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2024-10-29 19:42:56Bella was able to keep up with the slower pace that the quads had to travel, the road too rough to go any faster.
I asked Martin how long the trip would take."Not sure, this will be our first trip since the world went to shit."I looked at the man, expecting him to be joking, he wasn't. I groaned but it wasn't like I had anything better to do.We ran into a few wandering monsters, I let the others handle them for the most part, only involving myself if the creature became dangerous."Paul, why don't you fight the monsters?""No point, plus you three need to level more than I do.""Wait? How do you know we're at a lower level?""A skill I picked up called Identify. There are other variants of the skill but you should be able to pick up one in the Bazaar if you're interested.""So many things that we don't know," Martin said with a frown."The only advice I can really give is, experiment, try ne
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Mana System In The Apocalypse Failed Attempt
It was about an hour before the others returned, riding out from the portal. They seemed happy so that was a good sign. I walked up to them after they stopped."Well, how did the shopping go?"Martin turned to me, "Oh hey, Paul, it went well. This place really does have everything.""I don't see any items, so I assume you guys bought storage rings?""Yep, for the price, they were worth it. Got us three mana generators as well, plus a few other things. You ready to head back, we want to get these mana engines installed as soon as possible?""No, I have to stay for the night, one of my purchases takes some time to complete.""Well, you're more than welcome to come back to Arman, another able body is always welcome."The other two nodded."You know, I think I just might. I'll see you guys in a few days. I plan to explore the area a bit before heading back.""Alright, Paul, stay safe," Martin said with a gr
Mana System In The Apocalypse Creatures
I tested the effect by slicing my arm. That was a mistake. After my vision returned I found myself lying on the floor. I quickly healed the cut and stood up. That was definitely an effect I was going to add. It did require mana to activate though so I needed to find a control rune. I certainly didn't want it activating every time I touched something, it would drain my mana way too quickly.I settled on uruz, which had two distinct designs, the one I chose looked like an angled doorway and stood for gateway. The other one inguz stood for work. I added these to the Blinding Pain runes. When I tested it again it didn't activate or pull mana from me. I fed some mana into the rune and cut myself a third time. This time the effect activated. I was prepared for it now and managed to not fall on the floor.When the pain faded away I started carving the design into my staff. Spiritual Siphon, Blinding Pain, and the shrink effect. I had to add separate activation runes for t
Mana System In The Apocalypse Revelations
I didn't get much sleep after my encounter with the guard. Bella was guarding the room but even then I woke up every hour or so, gripping my staff. When all was quiet I fell back asleep only to repeat this process. Eventually, I gave up on sleeping.Instead, I read through the rest of the books I had been meaning to look at. I learned a few new runes, quite a bit about pagan designs and symbols. The system added them to my knowledge so they must be able to be used in my rune crafting as well.I especially liked the book about Egyptian hieroglyphics. I had been meaning to spend more time with the book. The eye of Ra and Horus were of interest. I wanted to be able to make something that would allow me to always see through stealth or effects that hid people. This led me to an odd book I picked up on conspiracy theories and symbolism. Of course, the all-seeing eye was prominently displayed on the cover of said book. It was the main reason I grabbed it from the library
Mana System In The Apocalypse Improved Abilities
Martin and the boys rolled up to the outskirts of Arman an hour or so before sunrise. The town was quiet which was normal at this time of day. They slowed down as Clem held up a hand. They had come to trust the man's instincts, coming to a halt."What's up?""Not sure, something feels off.""Joshua, get ready, we may have trouble."Joshua got off the quad and starting changing his form. He could take on aspects of any creature he killed. He chose to go with a tusked boar, they were tough and mean. After his transformation, he resembled an eight-foot-tall pigman, with tusks, and wiry hair covering his body. He was still bipedal with normal hands. He produced a heavy axe and a large shield from his new storage ring. They weren't anything special, just much larger than normal, built for larger species.He had basic weapon skills but his abilities improved natural weapons more. Since this form didn't really have anything other than tusks he f
Mana System In The Apocalypse Mana
I noticed Fiona quickly floated away when the staff was complete. "What is that it feels... foul.""Spiritual siphoning," I quickly added."Why would you make something like that?""Well, when I fought those specters and couldn't even harm them it was a wake-up call. Now I'm not certain about this next part but the effect may also be able to target people with abilities to hide or turn invisible.""You mean like those shadow faction folks you told me about?""Exactly.""Well keep it away from me, I thought becoming a specter would make me immune to feeling nauseous but that staff comes close.""Sounds like a plan, now check this out."I pressed my thumb to the triggering rune and fed some mana into the staff. I guess I wasn't prepared for the sound. The noise of cracking bones and tortured metal echoed in my hotel room as the staff shrank. The sound sent a shiver up my spine. The wooden test had not done this. W
Mana System In The Apocalypse Returning to Arman
I rode Bella along the edge of the desert. The transition between zones left enough solid ground that we could traverse it with ease. It wasn't the most direct route but that was ok.The trip back to the now useless boat dock, that Martin and the others used on our first visit, took a few extra hours.I spotted a few dust plumes in the distance from sand devourers. They kept well clear of the transition zone, although, one shadowed me for a bit before it headed off into the desert.The boat ramp looked odd, jutting into the sand. Bella had no issue climbing up the surface, her claws clicking on the old concrete.When we got to the end of the ramp she stopped. She made some clicking noises as she searched about."What is it, girl?" I asked, producing my staff and looking around as well.Fiona appeared next to me, "something feels off.""Yeah, Bella feels it too."I hopped off of Bella to give her free reign to fi
Mana System In The Apocalypse Banshee
[True Banshee | Level XX]I was having a hard time tracking the two as they kept fading from view and reforming. I decided to activate another use of my talisman.It helped a bit, allowing me to see their forms a bit better when they faded from view. The Banshee managed to knock Fiona off to the side and sped towards me. My throat locked up in terror but my muscles still responded as I swung my staff at the creature.As soon as my staff came into contact with its wispy outline it let out a cry so powerful my muscles turned to jello and I collapsed on the ground. It shrieked like that the entire time it flew back into the city.Fiona rushed over, "are you ok?""Uhh...," was all I could get out, my muscles not yet responding.I was incapacitated for a good five minutes. Fiona floated around nervously the entire time. If those husks had returned I would be dead since she had no way to harm them and Bella had run off into the swamp.
