Wandering Agent

Chapter 263 The Priestess

I was cornered, trapped by the priestess, well, sort of.  Somehow we'd managed to find our way to one of the many meeting rooms this facility still had.  Since it had served as both a central office for a rebellion and an emperor's personal residence those were in anything but short supply.  Now we sat across from one another in what some might call a chat, but others would clearly recognize as an interrogation.

“So, how exactly do you know Justin?” she inquired, lean...

Chapter 262 Summit Preparations

Unfortunately the leadership of the various Orders had decided to take their sweet time in sending a representative.  Normally this would be an issue, but I had so much work to do that it really wasn't.  If anything the extra time was giving me what I needed to get ready.

The main thing I was doing now was overhauling the wards for the fortress, again.  Many of my workers were downright tired of me doing it, but with the current civil war they all knew how impo...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 46 Retreat

Rindal lay on the ground writhing, constant screams pouring from his mouth.  Beside him was a small wet spot on the rocks, one that was quickly turning into pure magical energy.  Cala had gone down over him, her hands on his shoulders as she tried to help, but had no idea how to.

“What happened!?” I asked as I ran back over to where he was, Isha hot on my heels.

“I don't know, he just went to take a drink!  It's just water!” the distrau...

Chapter 261 Irritating Old Men

“You're a problem, do you know that?” a particular old priest asked me from his desk.

His room was simple, so very simple, but it had a home-like quality to it.  This was a place you could relax and do whatever it was you found relaxing for untold years, and he had.  The only place that was hectic was his desk, piled high with papers.

“I'm getting told that a lot recently, yes,” I replied truthfully.  “But not all problems are bad.”...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 45 Nightmare

I do not know how long we went down, but down we went.  The cave was mostly smooth.  There were turns here and there, to be true, but it was always headed down.  Sometimes there were things that looked almost like steps, other times there were flat, slippery surfaces on which we had to walk.

The glowing fauna was omnipresent, the only thing that was, and it was getting brighter.  Every step we took deeper the magic got denser and denser, and it had been so...

Chapter 260 Questions

I tensed, they weren't alone.  There were over half-a-dozen others with them, not that they would be needed.  Those two alone were enough to deal with the few people I'd brought along.

“No need to be afraid Alana, we just want to speak with you about some of our concerns,” father began, his eyes watching both Ulanion and myself sharply.

My former mentor said nothing, just looked on.  I could feel the magic he was holding in place, ready in case we did something....

Elevation of Mana Chapter 44 Across the Darkened Sea

The cave we were traveling down was normal enough at first, other than the few bubbles of magic floating up and popping every now and then there really wasn't much to it.  Caves after all, were beautiful, but only if properly lit and displayed, and this one wasn't.  It was pretty, but nothing of huge note yet.

“So it's a cave, with light coming from it?” Isha's friend asked as we continued downwards.

“Yes,” the girl explained.  “I kno...

Chapter 259 Bit of a Chat

It was hard to say that I really wanted to go back to Linden, but at least this time it would a straightforward kind of thing.  Justin wasn't blaming me for showing the dangers of the portals, which I was thankful for, and was even helping me in my mission to fix this nonsense up before something terrible happened.  It seemed the least I could do was go and talk to the only other living transmigrator for him, or deliver a letter as it were.

Before that though I had ...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 43 Return to the Cave

The four of us gathered up in the morning preparing to go.  Four because of course the girl Isha was bringing had to bring her boyfriend along.  I really should have thought of that possibility, being that her current squeeze was Rindal.

The dating pool in a village our size was pretty limited, to the point that many young men would travel to other villages to find a wife.  Almost everyone was directly related, sometimes on both sides, and with the fact that ma...

Chapter 258 Not A Lamp

Hovering in the center of the room was a sphere, so perfect I struggled to look at it.  Runes covered it's surface as it gently spun.  This was the center, the very center of this area's whole setup.  I stopped, jaw clenching.

“It's like yours,” Dras said, turning towards me.

