NIGHT

[31/07/23] | #e

night: red hair? night: start the quest without u? night was down. she just wasn't so sure nari was. the only thing puzzling was the declaration of 'black leather' – because the player was sure lilith was endowed in cloth. shrugging, she took off towards the city gates instead of waiting for a response, interface out in front of her. it was only when she got close did she send another reply. night: oh wait red hair? why? not that she had a say in any of this – but it kind of reminded her of some idol game that she'd seen while they were not trapped in

'neither of them were hurting for loot.' so what, pray tell, was it that drew them to the random shiny sword that was found lying on the floor in the middle of a depreciating room? the oddness of being able to uncover anything tangible, much less something that looked holy? one peek, and the moment she caught glimpse of the sword, night wanted to approach it. if it was a trap, too bad, because the player hadn't even considered entertaining the thought. the blade simply looked out of place, its edges glowing, the air around it unstable, causing it to look undefined. almost like it was

thread closing. NIGHT + 10269xp | (1141 * 0.6 * 15) + 1,540 | (xp * 0.15) + Cerberus Etching + oathkeeper. Dazia + 6923xp | (1141 * 0.6 * 5) + 3500 + 7700col | 7500 + 200 + Cerberus Etching Vigilon + 7607 | (1141 * 0.6 * 6) + 3500 + 7700col | 7500 + 200 + Cerberus Etching

and how did she feel, now that cerberus was brought to its knees...?! ... nothing. not much, really. but this lack of emotion for its demise was probably for the better. if night had to hazard a guess, most of her feelings were stored in the sword that shook with fervor once the beast was slain. the player remained quiet as she found the etching in her inventory. when she looked back up to assess the party, she swore she noticed an unusual item, but promptly thought nothing of it. because the boss fight was the more important consideration at hand. so long as dazi

r10 artisan | x14 daily crafting attempts | cd tool the bonded word. | [#213186, 213189, 213197] | TIER 4 TRINKET | ACC III, REC I [desc.]: a small piece of rolled parchment, with elaborate yet hardly legible script, suggesting something about a promise made and kept. costs: x3 shards | paid. notes: yes they're the same trinket. no don't ask me questions, because i don't have answers. dioscuri. | [#210452-2, 210452-3, 210452-4, 210452-5, 210452-6] | TIER 1 JEWELRY | ACC III [desc.]: a pair of earcuffs fashioned from precious stone. seafoam. | [#208046-1, 208046-2, 2

then surely some hound would need to get a better clue, because there was only one way this fight would turn out. from where she'd landed, night flipped the flat of her blade upwards. it was difficult to tell from a third person's perspective – the sword was entirely white, after all, with minute details on its silhouette to tell where its different parts were. but in a conversation between a sword and its handler, especially after some practiced use, night knew of every inch, every word of her weapon's speech. so with a running start, she cast its motive towards the fire.

well, she wasn't planning on dropping the ball so soon. she noted vigilon's stumble as the hellhound decided to play, and one of its head wincing, yelping the moment dazia lunged out of the shadows. night paid attention to the amount of damage dealt to their target – enough to be eliminated within one strike from her blade, assuming she wasn't going to miss again. so she went for it, curtailing the nips of cerberus from a potential toy or health snack. the third head had proved itself to be the most aggressive of the bunch either way, so shutting it down early would be best. the beas

when star had found her, night was already rooting through several books, realizing that most of them were either blank or lacking in organizational order. she'd made a mess around her, enough to have had drawn attention were there patrolling librarians nearby – but if no one had come forth to stop her, then perhaps her guess to find one was simply correct; a waste of her time. the woman was surprised to see someone else in the grand library, however, especially if it was a player she'd recognized. arms stuck in between shelves, night pulled herself away from the gap, releasing the b

maybe cardinal's interface allowed her to type with an unprecedented wpm; night wouldn't know. what she did recognize, however, is her capability to keep up with the conversation, despite her tendency not to. (this meeting almost felt like a fight in itself.) there were two questions she would answer, interrupting her note taking session. one was from @Lessa, about the words of power. "they were given to us upon completion," she clarified, making sure to look up from her logger. "i say us – i was working alongside koga to clear those quests. the settlements kept them secret

<<Cull of the Dead>> NIGHT: ok NIGHT: where at floor 14 was a unique floor to night. it wasn't bad. it was desolate, and ruinous, and an eyesore in a good way, but it wasn't... fantastic. not to think about the machine having done a poor job of the floor. far from it. but in lieu of the gothic imagery, night couldn't exactly see herself fitting in well with the setting. especially with the idea of the undead and its machinations. she put on her tailored garb still, of course, because at least it made her blend in with the scenery of the floor, and it

admittedly, night too was an artist, but not exactly for landscapes. when she saw faux's drawings, she wasn't exactly certain of they were good, but they were different, and night was open to different. if anything, she had respect for the new-adventurer's gall to be able to record down his environment in such detail, though she did question his title usage the moment faux said 'broker in the making'. what? and here night thought she'd struck gold. no, that wasn't the way to look at things. she considered his capability in gathering information through the sketches, then th

she totally needed to make up for her mistake. running headfirst into the next fight was her way to do it, and stealing cerberus' attention was her way of demonstrating her dedication to the slaughter. night dove in with the first attack, drawing the attention of all three heads – one strike was enough to bring a target down to the red, sending the other two on alert with their bites aflame. finally, oathkeeper was responding – and so too was her health reacting to the blazes, but the player would face worse tomorrow. getting through this fight would be simple, easy practice. health

