Koga

The whistling of blades seemed to never end as Koga thrust his weapon into another Revenant's chest. Not that it really cared. The walking carcass simply pressed forward along side it's friends, swinging it's weapon wildly, forcing Koga to duck as the blades clanged off of Nari's armor. "Fuck off!" the man swore, kicking off the impaled revenant.

The clanking of yet another construct filled the air and Koga rolled his eyes in annoyance. Three of them now. And six red clad revenants that just wouldn't fucking die! "Ya know, next time, I'm picking the quest. I am so sick of these fuckers." Seriously, how was it that Nari was always getting him into trouble. First NIGHT, then fishing, what was next? Grass touching!? God forbid.

"How are you holding up?" the man asked checking in with the tank, noticing that her HP gauge had dropped. "You hangin' in there?"

"What do you have to say to me, Masato?!" Hikaru lifted the weapon high into the air and brought it crashing back down to earth, forcing Koga to roll to the left to avoid the blow. This time he was the one to attack, dashing in aiming to thrust his katana into his opponents side. But much like Koga had done, the spectre of Hikaru deflected the blow, using the handle of the hammer to parry Koga's attack to the side.

"What the hell do you want me to say, Hikaru!?" Koga shouted as he tried to land another blow, swing his blade at the man's neck. "That I'm sorry you died!? That I'm sorry I let you try to ride that stupid fucking boar!?" Koga raised his sword and brought it back down in downward swing. The sound of wood cracking echoed in his ears as Hikaru blocked the blow once more. "I didn't know that we'd be trapped here! We didn't, none of us did! So what the hell am I apologizing for!?"

"Isn't that obvious!?" Hikaru asked with a laugh, swinging his hammer at Koga like a baseball bat, forcing him to leap backwards, or otherwise suffer broken ribs. "You blame yourself anyways. Right? That's what it is." The green-eyed phantom charged, his hammer scraping along the ground, kicking up dirt and rocks before curving upwards. Stepping to his right, Koga span on his heels swinging wildly, only to meet resistance again. "You still blame yourself, all these years, for something you couldn't have possibly put a stop to." There wasn't a single hint of animosity in Hikaru's voice as he spoke. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"Shut up!" Koga drove his forehead into his opponent nose, a vicious snapping sound and an explosion of blood, as Hikaru staggered backwards, clutching his nose. "Of course I still blame myself! I should have done something, I should have told you you were an idiot for even thinking about it, that there was no point. I should have done something."

"Do you really think I would've listened?" Hikaru chuckled, moving his hand from his nose and looking at the blood staining it. "You know I would've done anything to impress her."

Every muscle in Koga's jaw tightened at those words. "Yeah...I know...but, still."

"Stop fucking talking," the hammer came down again, crushing Koga as he only narrowly sidestepped the blow. "And stop trying to apologize. You don't need to apologize to me. I'm dead. I couldn't hold it against you even if I wanted to." Another swing, forcing Koga to duck, only to be met with a knee to his face. The swordsman stumbled back, dazed. "And if I came back to life, you know I'd forgive you. So stop asking me for forgiveness. Forgive yourself, damn it." The man flourished his weapon as he stepped forward, like a batter stepping up to the plate. The hammer landed in his hands, and the heavy head rose again.

Koga's eyes flicked over to Nari as he felt her flinch, more so to assess if she'd taken any damage, than any assumption that he'd startled her. Confirming that she was fine, he turned his attention back to the growing crowd of enemies, augmented by the arrival of the first construct, the whirring of it's gears threatening to lash at them.

"Hey uh…Koga, we may be in a bit of trouble. If you’ve got a trick up your sleeve…now may be a good time to consider it…" Nari said.

The first of the Revenant's attempted to sneak an overhead slash past Nari's shield, but the rusted weapon was met by Koga's blade, parrying it aside, before swiping the sword at its neck, lopping it's head off.

"I'm working on it!" Koga called back as he took cover back behind Nari's shield, the body of the now headless revenant crumpling to the ground and burning away, just as another mechanical construct whirred to life.

