Freyd

"We'll get to business once enough players have arrived," Freyd replied to Morningstar and Wulfrin, the duo having performed admirably through the ceremony. "Gathering this many players tends to be chaotic, at best. If we start too soon, we'll repeat the same info a dozen times over." Other players soon entered the pavilion, some from the wedding and others having just caught wind of the event through various respective grapevines. Covering his left eye, he winked to Koga with the other, the two having last seen each other outside of raids in their efforts against the game's persistent pir

"Used to have?" Omen's comment snared his attention. "Care to explain?" Neither of their escorted players were particularly potent, just yet, judging by what they'd seen and said to date. It was purely a factual assessment, without demeaning their courage at having come out here in the first place. "You seem like an older player, so I'm curious to learn what you meant." Accepting Circe's offers with a friendly smile and nod. He extended the same courtesy to Omen with the same hand. Thunder grumbled ominously in the distance, reminding them that this wasn't the best place to linger

"Holy shit... they actually did it!" Freyd's initial reaction was to watching Ty take up a defensive position over their floundering teammate - an impressive feat in the desert, yet apt to their foe. A single hit from the vicious sand shark would have obliterated her from existence, and she knew it. She'd been warned, and chose to stand anyway. Acanthus, meanwhile, shows off one of the gutsiest moves he'd ever seen by a newbie across all the many runs of the Sharkbait training program, using herself as an improvised spike chain for the beast to rake itself across. Essentially, she'd u

"I swear to god, Star, if you landed us in a Fruit of the Looms commercial.... I am not fighting against animated underwear!" Freyd groaned and laughed at the same time, wondering what he'd done to deserve this day, and half-convinced this was still some sort of fever dream like that one with the three meme-geddon bosses from years back. "My money's either on a masquerading broccoli crown or some sort of angry pineapple. Those spikey things at the top always seem like they belong to royalty." He shrugged, grinning despite himself and the absurdity of their circumstances. "Between you

"Hrm. Yeah. I'm not seeing any, so I guess it's time to poke around." Acanthus boggled him slightly by her odd comments and sudden production of citrus, her general quirkiness deemed amusing, until... "Wait. You're a forager?!" It was like the heavens had just opened up and sent pure fortune and radiance shining down upon them. Fishing was useless at this sort of thing. Olives, sadly, never took the bait. "And, your schedule is unusually regimented." It wasn't exactly a compliment, nor truly an insult. Freyd was more anal retentive than most in his habits and had filled lite

Watching Morningstar do his thing with style, Freyd wondered whether his earlier quip about entertainment might not be far off. The man knew his business, and could be counted on reliably in any fight. Sadly, it wasn't a trait all players in Aincrad possessed. Since he'd started pretending to the role of tank, starting in the last raid, such details became increasingly obvious to him. "Nicely done!" Encouragement rarely hurt - usually, the opposite. The larger fellow they'd snagged and brought along for the trip went next, smiting the mob with a clever move meant to provide advanta

"It feels strange to be heard." That onion had so many layers on, it could cook itself in open sunlight. "And thanks. It's going to take time to become accustomed." Serving Wulfrin first , Freyd followed the rites with strangely specific formality, like he'd been trained in another life. "I am always busy, it seems. Yet, I will always come, if called." The paradox was so Freyd it hurt. Their current contrast, Freyd staring at a near-spitting image of himself, without looking or feeling like himself, was hardly lost. When Wulfrin's pensive tone returned, it took an unexpected turn,

"What the heck is she doing? Did her weapon get stuck or something?" Without the luxury of standing still for any length of time, the best Freyd could manage was tumble sharply to the left, forcing the mob to veer and shake his ally loose in the opposite direction. Contorting his body like it was made of rubber, the Whisper snared the sand shark by the snout, if only barely. It was enough. The sword art unleashed shattered the forefront of the mob's avatar, granting him the greater purchase required for a better grip. As his feet returned to ground, he whirled with momentum and flung

Watching their angles of attack, Freyd monitored the mob's health and condition closely, waiting to make his move. Morningstar raced in, fast, hitting the lounging lion like a speeding bus and sending it skittering with an indignant roar, paws and flower petals flying everywhere. Acanthus followed suit, sensing her opportunity to add insult to injury, pummeling the poor mob to the extent that hardly anything was left of it. How the mighty had quickly fallen. "Forgive us, Ki'Raion. You deserve better." The words were spoken to no one in particular, the others likely too distant to hea

Freyd's mood dimmed substantially as they passed over and through the bastion wall, enduring the droning tales of the elders whose only job it was to tell them then beg them for alms. By the time they reached the shrine on the far end of the bridge, light was streaming in line directly between the sixteen statues arrayed on either side. Paying the stone figures no mind, his gaze was locked one the beam splitting their ranks, mental calculus factoring seasonal shifts, travel constraints and the difficult terrain. "I assume the two of you are here for Photosynthesis? Few people wander ou

