Freyd

Eruda's gaze and motions inferred her intent before she even moved. Freyd watched, studying their bulwark as much as the movements of their enemies. Placing herself in harm's way was her choice, and in this case her duty. She was doing what she had to, so that the rest of them could do the same. A link of items in synergy. A bashed doggo head smashed to smithereens on the woman's prickly purity. A grin from the Whisper watching it happen. Then, an opening. Sundering his own form dancing in the myriad shadows cast by the coruscating flames of their enemies, Freyd blended into the pl

Twin warriors materialized on their flanks, cutting at Cerberus' maws in a pincer movement. Freyd smiled at the sight of a plan coming together, and a team honing its skills. It was beautiful to a man who rarely recognized such a thing from an aesthetic perspective. The tank was taking charge. Excellent. This is what he'd been hoping to witness: Eruda devising strategy on the fly, adapting to her circumstances and directing her pieces to achieve her goals. Another crystal cracked and crunched to pieces in his hands. Pulsing ribbons of energy spread from his hands as the powde

Sweeping out of the shadows, carrying a tide of inky blackness behind him, Freyd's weapon slammed into the nearest slime like a hammer on a country fair high striker, ringing its bell as it was sent hurtling across the battlefield to splatter against the tunnel wall. Two more got whomped as he plowed through them, soaking himself in their goo as large segments of their blobby bodies disintegrated. "Urgh... I got fom in my mowff!" A high flip (and spit) saw him sail up into the air and come crashing down upon the sneaky looking slime lingering in the background - the first to have

A slap on the back, in passing, healed some of the rubberized tank's wounds. Freyd slid past on the side opposite her shield and caught doggo's one head on the jaw, smashing teeth into shards and violently forcing a release of his companion in the process. "Don't worry. We've got this. Your healing will kick in momentarily. The crystal I just gave you will help too." Rolling low to the ground, the Whisper seemed to hover in his movements, like denying gravity its due, then raising back up to batter the giant canine's form even further. "Lure it towards that overhang, over t

The probably impropriety of handing a friend a skin-tight rubber suit and telling her to put it on was completely lost on Freyd. He just didn't get it and would have stood there, staring impatiently if Montjoy hadn't chimed and told him to turn around. "Rumour has it that we need to get a certain ability to trigger while fighting Cerberus in order to unlock a particularly useful sword art, especially for tanks. I have access to it myself, perhaps because I'd previously completed the quest?" A dismissive shrug tossed the details from their conversation as unimportant. "You'll want it

Stepping on the hilt to prevent any last minute hijinks, Freyd reached down and pulled the blade out, watching as it dematerialized in his hands. That could only mean one thing. Turning the woman over revealed Nhiks not as a were-rat, but as the human woman she had one been, a growing pulpy red mass staining her blouse and surcoat. A brass medallion fell loose as he did so, bearing the crest of the Galtean navy, now badly worn by shame and defeat, then wracked by an obsession for vengeance. Bending low, Freyd took it in the darkness of his open, gloved hand, his eyes locking with hers

Pressing his fingers to his temples, Freyd's voice fell silent and low, as if he were only speaking to himself. "I really wish you hadn't done that." Nhiks grabbed and drew her serrated cutlass, swinging it high over Freyd's head as she lost her balance and her wits. "DO YOU THINK I CARE WHAT YOU WANT?" Given over to complete, self-destructive impulse, Freyd had to give ground to counter her assault - a commodity that was presently in very short supply. The speed of her attacks was increasing, even as he watched her health bar depleting itself. It was an untenable situa

Crashing like a bowling ball into the second skiff, Freyd's impact scattered most of the occupants like pins, tossing most of them overboard in the process. Only Nhiks and That Guy remained, the latter laughing himself silly at the entire situation. Why did he remind Freyd so much of Oscar? "Wha... What is WRONG with you!? Why can't just die, like everyone else?" Nhiks raged at the insolence of his continued survival. "Yes. Inconceivable," her skeletal companion added, piling insult onto literal injury." The were-rat's face, whirled, ready to tear apart the fool for his audacit

