Freyd

Sneaking in close wasn't easy. Swarms of lesser wasps ranging in size from fingertip to helmet blitzed about the place, each of them with a serious case of zoomies. Only their insectoid focus on their tasks permitted Freyd to approach the centre by crawling slowly on the ground beneath them. There, floating about ten feet off the ground, was his target. The Windwasp queen was much larger than any of the rest of her brood, relying on a fourfold set of wings to keep herself aloft while her workers and warriors went about their business. Like biological clockwork, once the sun hit its mark,

It didn't take long to reach the flowers at the High Fields of Crossing. He'd never attended the Flora Festival himself, but had heard it was a sight to behold. "I'll need to bring Elora here for the next one." Sunflowers swayed in the wind as he passed, bidding farewell to their namesake as it changed from yellow to orange and pink while dipping behind other distant plateaus. The hum and buzz of countless tiny wings was the first hint that he was getting close. Freyd wondered whether the multitudes of Crossing somehow owed thanks to the many Windwasp hives located just around the corner.

Few players were active in Urbus, most of the crowds being made up entirely of NPCs. The streets were still fairly crowded, mostly with hawkers for miscellaneous wares most of which had long ago been replaced by better alternatives. This was among the oldest places visited by players in their exploits through the floating castle, and it showed. Once home to nearly half the player base, the vast majority had moved on, one way or another. So many others had gone dormant and stayed hidden in their homes, hoping to shut out the mental trials of existence in a new world. There were a lot of na

I took a while just to get back up to Venrough, the terrain being naturally inclined to the opposite direction of travel. Emerging from the depths just as the sun dipped to touch the horizon, Freyd knew how little time remained before he'd have to reach the entrance to the raid. "What do you say, Persi? Should we push it for one more? Something simple?" The mongoose silently scoffed and shook her head at him. "Glad we agree," he replied jokingly, heading for the portal plaza. "Urbus," he stated, his hand barely grazing the surface of the stone as he walked through its monumental arc

Dulled, but not yet defeated, Hebishinu sluggishly roused itself from the waters. It eyes looked fogged and glazed over as it struggled to fight off the lightning-driven death coursing within its vein, tearing it to pieces without any possible recourse. Feeling its demise impending it did the only thing available and lunged. Freyd dodged and deflected, better able to respond against its diminished speed. His own health had taken more of a beating than he was used to, his chest still heaving with gasps as he sought to normalize his breathing. Both fighters exhausted from their strugg

Don't brute force it. Math it. Right. He wasn't wearing Samael's Pride. Clenching his grip around Hebishinu's massive, tubular form, Freyd focused and forced until the required effect finally procced, seconds before his breath would give out. He'd have been screwed if the snake had actually managed to paralyze him. Instead, he did it to the serpent instead. Even underwater, the wraps took effect and seeped their charged, miasmic venom into the mob causing its full form to go ridged and then fall limp. Thrusting upward the moment he felt any slack, Freyd propelled his head above wat

He'd only just begun to wonder how it was supposed to detect him when the issue became moot. The massive serpent struck from behind, knocking him from his hollow, but not before getting a face full of fist for its trouble. Unfortunately, it also sent him right into the murk, which was the last place he wanted or needed to be. Water churned all around him, and then something set a vice about his ribs, crushing them like they were made out of paper maché. It took everything Freyd had not to gasp and lose his breath, which was surely what Hebishinu wanted. How many victims had fallen to the

Baiting apparently worked on this boss. Hebishinu lashed out once more, trying to sink its oversized fangs into the Whisper's hide, but finding nothing save shadow and Montjoy's annoying wave. Re-emerging behind it, Freyd pounded his twinned fists into the back of its head with a sickening crunch, slapping it back down into the water. Leaping for high ground, he'd lost it in the murk and watched warily for it to emerge once more. Combat became a waiting game, each opponent seeking an opening to exploit and steal the initiative and advantage for itself. He knew that it's health bar had

