M.J. Markgraf

Mana System Chapter 167: On the move

Seeing as the dungeon was a bust, Fiona and I returned to the fortress and decided to see what was across the plains.

It was certainly the largest single terrain feature I had ever seen as we flew across it day after day. Every few miles would be small clumps of the gorlophants, grazing away on the tall grass, but little else. The only other thing of note were the errant boulders or small ruins we flew over, now that we knew what to look for.

Even the largest terrain feature consi...

Mana System Chapter 166: A new horde

It took some searching to pin down the location of the dungeon but we eventually found it. At first, we had mistaken the rocks peaking from the grass as nothing but scattered boulders. There had certainly been enough of those throughout the grassland. But as we got closer, you could see the cut surfaces and even cornerstones marking where the buildings had once stood. All that remained now was a few scattered and weather-worn rocks to mark what had once been a massive structure.

We had ...

Mana System Chapter 165: Dwindling returns.

Fiona and I scoured the forest for miles around the sinkhole but only found three more of the leech creatures. That was both good and bad. Good that they hadn’t spread further but bad for leveling.

I hadn’t gained a single level from the three creatures, but Fiona had gained five levels from her participation, making her Duelist class now level six. Which was admitted low, considering she had no real AOE abilities. Her Shackle skill came in the handiest as it prevented everything wi...

Mana System Chapter 164: Out of sight

Edward Rosewill had been given little time to prepare for the arrival of this Lord Vik’t. He could only hope his preparations were enough. He found it irksome that he had to bow down to an alien invader but he knew that might come to pass when he agreed to have the Enchanters Guild join his town in exchange for defenses. But he hadn’t expected a visit so soon. He had barely solidified his hold on the town and ejected the malcontents before they showed up.

Speaking of malcontents he ...

Mana System Chapter 163: Pest control

I stomped on the ground producing a wave of molten rock in front of me. The charging swarm carrier, which had once been a massive boar, sunk into the superheated rock. It tried throwing leeches my way but the superheated air cooked them before they made it to me.

I made sure that none of the leeches escaped my attack.

This had been the fourth swarm creature we had come across in the last few hours.

“Is it just me or are we encountering them quicker than before?” I asked....

Mana System Chapter 162: Keeping up with the Joneses

I dodged to the side as the gorlophant rushed through the space I had just been occupying, trying to gore me with its horn.

I heard the creature let out a deafening screech as Fiona let loose with the prismatic rapier. The creature's tough hide parted like thin paper to the blade's edge and ability to nullify magic. Learning that their tough hide wasn’t just thick but also magical had come as a bit of a shock but it explained why it had been so hard to take them down in our previous a...

Mana System Chapter 161: In charge

Welcome to the month of madness, I hope you all enjoy!

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“You seem awfully nonplussed for someone that just murdered a group of people,” Kurt angrily replied as he glared at me.

I had just finished going over what had occurred with the Stygian Order base with him and Martin. I hadn’t expected the man to get so up in arms about it but I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. He did capitulate to a bunch of thugs inste...

Reminder

Just a reminder for all patrons, Tomorrow kicks off the RoyalRoad Writathon. With that I will be implementing the month of madness as I like to call it and will be trying to post a chapter a day. Any chapter I post to RR will be reflected on Patreon. So stick around and enjoy the madness.

Mana System Chapter 160: Free of interference

Fiona and I examined the obsidian-colored pedestal in the center of the room. As we neared it, glowing characters emerged along the top. They were not in any language I was familiar with and the system didn’t translate them for me. I looked over to Fiona and she shook her head. Well, guess there wasn’t much we could do with this.

“So, I know what a node is, but why is it such a big deal?” I asked, the sound of my voice seemed to get sucked up by the room so it only came out as b...

Mana System Chapter 159: Cleaning house

Fiona and I spent a week practicing and got to a point where I could endure her whole form within me for a minute. I really hoped that was enough time.

She had been busy as well, managing to identify four of the spies. The other two were much better at remaining hidden. I wanted to catch all six but I didn’t think we had the time. Martin had received a message from the Marshall, informing him that a Lord Vik’t had paid a personal visit to Houston.

It only helped confirm that H...

