Koga

As NIGHT paused and blinked mid bite, Koga's look of confusion increased by an equal magnitude of that which NIGHT now displayed. At first, the man thought he'd asked a stupid question, but her answer relieved him of that concern. Only for a moment though, until she indeed asked why he'd thought that. "I dunno," the man admitted. "You said something about no fear of getting your ass-kicked by a boss, just figured that meant you don't end up as nothin' more than stardust. I take it then that there's just no bosses?" Which would really be the only remaining option, unless there was some other secret to Zero that NIGHT had forgotten to mention.

"if there was a place with that sort of safety lock, we should've all heard about it by now, shouldn't we?"
Koga shrugged in response. "Sure, if the guys who found it didn't wanna keep it for themselves. I mean think about it, absolutely risk-free, infinite exp. Not everyone is as philanthropic as you or I. Or even half the other Frontliners." Koga shrugged again. "Or maybe I'm just jaded. Who knows."

The surprise NIGHT showed when Koga mentioned she'd met his kinda-sorta-not-exactly-dating-but-seemingly-not-seeing-anyone-else partner resulted in an amused huff. "what even happened at that party?" NIGHT asked, her memory seemingly as poor as Koga's. "Uhhh, arguments about Blue's desserts she brought, card games, food...I don't really remember either." Everything about that night had been such a blur. Minus the tail end. "Everyone just kinda started to wrap up after the place got flooded." Koga put another dumpling into his mouth. "You're hosting next time," he said through a full mouth.

"out of all the floors, it had to be the gloomiest, reddest one?" It was Koga's turn to look confused again. Was Fourteen red? He He could hardly remember. It couldn't have been as bad as Nine if he couldn't remember. "you know what they say about scarlet letters, right?" NIGHT said, following it up with a pregnant pause as Koga waited for her to explain. "-- just kidding."
"Uh, never read that one," Koga admitted with a sheepish smile. "Don't even know what it's about, if I'm bein' honest."

NIGHT seemed to be getting more and more forgetful by the second, especially as she asked what the person of interest's name was. "I literally said it like a minute ago," the man laughed. "Kasumi, remember? Did you get your last brain cell knocked out of your head while you were in Zero?" the man joked. "And to answer your other question, she's a Martial Artist."

Koga audibly choked as he heard NIGHT's question. Caught somewhere between sputtering and a laugh, the man shook his head. "What the fuck, no," he choked out. "It's not like being scared of someone is a turn on you dumb ass." Koga set aside the now empty box of dumplings as he thought about how to explain. "It's more like...Agh, I dunno...It's a few things right? Like there's the kind of scared where you're just fearing for your well-being, right? That's not really what I'm talking about. Maybe that helps, and I'm sure both you and Kasumi could beat me to a bloody pulp if you wanted to, but so can the floor bosses, and I'm not about to jump any of their bones." Literally in some cases.

"Then there's the kind of scared where you don't wanna let them down I guess? And that plays a bigger part. But, like, these can be friends, mentors, or just some random person who you respect. And then there's an aspect of trust where if you do, they'll help set you straight so you don't do it again.

"The last one, which is where I think it becomes something else. You're afraid because they could hurt you, not physically, but emotionally." Koga's brows furrowed as if he was just making the realization himself. "You're vulnerable, and that's fucking terrifying. But, moths to flames, I suppose."

Koga paused, looking away, face riddled with consternation. But whatever seemed to be on his mind quickly faded as he spoke once more. "So I'm-dead scared, anyone. I-care-about-this-person-and-what-they-think scared, you, Kasumi. Oh-fuck scared. Kasumi."

@NIGHT

"You move fast, you can dodge out of the way," Koga grumbled, echoing NIGHT's words as he lifted his sword again to face the demoness as she crawled out of the pit her impact had created. Just in time to watch the woman lunge at NIGHT in retaliation. Both the player's shifted out of the way, NIGHT rolling to the side, whilst Koga slid backwards out of reach of any follow up attacks.

"Yeah, yeah, I believe you," the man  said to NIGHT with a frown. "Man, I must be rustier than I thought if that attack of yours threw me off-guard," he sighed, eyes still fixed on Lilith. Might as well chat since the monster-woman didn't seem to pose much of a challenge to the two Frontliners. "Haven't you pulled something like that before? Or was that someone else?" he asked with a glance. Or maybe another game. Probably another game.

@NIGHT

Just selling some stuff

T4 Rare Trinket #208231a, T7 Rare Trinket #208232a, T4 Rare Trinket #208813a, T4 Uncommon Consumable #208814a,
T4 Uncommon Consumable #208861a

Was this quest meant to be fought as a team? Yes. Were NIGHT and Koga meant to fight the boss and mobs together, as a single unit? Yes. Were they high-level players though? Also yes. So, that pretty much meant that the pair could do whatever the fuck they wanted. And that's exactly what they did. While Koga chose to finish dealing with the two extras, NIGHT chased after Lilith herself.

