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Who would’ve thought he could use his overpowered nature to outwit enemies that should outright kill him? He would have to keep that in the back pocket for later down the road. Or he would have to get much, much stronger.

At least I got to test out how far I can push Straight Darkness with my current stack of abilities. Hell, I still have room for more power if I say the skill aloud and add a modifier.

Zarian glanced at the fallen piles of stone and the fallen green leaves and branches littering the area. He looked down at the barren ground he’d scarred on impact with the lead elder of the Blood Prairie Savages.

Yeah, that’s impressive. I can knock down castle walls and bring down entire buildings. Let’s enjoy that and the new achievement instead of worrying about how I’m supposed to train a bunch of savage gnolls if they seek me out as their mentor.

Sometimes Zarian’s Fractured Mind was both a gift and a curse. At the very least, he had an achievement to look at:

<Achievement rewarded! Heroes of the Eternal Garden Kingdom (Unopened)!>

<Achievement opened!>

<Heroes of the Eternal Garden Kingdom (Legendary): You’ve saved the kingdom and stopped a wicked plot to sacrifice young men. This may lead to further complications and heroics down the road, so to help with that please choose from this list of five rewards – one choice for one adventurer: Eternal Garden Royal Knight Armor (Epic), Fabled Eternal Garden Princess Dress (Epic), Crown of Eternal Garden Heroism (Epic), Sunflower Helper (Level 4), Grimoire of the Dread Mire Gator (Level 5).>

“Okay, alright, I think the ‘crashed out’ choice was a good one. We’re getting rewarded for it. Now, Bianca, we both get one choice, so let’s be sure we pick wisely,” Zarian said, giddy and relieved.

The legendary achievement was going to make up for everything that they might’ve complicated for themselves, so much so that Zarian needed time to sort through it all later. Rewards made him feel happy, and these three epic items and two skill choices seemed curated for them.

Zarian smiled. “Let’s start from the top. Ready?”

“Hm, que paso? I didn’t hear you.” She was back on her feet as a flash of vibrant green, sunny yellow, lily white, and other flowery colors appeared on her body, sparkling, dazzling, reshaping and solidifying to fit her shape. She giggled and spun around until the colors formed into an exquisite dress.

It was clear to everyone, even after roughing for a while on their adventures, that Bianca was a pretty young woman. As pretty or prettier than most women from Miami. So even while covered in grime, blood, and layers of adventure gunk, the dress complimented her tenfold.

Zarian didn’t care. “Gaaaah dammit, Bianca!”

The Light Bringer Child stood her ground with eyes shining zealously, her magical dress flowing and glimmering with myriad flowery colors, silk threads, countless gems, and petals circling the hem at the top, accentuating her shoulders and chest.

The look on her face was dangerous. It was less about physical harm, and more about trespassing on grounds that didn’t belong to Zarian.

Thinking quickly on his feet, he muttered, “But what if I wanted the dress?”

“Did you … really want … the pretty dress?” Bianca’s eyes flashed brighter with more zealous craze. “If you want it … I’ll give it to you. Okay?!”

Bianca looked like she was going to bite him. The light shining through her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Zarian shrugged, before muttering, “That dress better come with some good enchantments.”

“I feel enchanting.” Bianca twirled around and around like a mad woman. She even sang softly to herself in Spanish, which his Identify trait translated mostly to her being the prettiest princess across all the World of Castles and Caverns.

Zarian shook his head at her. He wasn’t going to press her any further on the rash decision.

To be fair, something inside of her might’ve broken and reassembled into a crazier and more genocidal version of her former self, especially after these past few days dealing with evil wulvers. Since Zarian had the uncommon trait of a Fractured Mind, he didn’t have enough grounds to judge her … at least not aloud.

“I’ll tell you what the other options are as I look,” Zarian said.

“I’m a pretty princess!” Bianca replied.

Zarian sighed, shook his head, and perked himself up at the prospect of new loot and abilities. Even if they only had one last choice left, he could glean a lot from the options.

