Freyd

She noticed before he did. The 'shushing' of agitated prisoners shifting against painful bonds made awkwardly painful by dearth of having been dragged to their current vantage. Up ahead and to the right, in a smaller watchtower, high up inside the main courtyard. Freyd nodded his awareness after spotting her closing her eyes, his mind puzzling slowly to figure out why. When he heard it, he understood. "There's an exit over there. I'll rush them from the west. Just keep them from escaping and this should be over shortly. Judging by the packs and bedroll count un the main camp, there

Dimensional Pouch | [15 Mon] | ID 239552 Adds +1 to the player's Battle Ready Inventory. A player may only benefit from one Dimensional Pouch at a time, but can be worn in addition to a Dimensional Backpack or Hammerspace Backpack.

Raising a brow at the Merchant's impromptu appraisal, Freyd did the same, but found nothing immediately unusual. "Are you sure it's wise to have summoned him here? If there were ever any NPCs on this floor, something killed them all." The face beneath its purple-hood halted and paled, its mask only capable of hiding so much. "And no current access to stock? That's rather interesting. Ever had that happen before?" A few possibilities jumped into Freyd's mind, none of them good. "Setting up a base camp is a good idea, Hirru. But maybe one or two others should remain here with you

"Well, I'm always keen on the standing in front and doing my best not to get stabbed approach. And your grisly can opening gives you better reach, so you can watch by back while we do it. Try not to stab me. I know it's tempting, but you can probably, mostly, manage." Peering into the cave, Freyd didn't immediately notice anything amiss. It looked very much as he remembered, with pastel-coloured crystals growing out of the walls at odd angles every few feet that hummed softly in the breeze that still flowed near the exit. The deep crimson glow coming from the depths was less consolin

Pursed lips and a nod, acknowledging her words and shuffling the issue down the road, Freyd turned his attention back to the matters at hands. "I should be able to track... nope. Why am I not surprised? Ali and Cassim were always a slippery pair. It figures that they would be untraceable. So much for that particular shortcut." Glancing off in the direction of the drag marks, they led towards a series of old outbuildings. Possibly barracks or mess halls? An abandoned wagon nearby implied an answer to Ty's question. "There's little difference between bandits and raiders. Who

Sliding in to stand should to shoulder with Kyoto, the Whisper whirled and parried like a dervish whenever the bandits tried to close. The first, a hefty brute with patchwork armor that looked salvaged and stapled together from whatever he'd stripped off the fallen, fell rather quicky when he overreached. Freyd stomped on his foot as he dodged, throwing him off balance, making him easy prey for the black blade. His partner roared in rage, declaring his intentions before acting. A quick lateral slice ripped his larynx from his throat, the mob shattering in silent shock at the speed of h

By the time Ty reached the crumbling fortress gate there were signs of another quad of fallen mobs, their fractal essences drifting off in the breeze. Freyd, his face focused and alert for more incoming guards, slid Veritas' black blade against the sheen on his matching armor, as if cleaning it in some ceremonial manner. Scanning the remains of their camp site revealed little. Hot steaming cups of something acrid now sat unattended. Some unlucky game bird slowly burnt over the open spit with no one left to turn it. Sparing a quick glance towards his companion to assure himself she wasn't

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ Watching her unfurl from his grasp, Freyd was unaccustomed to such certainty entrenched behind her warm, watering, empathic eyes. A rose in bloom, shedding away the detritus of past wrongs to stand proudly for herself - for who she wanted to be. Elora was magnificent. Gently trapping him between her fingertips in a way that he could never voluntarily escape, his heart melted as surely as it wanted to break. "It's ok...", she softly stated. No... anything but that...and yet... Not what he expected to hear. Not from her, given her history and staunchly set ways.

