Baldur

[This thread is open to members of Jacob's Ladder - Please remember that your character must be approved and converted to 3.0 before posting - This the takes place a couple of days after the floor 25 boss fight]

The sun was beginning to rise high in the spirits, and a cooling breeze rustled the red leaves of the trees surrounding the islands of Baldur's home and the Jacob's Ladder compound. It was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began, but that was by design. Some of the building of Baldur's home seemed to rise from the water of the lagoon, while others had large courtyards for training, and still more had beautiful zen gardens. It melded the beauty of the landscape with the man made structures.

Baldur sat there on the engawa, his sandals off to the side as his toes dangled into the water. He had picked up the shakuhachi, but without training in the craft he wasn't particularly good. Instead, he just sat there trying not to make obnoxious noises and learn how to actually play the instrument, rather than just letting the system do it for him.

He would have described it as a perfectly relaxing day. It was something everyone needed from time to time. Just a few days ago, they had all just risked everything in the floor 25 boss fight, and it had been a very different experience than anything that had come before. Apparently there had been a floor that everyone had tried to run from that somehow coincided with the boss fight. They all hadn't really had a chance to talk much, since not only had floors changed, but there had been some kind of a mass respec, and everyone was still getting settled. He couldn't blame everyone for taking their time getting here.

"Baldur-shishou, it looks like someone is ready for the boat. I'm going to go down and pick them up."

He was a good kid, one of the younger members of his dojo and the Jacob's Ladder guild. When they had the floor 25 boss meeting, he had made a name for himself by sheepherding players from the docks down on the floor and through the portal that takes you up to the island here where he would drop them off.

"Yes, thank you."

The boy gave him a quick bow and then ran down the boards of the engawa down to the dock to get the small boat to go and pick up anyone from the docks that wanted to come. The rooms at Baldur's house and the guild were used by some, but not everyone. Perhaps I can get Hirru to use Crow's old rooms.

Baldur Stats:

"Baldur, I know I asked you up here, but what did you bring me to?  It looks like a dungeon?"

Baldur gave Hirru a bit of a sheepish smile.

"Oh come on. We've almost been buried alive together. We've gone through floor boss fights together. I figure a little sub dungeon could be interesting. Besides, this was my last hit bonus from the floor 23 dungeon. Something about an undercover cell of council something or other. They opposed the Queen. I figured you wouldn't mind since I saw you wearing that pin around."

The gaijin samurai's blue eyes twinkled for a moment before they slowly slid around the courtyard. It was two stories all the way around them, with an exterior walkway on the second floor looking down at them. Four <<Dark Elf Assassins>> had come out of the shadows on the second floor to challenge them. It seemed they didn't like their hideout being discovered. Suddenly the background music changed from being ambiance music to being fight music.

"Tell you what, since this is a bit of a surprise, I'll take round one."

Steel blue were the color of Baldur's eyes as he delivered that message, a subtle sign that he was invested in the fight, carefully tempering his feelings. They were a tier below him here, so this should be pretty easy.

"<<Haku Senpu.>>" The samurai almost spat out, and then the system took over.

Baldur spun like the wind, each slash of his katana cutting the air with such vicious force, that the cut tore into the structure of the building wear each of the four Dark Elf assassins stood as arcs of light extended from his blade where he stood next to Hirru. It was over as quickly as it had begun, and Baldur sheathed his sword once again.

"Well, I think they know we're here now." His smile was almost embarrassed as pieces of the structure fell about him.

Haku Senpu - x12 AoE CD: 0/2 - 10 Energy +2/target, -2 Stamina, -1 well rested 
25x12=300 DMG to all targets

Baldur | HP 820/820 | EN 81/96 | DMG 25 | ACC 5 | EVA 2 | BH 41 | REC +4 | MIT 78
Hirru | HP 720/720 | EN 110/110 | DMG 23 | ACC 3 | EVA 1 | ENV 24 | MIT 107
Dark Elf Assassin 1 | HP 150/150 | DMG 120 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0 
Dark Elf Assassin 2 | HP 150/150 | DMG 120 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0
Dark Elf Assassin 3 | HP 150/150 | DMG 120 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0
Dark Elf Assassin 4 | HP 150/150 | DMG 120 | ACC: 0 | EVA: 0

Baldur smiled sadly at the Jade Hunter, but stopped and turned to face the man, placing his hands on leather shoulders of Hirru's jerkin.

