Overpowered Wizard

Fuck it, let’s ball, Zarian thought.

Para matched his enthusiasm as they switched approaches on the fly.

Zarian cast Void Authority with a section of his mind spiraling with a flash memory of maddening symbols and texts. He pushed the spell to the max.

Meanwhile, Para formed dozens of parasite arms from the ragged battle kilt. She moved the extra limbs with a dancer’s grace as she cast Void Waltz.

The air darkened and flickered around them. Then the roaring water crashed into them with the weight of a tumbling giant.

Under normal circumstances, the water would’ve crushed them. It was water that came from the bottom of a high fantasy ocean. It was one that was deeper, more magical, and more hostile than any ocean from the old world.

The pressure was immense.

But Zarian felt none of it.

The water entered and exited the void that darkened the air around Zarian. He stayed within the dungeon’s reality instead of stepping out, choosing to hold his ground and manipulate the void into a makeshift barrier.

Most of the water exited on the other side and flooded the hallway behind Zarian, but without the initial force or quantity. Some of the roaring water might’ve gotten lost in transit.

They were holding their own.

But Zarian wasn’t satisfied with that.

He took one step to his right. Then another step to his left. He added a few more moves and matched the festive motions of Para’s many arms.

He danced within his bubble of safety as he paired his Void Authority with his own cast of Void Waltz. Meanwhile, Para paired her Void Waltz with her own cast of Void Authority.

Even while casting spells from opposite orders, the two synced up brilliantly. The void barrier surrounding them grew stronger.

The pressurized and roaring water was no match. Just like that, they danced their way forward as the water went in and out of the void, from the front to the back.

Once they reached the portal, they turned their Void Authority on it and found some resistance.

Portals worked differently than teleportation magic. They were probably far from the reach of void magic. Zarian messed with it anyway, and Para followed his lead.

They combined the power of their double Void Authority and double Void Waltz to mess with the dimensional foundations of the portal. They moved with a fervor, dancing harder and harder.

Instead of trying to summon rain, they summoned the madness of the void.

They wielded the void like a bludgeoning instrument and bashed it against the portal again and again like the wizardly version of a caveman until it broke. And exploded. Since they were still dancing and keeping up the spells, the explosive force entered and exited the void bubble without hitting them.

The explosion demolished the water-logged hallway behind them and tore up the living features and layers of dirt and stone down both ends of the next T-junction. Once things settled down, Zarian and Para ended their spells.

They were successful, but the costs were mighty.

That maneuver had used up more aura than Zarian predicted. And the Team 5 spectral spiders hadn’t avoided the rushing water before Zarian and Para dealt with it.

The spectral spiders were gone, swept away no doubt. At the very least, the perfect synchrony with High Rune Mindframe’s help led to a new level up.

<Your skill, High Rune Mindframe, leveled up from 2 to 3!>

There was no new level from the Advanced Grimoire of the Voidling Exile yet, keeping it at Level 9. One more level would lead to Zarian having a new choice for upgrading spells.

However, he should probably gain a few new void spells before deciding on what to spend the next upgrade on.

So much to do, Zarian thought as he summoned Spider Team 6.

For some reason, these spiders came out more grizzled and ready for war. They led the way fearlessly, despite how so many of their comrades had fallen to the dungeon’s tricks.

Inspired by the brave spiders of Spider Team 6, Zarian moved faster and stayed on their little spider heels. The roots and mushrooms wriggled wrathfully. Zarian was almost tempted to combine Void Layer with Black Fire and burn everything up.

He ultimately decided against that approach. He wanted to practice more creative maneuvers against these unique challenges instead of destroying everything all the time.

Of course, he was still brute forcing some of his approaches. He even smiled as he kept smashing his aura manipulation against the dungeon’s aura suppression.

Their continuous clashes sent aura sparks flying everywhere. Little aura lightning bolts shot out from around Zarian as he followed his speedy Spider Team 6.

After taking half a dozen left turns, a new trap appeared.

This time, Spider Team 6 sensed it the moment it formed. They spun around while mid-run and aimed their abdomens at the growing phenomenon. They sprayed it with arcane webbing.

By itself, the arcane webbing couldn’t do much. But the moment the webbing touched the newest magical trap that formed, the spiders had a better idea of what they were facing.

Consequently, that meant Zarian had a split-second heads up, too. Then the time for preparation was over. The dungeon shot a teleportation wave at him from the front.

Instead of letting Spider Team 6 sacrifice themselves like previous teams, Zarian waltzed ahead. Para moved her arms in sync with him.

Again, they used double casts of Void Waltz and Void Authority. They shaped a wall of dark void magic in front of them to block off the teleportation wave.

That would’ve worked out fine for them, but the dungeon revealed more tricks.

