Wandering Agent

Chapter 232 Space-Time Maintenance

As the song swelled and my mana became stronger and easier to manipulate I began trying to wrap it around the massive knot in the world before me. Even with the power I couldn't encompass all of it though. The tangled mess of space flowed and wavered, spitting out and surging from one moment to the next invisibly as some internal current pushed and pulled.

Frustrated I instead looked at one of the parts, it was smaller, bubbling to the edge of the blob that I'd impressed on...

Chapter 231 Aid

The waystation girl had left us to go and gather the other workers here.  There were only six in total, all of which were aware of the gate, for now though we needed to look at all the assets we had.

"You handled that poorly," Ulanion said.

"Excuse me?"  I gave him a bit of a glare, but at his gaze I faltered a bit.

"You made an enemy of that woman when you didn't need to, and now we need her help.  You handled it poorly....

Elevation of Mana Chapter 19 Planning for...

As the whole village sat down and looked at our elder I couldn't help but sigh. It was clear that her news was bad from her expression alone, the only thing we were to find out was how bad.

"A cold season is coming, and we must begin preparations for it," she opened. "In more than three, but less than ten years it will arrive, and with it will bring hunger and the chill. If we begin now, and set up our food and blankets for when the time all will be well, but these things w...

Chapter 230 Connection Lost

The hills blurred by us as Ulanion ran. We left the giant spacial distortion floating there, and the hole in the bedrock that was slowly draining the local water sources down into... wherever it went I wasn't honestly sure.  As we moved I got a close look at the landscape.  Nothing was too obvious outside of the immediate blast zone, since there were no trees to knock down, nor stones to shatter.  As we moved away from the scene of destruction everything seemed to be normal, so...

Chapter 229 Mistakes Were Made

Things began, as they often do, so easily.  At my mark the portals flipped on and the projectile was released.  This was all according to plan, all exactly as I suspected it should be.  The little steel ball fell, and accelerated in its fall, towards the portal, only to reappear back above, continuing the cycle.  It was draining mana from the portal, but for this particular test I'd made sure to fill the very significant mana storage on both portals, to make sure it wouldn...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 18 While the Elder's Away...

As Elaya prepped to leave most of the village met. She didn't travel much, nobody really did, so it was a huge occasion. Well wishes were given and the gear of the party going out checked and refreshed by everyone. There were also a few cheeky requests to bring things back from the big city.

Larus and mother were called forward, but I didn't know why.

"You two are in charge until I return, keep the people safe," Elaya declared almost ceremonially.

"I shall see to it that the...

Chapter 228 Preparing for the Show

"For the record, you are Mary and Sloan, yes?"  I opened with.

"That's quite so," the woman said for them.

"Excellent, you may call me Jenna.  I'm here to look for issues with the administration of the town and rectify them if possible."

"We're a fairly small town miss, other than a few frankly minor gripes, there's not much," Mary said.

"There's a lack of wood, my understanding being that you two are the only producers in town.  While there's enough her...

Chapter 227 Flirting and Testing

I was still a bit pink faced when Ulanion left the lake, strolling out like he was in a superhero movie.

"So... how deep is it?"  I asked, covering my face.

He laughed before answering,  "About twenty feet."

I could stand here flirting all day, and perhaps other things... but time and place.  Neither were correct for this and so with an effort I schooled myself.

With a small frown I looked up at the sky...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 17 The Call

I was forced to spend the next few days playing with the girls. While I knew mother had been told of the reason, she pretended not to notice since I was taking my aunt's punishment in stride. It was at least fun to be able to freely play with my magic.

There were of course some downsides. The girls constantly pestered me to make them things using magic, and I knew that if I began it would never end. Therefore I outright refused to make anything else for them. They also want...

Chapter 226 Poking Around

The next morning I met up with Ulanion; he'd been put in the room beside my own since he was a guard, but he joined me for a very quick breakfast. After that I began to move out into the town, taking with me some of my supplies, and notably the gates I needed to test. My hope was to do a quick walk around town to keep up appearances, and then head to the lakes for some testing, today would be the lightest if we got to it, and would also serve as a scouting day for locations.

