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 ago. She was deified, her memory honored with the creation of the sepu...
2022-08-02 18:16:07 +0000 UTC View PostThere’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 is a serious concern. Dehydrating and drying food is the best way to ensure s...
2022-08-02 18:14:29 +0000 UTC View PostAs 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 meal. Though stringy, the wyvern meat was delicious, and he devoured it quickly, nea...
2022-08-02 18:12:32 +0000 UTC View Post
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 little more traditional dark fantasy or just have a thing for time loops, no...
2022-08-02 18:07:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe 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 inches per minute.
<Kinsley: Are you sure we don’t need to run?>...
2022-07-29 00:37:51 +0000 UTC View PostAN: 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.
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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 was reasonably sure he didn’t suspect me. ...
2022-07-29 00:36:44 +0000 UTC View Post“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 talked to, as part of their investigation. But it felt like more than that.
“Matt, this...
2022-07-27 00:36:06 +0000 UTC View Post“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 nearly impossible to look away. Our minds need logic, some sor...
2022-07-22 22:51:36 +0000 UTC View PostBefore 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 muttered something disparaging, but eventually relented after I promised to do...
2022-07-20 19:12:30 +0000 UTC View PostEllison 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 using that as foundation for challenging old thinking was a natural pa...
2022-07-20 02:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostI banged on the...
2022-07-15 18:31:43 +0000 UTC View PostIt 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 behind in level like my Page Class.
It was usable as an additional identity...
2022-07-14 23:48:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe 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. In reality, it wasn’t the same. The overload of panic and ex...
2022-07-13 16:36:29 +0000 UTC View Post<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 experience, it was possible to bank the feat points and use them later...
2022-07-12 23:24:42 +0000 UTC View PostQuest: A Steady Hand
<Quest Received>
Primary Objective — Ensure Region 14’s Survival
Secondary Objective I — Establish Short-Term Defenses
Secondary Objective II — Establish Trade and Alliances with other Regions
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 uptake, Tyler barked out a verbal command and Sara along with a couple other adven...
2022-07-08 22:22:16 +0000 UTC View PostRegion 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 impossible to tell if they were now-defunct office buildings or residential.
The timer ticked down f...
2022-07-07 23:31:56 +0000 UTC View PostKinsley 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 maintain my composure without my default title.
Until recently,...
2022-07-01 21:43:30 +0000 UTC View Post“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 hammer with a handle that literally curved in on itself like a pig's tail. “No...
2022-07-01 00:53:08 +0000 UTC View Post“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 moment of what had happened.
Beyond the tracks, Steinbeck had caught the movement and began to ...
2022-06-28 21:33:53 +0000 UTC View PostQuest: Helpline
Primary Objective — Locate Sae.
Secondary Objective — ???
Personal Objective — Remain unidentified by other Users.
Threat Level: Low
EXP GAIN (S)
Time Limit: ???
“He’s having a seizure.” Kinsley’s voice, commanding now, devoid of the emotion from moments before.
“Put this in his mouth.”
“No. That’ll just fuck up his jaw...
2022-06-22 19:18:13 +0000 UTC View PostAfter 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 was an inherent feeling that something had broken within my ribcage, too deep-seate...
2022-06-21 22:59:13 +0000 UTC View PostMy 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 transposition was first announced.
Significance being, the road wasn’t an obliterated mess...
2022-06-20 23:55:37 +0000 UTC View Post