Double-Blind: A Modern LITRPG

Chapter 126

The sun bathed my bedroom in orange hues as I reviewed the options for Kings 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 didnt have to worry about it lagging behind in level like my Page class.

It was usable as an additional identity, if I wanted to go that route.

There were options that served as shortcuts for mastering other weapons, which solved my problem of constantly falling back on a crossbow.

All things considered, it really could have been worse.

Still, I kept coming back to the same repetitive thought. Nychtas friend was an asshole.

Unlike both the Ordinator and Page class, Kings Ranger personified the one element Id wanted to avoid from the start. It was flashy as hell. There were trick shots, massive attacks that drained almost all mana to utilize, even some options for drawing aggression.

More problematic was that the name wasnt for show.

Kings Ranger. Emphasis on King. There were feats like that gave bonuses to acting on the Kings orders. granted a massive power boost for coming to their defense. The potential connection to that court the Suits were pursuing wasnt lost on me.

I supposed it helped to some extent in terms of providing an additional cover. It would be easy to spin as an alternate reason for seeking the suits out. But I didnt like the idea of being beholden to anyone. Especially when I had no idea who they were. With luck, the class being my secondary would diminish whatever pull the King, might have with his entourage.

There were two acquisitions that came with the class. and a skill and feat respectively. Because of the nature of hand crossbows, and the clunkiness of their larger counterparts, Id been limited on range from the start. It was possible to inflict serious damage at considerable range with and its counterpart, but it was unreliable by definition as a method of attack. Being able to pepper targets at range while my summons ran interference, then swap to my crossbow for anything that broke mid-range range, was far closer to ideal than the way Id been haphazardly throwing myself into fights.

It would help differentiate me in social settings as well. Using the same weapons regardless of identity was going to bite me in the ass eventually. If I wanted to distance Matt the Page from the Myrddin persona, it would be easy enough to have the bow as Matts primary weapon. Bow and saber for Matt, knives and crossbows for Myrddin.

was a little more questionable, in terms of benefit.

According to the description, it buffed navigation and mobility in familiar environments. Id lived in or adjacent to cities all my life, so I was most likely to see that benefit in urban environments. Which was a serious boonif the skill itself wasnt a joke. No way to know until I tested it.

All that in mind, I used all but one of my feat points to purchase which upgraded the skill. It was the first time Id seen a feat directly affect a skill. I couldnt help but wonder if this was the sort of flexibility the direct combat oriented classes had access to from the start.

I glanced at the time. Just past seven. As antsy as I was to talk to Ellison, waking him up and dragging him off somewhere was the perfect way to start this off wrong. I just needed to be patient. With that in mind, I bought a small training bow and a padded target.

Still working her ass off. No surprise there.

I cocked my head, considering the possibility. It was an excellent idea. Not to mention, it would give mom a project to work on to distract herself, decreasing the chances of a backslide.

The problem was the potential for misuse. Scams, misinformation, or worse, a streamlined method for necromancers or similarly incentivized Users to lure others into a trap.

My last unread message was from Sae. Itd come in later than the others, close to four in the morning.

I wasnt certain how to answer. The purely pragmatic answer was no. Given what shed been through and what she was dealing with, any help she could offer was likely to be unreliable at best. But shed never struck me as particularly proactive before. When wed formed our short-lived party, Sae seemed happy to let Nick and Jinny operate as co-leaders and went with the flow of whatever was put before her.

Which made this departure from the norm concerning.

I winced after sending it, hoping she wouldnt notice the flagrant attempt to stall. Our main hurdle was her inability to go out, well, pretty much anywhere. There was a very real possibility anyone who saw Sae would misidentify her as a monster and actor rather, overreactaccordingly.

After a few more moments, I reached out to Iris.

A notification pinged, notifying me that the bow and target had arrived. I eased myself out of the bed and into the wheelchair to place the target on the far side of the room, next to the walk-in closet. I took a position across from it and took a few minutes to study the bow. It wasnt particularly sturdy and had a light pull. Which was fine. It was meant for training, after all.

I nocked an arrow, noticing how smoothly it locked into place, and, taking in a quick breath, drew the string to my chin and released.

The arrow whizzed through the air, landing with a thump in the third ring of the target.

Interesting.

had taken an adjustment period to get used to, and even now, there were still times it felt unnatural and unwieldy. Every time I used a crossbow had me wishing for a Glock instead. But with my movements were instinctive and intuitive, like Id been doing it all my life.

The result wasnt perfect, however. I took a few more practice shots and realized the problem. Horizontally, the arrows were well centered. My issue was vertical. I was compensating too much for drop, still adjusting for distance like I was using a crossbow.

Keeping that at the forefront of my mind, I tried again.

One arrow landed in a perfect bullseye.

Encouraged, I tried to replicate it and failed. Still, every shot I fired after landed in a tight grouping within the center ring. Itd take some work, especially when I added more range into the mixthe entire reason I was considering a bow.

I tore myself away from it after an hour of practice. Ellison had a strict internal clock that woke him at eight every morning, regardless of how much sleep hed had. It was well past that now, and he still hadnt responded. He was either avoiding me, or wanted me to come to him.

Fine. If thats how he wanted to play it.

I opened my door to find Iris swaying on her feet outside the guest room door, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She was still wearing the same clothes from the previous day.

Wheres your brother? I asked.

Woke me when he left. Iris yawned. Said he was gonna go talk to Kinsley about something.

This early?

I clamped down on the beginnings of alarm and fired a message to Kinsley, checking to see if Ellison was there. The anxiety grew more significant when she didnt answer immediately. Maybe Ellison had fed Iris a line of bullshit, and Kinsley was still asleep, but I wasnt willing to leave it up to chance. Kinsley was my achilles. The foundation of everything we were building and working towards. Few people knew that, but with his involvement up to this point, Ellison could easily put it together.

If he was working to undercut me, he would absolutely start with Kinsley.

The gruesome aftermath from the cathedral played on repeat in my mind.

Gotta go. You need anything?

Iris shook her head, stifling another yawn. Nu uh. Just gonna talk to Sae.

Dammit. If it wasnt for the Ellison issue, Id ease Iris into this, frame it so Sae understood what we were trying to do. Still. Out of all of us, Iris was the most empathetic. Which was probably why shed moved my request to the top of her list.

Id just have to trust her. Thanks, kiddo.

Iris knocked on Saes door as I passed her, exiting the penthouse into the hallway.