Koga

Though Koga was most certainly annoyed that Cro was so quick to blow their cover and get them thrown right into the thick of things, he also was fully aware of what all of the man's strange quips and taunts were achieving. He was throwing their foes off balance. Prone to mistakes. Not exactly how Koga did things, but he sure as hell wasn't about to complain about having that advantage.

Well, he wasn't going to until the floor opened up between them and the man nearly fell into the black void. The ground beneath him suddenly gone, Koga flailed his arms for a moment until he found something solid, his hand just barely catching the edge of the floor, grunting as his fall was stopped. Looking down, Koga almost swore he could see the dim flickering flames of Hell at the bottom of the bit.

The man's suspension only lasted a moment though, before a hand gripped his collar and lifted him high into the air. A sweet, and yet terrifyingly menacing voice began to say, "Where do you think you're going? Koga right? let me eat you whole!"

"Sorry, but I'm really not into that sorta thing," Koga shot back before raising his blade. The thin sliver of steal suddenly burst into black flame, causing the woman who held him to release him, shrieking in pain and surprise, only for her agony to be redoubled as the swordsman's blade cleaved into the woman's chest.

Bounding backwards, Koga raised his weapon into a guard once more. "I'm not really as talkative as Cro either."

What happened next, no one expected. Or more precisely, everyone but Koga expected. In some Herculean feat of speed and hand-eye coordination, Ghost went from being at Koga's side, to halfway across the dojo, the just thrown teacup in her hand.

Koga blinked twice in surprise, staring at the girl as she walked past Koga, filled the tea cup, and then walked back over to him. The pale girl took a small sip from the cup, thin tendril's of steam still wafting up from the top of it, and then held it out to him. Koga looked at the cup, then at Ghost, then back at the cup, before taking it and also taking a small sip.

"Thank you," he said quietly, before looking at the old master who stood there with a massive shit-eating grin on his face. God, just the sight of the old geezer still ticked him off. But for now, Koga did his best to behave. "Alright, so what's next?"

A curious eye watched the two as they exchanged what Koga surmised to be greetings of some kind that seemed to have a strange effect on Nari, a slight tint coloring her cheeks. Was...Jomei trying to flirt with her? This day was only becoming more and more confusing as it went on. The man closed his eyes, shook his head, and once again moved on, not having the energy to try and decipher whatever was going on.

There was a fight to be had, after all.

Nari dashed forward first, each foot step heavily clanking against the ground before she launched herself in the air, drawing a violet arc through air, striking two of the herd. A short exchange, and Jomei followed up, tailing the woman, before breaking off to harass the four mobs from the side as Koga moved to opposite side, crimson light shining along the length of his blade as he made a wide sweeping slice, only striking two of their targets. A slight click of annoyance at having missed an immobile target, but no matter. They weren't done yet anyways.

The only one left able to move, and surprisingly unscathed, pounced towards Nari, raising it's arm high in the air and crashing down with explosive force that dealt a pitiful amount of damage to the well-armored woman. A short pause, was followed by a screech of pain as Nari's thorns activated and the mob felt pain for the first time in it's short life.

Koga crossed his arms again as the old master began to chastising him for his poor 'tea throwing etiquette'. As if that was actually a thing. And just to prove a point, the old man threw his own tea cup, the small ceramic object whizzing just past Koga's head like a bullet, missing the man by just a hair's breadth. While Koga wasn't surprised, he was still annoyed. This time by the fact that the old man was clearly just showing off.

Master YunXiang snatched the other cup from Ghost's hand, who stared at her now empty hand in shock, disbelief, a mere shell of the woman she was before. The man then handed the cup to Koga before striding over to the other side of the room and commanding that Koga aim to strike him with the cup.

Oh, Koga would love to.

The swordsman wound up like a baseball pitcher, carefully aiming, lifting his leg, drawing his arm back.

Fwoom!

The cup sailed across the room, team spilling out in great big circling arcs as it span through the air.

Blow after blow met only empty air as the old man bobbed, weaved, flowed around Koga's attacks like water. Untouchable, the geezer actually seemed to be having a good time as he chided to the younger man. Then, in a flash, the old man had disappeared from Koga's sight, leaving the man looking around him for his target, at least until the voice called down from up above them. And though the man's explanation made some sense (in the most loosely associated way), it did nothing to settle Koga's grievances or annoyance.

