Overpowered Wizard

“There,” Zarian said, checking the new folktale added to Gator’s pages. Once he had a decent preview of it, he dismissed the mean and grumpy grimoire. He turned a stern eye to Morph. “You need to toughen up. Gator is going to test you for sure when you’re both out.”

The timid grimoire shivered and cried. He scrambled deeper into Para’s many arms as the cloak continued to mother the grimoire.

“He will,” Para said. “Just give him time. He’s a sweet and innocent grimoire. And he came from a divine achievement, so he must be very special and high in quality.”

“Fine, fine.” Zarian continued to act stern while trying not to laugh at this quirky nuclear family dynamic.

There was not much else to do now that his review was complete. So he went off to bother someone else, specifically Naomi.

After a quick jaunt through the void, Zarian landed with his legs crossed on Naomi’s bed. Right away, he could feel a high-quality power flowing from Naomi’s body.

Her aura was more energetic and meaner than before, as if she was an intense psionic brain with lightning bolts running through her synapses. She had plenty of new stats to go along with the new level ups.

Zarian could tell her new traits were superb based on how her soul shone while surrounded by her aura. He tried not to pry any further because he wanted Naomi to tell him about the new traits herself.

He only knew about the new skill she’d gained after combining multiple Level 0 skills last night. One of those Level 0s had come from Ezda, which Zarian had copied directly to Naomi without having to copy it into his profile.

For the first time, he wasn’t exactly certain how a fight between him and Naomi would go down. He still had some solid contingencies, but the mad woman might’ve grown so tough, so strong, so dynamic, she could pressure him while his Overwhelming Darkness remained sealed.

Zarian imagined he still had a few tricks to shut down Naomi. But he would have to work harder while she could throw herself around like a super rocket and strike directly with little thought, all instincts.

It makes sense, Zarian thought with a calm rationale. She pushed herself to the brink and beyond with no breaks. Her combat-focused and body-centric build benefited from a snowball effect while growing in the Blood Prairies. Now she’s the best warrior in the party after taking every avenue to get this far.

There was no doubt Naomi was way stronger than Bianca now.

Zarian found that strangely ironic and a little funny. He also found that comforting.

Naomi would get to suffer the same issues he ran into when he was too strong for the setting. He could turn around and chase her for the sake of his wizardry if she proved to be powerful enough.

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They could work on helping the others with their growth instead of relying solely on him. Hell, maybe Naomi could handle the other three even better, letting Zarian focus more on his greatest concerns, daytime wizardry and nighttime cultivation.

Honestly, Zarian was thankful.

You pushed yourself so hard and went to hell and back to keep up with the rest of us. Well, congrats, Naomi, you are a super big dog now. Maybe a low Tier 4 at this point.

Tiers helped measure the overall capabilities of adventurers. Tier 1 was standard. Tier 2 had some talent. Tier 3 was the best of the best and considered one-man armies – this tier represented Bianca, Hannah, and Gilbert.

Tier 4s were threats to large populations and pockets of civilization.

Zarian’s Overwhelming Darkness went beyond the tiers, of course. Putting that aside, Naomi was in a similar tier as him. She could hold a midsize city hostage by herself if Zarian’s surface observations of her growth were accurate enough. Ꞧ�

She could confirm for herself. She was stirring awake as Zarian waited.

“Hey, sleeping crazy,” Zarian said.

“Ugh,” Naomi groaned. “I feel like I went binge drinking some magic hard stuff with Gilbert before putting myself out there as a punching bag for a giant.”

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Zarian laughed. He stopped laughing when he heard Naomi’s next words.

“I got a ton of badass shit,” Naomi grunted. “But the best one is this divine quality trait. It’s a Thematic Concept called Even Further Beyond.”

Zarian flipped off her bed and crashed onto the floor.

“SAY WHAT?!” He shouted.

She slowly pushed up out of bed and glared over the side where Zarian lay in an upside down heap. “Thematic Concept. Even Further Beyond. And it makes me feel like shit afterward.”

Zarian slowly recomposed himself. He shifted about and settled onto a single knee. He propped his elbow on his thigh, his chin on his knuckles. He held the thinking pose for a while as he took this change with Naomi seriously.

He was pretty sure Naomi wasn’t a true goddess. But she had a divine quality trait, which she might’ve earned from sheer gut effort of resisting Zarian last night.