Something was bothering Freyd after his recent outing with Eruda on floor 5. During their sojourn though the desert, they... mostly she... had spent a lot of time chatting. Freyd had listened, analyzed, processed and tucked away for future reference. It figured that the data would spit out its conclusions while he was in the middle of fishing. He always did his best thinking at the pond, and napping. "Darnit... she's gonna need that skill," he muttered to no one in particular. "And her gear is all wrong for the quest that has to be completed to unlock it." A few quick touches dismis

The instant that the last of their rear guard fell, Freyd pounced and cleared the distance. The ship was especially large, even among the many cargo vessels he had witnessed traveling across Ladonia's skies. Airships were definitely the preferred local mode of travel, though he wondered how there weren't more catastrophic accidents. Had the game designers never heard of nine eleven?! Locking eyes with Nhiks as her craft cut loose from the barge, he knew that he would never catch her. The distance was too great. But he'd dealt her and her gang a serious blow today. Maybe he could...

Melee immediately ensued, neither side having been expecting to stumble onto each other in quite so sudden a manner. Freyd danced between his foes, using the web of rigging and debris scattered across the deck to his advantage, all the while trying to close the distance to Nhiks and her escaping cronies. "Seriously? How much are you even getting paid for this? I guarantee you that it isn't worth what you're going to be out after this debacle." "It ain't just about loot, boyo," replied one of the skallywags, bloodshot yellow eyes flaring with fanatical anger. "But you'll learn th

"Lock it behind you. The password is Bazinga. Don't ask." Confusion melted back into grim determination and collective nods of appreciation from the handful that had made it this far. Returned in silent understanding, Freyd resumed his hunt for the last of Nhiks' brood. Persi joined up with him at the far end of the hall, just as the hatch closed and sealed behind him. A few more twists and turns led them to an open deck from which they full extent of the damage could be seen. A long, thick trail of black smoke trailed them from the forward starboard engine, which resembled a helic

"Not good!" Lavi had reached the wheel, which fell off its mount and into her hands when she tried to spin it and stabilize their descent. Tossing the piece of scrap aside, she yanked a wrench the size of Freyd's forearm out of her pocket and grabbed anything and everything available to try and jury rig a solution. "Where were you hiding that?! And why were you not bashing rodent skull in with it earlier?" A spray of orange shards cascaded through the open bridge hatch through which they had entered. Persi was clearly up to the task and likely enjoying herself in the process. La

Dipping a hand into the barrels procced a system message confirming an experience gain on his fishing skill, prompting a hearty snort from Freyd. Whatever. Two birds with one something something. Grabbing the barrel with the aid of another crewmen, they tossed the contents at the fire, causing no end of sizzling and popping amidst the stench of two-day old catch getting crispified. It did the trick, and Freyd was the first through the gap, bursting onto the bridge. A handful of skyrat pirates had become trapped here and were desperately looking for a way out, rushing for Freyd's point

"Persi! Watch our backs. I need to scout out a path ahead or we'll walk into an ambush, which I'm absolutely sure that these nutjobs are setting for us." A small sinewy sliver of darkness slunk down from his jacket, darting aft in search of sneaky bastards who shouldn't be there. Twin cries of surprise followed shortly thereafter. The mongoose was used to fighting some of Aincrad's most fearsome field bosses. These lunkheads were hardly going to give her a challenge. Freyd smiled, trusting his familiar to get the job done. "That way," Lavi cried over the ongoing barrage of cann

Another blast, this one causing the ship to list hard to starboard, their previously steady course deviating sharply. "Shinsa, take Hoshi and get to the stabilizers, or we're all dead!" Nothing motivated an engineer more than a ship in crisis. "Quickly now! And be safe!" Freyd knew that she might have just sent those two subordinates to their deaths, even as he fought the next band of ragtag pirates attempting to bar their way. She had the instincts of a leader, even if she hadn't quite realized it yet. Stressful circumstances have a way of bringing out those traits in people,

"Alright, Lavi. You're with me. You stay glued to my ass and tell me where we need to go. Got it?" "Yeah! Yeah, I- watch out!!!" Sweeping his staff low to the ground, Freyd tripped the pair of incoming pirates, trusting to falling cargo and sheer chaos to keep them occupied. A turned head and raised eyebrow glaring from beneath his cowl urged her to continue. "That way! The bridge is beyond that bulkhead. The patrol likely thinks we're dead and will bring down the ship rather than letting her fall to pirates. We need to get to the bridge and signal them." Clear a path

