Freyd

No sooner had Calrex been freed than another set of shackles clasped themselves upon Ariel and the cycle began anew. Their tactical situation was worsening, and everyone seemed to think that focusing on the boss was going to be their salvation. "You can't just charge for the flag while ignoring every other piece on the field! NIGHT! You have to get your tanks out of those shackles!" A turn of his blackened gaze sought to illicit Haine and Kiluia's help in that task. "Baldur and Orgoth have Shadow!" It wasn't his place to be barking orders, but their situation looked more perilous f

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Martial Arts (Rank 5) Mod(s) Being Dropped: None SP Incurred Towards Limit: 50 SP Refunded: 50 Cost: 50,000 col

Something shifted in the shadows nearby, padding with near non-existent softness of the supplest leather pressing against hard stone, gritting together the tiniest sampling of sand as it twisted its stance. It was enough to give away its position, but not from the expected direction. A second shadow, of the same size and build and with identical silhouette, silently fell upon it from behind. The two figures struggled at the edge of dim light cast by the drained blood crystals, laced into and still clinging to the cavern walls, or else refracting tiny glimmers penetrating from the oculus car

Post #23 "No! How?! It's not possible!" The King struggled to comprehend the truth of it. This was supposed to be their moment to ascend. "You're no hero! How can this be the way?" Freyd's expression shifted, a flash of sympathy in his eyes for but a moment. "This is what Cardinal does, my friend. This is what it will have you give, over and over again. For what's it's worth, I'm actually sorry that this is necessary." Without another word, Freyd swung the void overhead and brought it down hard, shattering the Flying Monkey King's form with enough force to crater th

Post #22 Storming back across the room with dark and ominous menace in his eyes, Freyd's blade swept aside all remnants of debris as he advanced. The weapon's aura charged with holy fury as the distance closed between them. The King's bloodthirsty grin faltered as he watched the player coming, doubting his odds even as he hefted his massive spear to keep him at bay. Another lightning quick slash severed the steel shaft, the spear's head clattering to the stoney floor and shattering from the impact. Eyes bulged as a giant-sized gulp echoed in the devastated chamber that still served as

Post #21 The catch with Freyd's plan was that he had to survive for it to be considered a success. King Kong seemed to have realized this, or else its rage conveniently pushed that particular agenda. Either way: it was bad. Freyd kept at his strategy, nipping and slashing down its health bar, bit by bit, but the angry gorilla would have none of it. Grabbing a nearby feast table made of solid oak, it swept the entire room and smashed all of the contents into the far stone wall, Freyd included. Peeling himself out of the wall like some sort of flattened cartoon character, the Wh

Post #20 "Dangit. I hate it when these things have a berserk mode!" Freyd learned the lesson that his previous opponent had not and gave ground in order to manage its rage. It wasn't enough to spare him a pummeling, but at least he didn't just stand there, taking it like some squishy, would-be tank. His role was damage output, and he was poorly suited to any other. Hood bobbing up and left, weaving left and right, he delivered counterstrikes where and as possible. The Monkey was trying to put him in the grave with a single blow. The Whispers tactics were more insidious. Even a

Post #19 Instantly back on his feet and looking to regain lost ground, Freyd rushed across the broken floor and furniture, crashing into the giant ape that had just sent him flying in the first place. Flying lessons from a flying monkey? It was a tad on the nose, but he wasn't fooling around. Dodging the creature's polished steel spear with an acrobatic contortion that looked anatomically impossible, the black blade struck a moment later. It sounded like a meteor meeting a banshee's wails and the two having horrible, horrible children that pierced ear drums by their very presence. Sa

Post #18 Montjoy did his part, manifesting a giant, shadowy 'F-U' on the crumbling masonry over the doorway. Hardly subtly, but it wasn't meant to be. It also worked. Big boss monkey swept down and stood right where Freyd imagined a giant bullseye might have been painted on the ground for this little scheme. He pounced, making contact and driving his black blade into his enemy's avatar from concealment, and then things literally went sideways; or, at least, he did. The Monkey King from Floor Eight instantly came to mind as a quintessential example of fights gone wrong. Freyd bar

Post #17 Creaking the battered, mostly broken-down door open, Freyd crept out slowly and stealthily. Luring the right mob would be key, whereas calling down a storm of monkeys might justifiably be considered one of the worst possible deaths to ever appear on the Monument in the starting city. It took only moments to spot the right one - a giant among the rest of the flock. What does one call a group of flying monkeys, anyways? 'Tribe' or 'troops' were the traditional terms for their terrestrial counterparts, but this felt like it required something separate and modestly ridiculous. A

Post #16 Freyd stopped to observe the morass of monkeys swirling just below the clouds outside the tower. It seemed the perfect metaphor for the state of Aincrad. Even as the players grew their strength, the environment raised the bar to increase the challenge. Staring at it, Freyd felt his old, cold, calculating self taking root. In these situations, its efficiency was peerless. It was also ridiculously dangerous to let it loose, but he was going to have to test his self-control eventually. Plus, this actually 'felt' right. It was a most unfamiliar metric, but that was really the

Post #15 A barrage of blows against the mob followed as confirmation. Freyd was no peacekeeper, nor motivated by any greater sense of harmony. He had a goal, and it was to make this place safe for the next batch to follow. Cardinal had set the terms: cull the mobs. He just had to meet those conditions to achieve it. Internally, a switch flicked off unlocking a mode of infinite possibilities and disregarded consequences. He became an instrument - a tool - devoted to singular and bloody purpose. The first swipe that followed severed the monkey's head in a blinding burst of wrath and

Post #14 "Oh no you don't! You're mine, meat-sack!" Interposing itself in the opening seemed a good idea, until Freyd tried to stab his way through. As imposing as it was, the creatures defenses simply couldn't stand up against the precision of the Whisper's assault. It held its ground, but at the expense of a rapidly dwindling health bar. "Look, if you want to stand in my way, that's fine by me. I'll just as soon go through you as around." Deflecting a badly-timed thrust, Freyd twisted his grip and drove his black blade deep into a grey-furred thigh. It was enough to cause hi

Post #13: Desperate to regain its footing, the creature flapped its wide wings, forcing Freyd to step back to avoid getting swatted. But, as soon as it tried to fold the feathered appendages behind it, he rushed forward and plunged his weapon into the mob's chest, flaring with darkness as the seal lifted momentarily, disintegrating a good sized chunk of the creature's torso. It hissed and gasped, the AI struggling to demonstrate how it was supposed to be able to keep breathing after such a strike. The truth was: it wasn't, but it really didn't need to either. Coiling low to avoi