Cordelia

"Ah, well, it would really depend. . ." She murmured, scratching her chin in slight thought. "Mitigation would be the go to, especially if you're looking to be a tank. I suppose you could have more enhancements on your shield and heavy armor if you were to do that, but that would offer less room to deal damage effectively and efficiently. Take it this way, you've got three slots for equipment. If you were to get a mitigation familiar, then you wouldn't need to worry about getting mitigation on your shield and armor-- which is a good plan in theory. But if you're trying to deal damage at the same time, you might want to get a damage familiar. That way you could have a weapon with. . . let's say all accuracy and still have the full capabilities of an average damage dealer. . ."

Cordelia shook her head and sighed. "Damage probably isn't what you're going for, though since you have a one-handed weapon and all. I'm not one to plan out things very well, sorry. This is all from a DPS's point of view, so I must be overthinking some things--" She muttered, facepalming herself as she gave the guy a sheepish expression. 

"Just forget everything I said. Maybe go to an actual tank for advice and not someone who barely has any mitigation," she mumbled, rubbing her elbow as she laughed nervously. 

Cordelia tilted her head. "Er-- I'd say about anyone within the fifty to eighty range is eligible to be a frontliner, but maybe fifty would be too low. Perhaps sixty?" She shrugged her shoulders. She honestly wouldn't even call herself a frontliner. She had no floor clearing or labyrinth clearing experience, so who was she to call herself a frontliner right now? 

"Oh-- I mean, if that's what you really want. . ." She murmured, watching the book disappear over the foliage. "I guess I'm your new library, huh?"

"It's good to see you too. I'm assuming you're hunting for eggs as well? I'm pretty sure there isn't a player in Aincrad who isn't," she exclaimed excitedly, jumping on her feet. 

"Oh, do you two know each other?" She asked, her gaze flickering between Mari and Yuki before she beamed. "Wow, what a small world we live in, huh?" She pondered, twirling around on her feet. "Oh, did you find yourself in trouble again, Yuki?" She asked, nudging the pinkette with her elbow as she displayed a cheeky grin. "Not wandering around on floor twenty-three again, I hope?" She mused, giving the girl a lopsided smile before she hopped away. 

"Anyway!" She chimed, "meet Arabelle. She's a very capable player to which I can confirm!" She declared, patting the purple-haired player on the back with a heart grin. "Well, now, at least. I haven't seen her in action since we completely obliterated a giant scarecrow."

ID: 140502
LD: 14+7=21, +2 Materials
CD: 2, 2 Eggs

Total Eggs: 12
Total Materials: 7

Day 28:

+63 EXP

Cordelia looked at the friend request blankly before she nodded her head. "Ah, right. That's probably a good idea," she exclaimed, accepting the request with a flick of her finger. 

"Oh no, Pacco doesn't talk. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a familiar talk before now that I think about it, but yeah, there's some pretty cool stuff out there. I think there's been a handful of restrictions on the quest, but that's all just talk from info-brokers. There hasn't been a humanoid familiar, and apparently there's a size limit after a patch got updated. Anywho, it's constantly changing, but I wouldn't pay much mind to it," she huffed, giving the player a toothy grin and a thumbs-up. "Are you looking for any specific type of familiar? There's a variety of them. Most damage dealers on the frontlines use attack familiars like me, but there are some that can heal you, help you have better accuracy while attacking, and even some that can mitigate damage from attacks. It's all really interesting stuff."

"Oh, no, it's really fine. After reaching frontliner level, I've been trying to lay off on trying to grind out more levels," she sighed, rubbing the neck as she averted her gaze sheepishly. "I'm really just trying to help out a few players while I can. With the next boss raid coming up so soon, I wouldn't want to miss my chance," Cordelia murmured, a far off look in her eyes before she turned back to Titan. 

"Oh, that? I totally threw that thing off a cliff when I got it," she said with a small laugh. "I guessed that it would be no fun trying to play a game when a book was coddling me the whole time. My mistake, I was a total idiot back then."

