Freyd

Watching the scene unfold, Freyd followed Griswold as he pressed the main beast back into a corner, but also the lesser detritus that Kasumi's keen eyes also caught. Her successful feint and bait had drawn it out and provided him a brief window of opportunity. A leap and kick destroyed the latch keeping the overhead grate in place. "Heads up!" Enough warning for their tank, but the slime wasn't king in the brains department. Seconds later, a massive metal cheese-grater of a grille swung down and through its back half. To everyone else, it looked as though the very room just tried to eat

"You don't want to leave either?" Either? Elora was always especially hard on herself and kept praise and scrutiny alike at bay with pretense and aloofness. As a subject matter expert, he recognized method in madness when he saw it. Everyone always thought that Freyd being an appraiser was just some power move to gain access to the game's uber content, but they couldn't be more wrong. It was to learn to study people, and ultimately himself. Shackled in his own mind, it had taken efforts of Elora, @Katoka, @Freya, @Raidou and so many others to him find the key. A few valuable lessons

"You'd have a hard time holding both at the same time," the shopkeeper replied, his back to the counter as he tilled through a field of miscellaneous items strewn about the strange shack. The entire shop looked like a rummage sale with the broadest assortment of items imaginable, some so bizarre as to defy description. Spinning his stool about, the darkly clad figure pulled down a soft woolen cowl revealing an unruly mop of black hair dangling over fierce blue eyes that relaxed as they came to rest on his new patron. "But, they've both been there forever, so they're yours if you want th

Freya had always been passionate. It was surely what drew her and Gaius together. They were kindred spirits. She also reminded him a lot of Elora in that way, and it served them both well. Sure, they were unpredictable wrecks half the time, but somehow they made it work. Humans be pffft. Between the two of them, the compliments were overflowing uncannily of late. Do they really see me this way? He struggled to understand. Freyd was a persona crafted for a purpose; one most often connected to perceived or projected fears. She wasn't wrong when she called him a husk, but their words an

Once they reached the shore, Freyd pressed his finger to his lips as he scanned their surroundings. Everything was largely as he remembered it. The dock was mostly improvised, consisting of a rocky shelf next to a natural deep water harbour where 'Slim Jim's' absconded ship had been anchored. Most of the man's pilfered goods had since been unloaded. Crates, barrels and bags with various markings and contents were neatly grouped along the 'dock' organized by good. "Excellent, that means their Quartermaster is here. He doesn't spawn every time, and it's a bitch to get to the end only

No one else would have gotten away with it unscarred. Well, okay, maybe two others. The point was that Freyd didn't let anyone get in a shot like that without consequences unless they were very, very special to him. Freya was lucky to be one of those rare few. Blinking away the stars, he was nonetheless glad that she wasn't a martial artist or the system might have backed that up with more oomph. "You don't get it, Freya." His voice was barely more than a whisper, but also seething with rage. "If that dream is true, then I'm not even human. Or worse: half human, half mob and

Leading them back to Snowfrost, the Whisper couldn't help but feel some sense of satisfaction at the outcome of his little experiment. Three assorted lumps of clay each having previously taken their lumps in different ways, were brought together and dragged through hell for the sake of building camaraderie and reaping the benefits of shared danger. He could probably stand to refine his technique a bit, but everything had worked out fine - better than expected, actually. Lagging a bit behind the others as they raced up the final rise to the floor's only settlement, Freyd was contented

"Years on the... how old do you think I am?!" Freyd leaned away from his companion, giving him a false stink-eye diffused by a disarming smile. "I've actually only been in the last two raids. I suppose that counts as being a veteran, at least by some standards. There are others who have been around a lot longer than me." His left brow arched even higher as Morningstar made his pitch about the fourteenth floor. "I actually need to swat the Lich King to gather some Darkness Salve for the raid. It would be helpful to get a second dose, if you don't mind me buying yours off you?

