Overpowered Wizard

Other than being chained and enslaved at the bottommost layer of the Grimrock Hell Gate, Foodie had faced many incredible and horrible things in her ten years of life.

She’d killed and eaten the corrupted members of the fallen Green Hop Explorers, some of whom were family. She’d also killed and eaten weak adventurers who foolishly ignored her warnings about the Grimrock Warlock.

She’d fed and given aid to a promising group of Outsiders, chief among them being the honorable and dreadful Zarian Darkrun. But she’d also made the mistake of letting Jack live as a token offer to Zarian.

She’d thought Jack would serve as a stepping stone to the wizard.

She hadn’t considered how much support Jack would get from both sides of the alignments, good and evil, turning him into a murdersome and arrogant tormentor who liked to go out his way to hurt her while she was bound into inaction by the reinforced slave mark.

She’d seen Zarian Darkrun in a mirror, which led to her chatting with her goddess, Shadowfell, for the first time in her life. It was around then that Foodie realized she’d done the right thing in helping Zarian and his friends. She’d recognized how fast they were growing, accomplishing many incredible Feats of Adventure in a brief span.

She’d faced the dark death of all things, the Darkrun Apocalypse. Instead of staying dead, she’d found herself brought to life.

She’d seen her mother and Jack lose their minds to fear and rage. She’d witnessed them become far worse than imaginable, revealing to Foodie that the alignments were truly two faces of the same coin.

Each side, Mother and Jack, evil and good, had abused her, hurt her, and made her feel less-than, while forcing her to feed them cheap stats from her food at the expense of her freedom and destiny.

But there were many days where Foodie had felt hopeless and wanted the release of death once again. There were many days she’d wanted the darkness to come back again and end all things, freeing her from this sad life.

But there were many nights where Foodie had slept and found herself in a mysterious dream that comforted her, giving her solace. In that dream, Foodie had explored or laid about in a vast, dark, and silky plane that rose and dipped like dunes across a desert.

The dream realm had held nothing there but her, yet she hadn’t ever truly felt alone. It had felt like she was existing in the middle of a vastly superior presence who wanted to look out for her. It had felt like she was on the lap of a maternal figure she could trust.

Sometimes, Foodie had made requests to the invisible figure, and she had gotten nothing, or she had gotten something delightful that could only exist in dreams. Like tea parties. Or cuddly soft toys called dolls that her father had once written about in his journals and promised to get her.

Most of the time when Foodie had gotten something in her dreams, it was new recipes and ingredients for her to practice with.

Sometimes, she’d heard a distant voice that flowed around her like a gust of wind, filling Foodie with love and tragedy. Then, when the dreams had ended, Foodie had shedded a few tears, but came out feeling able to take on another day of torment.

Today, however, was one of those days that didn’t go like the others.

The presence in her dreams revealed herself more than ever before.

Foodie couldn’t catch the woman’s full visage, however.

Instead, Foodie witnessed a dark, alluring, and shadowy figure take on the shape of a humanoid woman. One who stood grandly at the peak of power and made Foodie collapse to her knees in her own dream.

Only then did Foodie realize who was keeping her company in her dreams this whole time.

“You’ve done well, little one,” Evil Goddess Shadowfell said. “Your tragic origins have been quite the exquisite drink for me to sip upon. Yet, all enjoyable things, tragic and otherwise, must end, must die, and must become something else. It is time for you to live beyond the shadow of tragedy.”

“Why, my goddess?” Foodie asked. “If my pain is yours to enjoy, why will you let me go?”

“Because what is tragedy without joy? You will shine quite bright after this, but the shadow you leave behind will remain very dark. It will follow you, and because of that, you will achieve great things. This is my gift to you, among others.”

The dream ended.

Foodie woke up to another day at the border between true hell and the Grimrock Hell Gate. She’d done all the cooking Mother wanted already, leaving with her no objective purpose.

Today, Foodie found herself bound by chains to a post at the temple entrance. Under her was one of many platforms that made up a large ziggurat erected for the Grimrock Warlock.

