Telrenya

The sliver of truth Castor revealed encouraged her to hold onto that smile. Her hand shifted up, trailing past her temple, and running fingers loosely through her hair just as the thrum of bass gave way to the gentle strum of a guitar. She’d have forgotten she was wearing that mask if she hadn’t brushed against its edge. ”Same here. The rare part, at least.” The smile went a bit wry. Hers were not the memories of years gone by, but the fantasies of what could have been. University was stressful, but she had never found her relief at the bottom of a bottle or upon a darkened dance floor. She wa

‘Castor.’ His words were few, but his smile was sweet. Telrenya followed that lead. Fumbling over her tongue while she fished for the correct way to present herself was only going to drown the mood that seemed to rest in the air so effortlessly. Like a thick fog surrounding them, she had little choice but to breathe in. Their hands met and the music infected them. Slowly, for her. Her movements were unpracticed. Feet not unsteady, simply unconfident as they shifted her to and fro in time with the heavy beat. Her partner, on the other hand, carried himself seemingly effortlessly. She was s

Bright brown eyes scanned the room behind the safety of a porcelain white mask, as if maybe, through some expert observation or careful intuition, she might come to recognize any of the other players that hid behind theirs. It was all for naught. She must have stopped thinking about it, given her surprise when Oscar’s brief announcement caught her attention and she realized she’d seen his face before. ’The host, I suppose.’ She silently mused, bringing her glass to her lips once more. He commanded the room’s attention without effort, it seemed, and presented himself with all the elegance of a

Voices, maybe? She wasn't sure, and that was rapidly eating away at her. Telrenya took the smallest of steps, determined to keep herself steady on the uneven cemetery grounds, and strained her eyes and ears against the dense fog and whistling winds. A droplet splashed against the top of her head and caused her to jump with a start, a chill running all the way down her spine. The heavy globules that followed and splashed on her face, her shoulders, her head, revealed themselves to be no monster at all–just some very unfortunate, very unpleasant weather. The start of a murky rain topped off

Telrenya picked the color of her mask in a panicked rush. She didn’t realize there would be a choice awaiting her at the door. Yet once the ornate white mask was placed in her hands, she was just as quick to slip it over her features, like a mouse scurrying away from the light. A quick murmur past her lips and she shuffled in through the entrance, seeking out an unoccupied sliver of space where she might be able to collect herself. She looked out over the people in attendance. The sea of little spinning cursors was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she watched in awe as dozens of masked

She wasn’t accustomed to this kind of down-and-dirty, rough ingenuity. Her eyes were sifting through the muck, simply trying to pick out anything that could be of use. Unaccustomed, but unafraid. Telrenya engulfed herself in the task she’d laid out before them, giving all of herself to tossing aside rotted wood and fashioning head rests from old hay piled under frayed linen. Anything short of her full focus would allow uncertainties to creep in. She couldn’t spare them a moment of her time. When Edict voiced his return, his news formed a nugget of weight in her chest. She had hoped organi

Telrenya knelt, tense all over, as the blue-haired man came to consciousness. Then, a flutter of relief rippled through her chest. The wounds began to shrink, seal, and disappear, though it took two applications. She was about to go for a third, certain there was health that still needed recovering, but Edict’s light protest gave her pause. Her hands hovered in the air between them and she took in his words with a regrettable lack of understanding. He mentioned a sword, but what did that mean? He moved to stand, ushering her away from a labyrinth of thoughts. She went to stand herself, th

A thin, eternal mist lay over the marred wastelands of the 29th floor. The soil sank slightly beneath Telrenya’s boots as she walked, sword drawn at her side and head swiveling side to side with each step. The main settlement of Ilridge didn’t offer any protections of a safe zone, yet somehow she couldn’t shake the additional layer of unease that came with drifting away from the dilapidated building and rain-slicked cobblestones of the town. A creepy, lifeless town, but a town nonetheless. A town with a teleport gate. What was she doing here? This place wasn’t safe, she knew that well. Sh

