NIGHT

"what?"

the confusion only grew between them. and night fought to bite her tongue, even in between the counter-attacks as she tried to pass her active role in combat to nari. "what are you even talking about? i thought the girls you were speaking of were trying to become vampires, not actually believing they were them! of course i don't believe vampires exist?!"

rage put to step. there were much better ways of channeling her effort than to get a story straight in the heat of the moment -- so night closed into lilith when she repositioned in a leap, and the extra edge that seeped out of her oath to bite its foe seemed more of a chuckle. she wondered when its form would give way to her blade, but once lilith wound up another attack, seemingly indifferent to their dance's stutter, night flittered away again.

"i am...really...disliking this thing...i don't know how you lot run around all the time like this...isn't this tiring?"

the fighter's gaze only bounced between her mark and her friend.

"uh, i don't know," was her reply, before a pause. "netball?"

"potions?"

that sounded familiar. although she wasn't entire sure if they were meant to craft the potions. night felt she was onto something when the air around them began to bluster through the forest, but hesitated bringing her hunch up. there was something, between the forest itself and her mention of the memory, that made her realize she was about to sound like an aincrad boomer.

so she finished her drink. crushed it and threw the ashes to a side. at the very least, if her guess was correct, she'd look more like a maniac than an ancient individual -- that she could live with.

in fact, she event went so far as to contemplate holding her hand out to star.

"--''some things i cannot change...''"

as the tornado raced towards them, night closed her eyes, and completed her quote with a simple leitmotif from a song unforgotten. then, she held her breath as the ground beneath her vanished, feeling the wind claw at her form, threatening to tear her form into shreds.

night: wow sounds lame

if it helped, night had been doing her best to remain enroute to star's position. the way the forest went, getting lost in it was an easy trap to fall into, and if she'd let it, the forest might've consumed her existence for the next three months or longer.

so she stuck to her better judgement and avoided white rabbits she wanted to chase.

night: whats the objective now

it was when she got close enough to spot star's silhouette (and incidentally then, the player marker above his head) that she started to feel the wind pick up. sure, it had been chilly on the upper echelons earlier, and past the lake of reflection, the waves had been cool. but the breeze felt like the whisper of an ominous premonition.

night simply chalked it up to the quest in action.

she hollered to star, and sent him a party invite to busy him as she approached. then, a different distraction, with the spawn of his order offered to him with a few gestures in the air. "so i was thinking on the way here," she started, once star had taken the drink, "that if this lead is new, it might have some pre-requisites before the questline continues. like, beating up a set amount of monsters or something?" night shrugged, sipping on her cup, complacent.

"Engagement distance. I mean you know yours in the same way, pretty much, even if you're not thinking about."

"yeah," night replied, unwavering, "but i wouldn't say i'm familiar with it down to the centimeter."

they continued walking and talking. koga mentioned how much she'd changed since their first meet. night simply quirked a brow at that statement. "i'd still scream and run from them for the record," she continued, sights on the castle ahead, "but it's much easier and faster to kill them in one shot."

"sure, they're equally as creepy as i'd known them before. arguably even creepier since aincrad likes making them look even more monstrous as you go up the floors." night shuddered slightly, but didn't hesitate to speak. "but we got stronger too, and there's no more efficient swatter than the blade in your hand now."

"... and yes," she realized, "more efficient than the thorns i was using at the time." come to think of it, her build had changed a lot since she first started. night had intended to go full armor so she wouldn't fall. that didn't happen much -- especially given how much the game had altered the values for defensive equipment and abilities.

if she had to don heavy armor again, night wondered if she'd falter, now, from the weight of it alone.

in any case, they'd made it safe to their destination without incident. the player was expecting brick-laid walls or spiked metal fences, but she found nothing to defend the building from intruders; even the front door had been pulled open, chain taut and secured for visitors to pass through.

so she turned to koga, as they entered the grand building, "do you think they were expecting us? i'd be pissed if they did the james bond villain thing later."

night: ? book

she'd sent the intel to bistro, expecting an immediate reply with the broker's confidence behind the message. in the minute night hung around the bench, however, she got nothing back. it was only after star had sent her the approval for coffee that she got up and started walking back to the streets.

night: how do u take it

what little col it had cost her was nothing to consider between friends.