"Nicely done." The praise intended for Wulfrin, as Freyd had already sheathed his weapon to help Foyle clear the landscape off his clothes. "You've made the rounds, I see. Good to see. I'd say you're ready for what comes next. These will be lightweight by comparison, but still worthwhile as practice fodder." A chuckle spared for the older man's predicament, who merely brushed him off and accepted his fate. Foyle rarely complained about anything, no matter how filthy he had to get. "You figure out how to make more of that and I'll buy you a new, shinier pair of goggles." If an

Leaping down onto the drum sands, landing to create a deliberate thud to attract the beast's attention, Freyd wanted to make himself its target. Without hesitation, the sub-sandy lump veered violently his way, streaking like a torpedo as if he was an entire convoy worth of juicy targets all bundled into one. Slamming his fist into the ground several more times, just to piss it off to maximum potential, Freyd stood and claimed his stance, ready to face down the monster. Sliding one leg back to brace against the incoming charge, Freyd kept his katana in a low guard and waited until the gi

Emerging from the portal like a thousand past shadows porting through the void, a familiar stranger reformed mere moments after his departure. Brows furrowed farther than their usual range. Barely a thing had changed, yet... "I left here hours ago. Why are they still all standing or wandering about the starting area?" Summoning his interface was no help. Quite the opposite, in fact. The clock read wrong. Not off, but utterly wrong, in the nonsensical sense. Irreconcilable digits, unreadable glyphs, non-sequential series jumping randomly or even backwards. "Is this floor out of ph

Manifesting at the familiar portal base, Freyd took it upon himself to actually appreciate the grandeur of the place this time, more than he ever had before. Serene and solemn, its high vaulted ceilings and ambient constant suffusing lights granted it an air of ephemeral formality. It felt warm, safe, bright - all aspects in contrast to the road taken to reach this point. A mirth and wistful smile paid homage to previous passages made with vastly different motives. This felt more like a luxury than a trial to be endured. "A horn, please," he called out to the spectral vendors who te

Freyd turns and glances sideways towards his companion, a old, familiar grin forming slowly beneath his new features. Silently drawing his katana, Freyd stepped sideways into the umbra provided by the rocky outcrop behind which they were hiding. Vanishing into the darkness, he reappeared an instant later on the far side of the fortress gate, having somehow slipped through the void between two shadows to emerge behind their watchtowers and defenses. The bandits cried out in surprise - those that didn't die instantly in his opening assault. Another's fractals were smeared across the sand befo

Falling between floors was old hat to the Whisper, having stumbled through more than his share of glitches, not to mention his everyday sojourns through the void as a convenient means of travel. Where others struggle to orient themselves, Freyd was already aligning his blade and self to deliver a blow the instant they emerged on the other side. Wulfrin, true to form, had already stunned the Phoenix, leaving it exposed and vulnerable while the rest of his team fired off their shots as best they could. When his turn came, Veritas struck true and carved the infernal turkey from crown to tailfe

"Everything's fine...you don't need to worry, please --" Relief. Indescribable elation as those words reached his ears and bled away the terror of what Cardinal might have inflicted by sheer force of doubt and uncertainty. Had Elora's obliviousness somehow insulated her from its tells, or had nothing rippled its way out from the turbulence of the raid? It doesn't matter. She didn't have to endure a harrowing. That's all that matters. She's safe. She was spared the agony I thought I'd caused. "Turn that analytical mind of your's off for just a second -- what happened out there?

Watching the others rally and coordinate their attacks, Freyd did his best to keep focused on the boss, and boss focused on himself. Hacking and slashing as quickly as he could manage, but to limited effect against Ravana's multi-armed parries. A well-timed rebuff on the demon's part had likewise prevented him from taking advantage of Foyle's strike, enabling a full block. Jeeves' was on the ball, though, devastating the mob the moment it became exposed, yet denied from actually felling it. Mad, cackling laughter came from the demon's throat, its scorched form hovering on death's door,

"I might send Foyle along with you, if you don't mind? He's another O&I agent and training as a scout. The skill would be a great asset for him too." Listening to her comments on mob bosses as he climbed up a hidden rise to gain them a better vantage on the fortress, its battlements were looking more and more like ruins as they approached. The main gates had desiccated and turned to dust ages ago and most of the mortar binding the individual blocks forming the walls had followed. Signs of heat-inflicted decay were everywhere. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert on real-world mob bos

