Overpowered Wizard

Chapter 253: B3: C43: Para’s Research

“Hm. You’ve really relaxed some,” Para said from multiple mouths. A dozen dark red and leathery serpents, some thin and some broad, slithered from the middle of his back and coiled around his neck, arms, and chest. “You are more relaxed than when we first met. Is that the power of casual intercourse?”

Zarian chuckled, feeling a tad embarrassed. He didn’t answer right away. He took in the feel of being a new man and the sights of the outdoors.

He was standing shirtless outside of the cabin with a new pair of dark bottoms and boots Ruvaria had gifted him. They had the fibrous and high-quality nature of something woven from the forest while being as soft as cotton. Definitely elven.

Late Autumn had just arrived. More of the leaves and plant life had darkened and littered the forest floor. He liked the cool feel of the autumn temperature along with the days shortening and the night stretching longer.

Winter was coming, and Zarian was both excited and nervous about facing it. So he took a deep breath of fresh air with his fists on his hips, Para’s coiling serpent bodies draped all over him, and his lion tail wagging from behind.

He’d spent four nights and five days inside of the cabin with Ruvaria. Half of that time they’d spent in bed. The other half they’d spent going over a large pile of subjects.

They’d reworked his sealing style techniques. They’d talked about how his name was now Zarian Sainte-Darkrun, which Ruvaria found charming, calling him a ‘dark saint’ if not dear student.

They’d also gone over how he should further train his wizard powers and aura traits going forward. He needed to study, upgrade, and push the boundaries of his grimoires, too.

The grimoire skills and their advancements were leading to a point where he should eventually add skills, upgrade spells, and combine spells on his own.

Ruvaria had revealed that the grimoires would still offer the option to do either. But real grand wizards shouldn’t rely on that alone or he wouldn’t reach the full heights of his wizarding prowess.

She’d also urged him to get more familiar with mixing One Percent Darkness or even Two Percent Darkness with his wizard abilities. He couldn’t rely on just cultivating his darkness and hoping for the best when he finally used his ultimate power in rare exchanges.

I have so much to do.

Yet Zarian didn’t feel pressured. He felt great, honestly.

He could accomplish a lot in less than seven months, before Carrowmore’s Thousand Year Tournament. He also knew he had to stay on the ball, since Naomi was still mentally training even while stuck in a coma, so who knew what would happen once she woke up.

Maybe she’ll make it time for the tournament and we can take part together.

Zarian smiled as he looked up at the oncoming night sky. Another autumn gust blew through the frayed, mostly barren trees and around the darkened hedges and the weathered statues covered in withered vines.

Would Ruvaria join the tournament? Zarian wondered. She’s avoided it for all her life. But maybe she’ll surprise everyone. If so, would the Star System have to place her under nerfs?

It would be amusing to see the Sorceress Queen take part in the last grand tournament. However, Ruvaria had a lot on her plate already.

She was still in the middle of turning Jack into a horrific monster before turning him into a dungeon. She’d gone over a lot of the details with Zarian, which he was happy to hear.

The main gist of it came down to using some mythical scrolls, alchemies, and hidden sorceress techniques she and her family had gathered over the years from their most evil enemies.

The process of monsterization was excruciatingly painful, too. She had to keep Jack drugged enough to stop him from resisting too much, especially since he was favored by the heavens and had traditional good +5.

But she also had to keep him lucid enough as part of turning him into a monster, a creature more hooked to the parameters of the Star System. Pain, anguish, hatred, horror, and other negative feelings were necessary when using ancient monsterization techniques.

Listening to all that, Zarian had felt a little bad.

For Reiki. She was once a drider a while ago before becoming the Dancing Librarian Dungeon Boss of Ride-or-Die Village.

As for Jack’s pain, Zarian had listened to every detail with a glass of elven wine in one hand and Ruvaria in his lap. They drank a lot of elven wine together when Ruvaria had talked excitedly about the most evil and depraved things to do to a person.

Ruvaria was also keeping track of Ride-or-Die Village. They were besieging the fortified base of the wolf dragons and wolf kobolds right now. Part 2 of the mythical event was turning out to be mostly one-sided in favor of the home team. ŘἈ????ȪᛒËṠ

Princess Foodie Darkrun was becoming a hero of fabled proportions. ‘Prince’ Loner was also getting some heroic status for raising thousands and thousands of helpful skeletons as foot soldiers. The helpful skeletons were inferior to the advanced skeletons, or to an expert skeleton like Loner, but they made up for it with sheer numbers.

Hearing about Ride-or-Die’s exploits had filled Zarian with pride. Hearing about how the elves had acted up, which matched what happened in his dreams, filled Zarian with annoyance.

For some reason, Ruvaria was staying out of the growing issues with her family and empire. It sounded like the Forever Green Empire and their Promised Continent were going crazy without her.

Zarian had asked if she needed any extra help with that, but she said things were well in hand. Ekri the Tailor was dealing with the major members of Ruvaria’s overreaching family.

Something between Ruvaria and Ekri wasn’t adding up, however. Every time he’d asked, Ruvaria shook her head, not wishing to expand on her relationship with the drider.

It was clear to Zarian that Ekri wasn’t just a bug to Ruvaria. Ekri might be working with her.

Either way, talks about unpleasant worldly things didn’t last. Zarian and Ruvaria, and sometimes Para, had invested in more interesting pursuits.

Like training methods. Wizardry theories. Or letting Ruvaria play with his lion tail, letting out more of her girlish side, while they talked in length about the implications of a hugely powerful skill like Lion Prince plus the meaning behind the cryptic words the Biggest Granmama had left with Zarian.