With his boot firmly planted in the two vampires' heads, Koga had prepared to finish them both off, lifting the golden sword the quest evidently expected him to use high above his head to decapitate them when a Koga heard a crashing sound over head. Koga looked up just in time to see Lilith's body plummeting towards him.

"OH SHIT!"

Koga leapt backwards, out of the way as Lilith struck the ground and her two attendants, cratering the ground beneath them. "A little warning next time!?" Koga complained loudly to NIGHT as he pointed at the hole in the floor. Bright blue shards floated out of it towards the sky, and Lilith's quivering hand grabbed the edge as she wearily tried to pull herself out. "You coulda killed me!"

@NIGHT

Koga finally just shrugged at NIGHT's response. Some people understood what he meant, or truly were that accurate, some didn't. Though the man was still certain that NIGHT did indeed have that innate understanding of her and her weapons' ranges, honed over the years of combat, convincing her of that fact was ultimately pointless. Her skill spoke for itself. Unless she was an auto-battle player...Koga cast a brief curious look over at the woman, but neglected to ask the question.

The man couldn't help but scoff though as NIGHT said that she'd still run from the giant bugs, screaming. Not that the swordsman could blame her, he hated insects just as much as her probably. "It is so very like you to narrow everything down to efficiency," Koga chuckled as NIGHT they walked into the surprisingly undefended bastion. It had indeed taken a long time for the bugs to kill themselves on her Thorns, Koga recalled. Though it probably would have gone a bit quicker if his laughter hadn't made him miss almost every attack he'd made then.

"do you think they were expecting us? i'd be pissed if they did the james bond villain thing later," NIGHT asked.
"So you've come," a feminine voice echoed from ahead, the sultry tone echoing off the grey stones around them.
Koga let out a quiet sigh. "Welp, that answers that question." Please no Bond villain monologue.

The pair followed the voice down the hall, meeting a large oaken door. "I guess this is it," Koga muttered, before pushing the door open with a grunt of effort. Massive, Koga could have only guessed that the room was once the seat of opulence. Voids in the dust that clung to the wall, and cobwebs hanging from tilted and broken gold-gilded frames served as evidence of paintings hanging from the walls. A pair of golden chandeliers had crashed through to the floors, leaving only the light filtering in from the broken stained-glass windows above to illuminate the room. At their feet, a long crimson carpet was laid out, stretching all the way to a raised dais, whereupon a throne, there sat Lilith.

"I don't quite know who you are, though you seem familiar with me. I can also feel the power of the weapon you are carrying. It has been some time since I've actually been threatened by its like."
"Monologue incoming," Koga whispered to NIGHT.
Lilith blinked at the man in surprise. "Why, how dare you? Have you no manners?" The vampire stood from her throne, a wicked snarl curling at her lips, which Koga more than a bored look.
"Now, now Lilith. These travelers have had a long journey. You must forgive their impatience," a masculine voice said from behind the two players. Koga looked behind himself with a quirked brow.

"Quite sorry. Always seem to be late to this kind of thing," the newcomer said, waltzing around the pair, eyeing them both. His eyes lingered on NIGHT a moment, first her face, then her weapons. "Don't mind me here, I'm just here to enjoy the show," the man said as he sauntered towards the throne. Lilith quickly moved aside, and the man sank into the dusty chair, draping a leg dramatically across the other. "Well? Go on." He said to Lilith, gesturing for her to proceed.
"Uh, of course Master," the woman said hurriedly. "Right, where was I? Oh, yes, suffer!"

From the shadows themselves another pair of vampires materialized, and Koga looked towards NIGHT with an uncertain look, before shrugging. Kill them all? he seemed be asking.

Whatever the answer, Koga swept in, drawing the 'blessed' sword with a swift movement. Lilith shot into the air, avoiding the blade, whilst her attendants ducked. Neither of the two saw the boot arcing through the air though until it was too late, and their faces collided with the stairs.

@NIGHT

NIGHT rolled her eyes at Koga's explanation, and the man cocked a brow, not quite understanding why she didn't believe him. The look quickly faded though, as the number as to how many years they'd spent in game was finally pinned down to a tangible digit. Seven years. He'd have graduated by now, and probably working in the industry. If the industry had even survived the public backlash at what happened with SAO. No point in lingering on the what ifs and what could have beens though. The pair moved the conversation along to an arguably equally concerning topic.

"After all the practice I've put in? It'd be a waste if I wasn't good enough to judge my own range," the swordsman shrugged in response to NIGHT. "Maai," the man said, remembering the word they'd used at his old dojo. "Engagement distance. I mean you know yours in the same way, pretty much, even if you're not thinking about."

