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[F06-SP] <<The Gemini>> Freyd


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'Today was the day!'  Freyd had been feeding himself the same line for nearly a year, since first realizing he was trapped in this game, along with every other player.  He was convinced that the Cardinal system had somehow realized that he'd logged on with dual intentions.  Like everyone else, he had been geeking out at the prospect of testing out the new nerve gear and checking out SAO's capabilities.  It was as if years of gaming experience and anticipation were about to be fulfilled.  The fact that he'd accepted a contract to report his findings to one of SAO's major competitors was merely a mutual convenience.  It was also the only way he could have afforded it.  When the sky went red and fantasy became reality, he imagined that his real-world pants suddenly needed changing.

He'd hidden in the Town of Beginnings since then, terrified that some demented computer brain was out to get him.  He'd only recently moved to floor 6 because he'd become desperate for a change of scenery.  Most of his time was spent hiding out in shadows, or taking every grunt job he could to survive.  He'd practically become one of the local NPCs, and half the players that were still around were convinced he really was.  There was even a rumour going around that his icon was some kind of game glitch.  He'd spread it himself, of course, thinking to keep his profile somewhere between abysmal and none-existent, lest his personal Skynet come and get him.

Despite himself, 'today' had grown tired of waiting, and was about to arrive.

 

Spoiler

Stats:

·         20 HP (20 * Level * Tier 1)

  • 2 Energy (2 * Level)

  • 1 Base Damage (1[base])

 

Skill

Mods

None

-

 

 

Main Skill

Active mod

Extra Skill

Inactive mod

 

Equipment:

Weapon

Armor

Accessories

T1: 1-H Straight Blade

T1: Light Armor

None

A relatively mundane longsword with a crossguard and black leather-wrapped grip.

An unadorned gray wool cloak with hood.

n/a

 

Battle-Ready Inventory:  

  • <<(3) starter healing potions [heal 50 hp]>>

  • <<(1) T1 Immolation Potion [10 Unmitigated damage on enemy BD/MD 6-8]

 

Edited by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows
Forgot I was supposed to be on Floor 6
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Freyd's most recent low profile escapade involved mucking stalls at one of the local inns.  Today had proven an especially busy day, with several groups of players gathering for some special meeting.  He kept his head down and his eyes averted, but his ears were sharp and alert.  The stables were quiet, for the moment, and made it easier to detect the light footfalls approaching the gate behind him.  He heard the latch squeak as it released, expecting that someone was coming to fetch their ride.

"You look pretty strong," said a familiar-sounding voice.  He spotted the hooded figure approaching.  Part of his brain was already having an extensive conversation with another part about how your voice never sounds like you think it does when you hear yourself on a voicemail message.  The cognitive majority just realized that this figure was wearing the same starting gear cloak he was and wasn't likely much of a threat.

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"I'm looking to test my skills. If you beat me, I'll teach you a hidden skill. What do you say?"

Freyd was skeptical.  "What's the catch?" he replied.  The figure simply stood there, waiting.  Feyd facepalmed himself when he realized that the individual before him had a big fat yellow cursor over his head; quest giver.  He paused, considering his options.  He'd long since come to realize that he couldn't spend the rest of his days here waiting for someone else to clear the top level and get the rest out.  It was way past time to get a grip on himself.  A year of hiding from himself had accomplished nothing.  He glanced down at the sword in his scabbard.  It had never even been drawn.

"Yeah," he chimed in.  "Why not?  It's gotta beat sitting around here."

He studied the figure as it led him out of the settlement.  It had the same height and build, but stats governed in this game, not appearances.  His own skills were non-existent.  He'd never practiced anything.  That nice potion he'd bought the other day might come in handy.  It's always nice to have an ace in the hole.

 

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His mood grew ominous and dark the farther they walked from the town.  This felt wrong - like if he had a Spidey-sense, it should be causing his three chest hairs to puncture full plate.  He only wore a cheap cotton tunic, which made it even more obvious.  Doubting how much longer he might have the opportunity, he downed his potion of immolation while the quest-giver continued to trudge ahead.  His sword slid quietly from its scabbard.  It still had a faint gleam to it, like it belonged on a shelf somewhere as an ornament.  His hand gripped it tightly, as he imagined his pulse pounding loudly in his ears.  Then reason reasserted itself.  This was a game.  His life might be linked to it, but this body was nothing more than a digital projection. 

"Get a grip," he whispered to himself, the words lost in the breeze and shadowy boughs by the trees above.