she bounded over to the teleporter directly after, with three orders saved to her inventory. hadn't thought to change out of her fit after arriving on the twenty-second; somehow, she felt as though switching to her work gear might've drawn a little more attention -- attention she wasn't looking forward to have. night messaged star once more with a snap of her frappe still in hand.

night: co-ords?

once she'd received his location, she'd set off again in earnest. but while she was at the teleporter, she'd enjoy the artificially pleasant day in silence.

night: sure
night: which is it?

she'd been on the twenty-eighth, on a bench facing a stream running through town, hiding away from people in plain sight. the floor worked to her advantage, when night wanted to be alone in theory, but not so much in practice. sure, it took some amount of dress up; the switch from sportswear to fall fashion was one she didn't appreciate, but it wasn't so overwhelming that she'd hated it, either.

admittedly, it was also one of the only places in aincrad that would serve quality frappucchinos.

night didn't think she'd been to the forest of memories before. not that she needed it. remembering anything, the player believed, was a special kind of hell already fresh in her mind. even living in the present was difficult from her back and forth into the past.

well, if it meant she'd cut through them with her sword on the way there, she'd been subjected to worse before.

night: also
night: need coffee?

| NIGHT  | Lv. 144 >> P. 112, Lv. 32  | Status: //  Notes:  //

Spoiler NIGHT | HP: 1080/1080 | EN: 146/146 | DMG: 21 | ACC:  | EVA: 4 | MIT: 44 | LD: 9 | BH+HB: 108 | FLN/HLY: 16 | Stealth Rating: 6 | DOTE: 3/3 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 Crème Brûlée (1) | filled | ACC III tiger's balm. (1) | DOTE III  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.

the confusion only passed over to night, as the woman stalled in her assault for a moment to set her bearings straight -- and this included nari's story.

"wait, so did they actually go out and find vampires or did they believe they were vampires?" she paused to think, ready to move once her companion bounced back in a retreat. "or did they 'end up getting bitten on their adventures' and now they're 'vampires' or whatever?"

with the story falling apart, night dove in to close the gap nari left behind. despite the grotesque image of the monster, she could still make out where the hint of a hand or limb was with the glint of an outline against the candlelight whilst she was running past it. two cuts in a cross, however shallow, were buried into the hind quarters of the beast; night ducked before what was left of its bat wings could sweep her off her feet.

she shouted over her shoulder once she'd stopped. "hey! you've got better use of your murder skills over here!"

night batted her eyelids, guessing at the context in general disbelief despite knowing otherwise. she acknowledged the reality that nari had lived through, but grasped at straws at the retelling — "wouldn't the vampire be better identified as carmilla, rather than lilith — or did you mean the girls who were going out at night?"

"well, it's not like it's her fault," she joked afterwards, watching their mark lunge towards nari in a retaliation attempt (and fail to connect its bite to its prey). two swings of her arm and she readied her blade. "the bible said adam and eve. it's not like i remembered whatever happened to lilith. maybe, in a weird twist of fate or whatever, she really did get kidnapped by a vampire. 'like god intended.'"

her hands went up for a quotation gesture, before night darted off to land her own attack. one bright red gash later, and the player stumbled backwards, steady. something felt amiss on her interface; something new.

"hey nari." her voice was deadpanned. "is it just me or is she bleeding us out?"

"believed… that vampires were real…?"

confusion dotted her every word with that utterance, almost to the point where night had halted her efforts of even gunning for lilith, her head pivoting towards nari to shoot her a look of blank despair and disbelief. never mind the actual vampire in the room with them at the moment — if those friends had wanted to be accurate, they would be speaking of how real such a creature was in their virtual reality, but they likely wouldn't even have known this world was to exist one day. "you're joking, right?"

there had to be some humor in the situation, then, when night dropped her blade to the side, back to the monster, two steps towards her friend idly dodging one of the swipes from lilith — but also giving the creature air space to howl its displeasure. "how old were you when twilight released, again?"

night wasn't buying the 'untargeted cast' excuse. partially because it felt too coincidental for koga to have ended up at her back when he'd executed his art, and partially because she hadn't even seen him draw his sword partway through the fall.

"i have," night replied with an eye roll. the player often had training sessions alone with her arts practice in some secluded garden out on the first floor — not her fault she never wanted to look like a manic goon whilst waiting for someone in her party to show up. even if the boredom was killing her, there was always time for shuteye, or to look busy on her interface, even if she was just cleaning up her notes.

