Overpowered Wizard

“I got about fifteen minutes before the kraken sirens attack. We might as well let this guy work out his frustrations and burn some stamina.” Zarian turned toward the Sea Captain while he kept the berserk Water Cutlass busy with one hand.

Everyone looked at him with bulging eyes.

Zarian took his time, scratching his free hand under his barbed crown, as he deflected some more watery attacks with his other hand.

“Hello, I’m … the Dark Saint. I see you are in trouble. I’m sorry about all that you’ve gone through and that I wasn’t fast enough or wise enough to stop it.”

“I can’t say if you should apologize when everything is the fault of the Dark Lord,” mumbled the Sea Captain.

Zarian slowly nodded. “Well, sure. You can say that. I say let’s focus on the now. How about you let me help you? Free of charge. No catch. I’m doing it for my own conscience, really, so you receiving my help is payment enough.”

“You’ll help Aspis?” the Sea Captain asked shakily.

“I’ll not only help Aspis, I’ll leave behind the means that’ll help you get through your voyages easier and serve as a backup for Aspis. In fact, say hello to your new crew mates.”

Two thousand spectral spiders turned visible all over the Twinned Turtle. The hand-sized and self-sufficient critters grabbed the brim of their little wizard hats and waved them in greeting at all the humans.

None could hit worth a damn against the spectral spiders, though.

The little guys were savvy enough to dodge out of the way. Or they were powerful enough to use a quick cast of web magic to deflect or gum up weapons.

The Sea Captain remained disciplined behind the helm as the spectral spiders danced about, cast magic, and made a fool of some of his crew. Trying to find something to say, he worked his jaw around, but seemed to reach the conclusion of keeping his mouth shut as the Water Cutlass roared with renewed fury.

The berserk man used a super move that combined all his traits and skills for a big, unified attack. From his saber, he gathered and formed a large, glowing blue sword construct that was fifty feet tall and came with a powerful hydro sonic edge.

Seeing that, Zarian had to act with a bit more seriousness.

The wizard grabbed Aura Slayer with his free hand.

Then he smacked his long lion tail against the giant water blade. He used a tiny bit of reality-bending power from the Lion Prince. He also used a solid amount of magic control from Aura Mastery.

That led to the giant water blade ending up as a harmless spray that splashed across the top deck of the vessel with mundane-feeling water. The spectral spiders kept dancing and waving their hats under the water spray, and the Water Cutlass kept trying to fight Zarian.

“Man, this guy is relentless. No wonder he made it to Level 95,” the wizard said, deflecting more attacks with his whipping tail.

“I’m on the verge of eating him, honestly. I would prefer he ended the hostility before I do,” Para hissed from the kilt, scaring the hell out of the already scared crew.

“Do so kindly, please,” asked Aspis with a humble bellow. “And I’ll very much appreciate your assistance, Dark Saint.”

Zarian nodded. He raised a free hand. He sighed as he called upon the spellcraft symbols of Black Fire in his mind. He struggled a little.

The dark cultivation and mythical aura curse were heavy to get past, especially after going at this for so many hours straight. It didn’t help that having his grimoires in the beta skill section and not summoned also made casting spells more difficult.

But he wasn’t a punk bitch, he was a masochist. In training, he liked the challenge.

He went back to the basics. He carved every part of the Black Fire spell into his mind thoroughly. Then, with a push that relied more on himself than the Star System, he conjured silent black and gray flames in his left hand.

The Water Cutlass’s eyes grew wide. His face paled. His body became even sweatier. But he still had plenty of vital stamina to keep attacking.

The man was clearly more a warrior than a mage. Even with his big showing of magical attacks, he had just enough aura for his skills to empower his melee attacks, letting him rely more on his body.

He went even more berserk at the sight of the nefarious black and gray flames, though. He tried to douse them with more water slashes or thrusts.

He failed, of course. The water had no effect, and Zarian lobbed an easy-going ball of Black Fire that splashed on the Water Cutlass’s chest. Still making no sound, which was probably beyond creepy, the black and gray flames spread rapidly over the man and feasted hungrily on his vitality.

The Water Cutlass screamed in terror. He finally stopped attacking Zarian. He dropped his sword and tried to splash away the black and gray flames with water. It was no use. The flames were too powerful and too hungry for vitality.