Buying the following items: Teleport Crystal x5 [4000 col] Total: = 4,000col

Thread Summary Word Count: 7,537 Telrenya: 7,537 / 5 * 5 = 7,537 EXP Vigilon: 7,537 / 5 * 7 = 10,552 EXP Clash of Blades - Double EXP Awarded 1 Page completed: 400 col Laurel Wreath (Telrenya): 2,261 col Laurel Wreath (Vigilon): 3,166 col Telrenya receives: 15,074 EXP 2,661 col Vigilon receives: 21,104 EXP 3,566 col

Thread Summary Word Count: 1,502 Telrenya: 1,502 / 5 * 5 = 1,502 EXP Wulfrin: 1,502 / 5 * 6 = 1,802 EXP Clash of Blades - Double EXP Awarded Laurel Wreath (Telrenya): 451 col Laurel Wreath (Wulfrin): 541 col Telrenya receives: 3,004 EXP 451 col Wulfrin receives: 3,604 EXP 541 col

Huff, huff, huff… Telrenya’s heartbeat pounded in her ears like her boots pounded against the pavement. The days bled together, the weeks had become indistinguishable. How long had that announcement been hanging from the bulletin boards? How long had it been since the raid meeting had come and gone? How long had they been up there already, fighting for the sake of everything that stood below? ”Ilridge!” After a single gasp of air, Telrenya shouted the name just as soon as she’d crossed the threshold to the teleport platform. The world warped around her, her vision went white, and lin

The climax the crowd was waiting for finally came. A clash rang out, metal singing as their blades bounced off of each other. Then the final strike. Telrenya felt every muscle in her body tense up. The intention to take a step back, to swing her stance wide and let his sword catch the air where she had been standing, it was right there. But she couldn’t do it. Whether her digital body was at its limits, or Cardinal would never allow her to move that quickly in the first place, she wasn’t sure why she failed to slip out of the way. She only felt the dull, buzzing feedback in the back of her hea

Her eyes went wide and her body twisted, but her reaction was too slow. She winced as his blade cut deep into her side and she was awarded another bright red, festering wound upon her avatar. Unable to force her own counterattack, she scrambled to leave his range. The color of her health bar shifted to red even before the lingering burn and blight stole away a bit more of it. Telrenya felt backed into a corner. Her opponent’s words edged on taunting in her ears. For every single strike he landed on her, Telrenya had to hit three, all while clawing past his armor and gritting her teeth thr

”Oh…oh!” The name was familiar. Then so was he. Telrenya perked a bit, a shine coming back to her eyes. Bialas, her first boss fight. She’d been terrified, but she didn’t regret showing up and contributing. She briefly wondered if it was the same crowd toiling away on the frontlines. How many new and old faces appeared at those meetings. Would she recognize any of them? It seemed so long ago that she could hardly remember all of the people she fought alongside that time. The smile froze on her face and her heart sank into her stomach. Of course Jomei was there. Hirru mentioned a couple of

While the air was thick with tension is when comedy struck. Telrenya matched his pause, blinking in confusion when Vigilon ate concrete across from her. She gave a quick glance to either side of them, then uncomfortably flashed her free palm out as if to deny any accusation that she might have tossed some paraphernalia onto the battlefield. Though no accusations came her way. Her opponent seemed just as confused as she was. Was it poor form to strike at this moment of uncertainty? Maybe. But the dwindling effects of her second wind made Telrenya feel jumpy. Eager. Impatient. No sooner was

Telrenya shifted to plant her elbows on her knees and place her head in her hands as she sat on the stairs to the monument. She briefly wondered if her bids for conversation were disruptive or unwelcome, though based on his polite demeanor she was already sure that he would deny any such suggestions. Each time his music paused, she vaguely hoped that she wasn’t being too intrusive. The sounds of the harp were nice–angelic, even, with how their light tones bounced off the polished stone walls. Maybe she would ask if he’d made any recording crystals for his music. It had been a long time since s