"Er. . ." Cordelia scratched the side of her cheek. "Yeah, there was this kind of. . . stall? As you could call it, I guess, where you can cash in your eggs for rewards. I think you can find it somewhere. I honestly have no idea where it is myself."

"Oh, yeah. Familiars are neat. I do all my damage thanks to Pacco here," she said whimsically. "It is a quest. You just need to find this. . . gypsy looking NPC lady on any floor, and she'll hand you a bag of food to tame a familiar. It's quite weird, really, but they're really useful. . . and a huge pain," she muttered, rolling her eyes jokingly. "I've seen some really cool familiars out there. Pacco is really on the more plain side of the spectrum. I've seen a tiny cerberus, a tiny boar that can fit in your pocket, and koi fish that flies around. . . and a cat completely made out of fog. . . There's some really weird stuff out there."

Cordelia gave him a grin. "I could totally help you out, though! I've done the quest two times, first one was with the first Pacco, and then we gained Pacco number two the next time I tried it out, though, there's this whole other separate quest where you have to train it. . . it's very, er-- time consuming."

"Oh. I do suppose that's what most people are doing during this time of the year, huh?" She murmured. 

"Ah, me? I was actually hunting eggs of my own, actually." She chuckled, finding the circumstances to be amusing. "I rather not go to the upper floors. Most of them are too harsh for me. Floor One is probably the most normal it's going to get, so I figured I'll just stick around here for a bit." She looked over her shoulder again as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah, I suppose now that we're on the topic of egg hunting. . ." Cordelia's voice drifted off as she whistled a short three note tune. 

From beyond the shadows of the trees, two large blackbirds appeared from the canopy. "You didn't even bring the basket?" She whined, her left eye twitching as she watched her familiar land on her shoulders empty. . . handed. 

"Ah, apologies for that. My familiar can quite literally be a bird brain sometimes."

Cordelia exhaled as she watched the blue shapes start to slowly drift away, sheathing her katana back into its sheath as she turned around. "Oh, sorry. I should've let you handle that then," she mumbled. "It's not a problem. I guess I was lucky enough to hear you from where I was." The girl turned to look over her shoulder and to where she came from. She wondered if Pacco could hear her from here. . .

"Cordelia, pleasure to meet you," she exclaimed, turning around to meet his gaze before she cracked a smile as she reached out to grasp his hand. 

"So what brings you this deep into the woods? Players don't usually tend to stray this far away from a safezone on floor one," she asked, tilting her head quizzically. She doubted he was doing any quest. None of the ones discovered on floor one made the players delve this deep into the forest. 

"Hey, you're supposed to help me find eggs, not trying to eat them," Cordelia exclaimed, shooing away one of the Paccos away from her pretty barren basket of eggs. 

Cordelia paused. "Oh, [doo-doo]."

"Stay here, keep watch," she whispered quietly to her birds, dropping the basket of colored eggs beside her as she dashed deeper into the forest. Without her eyes leaving her front, Cordelia absentmindedly opened her menu, and with a few taps later, Onimaru's sheath materialized along her waist. The girl swerved between the trees, slowly unsheathing her katana before she found herself facing a player running away from. . . a boar? Not a giant wasp? Or mantis? 

Oh, boy.

Cordelia planted herself between the boy and the oncoming wild animal, her katana propped up in front of her she watched the boar come closer and closer-- seriously, had she even fought a boar before? She sighed, shaking her head. "Alright, stay back!" She demanded, looking over her shoulder to the other player before she turned her attention back to the mob. 

She exhaled, charging forward just before she planted her blade into the animal's head. "Oh, lord," she muttered just as she felt the hilt of her katana begin to heat up. "Please don't catch on fire, please don't catch on fire-- ack!" Cordelia jumped away, ripping out her katana along with her just as flames began to pour out of it. She sighed, watching as fire consumed the boar just before it shattered into dozens of blue polygons. 

"Damn it."

