Overpowered Wizard

Chapter 127: B2: C27: Unraveled 1

Zarian let out a deep and low chuckle. Then it became a loud and hysterical laugh, as if he was a madman who had escaped an asylum.

“Heh heh heh heh HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

Laying on the sofa across from him, Gilbert gawked, his face turning pale. He might’ve dealt with a few crazies in his time as a cop, but none as dangerous as Zarian.

The Madness Wizard experienced a trippy feeling that made him want to lose all control. He felt like he could let go of everything and keep unraveling forever and ever.

He didn’t let himself unravel completely, of course. His Floridian Mindset and free evil +3 grounded him well enough.

He had a backbone. He had his determination. He had cunning, charm, and smarts. Combined with Unraveled Mind, Zarian had a better understanding of himself without going fully insane.

He’d come from nothing, forced to exist at the bottom of everything. Then all of that had changed with some magic and the opening of a portal. He was now at the center of everything.

He was becoming what he was truly meant to be, and part of that ‘becoming’ was going through the growing pains. He shouldn’t shy away from that.

No, no, no.

He should lean into it.

Go all in. All the way!

If Naomi wanted petty vengeance by awakening something inside of Zarian for having roused her attraction, then why shouldn’t he embrace that? Why stay shy and frustrated because of the past?

Fuck the past!

He was progressing every day.

He was changing every day!

He was living in a tower with magic artillery cannons protruding from the sides! He was securing mentorship from an elf empress who was thousands of years old, a survivor of three eras that even the so-called gods haven’t survived intact! An elf who was known as Corma’s Chosen One, the most powerful Master Ranker across most, if not all, the Lesser Worlds!

She could be his wizard mentor if he played his cards right.

He had actual friends who accepted him for who he was despite how much of a fuck up he could be. He was brimming with so much power and magic that his doomsday, crash-out option was only one part of his power set.

He was the better half of Overwhelming Darkness. He was the one who would reign supreme in the end, not the power itself.

So, yes, he was going through some growing pains. But that made everything matter all the more.

The frustrations wouldn’t go away completely. But how he reacted or acted toward obstacles was his to control.

And wasn’t control such a tricky but wonderful thing?

“Chief?” Gilbert called out nervously.

He was standing now. The books and snacks had spilled onto the floor. Someone was going to have to clean the stains off the rug.

Zarian held his finger to his lips. “Not now, my most sinful Christian friend. I’m having my eureka moment.”

Gilbert tried to talk past that. Zarian didn’t pay attention to his words. He watched the man himself.

Gilbert looked tense. Like he was going to use an ability and was second-guessing himself. Zarian predicted what Gilbert would do before he settled on the decision himself.

“No tranquilizer,” Zarian warned. “Or the next time you go horizontal with an evil strider woman, my spiders will ruffle the sheets. By the way, you have a weird fixation on sleeping with wild and evil women. You might want to check that out.”

Gilbert gaped at him. Zarian had thrown him for a loop. At the very least, Gilbert was holding back from using his Tranquilizer Shot +2.

Zarian didn’t blame him for being prepared just in case. The Madness Wizard was still getting used to his new Unraveled Mind.

For a rare trait, it had a tremendous impact. Not as obvious as some of his epic or legendary traits, but it almost mattered the most. Almost like a linchpin to who he was.

With Gilbert pacified, Zarian’s unraveling thoughts swept around to something that caught his attention. His mind wanted to pick at the concept of control.

He was obsessed with control.

He needed control.

“Honestly, I think the spell adds more pages and scripts to itself when I’m not looking. It literally gets denser and denser the further I delve. And that is happening no matter how quickly I try to study in a straight line. In fact, lines are faulty here. Gravity encompasses the entire spell like a curve. Or better yet, a sphere. I need to think more circularly to grasp the whole reach of gravity. Maybe even beyond three-dimensional concepts. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“No,” Gilbert said flatly.

Zarian nodded rapidly. “That’s okay. I’m glad you’re here, buddy.”

