Freyd

Too lost in the potential implications of Katoka's statement and the revelation of yet more twisted mobs, Freyd reacted slowly. Where his companion moved like liquid lightning, slicing and dicing the amalgam mobs into little tiny bitses, he just stood there wondering what could possibly trigger such effects. Was it a code breakdown? Could some sort of virus be at play? There wasn't yet enough information to... *SLAP* One of the wealds slapped him across the face, snapping out of the daydream, though not with enough force to truly injure. "Ah, crap. Right. Sorry. I zoned o

"Oh, good. I'm sure that his gear will serve you well. In the meantime, why don't we work on putting some metaphysical meat on your bones? There's a special mob nearby, named Terra Firma. It's some sort of mutant sand shark... thing." Freyd shrugged his shoulders, not quite sure how to better describe it. "Think of Jaw or The Meg, but in the sand, except it still kind of looks like a shark..." He finally just gave up. "I was just making my rounds, antagonizing Abdullah back in the lounge over there, because I find him to be positively annoying and love coming to taunt him for a b

Thread Closing: Freya receives: 4,485 EXP (Word Count [7128/10*9*0.7]) 872 col (1 page [200] + 15% P5 Reward [672]) Freyd receives: 7,476 EXP (Word Count [7128/10*15*0.7]) 1,321 col (1 page [200] + 15% P5 Reward [1,121])

"Rosa? I've... heard about her specialties." A phrase so laden with innuendo that the words themselves could paralyze and inflict their own brand of suffering. He'd read about those parts of the encounter between she and Raidou at Riker's Edge in the black book, none of which was germaine to the dinner at hand, save as a cautionary tale. Hence his own quiet apprehensions. Freyd was more interested in Akane's reaction, if any. His presence was clearly not born of any desire for social time, though he probably needed it even more than Freyd did. "I only vaguely recall the look of this

Some stranger responded to Crux's query with a confused expression before quickly moving on, thinking him to be some sort of murderous lunatic. Ronburu had experienced far too many of those in recent days and everyone was on edge. Before he could follow up, a message appeared in his HUD. To: Crux From: Freyd Dude. Why are you up on 27? FTK is here on 21. I'm waiting out in front of the Knight Shift and realized that you ended up on the wrong floor. Gimme two secs. I'll come collect you. A lanky man in dark, unassuming clot

"Yeah. Something is definitely..." *SNAP* *CRACKLE* *POP* Rice Crispies of Doom? WTF? The stump remaining from Freyd's improvised attack had failed to heal or cauterize as one might expect. Instead, the lava-coloured top spewed forth spurts of intermittent digital goo that splattered and sizzled as it came into contact with the surrounding flora. "Oh, that's probably not good." Exchanging glances with his friend, Freyd felt the inevitable wave of nausea that seemed to follow passage into an instanced environment of a sub-dungeon. "Yeah. That's definitely not good

Chuckling lightly as Katoka joked about his investigation technique, Freyd's gaze scoured their surrounding for evidence of... weirdness. Fortunately finding none, he regained his footing, stuffed his hands in a pair of random mystery pockets and nudged the shorter samurai in her ribs for a change. "Nervous or cautious?" he asked as they entered the clearing, his fellow captain's hand reaching for her blade's hilt. It was yet another sign that Katoka had come into her own. He approved, and so set his focus on the clearing instead. Tracking remained active and confirmed their foe's pre

Freyd felt somewhat drab and clownish, sauntering slowly through the ample chaos of battle, kicking along a few stray pebbles on the ground and tempted to chalk out a layout for hopscotch just to pass the time. Everyone else was doing their thing: going all out, looking super-tense with layer upon layer of sincere courage and desperation. So epic. He just didn't feel it. The vibe just wasn't there. So he casually strolled through the melee instead, tilting his head a little here or there to satisfy the need for near misses. The ground exploded once or twice for no real reason, just like

A smirk and twinkled eye were Elora's reward as Freyd took back the canteen and downed it's remaining content. "Guess we'll have to see if it worked," he offered, disintegrating the item as he dispatched it Elsewhere. "Thank you for inviting me -- I guess -- thank you for inviting me after she...invited you...?" "Yeah. I know. It's kinda weird. Mina's a good egg and means well. She's had her own share of troubles, in this world and before it. I should warn you: she's been scarred by them, physically and emotionally. She may wear a mask, depending on her level of comfort, and