While Ghost was able to show some restraint, Koga's general disdain for this whole quest got the better of him. The man snatched the cup of tea from the smaller girl. "Fine, just get down here so we can move on to the next thing!" Koga shouted up to the old man before flinging the cup of tea at him.

The lilting sound of Nari's voice singing some song in a foreign language. Though the words held no meaning for the man, there was no denying that it was a pretty song. Maybe not knowing the words made it a little more pleasant to listen to. A mystery only Nari knew the answer to.

The man looked over to Ghost as she began to sign to him, the words she created pulling a sheepish chuckled from the man's lips. "I'm not good people, Ghost," he said softly, turning his eyes back to the road ahead. "I'm just people." Good people were far and few between. Unshakable moral center, and sense of right and wrong that rivaled that of saints and gods. Koga had none of that. Just fumbling around in the dark like everyone else.  He had his vices, his own dark desires and secrets. Sure, he had his redeeming qualities, but at the end of the day, Koga didn't believe that made him a good person. If a good person had to be a saint, and to sacrifice everything they loved for what they believed was right, Koga was not one of them.

The drab scenery of this floors cavern-like infrastructure soon gave way to all manner of flowers and trees. Fountains too, as Nari pointed out as she turned to address the Yin and Yang of the group. "No, first time for me," Koga answered, allowing his gaze to slowly sweep over their surroundings. Though calm, he kept a hand on his weapon anyways, just in case something, spectral or not, decided to leap out at them.

Koga blinked in surprise at the cups of tea arrayed across the small table before the master as he sat down. Koga couldn't recall getting anything of the sort on his arrival, and for a moment he felt a tinge of jealousy. Not that it mattered.

When told that Ghost must first perform some task, Koga stood behind the girl, crossing his arms to watch, his neutral expression perhaps falsely indicating displeasure. Reality would have it that the man was more confused. The swordsman knew that the quest had changed since Shadow, but this was...odd. Touching your elbows wasn't difficult by any means...The orders only got stranger. Jumping with her arms at her side and then...

Koga's eye twitched as he finally caught on to what the old master was doing. And Ghost seemed to be oblivious.

Koga launched forward, fists flying towards the old man's face. "Cut it out you old perv!" the man shouted. The old man only laughed dodging the hail of fists that Koga unleashed, "I thought you'd appreciate this, pupil Koga!"

"Not everyone is a creep like you, old geezer!"

| 208546, CD nat1
| 208547, CD nat5

With their objective assigned the party split up and...wait...what? Koga stared at NIGHT and DAY as they...or really, just the one, exited the room, heading straight for the Master Bedroom, their intentions made perfectly clear.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." Koga said, visibly deflating, his shoulders slumping forward as Okami let out a low whine beside him. Signing the man returned his gaze to President Brienne and nodded. "We'll get it done, ma'am," he assured her before turning and exiting the room, careful to close it quietly behind him before unrolling the map and examining it.

"Alright, I think the armory is a good place to start..." Koga said quietly to Okami before gesturing for his familiar to take the lead for them. Quietly, the two tread the floor, stepping heel to toe as lightly as possible, making no noise. Not even a single one of Okami's claws clicked on the wood floors as he carefully stalked forward, his keen sense of smell assisting the pair in avoiding any trouble they might run into.

For the first leg of their search, it was going well so far. The door to the armory creaked open quietly, and Koga peered into it. Sure that it was empty, the pair stepped within and began to search. First the chests. To say the search was short would have been no exaggeration. Within one of the large steel chests, the small rectangle of metal sat, dull and grey. The man reached out to pick it up when-

"Take a look in there!" 

| 208543, LD nat5 +3

@LessaI'm shocked!

Also sign me up for powerposter apparently?

At NIGHT's declination to the unspoken invitation to join them in stone punching, Koga gave the woman a slight disappointed look. Though he hadn't been planning on asking, having NIGHT along would have sped up their progress. Not having the extra body there to help, not ideal. "You wound me," he said to her, deadpanning.

When Ghost decided take his request quite literally the sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, a quiet groan escaping his lips. "Alright, so we're doin' this, I guess," he muttered before NIGHT tossed the girl a teleporter crystal. The man nodded his approval. "Better to be safe than sorry," he said, glancing between the two before then looking at Nari with a nod, indicating for her to lead the way.

