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2024-10-29 19:42:56I stumbled and fell, my exhaustion too much. The beating followed shortly after. I didn't even have the energy to try and protect myself as I was beaten and whipped with a stick. I wasn't the only slave to fall over in our fast march south. What did they expect? We must have marched forty miles. Did they somehow expect people on foot to have the same amount of energy that the Black Dragon members, all on horseback had? It was ludicrous.
I levered myself off the ground, the beating had subsided and my collar was causing me more and more pain as I failed to follow my orders. The rest period was over and we trudged onward. I almost fell again as my foot caught another root. I didn't know how much longer I could go on for. My body had been tired even before I was captured. My mind kept going back to the apartment and Fiona's severed head, staring at me accusingly.After the battle the Black Dragons had all come together, abandoning the city without a second thought. Th
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Mana System In The Apocalypse Black Dragon
Sharla got an almost sexual amount of joy from finally capturing the man who injured her so soon after the system came online. She even got the bonus of watching her escaped slave die. She didn't particularly care how the collar got removed from her slave. Only that there was no point putting a new one on her.After they captured the town, she had confronted the merchant that sold the collars to them. She discovered, through judicial use of pain, some flaws in the design of the collars. The basic ones weren't as immutable as they had been led to believe. Also that there was no point recapturing an escaped slave as they could not be compelled anew by the magic. So it was an easy decision to let Dominique remove her.After her chat with the merchant, she purchased the upgraded collars. Supposedly they had fixed the flaws from the previous design. Time would tell if she needed to return and end the merchant's miserable life. Unlike the old collars, these weren't yet t
Mana System In The Apocalypse Disciple of the moon
The slave masters went easy on us today, only pushing us twenty-five miles. I think it had more to do with the large river, cutting from east to west. That now barred our path south, more than any form of sympathy for the slaves. As we stopped I saw Sharla conversing with her second in command, the Duelist.I never got the man's name and I was unable to make any changes to my settings. Unless Sharla changed her standing orders, prohibiting me from taking any new skills or changing any settings unless I begged her to let me. 'Fat chance of that happening,' I thought, remembering I still had one open skill slot.The man walked up to me, "Come with me, we are assigning you to a patrol group."I followed the man through the tents of sect members, to the outskirts of the hasty encampment. The slaves had slapped together whatever protection they could to hide from the elements. It was a good thing it was late spring and not fall or winter.We walked up
Mana System In The Apocalypse Patrol
Despite the condition of my armor I decided to wear it anyway. Tying up the straps and loose bits as best as I could. I looked like a fashion model, promoting the world's most ridiculous piece of clothing. I even imagined all the ooh's and ahh's from the imaginary crowd around me. I got a few odd looks from the other members of the group.In hindsight, I should have been paying more attention, instead of daydreaming and fiddling with my armor. Then perhaps I might have seen the arrow streaking towards me in time to dodge, instead of taking it in the knee. I was so surprised that the pain didn't register at first. A ridiculous thought that my days of adventuring were over, ran through my mind before the pain arrived. Falling over saved me from being hit by the next arrow.The arrows were being fired from quite a distance away. With my wounded knee, I was at a bit of a disadvantage. Good thing I still had my staff. I managed to lever myself up, knocking arrows aside as I hobbled to cove
Mana System In The Apocalypse A long Road Ahead
I awoke in a cold sweat. My sleep was plagued by nightmares about Fiona and her disembodied head, pleading for me to save her. The arms on her headless body reaching for me, all the while Sharla held me in an iron grip and laughed maniacally. Turning my head I could see it was near dawn, the inside of the tent barely visible in the early morning light, filtering through the canvas sides.I decided it would be preferable to head out to meet my patrol group early, rather than spending more time in the tent with Sharla. I quietly stood up and made my way out of the tent. Luck was with me as I slipped out without waking the woman. Time would tell if this angered her or not.I headed through the camp towards the gathering point. I was rather early as very few people were awake, except for a couple of guard groups patrolling the perimeter. I found a quiet out of the way spot to wait.Since nobody was around I decided to carve out a quick piece of metal, using th
Mana System In The Apocalypse Forest Kin
Our little scout group waited around the area until the rest of the caravan arrived, three hours later. I was called back to setup Sharla's tent and then left to my own devices for the rest of the day. Since it was around supper time I found where they served meals to slaves. Had a quick dinner and found a quiet place to just be alone. I had only been ordered to stay within five miles of the camp and return at night.It was surprisingly generous of Sharla to allow me this freedom but I didn't believe her charity for one minute. Instead, I took the opportunity to get as far from the camp as I could for as long as I could. I would also test this imposed range limit and see what happened. It would be important to know in the future. I knew I would likely get punished for this act, so I needed to make it worth the pain. To make my intentions less clear I walked upstream of the camp. When I was out of sight of anyone I ducked into the dense forest and just kept going.The forest was peacef
Mana System In The Apocalypse Final Destination
The days seemed to blur together as we marched south. It took another three days of walking to clear the massive forest of the Kin. Beyond that were a wasteland of burned-out homes, buildings, and cars. Despite our travel time and distance, we had only just made it to Milwaukee. The city had experienced something apocalyptic, even more so than the System appearing. As very little was left standing, short of a few sections of the highway. We moved quickly around the outskirts of the urban area, keeping an eye out for any possible hostiles.There were the occasional people, that fled at the first sight of our caravan. At first, riders were sent out to capture any survivors. When they never returned the group moved even quicker to clear the area. We were heading between two burned-out buildings along a rural road when we were ambushedScreaming men and women poured from the structures, heedless of their own safety. At least I thought they were men and women at first. As they got closer I
Mana System In The Apocalypse Black Dragon Stronghold
My crafting time was shortly interrupted. I could hear frantic activity from outside the door. I hastily packed away my gear and went to see what the commotion was about. It looked like everyone was packing up and preparing to head out. I could see a new group of individuals by the main entrance talking with Sharla. I decided to make my way over to listen in."Mistress Cotton, so good of you to return. We had thought you lost to the wilds." a man wearing formal business attire said, in a haughty tone.Just looking at Sharla, I could see her ire building. I made sure to stay out of her line of sight.Surprisingly she kept her feelings contained."Yes, well we had some delays. Nothing that I couldn't handle though."The man's gaze roamed over the remains of Sharla's troops. A significant amount had been lost to fighting in the north.The man let out a disdainful snort, "Yes, I can see you only brought back the dregs. Perhaps next t
Mana System In The Apocalypse Trust
followed Sharla to the back of the parking structure where the slaves were housed. There was a cordoned off area surrounded by bleachers of all things. The stands were packed with people cheering on or booing the contestants. Others were watching from the upper levels of the parking structure. Occasionally I would see a light blue flash as a dome lit up. It appeared to surround the arena area, preventing any errant attacks from getting through."I want you to accept ten duels, you are not allowed to heal during the fights. If you lose I am going to be very upset... are we clear?""Yes, mistress."I stepped into the ring, my first challenger approaching from the far side.Carlos Santiago would like to challenge you to a duel, this is a non-lethal duel and combat will end when one combatant reaches 10% health. All health and mana is restored after the match endsBefore I accepted the request I checked his stats.[Carlos Santiago | Knife Fighter | Level 9]The man was sporting two wicke
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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
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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