Mana System In The Apocalypse Aiming Locals
After I got the required oaths from the rest of the people in the bar, the Constable showed me to an office area where I could work. Her attitude toward me was still chilly but I didn't care.I looked at the assorted weapons before me. It was a motley collection consisting of a few swords that were probably older than my father, a couple of hunting bows with an assortment of arrows, and one war hammer that looked like a cheap knock-off. I sighed.I wasn't even sure if most of the items could hold up to the magic. Ranged weapons would be ideal to deal with this creature but the arrowheads were the cutout hunting style ones, leaving little material for adding the inscription. The shafts of the arrows weren't much better. Most were a carbon, or carbon composite. Good for strength, but any modifications from carving into them would weaken the shafts.That left the aluminum ones. There were about a dozen of those. I would have to be very careful carving the run
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- Mana System In The Apocalypse
Fight For Affection
Was the person in the mirror really Henry and not an international supermodel?Henry could not help but wonder.However, Mia's reaction told Henry that it was not an illusion.Mia's mouth was wide open as she walked to Henry's side in shock. She looked at him in the mirror and was amazed."Oh my God, Henry, I never realized that you're so handsome! Gosh, you look so good."As Mia spoke, she couldn't help but touch Henry's firm chest."Oh my God, these firm pecs are worth dying for…"Henry looked at Mia, who was acting like a pervert. He shook his head helplessly and slapped her hand away."Alright, now that I've changed my clothes, let's hurry to the banquet before we go late. I'm not known for attending any events late." Hearing this, Mia finally came back to her senses. "Ah, yes. We have to hurry over. With such a handsome companion by my side, I'd like to see if those little b*tches will still show off in front of me," Mia proudly said as she pulled Henry's arm.After that, they q
- Mana System In The Apocalypse
Epilogue
Martin strode down the hall of the capitol building with a worried smile on his face. He was a bit greyer now but he still oozed charm and confidence. Time had been kind to him.The city had become a booming metropolis in the ten years since Paul returned, after his year and a half of being missing. Martin knew something had happened because one day a bunch of massive flying ships had come from nowhere and obliterated the ships that had been harassing the city non-stop for over six months. They had quickly taken care of Lord Vik’t and his remaining forces, the man managing to flee back to his homeworld before the Guild caught him.When Paul had returned, he had returned a quiet man. You could see the loss in his eyes. But the man pushed on and his businesses flourished, producing the Earth’s mightiest warships and most advanced runic items. Then five years after Paul returned, he took a fleet of ten of his capital ships and vanished for another year.When he returned again, the ships
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The devil you know
As soon as the pirates realized the Guild ships were approaching the island, they broke off the fighting and retreated toward the edge of town to dig in. They weren’t stupid enough to attack the Guild but it seemed they wanted to ensure there wasn’t an accidental incident.One of the Guild ships docked and the Captain stepped off to greet the three of us. I had been carried over by Barcos and Em’ah on the same chair she plopped me in the night before. My legs were looking less like mashed potatoes now and instead looked like mushed putty. It was hard to ignore the sensation of the bones moving around within my shattered legs but I was managing.“Captain Paul, I hope this wasn’t a last-ditch attempt to hold off your enemy. I can assure you, we will leave for safer shores immediately if it was.”I ignored the man’s condescending snark before replying. “You have the agreement from the Director?”“I do,” he smiled. “Do you wish to review it?”I nodded and he produced a stack of documents
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A Valuable Lesson
Groaning, I opened my eyes. All I saw was darkness. I tried turning my head or moving but it seemed like I was pinned in place.I fought down the urge to panic as I evaluated my condition. My arms were still broken, the sharp stabbing pain when I tried to move them told me as much. I could breathe though so my organs had healed after the beating I had taken. That was something at least.Seeing as I was in no immediate danger of dying, I checked my skills. My blood ran cold as I saw what remained of my abilities.[Rejuvenate][Multicast][Eye of the Storm][Aura of Rage][Calcifying Strike]Frostwave][Orb of Darkness][Energy Lance][Overcharge][Tempest Ball]That was the sum total of all the skills I now had. They had stripped me of every ability I had stolen from them along with every ability my second class gave me by default, making it impossible to recover skills by stealing them from others.I let out a morbid little chuckle as I lay there. Tears of frustration leaked from the
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Unexpected arrival
Those two words seemed to freeze everyone in place, but it wasn’t magic that caused it, it was fear. My body was frozen along with everyone else but my eyes rose into the air, tracking two creatures as they forced the magical fog away from the entire area with some ability.It was hard to tell by their alien physiology but I got the distinct impression they were looking directly at me. The initial fear was subsiding and people were starting to move again until the larger of the two squid-like creatures cast a spell. I managed to get off an Identify before the spell hit.[Ulq | Void Hunter/Maw of the Void | 47/41][Xiph | Psy Commando/Maw of the Void | 45/42]My body shook as I realized they were here for me but not a single person or even the entire pirate armada currently assembled here would be able to kill these two creatures.I felt the spell wash over the area and everyone was frozen again but a halo of golden light burst into existence above my head, washing away the spell’s eff
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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