"I'm glad you feel that way. And I agree with your course of action, but Shield and I staked you for the floor 24 fight, and we'll stake you again for the guild."

He patted Hirru's shoulders then directed them down an alleyway that looked a little seedier than the others.

"Maybe you don't remember her, but we've taken in Mari and Oikawa. So divisiveness is not something we're shy of. The old grudges are dying away with the old blood, being replaced by new fresh ambition."

He ducked around some clothing and squeezed past some debris that was begging to choke there passage.

"But what I don't think you realize my friend, is that - " Baldur climbed over some boxes and then dropped down on the other side of a fence into a courtyard. "Redemption is literally my business. I have made a home, literally, for the lost, the disenfranchised, those seeking to turn it around or find a new way. Jacob's ladder isn't named for a toy, it is named for a vision of the stairs ascending to heaven. It is the the dream to wake the sleepers and find salvation."

They were here. This was the spot on the dungeon map.

"I won't push you to join the guild, the door is always open. But you would not be alone on the path you walk within our guild. Everything you just said, that's our purpose. It's what our mission is. And you'd be a perfect fit."

"There hasn't been much that I can say.  After our failure to secure the sahagin fight, I sort of....sort of took off instead of helping, as I said I would."

"Don't feel guilty, Hirru, you were not the only one. After what happened, it only got worse with Hestia. I and many others backed out. The floor 24 boss fight was a struggle. I don't know if Hestia learned anything from it, but without her divisiveness, the floor 25 fight was the most well coordinated boss fight in history. I hope we can keep that going."

Mentally, Baldur scolded himself for being so passive aggressive about Hestia, but he felt her betrayal keenly because they had been so close. He had been wrecked when she had appeared to die at a Halloween event so many years ago, and she was one of only two people who knew his real name. The wound obviously still hurt him.

"So, what does a 'System Update' entail?  I read the small amount of information that had been given, but I understand only a little.  I remember something like this happening a few times before, but nothing to this degree.  Nearly all of the floors that I investigated have been radically changed!  Does this normally happen in games, Baldur?"

"I'm a bit surprised by it as well. System Updates are normal in a normal game, but that's usually because developers are working on improving it continuously. Unless Kayaba is sitting around making patch notes... which I guess may be the case, but it would imply he's either in here with us, or monitoring things. Regardless, it is typical. It means that the developers identified parts of how things worked that were performing suboptimally, and tried to make them work better. Typically it's called a "patch" because they're repairing something that was broken."

He let them walk on in silence for a few minutes.

"When Shield and I came back after the floor 24 fight happened, we decided we could do better to help out the frontlines and... well... everyone really. We got together with a few others, Oikawa, Mari, Calrex, and Beat and we created a new guild called 'Jacob's Ladder.' Our goal is help everyone escape this death game by helping people who want to join the front line do so, and by coordinating and supplying the frontline. So we're trying to find and foster new talented players. I also worked with Raidou, one of the crafting guild leaders, and was able to supply the entire raid with a full stack of group heal crystals... 5 for every frontliner. We also made sure we had feasts of every buff for every party. It was a success, but we'll need to keep pushing forward. When you feel up to fully diving back into everything, I just wanted to let you know, we'd welcome you with us."

"Good idea, Cal-kun!" The gaijin samurai said with a smile.

Baldur rushed up behind his kohai, sword in hand, and struck soundly at where the ultramarine knight had already done severe damage. Sparks flew wildly, and the chain seemed to cut, but the cut itself was too clean, and not large enough to let the link out. It would need to be bent just a little bit more before the soldier would be freed.

"Tsk." Baldur spat, annoyed. Just a little short again. Perhaps the orange girl had been right and they should have tried to kill Hel before she had a chance to activate her abilities. But they might have been just shy of enough damage there as well.

"We're almost there. Yuki-chan, get one of the soldiers free, I think you've got more than enough hate lead, and we can try to get the last one free if one of us procs a CC."

ID#191490 LD: 18

The scabby city of the dark elf settlement Kalanaes surrounded them, the dim darkness of the subterranean lit only by the glowing moss... and Baldur's welcoming smile at seeing his old friend again. He had once been hurt, harboring feelings of betrayal by Hirru over the scout's actions on this floor, but then Hirru had revealed what his situation was. He did, honestly, think he was saving a child in their confrontation with the dark council. That was something he could understand and respect. He had not understood the nature of this world as a game. And so, in the normally steel blue eyes of the gaijin samurai, he was forgiven.