Elevation of Mana Chapter 16 Playing

Ayla moved as if she was going to try picking me up but I avoided her grasping hands like they were snakes.

"No, don't pick me up," I said with the harshest voice I could manage and a glare.

"We're playing village," she said. "You're clearly a little one."

"No, I am practicing. No picking up."

Some of the nearby women began to laugh and the girl tried to step forward and pick me up again, but in the moments we'd been ...

Chapter 225 The Many Wastes of Silversprings

Before we even made it through the gate Ulanion was giving me a look along the lines of 'Can't you go anywhere there aren't problems?' It wasn't like I was looking for them, just really, abysmally unlucky. I didn't know what could be going on, but we'd have to see.

Once the gates were open I was at least pleasantly surprised by what I found there. Most cities were crowded disasters with shouting and dirty streets. Normally there'd be a mass of folk near the gate, with inns ...

Chapter 224 Testing Site

"Glad you're back," Dras said as we met for lunch.

"Yeah, me too,"

"Selene?" He looked up from his food questioningly.

"She's... rough, still refusing to travel much, and terrified. For now she's taken up a position at the fortress, probably not the best thing, but we'll have to wait and see if she can be brought out of it." I had mixed opinions on how she was acting.

"You don't approve of it?" He asked.

 <...

Chapter 223 The Broken Girl

"Come in," a small voice said after I knocked on the door.

What I found after opening it was a small bedroom, it was nice, but simple, the bed and small desk taking up most of it. Selene looked to have just finished eating and stood as she saw us enter, rushing over and grabbing me in a tight hug.

"You're here," she said, almost sobbing. "They told me you left me, that you didn't care about me."

Carefully I wrapped her up, returning the embrace. "I didn't know they had you u...

Chapter 222 The Broken City

First thing was first, I needed to talk to Selene, and I needed her reports.  Those had been put to the side for the moment, but that was going to change in a hurry.  I began to move towards the door, dragging my brother along for the ride.  Then I stopped, and looked back at Ulanion.

"Break it.  The only way we can be sure it can't be reactivated."

He didn't even hesitate as he turned towards the gate, taking a war-hammer off of one o...

Chapter 221 Gates

Father had sent in a request for Dras to come and look at the gate they'd found.  That was stupid and all of the people in the gate project agreed on it.  Sure, I had no desire to go back to Ice's End, particularly after they'd failed to finish the job properly, but I was nearby, as much as that mattered, and not currently engaged.  I was also the best at building these things, and really wanted to know what Selene had given them.

The girl herself hadn't yet ...

Chapter 220 Fallen City

Selene

I awoke with a start, finding myself laid down on the ground, men bustling all around me.  I wasn't chained, or held, or even being guarded by a number of soldiers.  For a few seconds I looked about in a brief panic.  Was I dead?  Was this what death was like?  Then I saw the color of all the clothes of the soldiers rushing around, all were in darkest black.

As I broke down in tears a man rushed up, kneeling beside the blan...

Chapter 219 Battle of Ice's End

Verren

I waited, looking between the gate in front of me and the city so far away. We'd seen our team make it to the gates, but from there it would be up to them. If they failed, we would have to act immediately to push against the city's walls. That would be a waste of life and time, time that we might well need it we were to retrieve young Selene alive and whole.

With a pop the gate came alive and there was an explosion of action. Teams one and two had ...

Chapter 218 Opening Moves

The next few days were actually pleasant, from my point of view. Other than some light paperwork, (I was milking the missing fingers to escape what my could, but it was only so much.) and my few lessons with the other bard I was free to do much as I pleased. I either spent time with Elindiel or hurrying along my hand. The former was a distraction, the latter a limited action.

My fingers were now growing at an extreme rate, but there were still practical concerns. I was physic...

Chapter 217 Safe

It took hours to go over my story in full, but I didn't complain. The interviewer was a kindly looking old scribe who spoke to me very sparingly as we sat in the dining hall. He asked me to go over the story in full and let me speak, writing everything down. I did notice him making some points here and there on the paper, places to clarify.

Father arrived about halfway through and after hugging me sat down nearby. He seemed to have a lot he wanted to say, but was for the mo...