The four broke into two pairs as they all made their way out of the settlement together, Nari and NIGHT at the head, hand in hand, with Koga and Ghost just behind them, with Ghost clinging to the man's arm still, his own hands stuff into his pockets. Looking ahead, Koga could make out that they were whispering among themselves, but what they were saying, the man had no clue. Though curious, he couldn't muster up enough care to bother asking them. Instead, the man drew his hand from his pocket and gestured towards Nari. "So, Nari's our tank," the man explained, "if the big ass suit of armor and shield didn't clue you in. She's usually the one to initiate fights for us, and draw as much aggro as she can." He then gestured towards NIGHT. "And NIGHT is a DPS. I've known her for...God, I've lost count of how many years, but she's good at what she does." His hand returned to his pocket as they continued on. "We don't really have a healer or anything, but to be honest, we don't exactly need one most of the time. With Nari at the front, she can usually just soak damage and walk away with just scrapes and bruises. NIGHT and I, well even if Nari can't hold the aggro, we're usually quick enough on our feet that it doesn't matter too much. And even if we do get tagged, we can both heal back all that health."

The man then shifted his gaze to Ghost, "You find good people and stick with 'em, you live. Or you get stupidly over-leveled, but..." the man stole another glance at NIGHT and Nari. Though he wasn't sure how he felt about them being an item still, it didn't matter. It wasn't his job to figure it out. Rather, he was just happy NIGHT had someone. She never had come off as lonely to him before. DAY had probably helped with that but...well, she seemed the slightest bit happier. "It's good to have friends you can count on."

NIGHT's disgusted remark earned her a short derisive look as the man dusted off his clothing. "'Cause good pie is good pie?" the man stated in a matter-of-fact tone. What kind of question even was that, he wondered. The nerve of some people.

Picking up the tin again at NIGHT's behest, the man quite literally shoved the remaining pie into his mouth whole, chewed once, twice, and then swallowed in a terrifying display of gluttony that left even him looking slightly pained. "Who the hell do you think I am?" Koga coughed, beating his chest once or twice. Maybe that wasn't the best idea.

Following his companion, the man let her do all the talking as he tried to dislodge whatever chunk of food was caught in his throat, only managing to clear it after she turned and asked him if he was done. "Yeah," he said, coughing once more and finding himself a little less labored to breathe. "Yeah, I'm done. So Ashen Keep. I assume its that lovely looking building in the distance?" Koga said, pointing to yet another foreboding looking castle in the distance. One of only two in this near-barren red wasteland.

Upon being greeted so exuberantly, Koga couldn't help but sigh. "My complexion is always clear, old man. It's called 'being Korean' you should give a try one day." Though Koga doubted that the elderly master had any clue was a 'Korean' was, Koga took what little pride he could in rebuffing the old man's insults.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Ghost was to be spared the old man's intricacies either, as he almost immediately dubbed her 'Dandelion'...on account of her hair...because that somehow made sense on account of the color alone.

Ghost cast a worried look back at Koga, and the man faked an encouraging smile for her, and gestured for her to follow the old Master, with himself close behind. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite...much..." he added, recalling how the Master had decided that drawing a stupid face onto Koga should be part of his training. How in the world this old man had become a martial arts master was both beyond Koga, and strangely fitting. Enough so that the swordsman couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the fact. "Oh, this is gonna be a long day," Koga muttered quietly under his breath.

Koga rolled his eyes at NIGHT's typical jests and jabs as he tried to simultaneously read the script appearing before Ghost. Though multi-tasking was not the man's strong suit, he made do. "I didn't even know she was looking for me until about-" Koga pretended to check the non-existent watch on his wrist, "thirty seconds ago. By then she was already here," he said crossly to NIGHT. "She's looking to pick up the Martial Arts skill, and I offered to help since, well, you and I both know the special kinda hell that particular quest is, NIGHT." So much punching that stupid rock...so much...

"She's...not very high level," Koga sighed in response to Nari's question, before looking over at Ghost with his lips pulled back into a thin line. "Do you want to come with us?" the man asked the silver-haired girl. "If you do, you gotta stick close to me, okay? I'm not doing this whole 'grieving over dead friends' shit again, it's not fun."

As the two climbed the final few steps, the dojo finally came into full view, with it's red painted walls, and intricately carved windows. The wooden double door were thrown wide open, allowing the pair to easily peer into the space within.