Mana System Chapter 158: Republic

Not much changed in the month after bringing Martin and Fiona back to Saint June, at least for me. Martin had managed to make a name for himself across the town and as I expected he was well-liked. Elections hadn’t been held yet and nobody wanted to go the route of declaring that they were now the new city lord.

The new barge was completed and I trained an older gentleman that used to be a train conductor to operate it. His level was a bit on the low side so it required that I pair hi...

Mana System Chapter 157: Mourning

The trip back was a struggle, both emotionally and physically. The first physical obstacle was the barge itself. Taking it with us would make us a huge target. Leaving it behind would be a waste. I decided to remove anything of value and abandon the barge in the jungle. A plasma cutter helped make quick work of cutting the panels free. Removing the control systems and runic lines took longer but within two days everything had been stripped, leaving nothing behind but a steel shell. I imagined...

Mana System Chapter 156: Choices

The dense vegetation and thick vines made traversing the Jungle difficult for Maria and me. More Maria, than I as I had much higher agility. Ska had no issues as this was his element. No sooner had we stepped inside the foliage than he practically disappeared from view, thanks to his mottled fur.

Ska would do what he did best and scout out our path ahead, warning us if we needed to detour.

Stealth wasn’t needed thanks to the incessant drone of bugs, and animal noises. You had to...

Mana System Chapter 155: Found

It was a full three days before my Reaper title picked up Javier’s location. That gave me a good estimate of how far the tracker reached. I figured it was around a thousand miles. It wasn’t a perfect estimate though as the barge was traveling away from us almost the entire time.

It seemed that whoever was giving the orders on the barge wanted to get into South America. Probably to avoid exactly what was happening right now. Maybe they figured if they got far enough away, even if I c...

Mana System Chapter 154: Lost

I let Maria steer the fortress since she knew where the town we were heading for was located. I had ways to locate both Javier and the barge but they were both beyond the range of either option. At least I hoped Javier was just beyond the range. The other possibility was not one to dwell on at the moment.

My working sensors were still picking up people following us but once we crossed out of sight of land and headed over the open ocean, they wouldn’t be able to track us as easily. I�...

Mana System Chapter 153: Returning to work

Our little trip had taken quite a bit longer than expected. But I hadn’t been expecting to sign up for a fighting competition and then be forced to fight off a group of religious nuts. So I guess three weeks being gone wasn’t so bad.

I did notice that over half of the sensors I made had failed in the time we were out of Saint June.

Ska decided to stick with me for now and I decided not to stop off near Houston. I did send Martin a message though so hopefully he could update me...

Chapter 152: Clean up

I was helping clean up the mountain of corpses. I knew I didn’t have to stick around and do it but that would be a dick move. I might be an asshole, but I wasn’t a complete prick. Dead civilians were lined up and covered with any available fabric. Eventually, survivors would have to go through and see if their loved ones were among the dead.

As for the Sons of Autumn dead, they were tossed into a pile in an open pit. A few eager fire mages were making sure that everything burned pro...

Mana System Chapter 151: Tournament part 4

Even before I could see the contestants, I could hear the stomping and chanting of the crowd. It appeared Hegar the champion had made it to the Semi-Finals, it was also my first chance to see the figure.

Out of one side of the arena stepped a comparatively short man. Maybe a few inches shorter than I was. What he lacked in height he made up for in girth. The man was like a solid slab of muscle. His bulging arms poked through his breastplate, being the only part of him unarmored. From he...

Mana System Chapter 150: Tournament part 3

Ska ignored the noise from the mass of people as he flitted through the trees and tall grass that had replaced the open sand from the previous day. This was his element and he already knew where his opponent was thanks to Hunter’s Scent.

The mage was sitting in the center of a burned-out ring of grass with short flames surrounding him as he was preparing a spell. Ska growled quietly in annoyance as a portal opened and a fire elemental stepped through.

Fire was not Ska’s favori...

Mana System Chapter 149: Tournament part 2

After that unprovoked attempt at my life, my interest in watching the matches waned. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was sequestered in with the other participants I may have just said screw it and walked out. I was fine with testing myself against the people with a duel, but I wasn’t here to fight to the death. Earning access to the Bazaar wasn’t worth that much in my opinion. I had other places I could access if I needed to.

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“Well… looks like that moron Henrich ne...

