M.J. Markgraf

Mana System Chapter 195: Polishing off the rust

Barcos sighed and stored the bottle of alcohol away as he heard the Captain announce there were boarders on the deck. He unstrapped himself and loosened his shoulders as he opened the hatch and stepped out. He avoided the blade aimed for his throat and left a dagger in the man’s throat in return.

He wasn’t surprised someone had been waiting to attack the only entrance to the top deck.

He heard one of the boarders hiss, “who let you out of your hole, Blademaster?”

“...

Mana System Chapter 194: The next target

My concern over being singled out and bullied didn’t come to pass. It seemed the fight had been left at just that and nobody came to harass us after. That gave me time to restock all the food and alcohol that had been consumed during our journey so far.

Food was cheap, I didn’t splurge on anything fancy. I wasn’t nearly a good enough cook to waste good food, not that the others seemed to care or ever complimented or complained about what was provided so far.

Barcos and I arr...

Mana System Chapter 193: New crew

Despite Barcos’s desire to leave the island, we didn’t leave right away. Well, we left the island but stayed close. I wanted to get a measure of the man’s abilities before I accepted him as crew. If I didn’t like what he offered we would just drop him at the next nearest port and go our separate ways.

When I told Barcos this, he laughed. “Any port beats this dump. You will have to forgive me if my skills are a bit rusty, I haven’t had to use them in almost a decade,” he sa...

For December

First off I just want to thank all my patrons for this month. It was a crazy month. That being said, the Writathon goes until December 5th and I plan on continuing my daily release until then.

After that I will take a week off and resume my Saturday upload schedule on the 18th as I transition back to my normal 2 chapters a week. As much as I would like to release chapters every day, I just don't have that kind of time and I'm already burned out from writing as much as I did to keep up w...

Mana System Chapter 192: Sha’Stis

Doniger’s place looked like nothing more than a run-down warehouse from the outside. If it wasn’t for the animated illusion of a woman spreading her legs above the door, we may have walked right past it.

There were two burly-looking guards outside, both level seventeen. They gave us the once-over but didn’t move from their posts. Khikall walked up to one. Slipping a cred stick into his palm. “Is Sha’Stis here tonight?”

The man looked over to his buddy, who was looking ...

Mana System Chapter 191: Quest

It turned out Khikall was overly optimistic in his estimation on how long it would take to return. And when he finally did return, I noticed he was returning alone.

I waited on the deck, enjoying the sun as I watched him approach.

Khikall stumbled his way down the rickety pier. The Jerboa was plastered by the looks of him but he still managed to jump from the dock to the deck, although, his landing wasn’t graceful and I saw him choke back some vomit before he stood on unsteady l...

Mana System Chapter 190: Port of broken souls

We slowly coasted into the small port that Khikall had told me about. He wasn’t lying when he said small. There was one dock with three slips for ships and that was it. Even the island wasn’t much more than a small rocky mass, floating adrift in the sky.

There were a dozen buildings, all crammed together with tight walkways between them to maximize the usable space.

“Gods, what is this shit hole?” I asked.

“The port is called Hylatty. It's where people go when they...

Mana System Chapter 189: Little fish

“That could have gone better,” Khikall said as I reentered the command room.

“Yeah, but I got the captain so it all worked out. Any idea why only three pirates tried to board the Retribution, I can’t imagine we incapacitated the rest of crew,” I said, running my hand through my sweaty hair after I put my helmet away.

“The rest were probably slaves,” Khikall replied offhandedly.

I froze, the bile rising in my throat as I realized I just damned a ship full of sla...

Mana System Chapter 188: Learning the ropes

I let Khikall take control of the ship and slowly ease us into the pea soup fog that was quickly rolling into the harbor. It was hard trusting someone I had just met but he seemed like a straight sort of guy. Besides, I couldn’t do this alone, despite my capabilities.

“This is normal?” I asked.

“The mist? Yes, this is actually quite thin yet. The mists roll in and stick around for a few days before they dissipate again. Something to do with the mana fluctuations that keep ...

Mana System Chapter 187: What to do

“So, Captain, what are your plans?” Khikall asked as he walked beside me through the city.

I shrugged, “not sure. I originally came to this part of the world to simply explore. But as you know I was attacked. I need to make some repairs to my ship, then decide what to do. I would like to explore the Isles of Fog.”

He grunted, “that may be difficult and not just because of the pirates.”

“Oh?”

