Overpowered Wizard

Zarian could see how facing the monsters of the Infinita Star System would test an adventurer’s power, discipline, and adaptability. It was also a test of game design and balance under the veneer of philosophy and morality.

All monsters were evil except for special cases, which Zarian knew from having read a few bestiary books inside Reiki’s library.

Evil outnumbered good by a massive degree. That was why good aligned creatures and adventurers had power ups. The stereotypical ‘good guys’ needed the extra power to survive, and perhaps thrive, against overwhelming evil odds.

This would sometimes lead to the evil alignment being mere fodder thrown against a meat grinder. That was an obvious consequence when quantity wasn’t enough to overcome quality in a classical fight of good versus evil.

However, things could change drastically when ancient evil grew smarter and figured out ways to really ruin an adventurer’s day. Zarian and Naomi saw that for themselves as the monsters of the Chimera Tyrant Lair used more cunning tactics, turning up the difficulty for the Florida Man and Florida Woman.

They can weaponize warp energy? Zarian thought with some surprise as he and Naomi ran deeper into the lair.

Warp beams flew in from distant attackers that were well concealed from his senses. Since the duo were on the move, they prioritized forward progress instead of counter attacks, which left them in a hairy situation.

I shouldn’t be too shocked, honestly. I’ve seen how Warper and the other skeletons with warp enchantments use it for unique maneuvers.

But those maneuvers had always remained simple, mostly applied to a few short range teleportation tricks paired with melee tactics. This was the first time Zarian dealt with offensive torrents of warp energy on straight courses for him and Naomi.

They dodged aside multiple beams, each one screeching like a thousand banshees getting pushed down a long and echoey pipe. Zarian felt the warp beams create insidious tears in reality on their way past the duo, messing with his link to the void and causing issues for his Aura Mastery, too.

The damages to local reality didn’t stick for long. Zarian could sense the Star System inserting itself to fix the dimensional damages quickly.

But there were other consequences. Wild arcane magic seeped through the tears before they sealed up. The strange magic came from places unknown while invading an environment that was already wild enough.

The dirt under the crimson ground bled with putrid blood and turned soggy under Zarian’s shadowy boots and Naomi’s bare feet. Multiple, blocky shaped thunderstorms and sudden dark magic tornadoes that were also blocky appeared in seconds.

The stormy weather hurled out roaring mystic winds, cursed thunderbolts, and a downpour of foul rain that was highly poisonous for most people.

In half a minute, the Madness Wizard and Rumble Psion found their patch of crimson grass and blackened fortress hillocks getting dumped on. These sorts of calamities would’ve annihilated cities and killed anyone below Level 70 almost instantly.

Zarian pushed his aura into a solid dome to defend against the horrific weather. Naomi encased herself in impenetrable psychic armor as she led the way toward the heart of the lair.

“Damn, this is wild!” Naomi yelled back over her shoulder.

Zarian reasoned that was one hell of an understatement. He didn’t have a verbal response because he and Para were making some calculative preparations for the outright clusterfuck that was about to crash upon them.

There was a reason this lair remained undefeated for a long time, or the Lesser World Boss wouldn’t be here anymore. Unlike Metatron, natural world bosses could only live once, so it was easy to think that many adventurers had died to this world boss.

Zarian was starting to wonder if his dear teacher had lied to him about the lair’s world boss being ‘easier’ than Metatron.

I really shouldn’t be surprised when Ruvaria lies, since her way of teaching is to push for perfection and toss mentees into the deep end of the shit.

Hence why Zarian was preparing for the worst now, or at least he prepared as far as he could while Overwhelming Darkness remained sealed away. It was also too late to go back and get reinforcements, so they had to commit.

Thankfully, there was no need to voice his preparations to Naomi since she could read his thoughts with the help of her Psionic Affinity and the spider network. She gave him the impression that she was ready to go no matter what.

Her boldness made him smile a little. He dropped his smile as they triggered the main trap, which also triggered a big ambush.

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Below! Zarian thought, keeping in sync with Para while Naomi responded with no lag. The psion followed his example even when he didn’t evade. He didn’t go up in the air either.

As his heart hammered in his chest, Zarian slid to a stop in the middle of the trap. The heels of his shadowy boots dug ruts through blood, poisoned water, and mud. Naomi slid to a stop ahead of him as Zarian and Para aimed four arms down at the rising trouble.

The muddy ground was bleeding more profusely, shooting up jettisons of blood like someone had stabbed multiple major arteries hidden under the surface. The blood glowed with a familiar crimson light that was ghastly and dangerous.

Zarian knew this style of magic intimately. It was like the first spell he’d cast when he began his adventure in the Infinita Star System – Bloody Lifesteal. But this older version was at a larger scale stretched out for thousands of feet around them, and it was many times deadlier.

Zarian could tell that the spell wouldn’t need to draw blood from any wound. It would simply coat them with magic blood and drain their life energy directly from their bodies, which was a devious twist to Zarian’s own Bloody Lifesteal.

