NIGHT

outside the cave, they reconvened.

“what the hell was that,” night asked. she’d still had her arm over day, almost forcing all of her weight upon the construct. it wasn’t as though day had minded, but it did seem rather silly for both of them to be operating as one unit when night could’ve just walked on two legs.

“how’s that answer going for you?”

“poorly,” the player rebuked. “are you making fun of me? i know this isn’t the right way to solve the riddle — or whatever that was. can i put my foot down now?”

“you didn’t have to ask for permission.”

night stood upright, and then took day’s face by her jawline. in the cold mountain air, against the backdrop of the plains of the seventh, it could almost be construed as romantic. and yet, with one lean towards day, night feeling the twist of her other’s face —

— she knocked her forehead into day’s, and let her go squeal, nonchalant. 

“i’m really bad at puzzles,” night prefaced, and kevranth tutted back.

“nay, merely not unlocked thine own potential for thought yet,” he said. “when you return on three legs, then perhaps, the answer will come to you.”

day kicked night in the shin playfully.

“that’s not what he meant,” she shot to her construct.

“oh,” kevranth grinned, tail flipping about excitedly. “did you hazard a guess to the riddle yet?”

“fuck.”

day tried to topple night once again. agitated, and near stumbling, night held onto her companion with an arm slung over her shoulder, and her attacked foot held in the air.

“well?” day asked with a smile. “is it coming to you yet?”

night did her best not to scream silently, and mouth a ‘no’ instead.

“one leg,” kevranth wondered aloud. “i suppose if time has aged you this much, too, then so it shall be.”

“how about you give us a minute,” night decided, and hobbled out the cave with day in tow.

“probably other players,” night mumbled to day, even quieter this time.

“they were quite justified, actually,” kevranth happily replied. night decided then, in her entirety, that it was not time for gossip just yet.

“how so?”

“hmm…” 

kevrath thought to himself for quite some time. then, he began.

“the trophy you seek is under key, behind a mirror.”

night tilted her head, before turning to day. day simply shrugged back. “i don’t have it.”

“where one,” kevranth continued, “wields strength by divine right, the other manifests it, by ambition and devil’s wrongs. perhaps thine worthy would be able to judge of you, had this been the pools of reflection ere long ago. alas, time has stolen of them, lost beneath the surface, clouded in stone, and blood, and gold.” 

night blinked twice. “so do you have it or not?”

“excuse me,” kevranth shot back, “does it look like i stuttered through all of that? i even spoke of it slow so i wouldn’t stumble. why don’t you guess the meaning behind my words on your own?“

night found herself unable to argue, so she didn’t.

“i’m night,” she said.

“kevranth,” the dragon replied, with a bow of its head. “for lack of structured rule, i am this land’s designated ruler.”

“does it count if nobody made him king?” day asked.

“maybe if he pulled the sword from the stone,” night whispered back.

“yes,” kevranth interjected, corners of his lips upturned. “i once did that, i’ll have you know.”

“that’s no basis for a system of government,” the construct muttered back, to which nobody chose to acknowledge.

night pulled a number of stones out of her inventory, each of them a quest item from one of the prior dragon hunter anthology quests. she offered them to kevranth. “are these familiar to you in any manner?”

he leaned in just to examine the stones more carefully. “yes,” kevranth spoke, “i suppose there were a few others like you who were looking for these.”

the last thing she needed was attention, so she brushed it off. horn sent back to her inventory, night simply shook her head. "nothing important." and she meant every word. the moment mac had started off towards the plaza, she followed, in pursuit.

the twenty-fifth was as dreary as always. white walls and dim lighting; the floor was meant to be focused on ambushes from enemies that caught players off-guard. the whole thing was a maze, a trap – night sought out the chalk necessary to guide their way back home, and handed out a piece to everyone else present.

the maze weaver wasn't a boss she'd fought before. but given the habitat it called home, it likely meant that they were due for a ferocious foe. she'd had her weapon in her hand before they could even start their venture into the labyrinth. night looked to freyd and gestured over to the entrance. "given tracking, it'll be your lead."

5/5 -> next field boss.

