Freyd

A message received, a bobber retrieved and Whisper slinking out from his near back yard to the farther one. This girl was a trouble magnet, it seemed, but at least she had the decency to keep it local. He didn't even bother asking how or why Raidou was involved. It was trouble, and he was Raidou. It just made sense. The picnic sprawled out before him had been assembled for his first attempt at a recreational outing. Someone had mentioned the concept before, and colleagues nagged him incessantly that he needed to 'get out more'. It only just occurred to him that they meant somewhere more

Sand sprayed in the serpent's eyes - all four of them - as Freyd and Persi worked to tag team the field boss and end a stalemate of principles. A twist and shift pulled the dark staff from the ground, neatly slipping the top through the open loop at the base of the panhandle in Blueberry's grasp. Twin clanks and hisses as the cast iron smashed unceremoniously against both heads, amidst a flurry of motion, producing simultaneous hisses and the release of jaws. Snouts bashed and brutalized by a whirlwind of motion and flailing improvised kitchenware decimated the fierce Amphis Serpens, leaving

A quick fist bump and follow up smash sent the demon sprawling, bouncing head over tea kettle until he finally splattered across one of the massive masonry columns holding up the vaulted ceiling, of which Lilith had been so fond. Freyd rotated his shoulder, watching an outline of the boss in his previous position fade, like the hairs of the coyote after the roadrunner pushed down his own plunger, setting off a ton of TNT in his face. "I think I sliced that one," he joked. "I was actually aiming for the next column over." Beelzebub's tail had been flattened by the impact. The r

"Oh, did I mention? We finally figured out who was behind all that. Turns out Lun'Rael, the Dark Elf queen from floor 23 - the one who blew herself up and took out her own city in the process? Yeah. It was her. Whatever was bringing her minions back from the dead had originally done the same to her." A screeching sound like the start of a backdraft skewed the distance between Freyd and demon-dude as the sliver of nothingness opened itself up to feed. Thrust forth like a spear, Freyd lunged and disintegrated a hole the size of a volleyball through the thing's chest, severing its left

As forces gathered to the frontlines, Freyd found himself staring about the room at the various faces gathered. Most were familiar, certainly including those from his guild. Come to think of it, he knew them all in some way or another. "How did that happen," he mused aloud as he laid out provisions to share with comrades. Shiina was practically throwing mass healing potions at people, but they were all so frightened of her that no one dared receive them, for fear they'd somehow be paralyzed to the tune of a whoopy cushion by the woman's antics. He couldn't really blame them, though

A burst of brilliant white light beamed from on high, bathing the entire chamber in celestial glow of wrath unleashed. Like a comet crashing to Earth from the heavens, Freyd fell from the rafters with such force that it shattered the throne, the dais and the boss, right down to ten feet deep in a crater as Oscar's feel. A figure in black emerged from the black: his friend trailing pixel parts of a foe that they'd come here to wreck. She'd just gotten that in spades. Partially bleached by the power of the weapon and sword art, Freyd's form faded back into familiar darkness as he came back i

"Because that's exactly the point, Blueberry." He had her attention, at least. Shattering another person's world view was never without pain. She might resent him forever for doing it, but it could keep her alive. Life here wasn't sunshine and lollipops, no matter how much anyone tried to dress it up to be. "By sitting idle, you've already denied yourself the ability to stop this monster." Slamming his staff deep into the sand and kneeling to fix his position, Freyd denied the Amphis Serpens the purchase it required to drag him down. But all he did was hold his ground. There was no

"It needs to be done," Freyd replied, in regards to Tyson. "If he's willing to come after you, then he's doing as much or worse to other players. We're a finite resource. Every moron who kills one of us harms everyone's chances at ever getting out of here, including their own." The Whisper shook his head at the idiocy behind such waste. "I'll do it, if you feel like you can't. I don't think anyone would fault you." A stinging bite and swipe on his arm brought him back to focus. The catty little bitch actually tagged him. "Okay. Cute or not, I'm done playing around."

"Yeah." A singular reply. Freyd was already committed. That had never been the issue. And he still had his doubts, not that it mattered. Freya was too headstrong to listen anyway, so he'd seared a moment and image in her memory instead, waiting to be called upon if the dreaded need ever came. "What are you expecting to find? It's not like I brought... actually, I do have a shovel. But I'm not doing all the digging! Get Marv to help you, if you're just looking for brawn. Good luck convincing him, too. That may is so hard-headed." The rest of their journey passed in relative

"Tyson, wasn't it?" Freyd had enough informants around to piece together cookies when enough crumbs had been dropped. Keeping an eye on the Monument of Life also helped, as the names always appeared there in the order of their deaths. He had a kid on the payroll, just to note the date and times. It was proving more valuable a practice than he ever could have imagined. Having a mind like a steel trap didn't hurt, either, when it came to remembering details on potential threats. "Is that shit over and done with, or are we still in the aftermath?" Freyd's use of the plural was clearl

"Both of my eyes?" Freyd arched a brow while furrowing the other, instantly marking the similarity to Takeshi she had sought. It was there. Everywhere. Having seen the true him, it was impossible not to recognize it in everything gesture and action. Even the cadence of his speech matched perfectly. He clearly remembered nothing of her conversation with Montjoy, mere moments ago. "I... uh..." struggling to re-sync into their conversation, he reached up and caressed her cheek with his hand, tracing the lines of her face with his index and thumb. For the moment, his façade had faded a