NIGHT blinked in mild remembrance of their first outing together. In fact, Koga could have almost sworn that was also the first time they'd met each other. Unlike then, NIGHT face screwed itself into a look of abject disgust as she recalled the monsters that had hounded them as they'd tried to farm for materials. She went on to express her absolute distaste for all the insect mobs of Aincrad, which only made Koga laugh some more. "I wasn't about to ask you to help me clear those bosses," he laughed. "Already done 'em in, and I'm pretty sure I could solo them now anyways. No, I was just thinking," the broad grin faded into more of an amused smile. "You've changed since then, I think. I remember you running around, screaming your head off while those things killed themselves on your Thorns." Koga's hands found their way to his pockets as they ambled their way towards the castle, slowly growing closer as they reminisced. "I don't think you'd blink twice nowadays."

@NIGHT

Koga shot a playful glare at NIGHT as she laughed at his pain. "I'm glad you're enjoying my suffering," he said with all of his typical sarcasm. Still, he grinned, and took a more cautious bite as NIGHT broke into her own box of food. "No, I guess they aren't," he admitted. Even if it was a smaller bite, the food was still hot, but at least it didn't feel like he had third degree burns on the roof of his mouth this time, and Koga was able to actually enjoy the flavor of the food.

Koga continued to quietly eat his dumplings as NIGHT tried to reason why players seemed to be so enthralled with Zero. "Is it not perma-death in there?" Koga asked, a confused look on his face, despite the hand covering his food-full mouth. If that was the case, NIGHT's musings were probably right. Adventure without the threat of imminent departure from this mortal realm was why most people started to play video games in the first place.

Mindless whiling away of the hours was another reason. Which seemed to have been what NIGHT had done, even if that hadn't been her express purpose in visiting Zero. If she had been in there even a portion of the time that Koga had effectively 'retired', it could have been months. But that wasn't the most important part of what the woman had said. Moreso, what was important was what hadn't been said, as NIGHT left the last of her words unsaid. Koga looked over at the woman with a raised brow, inviting her to go on.

But NIGHT forged on, completely abandoning the topic. Koga made no comment, instead taking another bite of his dumpling. There was no point in pressing, or iterating that she could talk to him. The latter, both knew, and Koga was certain the woman would open up when she was ready.

"I meant to Lhasri," Koga said with a laugh as soon as NIGHT had commented on a 'damp, dark cave' not being romantic. "I'm no Casanova, but even I know that that doesn't count as romantic," the man said with an amused smile. The smile quickly morphed into a groan though as NIGHT began to interrogate him with all the vigor of gossip-drunk schoolgirl that Koga never knew she possessed. "Oh god, I shouldn't have said anything," the man said with a pained chuckle. "You did meet her, once, actually I think," Koga finally said as he set aside his now empty box. "At the trainwreck of a Christmas party I hosted a couple years back. Red head, showed up late, after the whole flooding thing. Don't think you guys interacted much though."

Koga's gaze drifted upwards as he tried to remember just how he'd met Kasumi. Foggy memories of skeletons and pink flower petals finally cleared enough for the man to recall. "Oh yeah, we met killing the field boss on Fourteen," the raven-haired man said. "Alkor and I had gone to fight the Lich King, but she beat us to it. Other than you, she's the only person I've ever met who legitimately scares me," Koga chuckled. "I mean man, she's a one-man army. Shoulda seen her."

@NIGHT

"did you just target me for that sword art…?"

Something about the question amused Koga, and the man tilted his head slightly as he gave a bemused half smile. "Untargeted cast," the man explained as the pair started their march towards the distant castle. "Have you never done that?" Meaning did she never just mess around and cast sword arts to watch the pretty, shiny colors while waiting for party members to show up. Koga had always assumed that that was just a universal player experience, but then again, even if he'd been late to meet up with NIGHT for a quest or farming session, he'd never once seen her do something like that. Not that she'd ever seen him do it either.

"C'mon, have a little faith," Koga scoffed with feigned offense. "I've been using these Arts for, uh..." the man lifted his fingers one by one as he tried to recall how many years they'd been stuck in Aincrad. "Six? Seven years? Christ, how long has it been?" The days blurred together after a fashion. One just bled into another. Farm mobs, craft weapons and armor, probably forget to eat or sleep while at it. Even with so much having happened since the game had started, it was so hard to put a time or date on things. "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," Koga moved on.

NIGHT motioned towards the katana at Koga's hip, and he nodded in confirmation. "Thanks," he chuckled as NIGHT called his fall 'sick'. "You didn't look to bad yourself. But yeah, pretty much all my Shonen power is cause of this sword. Pretty sure I got it off that Halloween event way back when. Like, right before we met if I recall correctly," Koga reminisced. His mind lingered on their many yesterdays, even as NIGHT, ever the strategist suggested he use the blink-dash when they fought the vampires. "Oh, that's a really good idea actually. Never really thought about using it for a switch before." 

And then Koga started snickering. "Oh god," the man said as a wide grin stretched across his face. Looking back, Koga realized that though he always saw NIGHT as calculating, thoughtful and serious, she hadn't always been that way. "Do you remember our first Nature's Treasure? The giant fucking bugs?"