As expected, Master YunXiang sat within, legs crossed beneath him with incense burning into front of him and a lone fly buzzing around his head as the old man ever so slowly lifted a pair of chopsticks to nip at the fly's wi- SMACK! Oh...never mind...Koga let out a long, quiet, exasperated sigh as he watched the old man flatten the fly against the wall with a fly swatter. It seemed that the old man had only gotten more eccentric in the last two years since Koga had last visited.

"Welp...there's your 'old man in the cave'," Koga said to Ghost before gesturing for her to take the lead. "He's all yours."

Before Nari could finish explaining what (little) she knew about the rumor, the bloom of bright light from the teleporter drew Koga's attention. Expecting NIGHT to materialize before the stone pillar, the man looked towards the pad only to stare, wide eyed at the one person he had not wanted to see on this floor.

Ding!

Koga didn't even need to look at the message to guess at it's contents. "Ghost?!"

"Uh…someone you know? A fan, or something? She…seems to be either terrified of, or in love with you?"

Koga's head slowly turned to look at Nari, a dull look of indignation and what-the-fuckery on his face. "Really?" the man drawled as he gave the woman a a questioning look before looking back at the silver haired girl. "Ghost, what are you doing here?"

Before the man got his answer though, the teleporter flashed blue again, and out stepped NIGHT, nearly running right into Ghost. Approaching the two, a pace behind Nari, the man took a deep breath and exhaled. "Nice of you to join us, NIGHT," the man said, clearly a little exasperated. "Uh, guys, this is Ghost. Ghost, this is Nari, and this is NIGHT," the man said, pointing to each in turn. "Again, Ghost, what are you doing up here?" the man inquired.

Though Koga spoke two languages, he had absolutely no understanding of the Gaelic language. The way letters seemed to make completely unrelated sounds for absolutely no reason at all confused the hell out of him, and frankly, his interest died right there. While the other two waxed lyrical about their shared tongue, Koga took the time to cast another line into the water, in the hope that something, anything, could be fished up.

Before even the lightest tug could be felt on the thin line arcing into the water, Koga looked behind him to see the other two eagerly eyeing another group of mobs. Not to be left behind again, Koga dispelled his fishing rod almost as quickly as he had produced it and lazily drew his weapon. "Can't imagine these things doing more than scratch us," the man added to the conversation, rolling his shoulder. "C'mon, on your cue, Nari."

| 208487, +4Exp
    > Total Exp Gain: 20

To say NIGHT was visibly discomforted by the President's rather forward greetings (at least towards her, in Koga's case, backwards might've described it better), would be an understatement. The woman could hardly string together a coherent thought. A look of pain fell over the man as he listened to NIGHT attempt to explain why they were here. And even more pain when the President seemed entirely unbothered by NIGHT's lackluster efforts. Well, nice to see that feminism was alive and well somewhere, Koga supposed.

The man's silent torture would only go on for so long though, as before NIGHT could actually explain why they were here, a loud clatter and clamor sounded from outside the door. A ruckus that slowly drew the attention of all those present. At first, Koga looked towards the President and her bodyguard for answers, but they both seemed as confused as he did. It wasn't until the bodyguard reached for his weapon that Koga realized something was amiss. "Extremist problem," Koga summarized as he turned towards the door, his hands moving towards his own weapon. "Here to help."

"I did not address you!" the President reminded him, to which both Koga and her bodyguard rolled their eyes. "Miss President," he chided gruffly. This time it was the President's turn to roll her eyes. "Yes, yes, extremists," she said, a tad annoyed. "War-mongers, I would venture to guess they're here for some very important documents," the dark haired woman explained as she strode over to her desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a rather hefty looking dagger, one that looked more fit for battle than ornamentation. "They're secured in various hidden lock boxes and safes around the estate. Here," she pulled a document from the drawer, a sheet of paper that she handed very specifically to NIGHT. "This is a map of the grounds. I ask you, both of you," stern eyes shot over to Koga before drifting back to NIGHT, "find these documents, and keep them from the militants hands. Should they fall into their hands, this whole continent may suffer for it." The woman took a deep breath as shouting became clearer beyond the door. "If I may, I have one last, odd, request." She calmly looked between the two players now, for the moment, the two were no different from her. "Do not harm any of the trespassers. They maybe terrorists, but they are still my people."

At Ghost's inquiry Koga lips pulled back into a disgusted scowl. Thinking back on what little he could remember about the quest, the man in question had been markedly unlike any instructor Koga had had in the real world. He was...a different beast altogether. "Uh, you'll see..." the man answered mysteriously, unsure of how best to answer the question.

