Jomei

The snow crunched underneath the soles of his boots as each step sank into the snow up to his ankles. Gripping at the sides of his cape, he pulled the fabric close to hug around his arms, doing its best to fight off the biting winds from making him any colder than he was. Another notification, most likely a response back from Nari, caught Jomei's attention as his eyes drifted to look at the small icon that flashed on his HUD. Ignoring it for now, the ginger continued to trudge through the snow. It never stormed much in Snowfrost, usually just the constant, yet gentle, snow. The cold was m

Jomei the emerald duelist Through slightly parted lips, a small cloud of fog slowly poured out, cautious not to make a sound. As the snow continued to fall, heavy and obscuring, mounds of white continued to gather atop the ginger's cloaked shoulders and head. Under normal circumstances, green would be a proper color to wear when trying to hide within the woods, meshing well with the bountiful greenery. When that lush, green color was snuffed out under blankets of

It was soon realized that, sometimes trying to strike up conversation with the host of an event was not always the best option so early on. Though he knew Baldur would be open to conversation, probably wanting it since he had been playing announcer and host for the entire day, including now, but he could only imagine how busy he was. Being one of his first moments of respite during the day, while not judging fights or being a silent observer, about half of the guests took this time to walk up to Baldur to greet him, or simply thank him for throwing this event. Jomei had to admit, he felt a bit

The only problem with making a request for an item at a mobile store is that the cart will not remain in the same place for long. And with Twenty Seven different floors, each with a varying amount of settlements, it was never easy to be able to figure out the exact location of Hirru's traveling merchant's stall. At least he was able to send a message to the Jade Hunter, and gain a better insight into where they were headed next. A quick use of the teleportation platform, and a short walk proved fruitful as the ginger saw the strange man who operated the front of the cart pull the vehicle

The combined front easily created a hole that the boarding party could use to push through the shield wall, easily clearing out those that remained, and becoming a single force that would storm the control room where Razwell, apparently sat in wait. Jomei formed up with the rest of the group, taking a moment to look out past the opening to the hanger, considering the possibility of allowing the others to take on the Landonian Emperor while he avoided the crowds and made his way back home. The thought quickly came and went, however, as Jomei decided against it, rushing forth beside the others a

At first, Jomei found himself dodging rows of razor sharp teeth the size of his head and the small flames that poured out around them as the two remaining heads chased the ginger down, trying to catch him within either one of their toothy maws. All of a sudden, the duelist found himself dodging the heads themselves as they fell to the ground like large boulders, cut clean from the muscular necks that they were once attached to. A single strike from Lessa's sword easily dealt with what remained of the Cerberus, and despite this not being the most formidable opponent for the two able bodied fron

From within a violently raging vortex of sand, the field boss made itself known to the players. The oversized land shark erupted from the ground, its blade-like tail carving through the desert as it twisted itself like a drill, pushing out of the sand. Two beady black eyes glared at the four players, its pointed face and most of its upper body protected by a hard outer shell, resembling the fins of a shark, just more jagged. Its legs and underbelly, however, relied merely on its thick skin to protect it from any attacks. Nari seemed to have made the same conclusion, the blade of her spea

Quite the mysterious front for a player's store.. Approaching the strange, robed individual at the front of the wagon, Jomei greeted them reluctantly before requesting to see the Jade Hunter who also worked out of the mobile merchant's stall. Circling around to the back, he found the green haired man sitting there. "Hey, Hirru." Jomei said with a small wave of his hand, "Interesting set up you've got here." With a swipe of his hand, Jomei summoned his menus. He continued speaking to Hirru as his eyes locked onto the screen, navigating the menus with a finger. "I've got a couple of

"If I'm being real with you." he began with a hooking smirk, "I couldn't tell you what a K-D is.. I don't think I've touched a Call of Duty game in my life. But I'll take your word for it, and pretend I'm super impressed." Jomei proceeded to lift his arms and bend at the waist in front of Lessa, mockingly bowing to her for her incredibly high K:D ratio... or was it supposed to be low? It seemed that, just as first person shooters were not Jomei's favorite type of game, the fantasy genre wasn't Lessa's forte. Though, as she said, they were pretty much living in a dungeons and dragons-esqu