Freyd was focused entirely on the man's wild flailing and panicked cries. This was an officer of the imperial guard - among the most fearsome fighters ever fielded by Ladonia's vile and now deceased autocrat. He felt no joy or satisfaction in defeating him. This wasn't a win in some sporting contest, though to many of his fellows it could be seen as such. A lighting quick strike to the wrist jarred and opened his hand, the Whisper deftly snatching and tossing the weapon behind him where it stabbed itself into an aged and filthy couch once plush and vivid in its royal purple. Like everythin

Freyd looked like he'd just been slapped by a wet fish wielded by a bawdy barmaid wearing a girdle made of post-consumer waffleboard and held in place by the contents of ten thousand pixie sticks. Nothing was processing. His brain had just idled and stopped. Every word Freya had just spoken mirrored his own recurring vision, more aptly dubbed the worst nightmare in his entire life, though those words didn't do it justice. It was rare to catch the Whisper so completely off guard. She'd just done it in spades. "What did you say?" Blinks signaled a restart as Freyd bag-o-cats brain beg

A small silent smile gained. In this pose, from her angle, he looked like nothing more than a silhouette, because he was. A black glove reached over her head, pilfering the proffered pastry and gulping it down in a single bite while his shadow just shook its head. "Nah," Freyd mumbled as he chewed, waving Montjoy away like a fart in the wind. "I was just getting hungry and this seemed like the best way to get you to bring me food." He hadn't seen Elora much in recent weeks. It wasn't a bad thing. She was too free (re: volatile) a spirit to have him hanging around all the time, and h

Dodging Morningstar's weapon as Heath launched it his way, Freyd tumbled to his right then ran forward to catch the captain in a full body tackle. Not the most brilliant maneuver, but his goal was to keep him away from his companion. "Awww crap." He felt it coming, the pommel of Heath's sword crashing down onto his back. Yup. Bad move. A chunk of health gone, the Whisper folded himself in half and pressed a boot hard against his enemy's groin, pushing hard to clear some distance without risking another attack. "OOOOWwwww. You F-" A black gloved smack to the head inte

"Heath! You craven bastard. It's about time you finally turned up." Freyd walked into the room after Morningstar's onslaught had crumpled him to the ground. Something in his tone implied that the two of them had met before, under less than pleasant circumstances. The kneeling captain spat out a tooth, wiping away a trail of blood from the corner of his lips with a heavy plate gauntlet that looked far too ornate for a mundane officer. Freyd punched him across the face when he tried to rise, knocking out a second pearl. "That was for the ships that never got off the ground." A derisi

Cleaning the last of the dust from his garb, Freyd shared in his companion's grin. How the mobs in the next room hadn't heard anything was somewhat of a minor miracle, but dungeon acoustic were a thing unto themselves. Logic need not apply. Peering in, up and over the blonde, he could see their next two targets gathered around something on the far side of the room. No objects were visible in his line. A straight run would simply do the trick. Nodding to Morningstar to yank open the door, Freyd rushed in with a lunging stride and clocked the nearer man square on the back of head. Keening s

Times had not been kind to the remnants of Razwell's personal guards, their numbers scattered, honor tattered and pockets laid bare by privation. What few coins each of the grunts in this platoon had left to their names were presently heaped onto a rickety table in the centre of the tiny home's parlour with barely enough room for four chairs to crowd around. "Fold," grumble the one nearest the door, tossing his cards on the table in a fit of pique and standing to make his way towards the piss pot in the corner. Glamorous accommodations, these were not. No longer beholden to any sense o

"Always a pleasure, my friend. I'm sure that she will appreciate this and your fine craftsmanship." Turning to leave, the Whisper paused. "That reminds me. There is another matter in which I may require your assistance, though this one if of a more combative nature. Interested?" Ren, who'd already begun working on another project, ceased his rhythmic pounding of hammer on anvil. Their last outing was both heart-racing and extremely educational. "I am interested. Where shall I meet you this time?" Hook snared, Freyd offered a wry grin and the rap of his spider-like finger

"I have another one for you, Ren." So many trips to this one shop of late, but with Tristram Steel silent, Freyd had little choice. "This piece is especially sentimental. I know you pour your heart into each one and so needn't ask for your best." Ren collected the script and reviewed, noting how detailed the specifications were, right down to tailored measurements. "And, If she ever comes asking you how I got those, just tell her you have no idea." Ren's brow furrowed. "But, I'm not even sure who we're talking about." "Exactly!" Freyd replied, clapping his hands excitedly.