ID: 140313
BD: 8, Its de a d d d d d d 

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he did make a taco shaped wagon, though," she commented, laughing to herself. It seriously was something he would do, though. Cordelia sipped on her tea again, nodding her head as she listened to Crozpeh continue talking. Mapping dungeons seemed fun. . . kind of. She wasn't sure if she could ever go into dungeons willingly again. After the bull[doo-doo] she experienced with both Macradon and Baldur, she was sure that she was permanently scarred. 

"Yeah, I'm a cook," she sniffed, "I own a little shop outside of Snowfrost on the fourth floor. . . and thanks, I guess."

Cordelia sipped on her tea again as she listened to Baldur. She wondered how long he had been holding this idea in, because her had certainly never talked about this to her-- at least to what she remembered. Honestly, her memory was failing her nowadays, so it wouldn't be completely crazy to forget something as important as this. She sniffed. She wondered if she knew any actual healers other than Zandra. . . She guessed that she could count Solei, but she doubted that he would be on the frontlines anytime soon due to his hectic schedule. Perhaps she could invite him to level with her one day. 

"Me?" She echoed, scratching her chin as she let out a nervous laugh. "I-I don't really know. I'm not very good with this kind of stuff," she mumbled, her hand travelling to the back of her neck as she averted her gaze. 

What were they even talking about. 

Cordelia gave Mari a look of disbelief as she watched her retreating figure charge towards the king. "Good lord, it's spreading," she whined under her breath, tilting her head up as she let out an exhausted sigh. 

Once the girl came back, Cordelia blinked at her with her cold, dead eyes. "Mari." She paused, her face refusing to leave Mari's as she gesture her hands to the king. "He's literally dead!" She exclaimed, waving around her hands before her shoulders slumped. 

Cordelia sighed, her hands rubbing her eyes. "Dark times, dark times," she muttered, shaking her head before she cracked a small smile. The girl exhaled again, turning her attention back to the towering figure. "Oh boy, this might be harder than I thought it would be," she mumbled, biting her lip as she unsheathed her katana from its scabbard. 

Cordelia dashed forward as she prepared to execute another San Ge attack. Onimaru surged onwards as the blade skimmed across the Forgotten Time King's thick plated armor. The girl cursed under her breath as she watched it barely tick away a few points of the mob's HP gauge. Her body whirled around just as she raised her katana above her head to deliver a final down thrust, which thankfully, knocked out much more HP than her previous cuts. 

ID: 140196
BD: 7, Hit | 21x15= 315-150= 165

[1]Oscar 1205/1205 HP | 89/104 EN | 22 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 151 MIT | VAMP-DEF | SAVVY | 12 FLN | 36 BRN[BD8-10] | 48 BH
[1]Baldur 1395/1395 HP | 120/132 EN | 22/25 DMG WF/MM | 5/6 WF/MM | 5 EVA | 124 MIT | ABSLT ACC | 56 BH | 0/2 STATUS IMN | 30 THRNS
[1]Mari 1365/1365 HP  | Energy: 109/120 | DAM: 14 | EVA 5  | MIT 43+45=88 | ACC 6 | 
[1]Cordelia 1175/1175 HP | EN: 106/120 | 21 DMG | 45 MIT | 6 ACC | 4 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF]| 6 HLY | 2 [36] BRN -14

Forgotten Time King 3030/3750 | 300 DMG | 3 ACC | 0 EVA | 150 MIT -165

"Alright," she whispered, rubbing her hands together as she let out a long sigh. "Egg hunt number three."

Maybe fifty or so more eggs and she could finally buy what she wanted from the. . . Egg boys. Good God, she can finally get that demonic trinket she's always wanted, in fact, needed. Ah, she can finally have max evasion enhancements again! As much as she loved being hit and paralyzing foes immediately after, it wasn't something she was super keen on doing, especially when the only mitigation she had was from her light armor skill. Well, now she supposed that she had the armor that Oscar had given her. . . so that was pretty good. She was going to need to give it another mitigation slot soon. . . especially before the next boss fight. 

Cordelia looked around. She never really liked gathering on floor twenty-one. It was too gloomy. Too dark, but she did need some tier three materials so she guessed that it was just going to have to do-- for now, anyway.