And so the smile he bore was one of eternal optimism. It would not be hampered by Kayaba's mechanations of death, by furtive glances of would be dark elf assassins, or the whispers of the street. It was a bastion, a foundation to build on, and a lighthouse in the dark age.

"Hirru-san! It is so good to see you once again!" In spite of any protests Hirru might have tried to raise, Baldur pulled the Jade Hunter into a one armed hug, patting his back heavily and transferring the warmth that only old friends and comrades can impart.

"I am glad you reached out to me. I have wondered how you have been, and thought of you often, but I admit I was a bit embarrassed of how things fell off to be the first to reach out. But I am glad to see you up and out again." He let the man go and gestured with a nod down the street as the two began to walk.

"The 25th floor boss raid was certainly a tribulation. The scouting party almost didn't make it out, and it was almost more like a typical boss fight itself. But the floor boss himself fancied himself a god, and had the ability to chunk even the best of our tanks for quite a bit of health, but we had 4 full parties of frontliners. It was quite the site. Thankfully, though it was touch and go a few times, there were no casualties. We were the most prepared, most well buffed frontline assault in the history of the frontlines." Baldur seemed to swell with a bit of pride at that.

"Now, for what seems like the first time in a long time, we have unlocked another floor, and it seems a system update at that... though truth be told, nothing really changed for me."

Rolling

ID#191318 LD: 8

Baldur's form resolved in light in the teleportation square on the twenty third floor for perhaps the first time since the boss fight.

The gaijin samurai didn't particularly like this floor. It had a lot of bad memories, aside from mostly being another annoying subterranean floor.

I'm getting too old for this shit. His mental dialogue left him with a smirk on his face. It would take something truly important to the gaijin samurai to get him back down to this floor. It just so happened to be a message from an old friend that did the trick.

Quote

To: @Hirru
From: Baldur

Sounds like clearing the 25th floor. It was definitely one of the more unique fights, and the only raid boss where I woke up in my bed, instead of ascending the stairs to the next floors. I'll see you there in 20.

Hirru had had a bad run recently with the frontlines, and though Shield and Beat and their discovered healer had tried to pull something together for the 24th floor, they had all been broken up by the drama with Hestia and gone their separate ways. It was a regret Baldur held in his heart that Hirru had been lost in the shuffle. Now, Baldur had rebuilt a family and a guild and was working towards the more noble goal they had tried to a long time ago. Repairing the damage that had been caused to the frontline by the floor 23 fight.

And he had a home to offer Hirru as well. Though he was not sure the roaming merchant would accept it.

So there he stood, tall and proud in his blue and white haori, the two katana at manafested at his side, his <<Zanshin>> and Teayre's <<Muramasa>>. His steel blue eyes scanning the ground, looking for the familiar green hair of the Jade Hunter.

"I'm a little bummed that your story didn't start with 'when I was your age,'" Baldur gasped at Lessa in feigned outrageous disbelief, clutching at his non-existing pearls at the insinuation of his age. She was right. It had not often felt that way with Lessa, which was one of many reasons she occupied such a place in his heart. She was one of the few where it didn't feel like he was the lone adult in an army if iron blooded orphans. She was a fellow adult.

"Your hiking trip sounds incredible. I'm not sure that I would have ever had the courage to tackle something like that, let alone the lung capacity. I'm sure it was one hell of a workout, but the view from the top was probably incredible."

He chuckled. She didn't know how long and hard he had to train for that trip, and he still had oxygen problems. The locals, however, blew past him in the villages like it was nothing while Jason had struggled to walk up a single flight of stairs. It felt like they had a cheat code, and I was the only one without.

"I think we've probably seen a lot more valleys than summits over the years. And I know we didn't really walk with each other for a lot of it. But it's been comforting knowing that you were always a message away, even after all this time." The woman drew in a long, slow breath. Then she let it out, watching the steam rise steadily into the snowy air. "And I'm not sure I would have made it out of those really early valleys without your help. So... thanks."

The gaijin samurai waved away her concern and regret, but her thanks did touch him in a way often empty compliments did not. Lessa had earned her way into his heart, and as such, she saw a side of him that no one else did. She was the good friend who had a key that let them in the side door, instead of having to knock on the front.