“The effect isn't as bad, not at all,” I replied.

“Care to explain?” Ulanion interrupted.

“I made a lamp when we were in sc...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 42 Teens

I watched as the last of my childhood friends left the village, spear in hand.  Unlike those that had come before he was armed with copper weapons.  Olond would be the last of those I considered friendly at all to me, and I was sad to see him go.

By my reckoning I was now fifteen.  Of course elves didn't age quite the same as humans did, so I only looked to be thirteen or fourteen, and it would be a few more years yet until I was ready to join the boys, now men...

Chapter 257 Bathroom Pass

The provided restroom wasn't at all clean, seeing as it hadn't been used in centuries, but it was plumbed.  For a small miracle, as the mana started flowing around the section of this building again so too did the water begin.  I idly wondered where it the world it was draining to, but I had other concerns.

That golem was potent, made by a very skilled mage to defend his personal quarters.  It was clearly holding back now, but who knew if it would continue to d...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 41 Tooling Up

The needles were in fact a huge hit.  They served as both a good tool and a display that you could afford the work, which wasn't unsubstantial.  I thanked my lucky starts that Isha had the good sense not to tell people what she'd had to pay for them, or I would be having to fend off far more unhappy women than I did anyway.  It wasn't that I minded making them, just that there was a finite amount of time I cared to work, and more things I wanted to make.

For ex...

Chapter 256 The Office

Everything in here was dangerous, well most of it, but we'd be treating it all as dangerous.  Several items were trying to come on and failing, to multiple effects.  A quick look over confirmed my fears.

“It's the items themselves failing.  Whoever built this didn't bother seeing to it they'd last long, and I'd wager it hasn't had anyone taking care of it since Ristolian,” I said as I backed off from the piece I'd been examining.

Rust and d...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 40 Product Requests

Everyone was tired when we got back to the village, self included.  Several of our members had overestimated how much they could carry because the metal was small, also self included, and struggled the whole way back.  This had made the whole trip take about a day longer than it should have, and given many of us blisters.  Needless to say proper backpacks were going on my soon to achieve list of inventions as well.

We brought our haul of material back to the hu...

Chapter 255 A Visit

I was overseeing the reworking of our defenses around the portals when word came in that my brother had arrived.  It was expected that he'd be making a show soon, though I hadn't been told exactly when that would be.  There was so much to do in getting this place up to my own standards that it was taking all of my time.  My own lab had finally been set to an acceptable level, though I was thinking of a few more additions.

“Hey there little sister,” he said ...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 39 The Other Village

In short order we had a pretty good system going.  Larus was gathering and crushing ore like a machine, being helped in the sorting of the best pieces by our other two.  While they did that dad and I ran a pair of forges, trying to get what we could out of all of it.

He was still learning to put more power into the fire, and while we worked, we all sang some old song he knew, which seemed to make his magic better somehow.  I wanted to know how that worked, but ...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 38 Field Trip

I checked my gear once again while mother gave dad a few last rules.  He let her, even if he didn't need to, it wasn't like he didn't know what to do.  She was still mad, still quite mad that I'd remade my knife into a hammer, so I was getting few words.

“Elian, stay safe, I love you,” she finally said to me, coming over to give me a hug.

“Love you too mom.”  I hugged her back, fully intending to not take unnecessary risks.

2023-06-24 19:44:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 254 Consultation

When the time came and the signal was given I stepped forward through the portal.  The world around me stretched and it took a brief time, but I emerged out the other side perfectly fine, if a bit disoriented.  There was a definite lag between one side and the other, and it was super weird.

The room I was in was empty and blank, all white with light coming from seemingly everywhere.  I couldn't even be perfectly sure where the walls were as I looked around, sin...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 37 Negotiations

My new knife was rough, it was also the talk of everyone in the village.  It took almost no time at all for people to begin looking over it and trying it out themselves.  I only smiled and let them try it, all according to plan.

“It cuts a bit different than stone ones, the motion is not the same,” Larus observed as he used it to slice up a piece of meat.  “It's also very thin, gets in places easier.”