Freyd folded his arms over his chest, cradling his weapon between them in a firm grasp. His face bore a passive, patient expression, as if waiting would eventually demonstrate the point he was trying to make. "What if those who protect you took the same stance and position that you are taking? What if the tanks hid in their armor, drawing no ire and let the enemy slip by? What if the warriors who stand with them dropped arms and simply stepped aside?" The serpent, meanwhile, stirred and shook off its stupor, angered at the player's audacity and the lingering effects of his stri

Silence reigned between them as the story sunk in. It wasn't the sort of thing even Freyd could process without a little time, mostly because of the feelings involved. They were still being integrated into whatever matrix of heart and mind formed the man's unusual soul. The clink of a mug brought them both back to reality, dominating over the absence of sound that had momentarily forged a chasm between them. "So your first thought was to take on an ice monster on Aincrad's coldest floor?" Humour diffuses tension. He believed it, even if his tended towards dry irony and dad jokes

Freyd tensed as she wrapped her arms around him, or maybe he was just always tense. The man never seemed to allow himself a moment's relaxation, always focused, always working and pursuing some series of unknown goals. He was a naturally secretive soul, coming across as one of those kooks with maps strewn all over his walls, tied together by a network of pins and red threads to form a picture that somehow made sense of a universal dose of chaos. There was also unexpected warmth. For someone so outwardly cold, bordering on callous and a machine-like lack of empathy, at times, she'd expected

"What happened to you?" Bluntly delivered, but the tone was less harsh than it might once have been. Freyd never minced words when something was important, and it spared everyone a lot of dancing about the bush, etiquette be damned. This was about as close as he ever got to developing tact. "I mean, I've heard what happened everywhere, but what happened to you, specifically. There are shadows behind your eyes, Katoka. Something is eating at you." Snaring a few portions of the gathered repast for himself, Freyd leaned back into his chair and waited quietly while they nibbled. She cou

Thread Summary: 9000 words / 30 = 300*5= 1500*Tier 9000 / 300 = 30 seeds Given that this thread was started prior to the drop of 3.0, each player’s 3.0 conversion levels and paragon levels have been used to establish their rewards. SketchSkirmish receives: No rewards. never converted to 3.0 and left the server. Setsuna receives: Freyd receives: Recon receives: Alkor receives: Koga receives: Macradon receives: Krysta receives:

If only this was just about 'the crazy.' Frivolity had no place in the pending moment. This was going to be hard. Walking them back into town, Freyd failed even acknowledge Marv's presence as they passed. He was resolved to an action that could harm his friend, albeit intangibly. But friends had to be honest with friends, and force them to face the difficult things that they failed to acknowledge themselves. Passing through the main gates, he led them passed the central plaza and its host of quest boards. Most of this area was quiet, by this hour. There were few who still qualified

"You are not the only one who saw something in that mirror, or felt it since." Freyd's tone was soft and quiet, typical for a Whisper, yet revealed nothing about his intentions or any change in his perspective at her news. His eyes, brilliant, steely blue carried their default intensity as they watched her manage through the words and the emotions that came with them. When she was done, his gaze traveled back the way they came, staring at the massive city on the near horizon, thinking in silence. "You have always defined yourself by your past, and by Tuatha's influence over it." H

Freyd burst through the open portal, staff in hand and blazing with power, ready to smite whatever was... Nothing. There was nothing going on. Everything in the Town of Beginnings was perfectly normal. Too normal? Nope. Just normal normal. Standing down from his stance, the Whisper stowed whatever half-considered world-ending maneuver he'd just been about to try an unleash, not quite sure how he was actually going to pull it off. At least he could stow that particular problem, for the time being. Figuring out how to nuke a safe zone might eventually be helpful though, so the idea

Leading the descent into a rocky bowl filled with sand, Freyd warned his companion to watch her footing. No skills? Was she nuts, or just stubborn to the point of stupid? This was tantamount to holding your digital breath and hoping Cardinal would cave in to your childish demands. Naive. A sigh released under the guise of being winded by the hike. Pangs of pain throbbing across his temples. He didn't get people who took such delusional approaches to their plight, and it irked him that someone would be so careless with the most precious resource available in the game: their life.

Who the hell put him in charge? Montjoy peered incredulously over towards Baldur. Freyd shrugged at his shadow, passing the gesture off as a chill, despite being able to ignore the effects of the dank and damp sewers they found themselves in. 'Probably himself', Freyd replied to himself, his inner banter off to a quick start at the revelation of the stark underground chamber's limited contents. It was a pretty typical boss room: lots of empty space for movement, assorted macguffins sprinkled liberally far apart to encourage a boost to everyone's daily step count. At least they g

The first wasted zombie warrior fell from the sky only to be treated like an underhand throw softball meeting a bat with the backing of a freight train. Freyd's blow completely disintegrated the mob's remnants, hoovering them up into the sliver of void that was his weapon. The nothingness in his hands still screeching like a banshee, he rolled and snared a second unfortunate red cloak with the same fate, leaving only one more to manage. "So still conflicted/not-conflicted, are we? Isn't that a bit rich, yet wholly appropriate for a therapist? I admire the paradox, but it's going to

"You did the same thing last time, I believe." The cold, monotone voice came suddenly and from immediately behind her. Freyd wondered if he'd get himself stabbed one day, if he kept doing that. The Whisper hadn't changed at all, or so it seemed until he slumped silently into a soft, furr-covered couch opposite to her. A playfully wry grin curled the edge of his lips, which he quickly concealed behind a steam cup of black coffee - one of his only demonstrable vices. The clothes still looked like he'd been in the wilderness for an age and a day, and was at risk of an anaphylaxic reactio