@NIGHT

"Congrats on being the ballsiest, scariest, and stupidest player all in one," Koga said, with truth-laced sarcasm. While there was no question that taking on an entire Labyrinth on one's own was reckless and fool-hardy, Koga supposed if there was anyone who could handle it, it would've been NIGHT. And of course, she'd done it. Only so much complaining to be done there, the man supposed as he watched the woman's gaze brush over some berries and beans before moving on.

"No, we don't," Koga said in agreement with NIGHT. Aside from a few hastily assembled holiday parties throughout the year, most of Aincrad's finest hardly ever got a moment to relax. A moment to live. And those parties were more like last-ditch attempts to remind themselves they were still human at times. Smaller moments like these usually got swept under a rug.

Maybe so many years trapped in the game just meant Koga was used to it now. Less keen on staying, certainly, but perhaps a bit more content with the idea than he'd been before. Less looking to escape reality and just accepting of what it currently was. Maybe.

A soft shake of Koga's head set his unkempt hair into motion, swaying back and forth after his head had stopped moving and his eyes stopped rolling. He knew NIGHT well enough to know when she was just saying whatever to appease him or someone else. Not that she was that good at the appeasing part, but it got the message across. "Mmhm," was all he responded with, all he could afford without branding himself a hypocrite.

Steam wafted from one of the stalls, accompanied by an array of fragrances. Sweet, savory, all delicious smelling. Maybe it was the keen eye he'd fixed on the stall NIGHT had noticed, but she too began to gravitate towards the stand. An absent chuckle as NIGHT expressed some hurt feelings over Koga's joke, however well deserved. "Just saying, be careful. Don't want you to run yourself ragged." He peered at the various dumplings while NIGHT ordered hers. He swatted away her hand from the payment window, his own passing through it as he did so. "I still need to pay you back for helping with the house. It's on me," he insisted with a voice that left no room for argument. He added a couple of meat filled dumplings to the tab and paid before NIGHT could object.

"Mm, yeah, I remember those games," Koga nodded. He felt NIGHT's eyes shift towards him, and he turned and tilted his head to look at her in turn. The way she added peoples intention on why they entered seemed suspect at best, but Koga made no comment, his eyes instead flickering over NIGHT as if he were examining her. Her eyes most of all, especially as they broke eye contact and slid back to the chef as they began to hum. Koga didn't hear the melody.

"…'how else are the veterans going to keep themselves entertained if they're not interested in fighting on the front lines'?" NIGHT said, tried explained away whatever palpable emotion hung in the air between them. Koga's gaze shifted back to the food being packaged. "Could take up farming, like me," he said half-joking. He still went hunting, fighting when it suited him. When he needed the thrill or had some steam to let off.

He took the chopsticks from NIGHT and his own much smaller paper box, and shook his head. "All yours. Thanks though," he said with a faint, almost distracted smile. "Yeah, this place is nice," Koga nodded, his chop sticks poking at the dumpling as if he were able to test whether or not it'd burn his tongue or not. "Could make for a cute date destination. Maybe I'll try asking Kasumi here one day." Koga picked up the dumpling and tried biting into it, immediately regretting the action. Hot juice seared his mouth, but already committed, the man forced himself to chew, swallow. "Fuck, that's hot."

A small bench sat on the side of the walkway, positioned in such away that those seated could look out from the market building and at Lhasri's myriad bridges, mountains and waterways. "Wanna stop while we eat?" Koga suggested, pointing with his chopsticks. "So how was Zero then?" he'd go on to ask, regardless of NIGHT's choice. "How long were you there?"

@NIGHT

The sword wasn't even worth mentioning anymore. A useless hunk of shiny metal, it might as well have been gold-gilded shit. Koga sheathed it as his hip with a sigh, resigned to using it for now for 'quest reasons.'

What was worth mentioning on the other hand was the height from which the pair were about attempt to jump out of. If Masato's vague memory of engineering and architecture served him correctly, they were roughly twenty three in the air, standing on the (absurdly large) window sill, as they were. "...it might be too low," NIGHT audibly moaned. Obviously, Koga knew just what to say to encourage his friend. "To snap our necks? Sure, unless we land on our heads." Which was a distinct possibility when trying to perform a backflip. "If we land poorly, on the other hand, we can definitely snap our legs in two. No pressure." Operation Encourage NIGHT, successful.

Thanks to Koga's encouraging words, NIGHT leapt out of window, actually managing the flip before darting down towards the ground in a flash of light. The whole movement reminded Koga of dragoons in some fantasy games he'd seen. "Nice job!" the man called down, clapping his hands, the lone applause sounding more sarcastic than if there'd been others.

And now it was Koga's turn. The man sighed as he suddenly felt a small rush of vertigo. No way he could do anything as cool as NIGHT just had but...

Arms outstretched, Koga tipped forward. Forward, forward, forward, more and more until he tipped right over the edge, swan diving towards the ground. At the very last moment, just before it seemed that Koga would indeed break his neck, he disappeared in a cloud of ash and flame, reappearing behind NIGHT, sword out at the end of some kind of battouho draw.

