While I was thinking about the tempting idea of obtaining the Ring of Wishes from Overlord, I did not forget to pay attention to my surroundings. After all, I had not set a precise teleportation target, so I ended up... somewhere again.
Somewhere in an ordinary American town called Raccoon... I mean, Raccoon City. I had spotted a large billboard from the rooftop of the building I was currently standing on.
"Oh, Resident Evil... zombies again." I recalled where I had heard that name. "Screw zombies..." I fired a portal beneath me and jumped through, reappearing in Arendelle. Bright, colorful, and fairy-tale-like... without excessive blood and dismemberment.
I had already had enough of the Ishimura. What if I caught some kind of virus? And then the Disney world would turn into Zombie Disney...
In Arendelle, everything was as usual. Meaning, more or less positive. The queen and her sister were currently in the castle, carefully planning the alliance with the Kingdom of Corona. After all, it is only in fairy tales that things are simple...
Ah, right...
This was a bit too realistic for a fairy tale. Or rather, Disney had always been just cartoons and stories to me... but was that really the case? This is one of countless worlds, after all. Thinking of it as just a fairy tale is simply foolish.
What I mean is, in a cartoon they would just shake hands and declare themselves allies. But in reality, a true alliance means bureaucracy and political commitments. What kind of alliance? Trade? Military? Both?
I have no deep knowledge of what such a pact should include, but I am sure it is far more complex than a few lines and promises.
Since the girls were busy, I pulled out my laptop and started watching the first season of Overlord. And there it was, near the end — the ring.
"Come to daddy..." With a quick motion, I pulled the "Shooting Star Ring" out of the screen. In my hand, it looked like an ordinary, albeit beautiful, ring with three rectangular gemstones set in the center. Maybe some expert would call it a masterpiece, but I was neither an expert nor a connoisseur.
"In the game, it granted three wishes without consuming experience... and I cannot take a second one." I tested it on another frame of the anime just in case, and yes — I could not extract another one. It simply slipped away.
So I pulled out the cloning machine from The Sims and placed the ring inside. It had worked with the portal gun, so it should work here too... hopefully. By that point, I had already moved to an uninhabited island in this world. I did not want to experiment in the kingdom — just in case there were consequences.
The portal gun was a technological creation, while the ring was magical. Maybe it would not work. But it was worth trying.
On the first attempt, I successfully cloned the ring. The second attempt failed. The third succeeded again. In the end, I made about thirty attempts, and ten of them worked.
So now I had eleven rings of wishes, each with three charges.
"Now for the test..." I put one of the cloned rings on my finger and immediately felt... something strange. Hard to describe — as if my mind had become clearer, and something immense rested in my hands.
"I wish..." As soon as I spoke, the ring warmed up, as if preparing itself. The very space around me seemed to tremble in anticipation.
"...to gain full access to and master the tiered magic system of Yggdrasil, fully understanding how it works. Organize everything into a system window where I can choose what suits me and what can be granted."
I also imagined how it should look and mentally instructed the ring to use more than one charge if necessary.
After I finished speaking and shaping the intent in my mind, reality stretched like a taut string and...
A window appeared before me, styled like Yggdrasil, containing all possible magic from that world. From Tier 0 to Tier 10. One of the gemstones on the ring lit up.
The selection was enormous. Tiered magic — the magic of Players — was structured and understandable, unlike Wild Magic. There were over six thousand spells divided into four categories: Arcane, Divine, Spiritual, and Alternative, each spanning ten tiers.
I had also considered trying to become a Player myself... but I had not finished the novel, so who knows? What if Players are actually victims of something? I vaguely remembered they were transported due to some dragon using Wild Magic...
In any case, I did not want any systems. I already had enough chaos in my head. Learning magic this way was better. And if the other rings worked, I could grant myself maximum magical resistance and immense physical strength.
That would be more than enough.
The window showed countless branches of magic, along with a limit bar at the top — apparently based on my body, magic, and, surprisingly... my soul.
"Wow... there is a lot here..."
I spent several hours on the island reading through different spells. Eventually, I made my choices. First, I selected elemental spells from Tier 1 to Tier 10. Then various defensive spells and damage resistances from Tier 8. A short-range teleportation spell. And finally, a Tier 10 spell — Black Hole.
And that was it. The bar filled up completely.
"Well, I have never really been a mage. In games, I usually played warriors." I shrugged.
The next moment, everything lit up, and knowledge flooded my mind as if I had studied it for years.
"Alright... Lightning Sphere..." A wave of magical electricity burst outward from me. A solid Tier 3 spell. I could even feel how to enhance it with additional casting structures.
"Hmm... Fireball..." The tree in front of me exploded.
"Not that impressive compared to a mech..." I muttered.
I guess I am more of a physical fighter than a mage. I do feel excitement, but not overwhelming amazement. When I got spider powers, that felt more impactful.
Maybe if I had taken all magic and mastered it perfectly... but honestly, I am too lazy.
"Alright, ring, you still have two charges left... but let us try another one." I picked up another ring and put it on. "I wish to gain the maximum possible physical strength without drastically changing my physique."
I already knew I did not have to say it out loud. The intent was enough.
Reality trembled again, and I felt my muscles surge with power. My body grew slightly larger, but only slightly. I still looked relatively lean.
The cloned rings worked just like the original.
"Alright, now I wish..."
I continued experimenting. I granted myself resistance to magic and physical attacks, as high as possible within the ring's limits. I tried wishing for a World Item, but that failed... though I could always extract one from the anime later.
Not that I really cared.
But I did maximize my magical potential. Even if I did not plan to become a mage, having more magic was better than less.
Eventually, I got bored of making wishes and decided to open a portal to a familiar world, just to test my new power and have some fun. I could afford it.
After all, I did not really have any clear goals.
Conquer the world? Boring. Gain godlike power? Not that appealing either. Sure, it sounds nice, but... there is always someone stronger.
I remembered the most powerful Reality Sculptor I had read about and nodded to myself.
Against beings like that... I would not stand a chance.