Mana System Chapter 148: Tournament part 1

So that was how Ska and I ended up on the bracket for this tournament. It was the quickest and most legitimate way to gain entry to the Bazaar. There were a hundred spots and everyone was given a random placement. From what Don told me, there were three former champions in this round. He pointed out their names on the massive board.

“There is Hegar, looks like you and your friend lucked out, he is on the opposite bracket. Although, that means only one of you will be going to the end, ...

Mana System Chapter 147: Glitz and glitter

The rest of New Mexico was a boring wasteland, not improved one iota from its pre-System state. Just brown rock and sand as far as you could see. Most cities were dead husks, sand already beginning to cover over the remains. People were long gone, dead or scattered to easier climates, unable to survive after the luxuries of the modern world were gone. I wondered why anyone would ever want to live in such an inhospitable place. It did give me a newfound respect for early settlers and the harsh...

Mana System Chapter 146: Quiet

After the initial flurry of signals I got from the detectors and the one that detonated, it was radio silence. Two weeks went by without a single hit from the detectors. I was afraid the detectors had burned out or the Stygian Order found a way to circumvent them somehow. I was able to alleviate those concerns by using my prototype portal to verify the system was still working. I guess they had been spooked off for the meantime.

That didn’t mean there weren’t still spies watching me...

Mana System Chapter 145: Setting the lure

It took Timothy a week to finish fabricating the last of the disks for my project. It was good timing because the dry dock was almost complete. I thanked the man for his work and told him to take off until the dry dock was ready and the barge was in place. I paid him with the money I earned from the town. I essentially signed a contract to build the wall and add other fortifications. The money wouldn’t be paid all at once, as to not bankrupt the town. Instead, I agreed to installments as we...

Mana System Chapter 144: New toys

Now that I had spoken to Javier and Maria and gotten the initial work started on the new warehouse and drydock, I turned my attention toward my next goal.

Locating the Stygian Order was going to be difficult. I assumed they had spies I wasn’t familiar with keeping tabs on me. It was the only thing that made sense as to how they knew of the dwarves or where I was located after the attack at the Hornwell property.

Therein lay the problem. I had no way to ferret these people out, a...

Mana System Chapter 143: New headquarters

After finishing off the dwarves and stripping them of all their gear, I left their corpses to rot in the hot Texas sun. It's all the bastards deserved after attacking. Coming after me was one thing but attacking my friends was another.

Despite my desire to immediately go after the perpetrators of this little plot, I was forced to curtail my emotions. I had no way of locating my target, although, I had a few ideas. First I needed to intercept my new captains and get the other barge out o...

Mana System Chapter 142: Alone again

I floated the fortress out over the ocean and spent the better part of a day cleaning up and repairing the insides. I still had the two damaged runes at the bottom of the fortress that I would need to get to but it could wait for now. My mind was in turmoil but the act of cleaning helped me settle and come to terms with everything. I still kept my emotions locked away, they would get their time.

The main command chair was a twisted mess so I scrapped it. I unbolted one of the other chai...

Mana System Chapter 141: Cause and effect

Sorry about the late release, I overslept, or I should say my dogs let me sleep in. Considering they woke me up at 2 A.M. to take them outside it was mighty generous of them.

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“You’re sure it was the Stygian Order that gave them info?” the Marshall asked as he walked along beside me.

The remaining dwarves had fled after their King had fallen. I was hobbling along through the outer portion of Houston, h...

Mana System Chapter 140: Reap what you sow

I stood at the top of the fortress, watching the barge until it was out of sight. It would be safe to say I was a bit nervous. Releasing such a large magical vessel into the hands of two kids that I had only known for a few weeks was a risk but I trusted the six trained men on board to deal with any issues.

I sighed as the barge faded into the distance. I was alone and bored. Martin was busy with his politics, Fiona had Martin, and Ska was still out and about with a group of the Marshal...

Mana System Chapter 139: Employee training

I grabbed the collar of Javier’s shirt and yanked him back just in time to save him from being split in half by a guillotine that dropped from a slot in the ceiling.

I did have to reattach a few of his fingers though.

“You’ll be fine in a few minutes,” I assured the shaking teen. “Just breath and remember what I told you when we first arrived at the dungeon.”

He nodded quickly, breathing in and out as he shook. “A-Always be aware of your s-surroundings.”