How could Zarian counter this?

He mucked up the spell trap by casting an intensified Quagmire Pit that he and Para worked on together, increasing the reach of the spell. They covered most of the trap with a bubbling bog covered in orange infernal flames and noxious fumes that were harmless to him and Naomi.

Zarian thought that should be enough until he felt a shift from the trap spell. He noticed the enemy spell was trying to take over his own quagmire spell and turn it bloody and against him.

Hell no!

Zarian slammed down his aura and shoved back the bloody takeover. But that was a temporary measure against something established in its own ancient territory.

Still, he pushed and pushed. He gave the battle of spellcraft a lot of his attention, but not all of it.

Zarian used a portion of his mind to scan their surroundings with Aura Mastery + Identify. He fed the information to Naomi’s head as multiple enemies closed in.

There were new godless watchers coming down from the stormy sky, three in total. His earlier descriptions of them were fitting. They really looked like hot air balloons, but covered in grotesque, patchy gray skin.

They were armed with a single eye that was mostly black except for its angry crimson iris and eye veins that shone like lava cracks. Each eye glowed with a harmful red light as they charged up their artillery shot.

Underneath the godless watchers, there was the seemingly endless army of chimera ghouls. They came to a stop outside of the giant Quagmire Pit and howled with their many heads like the twisted demons of Hidden Hell.

The chimeras didn’t move any further since they were aware of the effects of the Quagmire Pit. They were waiting for the bloody takeover before they rushed in as an angry and savage mob with acidic force oozing from their claws, fangs, and talons.

These two monster types were known to Zarian, Para, and Naomi. But there were two more monster types that weren’t known except for the briefest mentioning prior. The new ones were the giant serpents and warp fey, which Zarian examined quickly for key info.

<Giant Serpents, Monsters, Level 84 to 95 Voracious Juggernauts (Epic). Best Alpha Skill: Crushing Constriction +2 (Level 49). Best Trait: Hulking Armored Physique (Epic). Best Stat: 501 Strength.>

<Giant Serpents, Expanded Details: These monstrous serpents are the army breakers of their master, using their Strength and size to crush smaller foes, especially the ones that stay in groups. They have multiple traits that enhance their physical prowess while also granting them high maneuverability over difficult terrain.>

The giant serpents were twice as wide as train carts. They had heavy stone armor and ranged in length from five hundred to seven hundred feet. They moved with a persistent and heavy locomotion like someone had rolled up a small mountain and gave it the ability to slither.

They were so big, Zarian almost thought the giant serpents would automatically sink into the quagmire. He knew that wouldn’t happen based on the expanded details.

He still felt a little disappointed when the giant serpents kept moving over the quagmire on a collision course for the puny humans who dared to challenge their master. Unfortunately, the serpents weren’t his gravest concern.

<Warp Fey, Monsters, Level 94 to 99 Warp Witches (Legendary). Best Alpha Skill: High Warp Manipulation +3 (Level 55). Best Trait: Faerie Magic Mastery (Legendary). Best Stat: 535 Wonder.>

<Warp Fey, Expanded Details: These flying midget-sized gremlins are the doom of many adventurers. With legendary prowess, high Wonder and Mysticism stats, and the ability to cause trouble for those who use spatial magic, temporal magic, and dimensional magic, the Warp Fey are usually the reason most adventurers cannot reach the world boss.>

The description for the warp fey as flying midget-sized gremlins was fitting. They had wrinkly bodies like someone took their ancient grandparents and crunched them down.

They had needle-like teeth and sharp claws on their hands and feet. They flew using wasp-like wings, and they had twisted horns on their heads like devils. They had no eyes. Instead, they had little orbs of ultraviolet warp energy spiraling crazily in the sockets.

They were the reason for the lair being heavily drenched in warp energy. Now there were fifteen of them flying in close while charging warp beams to rip Zarian and Naomi apart. Out of all the present monsters, they were the deadliest.

Naomi did a quick scan of the closing net of death and destruction. She gave it all a nonchalant shrug and turned her back on them.

Her eyes landed on Zarian, expecting him to find a solution.

Zarian felt a twinge of embarrassment because he didn’t have a sophisticated solution. All he could do was brute force his way through and try something he’d never done before.

Might as well give it my all!

With a mighty roar that was bestial and far-reaching, Zarian and Para put their all into their combined wizardry, casting the Void Authority and Void Layer spells on the Quagmire Pit.

They shoved off the bloody takeover. They shoved away the warp energy that was dampening their void abilities. They pushed their mastery over aura to the max and raised their spellcraft to the umpteenth degree in greatness.

They turned the Quagmire Pit into a void pit, making it a giant circle on the ground that was blacker than black. It was so dark, every flash of light, color, and ambient magic was sucked into it. Obviously, that was nowhere near enough to satisfy the void pit.