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Chapter B4Ch10: Grow As We Go
Chapter B4Ch10: Grow As We Go
After turning down the offer to leave the tournament, Zarian and Para experienced the snap, whoosh, and pop of being repositioned by the System’s instant teleportation.
He was certain that the System preferred using travel by hard-light tubes, but for a big event like this, it wasn’t sparing the resources. That was fine with Zarian. He liked the weird moments in between until he was on the other side.
“Oh, whoa, this feels different,” Zarian said immediately.
Zarian’s new environment was trying to kick his ass and serve it back to him on a plate. He hadn’t even gotten a proper look at it with his own eyes, and the feel of the place made his dark and unconventional abilities feel a little less capable than usual.
His Overwhelming Darkness wanted more freedom. His Lion Prince felt more bound to him than usual, more on a short leash instead of free-roaming and influencing what was out there.
That was because the Mega World Hashmal was almost the perfect counter to the Dark Emperor.
Immediately, Zarian and Para found themselves on the ledge of a massive structure with a surface area that could hold a few continents from Corma. The work it took to expand his awareness and take a sweep of the mega structure was substantial.
After he examined it from top to bottom, Zarian came away with a funny understanding.
They were on the edge of a throne seat.
It was made of salt, chalk, crystals, limestone, diamonds, and other white sediments or materials of the highest mythical quality. If Zarian scraped away a fingernail’s worth of the stuff, it would sell for a lot back in Corma.
But this was just one structure among many spanning across the Mega World. As Zarian peered further, he saw more thrones, not all alike.
He saw dark thrones. He saw thunder thrones made of tumultuous clouds, mega storms, and twisting winds. He saw fire and brimstone thrones.
He also saw more than just thrones.
There were mega staircases that climbed upward into the skies where golden light and dark clouds hovered overhead from misty horizon to misty horizon.
When he looked down over the edge, the ground was ridged with deep trenches. But there was no darkness in those trenches, only more golden light that allowed little darkness to exist.
How long would it take to fall all the way to the bottom? Zarian wasn’t sure. But the size of everything was mind-boggling.
“Zarian,” Para called, all four hands on his arm. The sound of her voice surprised him. She was ... scared. “I think it’s best we don’t hold back. This place is a counter to us. And it makes me feel ill.” ṘåNỐ฿ЕS
The weight of the Mega World was fairly intense. But they could handle that. They had enough points and magic. They could bend things enough with aura and sorcery.
But the Mega World’s nature was opposed to the Dark Emperor, and the part that mentioned godlings only made Zarian assume the worst.
He looked around for any nearby enemies. He found none just yet. He opened up the mini map. A blue circle popped up in his vision and revealed ten red dots spread in all directions.
There were no topographical features on the map. No elevations. No warnings. All Zarian had to go off of was the red dots and the arrow in the center that pointed the way he faced.
“No holding back. Let’s grow as we go.” Zarian patted Para’s back with his tail, and her tail patted his back in return.
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“Wow,” Zarian said.
Para was bound to his side now, her reptilian tail thrashing from excitement. “If any of those achievements affect Willpower, I’ll only grow stronger.”
“Better yet, if they give skill combiners or trait combiners,” Zarian said, “that’ll be major for us.”
“Zarian, are we going to push ourselves and get you to Level 200 here?” Para asked.
That gave the wizard pause. He wanted to get stronger at the tournament, yes, but he hadn’t imagined he would push that far. What would happen if he kept going and going?
He tensed up a little. Then he let out a slow breath and realized it would be okay. Just because he went ahead wouldn’t mean things would have to end with his friendships and relationships. That, and he had a responsibility to stop Ariana from enacting her plan.
As much as he wanted to keep the fun going, saving the universe came first. And to do that, he needed to achieve more personal power quickly.
“We’ll push for it. No holding back. We also have to keep watch of anyone who tries to lap us. Too many of that will lead to others getting to the Final Round without us,” Zarian said.
“I agree. I think if we prioritize our stats for magic and for informational gathering, we can find targets with enough points that might become a threat to us,” Para explained.
Zarian faced her fully and reached up to pat her on the head. “You are the smartest and cutest and the best partner someone can have.”
“Yes, Father,” Para said.
Zarian froze.
Para froze.
Then he let the awkwardness go and kept patting her head for a few more seconds before taking his hand back. He placed his fists on his hips and nodded his head.
“Yeah, that is right, isn’t it? I’m like your dad, huh?” Zarian said. “Weird or not, it’s true. So, I accept.”
Para beamed a big and beautiful smile. She crashed into him, all four arms hugging him close and lifting him off his feet since she had the extra height.
She was gentle enough not to break his ribs, thankfully, since she carried all the physical raw power now.
Once they settled down, Zarian did another sweep of the immediate area on the throne they were on. He didn’t want to get ambushed while he and Para went through the achievements and the changes they would bring.
“I’ll keep guard. And besides, we’re heavily linked. What you’ll know, I’ll know.” Para gave him four thumbs up.
“Sure, kiddo,” Zarian said, taking a seat on the very edge of the throne.
He looked down at the long, long, long fall. It was a good thing he wasn’t afraid of heights. A strong hurricane wind blew over him, but it didn’t bother him much. Not when Para used sorcery to bend the surrounding wind.
Now, it was time to crack open these achievements. Once he had the stat points sorted out, he would go over the advancements and whatever else that came up next.
Para let out a moan. Her tail thrashed even harder. Her eyes flashed a brighter green.
Zarian moved onto the next.
“Oh, man, we’re not holding back on the Willpower are we?” Zarian asked, chuckling. “Take it all in Para.”
“I’m taking it, alright!” She shook and tensed up and thrashed her tail even harder.
Red phantom flickers appeared around her. The weight of her power grew. But she wasn’t growing alone. The more Willpower Zarian gained, the more he benefited in an important way everyone needed from him.
He gained more and more control over his ultra skills.
“More! Give me more!” Zarian laughed.
“Yes!” Para shouted. “Make me stronger!”
“I’ll take it!” Zarian shouted.
Every growth in Wonder raised his spell power, his supernatural perception, his luck, and just plain being wondrous.
A solid chunk of his spells used Wonder. Para scaled from Wonder, too. Not as much as Willpower, but it was a net increase all around.
Para let out a heavy breath. “I can live with that. Increased perception makes me sharper.”
“That’s nice and all, but I’m afraid my Mysticism is going to get left behind,” Zarian said.
“The more Wonder, the more our magic costs. Without Mysticism to balance that out, we’ll run into the Bianca problem,” Para said. “I hope she’s okay. Dealing with those elves must be annoying.”
“She always wanted to do elf things. If it weren’t for her and Ruvaria ...” Zarian trailed.
“We would’ve wiped out the elves, yes, true.” Para tensed her body as the magic flowing between them grew stronger, more intense, more supernatural.
There was still plenty more to look over, and Zarian hadn’t even distributed his free points or seen the final advancements. But when Para let out a snake-like hiss mixed with a gator’s bellow, he knew the Mega World had something coming up soon.
Zarian turned in the direction Para was looking.
A strange man riding on a cloud was approaching them. Or it looked like a man. Zarian wasn’t sure.
His devourer trait couldn’t see what the man truly was. And the stranger wasn’t one of the red dots on his mini map.
This man wasn’t a tournament contestant.
He was someone from Mega World Hashmal.
Zarian got to his feet and rolled his shoulders. “Here it goes again.”