"C'mon, have a little faith. I've been using these Arts for, uh... Six? Seven years?"

"seven years," night repeated, as though confirming his count — but realistically, she was just as surprised.

"Christ, how long has it been?"

she kept the quiet, choosing not to think about the passage of time. koga could do the reminiscing for her, if he wanted.

"Anyways, at this point, if I didn't know the range of my moves down to a centimeter, I'd just tell you to end me."

"that's…"

she trailed off, only to consider how practical that knowledge was to remember. night had always considered the arts mastery an instinct, rather than an intended memory — if koga could measure the way his skills operated at all, she wasn't entirely sure what the point of it would've been.

"… well, not like i'd know," she decided to rebut, after a pause. "strange how you'd have that as a criteria to end yourself over, but to each his own, right?"

and they'd got to talking about the halloween event — one that night still remembered, if only just barely. there had been this effort, if she recalled, to end the zombies lurking about for one reason or another. night simply hummed at the thought. it put an age to jack's executioner, too, she realized, but wasn't keen on switching out her oath for show just yet.

then koga went, "Oh god," and laughed.

"what's so funny?"

"Do you remember our first Nature's Treasure? The giant fucking bugs?"

night blinked twice.

"yeah, i do," she replied, before shriveling at the thought of the insects, her face scrunched in disgust. had they been at the first, or second floor? "ew. no, i don't want to think about it; how'd it go again, genius? don't bigger ones still exist on some other floors? i heard there was an ant colony or whatever on the eleventh; i'm never going there. why'd you bring this up now?"

a history? night tilted her head. twilight was just a book. for nari to say it had 'a history' with her implied some sort of malicious outcome derived from the experience. and night had read some bad books — but none so far as to comment so poorly as 'having a history' with it. and to smear distaste for some common trope in media about it.

still, with the tip of her thumb, she pushed a lock behind her ear. "i haven't," she lied. perhaps she did once simply due to the hype, but skimmed it through enough that it wasn't enough to remain a core memory; merely so that she could tell her friends at the time that she did read it, and she didn't care enough to read the sequels. "but i have heard of it. last i remember it was gaining a resurgence in popularity before we got in here – is that what you're talking about?"

she'd talked over beelzebub, hadn't noticed the revival of the fallen until the creature's shadow had fallen over her vision, masquerading half her field of view in a darkened crimson from its already blood red aesthetics. when night came to realize she was back in combat, she simply huffed, turning about quickly with her blade at the ready.

"so did this happen in twilight too?"

so aincrad's calendar said it was a new year, and so much to those, right? still, the castle must've been in a celebratory mood when she stepped into the hall and found it to be slightly different, because there were gold banners strung along the surrounding pillars, forming crosses against the ceiling. the shadows, then, beneath her, seemed to trace out the light differently, too.

night blinked. she was still certain no one else was present, or would be present to retrieve anything from the statues of offerings. but the presence of something new in a relatively stale environment — that called into question a many number of things, including if aincrad was deciding to play mind tricks on the one who visited instead.

didn't the castle have anything else better to do than to decorate an under-visited area? night shrugged off the intimidation attempt, retrieved her goods and left.

2024/02
Memory of Battle (1) Doubles the bonus from Scents of the Wild totems for a single thread.

her attempts at a protest for payment would've been poor. 'i could get that col much easier than you,' or something akin to that, but night remembered how day had used that argument against her, and she let herself shut up. her eye roll, auxiliary, hadn't been meant for her friend, even if it seemed as though it might've been.

after receiving her food and taking a glance, she watched as koga bit into one. "of course they'd be hot," she snickered, picking up a piece with her own utensils. "they were freshly made. the dumplings aren't exactly going anywhere, are they?"

"… but that's the thing, though — 'taking up farming' — that's about all they do." night hummed after she bit a hole into the side of her own food, allowing the heat within to dissipate into the cold outdoor air. "it's all a grind for better gear and 'greater heights' by that point… whatever that means. i mean, if you'd leave it to me to guess though, i'd say it's all about the adventure, given the pace by which we've been clearing the floors. er… from their angle, it's new content, without the fear of being decimated in boss fights; new mechanics, but the game tells you about it before you get into it. it's not like an unknown contract or a guessing game with the floor bosses, probably."

they'd practically sat down at this point. night had placed the dumpling at an odd angle in her box to keep it steady and its interior exposed as they moved to the bench. she picked it up again as she considered koga's questions. "beats me," the player replied to his duration query. "like i would've remember when we'd left, either. but it was alright. i mean, i had to work through some things in there. things like…"

her pause came with heavy contention. she'd wanted to follow through, but wasn't exactly certain how best to do it – not quite yet, at least. so she hid it behind a huff to her dumpling, before she continued.

