NIGHT

"what?" the confusion only grew between them. and night fought to bite her tongue, even in between the counter-attacks as she tried to pass her active role in combat to nari. "what are you even talking about? i thought the girls you were speaking of were trying to become vampires, not actually believing they were them! of course i don't believe vampires exist?!" rage put to step. there were much better ways of channeling her effort than to get a story straight in the heat of the moment -- so night closed into lilith when she repositioned in a leap, and the extra edge that seeped out

"potions?" that sounded familiar. although she wasn't entire sure if they were meant to craft the potions. night felt she was onto something when the air around them began to bluster through the forest, but hesitated bringing her hunch up. there was something, between the forest itself and her mention of the memory, that made her realize she was about to sound like an aincrad boomer. so she finished her drink. crushed it and threw the ashes to a side. at the very least, if her guess was correct, she'd look more like a maniac than an ancient individual -- that she could live with.

night: wow sounds lame if it helped, night had been doing her best to remain enroute to star's position. the way the forest went, getting lost in it was an easy trap to fall into, and if she'd let it, the forest might've consumed her existence for the next three months or longer. so she stuck to her better judgement and avoided white rabbits she wanted to chase. night: whats the objective now it was when she got close enough to spot star's silhouette (and incidentally then, the player marker above his head) that she started to feel the wind pick up. sure, it had been chilly

"Engagement distance. I mean you know yours in the same way, pretty much, even if you're not thinking about." "yeah," night replied, unwavering, "but i wouldn't say i'm familiar with it down to the centimeter." they continued walking and talking. koga mentioned how much she'd changed since their first meet. night simply quirked a brow at that statement. "i'd still scream and run from them for the record," she continued, sights on the castle ahead, "but it's much easier and faster to kill them in one shot." "sure, they're equally as creepy as i'd known them before. arguably even

night: ? book she'd sent the intel to bistro, expecting an immediate reply with the broker's confidence behind the message. in the minute night hung around the bench, however, she got nothing back. it was only after star had sent her the approval for coffee that she got up and started walking back to the streets. night: how do u take it what little col it had cost her was nothing to consider between friends. she bounded over to the teleporter directly after, with three orders saved to her inventory. hadn't thought to change out of her fit after arriving on the twenty-second

night: sure night: which is it? she'd been on the twenty-eighth, on a bench facing a stream running through town, hiding away from people in plain sight. the floor worked to her advantage, when night wanted to be alone in theory, but not so much in practice. sure, it took some amount of dress up; the switch from sportswear to fall fashion was one she didn't appreciate, but it wasn't so overwhelming that she'd hated it, either. admittedly, it was also one of the only places in aincrad that would serve quality frappucchinos. night didn't think she'd been to the forest of memorie

the confusion only passed over to night, as the woman stalled in her assault for a moment to set her bearings straight -- and this included nari's story. "wait, so did they actually go out and find vampires or did they believe they were vampires?" she paused to think, ready to move once her companion bounced back in a retreat. "or did they 'end up getting bitten on their adventures' and now they're 'vampires' or whatever?" with the story falling apart, night dove in to close the gap nari left behind. despite the grotesque image of the monster, she could still make out where the hint

night batted her eyelids, guessing at the context in general disbelief despite knowing otherwise. she acknowledged the reality that nari had lived through, but grasped at straws at the retelling — "wouldn't the vampire be better identified as carmilla, rather than lilith — or did you mean the girls who were going out at night?" "well, it's not like it's her fault," she joked afterwards, watching their mark lunge towards nari in a retaliation attempt (and fail to connect its bite to its prey). two swings of her arm and she readied her blade. "the bible said adam and eve. it's not like i re

"believed… that vampires were real…?" confusion dotted her every word with that utterance, almost to the point where night had halted her efforts of even gunning for lilith, her head pivoting towards nari to shoot her a look of blank despair and disbelief. never mind the actual vampire in the room with them at the moment — if those friends had wanted to be accurate, they would be speaking of how real such a creature was in their virtual reality, but they likely wouldn't even have known this world was to exist one day. "you're joking, right?" there had to be some humor in the situatio

night wasn't buying the 'untargeted cast' excuse. partially because it felt too coincidental for koga to have ended up at her back when he'd executed his art, and partially because she hadn't even seen him draw his sword partway through the fall. "i have," night replied with an eye roll. the player often had training sessions alone with her arts practice in some secluded garden out on the first floor — not her fault she never wanted to look like a manic goon whilst waiting for someone in her party to show up. even if the boredom was killing her, there was always time for shuteye, or to l

a history? night tilted her head. twilight was just a book. for nari to say it had 'a history' with her implied some sort of malicious outcome derived from the experience. and night had read some bad books — but none so far as to comment so poorly as 'having a history' with it. and to smear distaste for some common trope in media about it. still, with the tip of her thumb, she pushed a lock behind her ear. "i haven't," she lied. perhaps she did once simply due to the hype, but skimmed it through enough that it wasn't enough to remain a core memory; merely so that she could tell her friend

