Overpowered Wizard-Chapter 301: B3: C91: Welcome to Carrowmore 1

What is Carrowmore to you?

Zarian had asked this question nonchalantly to various folks he’d met or gotten to know the past year and some change. As he approached one of the grand entrances of the infamous city nation, his free evil +11 recalled the answers he’d received.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“I’ll never go back! Never! I can’t go back! It is a place where they smile, laugh, and skin you alive! It is a place where they’ll tell you that you are pretty and want to get inside of you and become you for the fun of it! It is a place where their webbing hooks to your joints and they make little toys out of you! It is a horrible place!

“It is a place that should be in Hidden Hell! I’ll never go back! Please don’t make me go, my alpha!” Ezda had once cried, showing more of her feelings as a free evil gnoll.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“Ah, that damn place, the master of all us evil adventurers across the Walled Continent. Maybe even further than that. Humph! It’s the place that I’ve served, that I’ve scrapped for, that I’ve bled for. It is, or it was, the way of life for a troll, especially of the proud Death Forested Marcher tribe.

“My father bled for Carrowmore. My father’s father bled for Carrowmore. We’ve all bled for Carrowmore. But we bleed for them no longer. We bleed for the great Ride-or-Die Empire! Now … when do we begin our march on Carrowmore to sack that place, hm, Dark Emperor?” Lord Hoodah the Hulk Meister had said, with a big mean smile on his gray face.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“Politics aside, I’ve heard grand legends and fantastical things born from such a bed of evil, many of which sounded too miraculous to me. I’ve heard that they play music at odd hours and dance in fantastical enchanted wardrobes. I’ve heard their greatest leaders, the Carrowmore Barons, are all dancers and that the greatest assassins of the entire world come from that cavernous city,” Arnold of Ambrose had once said while Zarian and his friends were leaving Central Bramblevale.

The next time Arnold had answered the question, he had something new to add. “I’ve become more learned as of lately after getting to know my new unlikely allies, chief among them Ezda, and I’ve concluded that Carrowmore is another gateway to Hidden Hell. I haven’t seen it for myself, no, but I imagine it being a fanciful entrance. With their jubilant celebrations, their marvelous crafts, their worldwide delights, and their fanged smiles. I think I’ll be pleased with myself if I never set foot in Carrowmore.”

What is Carrowmore to you?

“One of the greatest marvels to exist in the World of Castles and Caverns. One that I’m unlikely to see, even though I’ve secured us a mighty collection of books with their pages filled to the brim about Carrowmore and its splendors. In those books, I’ve read about how the streets are paved with legendary stones and that everyone dresses in legendary items as if it’s normal.

“It is not a place for the like of us mere mortals, or so I thought. Now that I’ve come to serve under you and My Lady Hannah, I imagine I’ll see greater wonders here at our empire than what Carrowmore offers,” Rhea Hemlock had answered.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“It’s where Ekri the Tailor is from, and a place that my old mother had talked spitefully about. She was envious of Carrowmore. She’d never gotten an invitation or any respect from there. I don’t really care for it, Father, other than it’s a place for the greatest of tournaments,” Foodie had answered.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“My doom,” Dawson of the Vulture Adventurer Guild had said.

“A place that should be devastated with one solid holy smite,” Gisella of the Vulture Adventurer Guild had grunted.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“Somewhere I don’t belong. I would get turned into someone’s fossilized display in Carrowmore. I’m not going there, am I?” Wallen had answered nervously.

What is Carrowmore to you?

“It is the last place I’ve yet to have my vengeance upon,” Ruvaria the Genocider had answered. “The Star System won’t allow it. So, I’ve waited. And I still wait.”

What is Carrowmore to me?

Zarian redirected the question to himself and to Para just as they neared the entrance to Carrowmore, surrounded by loud, magical, and foreign adventurer creatures from around the Infinita Star System Universe.

Para and his shade spiders kept a lookout for danger as Zarian’s first foray into Carrowmore landed with some oomph that had caught him off guard.

The entrance was framed in mythical valuables…

MYTHICAL!

Golds.