A small flourish as Koga sheathed his weapon. "Well, that wasn't that bad. So, shall we?"

@NIGHT

k o g a the elder wolf Spoiler notes: happy chrysler? Koga, Lvl 33/55 | HP: 920 | EN: 126 | DMG: 23 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 101 | B.HEALING: 50/100 equipped battle-ready inventory Tsuki no Hikari | Demonic T4 Katana [ CRSD // FALN II // BRN ] Shuku-ro Coat | Demonic T4 Light Armor [ EVA II // VAMP-D. II ] lupine. | Demonic T4 Trinket [ ACC III // EVA ] none skills Spoiler | UTILITY Gathering: Fishing I | Successfully forage for materials on a LD 14+ | 0/49 EXP  Searching III | +1 LD per rank. +1 to Stealth Detection per rank. | 14 SP Night Vision | Ignores any penalties from low light or darkness. Negates the bonus Stealth Rating from low light or darkness. | 3 SP | COMBAT Combat Shift: Single Target | For the following Sword Arts, +3 to multipliers and +2 to EN cost; ST-I, ST-II, ST-B. No other Shifts may be taken. | 10 SP Mastery: Damage III | Gain 1 * Tier Damage per rank | 13 SP Battle Healing V | Recover 5% (rounded down) of your maximum HP at the start of your turn | 30 SP Emergency Recovery | When non-fatal damage would leave you with 25% or less of your maximum HP, recover 10% of your maximum HP after the attack resolves. Effect cannot occur more than once per thread.  When activated if the player has lower than 10 energy remaining, simply reduce the player's energy to 0. | 6 SP EN Cost: 10 Energist | Increase Base Energy by 5 * Tier | 8 SP Charge | Perform a single attack/Sword Art with +5 base damage. Charge attacks have a -1 Accuracy debuff and cannot be affected by any auto-hit effects. | 10 SP Cooldown: 3 Posts Howl | Adds +2 Hate each against up to 4 targets. | 10 SP EN Cost: 2, Cooldown: 2 posts | WEAPON Katana V | +7 DMG when equipped with a Katana | 30 SP Stamina | Reduces the energy of all Katana attacks by 2 EN | 4 SP Precision | Gain +1 ACC. | 2 SP Ferocity | +2 DMG when using Katana Sword Arts | 4 SP Martial Arts I | +3 DMG when equipped with a Martial Arts weapons | 4 SP | ARMOR Light Armor V | +30 MIT when equipped with Light Armor, -2 Stealth | 30 SP Meticulous | +1 DMG when equipped with Light Armor | 4 SP Resolve | +1 ACC and +10 * Tier HP when equipped with Light Armor | 6 SP | EXTRAS Familiar Master: Rending | You and your familiar attack in tandem, applying Rend [7*tier unmitigatable damage] to the target that lasts for two turns. | 10 SP Cooldown: 5 Turns Survival | Increases Healing effects received from all sources by 10%. Grants immunity to all damage dealing environmental attacks/effects. | 0 SP Parry | Apply the energy cost upon proc, not activation. Reduces the final damage of the next successful attack against you by 50% (rounded down) and negates stun/paralysis effects of that attack. If hit by multiple attacks, only apply parry to the first attack against you. Parry lasts for three turns. Cooldown starts when the player activates the Skill. If the player is hit when using Parry, the cooldown is reset to 3 turns. | 10 SP 9 EN, Cooldown: 3 Turns Vengeful Riposte | A successful Parry also returns 50% (rounded down) of the raw damage that would be dealt to you back to your opponent. The reflected damage can be mitigated by the opponent. | 6 SP Cooldown: 4 Turns Justified Riposte | A successful Parry also stuns the target for 1 turn. | 5 SP Cooldown: 4 Turns Frozen Hide | As a free action, apply one slot of Frost Aura and one slot of Frost Thorns equal to your tier to yourself until the start of your next turn. | 0 SP 5 EN, Cooldown: 4 Turns buffs Spoiler | PARAGON REWARDS Lv. 5 | Earn Col equivalent to 15% of player’s EXP earned in thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to Looting | BUFFS <<Well Rested>> | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat. <<Squeaky Clean>> | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down). <<Filling>> | Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. <<Item Stash>> | +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot <<Tasty>> | Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread. <<Relaxed>> | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. <<Multipurpose>> | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll. <<Practiced Angler>> | +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.

Koga watched from the sandy beach with a curious brow lifted, boots in the sand and soaking wet as Freyd passed by him in nothing but swim trunks, knocked on a door of what probably would've equated to a million dollar beach house back in the real world, and entered. Soon after, Jevi, whom Koga remembered from his Christmas party last year (or was it the year before?) followed suit. And then another person whom Koga didn't recognize.