“If you aren’t planning on running trade, most ports will ...

Mana System Chapter 186: The dishonored

I watched closely as the Jerboa made his way through the bar and over to my table. Other Jerboa near his path got up and moved away but it didn’t seem like the same respect I saw out in the street. This looked more like disgust or pity.

When he finally stood on the opposite side of the table from me, he spoke. “May I sit?” he asked quietly through a raspy voice that sounded like he had smoked three packs a day for his entire life.

I glanced around the bar, seeing it had fill...

Mana System Chapter 185: The floating lands

No other dangers jumped out to attack as I closed in on my destination. I was now close enough to see what it was.

Massive chunks of stone and dirt floated above the ocean. At first, it was just off the ocean surface but as I got closer I could see it rose up higher, with huge chunks of land just floating in the air with no apparent means to keep them there.

It wasn’t uniform either but more like rocky outcroppings and small islands leading to a massive island near the center. I...

Mana System Chapter 184: Discovering new lands

It had been two weeks since I departed Saint June, in search of what, I wasn’t quite sure yet. Action and adventure I guess. Or maybe just the ability to see something new was what I needed.

My path took me across the eastern parts of South America but I didn’t linger or stop long. There wasn’t much to speak about in the area, it had been devastated by something. War or some calamity had left the once dense jungle barren and blackened. I’m pretty sure the area I was in was the f...

Mana System Chapter 183: Burning out the vermin

I stared with fascination and maybe a touch of horror at the destruction my weapons had wrought. My estimate had been thirty seconds to a minute to burn through the shield based on what I knew of the shields I had on the fortress and the power of the weapons. But the barrage from all sixteen mana lasers – set to continuous fire – had burned through whatever shitty defense they called a shield in less than three seconds.

I had been so surprised that I didn’t get the beams turned of...

Mana System Chapter 182: An eye for an eye

I realized I screwed up and scheduled this chapter out of order. My bad.

------------------------------------------

“You’re certain!” Lord Vik’t hissed in annoyance.

“Yes, my Lord,” Ashlam said from his kneeling position.

“This should have been expected, but this was too soon. To think the man already figured out how to make a flying ship.”

“Ahem,” Ashlam coughed, drawing his Lord’s attention.

“Speak.”

“We believe he has ha...

Mana System Chapter 181: Working the bugs out

The party lasted way too long and by the end, my nerves were fried but Fiona thanked me for sticking it out. I knew it was more about Martin than it was about me but still, I hated politics.

The ship wasn’t launched that evening, much to the disappointment of everyone present. They could watch the launch in the morning after I got some sleep. Nobody could be within the compound walls while I was initiating the systems anyway, there was a slight possibility the automated defenses would...

Mana System Chapter 180: What drives me

After my conversation with Martin, which left me feeling like a stray dog kicked to the street, even though I knew Martin meant well, I thought long and hard about what he said.

He was right of course, I had lost most of my drive since defeating the Black Dragon. Sure I still had the Stygian Order as a driving force but they were more a nuisance than anything else. And the Guild wasn’t something I would ever be able to defeat and that irked me.

I only struck back at the Stygian ...

Mana System Chapter 179: Cold war

It took a week but the enemy eventually pulled back all of their forces from within the forest. They couldn’t afford to leave even spotters inside the draining field. At least not if they wanted to keep them alive. Even stealth-based classes were severely limited by the teleportation scrambler as it prevented skills like what Martin told me that catkin was capable of using.

The only reason Fiona was immune to this effect was due to her being spiritual. I had thought of coming up with ...

Paul Fuller Character Sheet

Paul Fuller | Mantra Enchanter/Maw of the Void | Level 21/18

Strength:20(+2) modifier x22

Endurance:20 modifier x40

Agility:20(+2) modifier x22

Perception:18 modifier x22

Intelligence:25 modifier x40

Wisdom:16 modifier x22

Charisma:11 modifier x22

Luck:16 modifier x22

HP:8...

Mana System Chapter 178: Drained

“You sure this will work?” Martin asked worriedly.

“No,” I responded while I positioned the large cube full of runes into place below the teleportation scrambler.

“You could have lied,” Martin grumbled.

“And what good would that have done, hmm? Besides, the test worked fine, the only concern I have is distance. But I have a solution for that as well.”

“Fair point. Can you activate it separately from the shield?”

“For now, no. but if I had a ...