NIGHT | HP: 1100/1100 | EN: 99/148  | DMG: 28 | F-SPIRIT | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | LD: 5 | BH+HB: 109 | FLN/HLY: 16 | TXV: 32 | Stealth Rating: 6 | [CONCENTRATION: 4/5]

night opened her interface, and scowled when bistro was right about the rest of the other information she’d received. only recently did she offer a correction to the dragon’s lair, but night closed it in haste. the two walked inside.

the dragon cocked its head to the side, wings, however lain across its body, fluttered slightly as though in interest. it was sat upon a nest made of small, comfortable leaves, its two front paws overlapped with each other politely. “you don’t look very familiar. are you from the lands nearby at all?”

“does it matter much if we’re not?”

the dragon shook its head. “i suppose not so much. but what brings you about my territory?”

“i thought it was the griffins’?”

it seemed to deny that statement with a flick of its tail. “well,” it said, “if they’re gone, then i suppose it is now mine, isn’t that right?”

in truth, they didn’t have to go too far to find out where night had intended to go. day had gotten the shivers once they’d gotten close, but it wasn’t as though night knew what that had meant. the sleeve of her tracksuit had been tugged upon, at best, and night let day take a hold of it as they wandered closer towards their destination. partway down the mountain, there was another cavern, and in it was a dragon clad in red scales.

“oh, hello,” the dragon said, its eyes locked on their silhouettes as the duo obscured the daylight outside. the cave within was flooded with dim light, only lit up by moss that seemed to glow in the dark. yet, it was enough to tell that the dragon’s blue eyes were piercing, almost hypnotic, as though enticing its prey to enter subconsciously. “and who might you be?”

“uh…”

it wasn’t as though they could leave, so they didn’t.

in the end, what happened felt more like the two of them bullying a giant othered bird. while this avenger wasn’t interested in dropping some rare pearl, it was instead made into cooking ingredients by cardinal.

“what,” night muttered, examining the loot she’d gotten. “i can’t even make anything out of this based on my profession. cooks must have it so easy…”

“but we could have ourselves a nice dinner,” day offered. she’d gestured around the enclave, to which night shook her head at. she’d sighed.

“day, will the field boss respawn and hunt us down by nightfall?”

“i think it’ll be asleep by then,” day admitted, “but i don’t think i’m supposed to be giving out information like this without your broker having already figured it out.”

“oh.” night turned to look at her. “so it was accurate, then.”

“no,” day lied. and night had to send a message to bistro with a half-hearted apology just to find out that day had lied.

they both said nothing, because what stopped either of them from speaking was another buffet of griffin wings, and a screech that sounded as though it was in pure agony. night snapped to the intruder. it was definitely aggressive, which warranted their attention.

“oh, come on.” with a flash, she drew her sword. “day, please tell me this thing’s not on a respawn timer either.”

“i don’t think it is,” day replied, offering her spear in turn. “but it’s definitely on a spawn condition — because it knows you killed its mate.”

“since when do field bosses have mates?!”

day shot night a look of annoyance. the player growled back from looking over her shoulder, watching the griffin pace up to their hideaway’s entrance. the gap to enter was large enough that it could’ve stuck its head in, but its wingspan untucked made it a hindrance to squeeze through.

“okay,” night added, readying herself for battle, “now this is cheating, too.”

they continued down the mountain. came by a small spring, with a miniscule cascade. night had her eyes trained on it the whole time their path had taken them round the landmark.

there was a small enclave near the entrance of this area. “well,” night decided, “if we’re going to have to camp on the seventh, maybe we should pick this spot. come back here later once we decide we’re done for the day.”

“that sounds like a great idea!” day was smiling, starting to take her first few steps around. “it’s a lovely place to relax come the evening, i think!”

“during nightfall too, i bet.”

“sorry?” day repeated, standing in the middle of the enclave, eyes believably innocent. “you were going to fall?”

night simply smirked, following her into the shade. “no. i was saying—”

“no,” day repeated, now turning so that her front was facing night. the player stopped on instinct, when her dopple’s index was pointed her way. “i was saying—”

“that’s another victory for me!”

“okay?” night pretended to shake the loss off her shoulders. “you can see in the dark. you can see in any sort of lighting. meanwhile, i’m hindered.”

“all i’m hearing is a sore loser’s excuses.”

day wasn’t wrong. night rolled her eyes. “well since your eyes are so sharp, you can see this, right?” then the player stuck her tongue out.

night caught a glimpse of day doing the same on their way towards the exit, when the light was brightest on the other end of the tunnel. she looked away, and tried her best not to think about it too hard, however. the last thing she needed to side track what time was left for questing was through having impure thoughts about her traveling companion, and how she could’ve made that tongue stuck out a little more. so they walked onwards, in silence.