Koga's eyes flicked to each of the enemies, one by one, assessing their strength. "We'll be fine. You heal back all their damage. Just stay calm," the man said with an even voice. This was going to take forever...

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I mentioned the constructs before," Koga commented as he stepped back behind Nari's shield, placing a hand on her shoulder pauldron so as to follow her movements without needing to focus on her. "Like I said, if we're fast we won't have to worry about them. Unlikely, but we can hope."

The woman cursed in, again, what Koga could only assume was Gaelic. "Mind speaking English?" Koga answered back as she finished taunting their enemies. "I can't laugh at whatever you're saying to them if I don't know what you're saying."

The dark-haired man then broke formation for a moment, stepping just past the to thrust the point of his katana into the chest of one of the Revenants, before withdrawing it as the wound began to smolder and retreating back behind the shield again. "Or I can start cursing them in Greek. Actually, does that skill even work with other languages?"

Item Name: Shadow
Profession: Blacksmith
Rank: 8
Roll ID: 209428
Roll Result: N/A
Item Type: Straight Sword
Tier: 2
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: ACC II, DMG
Description: A shorter ninjato, this single edge blade is entirely black from the string wrappings on the hilt, to the tip of the blade itself.
Post Link:

A few days passed of Koga definitely not forgetting to make that sword for that one random dude, and definitely not just sitting around being lazy. No. Not at all. He was definitely working super hard on it. You know. He had to farm up materials and what not. Because he definitely didn't have a surplus.

Anyways, after working on his very difficult craft, Koga sent a message off to Zenshu letting him know he could come pick up his weapon. Probably one of the less ostentatious weapons he'd crafted for others, the man laid out the weapon on a plain white cloth on the counter top, ready for Zenshu to come pick it up.

Fusion

Uncommon T2 Straight Sword [209425] + Uncommon T2 Straight Sword [209426] = Rare T2 Straight Sword [209427]

Rare T2 Straight Sword [209427] + Rare T2 Straight Sword [209423] = Perfect T2 Straight Sword [209428]

| koga gives zenshu Shadow

Item Name: Hammer of Bahn
Profession: Blacksmith
Rank: 7
Roll ID: 209397
Roll Result: 12
Item Type: Hammer
Tier: Tier 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: DMG III
Description: A glistening hammer of steel. The folds of steel have been etched into the form, and gold leaf decorated the edges.
Post Link:

Item Name: Shield of Bell
Profession: Blacksmith
Rank: 7
Roll ID: 209408
Roll Result: N/A
Item Type: Shield
Tier: Tier 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: Thorns II, MIT
Description: A medium sized kite shield. Polished to a mirror finish, with a golden phoenix emblazoned across it's front.
Post Link: 

"Welcome in," Koga said politely with a short bow as an older gentleman walked in. "I do believe I actually have just the thing for you," the blacksmith said, before walking over to a display case and unlocking it. He pulled out a shining hammer and set in on the counter before turning around. "Oh, and one more thing," he pulled a kite shield off the wall behind him, the emblem of a gold phoenix emblazoned on it's front. "Take this too. Both are free of charge. Consider it a welcome gift," the man said with a nod. "And a bribe to get you to come back," he said with a cheeky smile.

Just then, the bell above the front door rang again and another man walked into the shop, carrying a sunny demeanor that Koga still wasn't sure how people could manage. "Welcome in! Uh, if you're looking for a tailor, I'd recommend the Crusty Bahrnacle. I can pin it on your map, here. This though," Koga then picked up the ninjato the man had placed on the counter. He'd actually owned one similar to this in the real world. Decorative, of course, but a small bit of nostalgia went through him for a moment. "I can do this. Come back tomorrow, I should have something ready for you."

