Freyd

"A fair response, and completely viable build, but I'd like to challenge you to dig a little deeper. What role do you want to play?" Weaving their way through the settlement's narrow streets seemed to parallel the details on their conversation, winding its way towards a predictable but yet-to-be-determined conclusion. "We're all forced to be warriors in some way. Cardinal directs the tools available to us. But, your answer tells me how you want to deal damage within that system. It doesn't tell me what part you want to play in helping us get out of this death game. Are you aiming to joi

"A what?", Elora asked in confusion. Freyd's favoured wolfish grin bore a more playful mien than the actions that had earned him his local nickname. "Oh... uh... " The boy seemed flustered struggling to reconcile how to explain an elvish term to one of their own. She had the ears, after all. "It means... shadow wolf. Like the one that preys upon the wayward to keep our people safe. Right, Daedhrog?" Freyd mussed the boy's pale green hair playfully, struck by how much his blue eyes and liveliness reminded him of his partner's before sending him along ahead. "You've come t

"Sounds good to me, and I tend to view things here along the same vein." His fingers traced a rusty red line in the rock face as they neared the town's entrance, the oxidized strand of raw iron crumbling at his fingers' passing. "So, what role do you want to play? As O&I's captain, it's my responsibility to assign you tasks and missions, but also to ensure that you're made ready to handle as many different scenarios as Aincrad could possibly throw your way. We work as a team, but often face our challenges separately. To make that work, I need to understand who you are, Kyoto. And, mo

Chuckling lightly at the comment, Freyd's eyes belied admissions he'd long denied himself. "You know... I never really thought of myself that way. But between running the Shark Bait training program, helping walk newbies through so many first lessons, and then these sorts of outing, it may be getting difficult to deny." What had first been rationalized as an investment in the growth and development of Aincrad's most finite resource had become habit, and then its own reward. "Guess I was too too challenging a student - too fiercely independent - to ever see myself in that light. I'm jus

"Maybe it's just me, but I feel like we should be moderately concerned by the completely random appearance of twelve, masked, scantily clad ladies grinding it around a ritual circle in an abandoned amusement park after dark." Foyle smirked, preferring to keep his eyes to the horizon in search of other possible threats. Freyd was left to deal with this one. Jeeves, on the other hand, was more concerned by the elaborate mandala laid out between them on the ground and practically radiating unpleasant fortunes. The trio had made their way from the main festival grounds in the centre of Ron

Brows crossed and confused in partial recognition of a voice calling out his name. Familiar, but buried in the detritus of time, it took him a moment to connect the ancient dots, until he saw the ears. The face followed as confirmation. "Xena?" Genuine surprise paired well with the easing of his features in welcoming recognition. "You're... here?" He was going to say 'alive', but that might have been too crass. Part of him wondered where that consideration came from. Maybe he had changed after all? Old Freyd would have run with it, without hesitation. Xena would know that, and mi

Sensing a shift in the sand beneath their feet, Freyd knew the boss was getting ready to lose it on them both. "It's gonna..." he began, watching Kyoto make his move and stun the slithery fiend. "...or not." A light chuckle as he stepped forward and made a single, clean, cross-wise cut with his katana. The blade left only a tiny line, barely a pixel wide on the mob's skin, before its upper half toppled over lacking the grace and speed it had threatened them with mere moments before. "Nice plan." Beaming at his companion's cleverly timed use of his sword art, he'd effectively

"I've no idea," came his sincere reply, as Freyd helped Elora back to her feet. His eyes remained locked on the back of the other woman's head, as if filing away key details for later reference. Coincidental collisions were too frequent in the world of spycraft for him not to be at least a bit suspicious, even if it turned out to have been nothing more than an accident. "Diwali just wrapped up in Ronburu, but I'm not aware of any other festivals or events, let alone any traditions for this type of thing in Ellesmera." A quick glance confirmed that there was no permanent harm, nothing m

Thread Closing: Xena receives: 966 EXP (Word Count [6903/10*2*0.7]) 1,086 col (Given by Freyd) Freyd receives: 7,245 EXP (Word Count [6903/10*15*0.7]) 0 col (15% P5 Reward [1086]) - given to Xena Note: Closed as RP thread. First Lessons quest was revised since this thread began.

"It sounds like you were fortunate to make it out at all. How badly was Sewallus hurt?" The two men sat on the outskirts of Florenthia, each bracing against a different bough as the white-haired NPC retold a familiar tale about his encounter with the notorious Monkey King. The beast prowled the deeper woods not far from town, occasionally unleashing its spectacular temper on unsuspecting wanderers and locals alike. For all the times Freyd had slain the creature, he'd yet to find a reason for its rage. It just was. And that didn't sit right. "It bruised him up rather badly. Fo

Sliding back to assess the rest of the group's actions, Freyd's booted feet ground against the hard, dry stone as he came to a stop. A flicker of his wrist sent sneaky shadows scampering roundabout into the shadows, circling around for vantage. It was a common tactic, the two of them acting like some sort of wolf pack to pincer a foe, pinching them for an unexpected kill. Ugzeke was mad, which made him slippery. He was also tough as nails and unlikely to go down easy. "Nice hit, Ciela," he whispered, not to undermine Mina's valuable advice. "That was precisely what we needed." Lau

Chaos raged in the wake of the crushing wave that tore apart their companion, each member of the raid tuning to the aftermath in their own way. Despair. Anger. Loss. Frustration. Disbelief. Mild confusion. A tiny figure lost in the melee watched it all occur, her existence bound to the giant lummox she kept around as a convenient litter, in both senses of the word. She dumped on him constantly, and still he bore her around nestled in the warmth under all that heavy armor. So clunky. So clumsy. So bloody loud. Yet… still… he’d actually cared. Even when purporting not to, over