Emeralds.

Rubies.

Diamonds.

Precious metals.

All of it fused, encrusted, and engraved into a solid but elegant frame that was five hundred feet tall and two hundred feet wide. And at the top of the entrance was a decorative sign that was solid black mythical steel with the common font of ‘Welcome to Carrowmore’ engraved boldly on its face.

If it wasn’t for Zarian’s mask, he would’ve looked like a gasping, wide-eyed fish.

Granted, everyone else was doing the impersonation for him once they realized the immense quality of the entrance.

More notable were the contestants who didn’t notice right away. There were far more who were strangely ignorant than Zarian would expect.

At the very least, Zarian’s nearest associates weren’t as ignorant.

“By the great beards of my forefathers! How could anyone use precious mythical materials for a damn entrance?!” roared Valin with a thunderous voice.

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“Arty, is that all real mythical?” asked the leader of the drop troopers.

“Yeah, Rocket, my scans are giving me all mythical,” said one of the drop troopers, Arty.

Rocket turned to his other troopers. “Turret, Shield, thoughts?”

“Fucking aye, that’s worth a lot isn’t it? You think we can nab a piece? Could make for some rad weapons,” said the drop trooper named Turret.

“Or for some solid armor. Wearing mythical would make us invincible,” said the fourth drop trooper, Shield.

Zarian knew right away that anyone who tried to snatch a piece of the entrance was in for a bad time. Hell, he didn’t even have to warn them. Someone did the work of being an example, earning them the classic Darwin Award.

Shouts and screams sounded from the front of the herding contestants. Sweeping his aura over the areas near the corners of the mythical framed entrance, Zarian found charred remains of the fools who’d tried to steal from the cursed doorframe.

He didn’t even give the mythical frame a proper and thorough examination. His free evil +11 knew such a thing would’ve been booby trapped with a mythical curse.

Hell, the more they herded through the entrance, the more he could feel the raw and deadly magic waft off the entrance. Still, he gave it a decent read and compared his power to it.

He could beat the entrance, which wasn’t something to be particularly proud of, but it was still notable.

Everyone else, at least from what he could see, wasn’t looking or acting as confident as they were earlier in the face of the sheer wealth and power on display. They scrambled away from the corners, squeezing out what little space remained among the herd until Zarian became too uncomfortable to walk.

It was a risk, but he took to the air above the heads of Valin and the drop troopers, making himself stand out even more with his nine fox tails wavering about from behind him.

Thankfully, there were more arresting things ahead of him than his flight that drew the attention of his would-be opponents.

There were wards that blocked full perception past the entrance, making it seem dark and intimidating. With his new abilities, Zarian found holes and weaknesses in the wards that shouldn’t be there, frankly, based on the impressive nature of the doorway frame.

But he figured Carrowmore wasn’t a perfect place, merely a showy and evil one.

Finding a gap in the wards, he took a peek inside, found no immediate danger, then continued to follow along with the herd while remaining above them. He continued to experience things properly once they passed the threshold fully.

Immediately, Zarian heard music. The loud and bombastic sort, too. There hadn’t been any outside, but the moment they passed through the mythical cursed entrance, an orchestral ensemble that reminded Zarian of a mix of gothic and renaissance played from seemingly everywhere.

The orchestral music made the sort of noise that made you want to spiral around in massive and shiny ballrooms while fearing for your life as a smiling serial killer chased you from behind.

And before anyone could properly respond to that, the driders appeared, swinging on ropes or seats made of webbing, or frolicking along bridges of the stuff, while strung between colorful and shiny structures made of legendary materials.

The place really was paved with legendary stone and such.

“Welcome to Carrowmore, oh great contestants!” shrilled a drider woman in a legendary dress, flipping through the air.

“Welcome to Carrowmore! Welcome, welcome!” shouted a drider man, while standing on a platform made of legendary wood. “It’s lovely to have you all. So many have arrived. And so many more are still on their way. Though not all our contestants will get to visit our dear city before the tournament starts, so it’s a joy to have the ones who made it here now!”