Fusion

Rare T1 Shield | 209399 + Rare T1 Shield 209341 = Perfect T1 Shield | 209402

| koga gives theodore bell Hammer of Bahn
| koga gives theodore bell Shield of Bell

Just like last time, a Red Cloak burst from beneath Koga feet, forcing the man to leap into the air backwards, drawing his sword and slicing at the clawing hands beneath him, meeting only air. Landing on his feet beside Nari with a huff, he said "Pretty sure the Red Cloaks used to own this Keep. Not sure what happened to them, or what the deal is with the robots but, here we are anyways."

The man sighed as more of the Red Cloak Revenants popped up out of the ground, clearly dissatisfied with the pair's trespassing. "Keep an ear out for a weird whirring sound...kinda like computer fans, if you still remember what that sounds like," Koga advised, thinking back to his and NIGHT's last battle here. "No constructs yet, but that's a decent early warning sign. If they do get up, save 'em for last. Don't want the Z-bies to turn on anymore of them."

Koga chuckled quietly at Nari's impersonation of a zombie. The next thing he knew, she might be dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller. "No, they're more like Draugr in Skyrim, if you've ever played that," the man replied as she downed yet another potion.

"Uh, I'm not sure to be honest. I doubt it, but if you ever have to fight a floor boss, those fights cap at six buffs for some reason. So, maybe don't rely on too many at a time?" Although, to be fair, six buffs were a lot to begin with.

While Nari stopped to gaze at the gothic keep, Koga didn't give it much pause, having already seen and explored the stone structure. "Yeah it does, creepy moving suits of armor and all," Koga replied in a dry tone. "If we're fast though, we might be able to skip the Constructs. I was a bit lower levelled, and my build was a bit different, so we might be able to get through this without having to fight those bastards."

"On it," Koga replied before a familiar whirring sound filled the air, making him pause mid-stride to look at the source of the peculiar sound. As the man's eyes fell upon the now animated hunk of metal, moving on it's own and quiet threateningly towards them, the man let out a low groan. "Oh c'mon, gimme a break." That thing reminded him way too much of the Dwemer Centurions from Skyrim, and he was definitely not in the mood right now to take a hammer to the face.

Growling in annoyance, Koga launched into a wide slashing attack, quick flashes of black flame and energy wrapping around his blade, striking the enemies, even reaching out towards their new metal foe, and reducing one of the zombies to dust as he attempted to draw their attention to him. A successful gambit, it seemed.

"Take out that last corpse," Koga said, "don't want anymore of those robot things to pop up." If they managed to keep the zombies from activating any more of the constructs, this fight could be over soon at least. Just one more after that, and then they could grab this stupid sword and move on to their next target.

As Ghost began to strum her ukulele, Koga began tapping his foot, recognizing the tune of Feel Good Inc, a song he had truly forgotten about until this very moment. It was a good song, easily recognizable if nothing else.

The song faded out and into a new one, the mood identifiable, and immediately linked in Koga's mind to a video game series, although which one, he couldn't quite put his finger on. It wasn't until NIGHT said the name aloud that it really clicked in his mind. "Oh yeah, I think you're right," the man said with a nod, before the song switched once more to something completely unfamiliar to Koga.

When NIGHT grabbed his hand and pulled him aside, and then proceeded to call Nari a pet name, the man gave her an absolutely astonished look. "Who are you and what have you done with NIGHT?" he asked in a half-joking manner. To be fair, the only time NIGHT had ever actually touched him was after extreme trauma, and he sure as hell had never heard NIGHT call DAY anything remotely close to a pet name in public. At least, not that he could recall. Was this some kind of alternate universe that he'd fallen into?

As the two women began to play their music again, Koga leaned back and listened contentedly. They were both quite good, if he was being honest. It was like his and NIGHT's own little private show, with the added stipulation of 'lure in a ghost'. Was it going to work? Who knew, but the man kept his eyes on their surroundings either way in the hopes that either would spot the ephemeral being.

Koga stood back and listened to the conversation. The mystery only seemed to grow thicker. A mysterious tattooed sigil, and a country of warriors. How did this all tie together? Koga surely didn't know. And he surely was not smart enough to figure it out (or at least not without more pieces of the puzzle to fit together). But still, it was a lead. Despite that, the whole quest was getting stranger by the second. How did any of this tie into that secret phrase they were told to obtain? Were these two separate plots, or simply threads that tied together. Koga didn't know, and it was giving him a headache.