"i wouldn't exactly call it a 'cute date destination.'" night had nearly winced saying those words aloud, giving koga a remorseful smile. "it's not like it was a getaway for lovers or anything. it's a damp, dark cave. that's got to be about anything else but romantic."

with a sigh, the player scarfed down her food. it was a curious mix to her, given the unusualness of mutton as a choice for filling, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. the soup within helped hydrate the slightly dried meat, allowing it to go down easy. "you have to tell me about this kasumi though. don't think i remember the name — is it the first time you'd mentioned her around me?" night grinned, trying to push — "and how'd you two meet~? c'mon, dish!"

talking about fancy graphical effects. one moment it just seemed as though koga had pushed a practice dummy out the window, with how lifeless the man had seemed to be whilst falling. the next, he'd 'pssh, nothing personal kid' behind her with a scatter of cinders and ash. night had jumped at the initial sound of the sword draw, before turning herself on her heel to face her friend. of course, she did glance at the area he should've landed at before facing him, "did you just target me for that sword art…?"

night paused, beginning their walk. then, she folded her arms.

"what. what if you'd hit me on accident – wouldn't that have been, like, a day of having an orange cursor over your head? koga. we're trying to finish a quest here…"

but beyond that, night then gestured over to her friend's weapon, but only because it still looked familiar…? "that's where all your flair's from, isn't it?" she guessed, "haven't you had that sword for a while? i don't recall if i'd ever seen you without it. made your fall look sick though."

given their walking pace, the player wasn't sure how long it would take them to get to their destination. ideal, if the castle only seemed far but was much quicker to get to, in the way that games could play with euclidean geometry. night hummed as she set her eyes upon it.

well, they would get there in time eventually, at least.

"hey, maybe you should do that for the vampires later. i bet that'll confuse them. gives us an opening for a bait and switch or something, right?"

@Koga

her guess was right, then. hence her dive — night swooped in for the kill in that occasion, certain that lilith had nowhere else to go but towards the player herself. she hadn't thought to go straight out on a sword art off the bat, after seeing the vampire dip and weave through every slash they threw at her, but night counted the feints. after her second, she pushed her body on a pretend lunge, sneaking under lilith with a hop and a cut to her back. oathkeeper was livid, it seemed, even beyond the soft tinkle of its bells, the smear had been widened to accommodate her devil wings that night hadn't intended to nick.

they both dropped to the floor, and beyond lilith's silhouette, now night could see why.

"more," she repeated, searching her memory to follow up on nari's train of thought. her strike had gotten one down, with another barely a casualty. night spared her companion a look with a gesture towards their last target. "than usual? how much do you hate them on a usual basis to say that?"

night stepped over lilith's fallen form, then, unaware of what else was to come.

"well not that kind of cursed…"

night was fibbing. she totally did want to know if it had such a lucrative enhancement attached to it. but after seeing koga fail to retrieve it with the snap of his fingers, her interest quickly faltered. if she were to continue, it might've been lies on top of more lies.

so she let herself skip the topic if it was followed. took a look at koga as she paused in her scramble to the outside world through 'a convenient exit'. quest were made to be done as soon as possible, so...

was he hesitating?

"we won't die from this height if we use our arts right–"

"...Hey. Do a back flip."

oh, no. he was thinking of how best to make a show of her death if she did slip up somehow.

night but stared back at him for a couple of seconds, silent and empty. then she lowered herself to a squat on the sill, before looking up at the top of the window frame. her voice grated in filler, groan stuck in her throat.

"...it might be too low."

nevertheless, it was well worth a shot. and she found out quickly that it wasn't, as she tossed herself out the keep. the back of night's cloak slapped the window's edge as she exited, almost stealing her attention away from sticking the landing. and she did just talk about making sure they would be safe –

focus, focus.

sword out, tip down. a flash was all she needed to drive her through the air, straight down. the makeshift horizontal caught the player right before her feet would touch the ground, and night spun on the spot, reveling in that cut velocity, just to catch herself steady on the dirt.

safe.