Many of the sailors and the passengers acting as an audience screamed along with the Water Cutlass. They stumbled back in fear of getting caught by the black and gray flames.

The Sea Captain remained at the helm with a discipline that was exemplary. He steered the vessel while up against hostile conditions, his back to the commotion where the Water Cutlass made a fool of himself.

Eventually, the Water Cutlass stopped screaming when he realized there was no pain. He only had freaky gray and black flames that seemed to do nothing special to his body, at least to his perspective.

Angered, he picked up his saber and attacked Zarian some more. The wizard yawned while deflecting some more attacks with his tail until all that vigorous energy the Water Cutlass had disappeared.

The black and gray flames snuffed away on their own, their duty complete. The foolish and berserk man collapsed in front of Zarian while gasping for air. He tried to lift himself up to only collapse again.

“What did you do?” asked the Sea Captain, looking back at the turn of events.

“I believe the Dark Saint used a spell that stripped the adventurer of vitality,” Aspis said, using his own aura abilities and high Wonder stat to answer the Sea Captain’s question. “It is quite a clever move. Most people think of vitality for regenerative health, but it is also vital for regenerative stamina. The adventurer will be incapacitated for the rest of the day or longer, but he will come away from this without needing a healer. You are truly the hero we need most, oh Dark Saint.”

Zarian shook his head, arms crossed. “Eh, not really. I can’t claim that when I’m around you, Aspis. You’re a real hero. But I feel guilty. So let me help kill these monsters for you. My spectral spiders will help you with the rest of your voyages. They can last for … well … forever, I guess, as long as nothing bad hits them. Take good care of them for me, please. Farewell.”

Before they asked any more questions, Zarian reached down and patted the shoulder of the Level 95 Water Cutlass. “Stop being such an ass all the time, man. You’re like one or two despicable deeds away from making a deadly enemy out of me. But you’re still on the edge of changing things around.”

“Yes … milord,” sputtered the Water Cutlass, still gasping like a fish out of water, which was kind of ironic.

Zarian nodded and hopped off the ship, leaving the stunned Sea Captain, sailors, and adventurers.

Landing on the head of the Grand Turtle Beast, Zarian gave the big green guy a few head pats, which Para gladly joined in with her serpent hands and creepy reptile fingers. Aspis chuckled some, showing that he was a great sport.

Then Zarian hopped off the head of the Water Guardian Master and dove into the water. He thrust Aura Slayer forward and channeled water magic through it, making it act like a rideable torpedo under the surface of the Stone Sea River.

He torpedoed around the Grand Turtle Beast even though that was delaying the inevitable departure. He couldn’t help it, though.

Seeing a Grand Turtle Beast, a Level 118 Water Guardian Master Ranker, who was the size of a small island, wasn’t something he’d kept on his bucket list. But he gladly added it so he could put a fat check on the accomplishment.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He also got to see the extent of Aspis’s damages, and they were frankly huge and scary. Aspis had fought some hard battles on this voyage.

Seeing that, Zarian made it a personal objective to do as much cleaning as he could on his way to the Windy Strider Kingdom.

Once he had a minute left before the attack of the Kraken Siren Monsters, Zarian finally split away from Aspis and the vessel he guarded. The wizard did so after leaving a little treasure on board the vessel that only the Sea Captain would find. He also left a battalion of spectral spiders on Aspis’s back as extra helpers.

Zarian and Para dove straight into the churning depths.

The purple glow of the gravity webbing on his back became the sole light anyone could see for miles and miles. That was perfectly fine with Zarian, who embraced the darkness of the waters and felt the burden of his cultivation ease up some.

***

A moment later, Zarian was striking at the hideous giant monsters before they realized he was at their flanks. They hadn’t prepared for something like him. Granted, nobody would usually go head-to-head against such evil creatures.

Each siren kraken had the oily dark torsos of giant women, the lower half of monstrous squids, and the horrid faces of fishes with big reflective eyes and big jutted teeth.

They were all giant, too, each one half the size of the Twinned Turtle. Their long, sinewy, poison-drenched tentacles could wrap up the vessel easily.

Some siren krakens had the faint glow of orange moon magic or blue moon magic, too, which either made the water boil or turn glacial around them. They also jerked and growled in rabid ways that were unusual for monsters. The oily taint on their skins grew deeper faster as they became crazier and more demented from the curse of Luciana Shadowfell’s tears.