“night,” day interjected suddenly. “you’re so childish.”

“day,” night replied, “shut the fuck up.”

this was a poor idea, night believed. but she followed day’s instructions anyway, because what else could she have found herself doing?

day was right, however. the image of the enemies they were supposed to encounter were made clear once a vision-lite sank in, cardinal’s shaders giving way to a slightly more visible cave interior the moment she stepped past its threshold. the golemites seemed to have awoken, either by player presence alone, or by the heavy thrashing she’d given the griffin feed from earlier. they were tough, especially in the enclosed space — it was enough to cause night to spend half of the fight dancing around an especially agitated golem after having its partner put down, just so that the ones day had spawned in weren’t going to trouble them during their fight.

her construct finished her quarry off before night had ended her fight. night thought it unfair.

NIGHT | HP: 1258/1320 | EN: 148/148 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | BH+HB: 131 | FLN/HLY: 16 | LD: 8+1 | PROSP: 3 | DOTE: 3/3

night waved her off, trying to hide a smile. if anything, seeing her other sparkling with excitement had almost made the trip worthwhile. almost. she bet she could’ve gotten it through other means, but if what she’d meant to investigate wasn’t all that fair to begin with…

something shifted, however, as they began their descent. as though the earth itself was provoked. a rumble from the mountain. night looked to day, head tilted. “what, exactly, was that?”

day simply shrugged. they got close to the tunnel that the path was to wind them through, and only then did night receive a tap on her shoulder. two glances and she noted the foes that day pointed out to her in the dark.

“in there?”

“yes, there. do you not see the glowing eyes?”

night frowned. she didn’t have the appropriate searching mod at the moment. “no. in the dark?”

she felt day’s nod on her shoulder, with how close the two were standing.

“go in the dark.”

NIGHT | HP: 1214/1320 | EN: 72/148 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | BH+HB: 131 | FLN/HLY: 16 | LD: 8+1 | PROSP: 3 | DOTE: 3/3

it was almost insanity, by this point. night waved her blade away just to roughen her hair out of irritation. day merely looked confused.

“no luck?”

“not in the slightest…”

“what…?” now her mood shifted to one of annoyance, all the same. “where in the world were you supposed to end up at…? are you even sure your info’s not faulty, at this point?”

“i trust my brokers,” night iterated.

“a little too much,” day said.

“yes, a little,” night found herself saying, punching in her complaint. she wasn’t getting a response fast enough, and so decided to wave away her messages, trudging down a nearby slope meant for players who had intended to ascend the mountain on foot. “whatever. this place is a wash. maybe we’ll find it wandering around a little more. we might have to camp here…”

“oh?” almost immediately what dread the entity had was cleared at the idea of free time spent together, away from their home… and prying eyes. “well, it’s a good thing you left your setup with me, isn’t it, night?”

day shook her head. “if you think it’ll help, then sure, by all means.”

“it’s not noble,” night said, hand clenched around her sword. “but if someone’s got to do it…”

the resonance from her oathkeeper were quiet when she felled them. it only took her two swings: either a show of her own force, or a testament to how far gone the griffin snacks had been. night shook her head, closing her eyes as she turned away from the nest, muttering an almost audible, “sorry,” had day chosen to pay attention to her.

instead, the construct was at the edge of the peak, looking out towards the rest of the world. night shuffled over to join her. her companion was right — from this high above, she could easily have spotted where she was supposed to be at. but a quick look at her map…

no, she still couldn’t decipher where it belonged.

the pair had heard a sad cry from within, and were immediately set upon by a rabble of lizardmen. each of them were of a different hue from the rest, and they’d been hurt in one way or another — scars upon their back, or a limb torn and healed over. one of them was even clambering their way out of the cavern’s nest, dragging themselves and their one leg across the bone-littered rocky floor.

“ah, man,” night muttered under her breath. they didn’t seem especially hostile, but it hurt to look at the poor creatures trying to worm their way out. day had her eyes narrowed, almost wincing, when night turned to look to her. “should… uh… should we be helping them out of their misery?”

“frankly,” day replied, almost cold, “i’m ready to leave.”