"Wouldn't be too surprised if having you around made a boss monster spawn somewhere nearby. You're three for four in our encounters so far." Pausing to turn, Freyd looked like he was about to say something but changed course midway through sending the message for his mouth to deliver. "You might be on to something there," came the diluted response. "Or, maybe I'll just need to try harder. We must have missed one on the way somewhere." He winked at Marv while passing through the gate, wondering whether he ever rotated out to the other gates between visits. The guards were all id

Watching the battle play out in the elementally divided spaces before them, Freyd knew that his team had things in hand. Whether it was their first raid or not, they could be proud of their performance. Glancing as he could, through shadow, hope was all that could be spared for the other teams. NIGHT and Nari would pull them through. They had to. Cries of triumph and zeal slices his daydreaming to ribbons, along with the overgrown chia pet the boss had unleased upon them. Mina, Katoka, Elora and Morningstar pounded the thing between them like some sort of malicious pinata until it

"Take it easy, chuckles," Freyd replied, rolling his eyes at her immediate outrage. "I was just trying to get your attention. You really need a few notches on your dial to spread out the spectrum between one and eleven. If I can provoke you that easily, what will happen when some PKer calls you out mid-combat?" His eyebrows lifted, as if to deliver the point. Her outbursts had never really phased him, despite a steady stream since their very first encounter. That switch was ever present at the back of his mind, to simply turn any feelings off, though he was gradually growing more hesitant t

Most believe that floor twelve is an endless, gator-infested mire that extends to the edge of the floating castle in every direction. It was for this reason that Freyd immediately saw it as the perfect place to hide things. No one would ever spend time scouring a samp like this, Right? Wrong. A Whisper would, convincing himself that there might be something ellicit or clandestine going on in those boggy depths. Two days had passed while he traversed the waterlogged landscape, searching for... anything really. The native wildlife had foolishly tested his mettle, including a dungeon boss

Thread Closing: Elora receives: 1,656 EXP (Word Count [6905/10*4*0.6] + Quest [previously completed]) 448 col (1 page [200] + 15% P5 Reward [X]) Topaz Gemstone (Non-transferrable Quest Item) Katoka receives: 1,656 EXP (Word Count [6905/10*4*0.6] + Quest [previously completed]) 448 col (1 page [200] + 15% P5 Reward [248]) Topaz Gemstone (Non-transferrable Quest Item) Freyd receives: 5,796 EXP (Word Count [6905/10*14*0.6] + Quest [previously completed]) 869 col (1 page [0] + 15% P5 Reward [869]) Topaz Gemstone (Non-transferrable Quest Item)

"The ears are easy. It's getting the voice right that's the real challenge," Freyd replied with a chuckle. "Also, corsets are an absolute chafing nightmare. Some of the other anatomy bits also took some getting used to." Freyd stuck out his elbows and puffed up his chest, twisting his torso for added effect. Satisfied that Katoka's imagination would run wild for a while on those snippets alone, the lanky man in black stuffed his spidery hands back in unseen pockets and wandered casually towards Ellesmora's outer gates. At mention of Elora, he slowed his stride and turned to give the slig

"You're damned right it will, slacker." The words came from a young woman sitting on a nearby bench, casually scribbling notes in a small black notebook. Easily dismissed as yet another casual visitor to the elves' woodland paradise, something about her tone was eerily familiar. Books forcefully snapped shut and pencil tucked away into nothingness, the slender girl stood, wearing a green kemono commonly found among the mobs that wandered about Ellesmora on the regular. Her shiny black hair was neatly wrapped in a tight bun held in place by a pair of onyx hair sticks. Every part of her app

Thread Closing: Van receives: 2,776 EXP (Word Count [5,535/10*1*0.5] + Quest [2,500]) 5,511 col (1 page [200] + Quest [5,000] + Gift from Freyd [311]) Unlock Assault Mode extra skill 1x Terra Firma Scale 216872a Senno receives: 2,776 EXP (Word Count [5,535/10*1*0.5] + Quest [2,500]) 5,511 col (1 page [200] + Quest [5,000] + Gift from Freyd [311]) Unlock Assault Mode extra skill 1x Terra Firma Scale 216872b Tricolor_Mina receives: 3,882 EXP (Word Count [5,535/10*5*0.5] + Quest [2,500]) 10,332 col (1 page [0] + Loot [4,750] + Quest [5,000] + 15% P5 Rew

