NIGHT

they stepped through the threshold, into the forest. there was a sense of warmth that the outskirts hadn’t carried; the dense cluster of trees in the woods and the glow of the crystals combined made sure the ambient atmosphere would be different than that of the mountains. the winds present weren’t as strong, if they were felt at all by the travelers. while walking, day was the one to point out an impasse, a herd of hostile meandering elementals. night took the initiative to cull them, before settling back onto their delivery route. the edge of her blade cut through thin air and the dying

day shot night a sly look, before she looked ahead again. was it disbelief etched upon her face? it was hard for night to tell. “to be fair,” day followed up afterwards, “you and koga were busy tending to the herbs rather than the forest surrounding it.” night thought carefully upon her words. day was right. the fire had taken much of her attention, she but figured day had stepped out the way because of cardinal’s direct influence. any agreement upon them… well. night never had the best memory. it had also seemed like so long ago that night had entirely forgotten. “where did you go t

“but i guess it’s hard to beat what happened in the past, huh?” day slung her arms back, fingers knitted together as she rested her head against her hands. “past the mountains here…” night had muttered, eying the road ahead. she remained quiet for a time, in deep recollection on how to head towards their destination next. she hummed when she remembered something, however. “the last time we were in srona, wasn’t there was a fire at one of their medical outposts?” “it had been arson,” day returned, “as far we remember it.” and then she tilted her head as they strolled along, starting

they skipped out of town quickly afterwards. “to srona,” night said, clarifying their destination with day. the player then realized she remembered their route from here onwards. “why did we even use a horse back then?” day scoffed, amused, adjusting her ponytail as they left vesh behind. “because someone thought we’d take forever to get here,” she said, jabbing a finger towards night once her hands were free. night held her hands up, palms open, facing day. “okay — i’ll take the heat for that.” and she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “but it’s a lot more peaceful now than back

of course they went to the baths. there were multiple springs located amidst dagan’s mountains. she asked for a private one for personal comfort, but had no intent for any further activity in the wilds. even as night watched day sink into the water, relaxing comfortably in the cold, it was obvious, too, that she still had their discussion on her mind. that was fine. even if night had decided to forget her train of thought, it meant she had to be prepared to pick up her mental notes again if it was brought up later, as they would be traveling along. still, it was a cozy spot, and had

night waited for day’s contemplation to end first before they moved onto the next discussion. but, by then, they’d already reached the entrance of vesh. day gestured to the player towards the collection point nearby, and night followed through, handing over the package as was warranted of her. their exchange had been brief. and, if night remembered correctly, their next stop would be at… “hold on,” one of the hosts at vesh stopped her with a clarion voice. “won’t you join us in one of our celebration festivities? it’s the least we could do to extend you an invite for the trouble we’ve put

day joined in with night’s line of thinking afterwards, humming. “so you might be considering… that the festival is only celebrated in times of peace?” “it’s a little hard to say that,” night replied, bitter, even if she hadn’t intended to be. “because if this were a culture we’d both been privy to watch over for at least a few years, then i’d be certain. …but it’s not.” though night had unspooled her train of thought and allowed day to peer into what little crumb of madness had been pestering the player ever since their arrival onto the twenty-seventh, the quiet that followed

three points to bring up and run past day. the construct gave her clarification a nod, so they wouldn’t be misunderstood. night hummed, returning the gesture. they walked, taking their time under the soft radiance of the moon. she decided the first question could be answered relatively quickly. “so,” she began, facing day past a dip of her head. “the quest line we went on — the mysterious divide? even after all of those trials we’d gone through, we still haven’t found out anything about this hero mentioned, joyously celebrated over, even though it was the only line of progression from int

“it’s just…” and day’s hands tightened into a fist. the look she directed towards the ground was intense, the sheen on her blue eyes only highlighted by the darkness cast over the entire floor. though night would not catch sight of that storm brewing behind her mirror’s windows, she knew, between the silence and the dense air of the wilderness that sat around them, something had to be wrong. “i can’t… tell,” day started, “if you were curious about him — because of what he represented. …but, moreover, if it was of that, then to whom.” night heard her companion let loose a small e

“you’re acting like it’s no big deal,” she said, “that he asked you out in the first place.” “i mean,” day started, voice low. “it was a pretty big deal, if you were to ask me to be honest about it.” “--yeah?” night’s gaze had bounced from the view ahead, back towards her partner. it had slipped past her notice that her tone had suddenly shifted — there was a tinge of envy, or was it mistrust? in her voice that seemed accusatory. day had glanced towards her player, but kept her eyes on the road. “a big deal how?” “...” now it was night’s turn to keep her eyes off her

the answer felt like it had taken forever, and yet night allowed herself to wait. day gestured down one path. “we move towards dagan, then.” “dagan?” night watched her counterpart nod, and follow her down that path. she had no complaints about their choice of destination, but a curiosity nagged at her. “why dagan?” “honestly?” day replied, falling into step with night once they’d rounded a bend. the path was straight from there and forwards. “i’m just going by what route i recall us taking prior on that quest line with koga.” “the mysterious divide.” day hummed to affirm he

night turned to day as they shuffled towards the safe zone’s threshold. “so where’re we headed to first?” “first?” day blinked, quiet for a pause. they’d almost stopped. night had staggered her steps in the interim, allowing day to catch up when she continued. her response was carefully manufactured. “shouldn’t you’d be making the decision?” a gentle breeze swept them by. from on high, a small lamp had flickered out as they left ronbaru behind. night but looked past her shoulder towards the town they’d just left. “the last time i made decisions on this floor,” she started, hesitantly

she’d considered briefly about delivering a cool line to say how it wasn’t that much of a deal to quest on behalf of such a unique local effort, but decided against it upon trialing a practiced delivery in her head. night wasn’t suitable enough for it. “it’ll be like a tour,” she reassured her assignor. “ah, i see!” and what doubts the woman had carried were assuaged. “well, if you must know, the other cities will be holding their own celebrations when you arrive, so don’t be alarmed when you see all the hustle and bustle.” “celebrations,” night repeated, glancing to the gathered cr

