Mari

"You have a tendency of getting swept up." "Ah..." She couldn't fault him there. "You're...not wrong." She admitted with a long and deep breath. So many people had told her she had a tendency to do that. Even now, she still had. Standing here in front of the man was proof of that. So she couldn't say she was exactly better at that. But she was better at controlling her emotions. "I can't even say I've gotten better at that - hell..." She said, repeating her inner thoughts. "Standing before you is proof of that. But-" Her eyes kept to his. Steely cerulean filled with a strong conviction sh

IF she had done that…another stint in jail…another breakdown, she probably wouldn’t have met him. Lancaster. A man Mari knew vehemently that she shouldn’t be with. A strong leader and force within the Laughing Coffin. A name so innocuous that not even its own members uttered it much. Hell even he admits that this relationship is no good. But the two, completely wrapped up in each other were willing to fight for the little piece of paradise they had made between themselves. The two were complete and utter fools who were just orchestrating their own mutual destruction - and yet..mari couldn't he

Once again, Freyds ears must have been burning. The man sent her another message. Was this what it was like for normal people to use the messaging system? A simple back and forth between friends? It was weird…Mari normally hated writing them, she never bothered with subject titles. She kept them as short as possible but here she was…casually and consistently messaging a friend. how nice. Stop passing out and triggering crisis mode, and I will gladly amble up through the window instead. Just let me know when. I'll be there. Oof, called out. To be fair, since he took the gemini

Right…another inner reflection to kill time…what else had happened recently… Vitreous… a terribly dangerous man. Oh but he was so very interesting. Truth be told…if she hadn’t had a long talk with Freyd she’d probably attempt to contact the man more often - but some hard much needed truths gave her the realisation that nothing good would come of being in constant communication with someone who just yanno, casually crafts pathogenic plagues. It was a good thing Mari threw that vial into the acidic river. Surely by now it would have disintegrated into nothing. Even if Mari didn’t see the p

Mari sighed. Great. She replied to him….now what? Continue to think about things since she escaped prison? She supposed that was a good idea….not much else to do right now. Baldur and Macardon…they were the two people she had seen again once released. At the time Mari was so very happy and relieved, but after the elation settled she couldn’t shake the feeling something felt off. Jacobs Ladder felt off. Was it because she had spent such a long time trying to find Shield, Beat, and Oikawa? They were gone. The Ladder was now filled with new people. Some she knew, some she didn’t. Some she conside

“Speak of the devil…” Mari breathed as she received yet another message. This time from Freyd. A small warm smile rose to her lips which only grew wider when she saw his response. I would love to see your new home. I’m glad you felt it time to renew it. Normally Mari was not one to use her messenger so much, normally she’d leave the message at that - and wait till they inevitably ran into each other again. But, she had nothing better to do right now so with a flick of her finger she opened up the messaging system, and with a little bit of effort, as she was still lying

Mari sighed as she leaned back on the rock- using her folded arms as a cushion. Her eyes watering slightly as the filtered sun danced against her skin through the waving canopy of trees above. She supposed…waiting like this wasn’t all bad…it could potentially give her a chance to reflect on recent events. So much stuff had happened since she was released from jail, a rekindling of friendship with Freyd. Something unexpected. Things had always been so terse with him in the past, and now…now… He was one of the people she was closest to. She couldn’t imagine her life without him. A part of h

Mari was tempted to message Freyd again - mostly because she was incredibly bored. Having to wait for the NPC to be around at a specific time was like absolute torture in these quests…its why Mari hated them so much. You could finish up your tasks quickly, but no Mr Anthony just decided to go off and do something else. She supposed it was a nice day for fishing. Mari was tempted to pull out the rod again, almost. But she was already feeling frustrated from the whole ordeal and fishing was supposed to be her happy time. A serene moment of meditation. So if she started to do it when she was angr

As Mari sat there, in the waning hours of the quickly dissipating evening, upon a large rock that sat in the forest. The forest of the first floor, a forest that was filled with a variety of trees, nature and trees…and like dirt and stuff. Also the fishermans hut. Boy howdy was she happy he wasn’t in the middle of the Town of Beginings… if he was..Mari wasn’t sure she’d be able to complete it… It was one thing to hide your identity on the upper floors but in a city filled with players too nervous to leave its walls? Yeh…no…the last thing they needed was some angry orange haired Pker wa