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He nearly didn't see it.  The stranger, whoever or whatever it was, whirled suddenly and stabbed at him without warning.  Its sword was identical to his own, complete with the same plastic-like sheen.  Its clothes and cloak were identical to his own.  Most disturbing of all was its face, like a mirror staring back at him with murderous intent.  A hundred cheesy movie references flashed before his eyes where characters faced themselves as a duplicate.  It seemed like far less cheese in person.

"Cardinal has found me!" he thought, clinging to paranoid delusions of Terminator movies come true.

Freyd flailed wildly with his sword, to no effect.  His timing was completely off.  Were it not for his backup plan, implemented only on a rumour he'd heard back in town, he'd be in even worse condition.  The creature's slash had cut him, but so doing triggered a massive fiery flare that burnt it far worse than the injury it had dealt him.  It might just be enough to give him a chance.

Spoiler

ID: 152007 | BD: 7 (+1 ACC on first attack)

<<Gemini>> vs Freyd

 

 

[1] <<Gemini>> | HP: 1/10 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 1 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 | Crit +1 (nat 9); +2 (nat 10) | no buff bonus

[2] Freyd | HP: 15/20 (-1) | EN: 2/2 | DMG: 1 | IMMOLATE 10

 

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Scrambling back against a nearby tree, Freyd held his sword out clumsily like a spear.  His opponent paced back and forth, like a starved wolf waiting to exhaust its cornered prey.  It seemed content to wait for him, despite the blowback of its initial strike.  It didn't speak, or couldn't.  Freyd had long wondered how much independence of speech and action the system actually permitted. 

Freyd watched and waited also, his rational mind seeking a pattern of movement that would provide an opportunity he could exploit.  He found it!  Or rather, he thought he did.  It turns out that he didn't, or that his reflexes weren't very well synchronized with his brain.  His thrust went wide and he'd lost the protection of his tree.  Stumbling to recover his balance, he found his foe upon him bearing a twisted expression of rage that he could never have imagined on his own face.

 

Spoiler

ID: 152008 | BD: 4

Freyd vs. <<Gemini>>

 

 

[1] <<Gemini>> | HP: 1/10 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 1 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 | Crit +1 (nat 9); +2 (nat 10) | no buff bonus

[2] Freyd | HP: 15/20 (-1) | EN: 2/2 | DMG: 1 | IMMOLATE 10

 

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Did it realize that it was destroying itself?  Freyd couldn't say that he particularly cared, given that its sword was embedded in his chest.  The fiery burst flared out a second time, scorching his opponent again and causing it to instantly shatter into tiny fragments of brilliant light.  Freyd had basically stumbled into his first kill in the game, and it was himself.  This was probably going to leave psychological scars.

There was no evidence that the creature had ever existed - no imprint on the ground, no smell of burnt flesh or dropped weapon.  It wasn't an unfamiliar concept.  Frey had been playing MMOs for years before SAO came along.  But watching yourself combust because you just tried to kill you, in first person, was rather more daunting and disturbing.  He looked down to see if his hands were shaking, but they were steady.  His mind was projecting the idea of his pulse rushing through his head, but it stopped the moment he realized it.  This body didn't produce those kinds of inputs.  He needed to remember that. 

 

Spoiler

ID: 1520632 | BD: 6

<<Gemini>> vs. Freyd

 

[1] <<Gemini>> | HP: -8/10 (-9) | DMG: 5 | MIT: 1 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 | Crit +1 (nat 9); +2 (nat 10) | no buff bonus

[2] Freyd | HP: 10/20 (-5) | EN: 2/2 | DMG: 1 | IMMOLATE 10

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Trudging back to town proved more difficult than he'd anticipated.  Freyd had somehow managed to remain oblivious to the fact that his double was leading him through the bowels of an overgrown jungle.  The sheer size of the trees made him feel like he'd been zapped by some mad scientist's shrink ray and ported into yet another remake of 'Honey, I shrunk the kids!'.  The beauty of Aincrad was being laid bare to his gaze for the first time.  It had always been there, but Freyd had always been too panicked and inwardly focused to allow himself to see it.  This whole experience had been strangely cathartic.  It enabled him to finally shake a pall and stupor that had fallen over him when the news struck that he was trapped here, along with everyone else.

That last part really hit home.  He wasn't alone.  Even worse - he'd trapped himself within Akihiko Kayaba's trap.  An involuntary grimace spread across his face.  How stupid he had been.

"No more of that," he scolded him aloud.  Wallowing had already stolen too much of his time.  It was time to focus - something at which he had always excelled.

