Freyd

"You're back! Did you find what you were looking for? Ki'Raion is a blessing upon this land..." "Yeah... about that. He kinda died, mysteriously... and very suddenly... before we found anything. So, no, not so much luck on the whole 'go find me some kamalata olives' thing. I still don't really know what she needs them for." "Oh, dear..." The old woman's eyes widened at the prospect that something could slay the legendary mob, dashing her hopes and reason for living. "But... uh... fear not! The beast is resilient and will surely return. I'll gather heroes and set out in s

"How should I know?!" Freyd pinched the bridge of his nose, as people were wont to do in times of stress, though it seemed to offer little reprieve. "Look, she sent me out for olives. Kalamata olives, specifically." "Did you try Olympus? They have a much better climate for that sort of thing." Dark bags under the Whisper's eyes suggested he had. The twitch in their corners confirmed it. "Yes. I tried there. And I agree, they have a better climate in all respects. They all sent me here. You could even argue that they have a climate, whereas this place has... gloom.

"Two days? How lost were you planning to get?" Before Freyd could press further, a gaggle of other players had gathered. All but one rather glaring exception were already familiar to him. The fact that NIGHT was creeping up on him from behind made him instantly tense that things were about to go sideways. Koga's less than sneaky sneaking, by comparison, was confounded by his endlessly grumbling stomach. You'd think he might have been Crozeph in disguise, but no. Freyd had already checked. One eye on their surroundings, another on Pin, whose name only became known once the party

Katoka collapsed in his arms, tears streaming down her face as her breathing heaved and grew increasingly ragged. Freyd had never witnessed a panic attack before, and the outpouring of raw emotion caught him off guard. Catching the smaller, slender woman, he was instantly surprised by how heavy someone could be when their body became dead weight, threatening to throw him off balance and topple him over as well. Muscles honed in this very dojo clenched and steadied them both, striving to provide both physical and emotional support for his friend. Their landing was rougher than expected, but

"You seem uncertain, Wulfrin. As you should be." It was his own doppel who spoke once more, having recovered from his staggering blow, yet slow to rise. "You're doing everything to sound confident, but what grounds that faith? What you've been told? By whom? What wise, insightful sage granted you the wisdom of unassailable truth? My progenitor?" Its cackling laugh chilled even Icingdeath to its core. The honest truth was that everything the players of Aincrad believed was either told to them by Kayaba or assumed based on evidence so perforated it could challenge Swiss cheese. "No

Holding a raid prep meeting with a wedding backdrop wasn't exactly standard, but what did that even mean anymore? Still fully frocked, wearing a sleek black cassock he hadn't pulled from inventory since his first tier days, Freyd looked as he had in his earliest adventuring. If he was lucky, no one would even recognize his old duds. Officiating for Wulfrin and KnightessCiela had been unexpected, especially with the added duties of sharing what he, Morningstar, Mina and Hirru had encountered in the Fire Woods. The labyrinth guardian has been felled, long may his antlers reign. Frontliners h

A high pitch shriek tugged viciously at his heartstrings, its tone and timbre all too familiar, yet never heard quite so disturbingly clad with despair. "HOW COULD YOU!?" Ciela cried out from the sidelines, her figure wreathed in shadow. Stepping a foot into the clearing, some invisible tentacles of force forbade her from interfering - perhaps the system itself? Certain that it was just another gemini's trick, Wulfrin might have disregarded the forbidden mob, save for the image he saw through the limned frame of her figure. There, his love, curled over a fallen figure - himself -

Returning to the quaint little shop, shortly after receiving notice that his order was complete, Freyd thanked Nymoria for making its preparation such a priority. "I wasn't expecting you to drop everything to get it done so quickly! Still, I'm certain the recipient will appreciate it greatly." Chuckling slightly at the item's form and intent, he struggled to determine how exactly it would help anyone get lucky. Maybe it was powered by absurdist irony? The craftswoman made no bones about its shaping, and he wasn't about to pry. Some things simply were, and that was good enough. A sim