“Such a joy! Such a joy!” cackled another female drider, twirling on a gold spire hundreds of feet in the air.

Despite the volume of the music, despite the volume of the contestants, all the voices of the welcoming driders were clear and packed with magic.

Zarian didn’t even need to perceive them with aura and his devourer trait to know they were powerful Master Rankers, most likely in the Level 130s or above.

That didn’t intimidate him much, but based on the body language and the looks from the contestants below him, they seemed mighty intimidated.

It was then that Zarian realized something interesting that he hadn’t bothered to investigate just yet. He wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for how strange the contestants were acting.

So, he risked angering a few by identifying them with his devouring trait while practicing as much subtlety as possible. And to his surprise, the ones he investigated noticed nothing wrong at all, his identifying maneuver going unchallenged across a bunch of them.

The reason for that was both simple and shocking. Most of the contestants had rare-quality classes! Some others had epic-quality classes, but the rare-quality ones outnumbered the latter.

The realization struck Zarian like a lightning bolt, and he wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t for how distracted they all were, and how they all acted … weak.

Yes, the mythical cursed entrance leading into Carrowmore was a shocker, but proper Master Rankers should’ve recovered themselves fully and keep their wits about them.

Instead, they continued to be impressed upon by the constant new sounds, sights, and jubilant but dangerous energy that Carrowmore evoked with ease.

Who the hell let in these weak Master Rankers?

It was like inviting piglets to the slaughter!

Sensing Zarian losing himself to outrage, Para jumped in via mind:

Zarian, let’s not forget that our circumstances and growth are probably unique for even most Master Rankers. It’s possible that most of these adventurers had started with common classes at Level 10, then uncommon classes by Level 40. Then they might’ve gotten a chance at a rare or even epic class by Level 100.

Zarian still couldn’t wrap his mind around that.

All the members in the current Dragon Slayer Corps had rare classes at the very least. Hell, plenty of adventurers across the World of Castles and Caverns had rare classes, like Dawson and Gisella.

Para continued: Must I remind you that the World of Castles and Caverns has reached a point that it must ascend to the Greater Realm after the tournament? Perhaps it might seem like a weak place because we are strong, but I dare say Corma is one of the strongest worlds of the Lesser Realm. Hence, why so many are gathering in our world for the One Thousand Year Tournament.

Zarian knew Para was right.

He could figure all of this out by diving deep into his free evil +11, but there was still a mental dissonance he was struggling to get past.

It was hard to reconcile the weakness of these Master Rankers because of his own personal experiences and how much growth he’d seen from himself and from others.

It was hard to imagine that he could drop Bianca in the middle of these would-be contestants and she could kill most of them with a few flicks of light. These people were supposed to be Zarian’s would-be opponents, yet Bianca could treat them like they were trash.

Bianca’s not a great example. She can slice through angels with one hit and split the sky, Para argued.

Well, fine then. Maybe Bianca was already overpowered, but Zarian could see Gilbert smashing his way through most of these contestants.

Para mentally sighed. Yes, yes, all our friends can outdo most adventurers. But you have to think about this rationally. There will be many Master Rankers who are weaker than us. This is easy to see by looking at our rank as the 4th Master Mage of the entire universe, including the Master Rankers in the Greater Realm above.

However, that doesn’t mean we won’t face Master Rankers who are legendary or mythical from other worlds. It is likely that they are hiding themselves by seeming weak. They might not be here around us now, or they might be able to mask themselves from our notice.

Everyone is measuring each other right now if they’ve made it to Carrowmore. The stronger and smarter ones will stay out of direct attention. We should do our best to stay hidden and seem epic just like the outfit of our personas.

With all that said by Para, everything clicked into place for Zarian.

He imagined Isaiah Skybreaker as someone with a legendary class who was trying to hide himself with epic gear. Of course, Zarian wouldn’t limit himself to only legendary measures – he had too many mythical spells for that – but it would make his persona more airtight.

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That and the bloodline debuff for hiding himself should help sell his cover as long as nobody had a mythical identifying trait. He would have to find such people and kill them quickly, if he could out them.