Whenever Foodie wasn’t slaving as a cook, she became a thing for the warlock to show off. So far, a dozen powerful visitors from the deeper layers of Hidden Hell, such as royal devils, had paid a visit and marveled over her, a mythical slave cook.

The hellish visitors had crossed the portal temporarily to act as benefactors or make deals with Mother. All of them looked at Foodie with deep and disgusting desires, wishing to own her and do what they like with her.

But Mother had always steered the conversation away from Foodie and back toward herself, not out of love, but because Foodie was a treasure everyone wanted. Mother, of course, wanted that treasure to herself most of all.

Foodie had expected to see more of the same today.

She’d expected more denizens of hell to pass through the portal. She’d expected to see many demons packed together or fight and die to the aberrations of Shadowfell circling the camp.

She’d expected more temporary visitors who were royal rulers from various layers of Hidden Hell. She’d expected Mother to come around and gloat. She’d expected Jack to spit at her and make bold threats about how he would make Zarian suffer before sealing him away.

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Foodie had expected to remain a slave with a powerful mark that refused her to let her act on her own and decide things for herself.

She hadn’t expected a series of bold notifications to appear that were meant for world leaders. The notifications hovered above her head, within view of herself, Mother, and the royal devils paying a visit to the temple.

<The Dark Lord is here! The Dark Lord is here! Zarian Darkrun and his Floridian Party have arrived at the war camp of the Grimrock Hell Gate at the Grimrock Castle Mountain Region of the Walled Continent.>

<This is a Legendary Hell Gate Event! A Hell Break is imminent, but standing in your way is the Dark Lord, who is a Dungeon Master, a Freedom Leader, an Aura Master, an Alpha Gnoll Elder, a Wizard Hunter, and many other things!>

<His overwhelming power can bring about the end of the Infinita Star System and beyond. But that’s the least of your concerns! His mad wizardry and parasitic wardrobe is far more horrifying, making the act of death seem benign compared to facing his lesser known abilities.>

<Once again, a Hell Break is imminent! Your Grimrock War Camp must defeat the Dark Lord and his Floridian Party to make the Hell Break official! You must stop the Dark Lord from closing the portal at the very least. He will also aim to kill the Grimrock Warlock, put down Jack Masters, and secure the Mythical Cook!>

<Beware! Evil Goddess Shadowfell is the supreme divine authority of the Grimrock Hell Gate. But she can be both a friend and a foe. Her allegiance to the Dark Lord or the forces of hell is nebulous. Perhaps she will grant you aid with her many corrupted aberrations. Or she will cause tragedy to strike down upon you all!>

<It is up to you all to make a Hell Break happen. Or you should run back into Hidden Hell and avoid the horrors the Dark Lord and the Floridians can bring upon you. They have quite the saying for that…>

<Fuck Around and Find Out.>

“What?” Mother said haughtily. “Shouldn’t the System warn them about us? I will capture the Dark Lord, make my daughter turn him into a delicious meal, and take his power for myself.”

Foodie had something stinging to say on her tongue. She hadn’t spoken for a while, but she could tell Mother was a little rattled while trying to pose a powerful front for her visitors.

But then she heard Jack screaming like a lunatic. She would’ve ignored him like usual if it wasn’t for the name he called out in challenge.

Zarian was here.

Foodie felt her heart wrench. Shivers traveled from the crown of her head, down her spine, and to the tips of her toes.

Her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly and shook her head. The evil alignment helped her with her useless emotions.

She saw Jack flying like a shooting star. Then an eruption happened in the far distance, near the corridor leading out.

Foodie couldn’t quite tell what was happening after that, but she believed Jack had finally found someone to shut him up. He wasn’t talking very much anymore. It was hard to tell with all the millions of demons squirming about in the war camp.

Nothing else seemed to come about that was immediate, so Foodie was going to turn to see what her mother was up to when another impossible thing happened.

A massive reptilian burst upward from the edge of the war camp near the corridor. It flew up and up until its entire form left the hole it came from or the portal that summoned it.

Then its mile-long body came crashing down on tens of thousands of demons. The impact was huge. Foodie couldn’t fathom the level of destruction and death of that one event with a massive monster making its arrival.