Freyd was busy speaking with a group of shady-looking mobs when he heard the call. Keeping tabs on local affairs and maintaining relations with the broker network was an endless and often thankless chore, but also necessary for his less obvious trade. Cloak and dagger spooks didn't get days off. Most of the NPCs in Yogen village just dismissed him as another in a string of endless adventurers just pass through. He'd just concluded his latest conversation when a familiar sounding sigh turning sour with the slightest hint of whine came from near the portal. "I'm here -- Damn it's hot.

"Find that smith and he will help you out. Assisting in this quest should give you both quite the boost. You'll find that the power curve is steep early on, which is to your benefit. Send us a message when you're ready and we will help carry you along a bit farther along the path, if that's what you want. Life gets a lot easier in Aincrad once you have a few levels or even tiers under your belt." The man seemed pensive for a moment, considering the unintended pun. Tears. It worked both ways, unfortunately. "And please, be mindful of wandering about solo outside of safe zones. Watc

Casually enjoying a mid-morning chat with one of his oldest friends, Freyd caught himself mid-sip of his coffee when the message came in. Expecting it to be another status report from O&I, temptation was strong to let it sit for a few minutes longer. It was so rare, after all, that he and Marv actually had a moment to catch up. Hefted up on the stack of crates perpetually placed behind the gate guardian's post, Freyd's legs dangled off the ground, swaying to the tune of their one-sided banter. They'd been doing this for as long as he could recall. Freyd would share his muse on any sub

He felt weird. First, because the notion of a social call for the sake of learning the basics of cooking was completely alien to his persona; public or otherwise. Second, because he'd actually forgone the comfort and familiarity of his adventuring gear for this outing. Well, not truly. It was all still on beneath the illusion shrouding him like a shell. A spymaster could be called upon at a moment's notice and often was. This was as far as he'd managed to push himself, and it would have to do, even if he looked like some sort of disheveled college student who'd just woken up after f

Reaching a hand out, Freyd let the little dragon take a sniff and familiarize itself with his scent, albeit one laced with fish bait. A smile creased his face as she alternated between licking and nibbling at his fingertips. "Hey, don't go getting any ideas. I like those where they are," he replied, tickling the nape of her neck as she purred in catlike manner. "She's cute. I'd love to know where you found her." In the casual spirit of the moment, he summoned a small bottle with a concoction Freya had shared with him once. Taking a swig, he offered Violet a share. "It tasted a bit

Watching as Koga struck the Quartermaster with a few well-placed and deliberate blows, he quickly chose to follow suit. "You've got the right idea! Shatter his defenses and he's ours." Veering right to flank the peg-legged menace, Freyd had to dodge a pointed lunge and heavy hacking slash or two before he could slip under the pirate's defenses and catch him hard in the gut, stealing the mob's breath. Given Burlock's impediment, he remained surprisingly spry and agile. Flashing a shiny grin at them both, the mob suddenly produced something akin to a sword art effect, but not quite. Das

At first he was going to ask about her parents, but that seemed like a bad idea. Violet was so touchy about sensitive subjects. That seemed to be one bound for disaster, just given how the rest of her life went. Trying to connect over the book was clearly not going to happen, so there went that idea. She wanted to hear him talk about simple things and enjoying life. He'd tried that - at least his version of it - and had crashed and burned. Only the comment about her hair seemed to have garnered any traction. Could it really be that... "So...err... it's nice day out today." Eyes wi

"You misunderstand. This book serves the opposite purpose. It has spared more lives than it has taken by its contents. And it is not Raidou's book, but belonged only ever to the Faceless Lord." Flipping open its deceptively small and lightweight pages, their bleached white purity was stained with digital blood in quantity enough to overflow the banks of the lake at their feet. This book was death, and also life. It was a recipe for controlling chaos by embracing chaos. Its wielder sat at the tiller, or held the puppet strings. Freyd had been given the book - no small gesture or obl