dipped downward. Her bottom lip quivered.

It took Zarian a split-second to realize what had caught her off guard. He looked down. He looked back at her. He looked down again.

Then Zarian looked up with a big, mischievous grin on his face as he flexed his muscular body and bent at the waist. As he arched his spine, he got on his tippy toes, just to flex his hips a little more.

He watched Naomi from the side of his vision. Her mouth and eyes were wide open. She was absorbed with the sight of him, all of him.

Finally, she found her voice again. “You know how to use that cannon, Marine?”

Zarian smirked. “Who knows? We’ll have to find out later, since we aren’t fucking around now.”

He sauntered away and entered the cleaned up lake, sending a big thanks to his spectral spiders for their continuous work.

The touch of the cool water helped chill him out, and his thoughts flowed more clearly.

He could reason that in a game of Willpower, Naomi was queen. Even if Zarian had tried to apply more of his Willpower stat, it wouldn’t have worked out well against Naomi in a personal confrontation like the one they just had.

However, he wasn’t completely hopeless.

Naomi had revealed the truth of her position …

She loves me … but she’s afraid of falling ‘in love’ with me. Zarian’s heart thumped hard and fast. It pisses me off that she, well, blue-balled me. That was fucked up. But damn … to hear that she has major feelings like that for me is awesome, too.

Part of him wondered if he should try to romance her all the way. Maybe he could prove her wrong. Maybe she could be ‘in love’ and follow her Dao of Power.

But another part of him reasoned Naomi was the expert on herself. Maybe she really was the type to lose herself in someone she fell deeply in love with.

Would he prefer that from her?

I don’t want her to lose herself. Naomi won’t be Naomi without her ambitions. I don’t want a pathetic version of Naomi.

Zarian sighed.

How long until she’s my equal in all ways? How long until I can control all of Overwhelming Darkness?

Gradually, Zarian’s petty anger turned into determination.

They were back at square one, weren’t they?

He needed to control his overwhelming power, while his best friends needed to gain greater power. But now he knew the woman he liked most had intense feelings for him, and with that sort of dangerous love, she was trying her best to not fall apart.

At the very least, she wasn’t teasing him or controlling him purely for power. There was a hazy boundary she could’ve crossed that would’ve ruined things between them completely, but she narrowly avoided that. She’d definitely gotten too close for comfort, that was for sure, which had their blood boiling hot still.

He heard something dip into the water with him.

He made the mistake of turning and …

“EVIL!” Zarian pointed. “YOU’RE EVIL!”

Naomi was in the water, ten feet away, skinny dipping. Her gaze flicked in his direction with a mischievous and vengeful glint.

Was she angry with him because of how he’d shown off to her? But that wouldn’t be fair. She was the one who’d gotten him going and left him feeling angry!

Before Zarian could wonder what she would do next, Naomi’s evil tactics grew more pronounced, which was literal.

She used her Primal Huntress Form +3 to extend her cat-like features and grow herself. Cascades of aura-rich and shiny water flowed in rivulets down her athletic demigoddess body. As she rose into the air, her shape of power and beauty seemed to draw him closer, which was an optical illusion from her measurements expanding while staying perfectly proportional.

Zarian ran out of the lake cavern before Naomi reached ten feet. But no matter how far he ran, the visions of her sculpted, battle-ready, and beautiful naked body covered in aura-rich water followed him through the tunnels.

There was no choice. He had to teach her a lesson with Overwhelming Darkness. He had to vanquish the wicked and evil woman as if he was a valiant knight and she was a bad witch.

But that was for later. Right now, he needed to clear his head.

Zarian hunted down some deep cavern monsters. There was nothing really that strong to provide a challenge, so he fought them with his bare hands and one of his newest skills, Grand War Mage Body Furnace.

He threw himself into gory carnage and monster murder. The blood of his victims splashed against the plasma-blue force covering his muscular body. Nothing could stick. All the blood hissed away as vapors.

Zarian kept on killing and killing for a while.

