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
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
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
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
People always thought the end would come from war or disease, maybe some global economic collapse. Who would have thought the end would be caused by something from a video game.I awoke with a start, my head pounding and a shrill noise blaring in my head that seemed to permeate every bit of my being echoing throughout my body. The noise appeared to have no direct source that I could discern.This is not what I had expected when I went camping in the Northwoods, well more like glamping since there were bathrooms and electricity but hey it was nice just to get away from the city, and my job if only temporarily. I only came up here for a quick weekend retreat to avoid people as it was earlier in the season than most people came camping and the campgrounds were empty of any other campers.I rolled over in my tent and vomited the remains of my supper on the floor as I clutched my throbbing head trying to will the world to stop spinning. It felt like I had gone on an all-day bender and this
Welcome to the Mana System, test yourself, grow, and strive to survive. Diligence is rewarded, cowardice is not.I blinked, it was extremely weird, the feeling of suddenly changing. Feeling stronger, more alert, and suddenly having knowledge shoved into my brain that wasn't there before. Giving the staff a quick twirl test it felt natural in my hands if a bit on the light side. That was good; at least, it wasn't too heavy or unwieldy to swing around.It also appeared that the system didn't reward you with being a wallflower. I would need to get my hands dirty and possibly risk my life if I wanted the rewards granted by the Mana System. I guess it was better than being a cubicle jockey for a company that didn't care about you. At least this was based only on my merit.Focusing my mind I thought inventory. A screen popped up with two tabs, equipment, and storage. In the equipment slots, I had my clothes my shoes, and my staff. I focused on the staff.Crafted Ironwood staffQuality: Low
I jogged down the side of the road. The office had been a bust, nothing but a few filing cabinets and refrigerated food. None of which would do me any good, I had been hoping for some dry foods, or canned goods to help round out my meager supplies. Oh well, I was making good time and should be able to make it into the nearest town within 2 days if I could keep up this pace and I wasn't attacked.The road made for an easy run and I remembered reading that trained soldiers could make 20 miles a day on a march. Well, I sure as hell wasn't a soldier, trained or otherwise, and had no intention of running myself ragged., setting an easy 10 to 12-mile pace, mainly because I wanted to get into the town early tomorrow. I also needed to find a safe place to set up for the night. After about 10 minutes I made it to the main road heading south towards my destination.Looking up and down the road I could see quite a distance, the land was relatively flat in this area of the state and I didn't see
I stopped at the edge of the forest, not sure what to think. I had been traveling for a good hour since my last fight and cleared a good distance. Knowing the woods would be coming to an end soon, making way for farmland. What I saw ahead of me was not farmland or more of the ever-present forest.The land laid out in front of me was hilly, punctuated by rock outcroppings and a few scattered trees that looked like dead sentinels, watching over the sparse vegetation, daring it to grow.Herds of grazing animals of some sort could be seen in the distance. The edge of the forest I stood at seemed to end on a rise, like it had just been sliced away cleanly.This new landscape reminded me of a picture of Saharan Africa I saw once, hopefully, it didn't come with the wildlife as well. I also found it strange that I had not seen a single vehicle since leaving the campgrounds. While I could discount this on the campground road, this was a major road north and there should have been a few cars or