“you can’t be serious.”

“i have nothing to do with creatures such as these,” she chimed in, arms folded. “they’re likely to be eaten by a grue on their way out or something.” 

“by a… by a what?”

so much for a good idea. day, meanwhile, had landed absolutely fine. she towered over her player, offering a hand to her. “see? look — we’re on the peak of the floor! in record time! you should tell your broker that. i’m sure you’ll get an award for it or something.”

“yeah,” night said dryly, taking day by her hand. “that i cheated to get up here.”

“you mean you found alternative measures.”

“yuki climbed a mountain,” she shot back, “on her own. without alternative measures.”

day helped her up. the griffin had landed upon an alcove at the peak, and made its home upon a large nest within a cave, which they were stood at the entrance of. the light from the sun upon the eye shone through to its interior, a part of the ceiling exposed, and from their altitude, it was hard to breathe.

the cave wasn’t empty, however. in fact, that was the greatest issue between them for the moment.

with a swing onto their mount then, day threw the egg up into the air —

“catch!”

— precisely at the angle where it would land onto night’s lap.

instantly, and with a screen, the boss’ health bar showed —

“oh.”

— and the griffin promptly took to the skies.

night yelped. day clung onto her player for her dear life, exhilarated. the griffin, which lacked a proper saddle or reins, started to traverse the path it was meant to take back to its lair — while trying to shake the player and her follower off. the ride was bumpy, and night thought she was going to fall —

“day! what the hell did you do?!”

“expedite your traveling time!”

“this does NOT look like we’re traveling normally?!”

indeed, for not holding onto that golden egg item, it rolled off of night’s lap in a jiffy. but they were still locked in combat — no fault of the player’s own initiative. they stayed on until the field boss had landed, but by then, night had already her own sword equipped. on the back of the griffin, she cut it down in two quick slashes, before dropping to the ground on its disintegration, back upon the rock. 

so she folded her arms, doing her best not to sulk, but also trying to remain unimpressed amongst all other possible presentations. “hmph. well, i’ll give you that. at least you came up with a decent idea this time around, with respect to my personal wishes.”

“well,” day lied, “what else am i here for?”

beyond the snarling of the beast day was playing around with, there sat an uncomfortable silence between them.

“se…”

“sex?”
“sex— okay, don’t even start with that.”

with a hand to the griffin’s forehead, day held it still for a moment, allowing night to climb upon its back.

“you know how to ride it, right?”

night didn’t. but she nodded, anyway. she figured it was as simple as riding a horse, like she once did with star on that trip around the twenty-seventh. day grinned back, almost innocently.

“okay, good.” and night saddled on proper. 

day started to spin the egg on her index finger, like a basketball trick. a hand on her hip, she gave night the most relaxed smile possible. “so we’ll use this guy. all you have to do is climb on board, holding this egg, and you’ll be set. you won’t have to tell me where we’re going, and you get to see where you’re going when you’re looking at the floor from above.”

she turned, her back towards night. “well? that’s really clever of me, isn’t it? i’m not hearing you~!”

night had to admit — this sounded like the sketchiest plan ever. she wasn’t even sure what the egg day had in her hands was about; rightfully so, because night had never even seen such an item before. and yet, with the way the boss was reacting to it, almost chasing it with the snap of its beak — entranced even — she was almost certain that day had the right of it this time.

day tossed her a look, a mischievous grin. the egg in her hand must’ve been larger than the griffin’s head, and yet it seemed to approach the gemini with ferocity. with anger. with caution.

“so, here’s what i figured,” day started, tossing the egg around almost recklessly, but always catching it with a juggler’s finesse. both night and beast were wincing with each risky act day performed, even though night was the one who knew better — day would always catch it in the end. “if we keep going around in circles like this on the ground, we’d never get anywhere. right?”

“day—”

her double held the egg firm, all of a sudden.

“and you won’t tell me where we’re going.”

is that what the issue was? night hesitated, running out of options with the field boss in the area. “look, you’ll see it for yourself when we get there—”

“yes, yes. ‘when we get there’ being the keywords, right?”

_{using a dungeon map. (12/13) | [>>]}

day rolled her eyes. as night set her steps forward, day remained behind. it was the sight of something flying overhead, casting its shadow downwards that caught both adventurers off-guard.

it was then that day had an idea.

night wouldn’t have noticed it at the time — only when the gemini’s machinations were complete that she did notice the chaos brewing behind her back. with a whistle, her attention was called, and the player turned to notice day’s large golden egg.