You’re being irrational, Para chided softly, cracking the door open to her private mental space. The body furnace skill burns vitality. You need vitality to heal your right arm. Also, we have spare health potions. Yes, they are weak, and the immunity build up is fast and long, but you might as well use those.

Para shut the door with a soft click, returning to her privacy.

Zarian stopped using the Grand War Mage Body Furnace. He sat himself down on a big mushroom cap while deep in the caverns under the Grimrock Castle Mountains, miles away from Naomi.

He looked at his right arm and saw that it had some scarring and weird joint aches. Vital health regeneration was fast, but not perfect.

He needed the legendary Knighted Healer to heal the arm perfectly. Para could’ve helped with healing, too, but she was staying in her private space, avoiding the troublesome human activity going on between the wizard and the cultivator.

“You know what?” Zarian asked himself after drinking some terrible health potions. “It’s about time I upgrade Bloody Lifesteal.”

He’d already regenerated his life energy with the blood of his monster victims. Yet, that wasn’t satisfying enough. He wanted the next version of Bloody Lifesteal to help regenerate the life energy of allies.

That would essentially make death magic and old age nonexistent, as long as they had blood to spill and life energy to absorb, a perfect match for Naomi’s Undying Tyrant trait.

Zarian summoned the Advanced Grimoire of Black Magic +2. The grimoire’s spectral chains rattled ghoulishly while bound to his soul. The covers flipped open, the pages fluttering in front of him, only to stop where the runic text and spell diagrams shone bloody red.

His first ever spell, Bloody Lifesteal.

<Bloody Lifesteal (Uncommon): Steal life energy from the blood of your living enemies. Scales with Mysticism.>

Zarian chuckled darkly.

“With this, Naomi will be unkillable as long as we’re together. That way, I won’t feel guilty when I can knock some sense into her whenever she wants to throw down with me. That silly mortal will rue the day for messing with the son of ultra gods!”

Zarian shook his fist upward in the direction where he knew Naomi waited.

He saw two images at once, both superimposing over themselves intensely.

The first came from Naomi, who sent Zarian a mental snapshot of herself posing over the mirror-like surface of the cavern lake. The second image came from his wife, Luciana Shadowfell Darkrun, whose luscious black lips formed into a pout.

Once Naomi’s nude mental picture faded off, Zarian noticed Shadowfell’s presence becoming heavier in the dark shadows hiding away from the red glow of his bloody spell pages.

“Are you jealous?” Zarian asked.

The shadows spoke with Shadowfell’s magnetic, gothic, and irresistible voice. “I’m not yet sure. I’ve never felt jealousy before.”

“You can divorce me,” he suggested.

“Hm? Divorce? No, I won’t let you off that easily. How about I make demands for your attention in the future? I can ensure it will be a slight inconvenience in some way, making use of you while I have some petty vengeance. It’s what Lovewar advised…”

Zarian wasn’t sure if he should be concerned, annoyed, or happy. It sounded like Shadowfell was speaking more of her mind and feeling more of a wider range of emotions than before.

Thinking that also made him feel a little guilty. Especially since Lovewar was helping Shadowfell with her sudden bout of jealousy.

He hadn’t talked with Lovewar in a long time, too. He still missed how she used to call him little brother.

It is what it is.

Whenever Lovewar was ready to talk to him again, they could do so at her temple honored in Ride-or-Die Village. And while Shadowfell was developing a wider range of personality, Zarian had his own interests that wouldn’t always line up to what she wanted.

Still, he could do his best to give a little.

“Well, sure, in the future, I guess you can make requests to inconvenience me. I’ll see if I can accept them as long as they aren’t out of control.”

“They won’t be out of control. They will be reasonable enough. But they will inconvenience you in some way. Just because you’ve made me unhappy. Now do what you must, my dear heartbreaker husband.”

Luciana’s presence faded, not completely gone, but lost to the background once again.

Zarian looked at his marriage ring for a while and let out a heavy sigh. He felt a little dirty. He knew he shouldn’t. But Luciana really knew how to twist the knife.

He had to remind himself that the ring on his finger was a political symbol, and a temporary one.