@Shield

Super Lucky Fancy Asian Cheetos: +3 LD
Equipped Gloves of Caerus: +3 LD
Yamata no Orochi Statue: +1 LD

Day 27: [Used: Super Crafty Matcha Mochi: +Ambition]

+67 EXP

Cordelia wiped a nonexistent tear away as she watched Mari walk off. "You have chosen a dark path," she whispered, praying for whatever was out there to watch over this poor girl. 

"When did you even get a wagon?" She asked incredulously as she eyed the cart as she nudged Oscar's side with her elbow. Were wagons just something you could. . . buy in the game? Where would you even buy a wagon from-- you know what, these were questions that didn't need answers. She'll just go back to living without knowing where wagons came from. 

She had barely taken a bite out of her taco before Baldur had propelled himself into the land of cheese and meat. "I-- wow." There weren't really words to express what she was feeling right now. . . just, wow. Good Lord, the days were getting darker and darker. "He'll be fine. If he passes out, we can just put him on the wagon and wheel him there," she said, waving Mari off jokingly before she took a bite out of a quesadilla. 

"Maybe you should be making more tacos more often," Cordelia commented, looking at Baldur's slouched form before she flashed Oscar a wry smile. "If this is the reaction you get from Baldur, I think people would go absolutely nuts for it," she said with a small laugh as she finished off the multiple feasts. God damn, she wasn't she if she had ever so much cheese in a single day before. 

Cordelia's eyes widened a bit at Mari's sudden appreciation, but it quickly melted into a soft expression. "It's no problem," she exclaimed, giving the girl a wide grin before she turned to Oscar. "Alright, I'm all ready to go! Let's go kill whatever the hell this thing is!"

LVL: 51 | HP: 1175/1175 | EN: 120/120 | 21 DMG | 45 MIT | 6 ACC | 4 EVA | 1 PARA VNM [DF]| 6 HLY | 2 [36] BRN

Consumed Super Buff Miso Ramen [+2 Protein]
Habanero Taco Platter [+2 ACC Feast]
Quesadilla Platter [+2 EVA Feast] Consumed
Chalupa Platter [+45 MIT Feast] Consumed
Chicken Nacho Platter [+135 Overhealth Feast] Consumed

"Thank you," she murmured, shaking off her clouded thoughts as she picked up the cup of tea. She looked between Baldur and Crozeph quietly as she brought the cup to her lips. They must've went a long way back, maybe to when the cleared floors were still only in their teens. They must've been, right? She would've heard of Crozeph before if he had only been a frontliner a few floors back. 

She nodded her head along the conversation absentmindedly. As much as she loved hearing people reminisce about the past, it was difficult to keep up when it involved people she didn't know and events she wasn't particularly familiar with. Though, she supposed the topic of death in battle would've come sooner or later in a conversation like this. It was just something she came to see a lot when people suddenly see their old friends after long amounts of time. She felt herself slightly shiver. Those topics weren't something she was quite used to just yet. It was honestly a rare occurrence-- at least, for her-- to be in such a serious conversation nowadays. The last few months were mainly just. . . happy moments. That was a lie, there were a lot if bad moments, but never as serious as death, which she found incredibly odd considering she lived in a world where you could just step outside a safezone and immediately get ganked by someone twice your level. Not that she wanted death or anything, no, no. She was just. . . surprised. 

Cordelia returned from her dazed state just as Baldur seemed to have the life brought back to him. She smiled unconsciously into her cup at his suddenly chipper attitude. Thank God, she was not used to him being like that at all. Most of the time he was just. . . him. She wasn't exactly sure how to explain it. He was just usually. . . Baldur-y. Did that make sense? It probably didn't. Baldur was just special, let's just say that. 

Her humored expression suddenly turned into a deadpan, but her face softened before she let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah, sure. Let's go with that," she mused, shaking her head. 

Her hands clasped around the cup tightly as she nodded to Crozeph. "I do admit, we did not exactly. . . click when we first met, that was partially my fault, I admit that, but we've both come a long way from where we both started," she said quietly, smiling to herself. 

