A town on edge
Author: Arch Angel
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

It soon became clear to Fiona that something was hunting the citizens of the town. It's why they avoided dark alleys, looked about in trepidation, and jumped at noises. It seemed like the Chief was trying to keep this information contained but rumors had spiraled out of his control after people started going missing.

Seeing as she was in a unique position, she decided to float over the city for a night to see what showed up.

Most people were smart and locked themselves in at night, not braving the uncertain streets. But there were always a few fools. On this night it was a drunk man. She watched him stumble past the mouth of an alley and something dark reached out and pulled him in with a scream.

She was already racing to that alley to see if she could stop whatever this thing was but by the time she arrived the man and whatever had taken him was gone. The only thing that remained was a few drops of blood to show what had transpired.

Fiona decided she may be over her head alone so she
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  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   vetting process

    The three of us followed the silent woman as she led us to the Chief’s residence. It was easy to tell how opulent the place was, even more so than Fiona’s description. I noticed pillars carved from some sort of ivory. Just the amount of detail work put into items meant to hold up a roof was beyond the norm.At first, I thought they looked a little like runes but I felt no magical power emanating from them. There also wasn’t any connecting structure to the designs, almost like it was random. I knew true randomness wouldn’t look as good as this effect though.Besides the intricately carved columns, there were the golden filigreed beams overhead. The design was more subdued there, as it ran across the beams like branches, with leaves of gold. I didn’t quite understand why someone would build that much detail into something most people would overlook but I could at least admire the craftsmanship that went into the design.The outer walls of the building were wooden paneled and displayed a

  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   The lies beneath

    I had to stop myself from leaping across the table and throttling the older man on the far side. It was a close thing, my rage barely kept in check by an almost imperceptible shake of Fiona’s head. I didn’t sit either, preferring to remain standing, my armor, and weapon at the ready.I knew most of it was leftover adrenaline from my fight, but there was always the simmering pot of anger below the surface. It had been so long since I let my emotions out that I was ready to burst. I knew it wasn’t healthy but after Javier’s betrayal, it was going to be difficult to work my way back to normal. That had been another reason for this trip, mindless violence helped me get a grip on the caged beast and relieve some of the pressure. Apparently not enough if I was this wound up after what amounted to a friendly duel, even if it was done without consulting either of us.“I understand your anger, outsider, but in order for you to help us, I need to tell you something only privileged people are al

  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   The hunt

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  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   Elusive catch

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  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   infiltration

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  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   Overdue return

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  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   The hunt is on

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  • Mana System In The Apocalypse   

    Fight For Affection

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    Epilogue

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    The devil you know

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    A Valuable Lesson

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    Unexpected arrival

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    Beachhead

    The meager fleet of ships I was now in charge of, rose from the dock and slowly spiraled into the air to get above the mist. The chaotic coloration of the mana storm was visible in the distance even through the mist. That meant the enemy was almost upon the island.The Retribution was the first ship to breach the thick covering and it was no surprise to see the enemy ships had spread out in a crescent shape to surround the island. Enemy fast attack craft zipped toward our location and I double-checked that everything was working as it should. I had also turned the mana accumulator back on.I sometimes wished I had been able to fit multiple layers of shielding on the ship. But my experiments in that regard had not gotten anywhere. Shields that close together acted like soap bubbles. Either they popped completely or merged together, but it didn’t increase the strength of the shield when they did. The only way to prevent this was to have separate bubble shields that only covered a certai

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    The Storm

    After weeks of sitting around, the Retribution finally got to fly again.Knowing we were leaving, the harbor was a beehive of activity. Cobbled together crews were drilling aboard the other captured pirate ships. The people knew it wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when another enemy would appear.As soon as Khikall got us away from the docks and any possible collision, I engaged the cloak. It was far more effective now that I could enable and disable the automatic recharging system. The massive disruption of mana we used to leave in our wake was now a tiny trail.I hadn’t had time to figure out a way to smooth our passing completely but this would have to do. I also had Em’ah watching for trails from a crudely assembled periscope. Now she didn’t need to be on the deck to use her Mana Sense skill.Speaking of skills… I had picked up a few from the last fight. I also managed to finally hit level twenty in my Maw of the Void class. I stuck two of my stats in Strength, one in Endura

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    Troubled water

    I watched as the workers placed the last armor panel in position and began to weld it into place. It had taken a few weeks to repair the damages from our fight but the Retribution was looking almost new.The replaced sections were clearly visible by the heat transfer in the titanium. I could easily fix that when I turned the thermal defenses on. It should make everything a uniform color. Paint would work too, I suppose, but why cover up the beauty of the metal.It was a good thing the ship was complete, over the last few days, we had been getting reports from the Guild merchant ships that were stopping to trade, and they weren’t good.Large fleets of pirate ships spotted raiding islands. The Capital of the Avulian Protectorate was sacked and all of the leadership missing. The remaining fleets of the Protectorate were attacking any ship that wasn’t theirs or the Guild's. Cities burning due to the slaves I helped free, it was madness and it was spreading.Already I could hear concerned

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    Turncoat

    Captain Grulaine hissed in annoyance as his second in command handed him his “orders”. His second flinched back and hurried out of the room. If he hadn’t, Grulaine may have cut him down in a fit of pique. It galled Grulaine to be under the thumb of another. He had gotten rid of his father for that very same reason. And now thanks to a series of unfortunate events, he found himself beholden to the damn pirate king Black Gar’s lap dog.How was he to know the repair yard where he went was controlled by that snake. If he had he certainly wouldn’t have agreed to the loan to effect repairs to his cannons and ship. Repairs that had taken far longer than necessary, and left Grulaine on the sidelines as the entire protectorate seemed to be crumbling around him. An opportunity-rich environment he wasn’t able to take advantage of.But that wasn’t the most galling part. He found that his repairs were delayed on purpose so Gar could tighten his stranglehold on the local pirates. By the time Grulai