He focused on the big black magic grimoire floating in front of him. There was no need for him to touch the grimoire. All he had to do was to impress his whim and a healthy dose of Aura Mastery on the grimoire.

Months of blood magic study filtered through his mind and streamed into the pages of the grimoire.

He took inspiration from the Chimera Tyrant Lair. He took inspiration from Ezda and her blood-focused gnolls. He took inspiration from multiple skills he’d scanned that had something to do with blood.

He used a few simple philosophies for blood magic that showed up almost everywhere he looked – blood was a life-carrying, life-giving, life-supporting essence in the body. Blood was like the rivers and moats of a healthy world.

Blood wanted to flow where it was needed or where it could spread. It didn’t matter if the blood was used as a weapon, as a movement ability, or for something as impressive as stealing life energy. Blood existed with the purpose of flowing or spreading or dealing with life.

After days of intense concentration, Zarian hit the jackpot. He succeeded where few wizards have while on a Lesser World.

He manually upgraded a spell on his own!

He turned it into something far better than before!

<Life Blood Vent (Epic): Make your enemies bleed before using this spell to vent an onrush of life energy from their wounds. Your friends gain life energy passively while near the living vents. You gain life energy directly. Scales with Mysticism.>

<Achievement rewarded! Lesser World Wizardry Breakthrough (Unopened)!>

<Achievement opened!>

<Lesser World Wizardry Breakthrough (Legendary): You’ll be surprised by how few wizards reach this point while on a Lesser World. To upgrade a spell on your own without the help of the Star System is an immense feat! Hence, this reward! Scroll of Perfected Study Space!>

The foot-and-a-half yellow parchment with a thick rawhide cord tied at the middle fell from the thin air.

Zarian caught it with his right hand, the arm mostly healed now. Using his Devourer of Secrets and Stories, he knew the legendary reward was an amazing one.

Once activated, the scroll would create a perfect studying environment for twenty-four hours. Within that time, studying speed and concentration would get increased by legendary mental buffs inside of that study zone.

I’ll be able to get through a bunch of new spells this way!

Zarian slipped the scroll into his parasite belt. He used Aura Mastery and an underground stream to clean himself off before putting back on his shadowy leggings and boots.

With a flick of his lion tail, he cast Void Waltz. He returned to the lake cavern where Naomi waited. She was all dressed up.

“You took all the food with you,” she said.

Zarian’s stomach growled loud enough to reach every corner of the cavern lake area.

“Whoops.”

They ate a mighty meal from the extra leftovers Foodie had cooked for them. The meal was so delicious they were smiling at each other in a more friendly and innocent way, completely caught under the mythical magic of the Princess Cook.

Once they had their fill, they were back to business. Zarian collected into the parasite dimension a hill-size pile of crystals his spectral spiders situated, leaving others behind for the sake of preservation and to avoid over-mining.

They exited the caverns while keeping some space between them and headed down south.

They found the polymorph’s demolished remains shrouded in mist.

“Huh, so there’s something tough in this region for sure,” Zarian said.

Naomi couldn’t speak. Her breathing was coming out hard. A creepy smile was on her face.

Zarian tried to keep his cool. But his heart was hammering fast in his chest.

He looked up. “It’s night time. That’s going to make this more dangerous.”

Naomi wiped the drool from her mouth and licked her full lips before giving him a toothy smile. She kept breathing hard with her eyes set on him.

Creepy.

Zarian rubbed the back of his neck. He smirked. “You know what? I don’t feel up to it right now.”

The look of fear and outright disappointment in Naomi’s eyes was worth the teasing. She looked like she was about to throw herself at his feet and beg. Zarian felt vindicated just from that alone, but anymore would give him second-hand embarrassment.

“Relax, relax, I was teasing.”

“So, does that mean…” She was breathing hard again.

Zarian huffed. He looked away. Then he said, “Yeah, come on, little mortal. Let’s go fight.”

Naomi let out a giddy laugh, like the mad woman she was.

As they flew away from the Harrowing Mist Isles, he kept his distance while monitoring her.