He handed it back to me and I took ...

Chapter 253 Night Off

I stood in the small central square where I'd once killed a former teacher, looking about.  It was odd to be back here again, back at this place that had been so nice, but filled with unpleasant memories.  The square itself was bedecked in small paper lamps, that if I had to guess were being lit with magic.

There were as many traditions for spring as there were settlements in these lands.  I'd never gone to one in my home village, even if they'd happened, as I'...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 36 Knife

Father and I looked over our handiwork, and I smiled.  We'd come to some terms for safety after our disagreement, and this was a part of it.  I needed to work here, and under his supervision, if I was going to be using magic to make fires that hot.

The area in question was just outside the village, about ten feet around in a circle with some poles holding up a little thatched roof.  Most of that had been my father's doing, my work had been focused on the ground...

Chapter 252 A Small Intervention

I was meditating, looking at my completed core.  Three levels one built upon another, it had taken a lot of hard work to get it, but now I needed to use it to its full potential.

Most people never got that one, and those that did almost always took decades.  Between my trick for quick growth and my long time of work I'd done it in a fraction of the time.  That was good, because what I wanted next would never work with a lesser core.

The final l...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 35 Coming to Terms

When it was done I had to flee to my mother for protection from her angry spouse.  In my years on this world, that was a first, but one I could tell she rather liked.  Apparently it was hard to keep mad at me when I went to hide because after only a short telling off I found myself pulled into her lap and my ears gently rubbed to get the pain away.  I was still the size of a child and with all the looks, so it was probably rather cute to her.

I seldom let her d...

Chapter 251 Moving In

I stepped through the portal, the last one I'd need to for awhile, and looked upon my new facility.  Durin's former fortress was already remote, and neigh impenetrable, the perfect place for someone trying to avoid attention for now.  I considered the gate hub here to be a big plus as well, since it would let me keep an eye on them.

My first stop was my new suite.  I hadn't taken the former owner's rooms, as that seemed... improper.  Kala was getting those...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 34 Copper

“I honestly don't know why you bought that son,” dad said as he looked at me messing with my chunk of copper laced rock.  “It's not useful.  The bits inside are weird, but they don't carve at all.”

“How about we get them out and try some things on them?”  I asked.

“You'd have to break it up, and you just bought it.  Your mother will be mad if you paid that much just to make a mess Elian.”

“You said they w...

Chapter 250 Orders

“So you said yes, obviously,” Kala opined.

“Yeah, but we're not having the ceremony for awhile, things being like they are I'd be afraid to have any kind of party.  In fact we might not have a party.”  I was waffling a bit on that.

“That's simply not acceptable Alana, you must have some ceremony, if not for yourself then for others.  Also lets people know that you really did it.”  At my eyebrow raised in challenge she continued...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 33 Trader

Weeks had passed since my introduction of the dovetail, and I had to admit that things were going mostly well.  A lot of men had been interested in the technique, and many more had stepped forward when I'd pointed out that with a few changes you could probably make things like basic beds, chairs, and storage chests.  It had launched a large push for wooden things, until mother had gotten involved.

Many of the trees around the village had been cut down, leaving large...

Chapter 249 Morning Talks

As I finished my explanation of the night's events I looked at the bishop.  His hands were clenched till the knuckles shone white under the skin, teeth gritting almost audibly.  I'd only been in his office once or twice before, and it didn't look like it had changed too much from my memories.

There were some things of course that I left out.  The details on the portals, or the fact that the young princess had survived and was coming into his care shortly.&nbs...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 32 Jointery

It was a real disappointment that my attempt at agriculture had been brushed off, but I wasn't going to let that keep me down.  I hoped that people came to see the benefit in time, and until they did, well plants grew, so there was no big issue letting my garden slowly expand.  It was something I could do on the side, cleaning things up every now and then until they realized that I'd slowly made a bounty of food for harvest.

Now though I was going to try my hand a...