Walking behind her, occasionally looking up to ensure she was still headed the right way, Freyd felt silence was the safest course of action. I've traumatized the poor woman enough for one day. Decided self-assurance belied by the haunting of an inexorable fate, unknown to both, yet pending with tragic imminence. It wasn't far. And, while Aincrad's first floor was purported to be the largest, it never felt like it took very long to get anywhere. Maybe it was just a quirk of the system to help guide new players along, or other floors distorted perception for the sake of effect. Feeli

Side by side, they heaved with everything they had. Resisted by several hundred pounds of metal over reptilian muscles and an implacable will to survive, they had their work cut out. Jomei had already done yeoman's duty by flinging a few others over the edge. Only these remained. Judging by the calls coming from up passage, more were on the way. "Not sure our efforts panned out as we'd hoped, but we might still manage to deal with this lot." A swift, unceremonious kick caught the nearest guard in the cod piece, folding him in half with a sound no man could hear without wincing.

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ A blinding miasmic darkness melded around Callisto’s misanthropic roar as it sundered reality’s grip on their senses. Figures blurred and twisted while vile corruption wracking the bear’s very spirit, erupting in their direction to unhinge their souls and sanity alike. Freyd watched as his metal clad fingers stretched and distorted to spindle points, leaving contrails of time in their wake, memories of arms and legs alike in several places all at once. And then pain, as the abhorrent source sought to unmake each of them from within, erasing them from creation’s intricate tapest

Ownership transferred to @Elora

ph *** Freyd | HP: 1260/1260 | EN: 158/158 | DMG: 21 | MIT:152 | ACC:4 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:2 | BH:69 | VAMP-D: 69 | FLN: 16 | HLY: 16 | LD:4

"Fire wish granted!" Stepping into closer quarters, Freyd flared the anima of his sword art into a deep azure blaze to match the colour of his eyes. Then all grace left his artful pose as he tripped on a writhing bit of vine detritus and spilled the flame upon himself rather than their foe. Like napalm loosed in the wrong direction, the fire slid along the slick surface of his armor and turned the Whisper into a silent burning torch and effigy, yet it somehow failed to consume him. "What the... oh, who cares why." Dashing forward with a leap, Freyd barreled into Callisto's

Walking into the hellish dreamscape kaleidoscope that remained of the flower-strewn central grounds of Ronbaru, Freyd was glad to have passed that particular experience to another. That much raw colour might have killed him, or at least his monochromatic ensemble, had he been too close to the initial blast wave. All around, people were picking themselves off the ground and frolicking about like kids playing in an endless sea of autumn leaves infused with distilled Crayola essence. The whole area also smelled sickly sweet, but not quite to the extent of becoming nauseating. Smiling as h

It was more of a puff than a shockwave, like the entirety of the participants in Ronbaru had loosed a collective gasp. They also had, but it was merely a reaction to the giant crafting-based ordnance unleashed by a certain clever youth with a penchant for rebellious mischief few recognized, and he hoped to steer away from the darker trajectory seeking to bind its fate. Content to have made himself scarce from the scene, Freyd had instead returned to Dayanita's station by the Diya Lighting staging grounds. Most of her trays and lanterns were long gone, players having taken the task in

Reading the final inscription reminded him of the countless others he'd journeyed with over time. Those first trailblazers had forged a path forward, paid for in blood and anguish none of them could ever repay. Part of him hoped it was just another of Kayaba's lies: that death in game meant death in the real world. They had only his word it was true, yet people were terrified by the prospect alone. They lived their lives, and even ended them, according to its merest possibility. Watching those willing to stand in the front ranks of the raid teams' vanguard, he'd always wondered how they

Ronbaru boasted a number of hidden garden glades sprinkled about its city centre like gems waiting to be discovered, preferably in pairs. These secluded islands of solace often attracted couples of all ages. Some came to fondly recall first visits while others forged fledgling bonds into burgeoning relationships to match the wide assortment of flowers, some of which inexplicably always seemed to be in bloom. Freyd was down to his last two lanterns as he wandered into the area, completely unaware that such a place even existed. It wasn't exactly the type of demesne on his usual list o

The last of Cedrig's guardians fell before they could even nock another set of arrows, the benefits of range being less than they might have imagined. A heavy boot smashed through the locked door, showering splinters beyond as its remnants slammed against the side wall to reveal a gruesome seen. "Cedrig, I presume?" Slumped over the foreman's desk, strewn with scribbled machinations come to naught and empty coin bags with proceeds spent on an ill-timed gambit. "Ronbaru was crawling with heroes this week. Did you really think this sort of thing wouldn't attract the worst possi

Pulling drawstrings from the booth's outer balcony caught Freyd's attention. "Right. Guess what's good for the goose is good for the mob? Not sure that works, but we'll run with it." Eight archers stood with bows aimed at him, arrows ready to take flight. "Leave. Now. Last chance." His hands were shaking so vigorously that he nearly loosed just from the sweat building on his fingertips. "Ah. But, whose last chance, I wonder..." Veritas, held in a high guard, dared them to attack, though they would never get the chance. Saved as a trump card, Freyd called forth

Watching their captain's sword flee while still attached to his arm, but nothing else, broke the others' morale. Dropping their weapons, one among them was bold enough to posit switching allegiance. "We surrender! Please... we could... work for you? Yeah. Captain always said how important it was to find powerful clients, and you look like you have lots of coin." The others nodded, dumbly, too desperate to realize how poor a sales tactic it was to try to demonstrate your worth by betraying your previous employer. "Sorry. Your captain was also right about loyalty. A merc who d