Chapter 36: Evil Forest Wulvers

Zarian’s entire body was on fire, the enjoyable kind. His mind was lit like a cluster of stars. He hadn’t eaten breakfast on purpose, allowing the unreasonable hunger to build up inside of him.

It was a new tool for him to test and explore.

For most of his life, Zarian’s hunger had tired him, hurt him, and made his development as a person difficult. When he was in the Marines, he’d eaten as quickly and as much as he could. He’d wanted to make up for the years of lack.

He’d loved the chow hall for letting him eat as much as he wanted, which became a regrettable loss when the Marines kicked him out.

For the first time in his life, Zarian chose to weaponize his hunger. He sharpened it with a combination of Tranquil Mind and Adrenaline Jolt. He benefited significantly from the Level 0 skills because of his rare aura traits, channeler and manipulation.

Adrenaline Jolt needed more attention because it scaled with his Agility stat, which was much lower than his Willpower that Tranquil Mind scaled with. That was no problem. He tweaked the balance between the two Level 0 skills to get the right amount.

Once perfected, Zarian felt like he was greased lightning on the edge of a sharpened knife. He had clarity and intensity supporting his Fractured Mind, going further than what most people would think was possible for someone who should be broken.

He could observe and act toward things with more ingenuity and snappiness than ever before.

He was zooming hardcore.

Hence why he daringly flew around thick branches and the stony trunks of towered trees like a death-seeking daredevil. He kept funneling power into the twin jets of darkness blasting from his feet with enough force to make the wind roar around him.

Bianca’s screams quieted until they went into another curvy, spiraling, seemingly impossible flight maneuver a jet fighter might find troubling.

They weren’t moving at jet speeds, of course.

Not yet, at least.

At some point, Zarian let go of the exhilarating flight thrills and softened up the ride, for Bianca’s sake.

Para’s tendrils unraveled from around Bianca while they went on a slow dive. Zarian waited for gravity to pull Bianca down into his arms, catching her shivering body.

From there, they entered a stable flight, the Parasite Cloak spreading wide into leathery wings with a bony frame, almost similar to a dragon-shaped glider.

Zarian provided the thrust with jets of darkness from his legs. He readjusted the levels of his tranquility and adrenaline until he was in the perfect heightened state of calm.

“Zarian, we’re flying,” Bianca said in between hiccups, face covered in tears and snot. “And it doesn’t feel scary anymore.”

“My bad, I was riding on all sorts of highs,” Zarian said, ignoring the brightness of the aging morning. He tried to consider the view from Bianca’s point.

The forest dirt and cobble floor was a hundred feet below them. Their flight took them through leafy gaps between tall and thick tree branches or around the stone-covered bark of towered trees.

When they moved clear of a forest line, they soared a little higher and watched uneven hillocks of fortresses, courtyard fields of wildflowers, and unkempt gardens roll underneath them.

“So this is what Lois feels in Superman’s arms, except it’s the evil Superman,” Bianca said, sniffling. “It’s kinda fun when it’s not scary.”

Zarian smiled from under the darkness of his hood.

With his arms exposed while holding onto the do-gooder, it took more effort to shroud himself in darkness and keep out the sunlight. Still, the effort was worth Bianca’s enjoyment and curiosity.

“Also, why did you pick me?” Bianca asked. “Is it really for laser cannons?”

“That, and I want to see if I can push you to get a new trait and more levels. I think outside of me, you have the potential to deliver the most damage to a large group of enemies.”

The monstrous wulvers looked like they were getting closer to eradicating the dire wolves completely. First with the adults. Then they would wipe out the pups.

“It’s evil!” Bianca declared.

“It might be a natural part of the forest,” Zarian said, before realizing he was wrong. His Fractured Mind went in a different direction based on the context of Bianca’s declaration. “Oh, you’re feeling out their evil alignment.”

Zarian didn’t notice evil overtly. He was evil, so the evil alignment felt natural to him. Bianca, however, noticed right away.

“Yeah, the wulvers are evil! And the dire wolves are neutral. This isn’t a natural battle. And look, the monsters are having fun hurting the dire wolves even when they can’t fight anymore! Zarian, we have to go now!”

It was more ideal to watch the battle proceed and strike in the aftermath. The spectral spiders could take their time laying traps and binding the monsters. Bianca would be safer that way since the wulvers were mid to high 30s in level and a great danger to her.

Besides, having to mitigate damage to the dire wolves complicated everything, especially when Bianca’s best skill affected a wide range. Going down now wasn’t the most optimal choice.

“Okay, let’s go,” Zarian said, throwing the smart thing aside.

He’d brought Bianca here to grow. He refused to block her progress even if she was being a happy-go-lucky do-gooder.

He had enough power to make up for that.

The Parasite Cloak folded, and they dropped from the sky at bomb diving speeds. Bianca didn’t cry at all. She tensed up in his arms, ready for the fight, searing light gathering in her palms.

She left her sword sheathed in the weapon belt they’d taken off the soldiers. She must’ve known her melee fighting would do her no good against ferocious monsters ten levels above her.

Zarian’s hunger peaked as his cloak spread wide, killing the momentum of their drop and casting a deep shadow on the hillock combatants. From the darkness under his widespread cloak, a hundred dark bolts flew out and struck over a dozen wulvers.

The monsters cried out as the flesh-pulping, bone-breaking, and painful hits knocked them down. Just like that, Zarian halted their momentum and ceased the eradication of the dire wolves.

Now it was time to let Bianca play.

Zarian landed with Bianca on the line between the invasive wulvers and the pack of dire wolves. He placed Bianca down on a cleared stone block. He could already feel her aura roil aggressively.

She was pushing her Searing Flash Array to its limit.

Meanwhile, Zarian turned away and looked at the bloodied and hurt dire wolves.

They looked back at him warily. Some growled, bearing fangs. He ignored their threats and used Para’s tendrils to grab one of their wounded. He carefully moved the wounded dire wolf up to the higher shelf of fortified stone the pack was was defending.

They’d been forced to retreat up to the entrance where their young pups hid, which worked out well for Zarian and Bianca. The Outsiders had higher ground here, at least above the invasive wulvers.

The dire wolf pack watched without attacking him, showing some intelligence. They stopped growling, and Bianca fired her biggest flash yet.

The daylight didn’t matter. In fact, it contributed to Bianca’s power. Her flash scorched the fur and flesh of six wulvers standing in a lane in front of her.

The other wulvers to the left and right of Bianca’s torrent of searing light suffered peripheral damage and were blinded. Bianca had a stroke of luck on the positioning, too, because nothing but invasive wulvers and corpses remained in front of her ferocious attack.

The wulvers howled, tripped backward, or swung their claws in a frenzy. The ones most affected rolled and tumbled with smoking fur and flesh, clawing at themselves savagely.

A few others howled with magic in their voices, piercing into Zarian’s mind and making him freeze up, becoming more vulnerable to counterattacks. Abilities that affected the mind directly, like Naomi’s, were a reminder to Zarian that he had his own list of vulnerabilities.

For now, at least.