The memory of the party at Koga's house just before the turn of the year brought a smile to his face. Good food, drinks, and company to be had. Looking at the small group, he realized that he had met both Astreya and Oji that night, despite having a nameless run in with Oji on the Twenty-Seventh Floor. It was not until the tournament that he got to meet Nari. His head nodded along with Astreya's words as she shared her own opinion of the two gatherings. "Koga's party was a very good time.. And the over flowing sink just added that extra bit of excitement that all parties need." "At least

"Hm?" Jomei took notice of the small, weasel like creature standing just in front of his boot. It looked up at him with a quizzical, crooked head. Jomei smiled back down at Oji's familiar. With a chuckle, he began to speak, "Don't get any funny ideas." Finally peeling his eyes from the sable, he looked to the crossbar of the canopy above him, where his actual target of conversation had been perched. The large owl peered down at the marten with its dark saucers for eyes, mimicking its tilting head motions. "I've trained you better than to go after other's familiars." Barely opening its beak, th

Stepped from the river side cafe, Jomei made his way back through the town of Florenthia to the teleporter that would take him back to his current home on the eleventh floor. He would slowly walk the streets of Taft, his coat tails trailing behind him with every step, his eyes glued on the path before him. The composure he barely clung to almost held out as he neared the front door to his house, but that string snapped just moments before. Stumbling forward, Jomei met his front door with a thud, both of his fists colliding with the wooden entrance. His knuckles turning white as his fingernails

Yoriro was his name. A good name for a good kid who cared deeply for those important to him. Lips curled into a soft smile as the friend request was accepted, and the unknown name added itself to the small list of people Jomei could currently count on. Despite this friendship being mostly for business reasons, it was still nice to see another player on there. "You take care of yourself, Yoriro.. And don't worry, she'll be okay." Jomei could only hope that was true. This group he fought against.. that was months ago, possibly years? He could never keep count. Sometimes it felt like the day

It took a few moments, but eventually the other player plopped back down into their chair limply. Their eyes fixated on the center of the table, nothing in particular. Most likely mulling over the loss of Naru, and what he could further lose if he tried to get her back himself. Jomei remained standing for a few seconds after before joining him, sitting down once more. "I'm not telling you to stay out of it so I could claim all the glory.. I'm not in it for that. I just know what its like to live with that weight on your shoulders... killing another player. Even if they're in the wrong.. even i

It took the player a bit longer to look at the cloak to see if he identified it or not. When he saw the symbol, however, he dismissed it as never seeing it. Definitely wasn't Naru's, he said, and he'd never seen that symbol in his life. That was a relief on one hand, that Jomei didn't have to reveal to the poor player that the girl he was sweet for was part of a player-enslaving guild. On the other hand though, that meant that she was now in their clutches. "I may have a better idea of where she is now.. but you're not going to like it." Jomei said, emerald eyes filled with compassion as

The name of the other player who requested his help never came up, they were too busy talking over the details of Naru. So Jomei figured it might be near impossible that he would easily run into the man again. Keeping a keen lookout as he patrolled the village, looking into every group of players standing around or passing by, he found the player in the place he least expected.. but should have looked first; right where he left him. Now with a beverage akin to what Jomei had partaken in earlier sitting in front of them, mostly untouched, and their face buried in their arms. With a silent sigh,

With the quest completed, The Monkey King out of the way, and Sewallus on their trip back to the safety of Florenthia proper, that left Jomei to be able to investigate the mysterious, hanging cloak without any interruptions. The tree that had the fabric pinned to it was knocked over by the giant ape during the battle, but luckily enough was close enough for him to find. Lowering himself to sit on the broken bark, he wrapped his fingers around the handle of the dagger and shimmied it free. The weapon appeared custom made, with an orange tint to the sharp edge of the blade and red wrapping aroun

