eligos posts
Posts: 371
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Monarch - Pyrrhic IV
I wound my way through graves and crumbling buildings. The sepulcher itself—Infaris’s sacred resting place, a monolithic crypt with an iron gate that had once haunted my dreams, was a crumbled heap of ruins.There was a sad irony in that.As the first infernal, Infaris had died thousands of years ...
Monarch - Pyrrhic III
There’s a lot to learn, living rough in a place like the Sanctum. It wasn’t like I could walk into a trade-post and buy supplies. Even if I wore a mask, my eyes were a dead giveaway.What you can eat and what you can’t becomes a weekly gamble that could turn daily at any given time. Shelf life ...
Monarch - Pyrrhic II
As the man ate in silence, Lokerias waited impatiently, unable to still the incessant twitch of his tail. Since they’d extended an invitation for the stranger to share their fire, the Writ of Arkus was clear. It would be improper to impose on him in any way. Lokerias tried instead to focus on his ...
Monarch - Pyrrhic I (Second Draft)
Lokerias shivered in the cold, stifling a cough. He had always been prone to illness, but his now threadbare apparel, along with the drastic shift in temperature between Sanctum chambers hadn’t done him any favors. He wished, not for the first time, that his genealogy had far more water mages, and...
Monarch Returns, Amazon Announcement, and Schedule Updates
The Re: Monarch hiatus is over!If you’re a patron who stuck around through the break, thanks so much for your patience. It’ll be worth the wait.Monarch Book 2 is now available on Amazon.If you’re a patron from Double-Blind who’s never gotten around to Monarch and you’re up for something a ...
Double-Blind CH135
It was closing in on two in the morning. Still wired from the meeting, I’d parted ways with Kinsley, finished the last recovery potion, and headed down to the apartment’s gym complex. Despite usually being locked around this time, I’d gotten special permission to access it after hours from the...
Double-Blind CH134
The meeting concluded after what felt like an endless round of questions. I intended to make a casual bee-line out of the conference center, but I was waylaid by a combination of well-wishers and schmoozers. I handled them as politely as possibly, slowly making my way to the exit at what felt like i...
Double-Blind CH133
AN: Chap for yesterday ended up being super long, even after I cutting it in two. Second chapter going up shortly. Enjoy the combined 5k wordcount./////I was more confident, now, that I had Tyler’s trust. His wife had been in the region we’d saved, and whatever he and Miles had talked about, I w...
Double-Blind CH132
“Not that I remember?” I gave Kinsley a questioning look, struggling to stay indifferent despite the rising internal panic.Why the fuck was Miles here? He had no direct connection to the adventurer’s guild, at least as far as I knew. It was possible that he was one of the people they’d talke...
Chapter 131
Steinbeck let out a low whistle from the back of the room.“What is that?” Sae whispered.“Gehenna.” Estrada murmured.“Are those things… people?” Kinsley’s face was pale.There’s a lot of ugly in the world. Shootings. Genocide. Apartheid. The list goes on and on. At first, it’s near...
Chapter 130
AN: Quick note. It came to my attention that I mislabeled certain regions. The most noteworthy being that region 15 failed the transposition, when that should be region 13. It was a pain in the ass to fix, but the chapters should reflect that now. My fault for trying to keep twenty regions straight ...
Double-Blind CH129
Before I explained anything, I wanted to make sure I could back it up. I called Doctor Ansari first and asked if it was alright to use minor abilities. Ordinator’s Guile significantly reduced the amount of mana required to use anything on the Probability tree, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.She m...
Chapter 128
Ellison made his choice. He’s an enemy now. Same as the rest.I shook my head. That was wrong. Not only was Ellison young, he’d just been through one of the biggest societal upheavals in the last century. If not the biggest. Anyone would be confused. Reevaluating what you once held as fact and us...
Double-Blind CH127
My panic faded somewhat as I reached Kinsley’s door. There was music playing within, barely audible with the soundproofing, and the scent of cooking reached my nose. That was strange. As far as I knew, neither Ellison nor Kinsley were any good in the kitchen. Ellison was terrified to even toast hi...
Double-Blind CH126
The sun bathed my bedroom in orange hues as I reviewed the options for King’s Ranger. I tried to focus on the positives.It appeared to be a mostly ranged class.As a secondary, it integrated cleanly with Ordinator and was tied to my true level, which meant I didn’t have to worry about it lagging ...