“hey, what the–”

in an instant, the shadow that had once passed them by made its round back towards the duo. and it landed with a heavy thud, four limbs set on the ground, its wings beating back the player with a gust — and night staggered, almost toppling over.

she wasn’t tossed in combat just yet, but instantly, she was aware of who – or what – that creature that had just landed was.

“i’d stop asking if you’d just told me where we’re going…”

the player groaned. what kind of place would she give a name to about a dragon’s nest? shouldn’t the dragon technically be naming its home itself? it was between that, and the slight change in day: a sudden anxiety that had gripped her in needing to know. where had that impervious attitude gone?

plus, didn’t day trust her to guide their way?

they’d stopped in the middle of a plateau, acting as crossroads, its paths surrounded by a cluster of steep slopes. there were no signs to indicate directions (a weird quirk, night once thought, in relation to some of the floors before it). and the player figured they would continue going north (er, forward?) to get to where her destination would be.

so night pointed down the path ahead, hasty. “it’s this way.”

“that’ll just take us around again.”

she growled. “your griping is taking us around again.”

night: thanks

"i said officiating, not official."

night had been seated beside yuki the entire reception since the start of the wedding. the two of them appeared to be dressed differently than expected -- and all of it was night's fault, for not completely getting the details as concrete as they should've been. there was the heat at the beach, sure, so most had dressed down for the occasion... but it was heat that night was entirely used to, either via survival or her natural inclinations, and hence she'd showed up in a full tuxedo, formal as ever.

poor yuki, she would've thought. but her friend didn't seem to mind, likely from experience of wearing thick armor time and time again. night watched her plus-one jump at the chance to greet the groom, unsure of what to say in addition to her shield's words.

on their behalf, she'd made the lucky couple a set of music boxes, with basuke's help. vanity, each of them, but she hoped they made for decent enough gifts. "she's right," night began, a hand to yuki's back. the wedding present was gestured to for collection, albeit subtly. "i'll vouch for her to look after your well-being. crow's just as lucky to be her other half. here's hoping for a happy, lasting marriage, both of you."

| NIGHT  | Lv. 147 >> P. 114, Lv. 33  | Status: //  Notes:  //

Spoiler NIGHT | HP: 1100/1100 | EN: 148/148 | DMG: 21 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 44 | LD: 5 | BH+HB: 109 | FLN/HLY: 16 | Stealth Rating: 6 equipped oathkeeper. FLN II, HLY II regards. EVA II, HB II signet. ACC III, EVA battle-ready inventory Teleport Crystal (3) | TELEPORT imugi's inspiration. (5) | MASS HP RECOVERY skills Spoiler mod count: 5/7 STRAIGHT SWORD | RANK 5/5 focus, stamina, precision shift: aoe CLOTH ARMOR | RANK 5/5 athletics, nimble COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | RANK 3/3 SEARCHING | RANK 3+1/5 BATTLE HEALING | RANK 5/5 emergency recovery ENERGIST QUICK CHANGE CHARGE FIGHTING SPIRIT HOWL focused howl SCOUTING FAMILIAR EXTENDED MOD LIMIT extra SURVIVAL CONCENTRATION HIDING untraceable, vanish, surprise attack-t buffs Spoiler statue BIALAS | +TAUNT MOTHRA | +1 EN Recovery TANOS | +25 MIT MORETSUNA | +50 HP OROCHI | +1 LD KUMATETSU | +1 DMG consumables - - - - - - paragon Lv. 5 | Gain additional col equivalent to 15% of EXP earned in that thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to looting. sword arts Spoiler en cost matches multiplier unless stated otherwise. shift underlined. ST | x12 -> x15 | x20 AOE | x15 -> x18 TECH-A | x12 | STUN | 13EN TECH-B | x12 | DELAY TECH-D | x12 | SHATTER TECH-F | x8 | AOE STUN  TECH-G | x12 | BURN misc. Spoiler housing Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. foraging | r2 | xp: 69/150 Greenhouse | +2 G.EXP, +1 CD&LD to gathering attempts. Familiar: Profession | +2 G.EXP Demeter's Cornucopia | +1 CD to gathering attempts.