"It's an old truism that the greatest friendships are ones that can survive years of limited contact and then pick up again like no time had passed at all. We've spent more time together over these past..." Baldur made a vague gesture with his hands, as if grasping for an ephemeral number, "years that I have with a lot of my family, and I've never fought to the death with them." He tapped his chin as he let the words linger in the air for a moment, "nor would I want to, really."

He gave her a playful smile and veered into her, giving her a soft shoulder bump on the snowy path.

"It may not seem like there have been a lot of summits, but we are hiking to the highest one we will ever see. When we look back upon our journey, from the 100th floor, so very, very far away now, we will look back on a valley of years, a trial of lifetimes." He smiled back at her reassuringly, "We will win. We will save as many lives as we can. And every life I save, will be because of help you gave me in the early days. And every player I help, will have your fingerprints on them as well. Hopefully they will also continue to pay it forward, and so my life will help more people than I ever would alone."

His smile suddenly became mischievous. 

"All because I decided to approach a blonde who was sleeping by a tree who didn't kill me."

"So tell me, Lessa-senpai. Tell me of the friendships you've made. Let's talk about the good for a while. My heart could use it too."

Straightening his face for the NPC, Baldur cleared his throat and gave an affirmative nod.

"Sounds good, Captain Sewallus." He said his best, commanding, role-player voice.

"Let us make haste at once!"

Okay this is getting a bit thick now Baldur smirked to himself and then a pop up showed up on his HUD.

"Captain Sewallus would like to join your party." Baldur raised his hand and pressed the affirmative "O" and then Sewallus' HP was displayed next to Baldur's.

"Alright then, let's be off!"

Baldur fell in just a step behind Sewallus.

"So what do you remember of the fight, Captain?"

The beliegured captain was silent for a long moment, "He was big, and he was fast, and his fist could shatter trees.

"mmhmm.." Baldur humored the beleaguered captain. He was a man of few words, and didn't seem overly fond for Baldur, but he was gung ho for the fight. Perhaps he was feeling slighted by having to escape the previous fight.

ID#188304 LD:3

While Hel was still frozen, the rest of the team rushed forward and managed to, as a combined group, free one of the soldiers. It took all four of them, but Baldur thought perhaps he could get one more free before Hel thawed.

He was wrong.

The gaijin samurai rushed forward hot on the heels of his kouhai, Calrex, but just as soon as Baldur grasped the chain, breaking some ice free from the links, Hel seemed to come to life. As soon as she started moving, Baldur leapt backwards, not wanting to risk being the one who finds out what happens when she doesn't like someone being there.

Putting his hand back on his katana handle, he watched as her health bar began to climb again, though it seemed to be a long animation and may give them an opening to continue freeing soldiers.

Tsk. If only we had gotten one more before she could move again.

They had dropped her health pretty far, if they got another good round in with another stun or paralyze, maybe they could finish her off.

But then her health continued to rise.

"Foolish mortals. You dream of challenging a god?"

Hel stood from her throne, and as she did so, energy drained from the souls chained up at the base and flowed into her, completing filling her health bar.

Baldur's breath caught for a moment, and then Night's DoT's ticked them back down.

Okay good, she Can still be killed.

The goddess of Niffelheim did not attack them though, it seemed all she was going to do was heal now.

@Hidden @Crozeph @NIGHT @Calrex (we have skipped Yuki's turn this round)

Tsk. I wanted that new information.

“It was difficult to say the least. It wasn’t our fleet feet that got us away, that’s for damn sure.” He shook his head, showing he was slightly rattled, “The beast either became distracted, or has found better prey.”

At least it didn’t sound like he had missed anything important.

“If you’d like, I can come along with you and protect you and your party. It’s a fearsome monster, so we’ll want more than one person to go along on this.”

The only thing that prevented Baldur from turning him down, was the desire to see how this had changed.

Either this is an escort section of the quest, or I have to keep him alive while he does something to cause an event to trigger something or defeat the boss.

Whatever the reason, Baldur was now on babysitting duty.

Heh. Duty. In spite of his vast age and immeasurable maturity, Baldur smiled to himself.

“Ohayo, Omawari-san.” Baldur walked up to the green armor clad treetop denizen.

The leaf stylized armor gave him an elfen appearance, though the giant two hand axe magically slung to his back showed he was ready to protect the village.

“Adventurer. Has Remington been spinning his yarns again?”

He gave an annoyed shake of his head, “I wish that fool would knock it off. It’ll only enrange the beast to send adventurers after it.”