Was there...an event going on? Koga vaguely recognized the man who'd answered the door each time. He'd seen him at raids, other celebratory events, but Koga couldn't recall having ever interacted with the man. Was Koga invited? Probably not, and Koga should just go home. Besides, all the apparent attendees had been dressed for the beach where as Koga...He might as well have been doing his best Davy Jones impression, soaked through his clothing and dragging a giant squid through the sand behind him. Still curiousity got the better of him...and he could at least make some a lot of calimari?

Knocking on the door with a couple more confident than he felt rasps, Koga stood, knees shaking at his sudden boldness for potentially interrupting a private event. The door swung open and Koga grinned (a little too forcefully). "Hey uh...hope I'm not interrupting anything? I brought food?" The man lifted the slimy tentacle of the still living kraken impersonator he'd dragged to the man's front door.

Killing monsters, no problem. Looking at community notice boards or socializing? God forbid.

Thread Summary

Page Count: 1
Word Count: 8,574

Thread Col: 400
Thread Exp: 8,574/10*4*1 (3429)

Quest Col: 0
Quest Exp: 2000
Additional Rewards: <<Meditation>> Extra Skill

Totals

Col: 400
Exp: 5429

<<Meditation>> Extra Skill

It was a quick exchange, with both combatants leaping back to their feet, and away from each other. Space to reorient themselves to their opponent. "You can't be at peace if you don't let go of the past, Mas," Akiara said, the tip of her blade lowering itself towards the ground and behind her.

"I'll find my peace, Aki. Make it." Masato's own weapon slipped into it's saya, silent as it gently fell into the scabbard's embrace. "But I won't do it by 'letting go'." Flames swirled around them both, Masato's blue pushing against the deep scarlet of Akiara's. "I won't let myself forget them. I won't forgive myself until I've helped free everyone I've come to care about from this place. Until I free you." They sank into their stances, heels digging into the dirt. "I've got something worth fighting for again. And the only way I can protect it is by holding onto the mistakes of my past. Next time..."

They shot forward. Past each other, trails of flame lying parallel to each other, both standing where the other started, their swords at their side. "I'll die for them."

The white disappeared, and Koga could feel the water rushing down his back again, the roar becoming a quiet trickling. Okami was sitting on the shore now, waiting, patiently. A soft smile meant neither for himself, nor the wolf. Koga rose, collected his things, and walked back towards town.

Claiming:
 

• Braso Crystal-A | Removes one enhancement on a weapon and replaces it with Absolute Accuracy. (This effect cannot override the Absolute Accuracy enhancement cap. Consumed on use.)
• Braso Crystal-B | Removes one enhancement on a weapon and replaces it with Phase. (This effect cannot override the Phase enhancement cap. Consumed on use.)

"You say it like its that easy," Masato sighed drawing his steel.
"Of course its not easy, but you could at least make an effort." Akiara lifted her weapon, a standard mid-guard. No fancy tricks or wild gambits here it seemed.
"Really? You think I haven't?" Masato mirrored the phantom's movement, lifting his own sword in a similar manner. The levelled, steady, blurred from his vision as he focused on his opponent.
"Not really, no. At the very least, acknowledge what you have no. Let go of the past."
"Kinda rich, comin' from you, lookin' like my sister who's famous for her grudges."
"Maybe you should heed her words then. She knows."

The phantom's sword dipped for a moment, before the first movement was even made. Masato matched her, step for step, until steel touched steel. He shifted his weight, turning, letting Akiara slide by. She didn't keep going, like he'd expected. Akiara always missed the subtle change in pressure that preceded the parry. This wasn't Akiara though, not really. The phantom halted, her legs sweeping Masato's out from under him before he landed on his back. Quick to react, bearings not totally lost, Masato slashed at the phantom's legs, bringing her down to his level.

Koga wanted to swing his sword at Burlock again and just end this fight. He really did. But. Saggy booty. The poor swordsman could not get that imagery out of his head now that he had conjured it up. The man had a sneaking feeling it would plague his dreams for the rest of his life, and that thought created such a sense of existential dread that Koga was rendered frozen in place.

When Koga did finally return to his senses, it was just in time to duck beneath another swing or Burlock's weapon. "Hey! I already gotta be traumatized by the thought of your saggy ass, I don't need a shot to the face too! That's just rude," Koga complained as he took a few cautionary steps back, putting space between himself and the seemingly barely literate pirate. Deciding that just some space and air was not enough to ensure that the pirate's saggy booty remained away from Koga, the man quickly vaulted over a crate that stood behind him before kicking it towards Burlock, forcing him to stop it with his hands.

@Freyd

"well? is it cursed?"

Koga looked at NIGHT blankly for a moment. "Well how the fuck should I know?" He wasn't an appraiser after all. And all the blacksmithing skills in the world couldn't help him there. But, there was one trick he'd picked over the years that might help them figure it out. The man shrugged before turning towards the empty doorway, and the still closed door on the other side of the hall way. "Only one way to find out I guess."