President Brienne handed NIGHT a small envelope and recommended that they head to the Targok office in Brasso and speak to Commander Fudral. "We'll do that," Koga said with a nod, before turning towards the door. Pausing before leaving, Koga stopped and said, "Oh, by the way, we've been looking for a....secret phrase or something like that. We were told you might know something about that?"

“Oh, alright. We just…watch them get obliterated, then find the quest in the remains? That sounds…Cardinal-ish. Too bad we can’t just leap in and finish her off here, and skip the entire quest though. That would make it really easy.”

"Pssh, you can say that again," Koga replied as he crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg, (re)watching the lone woman single-handedly mop the floor with Harken and co. "Woulda saved NIGHT and I a lot of trouble." The quest had been an ordeal and a half. Near-endless waves of enemies, hellfire, creepy grotesque vampire lady...yeah, the quest had it all.

Harken dealt his final blow only moments later, drawing the attention of both players as Lilith shouted some inane ramblings as always before morphing into a swarm of bats and flying away to safety. Koga followed behind Nari as she approached Harkon and addressed him, only to be ignored. Much to the chagrin of Nari. "Scripted NPC, don't think about it too much," Koga said dismissively. Man, he wished there was a skip cutscene button sometimes.

The pair then turned away and began to head towards their first objective, Koga leading the way only because he'd already been there. "So I'm guessing NIGHT didn't tell you about what we went through to find that stupid sword, huh?" Koga asked, as he accepted another of Nari's offered potions. She would not be saying 'easy' if NIGHT had. The whole ordeal had been an affair certainly worthy of this floors theme, if nothing else. "Zombies. Endless fucking zombies. And some robots. 'Cause Cardinal says 'fuck you.'" Seriously, the engine behind their suffering was a truly cruel one sometimes.

| Koga consumes Percephonius Pyratius {14}, +3 DMG

Koga | HP: 1035 | EN: 124 | DMG: 23 -> 26 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 113 | B.HEALING: 56/113

Ghost didn't move or say anything for a couple seconds. As if she hadn't heard him. Koga was about to repeat himself when she suddenly sprung back violently, her face cherry red as she slapped her cheeks. Koga suppressed a small sound of amusement as he watched the girl, his eyebrow arching upwards, accompanied by a small smile. Had she...fallen asleep? Waking herself up? Koga didn't think his hugs were that comfortable, but the man was struggling to find any other reason she would be smacking herself in the face right now.

The man groaned and stretched slightly as he stood, adjusted the sword on his belt, then looked over at Ghost, who seemed ready to go. "Alright, I think that's everything," he remarked before joining her. "Let's go."

Though he let Ghost take the lead, the swordsman kept pace with the smaller woman, staying at her side as Okami bounded just a few feet ahead of them, probably eager for their inevitable dinner. "Do you have a taste for anything particular tonight?" he asked, trying to take a mental inventory of what ingredients he had at home, and what he actually knew how to make. "I'm pretty sure I got stuff for sushi, salads, sandwiches. Maybe pasta, but I don't really know how to make any good fish pastas...maybe tacos or something?"

Was he rambling? He was probably rambling

"Hell, no" Koga responded to Nari's jest with another of his own. "I'm worried about mine. NIGHT'd castrate me if you up and died 'cause I didn't show up." Joke or not, that probably wasn't an exaggeration. Koga was loathe to think about what kind of pain NIGHT would inflict upon him if Nari died on his watch. 

He did snort in genuine amusement, however, when Nari allowed a self-deprecating joke to leave his lips. At least she was self-aware that way. "Yeah, about her..." Koga thought for a moment. Actually, Koga wasn't really sure about Beelzebub. Or whether or not he'd reappear again at the end of this run. It didn't really seem like the guy was entirely scripted, like most of the other floor bosses. There wasn't really a guarantee that he'd show up again. Or that they'd have to fight that sick, twisted version of Lilith again. "Just...be on the look out for a stage two..." Koga finally said, deciding it best to maybe not mention the mysterious floor boss. At least this way she had some kind of heads up in case he decided to make another grand and fiery appearance.