The way she radiated a willful madness that he couldn’t fully appreciate was its own charm. Unlike her though, he needed to remain calm and focused on what was to come.

Her Dao of Power was perfect for her, while unsuitable for him. His Bearer of the Twenty Dark Locks Sealing Style was more like a dao of control.

They traveled and traveled until Zarian found a spot in the Grimrock Castle Mountains that was far from anything significant.

They landed on a flat courtyard that was a mile wide in all directions. Hardy weeds stood out from the cracks. A cool mountainous breeze blew by despite the seasonal time being Late Summer. The moons and stars shone like magic jewels in the night sky.

Zarian stood a hundred feet away from Naomi.

Naomi bounced, stretched, and skipped around.

The wizard urged his parasite to her original form, at least physically. Para’s full consciousness remained in her private mental space, staying out of things still.

Once the cloak formed around his shoulders and hung down from his back, reaching the heels of his boots, he changed its color to a deep black. His tail remained unchanged, mostly golden with a black tuft, the limb swaying from side to side in a slow pattern.

He looked down at the dwarven cuffs on his wrists. He focused on his bare arms above the cuffs.

With Aura Mastery merged with Dark Affinity, he marked whorls of inky symbols on his arms as another stop gap measure for his sealing style. After that, a dozen spectral spiders wove two arrays of gravity webbing on top of the inky arm markings before activating a more advanced gravity enchantment.

His arms with their dwarven cuffs, black magic tattoos, and purple gravity webbing felt heavy from the layered seals.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Zarian looked up. “Start powering up first. I’ll time the last part with you.”

“Oorah!” Naomi raised two thumbs up before she tucked her arms, elbows pointed inwardly, and braced herself. She even spoke aloud her power-up sequence.

“Even Further Beyond. Half Stage of Aura Ignition!”

She exploded like a bomb with a roaring blue shockwave. An inferno of blue aura shot upward into the sky like a godly finger.

Zarian held his ground as the shockwave passed over him, sending his black cloak into a flutter. He raised his heavily sealed arms, his open palms at chest height. He waited as Naomi powered up again.

“Even Further Beyond. First Stage of Aura Ignition!”

Zarian had to use Aura Mastery to push aside the madness of Naomi’s power. Her First Ignition came out far larger than the last time he saw it. She destroyed the courtyard floor beneath her. Her blue-green aura glowed so brightly she chased away the shadows.

The night seemed more like day with Naomi acting as her own colorful sun.

She even used pure Willpower and ignition force to keep from falling into the gaping wound she’d created at the top of the castle mountain. It was around this point that Zarian began his unsealing process, floating in the air across from the core of the blue-green sun Naomi had formed.

Zarian remained undisturbed. His hands moved calmly and smoothly, signing while he chanted.

“Overwhelming Darkness: Twenty Dark Locks Sealing Style Technique. Unlock Dark Lock One. The Worm Lurks Buried Deep Under Fabled Myth.”

Even with Naomi burning like a star of the Star System, the darkness came from older corners of the cosmos. The darkness, unlike the shadows, refused to go away so easily.

There was plenty of old darkness waiting within the bowels of the castle mountain and the caverns below, too. Zarian hadn’t even finished unsealing his power when the mere motion of his technique made the darkness move and sway like heavy tides.

The darkness reached up from below. The darkness clamped down from above. The darkness wanted to serve their young lord, the son of ultra gods, the sleeping behemoth whose true form could eat multiverse primordials like they were candy.

Yet one mortal woman not only dared to upset him, she dared to challenge his overt power. She dared to tempt his monstrous hunger. She dared to grow her power by striking against something more absolute than the entire Star System and universes beyond.

With a big heart filled with the ever-burning mortal ambition that represented the core of being human, Naomi powered up, breaking old limits, reaching a new peak. “One more time now! Let’s go! Even Further Beyond! Second Stage of Aura Ignition!”

With a heavy sigh heard by all the seers and those sensitive to oncoming calamities, Zarian released a piece of the monster inside. The night sky and the cavern depths spoke with his deep voice. “Two Percent Power Unsealed. Growing Darkness.”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!