Chapter 216 Hot-Spring Battle

It was the valley from before, where I'd tested the portals. The smoke was no smoke at all, rather the steam from the many hot springs laced throughout drifting upwards in billowing plumes. I wasn't sure if I should curse, or laugh, or weep at the sheer irony. There was one thing certain though, I knew which way to go to get home, and that was worth cheering for. If any of those men had kept up their chase they'd be in for a real surprise when Durin's people fell upon them like wolves on a ca...

Chapter 215 Race to the Meet

Breathing room or not, I could not stay still. I needed to keep it going, so keep moving I did. Day after day I marched, teleported, and even made a few more sleds, to gain as much room as I could. I was not going back, and they weren't making me. It worked too, a week after I'd led my attack on the hunters I stood on a low mountain slope, looking out onto the horizon.

There was smoke, lots of smoke. If I had to guess it was perhaps a day's travel away, but I could see the ...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 15 Coming HOme

Coming back home was... refreshing. It even came with a few benefits. Since I'd been 'solely responsible' for the death of an animal, that particular animal's skin was mine to do with as I pleased. Elaya had claimed some a few things as payment for helping me, but little other than meat, and nothing I really cared about.

"Why did you want the teeth?" I asked, as we walked back.

"Surely you know the answer to that?"

"Beads?" I guessed.

"Yes, one of the lads in my hut li...

Chapter 214 It's A...

The cliffs kept getting bigger and more imposing by the day. That was only good for me, though I tried to keep an eye on the area's outside of the mountains, skirting where I could rather then trying to see just how deep I could go. Mostly I didn't think anyone would be building here, but if I could get to civilization I might find help.

I had no delusions that I would definitely find someone allied if I did find a settlement, but even an unallied city would be a great help. I needed su...

Chapter 213 Out of the Cave

The shape in the blinding snow slowly resolved itself as it lumbered forward and into my view. The bear slowly stumbled into the mouth of the cave, covered in white powder and looking for the moment, slightly confused. It was kind of cute, if significantly larger than I would have hoped to be dealing with right now.

I locked eyes with the newcomer, whose home I might now be invading. Sure, I'd been here a bit longer, but based on the stink that my new friend brought with hi...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 14 Deep Caves and Wildcats

The small cave widened behind the rock, but not by terribly much. I could now comfortably stand and walk, but it wasn't anything that could be described as roomy. It went back, and with a small light produced from my hand I could see a good ways.

I wouldn't stay long, only a few minutes, only long enough to see just how far things went. Yeah, that was a good plan. I began to walk, making my way forward with great care. This place had been blocked off for some reason, and ca...

Chapter 212 Up the Mountains

Marco

My hands hurt, my legs hurt, the damn hounds were exhausted, and all the men were pissed. Well most of them at least. The wizard, one of the higher ups from back home in Ice's End, the once free city, seemed more or less unbothered.

"Sir, we can't keep up like this. From what you'd told us we should have run the girl to ground in the first couple days, but it's been nearly a week and a half. We don't have supplies, and the men are starting to lose t...

Elevation of Mana Chapter 13 Training Montage

I had several days of what could only be described as frustrating training. Elaya, for all that she kept an eye on me, and made sure that I wasn't doing anything stupid, was pretty bad at answering questions. She didn't know where magic came from, or how it worked, or why, or any of the stuff that I really needed to know. At the very least she didn't pretend to know things she didn't, which was refreshing having had a public school education.

"So, you need to observe the fi...

Chapter 211 Into the Tundra

When I awoke my head was still spinning. There were bells, such loud bells, sounding continuously. With an idle thought I reached up to scratch my face. That was when my eyes snapped back open, senses burning as I remembered where I was.

My left hand was gone, my right still had a shackle and a bit of chain dangling from it. I was laying on... a brief look confirmed that it was indeed hay, straw had just a slight difference in texture. Outside the night was still dark, the ...

Chapter 210 Out of the Cell

Being locked up was an all to common occurrence in my life. It never got any more fun either, but this was a new low. I was cold, alone, and feeling rather more abused than I would have liked. It also looked like there was little chance of rescue for me unless I was the one doing my rescuing.

Hours ticked by with no interaction. I eventually stood, and went to the window, the drugs finally properly wearing off.

At least I had a good view, sure it was thro...