The man started to follow after Nari as she started to head out of the town and offered him a crystal. The man glanced at it for a moment, wondering how much he really needed the thing. It'd be a bit of a waste if he just avoided all the attacks, or regened as fast as they could deal damage...but, better safe than sorry. "Yeah, thanks," the man said, taking the potion, popping the cork, and downing it all in one go. Try as he might, he still couldn't avoid the taste. Shuddering, the man shook his head, before tossing the bottle aside, only for it to disappear into small blue shard.

"Uh, Harken should be just up ahead," the man said after recovering from his distaste, gesturing just up the road where a few red cloaked guards were getting their asses handed to them by a familiar woman. Markedly more human looking than the last time he'd seen her. "Gonna need to hang back a second and let them eat shit before the quest actually starts."

| Koga consumes Axintori Alcemitanti {15}, +15% Max HP

Koga | HP: 900 -> 1035 | EN: 124 | DMG: 23 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 99 -> 113 | B.HEALING: 49/99 -> 56/113

A brief bright light at the corner of Koga's vision drew the man's attention as Ghost summoned a small instrument into her hands. "Oh, I didn't know you played the uke," Koga commented. Not that he would know much about Ghost anyways, he'd just met her a day or two earlier. "Dope."

The man then gave NIGHT an incredulous smile. He knew that she knew that his musical talents were about on par with a snail's. "Not unless you want you ears to bleed from my dogshit singing. Or got a piano stashed away in your tracksuit," he replied to her and Nari. And even then, about the only thing he could play was chopsticks...or the chorus to Five For Fighting's Fifteen, but who even remembered that son existed?

The man nodded to NIGHT as she suggested that they keep an eye out for the ghost while the other two played their music. "Uh, do either of you know any Jack Johnson songs?" Koga suggested, knowing that those were primarily played on the ukulele. He could at least hum along to those and be slightly less useless. "Oh, what about Over the Rainbow? Everyone knows that one." Hawaiian songs might also be a good choice...if anyone else actually knew how to speak Hawaiian...

Koga looked at DAY, shaking and muttering to herself, with a hint of both confusion and concern. They wiped out mobs on a daily basis. Why did this seem to bother her so much? It wasn't like it was any different from any other time they killed a bandit or thug out on one of the floors. Sure, maybe this guy could hold a conversation a bit better but Koga still doubted the guy had the same level of cognitive function as DAY or even Gabrandr.

Well, hopefully NIGHT would take of her companion later. This wasn't really any of Koga's business anyways.

Koga followed the women into the study, while the body guard moved to the door, still plastered against the wall and began to peel the wood from stone. Risking a glance back, Koga was surprised that the body hadn't actually completely disintegrating like he'd expected. Instead, it was still there, all in one piece, albeit a tad flatter than before...strange...probably had something to do with the quest...

Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, Koga summoned his collection of documents and placed them onto the pile of papers NIGHT had started and looked back at the President. "Welp, that's all of them. Just like you asked."

Brienne simply stood there and glared at the man with her arms crossed. Koga rolled his eyes. "Right, right," he muttered before stepping aside so that the President could speak to the only worth person in their party.

"Thank you for your assistance," the President said to NIGHT with a honeyed smile. "It seems that the bandits, save for their one unfortunate friend there, have disappeared into the night." Brienne collected the documents neatly together before spiriting them away into one of the drawers of her desk. "Rest assured, we will investigate tonight's events thoroughly. With any luck, we'll be able to track down the perpetrators and ensure that they answer for their crimes." Was treason not punishable by death in Ordsea? Why the hell did they spend so much time sneaking around...

"That might not be necessary ma'am," the bodyguard said, suddenly appearing in the empty doorframe. "That one had a tattoo on his arm. Sword and shield."