"i think i did it...!"

taking a few steps back, night looked back up towards the window just to see if koga was watching – or following her lead (and to him, she would've cupped her hands around her mouth in a yell, "well? you can do it too!"). even if he were to have went out by the hold's main entrance ("laaame."), night would've waited by an ever convenient hole in the keep's wall, an eye on the road if her friend were to decide to have left her behind.

"Oh yeah? Labyrinth got cleared already?"

"yeah," night returned almost immediately. fruit inspection was big with veteran players these days, it seemed, as they were both in the midst of it as the woman pretended she wasn't playing blabbermouth. "i just went through it the other day with her. didn't seem like anyone else was up to gunning through the labyrinth, and figured we were in the best position to take a shot – albeit under orders."

though koga set his pick down, night decided to give hers a purchase before moving on: a number of berries and a few plucked pods that resembled legumes. she'd recognized the names of the items, and how their qualities fit into unconventional recipes accumulating around bistro's shop. if they weren't to serve as ingredients, they'd be good for gifts instead. "you're right," she decided, voice low. her hands glided over the misshaped outlines of the fruits on sale as she left the stall. "we barely ever had the opportunities for such to ourselves, huh?"

and she'd brushed over his reach for comfort extended her way; the song and dance of lone survivalists sticking together.

"i know, i know…"

(but the weight of it, night couldn't exactly wrap her head around it completely. not just yet.)

they were coming up to a stall that seemed to be selling steamed delicacies of some kind. maybe it was something koga did (a hand wave?) or a gesture from a passerby that directed her to turn towards the menu. dumplings? perhaps — that was the only visible word that caught her eye at a glance. and the food carried a nostalgic, savory scent, so she ushered her friend to stop, too.

"You though? You took a break? Really?"

"–of course i took a break…!"

she'd flinched at his objection. she hadn't expected herself to.

"Who are you and what have you done with NIGHT?"

"that's so rude," night breathed. "i'm right here…"

was it really so difficult to believe herself opening up to someone else? to be honest, ren was hesitant about it too, in the brief moment she'd spoken to the street chef for an order of a sampling box. the sight of the stand had been enough to move the player to order some to try — almost like the cafeteria kitchens back home. if she'd said it out loud, would koga understand where she was coming from?

there were a lot of things keeping her from staying still, grounded. so of course, she…

"… it's a place somewhere underground," night started, shoulders lowering. a part of her chose to focus on the explanation as a method for calming down — she could spill her guts over fried noodles or something later. they had time. her hands were tapping over the transaction window for payment, adding koga's bill to her own if he had decided to get something too. "on the twenty first floor. like a network of sprawling tunnels without a beginning nor end. 'a nature's treasure secret'. nobody really knows where it came from, but it's sort of like… dungeon runs on a roguelike treadmill."

"do you remember hades? … darkest dungeon?"

she was surprised she could even remember the names of the games she'd played. those experiences seemed so long ago–

"kind of like those. it has it's own ecosystem within the player base, it seems." night shrugged, taking her eyes off the cook and placing her sights onto koga. "everything in there's on separate little islands. people go around by boats, though i've heard some regions are on ground rather than land. they get lost in there, too — since everything's randomized in there, especially the way forward, there's no telling when someone gets out after they've gotten in."

"people… usually go in there on purpose."

and then night went quiet. she wasn't sure if she was talking about herself, or of her original search target. her gaze went back to the food as it was packaged by its vendor, who was now humming a song unfamiliar, yet soothing.

"…'how else are the veterans going to keep themselves entertained if they're not interested in fighting on the front lines'? –or something like that, when it was first explained to me."

"…odd, right? but it did answer the question of where other stronger players might be after their whole grinding montage. we've been here for long, and others like us are getting better at the game as much as we have, but we rarely get the chance to see them about, and other players at the front keep dipping out once in a while…"

well it wasn't as though there were actual surveys conducted about the population down in the basements of one of their realms, anyway. so night shook the thought of exposition out of her head, taking the paper box of food in her hands and offering one pair of the chopsticks given to her to koga. "if you want to try," she clarified, popping open the lid and examining the goods. each only differed in shape, and likely marked the difference in filling contained in them. "it's probably meat in there. i'll have to take some back to day if they taste good. she'll probably get huffy hearing about it otherwise."