<Select from the available list of rewards for your legendary achievement!>

Option One: <Eternal Garden Royal Knight Armor (Epic): This full plated armor is from the first armor set made when the warring forest clans were united under one elven banner. The armor of ancient elves grants these enchantments: Eternal Repair, Woodland Camouflage, Thornmail, Forest Perception, Trail Strider. Scales partially with Agility and Wonder.>

Zarian felt a squeezing sensation around his heart. It took him some time to realize he was upset from only having one selection choice. He couldn’t see what each enchantment meant, but he could speculate.

Eternal Repair probably meant the armor would recover from damage consistently, if not forever. Woodland Camouflage would conceal the armor and wearer in the forest with magic. Thornmail sounded like a combination of thorns and mail armor, so Zarian imagined the armor would strike back while defending the wearer.

Forest Perception sounded like a sensory boost while in the forest, and Trail Strider sounded like a boost to agility. The scaling was interesting, splitting with Agility and Wonder, which were major stats for Bianca.

Zarian looked over as Bianca spun around and frolicked in her magic flower dress. He checked the next option.

Option Two: <Fabled Eternal Garden Princess Dress (Epic): Has already been selected. Now unavailable.>

“Bianca! Stand still and let me Identify your dress!” Zarian yelled.

“Okay!”

Once again, Option Two: <Fabled Eternal Garden Princess Dress (Epic): After the death of her father against the orcs of Grimrock, the shining elven princess turned away from the throne, letting her brother take it, and became a princess of war. This beautiful war dress grants these enchantments: Eternal Repair, Woodland Camouflage, Nature’s Embrace, Field Stride, Corpse Bloom. Scales partially with Agility and Wonder.>

Zarian repeated what he saw.

He barely finished before Bianca used an enchantment on a whim and stepped onto the edge of a field. Her next step happened after she rapidly slid across the field for two dozen feet.

The same thing happened on the following step. She laughed as she played around. The tail of her flowery, gem-heavy, colorful dress fluttered around as she used Field Stride for longer or shorter steps, zipping around the field quickly.

Zarian figured the dress was a decent choice and more fitting for Bianca, after all. The new additions of Nature’s Embrace and Corpse Bloom sounded interesting, especially the latter.

What could Bianca do to corpses with that enchantment?

Also, the lore drops behind these things were interesting. It felt like he was getting snippets of the kingdom they were about to visit, even if it was only the ancient history of the kingdom.

The elves weren’t ruling over the Eternal Garden Kingdom anymore. The humans were. The orcs weren’t at Castle Grimrock anymore, the corrupted goblins were.

Option Three: <Crown of Eternal Garden Heroism (Epic): When the elven lord of cursed birth was given a choice to commune with a demon for power, he turned away and sought the power of good. With this crown, you can hide your evil alignment or increase your good alignment. You can also plant ideas, suggestions, or orders into the minds of others that may bloom with time or more exposure. Scales with Wonder.>

Bianca used her Field Stride to launch herself off the grass and ferns. She landed on a stone block behind Zarian with the grace of an elven princess as her dress fluttered while still covering the important parts.

She was missing shoes to go with the elven dress. Zarian wasn’t going to say anything or she might drag him into a shoe-shopping spree later.

“Are you going to pick the crown?” Bianca asked.

“It would make things easier, wouldn’t it?” Zarian mused aloud. “I’ll be able to hide my evil nature.”

“Yup!”

“It’ll also let me mind control people.”

Bianca lost some of her good cheer. Then she smiled radiantly. “Mind control for the greater good!”

Zarian doubted there were many cases where mind control was considered ‘good.’ That was a reach – even he knew that as the resident evil guy.

He didn’t correct Bianca, however. At least he knew he could get a free pass with her if he ever wanted to use mind control.

Zarian checked the last two options quickly. They were skills and had shorter descriptions. He felt upset once again after he finished reading them.