“Uh, sure, man. Same here.” Gilbert gulped and straightened up, looking firmly down at Zarian. “Just don’t shoot yourself again, okay? I’m serious.”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t. By the way, if Naomi doesn’t give Jack a worthy death, I certainly will. I’ll revive him just so I can torture him and kill him again if the first death isn’t good enough.”

Gilbert slowly nodded. He had little more to say.

Zarian was on a roll. “Anyway! I’m going to be busy for a while. I need to start from scratch and be more encompassing of the entire gravity spell. Heck, I can already see things I’ve missed on the first pass from trying to brute force everything in a line!”

Elated, Zarian dove into his studies. He’d never felt so excited about studying before. Studying gave his Unraveled Mind a purpose, because it wanted to solve this long, tedious, and complicated puzzle of a spell that would’ve broken most wizards.

Zarian didn’t mind his mind getting broken anymore. He refused to let that stop him. He was feeling giddy about the aspects of what this spell could do, so a failure was nothing more than a mini pit stop for him.

Hell, the gravity spell could possibly ‘guide’ his Overwhelming Darkness better than his current options. Maybe it could make his Twenty Dark Locks Sealing Style redundant.

Zarian found that funny. The spell that had haunted him for what felt like a long time could be his salvation. Or maybe it was just another fun spell to toss into the mix because being a wizard with OP spells was the best.

Hopefully, there would still be interesting challenges that could make him think a lite once he claimed the gravity spell. Or he would have to ask his wife to create bigger and badder monsters for him, which he probably shouldn’t do, since that would most likely backfire, but that might be the better option than letting himself get bored.

Nobody should let a bored son of ultra gods run around unchallenged and unchecked.

By the time Zarian finally took a break to feed himself, it was morning. Gilbert had fallen asleep on the sofa. He stayed even though he had nothing to do but hang around.

Gilbert really was a bro. He had a horrible taste in women, but he was a bro.

Other than that, there was a plethora of new notes on the living room magic screen.

The previous Zarian, before gaining Unraveled Mind, would’ve found it all incomprehensible. Most people, wizards included, would’ve seen it all as gibberish, too. But the current Zarian, with his new Unraveled Mind, understood it all well.

He also had an extra guest in his room who understood his notes as well, or maybe even better than him.

Looking up at his notes with a serious gaze, Empress Ruvaria was wearing a light green nightgown that was loose and billowy on her petite frame. Her hair was fizzier than before. She hadn’t even bothered to clean herself up.

She tilted her head from side-to-side, toes curling into the fibrous rug under their feet. With a flick of her finger, she operated his private network herself and scrolled through his notes on his big living room screen.

Zarian held his breath as she examined his notes and findings.

“Impressive,” she said.

She approves! Zarian had no idea how tough of a teacher the Sorceress Queen could be. He imagined getting a compliment from her on anything magical was a hell of an accomplishment.

“I’m only getting started,” Zarian said.

“This is the work of an unsound mind that is immensely gifted. You’ve changed drastically compared to last night. What trait did you advance with the upgrade?” she asked, her eagerness peeking through.

Zarian told her about his new Unraveled Mind. He even went as far as reiterating his thought process from before he gained the rare trait to how he was thinking afterward. The empress nodded along, showing more interest in him as he explained.

When he finished, he waited for her to speak. She took her time.

Zarian and Para starved as they waited. Gilbert got up, made himself breakfast, and went out by the time Ruvaria finished thinking.

“Keep going,” she said.

“I gotta feed us before we can keep going,” Zarian said, his body growling with monstrous hunger.

He turned toward the exit. Ruvaria disappeared. Then she reappeared with multiple trolleys stacked with freshly cooked and meaty beasts. She also brought untouched bodies of monstrous creatures as big as three bulls combined.

Zarian was pretty sure these offerings didn’t come from the tower.

Where had Ruvaria snatched these from?

And why was she so eager to feed him now?

Wasn’t that a little funny? She was good +4 and ruler of an entire continent, while he was free evil +3 and lord of a little village on the frontiers. Yes, there were universal and apocalyptic factors, but despite that, Zarian found this budding relationship with Ruvaria becoming quirkier, more amusing.