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2024-10-29 19:42:56"Paul, save me!" Fiona screamed as the dead hands pawed at her body.
I tried to reach out to her but the hands tried to grab me as well. Their sickly skin was cold as ice as they tried to get purchase on my arms. I pulled my hands back from their icy grasp with a shudder."I can't," I moaned, backing away from the dead. I recognized every face as someone I had slain in battle."Leave me alone!" I yelled at the horde of wraiths."Never!" they replied in unison. Only Fiona's pleas for rescue broke the endlessly repeated word.I curled up in a ball on top of my pedestal, the creatures unable to get to me from here, and I just sobbed.I jerked awake, covered in a cold sweat.The nightmares were getting worse. I was lucky if I managed three hours of sleep a night between Sharla's treatment and the nightmares. The lack of sleep was starting to make me jumpy and that wasn't good. I needed to try and find something to help me de
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I waited in the dark alley, my new armor securely fastened to my body. It looked almost the same as my old armor from a distance. I would only be wearing it for this and other clandestine transactions, at least until my plan was complete. It would stand out too much otherwise. It did a great job of keeping me warm though. I looked at the stats again.[Rune Crafted Trubar Brigandine][Quality: Superb][Armor: 25][Slashing resistance: 40%][Stabbing resistance: 40%][Blunt resistance: 25%][Cold resistance: 65%][Heat resistance: 35%][Magic resistance 55%]This metal-reinforced leather brigandine was crafted by an intermediate crafter with excellent materials, each plate was painstakingly rune crafted to improve the protection and resistance of the armorOverall I was more than happy with the results. The black fabric was sewn to make the whole piece look like padded armor. It took a b
Mana System In The Apocalypse Coming Undone
A few more weeks went by and I made sure to be the ideal slave. Even so, I could tell there was a change through the camp. It made me extremely paranoid. If I noticed, someone else was bound to notice soon. I wanted to warn Moana or any of my other contacts but I couldn't.Sheila was out on a patrol and Moana was working on some projects that I couldn't get access to. I only had one last option.I had mulled over the problem with freeing Jamal for a few days before I came up with a solution that seemed like it should work. I modified the last stamp I had to delay the rune activation for eight hours. Give or take an hour. I checked my watch to see the time. It was close to three in the afternoon. By the time I made my way over to his cell, it should be close to four. That would work.I fingered my ring as I walked. My newest armor was almost complete. I would finish it up before returning to the apartment. I had hoped for some more time to work on perfectin
Mana System In The Apocalypse Afterglow
I startled awake as a boom echoed across the city. It was morning but I could still hear the occasional fighting in the distance. Bella was laying down on the other side of the room, looking at me. I stood and stretched my sore muscles. I had to stop as my side gave me a twitch. I reached down to feel the spot Obidiah had hit me. My new armor was dented in, and my armor was not providing nearly as much in the way of protection as it should.The gem still held a charge, but the power could no longer flow along the runic pattern to provide the shield. I carefully removed the armor to inspect the damage.There was a fist-shaped imprint in the lower right by the rib cage. Three plates were cracked. How the man had managed to crack mithril with a punch, through multiple barriers and a damage ward was beyond me. I checked the armor's stats to see how bad it was.[Mage-Bane Brigandine][Quality: Fair - Damaged][Armor: 25][Slashing res
Mana System In The Apocalypse Surrounded by Darkness
followed Jacob along a winding path deeper into the city. Most of the main downtown had been reduced to rubble in the early fighting. The skyscrapers still stood but they sported numerous signs of battle. Windows blasted out, melted exteriors, even bullet holes. Any transported individuals didn't survive long in the fighting. Now the downtown center was the domain of monsters, or so I heard. Someone said they spotted a dragon roosting on top of the sears tower. Not sure I quite believed that.I wasn't about to go there myself to confirm or deny the allegations. Jacob finally stopped at a blank metal door below an overpass. He knocked three times, waited a few seconds, and knocked two more times.The door opened from the inside. There was no handle on the outside, not like that would stop anyone with magic or ability from just destroying the door. I followed Jacob inside. I didn't see anyone else. I decided to activate my talisman. A form seemed to waver into being
Mana System In The Apocalypse Remnant
I could see the gate up the block, at least five people were patrolling it."Ahem."I spun around to face the voice. Jacob stood there with a smirk on his face."One of these times I'm just going to stab you and I'm not going to feel bad about it one bit.""Probably, but that time isn't now.""Just, tell me what you want?"The man rolled his eyes, "You're no fun. I just came to let you know we can't take the gate.""What do you mean you can't take it?""Just like I said."I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed, "why can't you take it?""Too many guards and at least two have detection auras going.""Are they all sect members?"Jacob leaned out past the building to look before shrugging. Well, he was no help here. I looked at the surrounding buildings."Fine... I'll do it my way."I pushed past the man and circled to the building on the opposite side of the
Mana System In The Apocalypse Checkmate
I finished off the last of the guards caught in the mist. It was laughably easy to kill them one by one. I secured their items while my mana recharged. A few storage rings, quite a bit of credit, and their weapons. The weapons I would sell, along with most of the storage rings. I would keep Obidiah's, it was another seven cubic foot ring.I was going into the last fight without my biggest advantage available to me. Area of Denial would cost me a thousand mana if I wanted to use it again so soon. I could wait but that would give the man time to recover. No, it was better just to deal with it now. I did recast Second Chance though.I walked towards the looming Black Dragon headquarters. It was time for this to end, one way or another.I kicked open the door and was surprised to find... nobody. The ground floor was empty and quiet. Only the soft hum of the mana generator in the background. I wasn't about to risk taking the elevator. Twenty flights of stairs i
Mana System In The Apocalypse Friendly face
Fiona used her sword, and skills to fight off the tormented souls that resided in this place with her. Most were rather weak, but there were many and they didn't stay down long. She had tried to get Paul's help, his consciousness had occasionally shown up in this realm. But something prevented him from helping, she didn't think it was just fear.She knew that was part of it, she still felt it sometimes. No, something had changed in the living world and Paul couldn't help her. At least until a few weeks ago. Something changed again. His presence stronger now, she could feel it.With that change, the ghosts became agitated and tried to attack his being. She fought them off every day while his mind rested. Eventually, she learned how to form her will into weapons and armor to help her defend the man. She didn't blame the man for her death, that was on her for failing to defeat the Duelist. Each day she fought she grew stronger and the hordes of spirits grew weaker. St
Mana System In The Apocalypse Civilization
"Can you keep an eye out for me? I have some items to go through.""I will try but I didn't sense that sand devourer coming so just don't get too distracted," Fiona said floating higher up.I nodded to her, pulling out the first book I got in Chicago. I flipped through the pages and determined it was worthless. I put it in one of my spare rings. I continued going through the books. About half of them turned out to be useless for what I wanted."Where did all the books come from?"I looked up at Fiona, "I stole them from the library in Chicago. I was hoping to further my knowledge about runes and armor crafting.""So does that mean you want to settle down and become a crafter?""No, I just thought it would help me. Can't hurt right.""So, anything interesting?""There are a few books that might be interesting, I will need to sit down and actually read them though.""Does that mean you are done sorting yo
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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