Its initial limpness faded, Hebishinu struck with lightning speed hoping to wrap itself around him like some sort of hyperactive boa. Fast enough for a counter, Freyd's fist found the underside of its jaw and sent it flying fully upward crashing into the underside of an unforgiving bough. Falling once more, it never reached the water before Freyd slammed it with a kick strong enough to redirect it sideways, he stifling a laugh as it cartoonishly wrapped itself in knots around the trunk. Its health already felled by a third, the boss shrugged off the initial assault even as it struggled

Freyd just stared at her, wondering how the conversation had just hopped on a plane, flown to Mars, evolved into its own life form and somehow come back to Earth to open its own taco stand. As non-sequiturs went, this one was a doozy. "You're getting married?" His lizard brain was currently stuck in 'brrrt' territory. How much arm twisting had that required, and on a hurricane? Did they even have elbows?! His eyes narrowed, like he was struggling to process the very concept. "You. With Gaius? Married? Really?" His inner Elora slapped the inside of the back of his head to jar

The moment its position was revealed, Hebishinu's hand was forced. Those very same spot lights bringing some modicum of illumination also laced the entire swamp with myriad shifting shadows. In it Freyd found some home turf to counter the mob's and used it to his own advantage. Persi was all over the serpent from the moment it broke the water's surface, beaning back and forth like some form of pinball demolition machine. The snake's strength as a massive tubular muscle was instantly shattered as multiple impacts broke its flexure and turned it into O&I's proverbial noodle. As it fell

The small rowboat slid silently through black, brackish waters leaving nary a wake as it passed. They had already passed a half-dozen impossibly large serpents that could each have qualified as field bosses in their own right, at least by Freyd's estimation, yet pressed on through the mire in a manner that drew all eyes to it. Hebishinu had already noticed them and was slithering in from below and behind, preparing to strike. Only stray beams of light penetrated this far down, acting like giant spotlights that cast oddly shaped pools of light on the water's surface. He expected the beast t

'How did... does... Raidou do it?' He knew the answer: by accepting the price before it need ever be paid, and making preparations for if it ever comes due. Freyd, by comparison, was accustomed to serving as a more invasive tool used to surgically remove obstacles on an as-needed basis. He took risks; often verging on the absurd and by necessity. Certainty was an illusion that prompted paralysis, and paralysis meant death in his world. So, instead, he did crazy things like hunting down massive water snakes in their semi-subterranean caverns solo for obscure trinkets on the chance they it

Reaching the lower swamplands was a priority before even considering what other modes of travel might best be suited. A rowboat or similar river vessel would do the trick, assuming he could find someone crazy enough to risk one on such a foolish endeavor. For now, finding the right dwarven guide was of greater concerned. "I honestly don't even remember dwarves being a thing on this floor," he admitted to Persi once they were away from the main town. "Must be some more recent changes, or maybe in the wake of Shadow's flood." Elora, Katoka and other had shared their traumatic experience

Passage to the sixteenth floor was easy enough to manage. Venrough's unusual construction made navigation more difficult and time consuming by comparison. The whole island felt like some sort of pock-marked massive world-turtle thing, with infinite depths to be plumbed below. It wasn't possible, of course, but Aincrad's rules of physics bent a lot of more standard assumptions. Finding the right bridges to reach the right levels often required a fair bit of trial and error, not to mention patience. Freyd notes that this would be a good place to hide if anyone were ever seeking to avoid a h

"So much for the yard work," he added, the last fragments of Eladriel having vanished and Persi rejoined him on the ground. "Not much else to be found here. Let's head back to Angel Point, then on to Venrough." He knew it mostly for its pirate problem, but Freyd had spent little time wandering the rest of its expanse. It took him five tries to target the right mob while activating his tracking mod. For whatever reason, Hebishinu's name always sounded different in his head and could never be recalled correctly. "Right where he should be. Good." Taking the opportunity to walk and wor

A twinge and flicker in Freyd's left eye pulled the helm taught even as his right fist drove down through the centre of Eladriel's torse. Banshee screams signaled the coming of oblivion. How appropriate. Hand through back, Samael's Pride ate most of him before the balance crumbled to dust and caught in a whirling breeze, drawings it sparkly motes to vanish up into the sky. "You were not my brother," Freyd replied, catching the significance of the eye colour. So, he's still watching, even after all this time. And now I can guess why. Cardinal. Ever-present and watchful, the person