Setting aside a dozen other crowded scrolling screens from his user interface, shoving them into the background to better read Wulfrin's message, something about it had caught Freyd's attention. This either meant very good news, or very bad. People didn't retrace their steps in this way without a need for nostalgic connection, often including a time when the world made more sense. "How many times have I found myself searching for the same." Azure eyes drifted to the rack in the corner of the room, new armor waiting to be donned - a new life to begin. "I set him on his current

"Plans? Does that mean beach volleyball or another card game? I seem to keep catching you in the middle of some sort of leisure activity, unless you're just... yanno... lost?" Freyd waved his hands around randomly, gesturing to the entirety of the floor around them. "And don't you pay him," he counseled Acanthus. "That's like feeding pigeons. Next thing you know your house will be covered in poo and Morningstar will be nesting in the attic. Besides, it's good for him to do this sort of thing every once in a while. It keeps his scoundrel rating manageable. That's in your third tie

Big feels go with this one. 1. Applying Free Skill Respec from Paragon level 25. 2. Applying Cluster of Stars [ID 202751b] to change Samael’s Pride from handwraps to Katana, then appl Nametag [202753b] to change Samael’s Pride description from: Samael’s Pride (T4 Demonic Weapon (MA, Crafted) – Fallen 2, Holy 2) Acquisition ID [167646c] | Roll ID: 168850, 168851, 168852 Between all good and evil, or light and dark, there is a line drawn by the pride of Samael, the fallen angel. It is a line from which said pride fervently hungers to stray and yet paradoxically seeks to sus

[this post can be deleted]

"Thank you sensei." Freyd's usually casual and flippant demeanor always made it more poignant when he chose to be formal. There was weight behind the words, conveying unspoken gratitude for far more than the lessons they had shared. "But, I worry that you might be substituting one type of pain for another," he added, glancing in the direction of the missing sword. She'd know what he meant without the need to make it any more blatant. "And you never answered my earlier question about your past." It was a statement of observation, intended only to provoke more introspection on he

Freyd waited patiently, watching Katoka make her way to the change rooms from the corner of his eyes. Sitting patiently, he turned his gaze back towards the troublesome blade that seemed so bothersome to his adopted sibling. Its features were unchanged. Though no smith, he'd forged its amalgam in ways no steelmonger ever could, wielding the mystic essence inherent to such items as only appraisers could. It was like playing with the soulstuff of items, yet remained relatively unknown given its recent addition as a game feature. "What if I messed something up? Could it be taunting its

Freyd just blinked, dumbfounded at finding himself in the same situation in as many days, both times with Morningstar stumbling into the scene in a similar fashion. "Are you stalking me or something?!" Said in jest, it was nonetheless weirdly coincidental to run into each other twice in as many days in precisely the same place and equal manner. Freyd nearly jumped onto the ceiling, or would have if one existed, at the sound of Acanthus' voice prodding at him from behind. "Who the... you know Omen? And when the heck did you get all growed up?! You were still wearing sharkskin diaper

"Oh good! You're here. Glad you got my message." Freyd walked and talked, snaring Morningstar by the shoulder and guiding him towards the edge of the village, making shit up as he went along. "Look, there's a thing needs doing and it involves hunting down the only reason anyone comes to this godforsaken floor. Ki'Raion's the key, so we've got to take him down ASAP, capiche?" It was pure bullshit, but the Whisper had a talent for spinning a tale that even Morningstar might believe, and the two of them had lived through enough craziness that it was all perfectly plausible. Who neede

The other nearest gemini, her shape solidifying into that of KnightessCiela wailed in anguish as Icingdeath took her partner away. Two other shadowy silhouettes gathered around her, the tips of her fingers clawing against some sort of invisible field that prevented her from reaching either Wulfrin. The one on his knees glanced at her lovingly before collapsing into a pile of fine crystalline dust that was instantly swept up in a gust of wind. Ciela's wails were drowned out by another round of booming thunder, drawing eyes upward as if the sky might choose to fall. And then, nothing. Lo

The gathered gemini stood still and silent, watching their brother suffer the ignominy of defeat, crumpling to his knees with a large chunk of his avatar skin ruptured. Cubic globs of pixelated orange core material bled through, trailing like droplets down on the ground, where they vanished on contact. "Hnng..." One hand reached for the ground to steady itself, its sword fallen unattended too far out of reach in the opposite direction. "I yield!" Wincing at the words more than the injury, Wulfrin could feel his own wounded pride in the thing's eyes, berating itself for having fai

"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