Warp magic struck down from above, below, and from behind. Their void magic weakened, which raised the pressure on Zarian immensely.

He was already under suppression. And his voidling grimoire was in the beta section. Most wizards would’ve buckled at this point.

With a great roar that was bestial and mad, Zarian danced fiercely. It became more of a savage and warlike dance in defiance of the wondrous powers of the dungeon. He met the teleportation wave head on regardless of the warp magic.

Para followed his example, becoming even more enthusiastic as she swung and flourished her arms about. She cast her side of the void spells with more oomph. She applied some of her willful nature to push along with her host.

Together, they dismantled the teleportation wave, endured the warp magic, and kept going as the hallway blew up again.

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Mushrooms and roots scattered away as torn up pieces. Stone rubble and dirt tumbled and crashed from around them.

They didn’t know where they were going. But Spider Team 6 was the first spectral spider unit to make it this far and not get removed from play.

Zarian felt that was important. He wanted to see this little team of spiders make it to the end with him.

They went down a bunch more left turns.

Zarian had no idea if they were going the correct way. He figured since they were moving fast they had to stick with a simple strategy.

Either the dungeon would lead them to somewhere important, or they would backtrack. At the very least, the spiders had marked each junction they reached to help with backtracking, if it came down to that.

Something’s wrong,

Zarian thought, as they made their fifteenth left turn at another junction that looked similar to the last ones. But there were no markings from the spiders.

Nothing had interrupted them. No outrageous trap with teleportation or warp magic had revealed itself. Spider Team 6 kept scuttling forward, and Zarian kept following them.

Yeah, something’s definitely wrong, Zarian insisted. What do you think, Para?

His friendly, body-sharing parasite chimed in. I believe the lack of obvious traps would mean we are facing a more subtle trap. It is highly unusual that nothing has struck at us, and that we’ve been allowed to continue without interruption.

Para hummed inside of her corner of Zarian’s mind. In fact, I have very thin threads spread around us. I believe I’ve touched the same roots and mushrooms multiple times so far. Please see deeper into my consciousness to verify my reasoning.

Zarian did as requested. A portion of his mind unraveled and carefully merged with Para’s consciousness.

He gained memory imprints of her on-the-move experiments. He observed how she’d tracked and recorded details from their environment with tiny, almost near-invisible threads. She recalled the same organisms by touch and magic that they had passed multiple times.

“We’re in a freaking loop,” Zarian said, looking at a wall that should’ve had spider webbing on it.

He slid to a stop over some dirt and mushrooms. Spider Team 6 came to a stop and looked warily around Zarian.

While the spiders searched around, Zarian wondered if the situation was a magical one or a mechanical one. Had the dungeon changed its hallway designs so the crawlers could end up running in circles? Should they take right turns instead?

Zarian hustled forward and took some right turns instead of left. The spiders marked every turn. They kept going for a while. They ended up facing the same issue, going in loops.

Were the loops physical in nature?

No, that wouldn’t fit the themes of the dungeon. Every dungeon had themes they wanted to follow, like design schemes of a game. Physical changes seemed too mundane for the Enriched Faerie Dungeon.

Zarian concluded that the loop trap was highly magical. However, the trap was so subtle he, Para, and the spectral spiders hadn’t sensed it.

I’m impressed. Nothing other than the walls Hannah had made from Glacial Air Stone had tricked me this much before, Zarian thought.

He felt a little bewildered.

He also felt excited.

Every new game that challenged him was another chance for him to prove his worth. Although, those games and challenges could also lead to his downfall.

He had decent measures of control and a doomsday device for whenever he needed to crash out, but the cost of doing so was too heavy for him. There was the jar with his name on it, yeah, but he was more concerned about his friends being able to survive his ridiculous power.

In a world and universe that felt fragile, it was nice knowing there were ways for him to push himself without the risk of losing it all. He was honestly happy with Empress Ruvaria for tricking him into this dungeon, although he didn’t want to admit that to her.

Empress Ruvaria had a big enough ego as it was.

“Spider Team 6, I need you to run forward and follow the same routes we’ve taken,” Zarian ordered.

The spiders saluted him before dashing off bravely to test themselves against the ingenious trap. Zarian nodded and turned his attention to his best assistant.

“Para, is there anything else you’ve noticed that’s been strange about this loop?” Zarian asked.

Para formed a mouth on his shoulder and let out a thoughtful hum. “I’ve noticed each time I’ve tested the extensions of the Faerie Guardian, the creature itself has retreated too deeply for me to touch directly beyond its most external extremities. Thus, it made itself harder to read.”

“What else?” Zarian asked.