Baldur rolled his eyes though he hid it behind brushing his bangs aside. Sometimes these NPCs were just too dramatic. No one spoke like this in real life.

“Tell me about what happened.”

He looked annoyed for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak. He began to describe why they were out there when Baldur lost track of where he was.

“Skip.” The gaijin samurai said, prompting the NPC to move on to the next segment of dialoge. It was so old hat at this point, that Baldur hadn’t realized what he had done until it was too later.

He stood there, waiting for the fear and the ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ from the crowd, but Baldur had long since solo’d this particular boss monster.

“If you have any other questions, <<Sewallus>> over by the guard station can tell you more!”

Sewallus? I don’t remember that name. Could things have changed?

<<Sewallus - The Guard Captain>> wasn’t exactly new to Baldur, but him having a name was new. Had he never noticed it before, or was this something recently introduced? Did something trigger this change? Perhaps unlocking the next quarter of floors changed some things to the floating castle of Aincrad.

Whatever the reason, Baldur put on his investigator hat. The infobrokers would probably pay well for this information. He would need to make sure he explored the chain of events thoroughly, and thankfully few people were as equipped for this particular quest, on this particular floor, as Baldur, the Gaijin Samurai of Aincrad, was.

But the Gaijin samurai had never spoken of it, and so the legend of the hidden temple never grew.

“Ohayo, Remington-san. It is good to see you again.”

“Hello Adventurer!” Remington called out to him as if Baldur hadn’t just addressed him.

Oh, this means his AI has reset. The giant monkey has respawned.

“I am in dire need of assistance! You see a giant and fearsome monkey is wreaking havoc among these peaceful treetop villages!”

He made all kinds of creepy and dramatic gestures to try and build up the danger of the fight, but Baldur had heard this before. Unfortunately, he may have also zoned out a little listening to the story.

“All I know is, no matter how far or how fast we ran, it was never enough to get away! Now craters grow where mighty trees once stood, and rivers run where there were none before!”

Baldur let some tension go when Lessa embraced him back. Not worry about her, but it had honestly just been a while since he had been hugged. He held a somewhat unique position in sword art online, upon reflection. Calrex, the strongest player and once highest level player in the game, was jokingly referred to as Baldur's kohai. Macradon, the highest level player, was a good friend of his. Baldur always seemed to blend in effortlessly with the people who were at a class higher than him. Baldur had also been to a lot of raids, and while there were players with more experience than he, few spoke up of their experience as much as Baldur did. It lent him an air of experience, and perhaps a bit of reverence, he didn't necessarily deserve. Between that, the length of time he had been present on the front, and his age, it set him a part from the others in a way that was difficult to nail down.

So it was just nice to be hugged.

 "Familiar and old does do a very nice job of describing you, though," she teased, despite Baldur's warning. "You know, if you decide to write an autobiography after we get out of here, you might consider it for a title." Lessa teased.

"Oof! You wound me!" But his eyes were bright with the laughter that bellowed from him.

She then went on as they walked about her sentimentality.

"Well, since I'm an old man, you can humor a story." his oceanic blue eyes sparkled. His normal steel blue grey eyes were the most common, but somehow Lessa always drew out the unguarded ocean blues.

He let them walk on for a moment, listening to the crunch of the snow under their feet, the wind through the trees, the faint background music of the game and it's beautiful, serene yet almost eeire piano music, and the peace and comfort of an old friend who he'd occasionally shoulder bump as they walked.

"When I was younger, and I went on my first backpacking trip through the alps, it was intimidating at the start. You stand at the starting camp, and you stare up at these mountains and think, 'It's going to take me forever to get there!' but then you hike, and before you know it, you're at the summit. The first thing you do is you look back to where you came from and you marvel at your achievement. Then you look at head, at the valley you have to cross, at the next highest mountain and you despair because it's so much further to go. But then you work at it, and days go by, and you get to the next summit. And the first thing you do? You look back at where you came from, and you marvel at the journey you just overcame, because only from the summit can you see the totality of the path that you walked to get there."

He checker her playfully with his shoulder.

"Now in this analogy I'm not the previous summit. I just walked with you for a ways. So now that we're at the summit, you and I can both look back an marvel at all the hard work, suffering, enduring, crying, and struggling we did to get here." The gaijin samurai gave her a lopsided smile, "And because I came along that hike with you, I can look back at who we once were, and marvel at the people we have become, because though off and on, we have struggled together."