so aincrad's calendar said it was a new year, and so much to those, right? still, the castle must've been in a celebratory mood when she stepped into the hall and found it to be slightly different, because there were gold banners strung along the surrounding pillars, forming crosses against the ceiling. the shadows, then, beneath her, seemed to trace out the light differently, too. night blinked. she was still certain no one else was present, or would be present to retrieve anything from the statues of offerings. but the presence of something new in a relatively stale environment — that c

her attempts at a protest for payment would've been poor. 'i could get that col much easier than you,' or something akin to that, but night remembered how day had used that argument against her, and she let herself shut up. her eye roll, auxiliary, hadn't been meant for her friend, even if it seemed as though it might've been. after receiving her food and taking a glance, she watched as koga bit into one. "of course they'd be hot," she snickered, picking up a piece with her own utensils. "they were freshly made. the dumplings aren't exactly going anywhere, are they?" "… but that's th

talking about fancy graphical effects. one moment it just seemed as though koga had pushed a practice dummy out the window, with how lifeless the man had seemed to be whilst falling. the next, he'd 'pssh, nothing personal kid' behind her with a scatter of cinders and ash. night had jumped at the initial sound of the sword draw, before turning herself on her heel to face her friend. of course, she did glance at the area he should've landed at before facing him, "did you just target me for that sword art…?" night paused, beginning their walk. then, she folded her arms. "what. what if y

her guess was right, then. hence her dive — night swooped in for the kill in that occasion, certain that lilith had nowhere else to go but towards the player herself. she hadn't thought to go straight out on a sword art off the bat, after seeing the vampire dip and weave through every slash they threw at her, but night counted the feints. after her second, she pushed her body on a pretend lunge, sneaking under lilith with a hop and a cut to her back. oathkeeper was livid, it seemed, even beyond the soft tinkle of its bells, the smear had been widened to accommodate her devil wings that night h

"well not that kind of cursed…" night was fibbing. she totally did want to know if it had such a lucrative enhancement attached to it. but after seeing koga fail to retrieve it with the snap of his fingers, her interest quickly faltered. if she were to continue, it might've been lies on top of more lies. so she let herself skip the topic if it was followed. took a look at koga as she paused in her scramble to the outside world through 'a convenient exit'. quest were made to be done as soon as possible, so... was he hesitating? "we won't die from this height if we use our ar

"Oh yeah? Labyrinth got cleared already?" "yeah," night returned almost immediately. fruit inspection was big with veteran players these days, it seemed, as they were both in the midst of it as the woman pretended she wasn't playing blabbermouth. "i just went through it the other day with her. didn't seem like anyone else was up to gunning through the labyrinth, and figured we were in the best position to take a shot – albeit under orders." though koga set his pick down, night decided to give hers a purchase before moving on: a number of berries and a few plucked pods that resembled

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"a fourth is welcome," to sorun was all she was able to get out before the discussion somehow pivoted back to their levels. night was silent on the warning issued by oscar; it was appropriate and a given for anyone looking to venture out the city. it needed to be said from time to time, especially to starters. the flat of her index rubbed at her cheek, parallel to her jaw as he spoke. fidgeting. surely it would be safe with the two of them there, if oscar was interested in joining them on the quest. “I’m high level, NIGHT’s higher. Technically we’re both Frontliners." so there was th

a goddamn hero? night smoothed her hair over even more, releasing a breath she'd attempted to suppress, unsure of what to say. what would even be worth saving? "the upper floors are no different from the lower ones," she stated plainly, glancing over to the beginner's weapon of choice. a whip wasn't conventional, but neither was starting late and levelling as an adventurer. "besides… i'm off limits from the floor clearance thing at the moment." (bistro's orders.) she shifted her weight to the side, throwing her gaze towards the surroundings of town. "we'll take anyone who's willing t

TAKAO | Approved. Total EXP: 228900 Total SP: 195 Current Level: 33 Paragon Level: 35 Unlocked Paragon Rewards: Lv. 5 | Laurel Wreath (Earn Col equivalent to 15% of player’s EXP earned in thread) Lv. 10 | (1) Gleaming Scale, (1) Demonic Shard, +1 LD to Looting* Lv. 25 | (1) Gleaming Scale, (1) Demonic Shard, Free Skill Respec Notes: EXP Calculation SP removed from several threads due to incompletion, including the following: Sayonara, Sahhara! | Monster Hunter Arena | Paths of Glory II |

silent steps as she stalked the hall. as always, there was this strange tension in the room, between the overcast light, however warm, as though sundown drowning the view. statues cast in gold, never scratched nor stained. and blank expressions, eyes filled with only what she thought they would have reflected back to her. the fear was innate, but not in the artificial. today, night staved that struggle off. took the crystal off its bearer, examined it as the floor cleared, now dissipating like sand gathered in the wind. no blemishes on her duality this time, either. and her eyes flicked t

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