Chambering his sword arm back, the man propelled the golden katana forward, sending it careening through the air only for it to embed itself in the wooden door a moment later with a solid thunk. Koga left his arm outstretched and open palmed, and willed the weapon back as he would have with Tsuki no Hikari. Except, instead of a coalescence of light...nothing. "Nope, not cursed," Koga sighed as he walked over and retrieved the sword from the door. This weapon got more and more disappointing by the minute.

Disappointment aside, the players had other manners to attend to. And that matter, was, apparently, a window? Koga wasn't quite sure what it was that NIGHT was intending, but the man faithfully followed her as she waved him to come hither. Looking out from the window, perfectly framed as if it were a painting, a massive stone castle, looming menacingly in the distance. If Koga squinted, he could have sworn that he saw giant bats circling it's tall spires. "Huh...how did we miss that earlier?" Koga's eyesight was bad in real life. Was it finally catching up to him in game?

"can't believe the quest is making us go to a secondary location. did you know you're more unlikely to come back from one?" NIGHT complained, to which Koga sighed. "Well, yeah. I mean, I think it has more to do with rolling the dice more often than an actual shift in probability..." Tomato, tomato. Either way, he'd hoped they'd be able to finish the quest here and now, especially after fighting off all the Night Of the Living Dead extras.

"i'm going to take the quickest route possible. you coming along or what?" NIGHT said as she clambered up onto the window sill.
"You're going to...what?" Koga blinked in surprise at her. Usually he was the one coming up with the stupid ideas and then following through, not her. Jumping out of a third floor window wasn't that high on the stupid list, but it still made it. What if one of them sprained an ankle or something? Somehow though, that thought didn't give Koga any pause as he took NIGHT's hand and joined her up on the ledge. "...Hey. Do a back flip."

@NIGHT

If Koga hadn't known Freyd already, he might've been worried for the other man as Burlock did his best to shank the dark haired man with surprising speed and dexterity. But tier, skill and experience was more than enough for Freyd to narrowly avoid the pirate's blows. The pushed apart from each other, the Newton's laws dictating they be pushed away from each other. But Koga had had more than enough time to position himself favorably.

"Aim for the bling in his face. Maybe he's magnetic?"
The gentle sound of metal tapping against leather came from the pirate's right, drawing his attention for a moment. "Only one way to find out, huh?" Koga said with a wicked grin as he tapped the shit-sword on his shoulder. "Batter up!" Gripping the katan like a baseball bat (his sensei would've killed him if he saw this), Koga swung with all his strength, slamming the flat of the blade right into Burlock's face. A golden tooth flew into the air and clattered across the wooden floor as Burlock staggered backwards. "Nope, not magnetic."

@Freyd

Koga couldn't suppress the small chuckle that bubbled up from his throat at NIGHT's almost obvious answer. "Oh yeah?" the man said with a faint smile. "Labyrinth got cleared already?" He'd stopped keeping track of that stuff a long time ago. Once upon at time he'd at least paid attention when he'd heard the errant talk of their shared progression through the floors, but as of late, it'd all been in one ear and out the other.

For once though, it was NIGHT who was disappearing off the face of the planet (when had that happened anyways?) Usually it was the other way around, but the addendum that DAY was 'helping her through some stuff' only made Koga more curious.

The man turned in the direction which NIGHT indicated, fruit brimming in the baskets of the stall. Koga, of course, began to walk over to the stall to curiously examine the fruit. "Mm, no, nothing in particular," he answered the woman as picked up a particularly shiny, apple-adjacent looking fruit. "Just never been before. Thought it might be fun for us to explore without the imminent threat of death for once."

Deciding against biting into a mystery fruit today, Koga set the fruit back in its place before going over to the next stall and returning to the subject at hand. "Ya know, if you ever need to talk..." the man began to say, only to remember his penchant for mysterious absences himself. "I'm here for you," he finished anyways.

Not willing to pry to deeply into NIGHT's private life however, the man instead decided to move on to the subject of vacationing. "You though? You took a break? Really? Who are you and what have you done with NIGHT?" the man joked. "Where is Zero anyways? I've never heard of it before," he asked curiously. Might be a nice place to take a certain someone.

@NIGHT

"It's not like you would've listened," Koga replied, kicking a stone into the water, the resulting ripples drowned by those made by the waterfall. Should it have been strange to Koga, to see his own body from the outside? He may as well have been another player, stumbling across another of Cardinal's secrets. A side quest maybe. He was no field boss after all. Or maybe he was, he'd felled a number of them at this point. Strange thoughts, but no stranger than the situation itself.

Tala circled his sleeping body, a hand trailing across his shoulders as she did so. "Maybe. But, still, you could've tried."
"I'm not a clairvoyant, Aki, it's not like I knew what you were thinking all the time."
"Shouldn't you have been able to guess though? I mean, you're my brother after all. We grew up together. You've known me my whole life." Her hand dropped away as she came to stand between Koga and his body, taking a step towards him. "Maybe that's all I really wanted. For you to know me as well as I knew you."
"Maybe."