The window blew again, tossing his dark bangs, and landing snowflakes in his hair and his stupidly long and perfect eyelashes.

"And because that's what old friends are for."

"Sometimes the more things change the more you want something old and familiar to remind you that the world will keep on spinning... not that that means you can make old jokes at my expense."

His blue eyes twinkled with mirth as he moved forward and embraced Lessa in a big warm familiar hug.

"And you never need to have a special reason to message me. You know I will always come when you need me."

Baldur cdid seem a little sad when Riker wasn't there to give his treat to, but the gaijin samurai just pocketted the treat for next time. The wind swirled around them and took the hem of his trademark haori and flapped it in the wind.

"I love this spot though now mostly because of all the time we've spent here together.  I used to come here for some soul searching but I haven't needed that in a while and I can still find some peace and quiet at my home now. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I had one again."

The old friend gave his one time mentor a warm and knowing smile.

"It looks like you've found yours as well."

Baldur was curious to find out what happened for Lessa to call him out here. Was there something she needed to tell him? Perhaps an announcement she needed to make. Whatever the reason he was just glad to have a moment to catch up. He gestured with one hand and then began to walk the familiar path around the lake.

Quest:

Baldur Stats:

There was a very short list of people who knew that Baldur had a special place in his heart for the 8th floor, and the village of Florenthia itself. The gaijin samurai had met most of his closest friends and friendly rivals here. Oikawa. Ariel. Crozeph, among others. They had gone deep into the forests of this floor back when it was only one level down from the frontlines. It had been their first attempt at mass combat and organization as a group.

They hadn’t gone all the way, having to stop shy of where the <<Monkey King>> would eventually be found, but that was fortunate for them, since he was way beyond anything they had ever found. However, the monster had ended up defending access to a hidden temple dungeon deep in the forest.

The gaijin had returned many times to help cull the <<Monkey King>> when others had not, lest the monster trigger an unfortunate event. He had always hoped some day he would see the clue, or find the drop that the monkey king gave that would let him into the secret hidden temple.

Baldur gave Jomei a lopsided grin as he teased the ginger, "We're not supposed to talk about the raids." He shook his chopsticks at Jomei to admonish him.

"But Mac is absolutely correct. One of the most common issues I've seen with players who've turned orange, is that they never learned how to sheath the sword." He took a sip of the broth before he set the empty bowl back down and laid the sticks across them.

"That was delicious Cord, thanks!"

He then turned back to the two, "In Iaido, the budo of my martial art which at one point was called Battoujutsu, or Iaijutsu, as a component of Kendo, was taught to preserve the martial aspect of swordsmanship, but more so the spiritual one. The noto is the physical act of sheathing the sword, but there's a spiritual aspect of it to. Once the blade is sheathed, you stand there for a moment, you breath deeply, and then you let go. In many styles, this is actually demonstrated, you slowly release the handle of the katana, almost regretfully, and then you make a gesture as if you were throwing away a bit of trash. It represents letting go of the adrenaline of the fight, of the anxiety and bloodlust, and throwing it away. When the sword is sheathed, you are you again. The warrior is a hat we wear, and when we're done being a warrior, we put it away. Finding that balance is absolutely necessary to mentally and spiritually surviving any kind of prolonged conflict. And it's a core part of the bushido I teach at my dojo."

Suddenly Baldur blushed slightly, very uncharacteristic for him to lose composure, and then gave out a slight laugh.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to go all philosophical there. Anyways, it's getting late. Why don't we wrap up?"

Baldur pushed himself to his feet, the curtain of Cord's noodle shop hanging awkwardly over one shoulder.

"Mac's place next time, right? How about a challenge for everyone. Bring a joke that makes you laugh every time, and say... how about this. Three statements about ourselves. Two true, one false, and we'll guess at them next time, just to give us something to get the conversation rolling."

The chime of a message pulled Baldur free of his thousand yard stare, and he swiped for the menu to appear as he held the fishing rod with his off hand. His toes caused slight ripples in the water as he shifted his seating position, and scared away any of the fish in his pond. The pool was so calm and clear that you could see the fish swimming about, but he loved to sit here on the engawa by the pond at his home on the 24th floor.

He smiled when the name <<Lessa>> showed up and he quickly opened up the message, read it, and then send her a reply that he would be here shortly.