On 12/7/2023 at 11:19 AM, Freyd said:

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Light Armor (R5)
Mod(s)/Addon(s)/Shift(s) Being Dropped: Meticulous mod, Resolve addon, Ferocity addon
SP Incurred Towards Limit: 34 (excludes Meticulous and Resolve)
SP Refunded: 44
Cost: 44,000 col

(Fee sent to Banker)

approved.

On 11/22/2023 at 9:37 AM, Morningstar said:

11.21.2023

 

ITEM IDENTIFICATION

  Reveal hidden contents

  Reveal hidden contents

• Shop Post: Link
• Transaction Date: 11/21/2023
• Cost of Transaction: 80 col
• Crafter's Profession: Appraiser
• Crafter's Rank: 4
• Item Name: Candy Apple
• Item Tier: 1
• Item Type: Snack
• Item Rarity: Uncommon
• Item Enhancements: Prosperity I
• Craft/Appraisal/Obtainment IDs & Rolls: ID: 218670 BD: 1 CD: 1 LD: 4
• Item Description: An apple slathered with caramel.

  Reveal hidden contents

• Shop Post: Link
• Transaction Date: 11/21/2023
• Cost of Transaction: 80 col
• Crafter's Profession: Appraiser
• Crafter's Rank: 4
• Item Name: Quick & Easy Damage Elixir
• Item Tier: 1
• Item Type: Potion
• Item Rarity: Uncommon
• Item Enhancements: Damage I
• Craft/Appraisal/Obtainment IDs & Rolls: ID: 218671 BD: 1 CD: 1 LD: 7
• Item Description: A small vial filled to about 70% with red liquid. Drinking this elixir will grant you a small yet powerful boost to your damage.

 

 

approved.

"a fourth is welcome," to sorun was all she was able to get out before the discussion somehow pivoted back to their levels. night was silent on the warning issued by oscar; it was appropriate and a given for anyone looking to venture out the city. it needed to be said from time to time, especially to starters. the flat of her index rubbed at her cheek, parallel to her jaw as he spoke. fidgeting. surely it would be safe with the two of them there, if oscar was interested in joining them on the quest.

“I’m high level, NIGHT’s higher. Technically we’re both Frontliners."

so there was the bullet she'd been expecting.

"don't put it like that," night meekly returned, hand lowering to her side. the introduction was missed, so she figured it fine to fill in the gap, jabbing a thumb towards oscar. "he's my senior. and i'm no badass. i just live here, and he just runs a hotdog stand. can we put it that way?" she turned her head towards oscar, as though it required his mutual agreement. whatever intent she had on following the comment through, though, she set aside, hands shoved into the pockets of her tracksuit. "well, we can ask questions all day. but let's save that for the expedition out if either of you are keen on getting the quest done."

the most obvious follow up would be to explore the reasoning behind aiming for the front lines, but those were usually personal, and night wasn't going to be burned again by asking keen of another on their first day out. quiet still, she turned and lead the party's way into the alchemist's shop. 

zackariah hadn't aged a day since she last saw him, but night felt her years in aincrad collapse back into her upon his sight. she'd never thought she could feel so old. his workshop had changed ever since the system update, moving bits and pieces of his setup all over the place, yet keeping the layout of his domain in tact. the vat that was usually on the counter was shifted towards the back, right next to the bookcases (poor choice, night thought), and the vials and philters on the counter were shuffled out of order from the organized rainbows they were before.

not that any of this was good for mentioning, however, so she stepped into his shop, past opening the wooden front door, making sure that those who needed to speak to him could file in. of course, however, she couldn't see the quest she'd completed once before.

"kyo, sorun. are you able to speak to him?"

a goddamn hero? night smoothed her hair over even more, releasing a breath she'd attempted to suppress, unsure of what to say. what would even be worth saving? "the upper floors are no different from the lower ones," she stated plainly, glancing over to the beginner's weapon of choice. a whip wasn't conventional, but neither was starting late and levelling as an adventurer. "besides… i'm off limits from the floor clearance thing at the moment."