Double Blind CH125
The void was all around me. Nothingness. No sensation, no sense of weight or distance.Black.It was strange to be here again. Back where it all started.If I relaxed my mind, it was almost like everything that had come to pass was a fever dream, and I was reset to the frantic moments after the meteor....
Double-Blind CH124
<System Notification: A new class cannot be selected with unresolved advancement. Please allocate all available stat points before entering the Null.>Interesting. The system specified that I needed to distribute stat points, leaving feat points unmentioned. That wasn’t an accident. I knew from exp...
Double-Blind CH123
<Quest Received>Quest: A Steady Hand<Quest Received>Primary Objective — Ensure Region 14’s SurvivalSecondary Objective I — Establish Short-Term DefensesSecondary Objective II — Establish Trade and Alliances with other RegionsSecondary Objective III — Uncover the Region Luminaries (1 of 4)S...
Double-Blind CH122
A small nova of near-transparent energy erupted around Iris. The display was as impressive as it was highly visible. I moved forward, trying to break line of sight. Kinsley beat me there, accompanied by two members of Roderick’s lodge I’d previously taken as unaffiliated Users.Quick on the uptak...
Double-Blind CH121
Region 14 was simultaneously spectacular and minimalistic. The entrance to the—no, my—apartment complex looked more like the entrance to a high-end hotel or downtown bank building. The buildings nearby were dozens of stories tall, and save for the occasionally recognizable logo, it was impossibl...
Double-Blind CH120
I felt all four of them staring at me. Erin was still leaning back in his chair, completely relaxed. Either he was fine with both, or whatever outcome he wanted was assured. We’d had arguments before, more for the sport of it than actually engagement with whatever the topic was. None of them parti...
Double-Blind CH119
AN: Putting up an extra chapter for Monday and the holiday weekendKinsley tensed at my side. I was confident I wasn’t showing anything on my face, but she’d seen me go blank like this before. After briefly considered switching to <Cruel Lens,> I thought better of it. I wasn’t sure I could main...
Double-Blind CH118
AN: Just a quick note, I made fairly large changes to chapter 107 based on reader feedback as of 7/01/22. It's still not exactly where I want it to be, but I think it fits better now. The outcome of the chapter hasn't changed, so you won't necessarily miss anything if you don't rerea...
Double-Blind CH117
The apartment was more or less the same as how I left it. Save a stack of oddly warped hammers in the corner.“Doing inventory?” I questioned Kinsley, pointing to the stack.“Nope.” Kinsley closed the dimensional door, glancing at Sae, then back to me warily. She crossed the room, picking up a...
Double-Blind CH116
“Okay. I have my back to you.” I looked out over the grounds my first team had been decimated on, seeing each of the suits present in my mind's eye. Other than a few inevitable glances, I’d been doing my best to avoid it. Now I was forced to fully take it in. To remember and relieve every ...
Chapter 115
<Quest Received>Quest: HelplinePrimary Objective — Locate Sae.Secondary Objective — ???Personal Objective — Remain unidentified by other Users.Threat Level: LowEXP GAIN (S)Time Limit: ???Reward: ???The quest objective was so vague it was almost nonexistent. To the point that I wondered if the ...
Double-Blind CH114
Kinsley summed it up, though I was still having difficulty processing. There were enough people in the know that my little display was seen as more miraculous than suspicious. Most people in leadership, who spent a greater deal of time with the system knew there was a great deal of fuckery afoot—t...
Double-Blind CH113
My body shook violently. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. No matter how hard I tried, the muscles in my legs and arms alternating tightening and releasing. It was like being a prisoner in my mind.“He’s having a seizure.” Kinsley’s voice, commanding now, devoid of the emotion from moments...
Double-Blind CH112
After a few seconds, the feeling of thousands of volts of electricity began to fade. Awareness slowly filtered in. The long, textured wall of gray slate I was looking at was the sidewalk. The twenty or so pinkish branching fingers in my hands, returning to a normal number as my eyes refocused. There...
Double-Blind Chapter 111
My stomach clenched in anticipation of what was happening in the unfortified regions. I was deep in my mind as we drew closer to region 14. So much so that I barely even registered the significance of what I was seeing as we passed through the intersection near the tunnel where I’d been when the t...