"Th... the captain's dead," stuttered a young woman smeared in oil and grease. She was most likely the ship's engineer and one of the few surviving officers given the way the rest were turning to her for guidance. Freyd deflected a large metal crate falling towards her head and sent it crashing into another nearby pirate. "If this ship crashes, a lot of people below will get hurt. I'm making that a you problem, as I doubt you'll be able to help me much with the pirates. Keeping you alive while you do it is a me problem. Deal?" Ample positive nodding followed. Any kind of plan a

More explosions filled their surroundings as the Ladonian's launched another salvo. Some moron with an improvised loudspeaker was mumbling something indecipherable to them, reminding Freyd of the announcement on the subways of Osaka. He swore they just made them to pretend that they were actually being helpful, and to provide a plausible defense when things went sideways, as they currently were. "Get to the lifeboats!" Nhiks spat the words out with visible venom, anger frothing on her lips even as she glared at the Whisper taking down her men. "Whatever happens, that one doesn't get o

"Crap." Freyd and Nhiks said in unison. Their went their deal, hurtling down in flames to crash into whatever unlucky district currently lay below them - most likely the slums. Leaping down from his perch, Freyd brought his weapon down on the nearest pirate, splitting him in twain. Shards splashed in a bubble as he exploded, momentarily blinding his compatriot and dooming them to the same fate. Sweeping his staff under the next target's legs, he pulled his feet out from under him and drove one butt end down onto the wererat's face. The other two managed to get their weapons up, but w

Nhiks honestly didn't know how to react. She's have willingly killed the hostages, but to hear the callousness in her counterpart's voice made her reconsider the nature of their standoff. He was after something else, not them. This wasn't an interloper, but a passer-through who'd just stumbled into their business by accident. And, he was willing to just keep walking, if there was any truth behind his words. It made sense. Confrontation was pointless. "We keep our loot." A pause in the darkness. "Fine by me, but I'm not the one who will have to answer for it." The cre

There were too many to fight in the open. Dodging a series of stabs and lunging thrusts, Freyd gave ground and retreated into the crates and shadows, but not before he'd felled a third of their remaining numbers. Panic set into their ranks, one of the smaller ratmen suggesting that they should take their booty and go. The tip of a serrated cutless pierced his chest from behind, the reddened blade wielded by Nhiks herself. She would tolerate no dissention or cowardice and was willing to slay another one of her own to motivate the rest. Freyd admired her ruthlessness. Yanking her weapon fr

Sparks flew across the gnarly wooden deck boards as Freyd burst into the open. Hoping to pick up That Guy's trail, he forcefully skidded to a halt instead. Before him stood a dozen of the barge's crew their hands in the air and surrounded by twice as many of the same ratfolk whose kin's guts were now tinkling alongside their outlandishly oversized boots. "Who the hell is this guy?" One of them asked, a female who was also clearly the alpha by dress and the deference from her peers. Her bigger, brighter, flashier hat helped to seal the deal. The crew shrugged, looking just as confuse a

Freyd groaned, pressing his hands to his forehead against imagined pain that the game system automatically prevented from passing. It was more a manner of habit than a real sign of stress. It was also a ruse. Before chuckling born in arrogant confidence could fully take hold, a silver staff raked across their lines of visions, whacking all of them in their extended and oh-so sensitive noses, causing them all to retreat amidst yelps of pain and surprise. "I don't have time for this." Just then, as if on queue, a little blue coat went darting by in the narrow field of vision between

Something skittered by on his left, too big to be some sort of critter, but small enough to be his quarry. As best as Freyd could determine, the little guy was barely more than four feet tall wearing a navy blue hoodie and shorts that somehow didn't just drape over his bony body. Large dark eyes with small yellow irises gave him an especially cartoonish appearance. And dude was fast! "Hah!" Freyd pounced into an opening in the piles of random cargo. "Finally got you, you little cretin." Found hunched figures paused, their shoulders tensing, then turning as one. Long furry snout