(bistro's orders.)

she shifted her weight to the side, throwing her gaze towards the surroundings of town. "we'll take anyone who's willing to give it a shot." another lie – but they had plenty of time to figure out any underlying flaws later, if night was allowed to get a say on who lived and died. "besides, 'heroes' don't exactly appear out of thin air, now do they?"

night gave the other woman a glance, expression blank, as her attention jumped to an approaching redhead. the player raised a hand. "no trouble," was her reply. "we were just about to start the beginner's quest line." but she hadn't seen the man before her at all, even as a resident of town of beginnings. so she scanned him, lowering her hand. "have you done it before? it's been a while since i've done it, so you could help us out by jogging my memory."

not that she'd expected her offer to be taken seriously. but night regarded her audience with folded arms, after the irritating realization that, once again, she'd forgotten to introduce herself to the people she was talking to.

"ah, i don't mean to be rude… but the name's —"

"NIGHT. It's been a while. Been busy helping newbies?"

his voice was enough to make her jolt. it had been a while – long enough for her to have written him down as missing, like yukiro and the others – but his strength and standing meant she knew he could've handled his own. she wondered how he managed to get into one of her blind spots, and shifted herself a little to regard him.

"oscar." night nodded to him, trying to hide her surprise at his reappearance. she turned towards the others briefly. "it wasn't premeditated, if that's what you meant. care to join us? — or do you have a shop that needs tending to soon?"

On 11/18/2023 at 12:40 PM, Takao said:

Current Level: 67
Current SP: 335
Link to SP Tracking: [link]
Item Upgrades:

2.6 | PRE-CONVERSION	3.0 | UPGRADED
ITEM #1 Item Name: Onyx Huntsman's Set Item ID: 63092 Item Tier: 3 Item Type: Light Armour Item Rarity: Perfect Item Enhancements: 2 EVA / 1 MIT Description: /	Item Name: Onyx Huntsman's Set Item Tier: 4 Item Type: Light Armour Item Enhancements: 2 EVA / 1 MIT Description: The Onyx Huntsman's Set is a lightweight pair of simple, unassuming underclothing, black and grey in colour, that provides minimum protection but a great deal of freedom.
ITEM #2 Item Name: Emerald Huntsman's Set Item ID: 49088 Item Tier: 3 Item Type: Light Armour Item Rarity: Perfect Item Enhancements: 1 EVA / 2 MIT Description: /	Item Name: Emerald Huntsman's Set Item Tier: 4 Item Type: Light Armour Item Enhancements: 1 EVA / 2 MIT Description: The Emerald Huntsman's Set mixes hues of forest green and black, and consists of a light hooded overcoat with quilt-padded shoulders and bands of thicker material that provide additional defense without completely sacrificing agility.
ITEM #3 Item Name:  Item ID:  Item Tier:  Item Type:  Item Rarity:  Item Enhancements:  Description:	Item Name:  Item Tier:  Item Type:  Item Enhancements:  Description:

Notes:
sorry about all the threads lol

TAKAO | Approved.

• Total EXP: 228900
• Total SP: 195
• Current Level: 33
• Paragon Level: 35
• Unlocked Paragon Rewards:
  • Lv. 5 | Laurel Wreath (Earn Col equivalent to 15% of player’s EXP earned in thread)
  • Lv. 10 | (1) Gleaming Scale, (1) Demonic Shard, +1 LD to Looting*
  • Lv. 25 | (1) Gleaming Scale, (1) Demonic Shard, Free Skill Respec
• Notes:
  • EXP Calculation SP removed from several threads due to incompletion, including the following:
    • Sayonara, Sahhara! | Monster Hunter Arena | Paths of Glory II | Rolling Down a Hill | Snow Fall | Herbal Oddities
  • EXP Calculation SP added due to 2.6.4 SP update & initial 5SP at character creation.

silent steps as she stalked the hall. as always, there was this strange tension in the room, between the overcast light, however warm, as though sundown drowning the view. statues cast in gold, never scratched nor stained. and blank expressions, eyes filled with only what she thought they would have reflected back to her. the fear was innate, but not in the artificial.

today, night staved that struggle off. took the crystal off its bearer, examined it as the floor cleared, now dissipating like sand gathered in the wind. no blemishes on her duality this time, either. and her eyes flicked to the source of the warmth in the room, but found no cathedral windows, no sun, only a gradient to mark the fading void.

the player stashed it, quiet, shelving the thought she had about her access to the hall to the corners of her mind. she left quiet the same way she came.

2023/11

Duality (1)
Choose one of the following effects: +30 MIT, -3 DMG or +3 DMG, -30 MIT. These effects stack with other buffs.

approved.