“Well, during my investigations into the fungi, I noticed all the marks I’ve left upon the mushrooms and roots have disappeared. I reasoned the marks disappeared from a rapid healing factor, returning the extremities to their former composition to avoid our immediate notice of the loop. But … there could be more to that.”

Zarian listened carefully. He waited for Spider Team 6 to loop around and reach them. He could check on them through the network. Nothing seemed wrong.

He could also patch into the senses of the other spiders that had remained behind. So far, the Faerie Guardian seemed more focused on Zarian’s forward progress more than anything else.

Zarian waited. He looked back. He checked on Spider Team 6 through the network. They were still scuttling around, taking left turns, leaving new marks.

They hadn’t looped around to him yet. After a long while of waiting, Zarian realized there must’ve been a new layer to the trap.

“Para, you’re able to notice the same fungi despite them healing over the marks, right?” Zarian asked.

“Yes, I’m able.”

“I think I know what type of loop this is,” Zarian said. “This might sound crazy, though.”

“Crazy or not, you will surpass these trials, my host. For you are brilliant and amazing,” Para complimented.

Zarian tried not to smile. It wasn’t easy. Para had struck a compliment back at him when he’d least expected it.

When did Para get so good at unexpected compliments? Who had she learned that from?

“Alright, so this is what I’m thinking. It’s a time loop,” Zarian said.

“Oh, that’s not crazy. That makes sense,” Para said. “If it’s a time loop, then that would mean every time we reach a certain point, the entire dungeon resets itself in time around us. That would explain why it’s avoiding our awareness, since it’s not using dimensional magic now.”

“It could still be dimensional magic or it could be another set of skills and traits,” Zarian said.

“Does this mean Spider Team 6 is in another stream of time for departing from us?” Para asked.

“I believe so.”

Zarian remembered how faeries in old myths and modern retellings had numerous powers dealing with high concepts. Dimensions. Space. Time. Spirit. And beyond.

He hadn’t thought he would get the chance to face such a tricky foe this early on his Infinita Star System journey, but he appreciated it. Now he and Para could apply some more of their research in gravity against this situation.

“Hey bud, we’re going to need your help to throw down some arcane webbing for gravity runes,” Zarian said, flicking his finger at the brim of his hat.

He still had one spider from Team 6 hanging out up there.

The spider jumped down and landed in front of Zarian’s boots and performed a spider salute. Zarian gave orders to the rest of Spider Team 6 for them to stop and wait for a change in the situation.

Despite them being in another time stream, they were still connected. This was a very tricky but unique part of the dungeon’s design.

“The Faerie Guardian is scary.” Zarian chuckled as he summoned his Advanced Grimoire of Black Magic.

Seeing it phase out of his chest, Zarian noted how the grimoire appeared bigger, thicker, and darker. The spectral chains that bound it to Zarian’s soul were heavier and harder. A ghoulish black light shone from the grimoire’s cover as the spectral chains made deep rattling sounds that resonated with a demented echo.

“But we’re scarier, aren’t we, team?” Zarian asked, as he willed for the grimoire to flip its pages in front of him.

The black light turned into a powerful violet and purple that seemed all-consuming and terrifying. Zarian grinned ear-to-ear as he released some controls from his High Rune Mindframe and let his Unraveled Mind dominate a little more.

Once they started, Zarian had no idea how long it took. The tracking of time became more abstract when facing an opponent that could control time.

Actual time magic was by far the most impressive thing Zarian could ever expect from any creature that was Level 90, especially in a dungeon that was supposedly epic in quality and Level 70. That had him wondering how more impressive a legendary dungeon that was higher in level could be.

Then again, the Enriched Faerie dungeon lacked dungeon monsters, since it placed all its eggs in the basket of the Faerie Guardian. Maybe that was why it was both not that high in quality and level compared to Zarian, but still uniquely powerful.

Zarian didn’t muse about all that for long as he, Para, and Spider Team 6 built up a complex gravity array from two sides of the time loop streams. The further they went, the more Zarian felt his gravity lessons, despite them being incomplete, were king here.

After all, gravity could affect both space and time at the most basic level.

The spatial part was more clear about how objects and energies fell toward things with more importance. The time factor was less clear, because noticing the difference in time required more extreme measures when gravity was involved, but there was still an effect, even if it was a minutely subtle one.

Zarian did what he did best. He worked on solving a fine-tuned problem by wielding the biggest hammer.

He and Para were still far off from learning the gravity spell entirely, but the lessons were so massive that they could use parts of it. The spectral spiders wrote out specific gravity runes using their arcane webbing, covering the hallway’s surfaces with dozens of runes at first, then over time, they were pushing toward over a hundred runes.

The web of a complex gravity array, one that crossed two time streams, grew and grew under Zarian’s watch. He chuckled like the madman he was.