And if that wasn’t terrible enough already, there were a hundred of them, all above Level 100. Out of those hundred, three were Master Rankers in the 120s.

They were already singing, too, expressing themselves with enthralling magic that reached far under the water. Plenty of other monsters and beasts drew near against their Willpower, unable to break free from the hold of the kraken sirens’ magic songs, especially when they all sang together.

Aspis had a mental ability to defend against that. But even the Grand Turtle Beast would’ve found himself slowed down by the hundred intersecting voices of charmed magic working in chorus. The three Master Rankers elevated the others, too, making all of their voices powerful and irresistible.

All of that led to making the kraken sirens the top predators of this section of the Stone Sea River. They almost seemed invincible.

Floridian Mindset didn’t give a fuck.

The interlinked and elevated charm magic slid off the divine power of Zarian’s Thematic Law like water off a duck’s backside. It mattered little that he glowed like a purple beacon, too, because the siren krakens had truly faced no one like him.

Still, he covered himself in darkness using Aura Mastery + Dark Affinity to give himself more of a leg up. He might as well catch them off guard for the first hit or two.

With his right hand on Aura Slayer, the blade working as a rideable torpedo, Zarian extended his left hand. He had some spectral spiders hanging on to the extended arm while they weaved some tightly held web magic.

Zarian used more of his Aura Mastery + Dark Affinity to conjure a thirty-foot long blade of darkness. Then his little wizard assistants cast their web magic with a gravity enchantment from the incomplete gravity studies.

They made the giant dark blade into something akin to a sharpened singularity. It had a dark purple glow along the edge.

When the nearest kraken sirens noticed his presence getting extremely close, Para used Aura Mastery + Devourer of Secrets and Stories + Eldritch Existence. She kept them blind to Zarian’s approach. She made him even more invisible, more concealed.

He was practically a phantom, a figment of imagination, as he added the finishing touches.

He summoned the spectral and chained black magic grimoire. He also summoned the metallic and orbital voidling exile grimoire. Black and Voidling kept their immaterial forms close to his body as he cast two spells at once.

Void Domain and Black Fire.

He condensed the spells into the underwater gravity dark blade. The power of the blade grew, especially with his Outer Planar Scourge kicking in with its buffs.

Once he reached the apex of the blade’s power and got close enough, he swung his sword upon the first Siren Kraken Monster he reached. He struck the creature’s neck, but he was doing more than cutting physically.

He sent forth a dark gravity crescent wave that was covered in black and gray flames while two thousand feet wide. The crescent wave cut down another twenty-five kraken sirens in one go. Their split apart bodies had vitality-burning Black Fire all over them to ensure they couldn’t heal from the severe wounds.

But just to be doubly sure, Para cast Blood Life Vent. She drained all the remaining life energy from the dying monsters and poured that into Zarian.

The wizard and parasite killed their first victims so fast the entire group hadn’t fully reacted to what was happening to them. A quarter of their numbers snuffed away like bugs under a boot.

Zarian swung his sword for a second and third time. He struck twenty more kraken sirens with the second swing. Then he struck down fifteen with the third swing.

Their split apart bodies bled profusely, turning the already dark water even murkier, while lit up by black and gray flames. A faint bloody red light brightened the dark waters with Para’s use of Blood Life Vent, dooming all of Zarian’s fish-market victims.

Zarian smiled as heavy currents of life energy flowed into his body, overriding the burdensome misery that came from the dark cultivation and cursed aura training. Things were looking up. Sixty of the kraken sirens were dead within the first five seconds.

Then things turned for the worst as the Master Rankers finally responded. They let loose a screech that turned the water volatile and damaging faster than Zarian expected.

Then all three summoned something that had Zarian surprised even though he’d already glimpsed their class as Underwater Witches. Each one summoned giant and crooked wands with a skill they all shared, Witch Medium +4.

They waved their wicked wands around.

The nearest kraken siren non-rankers imploded into bloody giblets and contracted into condensed flesh balls the size of a man. Each Master Ranker pointed at the sacrifices, drew power from the fish balls, then pointed at Zarian.

They pinpointed his exact location with their terrible abilities enhanced by moon magic and Shadowfell Tears. His Eldritch Existence wasn’t enough to hide him for this occasion.