Her new trait was thematic. But instead of it being a law, it was a concept which sounded flexible and powerful. But it came with a heavy drawback, apparently.

Zarian thought about it and thought about it.

Para continued cradling Morph and gave Naomi her congratulations and some interesting observations about yesterday’s lair crawl. Providing some constructive criticism, Para pointed out how Naomi could sometimes act a little too one-dimensional and should stretch her abilities more creatively, just like how she’d attempted to create a psychic ramp.

Para wanted to see more of that, which Naomi took decently on the chin.

Finally, Zarian found the right question that came to mind.

“Goku or Vegeta?” Zarian asked.

Naomi blinked. “Is that the kids’ show?”

Strike one.

Zarian didn’t let his disappointment show on his face. “You must choose. Goku or Vegeta?”

Naomi rolled her eyes. “Wow, you’re taking this seriously.”

Strike two.

“Choose,” Zarian said with more emphasis. “This is really serious. For me. Please.”

Naomi sighed. “Goku, I guess. He’s the main guy, right? So let’s go with him.”

Zarian felt relieved. “Bingo, bango, you get a mango.”

Naomi blinked at him. “Where the hell did you get that phrase from? I think I heard you say it when we first met.”

Zarian shrugged. He didn’t know either. It was a saying that stuck with him and came up once in a while. Either way, Naomi had passed the test.

Before Naomi opened up more about her changes, Zarian scooped her out of bed with his own arms. She made no fuss and curled into him, acting quite dainty.

That caught him off guard for a split second before he recomposed himself. He went flying out of her room through the balcony.

They went down to the ground floor where Bianca cooked a breakfast feast. Hannah and Gilbert were already down there.

Hannah had a stack of books she was flipping through while sitting around the big kitchen island. Gilbert was admiring his enchanted fishing rod a few stools down.

The kitchen area was open and airy. It had high quality magical amenities Hannah had learned about from books in Reiki’s library. She’d improved on numerous things, of course.

Nobody else could appreciate the craftsmanship of Hannah’s work more than she and Zarian. Gilbert certainly didn’t care about the specifics, as he smiled like a big bearded boy in love with his enchanted rod.

He struggled to rip his eyes away from the rod to glance at Zarian and Naomi.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in!” Gilbert said boisterously.

Naomi glared at him before using her new skill, Primal Huntress Form. She only shifted slightly to grow some fangs and claws while hissing loudly at Gilbert.

Before she canceled the skill, Zarian caught sight of two dark and triangular shapes sprouting from the top of Naomi’s head, her braids shifting out of the way. The triangular shapes disappeared soon after they appeared.

“Whoa there, girl, whoa there! Apparently, I got it wrong on who’s dragging who,” Gilbert said.

“Hable en Español para el cocinero, por favor,” Bianca said, which translated to her wanting them to speak in Spanish while she cooked.

The wafting scent of food filled the kitchen. Fresh fish from the lake. Fluffy scrambled eggs from a wild avian nest. Some fresh wild crops and berries, all chopped and mixed, unless they were blended as juice.

Lastly, everything had some spices involved they’d picked up from merchants and traders back at Ride-or-Die Village except for the seasoning and condiments Reiki could make from her dungeon.

They had everything an adventurer could ask for while out in the wilds. And out of all of them, Bianca was the best cook. It seemed to come naturally to her.

She still acted like a dainty and speedy princess while she cooked, too, zipping around and illuminating the way from the stove to the kitchen island and everywhere else. All while adorned in tall heels and a billowy sundress.

Since she was the cook, and she was serving breakfast, her insistence on Spanish was practically law for these moments.

Zarian switched to Spanish along with the others.

“Naomi’s a big deal now,” he said. “A definite Tier 4.”

“It hurts,” she groaned.

Hannah looked at them sharply. “I figured you two have grown much, much stronger. I was curious from last night, but I suppose you were going to tell us this morning.”

“Yeah, we definitely have some stuff to share,” Zarian said. “But first, I need to say this.”

He placed Naomi down on a comfy kitchen recliner against the wall, giving her a view of the lake and everyone else. Then he stepped through the void, returned to her room, grabbed her a weighted blanket, and went back to the kitchen to toss it over her. She mumbled thanks, and Zarian turned to look at everyone.

“I screwed up again,” Zarian said.