A short time later, through the snow that was always falling on the 4th floor, the dark silhouette of Baldur became visible as he made his way to the frozen lake they had so often shared. There were probably more lakes on this floor, and it could have been anywhere on any of those lakes. But this was Lessa, and this was him, so it would be here. It was always here, as if this were their spot to get away from everything and to catch up.

As he saw the blonde warrior woman, his oldest friend on this floating castle, he couldn't help but smile. They had both been through a lot since the last time they had been here. They had been together since, but that was a quest, and while it had been fun, they hadn't really had a chance to just catch up.

"Ohayo, Lessa!" He called out to her, his voice muffled by the snow but still audible. His eyes scanned the snow, looking for Ryker as well, and he hid the small treat in his hand.

"Thanks for looking me up. I was beginning to feel a bit like an old man taking the day off to relax and fish a bit."

Thread Closed.
All posts > 150 words. Total Word Count 3,488. (Page Count Used, 200*4=800 EXP)
Standard Thread Reward (not word count)

Quest Rewards!

<<Essence of Steel>> (previously completed, no SP)

Thread Rewards!

80,180 Col +400 Col Thread Completion
24 Tier 3 Mats
2 Perfect Weapon ID: 138540b, 138559b
2 Perfect Armor/Shield ID: 138518a, 138540a, 
2 Rare Armor/Shield ID: 138538, 138539b
2 Perfect Consumables ID: 138518b, 138518c
1 Rare Consumable ID: 138539a
1 Uncommon Consumable ID: 138541
2 Prefect Trinket: 138520, 138559a
2 Rare Trinket ID: 138519, 138558

The room was warm and pleasant. The water rolling off the island and falling into the ocean was far enough that it wasn't loud, but close enough to be heard. Birds began to chirp in the trees and gardens around him. A soft breeze filtered through the trees and over the lagoon to rattle the shoji panels slightly in their place. It was a summer breeze that came through, warm and humid, but with the moving of the breeze it was nice enough to not bother him. Baldur just laid down on the tatami floors, his haori spreading out behind him.

People and furniture could wait.

He was home now. He was safe. This was his.

And then Baldur slept. He really slept for what felt like the first time, in a very long time. Untroubled dreams came to the battle worn gaijin samurai. Dreams of garden parties, and laughing over food with good friends.

The way to spend his last days.

As the light filtered in from the morning now instead of the evening, baldur felt speed beginning to overwhelm him. He turned to his new home and walked inside, though just as he was about to set foot inside he stopped. He had just been standing in muddy ground. So he sat down, took off his boots, and then walked onto the tatami mats for the first time in bare feet. There was something special to him about that first step. This was his place.

He would have the others over soon. First he needed to furnish the house. Then he'd get the other to help him move in and get it feeling like a home. He had specifically designed it with Crozeph and Calrex in mind as guests, but others who needed a place to stay as well. Perhaps Cordelia would come over and help him out with the dojo.

So many new options opened up to him, he suddenly wondered why he waited for so long.

The sun was dawning by the time that Baldur hit the accept button on the housing deed's special UI. The island went... wonky... for a moment, everything seemed to shift, and then suddenly he was standing on a wood walkway, instead of muddy ground. Behind him, the shoji panel doors were drawn open and he could see into the room filled with tatami mats. Above, though he couldn't see them, fireworks shot into the air to celebrate his new home. He didn't think anyone else could see them, but there they were.

This was it. His new home.

He finally had a place to call his own that wasn't a temporary rented room at an inn or a friends house or above his shop on the first floor.

This is it.

"I've made it." He smiled as he noticed the buffs that now appeared near his status bar. They weren't amazing, but they were certainly useful.

He must have dozed off a bit here and there, because when he finally realized it was dark, it was already full dark. A bit of the moon shone in through the side of the floor and onto the placid waters of the lagoon, shining off its mirror like surface and illuminating the trees that surrounded the gaijin samurai.

He pushed himself to his feet and walked to the water's edge. He could see something glowing off in the distance, but from here, he just saw the moon in the sky and in the water. It cast a pale glow on everything around him and the soft flow of water and the rush of it as it spilled over the edge settled peace once again into Baldur's heart. Only this time, he wasn't attacked by everything.

"Maybe that's it then? Maybe that's everything?"

He pulled out his inventory and took out the special pre-order edition housing deed he had gotten.

"Alright, here we go."

And he activated it.