Zarian steered Aura Slayer to take him around to the nearest dark stone spire. He barely made it in time as viscous blood beams speared by at supersonic speeds, leaving underwater shockwaves with their passing.

The blood was lifeless and cursed. It also had the boiling or frigid touch of moon magic. Having them pass nearby made Zarian feel physically sicker, too. All the life energy he’d just gorged on felt threatened as well.

The first salvo was a warning, but Zarian knew he was in for a rough time. The Underwater Witches could cast the same crazy attack using the same fleshy fish balls prior, not needing to sacrifice more just yet. It was also obvious the other kraken sirens were waiting their turn in case the Underwater Witches needed more sacrifices.

As if to prove their point, the witches pointed at the sacrificial fish balls and then pointed at Zarian’s hiding spot again. Three powerful, supersonic, cursed blood beams struck the dark spire in between them and Zarian.

Their attack crumbled Zarian’s cover like someone kicking their foot through a flimsy sand castle. The spire that was a mile tall collapsed with a rumbling groan that spread far above and below the surface of the water. Debris, dust, and billowing bubbles blocked all direct vision of the results.

Then a shimmer of void magic appeared behind the witches. They reacted faster than most, turning about almost instantly, attacking with more supersonic blood beams at the spot they felt the void magic appear. But they struck nothing, because Zarian had used that cast of Void Waltz as a faint.

Instead, he came straight at them mundanely, from the billowing and demolished mess that had befallen the stone spire he’d hid behind. His body carried a few wounds, but other than that, he survived the triple attack with sheer guts and power.

He didn’t care to endure another bombardment unanswered, so he got more serious.

He moved like a torpedo with Aura Mastery focused on the water around his body. He channeled a combination of Aura Mastery, Dark Affinity, Void Domain, Black Fire, Blood Life Vent, and webbed gravity magic from his spectral spiders on Aura Slayer. He did so as he moved straight at the witches.

They turned about quickly. They sacrificed more of their own. Then they charged their next cast before sending an even stronger trio of wicked beams of cursed blood and supersonic force down at Zarian.

He swung his sword and split the waters in front of him with a bright ultraviolet wave that was nearly a mile wide. He even added Void Shout with an underwater roar, weakening all enemy magic.

He cut through all three beams and dissipated their power. His attack didn’t go any further than that, which was fine. He came out winning and torpedoed unharmed through the mess of colliding magic.

With his Eldritch Existence becoming a bigger factor, raising his vitality while making him scarier, his dominance stunned the witches. In their hesitation, Zarian found outright victory. He reached their bodies and swung Aura Slayer. He cut them down one by one before they could bring up a proper counter maneuver again. Then he finished the weaker siren krakens with little effort.

Para feasted on their bodies, which helped mend Zarian’s wounds faster. Overall, not a bad fight, though it was a little riskier than expected.

It could’ve been worse if they were fully corrupted and had more moon mutations.

Satisfied, Zarian went back to the surface. Being down there in the deep depths made his dark cultivation and aura training a little too easy.

A glutton for punishment, he surfed his high-powered sword on the waves, his tail and kilt whipping in the wind.

Sometimes, he reached up and scratched around the barbs of his crown. He was getting used to wearing it as the time passed, thankfully.

The days and nights passed him by.

He saved a bunch of people and friendly sea beasts.

He gathered many treasures.

He sent off full companies and battalions of spectral spiders wherever they were needed.

He slaughtered a great host of super evil mutants and aberrations without too much trouble. Then he finally ran into a true behemoth of a challenge.

“Hello, husband,” said his wife, speaking through her latest toy with her magnetic and gothic goddess voice. “I’m quite angry with you. I’ve never been this angry before. It is almost pleasurable, since it’s something Lovewar and I can talk frankly about. She’d given me some great advice. Thus, I’ve focused more of my attention in creating something that would get your attention and disrupt your training.

“So, please struggle against my creation here, even if only a little. I will quite enjoy it. Oh, and when you’re done, please give me a full report of what you think of it. I will very much like your thoughts on how to improve my craft. Using the radiation of fallen moon rocks with my tears is an interesting development, and I’m not sure if I have mastered it yet. But with your help, perhaps I will become more adept.”