Mana System Chapter 177: City under siege

“Hey, Fiona, I think we may have a problem,” I said as I looked at the remote viewing orb.

It wasn’t quite clear as we were still a ways off from the coast and the orb wasn’t designed to see that far away. What I had noticed was a haze of dark smoke. I may have missed it if I hadn’t been watching the orb out of boredom and saw a slightly thicker clump of smoke.

“What is it?” Fiona asked as she hurried into the room.

“Smoke, I’m going to cloak the fortress. ...

Mana System Chapter 176: The hunt is on

Ska walked back through the city gate. He was going to relay what he found to Martin when a familiar scent crossed his nose.

He paused, inhaling deeply. Unlike the old scent trails located outside, this one was new, and he knew it was enough to trigger his skill. He rumbled in delight as he began to stalk his first target.

The trail meandered and at times went below and above the city streets in an effort to throw him off. But the efforts were in vain.

So lost in his hunt Sk...

Mana System Chapter 175: Overdue return

“Any idea who or what it was?” Martin asked as he stared at the mangled corpse on the coroner's table.

Martin was thankful the city had power again, otherwise, the smell would have been unbearable.

Kurt shrugged, “your guess is as good as mine,” the man answered noncommittally.

Martin suppressed the urge to throttle the man. He had become more a detriment than an asset since Martin took office.

“Who got the kill message?” Martin asked, keeping the frustrati...

Mana System Chapter 174: Infiltration

As soon as the portal vanished and Lord Vik’t was secure, Ashlam went to gather his forces.

The Lord wanted an all-out assault but Ashlam knew there were better ways to secure a city than attacking it outright. With that in mind, he headed toward the barracks and his infiltration team. He would still ready the army but that could take time, time his infiltration unit would need to undermine the enemy city and make it an easier target.

“Gol, Nalam, where are the others?” he d...

Mana System Chapter 173: Trouble brewing at home

A white ring of swirling energy opened outside of Saint June and three men stepped out.

One of the men looked around in disdain with a cloth over his mouth to block out the dust that was kicked up by an errant gust of wind.

“Pu’v, why did we arrive outside of the walls?” Lord Vik’t asked in an accusatory tone.

A shorter man scuttled over and knelt, “I am unsure my Lord, my spell should have brought us well inside the walls and near the government residence going by...

Mana System Chapter 172: Elusive catch

After Fiona woke up, we spread out and deployed the spirit repellers around the last reported location of someone going missing. It wasn’t close to one of the working enchantment circles but it would let us know if the items worked.

We met back up after a few hours.

“You ready?” I asked.

“Let me get a birds-eye view,” she said before turning invisible and floating into the air.

I gave her a few minutes to get set before I activated the devices.

I didn�...

Mana System Chapter 171: The Hunt

“I didn’t expect them to have hundreds of weak mana hearts they were willing to trade for our assistance,” I said as we walked behind another of the Silent Ones.

My first assumption that the Silent Ones were some weird harem was proven wildly inaccurate with this one, seeing as he was a man. Then again, I didn’t know how this society operated maybe they swung both ways. Who was I to judge?

“That’s because you get too defensive,” Fiona added flatly, “Martin told me ...

Mana System Chapter 170: The lies beneath

I had to stop myself from leaping across the table and throttling the older man on the far side. It was a close thing, my rage barely kept in check by an almost imperceptible shake of Fiona’s head. I didn’t sit either, preferring to remain standing, my armor, and weapon at the ready.

I knew most of it was leftover adrenaline from my fight, but there was always the simmering pot of anger below the surface. It had been so long since I let my emotions out that I was ready to...

Mana System Chapter 169: Vetting process

The three of us followed the silent woman as she led us to the Chief’s residence. It was easy to tell how opulent the place was, even more so than Fiona’s description. I noticed pillars carved from some sort of ivory. Just the amount of detail work put into items meant to hold up a roof was beyond the norm.

At first, I thought they looked a little like runes but I felt no magical power emanating from them. There also wasn’t any connecting structure to the designs, almost like it w...

Mana System Chapter 168: A town on the edge

It soon became clear to Fiona that something was hunting the citizens of the town. It's why they avoided dark alleys, looked about in trepidation, and jumped at noises. It seemed like the Chief was trying to keep this information contained but rumors had spiraled out of his control after people started going missing.

Seeing as she was in a unique position, she decided to float over the city for a night to see what showed up.

Most people were smart and locked themselves in at night...