"You asked for it," Freyd replied nonchalantly to Katoka's complaint. "And remember the source. It's probably going to poke and prod you relentlessly, if I did my job right." His wry grin left enough doubt that he might have attempted to infuse the blade with his own brand of mischief, planting the possibility like a seed that might someday bear fruit. Speaking of which, flowers and vegetables alike rained down upon them from the stands, the type varying in accordance with the bets of the crowd. Making his way to the exit, Freyd had no more love for an audience than NIGHT, and sought her

"Hrmmm. I see." The shadowed figure seemed pensive, almost regretful as the player declared his intent. Lightning crackled in the air, blinding in its contrast to the stifling oppression of the jungle floor. An echo in the flash screamed of danger, but too late. A slick slither of shattered fractals tinkled down the front of his armor, spilling like pixelated blood from a fresh slice cut clean and deep across his throat. He hadn't even seen his other self move, yet there it stood bearing a sword mirroring Icingdeath's shape without bearing any of its substance. It was pure shadow, l

Freyd had watched the two players struggle, playful banter bolstering them to a point, but the weariness of a tedious quest were clearly taking their toll. Tending his antique kitsch fishing rod, complete with green mallard head grip, he found himself daydreaming nostalgic, remembering old conversations and promises made. One in particular, always stuck out. Sighing as he stood, the fish teasing him by darting to the surface the moment he stepped away, he approached the pair casually. His dark travelling garb gave him the appearance of a seasoned player, though he bore no obvious signs of a

"Ah, so this is where you setup camp." Dressed in unusually casual clothing, comprised of dark slacks and a a dull blue Henley reminiscent of an Autumn storm, Freyd was most certainly out of uniform. It was actually throwing people off, as he strode around town, none of them capable of fathoming the notion that he could be anything save edgelord. Things were changing, which made discovery of Nymoria's shop a happy coincidence. "I'm helping out a few players, getting them geared for a variety of quests and other content. You know how it is. One of them could definitely use a little ex

"GAH! Even Avalanche doesn't make this much racket!" Bracing himself as best he could within the constrained crevice, Freyd weathered the walking earthquake. Waiting until the titantic body shiver simmered, he then turned and pressed is hand in search of a weak point anywhere in the mob's massive stony surface. "Here! A fissure... well, maybe just more of a stress fracture, but it's something to work with." Repeated strikes, like performing kata in the guild dojo after hours when no one else would bother him, Freyd slammed his fist repeatedly into the target. "Goddamn. It's like Th

"Boastful," it replied as he asserted his growing strength. The mob seemed neither frightened, nor impressed, yet was not taunting him either. It knew his capabilities as well as he did - one of the few creatures in Aincrad to fully appreciated the scale of its enemies' strength. "You speak of the girls? Ah. Then our motives have been misunderstood. How typical." False Wulfrin stepped out from behind the trees, its hands out in the open, left index finger extended and pointing at the ground. Seeing that it wielded no weapon. A sword still safely stowed in its scabbard, he allowed

Freyd listened as Xlearsight described a rather morose world view; one he used to share to considerable extent. "Nah, man. You gotta ask yourself: can't it be both? 'Journey through the Death Gauntlet' also has a certain ring to it, yanno? Besides, our options are rather limited, and we don't always get to pick our own road in life. Sometimes it's just thrust upon us because we're all too damned lazy, or just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Harsh, perhaps, but Freyd dealt with danger in an overly pragmatic way. Sugar coating wasn't a luxury they could afford. "Like it or not

Thwacking the lone remaining fossil in its gills with the butt end of the fishing rod, the poor, beleaguered creature deemed it a mercy and croaked a final time, spilling its crystalline guts all over the murky swamp waters. A slurping sound accompanied the parting of Freyd's boot from same said muck, whipping around to catch the ominously named Lurker in the ribs producing a horrible crunching sound. The mob folded sideways, into itself, most of its avatar having crumpled under the impact. *BURP* "Really? That's all you have to say, after all that?" Rolling his eyes as he deli

Concealing a modestly prideful smile at Wulfrin's praise for his blade, Freyd knew full well the weapon's potency. The swordsman bore it well as he faced off against their opponents, flaying the one that had gotten by him. Ciela bore the brunt of the next wave with ease, in her usual, casual style. Thankful for his cowl, a tiny chuckle still eeked out at her comment about hearing good things. Few in Aincrad hadn't heard of the Red Wanderer, one way or another. Sparing his old friend a grim grin, the Whisper darted for the shadows, opposite the main and heavily fortified tower entrance. S