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Krycim was the name of the central settlement on this floor, or so he thought.  Freyd wasn't even sure how he'd managed to reach the town in the first place, given his appalling lack of gear and experience.  He'd need to remedy both of those things, but the more immediate challenge was getting back to its relative safety without running afoul of more monsters, or a pack of PK noob-killers looking to gank someone as foolish as himself, wandering around alone and unprepared.

"I should probably find a guild," he thought to himself, though he'd definitely need to work on his appeal before anyone would consider him a candidate.  

"Learn the basics, get to know people, group..." he groaned at the prospect.  "Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.  Most games don't require anything more than solo play to beat their intro zones." It was a pleasing, if fleeting, delusion.

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The piercing cry of some predatory bird-thing echoed in the distance, freezing him in his tracks.  It was followed by the sound of shattering glass and oddly inappropriate pre-recorded fanfare.  Someone must have just found and killed a rare spawn, or something.  Glancing up at the immense tree trunks and canopy above him, Freyd still struggled to figure out how he was going to make it back safely.

He stared down at the thoroughly unimpressive sword in his right hand.  All it needed was a series of increasingly high value discounts stickers pasted all over it to reinforce how utterly ineffective it was going to be in combat.  Freyd paused as light levels around him dimmed and the sky grumbled overhead - more rain.  Finding a bit of shelter under a low branch, he himself as best he could and called up a help guide he'd stumbled across earlier which searching his inventory.

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"Wow, this is a bit scattered," he muttered to himself flipping back and forth between bookmarked sections of the guide.  He had multiple displays open around him and was madly typing notes in another as he sought to compile all of the data.

He hrumpfed, coming to the conclusion that he was going to have to focus on a particular play style and approach fairly quickly.  This wasn't one of those systems where you could remain in the role-less mushy-middle for a certain amount of time while you tested out your options, and dabbling would keep him ineffective for an even longer amount of time.  He needed to catch up with the pack, not dither.

"DPS is often the easiest learning curve," he added, as if the displays were going to validate his inner monologue. 

"Which weapon to use, though?"  He scanned the options, dismissing most of the single-handed weapons. 

"Some AoE and effect diversity would be nice."  The two-handed straight sword immediately caught his eye.  It was functional, capable and effective - just like he wanted to be.

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"This rain just doesn't let up, does it?" 

The shrub beside him firmly refused to respond.

"Oh well," he sighed.  "I'd better get moving.  Getting stuck out here after dark would be an even worse idea, and I've met my quota of those for today."

Some small portion of Freyd's mind was growing concerned by his increasing insistence on having solitary conversations.  It wasn't healthy.  But then, by any common standard of mental health, these were exceptional circumstances. It then occurred to that small part that it was having its own internal conversation as an aside to an internal conversion, and that it would be best if it simply let things drop.

Closing all of his interface windows and picking up 'Antagonizing Failure' - the new nickname he'd given his sword - he pushed his way into the jungle once more.  The rain would let up eventually, and he could do with some endurance training, even if it was all in his head.

Edited by Freyd - The Whisper in Shadows
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Freyd reached the outskirts of Krycim just as the sky started changing hues.  Other than a general loss of light, the thick jungle foliage made it difficult to beyond the underside of the tree canopy.  The thinned over the town, helping a bit.  It was enough to make him feel like he could dry off, even if it didn't physically make a difference.  Sometimes, letting the mind pretend to have its comforts can be just as effective as the real thing. 

"An interesting point," he reminded himself.  Perception and reality were completely different here.  You could dictate most of your actions, but the variety of external stimulus was constrained by the system.  It was still very impressive.

"How are the other players faring, psychologically," he wondered, "especially the ones on the front line?"  He'd spent countless hours watching the list of names on the Monument of Life grow during the time he'd lingered in the Town of Beginnings.  Some players were known to have cracked.  He was hardly in a position to judge anyone.

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He turned around just in time to see a cloaked figure stride past him, looking very much the same as the mob who had nearly killed him earlier in the day.  It darted elusively around a corner and Freyd felt compelled to chase after it.

"You look pretty strong," it said as it approached a stout looking player decked out in far better gear than his own.  

"Do yourself a favour," Freyd called out to the man.  "Make sure you're ready to get jumped by your double, or at least carry an immolation potion with you before you get too friendly with Mr.Creepy, here."  He nodded his head in the direction of the quest giver.

The other man nodded and thanked him, looking a bit surprised at receiving the free advice from a stranger.

Freyd walked away, feeling good about himself.  This was definitely a new normal and was going to take some adjustment, but he felt like he could get the hang of it, given time.