The man had stepped away from the roofs edge, Mari was barely able to right herself up before she had a blade pointed at her. Instinctively, her hand dipped into her satchel, blue eyes staring up at the man. Trying to gauge him. He was poised. Ready to attack her - but he hadn’t. He hadn’t. He could have very easily done so by now. He could have pushed her off the roof, snapped the cord - any number of things. Slowly, carefully Mari pulled her hand out of her satchel, showing him her empty palm. “Kinda…got swept up in all that.” Mari said carefully. Her eyes shifted to the chaotic

“H-HEY!” Mari called out to him as she felt a rustle of her bag. That was bad. He could have taken all manner of things out of there. Granted the worst one she had already used…and to be true to her word - Mari only ever made one at a time of the noxious yellow orb. Then, a brush against her hair and the cigarette- her comfort smell reminding her of her pyromaniac man was removed. “Oi.” Slightly more annoyed, frustrated at that. With a small toss he aimed it at a locked door. The wooden door groaned and splintered before bursting into flame - causing people inside to scream from shock. Th

FISHERMAN RANK 2 Practiced Angler: 2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts. CHEST OBTAINED ID: 247676 LD: 13 + 1 CD:3 +1 3 exp gained - fishing attempt 2 exp gained - angler perk 16 exp gained - critical catch It took several minutes longer than Mari would have liked to organize her inventory, throwing away old decaying items and shoving the new bits and bobs she had gotten into it. It seemed like such a waste, so many potential items had rotted away into useless rusty piles of trash during her time in prison. Sometimes…Mari won

You." Me? Right. Of course he knew her…it seemed almost anyone who donned an orange player crystal had known of her. Mari wasn’t even surprised anymore. At least he seemed capable. Mari was only a few steps behind the man now; enough distance to avoid any strikes from him, but close enough to be able to run in pace. Her heart hit hard and heavy against her chest as her feet flew across the cobbled path. Her eyes glanced at the man as he went almost opaque black. She blinked. The only thing familiar to it was one of Freyd’s tricks. He started to move, and she couldn’t keep up

FISHERMAN RANK 2 Practiced Angler: 2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts. ID:247675 LD:4+1 CD:9+1 +1 Material 3 exp gained - fishing attempt 2 exp gained - angler perk 8 exp gained - successful catch It took several minutes longer than Mari would have liked to organize her inventory, throwing away old decaying items and shoving the new bits and bobs she had gotten into it. It seemed like such a waste, so many potential items had rotted away into useless rusty piles of trash during her time in prison. Sometimes…Mari wondered wher

FISHERMAN RANK 1 Practiced Angler: 2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts. ID:247673 LD: 15+1 CD:12+1 CHEST OBTAINED 3 exp gained - fishing attempt 2 exp gained - angler perk 16 exp gained - critical catch CHEST OPEN ID: -247674 LD: 13 Unidentified Perfect Armor/Shield (1), Unidentified Rare Armor/Shield (1) Mari’s tongue stuck out the side of her mouth as she struggled to get this particular bit of bait onto the hook. Snap there we go! A small morsel of food for hopefully some more materials, or if luck would have

FISHERMAN RANK 1 Practiced Angler: 2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts. ID:247672 LD: 8+1 CD:1+1 3 exp gained - fishing attempt 2 exp gained - angler perk “Man..did all those chests scare away the fish or somethin’?” Mari asked herself as she stared at the water, leaning back on one hand, the other still idly holding the wooden rod. It was so lively earlier but now things were just…not biting. Still…fishing up two chests one after the other felt like a feat. It felt good. The simple kind of serotonin one got from those gacha game

Mari walked casually through the 24th floor, A small leather satchel lightly and rhythmically banged against her thigh as she walked. Normally, Mari wouldn’t have her weapon out but today she had it hanging casually over both her shoulders, using it to loop her arms through. The miasma bubbled from the halberd blade, leaving behind little black bubbles that would pop in the air as she walked. Scalabis…one of the few main settlements that didn't care about your cursor. It was…nice to be able to walk through a city again. Even if she did get a few looks from players she had passed by. In he