Option Four: <Sunflower Helper (Level 4): Summon a Sunflower Helper that produces bright intense light from ambient aura or draws light intensely to create a zone of deep darkness. It can intensify nearby light or dim it per your will. Scales with Wonder.>

Option Five: <Grimoire of the Dread Mire Gator (Level 5): Through this folk tale of an ancient band of exiled elves, you can evoke the magic of the Dread Mire Gator. The grimoire must be summoned as a medium. You currently have 0 learned spells.>

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

Zarian informed Bianca of the skills, taking his time regarding the Sunflower Helper. She nodded with an undaunted smile.

Yeah, she had no regrets and no thoughts beyond wearing the dress of an ancient elven princess.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t judge much. Not when he already knew his choice: Grimoire of the Dread Mire Gator.

While the Sunflower Helper would’ve been an amazing skill for supporting light or dark abilities, Zarian’s heart was already set on anything grimoire related.

Hell, that crown would’ve helped immensely and kept my evil alignment hidden. But I would rather focus on having more spells.

Zarian was a wizard, and a wizard wouldn’t turn away from having another grimoire unless it was a terrible one. He would think twice about grabbing a grimoire using light spells … unless they were evil light spells that could coexist with darkness somehow.

Either way, Zarian would rather face the consequences of being evil while under the sun than give up on an interesting grimoire from a legendary achievement.

The selection window closed out. Zarian felt a new internal upgrade and a change to his profile. The System hooked him up, and when he checked, he found the new skill in his beta section.

Now he had a tough choice to make. What skills should be alpha or beta?

Straight Darkness +1 had benefited hugely from the ‘crashed out’ choice and grew from Level 16 to Level 23. It felt extremely powerful to Zarian. Far more powerful than what was necessary. It was hogging a spot in the alpha section other leveling skills could use.

He should shove the new soulbound grimoire in there, but he couldn’t overlook that Summon Spectral Spiders had advanced. The advancement happened when the spectral spiders retold the events of last night. Zarian hadn’t taken a deeper look at the changes until now.

<Your skill, Summon Spectral Spiders, leveled up from 9 to 10!>

<Your skill has advanced! From Summon Spectral Spiders to Spectral Spider Network!>

<Spectral Spider Network (Level 1): Summon hand-sized spider ghosts who carry a link with you and each other using phantom network threads. They are highly proficient in supernatural stealth, distraction, and rare arcane webbing. Through them, you can open direct communication channels and use their senses to perceive their world. Scales with Mysticism.>

Zarian reread the new version of the spectral spider skill multiple times. Then he resummoned his spiders, keeping them in the beta section. They seemed more fragile, appearing at Level 14.

At the very least, their translucency and stealth were greater than before. He also noticed glimmering links, the phantom thread network, that connected all of them with him and each other automatically, even when he summoned a new batch.

More phantom threads appeared, never tangling, always connected no matter the number or how they skittered around. He stopped at twenty and watched them move about slowly, checking their immediate surroundings or looking up at him.

He gave them no orders, so the spiders crawled away to explore. Zarian waited for them to spread before he concentrated on his skill.

His view of Bianca sashaying on the stone block split. He saw her normally and saw the world from a different perspective closer to the ground.

The on-ground perspective zoomed past blades of grass taller than his head and swerved around a titanic stone block lodged into the earth. It stopped in the shade of some shrubbery where lowly bugs crawled about, all Level 1s.

Then he, or it, or them, lunged onto the bugs, sinking his-their fangs into one, breaking past the thin shell and liquifying the internal flesh with venom. He could feel-taste the bug melting already, becoming the perfect meal.

Zarian pulled out of the voyeuristic perspective, his vision solely on Bianca still dancing in her elven princess dress. He hadn’t noticed until now that the outer gear, such as her sword belt and Lighthouse Falchion, had remained on the outside of the dress.

What had happened to the rags from before?

When he searched, he noticed they were on the ground.

The System had undressed Bianca before dressing her up in one smooth and dazzling magical girl sequence. For some reason, that struck Zarian as weird.

Bianca didn’t seem to mind, nor did she notice Zarian’s puzzlement after getting a very personal view of a spectral spider’s daily life. He could still taste the vivid memory of the bug’s shell and the gooey internals inside. That was going to stay with him for a while.

Worse yet, he was growing hungry because of his wild appetite.