Freyd just laughed at Morningstar's sudden arrival and Acanthus' startled reactions. "I should probably start assuming that you have a sleeping cot in ever bar and gambling den in Aincrad, Star, and that you simply teleport between to them to whichever location is most imminently convenient." Judging by the size of the grin and delight on Freyd's face, it was meant to be a compliment. "Maybe we got word you were up to something," he added, turning to Wulfrin, "and thought it best to intervene early before you went all 'Cave of Wonders' on us before the raid." Patting his shadow o

Smiling at the near-frantic barrage of questioning, Freyd looked noticeably older than her had, yet also less... something? Maybe he just stood straighter or with better posture and looked taller? "Let me try to take each one of those separately," he offered, chuckling lightly. "Ali wants us to rescue his brother, Cassim. But, what he really wants is access to the Cave of Wonders, and the rumoured treasures within. And he's more than callous and conniving enough to send children in as his agents if he thinks it will get him what he craves." Shooing the last of the kids away, he le

"I couldn't have marketed this thing better if I'd tried," Freyd replied, marveling how word of mouth alone seemed to have accomplished what millions in advertising col might never have achieved. Grabbing his espresso and downing it in a single swig, the man's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the sudden invigoration. "So, here's the deal. We're heading to a dust bowl down the road, where a mutant sand shark named Terra Firma spawns. It's a quest boss that looks and acts like a field boss, and also the angriest whirling ball of gnashing teeth you can imagine. Yeah. It's a bi

"Not after..." A flash of anguish flew across the Whisper's face, the grief too fresh to fully contain. "I'm not exactly sure what, or how, or... well, anything that happened in that moment. When I re-opened my eyes to resume the fight it was all I could do just to cling to my bearings. It wasn't until we reached the new floor and rushed to go see Elora that I realized she was gone." Even attempting to speak her name was too hard. Hearing it spill from the lips of others was only tangibly better. "Wulfrin, you must have been distracted too, but... did you... happen to see anything? I

Approaching Mina, Freyd studied her face as if it was his own, the way only someone accustomed to shifting his own appearance on the fly might. What meaning did appearance have when it was utterly fluid, and yet... they all clung to it as a sense of their identity. On instinct, Freyd reached up and pressed the back of his hand tenderly against the memento of her former face, his eyes a mixture of sorrow and admiration at her courage. The gesture, a silent offering of thanks for her willingness to show and trust. It had been a mutually difficult lesson, but also earned them a bond and friend

"Hannah's response only confirms that she hasn't returned here, but Zackariah's insights suggested she would need materials from the cave. It's our most obvious lead, for the time being." Leading them away from the NPC's encampment, Freyd wandered round a nearby rolling hill to reveal a cave mouth once familiar to most of Aincrad's adventurers. Its recent removal from the Lessons meant those few just starting their forays into the world would never know of it, without simply tripping into the hole. Sparing his companion a sideways glance, he knew the mobs inside would be no threat, as

Eyes instantly locked upon the distant source of her voice, Freyd felt his spine melt at the sound. Joyful. Happy. Not what he would have expected if the worst of his fears had manifest and she'd somehow thought him dead. Relief palpably swept through every inch of his exhausted form, draining away unspoken tension and lifting his heart with a warmth that the raid and subsequent floor had fought hard to smother. "FREYD!!" Hair like a verdant wave spreading out in the wake of her passage, she ran out to greet him in the coziest of cozy tops, surreptitiously borrowed from his clo

Ty's complete oversight of his changed appearance was endearing, but then he could already change his form so casually that she might have assumed he was simply doing it now. Either way, it shook him out of his sorrow enough to draw attention to the subject of her ire. "Ali?!" He groaned, suddenly recognizing exactly where this was leading. "You're scamming kids now? What is it with NPCs on this floor? Between you and Abdullah, you're giving the entire settlement a bad name." The crafty charlatan seemed to wilt before Freyd's accusations, unsure how to counter or defend himself. He