"Wow... I bet you're all the rage with the girls," Freyd taunted, innately sensing the wound in the angel's pride. Vanity? Really? It's always the pretty boys. Refusing to be drawn into some pointlessly lengthy dialogue whose only benefit would be his foe's recovery, Freyd launched a fresh wave to kata at his enemy. A lucky jab struct his arm as he tucked when he should have dipped, but he pressed his assault regardless. Eladriel lunged and faltered, then fell once more. his face eating dirt that looked about as appetizing as his chest. Not standing on ceremony, Freyd drove a knee i

Slipping under its guard, the creature's massive spear stabbing too high to catch a skittish shadow, Freyd brought his fist down just above its knee. Eladriel cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground and losing his shield in the process. The angel's armor was proving to be more a liability than protective, slowing its responses and highlighting weak points for Freyd to exploit. A wild, wide swing sought to buy some clearance and failed. Sailing over top of the swing, his fist found a jaw, angel spit flying along with the continuing swing. Using the spear as a brace, Eladriel pulled

A shrill whistle called for shadow mongoose rain, which instantly pummeled the angel from above, knocking it from the skies. Dazed, Eladriel did exactly as expected and looked up to see what dared assault it. Freyd streaked from his hiding place, ramming his fist into the giant angel's gut instead, folding him in half with a baleful sounding "Heurk!" Relentlessly cascade fast-paced kicks and strikes followed in quick succession, battering Eladriel's form with enough speed to keep him off balance and unable to mount a defense. Initiative was often key, especially when challenging more c

First on the agenda was Eladriel, a fallen angel of some notable connection to the lore of floor 13, it had only recently resurfaced. Rumour spoke of it dropping a Fallen consumable that could stack with other effects. Given his plans to set aside Samael's Pride for the coming battle, and having to trim his own damage potential in order to effectively tank, any bit of added oomph was welcome. Even a lower tiered effect would be better than nothing. Offing Eladriel first also made sense. They were practically neighbours, with the celestial known to fly a pattern between several ruined

It felt a bit like getting ready for a shopping trip, at least at first. A list had been made, space cleared out in his inventory, and a travel itinerary prepared. He'd even had his cowl fixed since Elora tore it during their recent encounter. The thought prompted a smile. 'Of course she had,' he chuckled, thinking fondly of her talent for unintended mayhem. Who else could have pulled it off so easily? Today's efforts were focused on a last ditch effort to make ready for the pending raid. He'd already run across half the known floors of the floating castle trying to pull together r

"Well, that was...easy..." "Yes it was, and as it should be. Anyone who tells you we should give the mobs a fair fight is lying to you, or an idiot. You don't win wars by playing fair. We take every advantage at our disposal and use it to our benefit, or we die." Blunt, but that was the theme of any raid season. "Apologies for the brisk pace, but we haven't much time if we want these to be useful. Consumables tend to go wonky in a leadup to a raid and sometimes lose their potency if you don't catch them at the right moment. It's almost like Cardinal sets a limit on when they can be

Even Whack-a-mole had limits to its entertainment value. If not for Shiina's heroic sustenance, the Whisper would surely have waxed and waned already. Boot the whatever, fist to the something... these bloody things had no anatomy to cripple, just an every ready supply of goo ready to divide and keep fighting ad infinitum. A glance spared for the rest of the group summarized the scene: they were holding, health high but energy diving low. Fortunately, the end was in sight. "Just a little more," he yelled, spraying forth encouragement in the form of devastated slime bits that clung to w

"Morning, Morning," Freyd responded, not skipping a beat. "Thanks for being quick to gather. We all want to get to the raid, and there's a narrow window of time to gather a few last items before the clock does whatever crazy elemental nonsense Cardinal has in store for us. I figured that we could all benefit from a bit of practice working together better and coordinating our efforts. Floor bosses aren't known to be especially forgiving to dissention in front line ranks." Apparently, that was it for his pep speech. Having handed out the day's goodies and ensured that everyone was reas