Yeah, okay, I’m moving the new grimoire into the alpha section. Zarian figured he could effectively use the spiders as a spy and comms network even while it was in the beta section.

They wouldn’t see direct fighting anymore, which should be okay for them. He could consistently grow them by having them collect intel secretly. That was the perfect thing for a guy like him to have while heading into a populated and good aligned place.

Is the System looking out for me?

That would be awfully nice and convenient.

“I’m done,” Zarian said once he swapped around his skills.

He looked over at Bianca and saw that she was calmer now. The giddy craziness was still in her eyes, but she wasn’t acting out anymore.

Still, Zarian frowned. “You progressed a lot more than I expected. Don’t overshadow the others too much.”

Bianca shook her head. “I don’t plan to. I want to go back to supporting them.”

“Really?”

“It’s awesome that I can deliver real damage. But it’s like you said, my abilities can be costly. I think it’s better that I support while saving my heavy damage for when it’s really needed.”

Zarian opened and closed his mouth. A section of his Fraction Mind combed through her words and concluded that she had a strong point.

It would be more efficient if she held back and focused on supporting while saving the big laser for priority targets. It would also be more surprising and devastating that way against meaner enemies while keeping the emphasis on the party working as a team.

That was everything Zarian wanted in the end. But in his single-mindedness to help Bianca grow, he’d pushed her further than expected.

The epic dress was the cherry on top to crown how dangerous Bianca had become along with the potential to grow more powerful – at least when they were in a forest environment. Or if there were corpses around.

We’ll have to test that Corpse Bloom power later.

“That’s a good way to look at things. If it was anyone else, they would’ve been more selfish, Bianca,” Zarian said.

“You aren’t selfish.”

“I’m selfish in my own way.”

Bianca hopped over to him and looked down into his eyes. She was taller and had an attention-grabbing presence, although the latter didn’t always show very well with how she acted.

This time, she seemed more mature as she set her hands on his shoulders.

“Even if you’re selfish, you’re selfish in a way that isn’t too bad. A bit messy, but you mean well. Which is why I’m your friend, and I have your back.”

Zarian felt a twinge in his core and an awkward fluttering in his gut. Then, his bestial hunger kicked up again and reminded him he needed to eat many times more than a man his size should.

His stomach growled fiercely to hurry things along.

“Thanks, Bianca,” he said, patting her on the arm. “Let’s go find the others. I’m sure they have plenty to tell us about, and we can tell them plenty about our wolf-versus-wulver adventure.”

“Yeah!”

Ready to set off, Zarian scooped Bianca into his arms. He hesitated when he realized he was touching an ancient elven dress worn by a young Cuban woman in a super high fantasy world.

It was moments like these that reminded him he’d left Florida behind through a portal of his own making. He was living the life he always dreamed about. It was frankly amazing to consider.

“Ah, I know that look. You’re feeling the Wonder of it all!” Bianca sang, with her arms waving, her legs kicking, acting all happy against his chest.

Zarian shook his head at the silly young woman. The hood of the Parasite Cloak slid up on its own. Deep, impregnable darkness covered his face once again.

He hunkered down, ready to launch, but another series of notifications appeared.

<You’ve acquired ultimate divine attention (14/14)!>

<Compiling notifications for easier viewing!>

<Evil Goddess Shadowfell approves first!>

<Good Goddess Lovewar approves second!>

<Evil God Hisscreep, Good God Serveserf, and Good Goddess Hopeland approves!>

<Evil God Killall, Evil God Sinfeast, Evil God Goldhound, Evil Goddess Sickspread, and Good God Lawkeep withhold judgment.>

<Good God Purgehunt, Good Goddess Purehome, Good God Kingsblood disapproves!>

<Evil God The Dragon slumbers ….>

…

<Bianca Garcia, your good alignment grows: +3!>

…

<Zarian Darkrun, your evil alignment grows: +2!>

Before Zarian could reply, Bianca’s goodness erupted in his arms and threw him back off his feet. He struck the ground hard, cracking a few pieces of stone and digging a small crater to lie in.