"Yes, Faux. Like a farse... or an adversary." that made a little more sense. but even the danger implied by the man didn't seem to shake her, and not for lack of trying. there was something in the security of noticing that green crystal above this individual's head that made her snort, accepting his words at face value. these were tier one shoes, for an unfamiliar face, who was a player. once the pieces fell into place, she knew very well what kind of person she was dealing with – which meant she hadn't had to worry about cardinal's underhanded tricks once more. "sure," nig

where the player base's information fell short, perhaps something within the game itself would hold its secrets. night was back, but only because she'd had the raid's puzzles at the forefront of her mind. and this time, in ronbaru, she was here for nothing more than its library... and maybe a short visit at a local restaurant, if only to mull over things, a compulsive urge to tear at mental scabs. her entry into the building itself was proper, and quiet. it had to be, of course – she barely remembered to respect the books after her time away from such areas, and only held b

right. as soon as she heard her guard's voice, night immediately remembered how much of her guard she couldn't let down just yet. her shoulders stiffened, and though she'd sunk into her seat, she immediately righted herself to pull open her interface, beginning to type. and fast. not thinking was the best thing for night to do, following instinct instead – though her expression changed several times as she realized bistro's different queries and call outs. no single-element teams. missing tanks. supply might be an issue, but it mightn't, either, depending on who was able to show up.

oh bet. she should've been taking notes, like the fact that dazia's story had been about the thirteenth floor – night figured it was related to one of the older fights around the twenties. and so too was she considering the nuggets of information that didn't seem too relevant, at first; night remembered how absurd it was to hear the name hestia from hidden's own mouth a long time ago, and to hear that story only added salt to the fire. being haunted by a zombie was way less cool than being haunted by a ghost, night thought. and then night had to contemplate the absurdity of the story

(and... bingo.) night hadn't been expecting anybody to have approached her. cue her sluggishness for a reply faux did, the player turning her head slow to the stranger (npc?) that had stepped up to her, only to glance up at the cursor above him, just to make sure it wasn't some strange prank by her counterpart. then she took a second look, and the expression on her face morphed from reticent to shock. "i – sorry? you want to take up the offer." night blinked twice, before holding up the paper in her hand, those fake flyers. "these. i hadn't even gotten to floor te

<<guardian of fire.>> bistro did not like hearing how adjudicator got traded away so soon. it wasn't so much that adjudicator was simply that precious, night believed. although, to the discerning eye, any weapon with a 'legacy' behind it should be worth more than the usual enhancements it came equipped with. in any case, it was still night's own equipment to do as she wished – and from that, she realized how many other pieces she still had in her inventory that wasn't benefiting her, due to the clutter. so night's terrible logic was to junk those off instead to so

even in her tracksuit, in front of her old friends, the player just felt small. how did baldur do this, again? night couldn't remember – it had been too long. still, she shuffled up to the front, taking one of bistro's passed cards and flipping it around – on its back was a polished diagram she'd sketched during her examination of the room before the floor boss. because the door wasn't open just yet. "right. thank you for your attendance, everyone." the player had to adjust her volume after speaking, realizing how soft her voice had sounded. "a few days ago, the labyrinth g

one by one, individuals would trickle in. oscar, then freyd and star and alkor. somehow ariel afterwards. familiar faces – though mostly veterans. despite the flyer discussing it's focus on new players, more old ones seemed to have popped up instead. to freyd and alkor, she gave a curt nod, a brief acknowledgement of his presence amongst others. and for @Oscar and @Morningstar, she tilted her head. "is there something you two want to tell me, coming here together from the fourth?" (no, she wasn't so much as interested in those matters herself.) her second greeting

night hadn't expected an outburst. in hindsight, maybe she should've. still, she listened – in shock, before with intent, especially at the realization that dazia had been there herself before. the fallen angel wasn't a fight she was familiar with – the furthest back she could recall was tales of the twenty third from hirru – so she made a note of it mentally while hearing what she had to say. very quickly, everything she'd experienced from the other veterans was beginning to make sense. "So why should I risk my life tangling with the most dangerous bosses in the

"So let me just make sure I've gotten this straight..." and night listened and nodded, pulling up a friend request for vigilon with a few slight hand movements; her personal mastery at the interface. "if things go well, you'll see me at an important event real soon. i can hand it to you then. otherwise, just contact me directly. i mean to uphold my end of the deal, after all – " "I want it." "'scuse me?'" it wasn't so much as though it was an objection. night was simply taken aback. from the banter between the two relatives, she was l

if lessa's vice was a drink, night's own was her thoughts, and the constant feeling of sinking, drowning, dreaming. so they didn't match, not really. but it was still lovely to hear, she thought, and had wanted to say. "we haven't," night finally mentioned, a little late to the moment. aincrad didn't uphold the concept of lag, wasn't meant to, hence it benefitted when its players' spaciness accounted in its stead. she did try to stay within the present, doing her best to parry. but between the amount of words she had to say, she was starting to get lost in their arrangement. there wa

"I'm Vigilon. I'd say my equipment's decent enough to get the job done for most enemies, though I would agree that an upgraded Cerberus wouldn't be 'most enemies'." oh, alright. it was better safe than sorry in aincrad, anyhow, and seeing how his weapon appeared to be somewhat of an unusual make proved it to night that he was likely better than he looked. fair enough. "so what exactly does it need?" and in the most casual sense, she was to pull up some additional consumables. and they were there, summoned on a platter, with the player knowing best how to present a number of c