"Ah, I see. That sounds very. . . fun." And unsanitary. "Me? Well. . ." She trailed off, letting out a nervous laugh as she scratched the side of her cheek sheepishly. "I'm not a very inspirational leader like Baldur here. I mainly just follow whoever gives the orders," she shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't think I trust myself enough to be the person giving orders. Trust me, a lot more people are safer that way."

"Is that what he's going to be recognized for now?" She mused, cracking a small grin. "'The man with the taco wagon'. I do suppose that sounds better than 'the guy that makes hotdogs'. Just a bit."

"i can assure you I'd be the one to break that formation," Cordelia mumbled, shaking her head as she released a sigh. 

Cordelia followed after the stranger, tilting her head. If Baldur was planning to organize a guild, she would have be ready to give him a straight up no. She was perfectly fine being in The Tarot with her friends, not saying that Baldur wasn't her friend or anything, but she was sure she wasn't even familiar with some of the people he wanted to recruit-- that saying if he did want to create a guild, of course. 

She looked up at Baldur, sighing in relief. She guessed that he already knew she was in a guild. . ? She wondered if someone else had told him that. Perhaps Lessa? Did he even know Lessa?

As her mentor listed off some of the names of the already existing frontliners, Cordelia couldn't help but ponder. She knew some of the people he had named. Calrex was vaguely familiar and so was Zandra. She knew Macradon almost too well, unfortunately. Her head had returned from the clouds as she caught a bit of Baldur's proposition. "I think that's a great idea. It'd be nice to learn from someone else for a change," she added, giving Crozeph a small smile. "I'm sure it would be an honor as well."

Cordelia nearly tripped over her foot, "I-- what?" She paused, shaking her head before resuming her pace. She shouldn't have been surprised. Mari had an orange crystal after all, so it wasn't a big surprise to know that she had murdered someone. . . It was often someone she had constantly overlooked but hearing how she had taken somebody from someone else just made it. . . different. The girl pursed her lips. She had remembered seeing all of those names crossed out on the tablet, a handful of them were murdered by the girl Cordelia had come to know as a sort of older-sister figure. Her pale eyes darkened. The Monument of Life. It had been quite a while since she gone there. Not since. . . that very vivid day with Oscar and Bahr. 

Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Pinball. Her teeth gritted together under her impassive mask at the mere thought of that bastard's name. She swore, the next time she saw that boy she was going to wring his neck dry--

"I-- huh?" She asked, lifting her head to meet Baldur's gaze before she straightened up. "Oh. Err--" Cordelia murmured, scratching the side of her cheek as she averted her eyes. "She's very. . . erm. . . vivacious, I suppose. She has a very witty personality and she has a lot of fire to her, but she has a soft side, too. Sort of like an older sibling or something," she mumbled, her voice trailing off.

"Talents I am not aware about apparently," Cordelia mused, following after her towards the wagon.

"Are you going to abandon the whole hotdog shtick and become a master taco maker now?" She asked him jokingly as she turned her attention to the array of foods. She scratched her chin quizzically before clapping her hands together in front of her with a sheepish smile. "I don't think I've ever eaten tacos before in general," she exclaimed like it was nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

"Mari, you mustn't go over to that side," she whispered quickly, grabbing ahold of the girl's shoulders, a dead serious look on her face as she stared at Mari's soul.  "You don't want to end up like. . ." Cordelia paused, looking at Baldur from the corner of her eye before she turned back to Mari, "a fallen friend." A very thin line was stopping her from immediately plunging her katana into her heart at the moment. A very, very thin line.

Dragon Hunter Anthology.

Cordelia whistled. It had been quite a while since she had done that one. . . and if she recalled correctly, it had actually been one of the first quests she had ever done with Oscar-- or series of quests, really. She mentally face-palmed herself. She had just finished one quest chain and now she was already set out to finish another one. Lord, she just hoped that this one won't be as terrible as the Scents of the Wild. Those quests left her permanently scarred, good God.