Their walk then proceeded with relative quiet. It wasn't exactly an arduous journey, but it surely was not easy. The path, though well-trodden, sloped upwards, climbing high towards the distant building, steadily drawing closer. The last time Koga had walked this path, it'd been with NIGHT, Yukiro and Noctua. A good memory. But, the fact that it was pleasant was reason enough for Koga to feel the slightest pang of longing in his chest. Those had been good days. They'd all been...well, perhaps not happier, but they'd had each other then. But, time meant they'd drifted apart, some more than others. Such was life.

"If I said I got lost, would you've believed me?"

"Not a bit," Koga answered back as he sliced off another bite sized piece of pie. "You never get lost. And you're never late. Took a detour?"

The battle seemed to be coming to a close slowly in the distance as the Red Cloak's numbers dwindled to only one. If Koga recalled correctly, that last one was the one they were supposed to talk to, but only after he dealt a 'devastating' blow to the lady he was fighting. Or something like that, he didn't really pay attention to the quest brief too much.

Koga glanced down at his lunch (dessert would imply he ate something else beforehand) and simply shrugged. "Can't remember. It's been in my inventory forever. Bless video games and their perpetually fresh food. Want any?" he offered,  pushing the tin pan a little closer to NIGHT.

Just as Koga finished speaking, the last of the Red Cloaks dealt another heavy cleaving strike against the woman, who began to shout vehemently before the woman dissolved into a cloud of red, what Koga presumed to be blood, and drifted away, towards some distant structure, monolithic, even at this distance. Rather macabre.

"I think that's our cue," the man then said, standing up.

A brief moment of silence (well, silence sans sign) as Ghost looked down at her outfit, then back up at him, features softened in some approximation of a smile as she began to gesture to him. "Oh, uh, thanks," the man chuckled in response, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're fine for this quest though," he went on as they came upon the well worn path, lined with smalls stone statues of various animals. "Only thing we're fighting today is a rock, so nothing serious. Either way," his hands retreated to his pockets, "as long as you have high evasion or a good tank on your side, you'll be fine." His face shifted slightly, as if thoughtful. "Or both. Both is preferable."

The path continued to climb up the mountain, winding and twisting it's way towards the peak. A little more than half way up the mountain side one could make out a red roof constructed in Japanese fashion. "That's where we're headed," Koga said, pointing up at the structure. "I gotta warn you though, the master there is...interesting..."

Nothing happened though. Just the noises of the street, cars passing by, some grackles noisily calling out to each other. Everything was just...normal. Koga looked down at his clothing, fully expecting to be in his regular street clothes, and yet, he wasn't even surprised when he found that he was still in his coat, with his katana hanging at his waist. Well that confirmed it. He was still in the game. Just...some kind of simulation or vision, like the tavern.

A swell of anger at the violation of his mind swept through Koga. "Fuck you!" the man shouted into the sky, at Cardinal, at Kayaba, at whatever gods had decided this would be an amusing joke to play on the man. Whatever entity that Koga was cursing, it seemed to deign not to respond, perhaps too busy rolling on the floor laughing.

These were his memories. This was his home. And it seemed that they were made into Fate's playground now. The tavern was the same, but this just seemed to hit a little closer to home. Koga felt sickened by the notion.

Nari was the first to arrive, and Koga had to admit he was a little surprised that NIGHT was not with her. Even still, the man gave her a polite nod, lacking the same vitriol from their last few encounters, though still a mite cautious. "Ey," he greeted as she approached. "Not much," he then answered back, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Same as you, I imagine. Just something about a ghost hanging around some gardens." The man shrugged, "not much to go off of. Hopefully we don't run into anything too big." Though he was confident in their little party's abilities, the floor was new. Unexplored in many ways. And that meant unknown dangers. Who knew what they might run into.

A notification then pinged into existence, drawing Koga's attention, and the man took a moment to open the delivered message. His eyes grew wide with alarm as he read the contents. "Fuck," he muttered, before beginning to type back a response.

Hopefully she read it before she found a teleporter.

A tug at the corner of his lips and the slightest upward movement of his brow was all that gave away that he was impressed with the fact the girl had managed to catch both items in the air. No small feat of hand eye coordination. His reaction to her new attire though, was not as well hidden.