Whenever he and Para had gotten hungry, Ruvaria would go somewhere and bring back lots of meat. She’d made sure they were fed. Then she’d spend the night in bed with him, teaching him eleven arts unless they were talking and sharing personal thoughts.

“I’ve lived long enough to understand these fleeting lives we have are best used in pursuits of our passions and to enjoy ourselves. The times that are most harrowing will bear their weight upon us if you live long enough. There is only so much Willpower one can have without release, without happiness, without moments to just let go and be. No matter what happens after this day, I will cherish it always,” she’d told him in bed.

Zarian tripped on nothing and fell flat on his face.

He slowly pushed up to his knees. “No.”

“Hm, I suppose it makes sense with Gilbert, since you both are male. I see that males traditionally court females, but not always, so there is still a slight chance. Beyond that, I have noticed moments of tension between you with Bianca, and with you and Hannah.”

Zarian was tempted to use free evil +7 to dissuade Para from going down a dark path. It almost sounded like she was going to match him with everybody.

When he looked into the empty eye sockets of her serpent head, he had to stop himself from shivering. He thought Bianca and girly gossip were bad. But what if Para was even worse with shipping?

Zarian took a deep breath before replying. “Bianca and me ... it’s more like we’re siblings, with me being the older brother. Even though we say papi or mami with each other, sometimes in a flirty way, it’s a friendly Miami thing. We don’t always mean anything heavy with that stuff.”

“But isn’t Bianca considered one of the most beautiful human females in this world?”

“Yes, she is. She’s drop dead gorgeous. She would be a goddess in the old world based on looks alone. Hell, most people see her as half a deity now. But I say that from a more factual standpoint, even if there is some tension between us. There will always be a little tension. But the vibe between me and Bianca is friendly, and I like it that way, honestly.”

“What of Hannah?”

“Hannah looks up to me way too much for anything between us to be healthy. And after hearing about how she got divorced, I’m ironically similar to her ex, but maybe not in an asshole way. So there’s an entire field of landmines there that can get toxic quickly. I think the amount power I will have over her romantically will be fucked up. So, Hannah needs to explore other options.”

“Such as Lady Rhea?”

“Maybe. I think it’s one-sided there. It’s kinda obvious Rhea is down bad for Hannah, but I don’t think Hannah knows it. And we don’t know if Hannah would even swing that, but maybe she might. Things could change along the way.”

“So, you and Gilbert...”

“No, Para, no! What is up with you?!”

The emptiness in Para’s eye sockets grew more focused. She expanded her one serpent head until Zarian was looking up at a giant snake that could swallow him whole. It was almost comical with how there was a contracted point where her body connected around with his back, but that also made Para’s intensity somewhat worrisome.

“I am ... researching. You have gone through a significant change that seems to be for the better. I wish to prepare contingencies that would help ease tension for the next time Naomi threatens to make you act out of sorts. Ruvaria might not always be available. She is a busy elf woman, and she’ll grow busier now that she has the proper sub alignment.”

Zarian found it weird that Para was not interested in sex, but she was interested in matchmaking for him. It really was borderline scary.

Para was becoming his personal shipper. How far would she go if she thought it was best for her host?

“Look, Para, let me deal with this, okay?” Zarian asked, hands motioning in a peaceful gesture. “So please don’t match me with anyone inside the party. That would endanger the party dynamics, and I think everybody knows Naomi has the biggest claim on me within the party.”

“Will Ruvaria truly suffice for now? It seems like you two both know the romance is a temporary attachment to your genuine relationship as teacher and student.”

“I don’t know how long it will last, but I’m okay with it ending as long as we can still talk magic. And I think Ruvaria thinks the same.”

Para let out a loud, air-shaking hiss. “Hm. If the side romance with Ruvaria ends sooner than later, how will you avoid being overloaded with tension again? Because the next time Naomi awakes, she will come for you.”

Para grew more excited as she spoke. “We won’t know what state of mind she’ll have. She might have even achieved Third Ignition, making her even more dangerous! What if another Darkrun Apocalypse or Dark Quarrel of Mountains and Moons happens?! And I get more hungry when you are too tense!”

Ah, there it is. Para is affected.

“I won’t let myself get too tense again, or I will make sure you are fed as much as possible. And I’ll be ready when Naomi shows up again.”

Zarian felt his heart thump hard. He couldn’t deny how he felt about Naomi. Para could feel it inside of him, too. Zarian kept going.

“I’ll talk her down or whatever. But we can’t have another apocalyptic fight like that unless ...”

“Unless?”

Zarian looked up at the night sky. The stars were twinkling. Blue and orange moon rocks trailed behind the conjoined Sea Strider and Cavern Hellion.

“We take it off world. To somewhere safe for how dangerous we both can be. Besides, we’ll have time to prepare in case Naomi is still all gung ho after her coma.”

“Hm, I see. Well, there is one other option. But I’m not sure about how that would work. And I don’t think she wishes to fall under Naomi’s importance nor Ruvaria’s.”

Para contracted her form into one serpent the size of a python. She directed her gaze down at Zarian’s left ring finger. There, the Darkrun Marriage Ring emitted an ominous, shadowy light.

Shadowfell hadn’t appeared in a while.

“I wonder what she’s up to,” Zarian mumbled. “She acted really haughty when she made some requests of me. Now she’s radio silent.”

Para glanced at the side of his face. “Whatever it is, we both know your wife is up to no good, that’s for sure.”