He groaned before looking up and seeing Para’s tentacles catching Bianca’s arm, yanking it aside. A dime-size laser sliced past Zarian’s hooded head and drilled a hole into the ground.

“Wait, wait, no, you’re Zarian. You’re my friend. Sorry, sorry, lo siento, sorry.” Bianca kept apologizing while Zarian wrestled with his vengeful, dark feelings.

He kept those villainous and evil feelings bound under his control, having an easier time than Bianca. He’d only gone up to evil +2 while Bianca had jumped to good +3.

Nonetheless, he could feel the weight of Bianca’s goodness. The badness inside of him wanted to come out and eliminate her goodness forever.

Zarian hissed, breathing deep, in and out. I’m not evil. I’m evil aligned. Evil is a tool. Whatever cunning, dastardly, crazy thing that I can dig up from the darkness is not to be used on my friends or allies. Only on my enemies.

His evil +2 simmered down a little. But its presence lurked underneath the surface, waiting for a chance.

Zarian now had a solid idea what it meant to be evil. If good alignment felt empowered while taking on difficult and suicidal tasks, evil alignment felt more creative in how to approach problems, near or far.

So it comes down to that, huh? Good is powerful. Evil is intelligent.

The alignments were simple, if not stereotypical. Granted, Zarian could appreciate how that simplicity had proven itself both detrimental and awe-inspiring.

Zarian stood smoothly from the floor while completely at ease. “Shall we go?”

“Maybe not yet. I’m still dealing with this thing. It’s insane. But it feels so good.” Bianca hung weakly in Para’s tentacle grasp.

Zarian commanded Para to let her go, making Bianca stumble a little, mostly from shock. She looked both scared of herself and eager to eradicate the evil in front of her.

“We’re friends,” he said.

“We’re out of balance. I’m good +3 now,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter. We make our own decisions.” Zarian offered his hand. “We’re friends. Good and evil. Perfectly balanced in our party. No matter what.”

The corner of Bianca’s mouth twitched, her eyes flashing on and off with searing light. Then, finally, she reached over and grasped his hand shakily.

He gave her a small bop on the forehead with the knuckles of his free hand, surprising her. She nearly freaked out and blasted him again, but she kept herself contained at the last second. Her confusion was evident.

“That was for knocking me into the ground. And for nearly putting a laser through my eye. Now we’re even,” he explained.

With that, Bianca laughed. She contained her overwhelming goodness further before she hopped into his arms again.

Once secured, they flew off. Their diverging alignments settled down with more time and found some measure of peace.

Still, Zarian knew he was holding a dangerous woman in his arms. She was the perfect weapon of goodness, able to help him or kill him in equal measure. She wasn’t stronger than him, far from it, but she was still deadly.

For some reason, he didn’t feel any fear or worry.

He merely needed to be smart while improving himself and the others. He needed to control his alignment and not let his alignment control him. It was a tool, a dangerous and powerful tool, but a tool nonetheless.

Granted, there were some trouble spots.

Isn’t it foolish to have a check against your power? A part of his Fractured Mind hissed like a snake. What does it matter if power corrupts absolutely? As long as it’s your power, that’s all that matters.

“Fuck off,” Zarian muttered.

Bianca looked at him questioningly.

“I’m talking to myself. A part of my evil aligned mind wants to be a jerk. I won’t let that happen.” Zarian smiled fiercely. “I have a little sister to raise, and she’s watching me closely. I’m going to be the best Big Bro anyone can ever have.”

“Ariana? She’s watching? How do you know?” Bianca asked.

Zarian didn’t answer. He could tell her and the others once the party linked up again and traded some major info.

Hopefully, the others – Hannah, at the very least – would’ve learned more about the gods from Roland and his soldiers by now. Then Zarian could learn as much as possible before reaching Bramblevale.

I’m going to have to change my approach. The gods are being meddlesome. I don’t think being subtle is going to work anymore.

He would have to do the opposite and move in unexpected ways. Then he could be meddlesome in return, like a true Florida Man.

The gods and their peons better watch it or they gonna learn the meaning of ‘fuck around and find out.’