"Well I hope they stop popping up soon, 'cause I'm getting really sick of them," Koga grunted as his blade glowed with a sinister black light for a moment, cleaving another of the Revenants cleanly in two. The man leapt backwards, expecting another group of zombies to emerge from the ground to take their (re)felled friend's place. But this time, no clawing arms or flailing weapons burst from the earth. Koga didn't say anything though, not wanting to jinx the fight by opening his big mouth.

"Also, did it not?" Koga asked, trying to think way back to when he was still a level one newb. The man would've sworn that they had, but really all he could remember was running or slicing up the zombies. He couldn't actually remember anyone being turned by the undead. Had his mind just filled in that blank with an assumption. It was likely. "Well, I guess that's good news for us," the man said. "Want me to tank some of that damage for a second?" He then asked, noting that NIGHT's health bar was getting close to dipping into the yellow. Not that that was much of a concern, but it might help relieve some of the pressure for a moment.

It was Koga's turn to allow for a small smile on his face as he felt Ghost's arms wrap around him, pressing herself into his side. The sensation of another person in his arms. His in theirs. He'd forgotten what that was like. How comforting it was. He'd...missed it.

The two sat there, entwined in each other's arms, for a while longer. A simple moment by the riverside. Simple, and yet it meant so much for the two who embraced each other.

Koga would have been content to sit there for a while longer, but Okami had begun to become restless. The wolf padded up to Ghost and nudged her shoulder, trying to sneak his way beneath Koga's arm and join in their embrace. Of course, the man could feel the impatient wolf's prodding. "Hey, relax boy," Koga laughed as her released Ghost from his embrace and scratched the wolf behind the ears. "You're so fucking needy."

The man glanced up at the clock in his HUD, noting the time. "It's getting late, you wanna start heading back? We got fish to cook, remember?"

Koga sat back as Ghost began to speak with a halting voice, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He rested his chin on tops of his knees, his head tilting attentively as he listened. She spoke with a sweet melodic voice, colored by her sadness. She looked incredibly frail then. Like ash in the wind, only a small testimony to what had sat there only moments before, drifting aimlessly until the ashes finally settled in some new foreign land.

Hers was a pain Koga knew all too well. He still remembered when he'd wandered the floors of Aincrad without purpose. Simply existing, seeking either a new purpose or his demise. Either would've been preferable at the time. And though the man did not think that Ghost was as aimless as he'd been, he didn't want to see her stray down that path of despair. That wasn't living. And it'd be a shame to see someone so full of life living like that.

Koga reached out to the girl and wrapped and arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, bringing her close. A gentle kiss on the top of her head, made out of an attempt to comfort her (and perhaps a good deal of thoughtlessness), before he turned his eyes across the river, gently brushing his thumb along her arm. "I've lost people too, Ghost. I know it hurts," he said softly. "It's okay to grieve for them, remember them. Just don't let yourself get stuck in the past."

As Koga neared the hallway to the President's study, the sounds of chatter reached his ears. Was that...a bandit? And DAY? NIGHT must've been with her. The man went to reach for his sword as he broke into a run, pausing only when he recalled the President's request to not harm any of the bandits.  The man swore inwardly as Okami bounded alongside him. Maybe there was a quest failure condition around killing some number of bandits, and if that was the case, Koga was not exactly looking forward to having to sneak around this whole mansion again.

Rounding corner, the man spotted his two compatriots, facing off with some thug brandishing a knife. "Hey!" Koga called out to the man. "C'mon man, just give it up, you're out nu-"

The door to the study suddenly broke off it's hinges, careening across the hall and slamming into the bandit, flattening the man against the wall with a sickening cracking sound. Though the door remained embedded in the opposite wall, the red fragments bleeding out from the edges and floating skyward told the tale of the thug's fate. From the doorway itself, the bodyguard from before thudded into the hallway, dusting his hands off with a dismissive "Hmph."

"What in the fuck?..." Note to self, essential NPCs might be stupidly over leveled.