Crossing paths with Montjoy, his approach equally unnoticed thanks to Kasumi's fine leg work, the swapped places at the last moment to the sound of oblivion's screeching maw. Driven forward by gathered momentum, Freyd's hand became as a vacuum that devoured every goopy thing it touches. Fingers curled into fists, they carved a hissing trail through the Slime King's side leaving only a deep orange scar and angry, glowing fractals in the process of losing their cohesion. Sparks spilled out like molten metal from a tipped furnace in his wake. Bouncing to a trickle on the floor behind him, eac

"That's one weird ass cosmetic, But I guess it's in line with the rest of your style." Freyd said nothing, but subtle tension in his shoulder read as a flinch quickly covered by a smile at the prospect of him racing through the carnage of a battlefield in some absurdly loud, technicolor surcoat. There were no expectations of understanding to be shattered or glossed over, though perhaps the tiniest tinge of disappointment prevailed. Her mention of the boar fields flared a deep sense of nostalgia to replace it. "So much chaos in those early days. So much uncertainty and doubt." Blue ey

Several hours of posing as a city guardsman was starting to grow dull. It simply wouldn't pass notice to be standing on the street corner as himself, and Cardinal's rules of engagement were malleable these days. Mobs were getting smarter, and more dangerous. At Morningstar's arrival, Freyd spared a moment to assess. Years as an appraiser had taught him to evaluate people as well as items. 'He has sense enough to show up wearing inconspicuous garb,' he thought to himself, blue eyes scanned his companion's face and features. 'Buffs sorted too? Good.' As first impressions went, Morningsta

As if on queue, a bolt of black shot out from behind them, striking Avalanche square in the chest and ricocheting off its various joints like some sort of concussive, gravity-charged pinball. The impact seemed less intense than it normally might, leaving the Whisper to wonder whether his mojo might be fritzing. It was still enough, shattering key points across the titan's crystalline form. Cascading masses of snow and ice collapsed all around them, threatening to crush, but splintering instead until a gentle drifting snow was all that remained of the monstrous creature. Its last remaining

Leaping high into the air like some sort of caffeinated grasshopper, Freyd used the distance to build some extra power and came crashing down on Terra Firma that he squished and broke its carapace like one might some sort of juice-filled bug with a boot. The beast was flattened and defeated, giving up its prize and rewards for their benefit. Freyd tried not to overthink the implications, focusing first on the mission and other sequential plans still in need of completion. "Floor four, will be our next stop," he offered, not even missing a beat or offering them a moment to gather their co

"I can't stand talking to that guy," Freyd muttered under his breath. Abdullah's very presence was offensive considering the general squalor that dominated the rest of Fortaleza. The fact that he merely added paces to the quest requirements wasn't an especially endearing quality beyond the man's sheer ego. Ultimately dismissing him as yet another fetch-quest giver, the Whisper chose instead to rally his companions to his side and guide them to their target destination. "This thing is crazy fast and hits like a bus for its level. Your best bet is to give me some space and a few seconds to

"Up and at'em, sleepy-head. You're being volunteered." Reaching down into a nest of assorted crap pulled from all corners of Ladonia, Freyd pulled out and produced a man. He was Nobody, really, and preferred to remain that way, napping his way from day to day until someone else got him out of this hellhole, or oblivion did the trick. "Mwha? Huh? Five more minutes!" Though officially dubbed as Celeste's chief engineer, Freyd was convinced that the man had gotten the job by sheer luck. That, or Ladonian technology was so self-sufficient that they really didn't need him and were conte

"Ah, Ariel. It's been a while." Freyd sidled up to the counter, having only just restored the ordered chaos of his piling system, adding a few new items along the way. "It was good to see you at the raid meeting. I wasn't sure whether you'd be able to join us this time around. Lots of new blood it seems. Your experience is most welcome." Continuing to banter, his hands were already skimming through the various items deposited on the counter by his white-haired customer. "This one may be of interest. I've heard of its like before. Particularly useful for aggressive healers, or els