Changing tactics, hoping to keep their enemy on whatever passed for a rhino's toes, Freyd aimed his strikes at the joints between armor plates in its thick but tiny legs. A swift kick to the back of its left foremost limb cause its knee to buckle mid-charge. Just to add insult to injury, Freyd boosted the strike's impact with the very same item they'd come to gather from the critter in the first place. Toxic frost flash froze the injury, further damaging the surrounding plating, but Piasuhon's sheer mass produced too much momentum to be stopped on a dime. At least he'd bunged up its steeri

"Your suit looks great, Wulfrin. Don't fret so much. I'm sure Ciela will love it." A grin was offered Morningstar's way, who could see him better from his vantage. Wry smile perched and layered on a smirk, the casual ease resting on the Whisper's face was oddly disarming compared to the man's normally stern visage. "Morningstar and I happen to have defeated the Labyrinth Guardian together, along with Mina and Hirru. I've also been at the last few floor raids and know most of those who might attend. One or two extra also always seem to pull themselves out of the woodwork at the last

Rippling waves set into motion by none other than the Queen of Crayon herself somehow freed Freyd from his unenviable predicament. Screeching filled the air as Samael's Pride's bindings instantly yielded, giving voice to the void within. The sword art practically propelled itself, dragging him along for the ride as his fist flung forward, devouring a path as it carved its way through the thing's flank. "Thanks, toots." An offering of gratitude, notably including relief that he hadn't just made the boss fart his fingers out. That would have just been... eww. Poor Eruda seemed to b

"Awwww crap!" Fingers sliding along the strangely rubbery texture of the sand shark's digital flesh, Freyd had just failed again to cull the damnable beast from existence. Cardinal was being a bitch again, or it's RNG. The distinction was immaterial. "Fine. So, we'll change things up." Hearing the tension and frustration in the voices of of his team members, he knew they needed reassurance. They also needed to feel a sense of worth in this endeavor. It wasn't good enough to fight Aincrad's battles purely for the sake of others. These players had already stepped up, or they wou

"You've returned," came the echo of his own voice from the lattice of shadows forming around him. It felt all too reminiscent of a web, save this one fashion by the absence of light, or perhaps a net drawing tighter with every step. The tinkling of fractal shards dripping from a blade like that same digital blood he'd just been wondering about. So his gemini had slain another mob? Not that it wasn't possible. Several quests provided allies to players, as NPCs who were theoretically vulnerable to damage - at least some of them. Had any of them ever actually died at the hands of other mobs

Her form was perfect, blade slashing all about him like it was dancing to the tune of her fingertips, cutting through the air as if it were frictionless void instead. Freyd knew that feeling, and the all-consuming appetite concealed in the absolute nothingness behind it. How else could one describe a sensation whose entirety was the consumption of all others? He saw it now, but in the face of a friend. So this is the test, is it? It took longer than expected, and a different form than Freyd had expected, but there it was: the same bloodlust that had overcome his senses in the form of War.

Thread Closing: Mina receives: 4,872 EXP (Word Count [16240/10*5*0.6]) 730 col (1 page [0]+ 15% P5 Reward [730]) Elora receives: 3,897 EXP (Word Count [16240/10*4*0.6]) 400 col (1 page [400]) Freyd receives: 15,590 EXP (Word Count [16240/10*16*0.6]) 2,338 col (1 page [0]+ 15% P5 Reward [2338])

"Uh... I actually, kinda maybe know a spot?" Scratching at the back of his cowl, the Whisper wondered whether he should reveal the secret lagoon hideaway he, Katoka and Elora had found. But these damnable fish-things had found them there anyway, spoiling the tail end of what had actually been a pretty good day. Maybe it wasn't quite so precious a scene as it seemed. "There's a blue water lagoon at the western edge of the floor, hidden behind a high ridge and opening to a wider ocean. Honestly, it doesn't make any sense geographically - like maybe some dev snuck it in while no one was l