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2024-10-29 19:42:56I awoke as the couch I was sleeping in lurched violently below me, throwing me across the room. I covered my head as I slammed into the wall, triggering my shield. When I came to my senses I heard Martin yelling.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!""What's going on," I screamed, trying to get to my feet. Everything felt floaty. That shouldn't be possible unless we were falling rapidly... oh, oh shit.I grabbed the wall, heaving myself forward and down the hallway to the control room."Paul, thank god you're awake. I'm not sure what's going on. All of a sudden we started plummeting from the air but the crystal still has power and the power output hasn't changed."I pulled myself into the small room and over to the control console. "Hold on, this may hurt."I waited for Martin to grip the doorframe before jacking up the power output to max. I had noticed that the power of the crystal was dropping fast even though we were still falling. Wi
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Mana System In The Apocalypse Grimalkin
Ska ran through the forest in a panic. He had been out in the deep hunting when he spotted something coming from out of the abyss. He fled immediately, knowing the creatures that dwelled within were well beyond his level. He ran to his village to gather up a war band to deal with the threat.His graceful feline legs propelled him through the dense forest with ease, allowing him to speed through the underbrush and towards his village.Ska burst through the final stretch of forest and into the village. He was stopped almost immediately when Ni'Sha stepped out to block his path, he was forced to come to a halt or run into the larger female."Ska... you return early and without a kill, why the hurry?" she said calmly, but her eyes bore into him, causing him to squirm like a newborn kit."I greet you Ni'Sha but my business is urgent. I was on a hunt when I spotted something coming from the abyss."She hissed in denial, "that's not possibl
Mana System In The Apocalypse Moving West
A few days passed as I checked the house for repairs that needed to be made. The time was also a good test to vet Ska's competence and willingness to follow orders. We also spent an inordinate amount of time refilling the mana heart that powered the house.It might have gone faster if I hadn't told Martin to keep half of his mana available... just in case. Fiona didn't have mana to speak of, being a spirit and all. As for Ska, he had very little mana. Turns out as a nascent intelligent species they only got a skill every three or four levels and all of Ska's relied on his endurance.It turned out Ska was very talkative, almost afraid to be left alone to his own thoughts. Finding out that his species only recently, in the last thousand years or so, developed sentience his curiosity wasn't all that surprising.Ska wasn't dumb, just perhaps ignorant of the greater world. He knew about the system from traders and travelers from his old world.The
Mana System In The Apocalypse Better, Stronger, Faster
In total, we collected eighty-four plates that were six feet by four feet. Way more than necessary for what we needed but now we had plenty of backups when these new ones inevitably burned out.Since we had so many extra plates I decided to have three on each surface. It would reduce the swaying considerably, making for a much more enjoyable trip. Also having three along the back and front would speed the travel along, allowing us to go further during the night.I was deep in thought when Martin came in."Hey, Paul.""Oh, Hey, what's up?""We're going to be here for a few days right?"I turned to the large pile of plates in the corner. "Um, yeah... probably a week or more. Why?""I would like to bury the dead.""Oh... um, ok. Hmm, perhaps take Ska with you for backup."Martin nodded, leaving to find Ska.I could only shake my head. I understood he felt bad for the Gargon, though I couldn't imag
Mana System In The Apocalypse Into the pit
The house settled with a groaning thump as I deactivated the plates to reserve power. It had taken seven hours to arrive at the clearing, a small hill surrounded by sparse trees and wilted vegetation. The area smelled of sulfur and we had spotted a few bubbling pools in the distance.Ska was the most affected by the smell, sneezing every few minutes and growling angrily.While annoying I couldn't blame him, the smell was getting to my nose as well."Let's make this quick, I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to.""Sounds like a plan to me," Martin said, holding his nose closed."The foul beasts hide behind the smell, so we are not able to destroy them," Ska growled.It made sense. If their main enemy was the Grimalkin, why not use their highly developed sense of smell against them.The entrance to the dungeon turned out to be hidden in a tangle of fallen logs and branches. How Fiona came across it was confusing until I spotted one of the jackals run through the treeline a
Mana System In The Apocalypse Old Trauma
6"Can we set down for a few days?" Martin moaned.I agreed with the man, we needed some downtime. It had been over a week of constant travel. With the way the house rocked, it was pretty exhausting. Our westward journey had come to an abrupt halt when a mountain range blocked our path. Technically, we could levitate over the mountains but with their extreme height, it seemed like an unnecessary risk. We decided to head south and hope that the desert was still where the ocean had been."Yeah, I was planning on setting us down when we reached the desert or found a way through this monolithic mountain range."I had actually thought we would have come across the desert by now but maybe we had gone farther north than I realized. Even Fiona's scouting hadn't located the desert. The land was rocky and barren with small stands of sickly-looking trees. There were little to no signs of earth-like life in the area.We had spotted a few rock creatures ambling about the terrain, but they seemed c
Mana System In The Apocalypse Open For Business
Kurt walked quickly down the street. He was in a hurry but didn't want to spook the locals. Unlike most of the town survivors, he knew what was going on. It had all happened the night after the System came into being. At the time nobody knew where they had come from but Kurt learned later that they had come ashore in a drug-smuggling submarine.Somehow the criminals had been able to paddle the subs to shore. There were twelve in total and two subs. They killed the mayor and the sheriff while giving the remaining officers an ultimatum. Fall in line or their families would be killed in front of them. Two of the town's ten officers took offense at this.They were subdued by the criminals. Hours later the men returned with both officers' families in tow. They were forced to watch as the men raped and tortured the women and killed the children. Then they killed the two officers.The message was clear and the rest of the officers fell in line. That was until last night when Officer Richmond
Mana System In The Apocalypse Banditos
Martin, Ska, and I were eating lunch when the teleport scrambler started beeping."Whelp! I guess our friends are here," I said, putting my fork down and wiping my mouth. "You think they will wait for us to come to them?"There was a loud bang and the house shook as they tried to bash in the front door."That would be a no," Martin replied."Alas, they have no redeemable qualities. If they had, maybe, just maybe I would feel sorry about killing them. Nah, probably not," I added, standing and stretching as another bang rocked the house."They are persistent," Ska added, looking out the window."How many do you see?""I can only see four, but I smell more."I grunted in affirmation."Martin and Ska, how bout you greet our guests, I'll land behind them. Feel free to kick it off."Martin nodded and Ska gave a satisfying throat rumble.I did not doubt that Ska would attack the first person he spotted. I headed for the back balcony as the others headed downstairs. I heard the clank of Marti
Mana System In The Apocalypse Penniless But Not Broken
I woke up on the bottom floor of the house. Martin and Ska were on the floor next to me. The house was a mess, items of no value had been tossed around. Furniture had been ripped or broken and windows busted out. The front door was still intact as well as the front windows. Those I had made stronger with runic enchantments. That was a good sign, it meant that the control room was likely still intact.The control lines should still be in place as well because they were hidden from view by the Odin rune. I stumbled to my feet, whatever they had dosed us with still affecting me somewhat. After quickly checking on the other two and seeing that they were alive, only unconscious, I moved toward the control room.The door and frame around the room had dozens of marks from axes and other weapons. But it was still intact, it seems they had given up trying to get into the room. I placed my hand on the door, activating the tattoo on my hand.The door swung open and the control room remained unto
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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
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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
- Mana System In The Apocalypse
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
- Mana System In The Apocalypse
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
