Overpowered Wizard

Chapter 233: B3: C23: Grimrock End Results 1

Other than his lower back flaring with intense pain, Zarian knew things were especially wrong when the Star System sent notifications in a panicked tone:

The Star System’s panic changed the public notifications floating in the air from screen size to giant billboard size. The color switched from gold to red, matching the intensity of the System’s warnings.

Zarian hadn’t seen the Star System freak out this much except for when he’d pulled the trigger on himself. Maybe the Star System was especially upset because something had gone out of its control again.

Welcome to my fucking world! Zarian thought, jaw clenched.

A scream wanted to fight its way out, and he kept holding it back, sounding like a grunting animal as the pain in his lower back redoubled.

He saw white spots in his eyes, and everyone looked shady and out of focus around him.

He felt Gilbert’s Healing Force +3 try to pump into him, but nothing could ease the pain. Then he felt Gilbert’s Tranquilizer Touch +3. That helped soothe some of the pain, but not all of it.

“Breathe, Zarian, breathe!” A fuzzy outline with Naomi’s voice knelt next to him.

She placed her hands over one of Zarian’s own, and he gripped back with all of his Strength. She was strong enough to handle the pressure.

“One, two, three! Breathe! One, two, three, breathe!” she instructed.

From behind him, he heard the panic in Para’s voice. “I can’t stop it! Something is emerging from his back, and I’m powerless against it. Please, help him!”

“I’m doing all I can, okay?!” Gilbert shouted. “Is he going to die? He has a charge on the Divine Revival Charm, right? That should prevent him from dying.”

“Father, don’t leave me again!” Foodie cried out.

“I’m not going to,” Zarian grunted in between big breaths. “Something ... is ... changing.”

“Could it be what I think it is?” Bianca asked.

“The truth of his lineage,” Hannah said in awe.

“One, two, three, breathe! Now push!” Naomi demanded.

Zarian roared with more volume and depth than ever before. His roar resounded far across the Grimrock Castle Mountains, traveling so far that even the citizens at Crossdeath heard the power and anger in his voice.

Hearing that, most humans instinctively screamed and acted out in terror. Outright hysteria broke out at the basin camp of adventurers. They acted like headless chickens from hearing Zarian’s massive roar.

The son of ultra gods cared little for the fears of mortals right now. Despite Gilbert’s best efforts and Naomi’s encouraging instructions, the pain rose tenfold.

He felt his body change, especially the end of his spine. Something wanted out of his back. It had to come out no matter what.

Instead of suffering this pain any longer, Zarian pushed with all of his might. He listened to Naomi repeat her instructions and pushed so hard he fractured a tooth from between his clenched jaws. Gilbert’s Healing Force +3 fixed that and nothing much more.

A large clot of blood burst free from his back, splattering on himself and his friends, and only then did the pain turn into a deep relief.

Zarian collapsed forward, and Naomi caught him and hugged him close. Her body felt soft and welcoming, and Zarian appreciated all of that despite the tense disappointment with her class reselection.

Everything quieted down.

He leaned his head on Naomi’s chest for a while and heard her thumping heart beat. He felt his daughter’s grip on his side, which comforted him even further.

Finally, he paid attention to the weighty addition to his back. He could sense it with his wondrous and mystical perception. He also felt how the air swished and fanned as the new addition coiled about.

Zarian slowly broke away from Naomi and looked back at the long and muscular lion tail extended from his lower back.

The damn thing was as long as he was tall. Maybe even a little longer, which was impressive, because Zarian wasn’t the same height anymore.

Standing firmly to his feet, he noticed the change in his own frame immediately.

Hannah called it out first. “You’re six feet now.”

“Yeah, I am,” Zarian said.

Just like that, he’d grown an extra three inches.

The only people who’d grown taller while enjoying the splendors of Infinita were Gilbert and Bianca. It seemed like the new world and magical food had introduced a late growth spurt for them.

Thus, making them both statuesque to the point of some people looking up to them as if they were half-giants, Gilbert especially.

Zarian had heard people refer to the big blue-eyed blond as if he was part bear. But now Zarian was taller than the average human from Corma. And his viscera-covered tail seemed extra long to him for some reason.

Zarian looked as the tail meandered back and forth from one side of him to the other. Sometimes it would fan against the Parasite Cloak +3 with the puff ball of fur at the end looking heavy, matted with blood.

“Hey, let me clean it for you,” Naomi said.

Before he answered, she stroked her hand over the tail from the base to the tip, which Zarian remembered to call a tuft. She used her psychic power to push the blood out of the fur and down the tail.

The clingy mess splattered onto the courtyard floor. The black tuft at the end became poofy and pristine.

“Hey, you didn’t need to touch him for that.” Bianca pouted. “You did that to touch his tail first, didn’t you?”

“Yo gano.“ Naomi laughed. “I win.”@@@@

“This isn’t going to be a thing, right? We aren’t all turning into cat people, right?” Gilbert asked. “I don’t need to be a tom cat. Trust me on that. I really don’t.”

“It’s not letting me fuse with it,” Para said from the cloak. “This is the first time I’ve been denied like this.”

The author’s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Zarian looked down at his taller, bigger, and denser body. He looked back where his daughter stood with eyes opened wide, ears raised, her head turning to follow the motion of his waving lion tail.

She was looking more like a green-skinned cat right now.

I feel like I’m getting set up for some big joke, but I don’t know what it is, Zarian thought. Out loud, he said, “Let’s move on, Star System. We’re over halfway done.”

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