It took the mana  moment to avail himself of Ghost's new outfit, form fitting, and though not provocative he had to admit, it was attractive. That she was attractive. Had he just never paid attention before? The man lifted his fist to his mouth, coughing into it, as if clearing his throat for a moment as he struggled to regain his composure, the unexpected ambush causing more havoc than intended.

The man almost missed the words Ghost signed him, a little too enraptured by her pale eyes, a tinge violet, but managed to catch enough that he knew the question. Forcibly averting his gaze, perhaps a bit stiffly, the man looked up at the mountain side again. "Yeah, up there. There's actually a path not too far. C'mon," the man said as he turned and gestured for Ghost to follow.

As the girl caught up to him, the man stole a quick glance at her again, before fixing his eyes ahead. "I like the new gear," he commented, wanting nothing more than to fill the silence with something, even if it was just the sound of his own voice.

Nari might as well start calling herself the Wind of Despair at this point, the way she seemed to always spin in a dizzying circle like a cyclone of blades. Nothing seemed to be spared he wrath. No one. Grim thought, sure...but if those two could somehow, by an act of God, work through whatever the hell that had been to...The thought was giving Koga a headache at this point.

"That's some fancy footwork there, Jomei," Koga commented to the man, choosing to let that confusing turn of events rot in the depths of his mind for the time being. "I don't think I've seen too many people move that fast." A level of skill that seemed to transcend the games automated systems. Or maybe Jomei just managed to muscle memory his way through it. In either case, the defense he'd managed to put up whilst Nari finished off the last of the Knights had been impressive.

"I got jack-shit," Koga replied to the man, glancing at the loot pane before dismissing it with half a scowl. "Just some Col, crafting materials and a couple of trash trinkets. You guys?"

k o g a the elder wolf Spoiler notes: oh this quest isnt nearly as bad now   Koga, Lvl 32/55 | HP: 900 | EN: 124 | DMG: 26 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 99 | B.HEALING: 49/99   equippped battle-ready inventory Bloody Handwraps | Perfect T4 Martial Arts Weapon | DMG III Shuku-ro Coat | Demonic T4 Light Armor [ EVA II // VAMP-D. II ] lupine. | Demonic T4 Trinket [ ACC III // EVA ] Tsuki no Hikari | Demonic T4 Katana [ CRSD // FALN II // BRN ] Liquor of Light | Perfect T1 Consumable | DMG III (2) Bandages | Perfect T1 Martial Arts Weapon | DMG III   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: Mar. 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.

The little message notification appeared in Koga's periphery just as he opened his 'liquor' cabinet and grabbed a couple of bottles from it, stashing them away in his inventory. Closing the cabinet door, Koga gestured with his finger, summoning up the translucent UI pane to see who had messaged him. It'd been Ghost, of course. He wasn't running late was he? With all of Okami's excitement at seeing the girl again, he'd figured he'd been out of his house sooner, rather than later.

A quick message was sent to Ghost notifying her he was on his way, and a moment later, he opened his front door, Okami bounding out at high speed, only at the end of the path leading to Koga's home to wait for the man, before dashing ahead again. The mutt was a crackhead, Koga swore.

---

Some ten minutes later, Koga could see Ghost staring up at the mountain, their long climb ahead of them. "Yo," he called out to her, waving once she turned and spotted him and his companion. His appearance was it's usual. Tired-looking eyes, a dark leather coat, unbuttoned today, with a grey shirt beneath it and a pendent hanging from around his neck, black pants and boots. All in all, normal...except for the lone fact that something was missing. His katana was not at his side today.

"Sorry, ran a bit later than I planned. Anyways, here," the man said summoning up the bottle from before and what looked to be a roll of cloth, tossing them to the girl. "Drink up, and put those on, you're gonna need them." The man tugged on the sleeve of his coat momentarily, lifting it enough so that it revealed the bandages wrapped around his hands, and tugging on the ends of the knot keeping them in place, tightening them. They were identical to the one's Koga had just tossed to Ghost, weapons, by all rights, the only difference in their appearance being that, while Ghost's set was clean and white, Koga's were dirtied, dulled brown with dust and spots of dried blood.

"So, you ready?" he asked, as Okami wagged his tail expectantly as he sidled his way up to Ghost, looking up at her with big puppy-dog eyes.

| Koga consumes Liquor of Light, +3 DMG

Koga offers Liquor of Light to Ghost |
Koga offers Bandages to Ghost |