Sweat beaded on Telrenya’s forehead and was quickly wiped away by the side of her hand. She pulled her wavy blonde hair back into a round bun to let the back of her neck breathe, but it would never be enough. The hot air was already making her lungs feel heavy, and the ash irritated her eyes as she carefully climbed over the edge of the pit and slid unsteadily down its side. She coughed once, then twice, and waved at the particles in front of her face in what quickly became a futile fanning motion. Fighting in this heat was going to be the absolute worst. Her eyes landed on Hirru on the o

Her breathing became a little steadier. Cardinal was easing up on the signals of fatigue the more her quantified energy regenerated. She hadn’t expected all of this to be so hard. The prospect of a tournament didn’t sound easy, of course, but it wasn’t supposed to be this. It was supposed to be like those sparring days at the park in Taft. ‘First one to tag Jomei wins’, she remembered the game they played in order to train their combat skills. Friendly competition, a quick bout, a test of skills, and then one person would emerge the victor. So then why was this all so difficult? She didn’t hav

The two competitors were left there, huffing and puffing and struggling to push themselves and keep going. How long had it been now? Telrenya knelt with one foot planted on the rough tile floor, hunched over herself after having just narrowly escaped one more of Vigilon’s onslaughts. Memories of her very first match came back to her involuntarily. Would they be called for time? She glanced between the health bar in the upper corner of her vision and the one that hovered in the air, wrapped around Vigilon’s side. It was hard to tell, but she thought his was more full. If they timed out here, he

Telrenya twisted her body, dodging to the side with a spin to avoid Vigilon’s burst of speed just in time. She only wished she could have remained as graceful. The force of her opponent shooting past her, stabbing through the air where her body had just been, and the panicked speed at which she dodged left her off balance, and she tumbled to the ground at the same time Vigilon’s attack found the arena wall. She let out a pained grunt as the last of the burning, noxious damage worked its way through her system and she was allowed the relief of a clear status bar again. She panted, propping

Another deafening clang of metal rang out as Vigilon’s counterattack batted away her rapier. Her arm swung up with it, refusing to let the weapon slip from her hands, but the momentum left her vulnerable. Wide open. She winced hard as his attack was just as intense as the first: another critical hit that left her with twin status effects. She could have stuck it out through the art, but her opponent drove the point home by sinking a knife into her back. ”Great minds…think alike.” She tried to quip back, but her voice was strained. The buzzing in the back of her head was distracting and un

They were hardly left waiting, with Telrenya turning to see Yue Hua’s approach moments after she felt that she’d settled into her arrival. A smile tugged at her lips, one that was less awkward than it had been a second ago. ”Pollux!” She called to the woman brightly. Then her brows turned up slightly with hesitation. ”Or–sorry, do you go by another name?” She swore she heard something to that effect during the introductions of their fight. But since then, having only seen her username, she was regret to realize she hadn’t the faintest idea what that other name was. Pleasantries aside, Tel

Their banter had stopped now. Each of them were embroiled in the fight, concentrating on the other’s movements, straining to make their own as perfect as possible. The enjoyment of a friendly skirmish drained away and they were left with two competitors who were equally desperate to win. Clawing at the promise of victory, Telrenya’s blade connected with another empowered attack and she once again felt the bite of his crystal’s burn. Their avatars wore scattered slashes and pinpricks of bright red battle damage, reflecting the damage they took like scars, and the noise of the crowd came in inco

The crowd buzzed with excitement when a blow had at last been struck. As intense as their duel had been thus far, stalemates could only be so entertaining for an audience. Telrenya’s eyes landed on the belt buckle he presented as the cause of his improved defenses. ’Of course.’ She’d remembered seeing the item in this week’s shop, but she’d put all her eggs in one basket by spending her precious tokens on the glass mirror. Adding more buffs on her end would have only complicated her plan, and risked handing her opponent an advantage when she’d meant to turn the tables. ’Well, at least now I kn