With nothing to keep the emerald duelist suspended in the air anymore, his body began to plummet. A small flip of his body an he hit the ground with a three point landing, letting out a huff of air as he made impact. A shower of data fragments littered the ground around him as they slowly drifted like a calm snowfall, immediately vanishing into the earth and not lingering long. As he rose to a full standing position, a panel appeared in front of him, congratulating him on completion of the quest, and offering any rewards associated with it. A heavy clasp on his shoulder, and he saw Sewal

"Hah! So you can hold your own after all!" Sewallus called over to the ginger after landing an attack, ignoring the request Jomei made about not using howl to draw the ape's attention. "Now its my turn, hyaa!" As the NPC's axe connected with The Monkey King, it gave off the image of a glass wall cracking. A small icon under the boss' health indicated a status effect, <<Shatter>>, which knocked down The Monkey King's mitigation a bit. Jomei chuckled, "Hey, that's a pretty neat trick. Should make taking them down a lot easier." As the ginger prepared a sword art, which he

"Once before I ran in fear of you, but not anymore! Fight me! I will stand tall for my people!" Sewallus shouted in The Monkey King's face, holding his axe up high for the ape to see. The burning, red eyes shifted to look at the man, nothing but a nuisance from its oversized perspective. Rising up onto its hind legs, the Monkey King would pound its fists into its chest, one after another. Each impact like an explosion, causing the very ground they stood on the rumble and quake. With rage filled eyes and razor sharp teeth, the monstrosity grabbed another tree, tearing the wooden giant fro

A cheery smirk crept its way onto Jomei's face as the morning's entertainment played out in front of him. Astreya briefly, yet in a friendly manner, scolding Nari for losing sleep. Two forces with completely different energies. Outgoing and boisterous against quiet and timid. The energy of a well slept individual powering over one who was obviously lacking rest. The ginger couldn't help but let out a small hum of a laugh. Astreya matched Jomei's excitement for completing this quest, expressing her true interest was the item drop that they would be rewarded for taking down the boss. "Well

A spot of burgundy caught the ginger's attention, just off the beaten path. Gently billowing in the breeze, a dagger pinned a deep red cloak to the bark of a tree. "Gotcha" he said to himself as he began to push towards the hanging fabric, carefully stepping over fallen twigs and bushes. In the end, it was not Jomei's silent creeping that needed to be worried about. No, it was Sewallus, ready for revenge. "Show yourself Monkey King! I have returned to exact my revenge! No longer will you torment the people of Florenthia!" With battle axe readied, Sewallus took a battle stance, ready

The trek through the dark forest was quiet, save for the occasional woodland animal's call, or a breeze rustling the leaves high above them. If The Monkey King was, in fact, nearby, they were able to keep themselves fairly silent for such a large beast. Jomei's attention, however, was not on the impending threat of the big ape, but on anything that could hint towards Naru's disappearance. Emerald eyes slowly scanned the brush for anything. Signs of a struggle may be tough to come by, since most trees and rocks were considered immortal objects, and weapons did not marks on them for long. Even a

It was not very often that an NPC would ask to accompany a player on a quest, especially one tasked with guarding the city. The forest was large, and dark, it would most likely take him twice as long to hunt down the ape if he were to do it on his own. This added an extra layer to the quest he wasn't sure he wanted to worry about, but the thought of being able to freely search for any clues regarding Naru's whereabouts as Sewallus carved the path for him outweighed any of the cons. Jomei accepted the guard's offer with a nod, "Alright. Thank you, I could use the help." "Alright, co

Of course, in the usual quest fashion, as Remington told Jomei about where to go next, the prompt for him to accept the quest popped up in front of him. With movements almost like instinct, Jomei brought a hand up to tap on the accept button, without pulling his eyes from Remington. He offered a determined nod before turning towards the opening to the tent once more, leaving the zoologist to their work. Back out into the open Florenthia air again, and away from the cigarette smoke that clung to the canvas-laced tent, Jomei began his search for the captain of the guard. A few curious quest