Mari thought to message Freyd as she watched the fishing line bob gently up and down in the water. Maybe he could tell her if he knew any fishermen. Hell, Mari honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he was one himself. He definitely seemed the type to choose that over foraging. Mari could not imagine that tin-can salt and pepper ass man on his hands and knees fluffing about in the ground trying to claim some sort of misshapen mushroom. Mari snorted in amusement at the thought. Seeing nothing was biting Mari reeled in her line, and took a moment to pull a small blanket out of her inventory. It

With loot safely stored away Mari threw her line out again. And again…there was another thunk as her hook embedded itself into yet another chest. Why the fuck weren’t there more fishermen floating around Aincrad if it was this easy to scoop up chests? Sure…a lot of the loot in them would be useless but…this was the second time in row she had managed to get one. “OK…lets see whats in you.” Mari opened the chest, a few rare weapons and consumables. Not quite the goldmine that the previous chest contained but still worthwhile. If Mari were to start tallying up everything she had gotten in c

Mari found a spot by a small lake within the endless caverns, unlike the one she frequented that was dead still - this one was teeming with life. Mushrooms grew around its surface, little fireflies danced over shimmering waters - and every so often Mari would hear the croak of a frog. It’d be almost romantic, almost picturesque if it weren’t for the looming sense of dread that would pick at the edges of your mind on this floor. “Time to get set up..” Mari said to herself as she pulled out the old and worn wooden rod she had ‘procured’ from the NPC - Anthony. She’d fish standing for a bit, then

Mari found a spot by a small lake within the endless caverns, unlike the one she frequented that was dead still - this one was teeming with life. Mushrooms grew around its surface, little fireflies danced over shimmering waters - and every so often Mari would hear the croak of a frog. It’d be almost romantic, almost picturesque if it weren’t for the looming sense of dread that would pick at the edges of your mind on this floor. “Time to get set up..” Mari said to herself as she pulled out the old and worn wooden rod she had ‘procured’ from the NPC - Anthony. She’d fish standing for a bit, then

Mari, had completed her goal but she apparently had some extra time to kill so what do yo udo when you have time to kill, like there is totally so much time to kill. Mari thought to herself, man if only I didn't have all this time I could actually do something meaningful, like I don't know, go make some trout food or something. Is trout even good? Mari pursed her lips. She never had trout before…so instead of having a nice and easy trip to go visit the quest NPC she sat down on a nice flat rock, cross legged with her arms firmly folded across her chest. “Hmmm” She thought aloud. How s

Another piece of bait hooked, and another cast, and another attempt at getting this illusive gleaming scale. Mari wasn’t even sure what to do with them. She might have to ask Raidou - or Freyd. Or Anthony…eew. No. The less time she spent interacting with that jackass of an NPC the better. Mari tilted her head, how bad would it be if he were to just…poof disappear for a few days. That’d probably attract some sort of negative attention. It was one thing to kill guards, or farmers - useless digital fodder…but quest givers…yeh. That’d put a big ol’ target on her head taht Mari quite frankly w

Mari shook the water off her fishermans pole before hooking yet another piece of bait, which now she was almost one hundred percent sure was just spray painted gold worms (that can’t be good for the environment, good thing the woman did not care) She cast out her line, watching the waters serene surface. Trout…huh…she wasn’t really sure how to cook it into a semi decent meal. A garlic butter maybe? That’d work. But what to pair it with? Couscous? That was easy to make, just add water… rice? No because then she’d need to figure out how to flavour it. “Dammit…” Mari knew how to cook a few d

Mari threw her fishing line back, then as she went to cast out she accidentally let go of it when she saw a message ding - Mari never got messages. So it would have been one of the two people she had just reached out to. Her rod sailed helplessly through the air and splashed by the lakeside, it was slowly being dragged into the water. “Ah shit.” She said as she ran over to it, Mari grabbed hold of it and tried to pull it back up, getting her feet and legs wet in the process. At least the water wasn’t freezing cold. Mari yanked her rod away from its would be thief and opened up her messag