The crashing of the fall filled the silence. Tala stared at him, a tired look he didn't recognize on her face. "You can't keep going on through life alone, Mas."
"Not really ever alone though, am I?"
"You are," Tala answered sharply. "You don't let anyone in. Not even me. You push everyone else alone, because you think you don't deserve them." Koga didn't respond. He knew she was right. After all, given how the rest of this quest had played out, the specter had some hooks into his mind. No point in denying a figment of his own sub-conscious.

The phantom-Tala lifted a hand, her katana taking shape in the air before her. "Guess we're doin' this, huh?" Koga sighed as he reached for his own sword. "Is this really supposed to help me sometime? Killing you?"
"No. Not really."
Koga's hand halted as it wrapped around the hilt of his sword. Wasn't the whole point of this quest to help him. "It's not about killing me," Tala said, sensing the man's question. Steel flashed as Tala cut the air in between them. "It's about finding the will to live again."

Even in the chaos of a boss fight, there was a lull as people took a much needed breath. Or in Alkor's case, a good vomit. Anything to keep from keeling over and letting Wushen pound them into dust. The swordsman watched for a moment, his chest heaving to pull air into his lungs as Zandra went wild, the blood-crazed gleam in her eye a strong enough warning for Koga to not get in her way. The man then took a quick glance at Alkor, tended to by NIGHT. It was the last push. Hang in there a little longer, Alkor. Cro had since paused, he too seeming to try and gather enough strength for the last push.

A flash of white above their heads drew Koga's eyes to the last of their teammates. Hidden, enigmatic and surprising as always. Koga wasn't sure what she'd just done, but the wyrm was sprawled across ground now, and the man knew an opportunity when he saw one.

The katana in hi had began to burn with bright blue flames. Mustering his strength, the black-clad swordsman gripped the hilt, and with one swipe, the walls of ice around them were consumed. "Time to cut loose guys!" End it.

Cold walls froze again, their glass-like surfaces already slick. They were clear, almost perfectly see through like wet glass. Just on the other side, Koga could see the other parties, each dealing with their own head of Wushen. Looking up at the great dragon himself, only one more HP bar floated about his head. Almost there, the final push.

Koga could feel the fatigue wearing on him though. He hardly needed to look at his HP bar to know he only had a couple of good strikes left in him, but he did so anyways, getting an exact number. Two attacks. That's all he had. He'd have to make them count.

No flourish or war cry, just a grunt of exertion as the swordsman rushed the new head, it's wooden scales inviting Koga to try and strike. A swift flash of steel, and a hollow thud as Tsuki no Hikari bit into the wood and sank, almost binding itself in the head's armor. No good there, Koga backed away, weary.

"It fucking persists!" Koga looked over towards Crozeph, more drawn by the unfamiliar note in the man's voice than what was being said. He was starting to lag, Koga could see. But so was Koga. The man tried to remember the last time he'd actually run out of energy during a fight and came up short. It'd been years, he'd swear. But, it seemed Koga didn't have the infinite stamina he wished he had.

They had to end this soon. Looking up at the boss' HP bar, they still had two full ones to burn through. As much as Koga would've liked to go home and collapse, the sweet embrace of Kasumi's thighs his pillow was a long way away still.

Brimstone, on the other hand. Last legs, and Koga was happy to take them out from under it. It's attacked halted, and held in place, the creature was an easy target. A couple slashes and a stab at the writhing flame, and wyrm was dispatched. Koga pulled his sword out of the corpse of the creature before it burst into blue light. His shoulders heaved with exhaustion. Two down, hopefully only one more to go? "Hey guys? We could use a bit of a pick me up right about now..." Did anyone bring any coffee?

More walls went up, and yet another head of Wushen loomed over the party with the same disdainful eyes as the last. "Seriously? Does this guy not have any more tricks?" Koga grumbled before straightening his back and rolling his shoulders, the distinctive pop of a definitely not okay joint echoing in the arena.

Well, what more was there for Koga to do than to charge in and attack once more. A beast made of fire. Koga would not fear his namesake. Though his blow was glancing at best this time around, the steel of his sword glinted in the firelight, and as his boots touched the ground again, Koga could already envision where his next blow would strike.

Around him the fight went on, but for just a brief moment, there was clarity. That perfect moment in time that some fighters could dream of. And today, it would his.

Just as quickly as the acidic head had appeared, it disintegrated, the flurry of attacks from his party decimating the oozing form until it was naught but a puddle on the floor. "Thanks," Koga said to the others, hazarding a glance back at them as NIGHT brought down the ice walls that separated them from their comrades.

Hollow words bounced off the walls of the boss room. Or maybe from them. In decipherable as they seemed, overlapping one another, Koga could make out clips and phrases. None of it made sense to him, of course, but it didn't terribly matter. Koga knew his job, and that was to hit the boss until it died.

And so that's what he did. No fancy moves, no fire or brimstone, or battle cries (though for some reason Theoden's speech from Lord of the Rings was on repeat in Koga's head for some reason), just a flash of steel and a red gash.