“well, if you asked me,” day said, with a slight smirk and her head leaning sideways, “i’d say we could do another trip around the floor.” night frowned, and fumbled with her interface to send a message. NIGHT: even if it took us a couple of days before? day stopped feigning an impatience, gesturing with a hand. “we were handling other business too, remember? besides, the night’s still young — pun not intended. we can make each stop a quick visit, if you’re so worried.” the player considered the proposal briefly. she then turned to the festival staff. “i’ll head to all of t

night stayed silent, but shot a glance to her counterpart walking on ahead. and, as though on command, day had turned back to give night a tilt of her head. the gesture she made to beckon her companion was invisible to cardinal’s defaults. “sure,” night returned eventually, head turned to address their quest giver. “where do you need them sent towards?” “oh, all of the settlements, really.” night was escorted to the pile of cargo, day chasing the pair from behind. they stopped shortly after getting close enough for the quest giver to talk to one of their fellow colleagues, a discussi

there, at ronbaru’s perimeter, there were hardly any players present. day’s cursor mingled with the others in gold, and night followed her, keeping an eye out. she didn’t have to do much to attract unwanted attention, however — bistro didn’t tell her as much, but it quickly became apparent to her how important it was for her to take it down. “excuse me,” said the approaching quest giver, with a wave of her hand. tucked behind their ear, the same tell-tale feather, a multitude of colors, that day had pointed out earlier in their mingle near the teleporter. must’ve marked out the ones who k

just as well that she had a pest that jostled her into waking herself up whenever she did feel overcome with sleep. never say night wasn’t ever trapped in her own vices. she hauled herself off, tracking that yellow crystal’s trail, even mixed with the crowd, shadow unseen, and amongst the rest, generic indicators matching in turn. it never mattered. to anyone else, they mightn’t have captured a deviation. to night, day’s crystal was simply special. they stalked towards the edge of town, past bistro’s invite, and past the other players gathered around the plaza of the city. past nari’

<<quest.>> | NIGHT | Lv. 150 >> P. 117, Lv. 33 | Status: // Notes: lost og roll results for "< ID23069". nulled and rerolling them. also using mega slime farm. there was a festival amidst all of the preparations leading up to the twenty-eighth fight. if night wasn’t a firm believe that cardinal marched to its own pace, perhaps she could scarcely believe it. but between the ongoings of the twenty-seventh having a mind of its own — what with the discussions outside of the battle

crap. night felt herself blinking multiple times, watching the sight unfold before her. callisto unraveled, turned its insides out while the world fought to contain it and itself fighting back, writhing and snarling as hard as the other frontliners did. with the way the newfound tendrils shot out to grasp at their parties' tanks, night searched the skies for any signs of her pink-haired friend -- wasn't yuki just behind her a moment ago?! the fog wasn't helping. night cursed herself for lacking that vision mod of absolute importance. maybe she should never have removed it from her ki

what'd she hand out? it was a duality to jomei during the floor boss fight, wasn't it? night took a look at her stock when she entered, stepping off the platform. each drop, each footfall felt like it rung in the halls for an eternity, the ghost of its echo still haunting her after the sounds had long faded off into silence. her memory hadn't failed her; her nerves remembered how unsettling the place could be since the last she dropped by. and the number indicated in her inventory seemed to remind her in verification that she was right. so she set the past behind her, erasing it as a

if anything was going to give her more pause, it was the cries towards her -- for her -- as the bear had been galloping about. her eyes darted to her team chasing after callisto, their words barely audible from on high, but an outstretched hand and a sudden cold breeze changed enough for her circumstances that when the bite came, incisors hadn't crushed her health bar through. and then came the collapse. she spun in the air. almost got out her sword for a straight down to the ground, too -- no way night was going to go out from fall damage in a boss fight without. but the instant sh

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she'd been half expecting a sweep, a lunge, a swipe. anything, beyond the bear's teeth and pick-up attempt. didn't the same thing happen to one of the other parties? scooped up and whisked away seemed like the worst option, because her newfound proximity with the ursine seemed to emphasize how much it reeked of death. how prevalent it was in the cool breath huffed her way as she was taken for a ride. in night's passing view of the arena, she but saw yuki bluster with surprise, but nonetheless proving her worth with a strong blow. ah. of course this had to happen while she had pulled aggro

two roars and a cleave. somehow, once again, they seemed to be out of the thick of it. night had rounded the arena just to get to her party -- but with how safe they seemed to be... well. it wouldn't hurt to get another hit in, one stronger than the last, would it? "yuki, eyes up." not that her friend needed the telling, but it was her way of saying she'd take the fore. with the damage she was going to deal, while it wasn't legacy worthy, it might still pull aggro from her friend the next time the bear would try to act. she slid past her shield, charging in with her devourer to her s