The immense creature had six eyes. Six legs. A fat, scaley, and armored head, with teeth that extended up and down from its carnivorous jaws.

Its huge and muscular tail swept from side to side, crushing and killing more demons behind it.

When it moved its bulk forward, nothing could stop it. Everything became crushed in its path as its heavy underbelly slid across the ground, paving a path forward behind it.

Demons of all sorts, imps especially, hurled everything they could at the enormous reptile. Their hellfire and demonic magic did nothing but glance off its armored hide.

The titanic reptile trampled over more and more demons while charging straight toward the portal.

“Go! Show your stuff as proud and divine lords! What are you doing just standing there?” Mother screamed at her devilish advisors.

Foodie paid them little mind as the mile-long reptile crossed the distance easily, its every step causing earthquakes that shook the ziggurat.

Then something small jumped off its scaly back. The relatively tiny figure headed toward the barrier surrounding the ziggurat.

Foodie wanted to warn the incoming person. The barrier would eradicate them if they tried to pass through, and nothing could break it.

She couldn’t say a thing when a strange sort of fire that was glassy, twisted, and unlike any flame appeared. Foodie had never seen such fire, but she instinctively knew it was trouble, her high Wonder stat warning her.

The strange fire struck in a tremendous outpouring that covered the top of the barrier. Then the fire did something that made Foodie and her mother gasp in shock. It broke through.

The barrier cried, distorted, and collapsed.

The fiendish glassy flames ate more and more of the barrier, as if the magic of the Grimrock Warlock was a delectable meal. Then, through the collapsing barrier, a man came crashing down.

Or it had seemed like that before he suddenly stopped with inches to spare below his shadowy boots. Then he dropped fully while only ten feet away from Foodie’s chained up position on a post.

She had an upfront view of the new arrival.

Foodie had faced many incredible and horrible things in her ten years of life, but Zarian Darkrun was the greatest among those things.

He’d grown wider, more muscular, vastly stronger. The aura around him felt so thick and palpable, Foodie almost wanted to cower a little. His aura felt powerful, much more powerful and capable than hers.

Around his waist and legs, the strands of a kilt with glimmering lights shining from its edges flowed and waved with a will of its own, both wondrous and mystical.

On his head was a crooked and conical hat that had some monstrous features, such as teeth, leathery skin, and a demented dark force about it.

Then there were his eyes. Dark like the deepest and blackest pit in the void. But within those dark wells were glints of light, pure and radiant, like concentrated aura shards.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Foodie felt lost in those eyes. She felt like there was safety in the darkness of those eyes, just like she found safety in the dark dream realm made of Shadowfell’s lap.

Then Foodie saw the white smile slashing across his dark face. A smile like that would be a nightmare for his enemies to see.

For Foodie, however, she felt comfort.

That smile was the same smile he’d given her when they first met. It was the same smile from when they talked using the mirror.

Evil Goddess Shadowfell hadn’t lied once.

Foodie had suffered enough.

The future … was looking brighter.

Maybe even … freer.

“Sorry for making you wait,” he said. “But I’m here to save you now. I’m going to set you free.”

Foodie tried not to cry. She opened her mouth and spoke with a raspy voice she hadn’t used in a while. “And I’m going to cook for you and your friends.”

She wanted nothing more than to cook right now. To be set free to make whatever she wanted in service of someone great like Lord Zarian.

She didn’t even care that his apocalyptic power had killed her once and led to many changes. He was fulfilling his promise for her in ways nobody else could.

But, of course, the forces of hell and Foodie’s mother tried to get in the way.

Thankfully, Foodie had quite the position to see for herself how far Zarian had grown. He was no longer the scrawny and weak wizard he’d seemed to be when they first met.

Foodie quickly realized why the Star System had warned the leaders of the Grimrock Hell Gate.

So is this what ‘fuck around and find out’ looks like? Foodie thought as Zarian rampaged about. Is this because he’s from Florida? Or is it because he is Zarian Darkrun?

Maybe the answer was somewhere in the middle.