"Gaston!" the President's voice called from within the study before she too appeared in the doorway. "I thought I said not to harm anyone!"

"Well, maybe he shouldn't have been standing there," the man replied with a shrug. Koga's eyes flicked over to NIGHT and DAY down the hall with a confused look on his face. "Do we uh...?" he asked pointing towards the two disgruntled NPCs.

"What about that Halloween event from ages ago?" Koga asked as rushed in towards the last mob. Raising his sword, the blade glowed crimson before the man brought it down on the Revenant taking out another chunk of it's health, grunting as steel met bone. "There were zombies everywhere, remember? Whatever happ-" He hadn't been paying enough attention, the Revenants blade leaving a red mark across the man's abdomen as he leapt back with a hiss. "Okay, not cool."

The ground erupted once more, two more Revenants crawling from the earth, brandishing rusted weapons and immediately lashing out at the two players without hesitation, forcing them back. "Even less cool," Koga muttered. "How many of these things are there?" the man asked, a hint of aggravation in his voice. Weren't these guys supposed to be the cannon fodder or something? The man glanced down at the wound in his stomach, then up at his status bar. "Well, no zombie virus." For some reason, Koga was actually a little disappointed by that.

k o g a the elder wolf Spoiler notes: nights just a plot device at this point   Koga, Lvl 32/55 | HP: 900 | EN: 124 | DMG: 23 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 99 | B.HEALING: 49/99 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 | 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. <<Advanced Training>> | +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post. (Last Use: Apr. 4) <<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 hadn't noticed the message appear in his inbox for the first few hours, too absorbed in the book he was reading for probably the hundredth time. However, when he did notice the message, he set aside the leather bound volume for a moment, swiping open the messenger window. The smallest of frowns crossed over his lips as he read the name of the sender.

Well, message received Nari. And a long winded message at that. Though, she was right, they needed to talk more. Koga checked the clock, and the message's time stamp. If he wanted to make it, he'd have to leave now. But that would also require getting off the couch. And Koga was quite comfortable. Certainly too comfortable to bother with actually going to help Nari put the beat down on a bunch of mobs (tougher, though they were)...Yeah, staying home and reading sounded good.

...

...

...

The sound of the book slamming down on the coffee table as Koga stood and equipped his gear cut throught he silent room, causing Okami's ears to perk up. "C'mon boy," Koga grumbled as he opened the door, "NIGHT'll kill us if we let anything happen to her."

---

The teleporter flashed it's blue light, announcing the arrival of Koga and Okami. The man's eyes scanned around the Plaza until they finally settled on the familiar purple head of hair. "Yo," Koga greeted as he approached, hands in his pockets. "No NIGHT?" the man asked, getting straight to business. Or rather, the lack of it. No AoE player between the two of them. To be fair, redoing this quest wasn't exactly the epitome of fun, so Koga would understand and reluctance from the woman, but still, NIGHT's presence would have made all of this a lot quicker. "Hope you weren't planning on soloing this quest if I hadn't shown up."

Koga wasn't really afforded the comfort of hearing Ghost begin to answer him. Not her usual signs again, but with her voice. Unfortunately for her, nearly getting his gonads crushed had taken just a slightly higher priority over her story for the moment. Still wide-eyed, Koga blinked several times, staring at the object between his legs. "That's...a treasure chest?" the man stated with a hint of uncertainty. Koga couldn't decide if he was really luck, or really unlucky at the moment.

Looking over at Ghost, then back at the treasure chest, he grasped the handle and pulled it a little closer to him. "Well, fingers crossed it's not a mimic or something." Koga lifted the lid slowly, painfully so. The old, slightly rusty hinges creaked as the top swung open and-

...

Nothing popped out at him. Well nothing that tried to kill or each him at least. No giant tongue. No tentacles...but there were weapons! Koga whistled at the loot. Good luck it was. "Alright, well. I think this makes this fishing expedition a success," he said to Ghost with a grin.

| 209112, LD nat18 +3