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That night marked the first decent night sleep Freyd had since entering SAO.  He simply crashed in a booth at the back of a quiet inn within the town's safe zone.  Not the best idea, by far, but months of self-imposed burden had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders, leaving him utterly mentally and emotionally exhausted.  He started to praise himself for having withstood the trauma at all, then thought better of it.  He hadn't overcome the challenge.  It had nearly defeated him and the trauma had paralyzed him for months.  Having finally woken from that torpor, he felt alive again, and eager to strike out into the world.  He spent half the morning mapping out all of the starter quests he had missed, then had to spend the rest of the day learning how to navigate between floors without burning up all his col in the process.  Most of the patrons in the inn had also stopped glancing at him sideways.  Some still did, because of his gear and level, but he felt different and his confidence was starting to shine through.

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"Okay, so it looks like there are a series of basic intro quests back on the first floor."  Freyd had his screens up again, each filled with reams of notes.  "I'll need to get those out of the way as quickly as possible to get a grip on the content."  He was trying to crunch all the math and watch for easy routes to skills and advancement with a minimum of time and effort - the golden formula to nearly every similar game. 

"There must be useful catches and strategies to bypass some of the fillers in the quests and mechanics."  This line of thought went on for a while before he finally reached conclusions for every thread, but it was his way.  He hadn't felt this zeal and drive in ages, and it felt good.  Finally looking up from his interface, he realized that he had no idea how long he'd been there.

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As he strode towards the teleport gate, Freyd turned to survey the jungle town.  This place had inadvertently become the point of his own beginnings - the place where he had finally stepped out from his own shadow.  Perhaps, instead, it had stepped out from him and forced him to confront it.  He let himself feel the sensation of warmth in light and dampness in air.  He drew breath, like a newborn acclimatizing to an entirely new environment.  It felt good.  It felt right.  It was also way overdue.  Checking his simple sword and cloak, he wore them as badges of honour, now, not symbols of shame and shattered confidence.  Exhaling his held breath, Freyd felt a shivering shudder dancing up his spine.   He gripped the hilt firmly as he reached for the arch, awaiting the tingling sensation of teleportation, watching the scene before him fade into the muffled darkness of transit.   

 

 

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The Town of Beginnings was just as he recalled.  The merchants still called out, hawking their wares.  Sunlight reflected brightly off polished paving stones.  The Monument of Life shone in the distance, a handful of additional names having appeared since he last reviewed the list.  It no longer felt like the mausoleum where Freyd's shattered mind had consigned him to face his fate by fading into obscurity.  His self-imposed shackles were gone and the world seemed brighter. 

Taking one step forward, then another, he drew a fresh breath and marched off the teleportation platform with his head held high.  Scanning the plaza for quest-givers, then quickly calling up his notes, he took stock of his plans and made ready to implement them.  A gaggle of children raced by, laughing and playing.  One of the young boys among them stopped and waved at him.

A small smile creeping across his face, Freyd waved back to him.

 

 

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A small reflecting pool nearby caught his attention.  Walking over to its edge, he could see coins shining in the sunlight just below the rippling surface of the shallow water.  The wind stilled and so did the surface, revealing to Freyd his own image in the liquid mirror.  Drawing his simple weapon from its sheath, he touched the tip of the blade to its translucent double.    Small concentric rings emanated from the point of contact as if to say: you are here.  He returned the blade to its scabbard, thinking that he should just be placing it back in his storage instead.  Maybe that just wasn't his style.  He'd need to figure out what that was.

"I guess that's what the next adventure will be about," he told himself.  Turning, he made his way along the main boulevard, admiring colourful banners, decorative topiary and various mercantile wares strewn across window and booths to be on display.  

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The sun was nearly overhead by the time Freyd reached the main gate.  Wide open grasslands spread out to the horizon before him.  He nodded pleasantly to the guards as he walked by, admiring their simple regalia.  The slight tingle washed through him as he breached the safe zone threshold and entered the wilderness.  In the open meadow, assorted brown-bristled boars grazed while mangy black and grey wolves eyed them hungrily.  Fluffy white clouds dotted the bright azure sky and gentle waves caused the wild grass to sway like waves lapping at a sandy shore.

Freyd drew his sword again, flipping into the air like some flashy pro juggler.  He messed up the catch, and the blade drove itself halfway to the hilt into his right hand.  He hung his head, shaking it from side to side as he started laughing uncontrollably, managing to get out a single word:

"Ouch."

 

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