Well, at least the dragon quests would be easy. . . for now anyway. Which one was she even on? The third one? Or was it the fourth? There were about nine in total, right? That was certainly more than scents of the wild, be she assumed that this line won't be as difficult as that one.

"Hey, Oscar. Remember that quest chain with the baby dragons and whatnot that we did way back when ago?"
@Oscar

"Empress?" She echoed quietly, her head lifting tiredly to give the two a deadpan look before she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. She had honestly had no idea what the hell was going on, but it sounded fun, sort of.

"I mean, there's Oscar. . . and Bahr," she mumbled, holding up three fingers before she added a fourth. "I guess Mari will be coming along as well now that she's back, I suppose, and who knows, maybe a bunch of people will pop out from nowhere again," she sighed, lowering her hand. "I'm probably the weakest of the frontliners at the moment, so please don't compare the rest of the frontliners to me," Cordelia said nervously as she fidgeted with her fingers in front of her.

"Empress-chan?" The girl let out a long sigh. Just roll with it. 

Cordelia's attention shifted over to the gloomy river. Her lips slightly curved. Whatever lurked beneath those waters was the bane of her existence, especially that Lich asshole and his little friends. Of course, it wasn't nearly as bad as the bloody Lightning Horse, it was still bad. Looking at this damned river reminded her of how much she hated that stupid quest line and its stupid mechanics and its stupid bosses.

Cordelia tugged on the hems of her charcoal-colored jacket as walked alongside her mentor. Why they were here, she had no idea. She just kind of. . . followed him wherever at this point. Did that sound weird? It probably did. She and weird have grown very close over the past few months, so she supposed she was sort of used to this kind of stuff now? Maybe? 

"What is it with you and this river."

What a bizarre greeting. Though, she guessed Baldur had. . . uh-- always been one for doing some incredibly bizarre things. Cough, cough, nudge, nudge. She wondered if this would be another bizarre encounter. Good Lord, she hoped it wasn't. After that whole. . . thing with Macradon, she wasn't sure what she was going to expect from him anymore. 

The girl peered at Baldur from the corner of her eye. Oh geez, another reunion. She wasn't sure how many of those she had witnessed in the past few months. It was a lot. Quite a lot, really. She just guessed that people who went M.I.A. were suddenly popping out of nowhere. Fun, fun, is it not? She blew a small sigh. Just another person to not piss off, whoopy doo. 

Cordelia tilted her head, her silver hair drooping over her shoulder before she offered the stranger a small wave. "Pleasure to meet you," she exclaimed, lowering her hand before she gave Baldur a curious. "You don't say," she said, both in mild curiosity and sarcasm. The girl intertwined her hands behind her back as she grinned at the other katana-user. "Well! Any comrade of Baldur is a comrade to me! Pleased to make your your acquaintance, Crozeph!"

Day 26:

+64 EXP

"I-" Cordelia stared at the wagon incredulously before let out an exuberant laugh. "Alright then," she chuckled, following after him. 

In a beam of light, the trio and wagon were transported all the way to the twenty-first floor. "Ah, Mari!" Cordelia exclaimed, running towards the all too familiar orange-haired player. "I'm pretty sure you knew him well enough to remember his name," she noted after her interacting with Oscar, intertwining her hands together in front of her as she let out a stiff giggle. 

"Oh, Pacco?" She asked, tapping the tips of her delicate fingers together as she gave her a wry smile. "It's been going well. I don't think he likes being in the sword too much," she said, rolling her eyes as she shuffled over to Mari. "Plus, I've just been keeping him there so I don't have to log two birds everywhere on my shoulders," she whispered, snickering to herself as she patted the hilt of her katana. "I don't think that Oscar or Baldur has seen both of them, either," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes with a small yawn. 

Cordelia pointed to Mari's blade with both of her hands and nodded. "Yep," she hummed, popping the 'p'. "Pacco is now in my trusty little sword. Way easier to keep him in check now if you ask me," she huffed, crossing her arms.