Freyd

A black-gloved hand gripped the dagger sticking out of his chest, flashbacks recalling the time when another player had done the same deed. He'd nearly killed her for it, her life having been spared by the fear and desperation in her eyes and a prior commitment of friendship. Clattering loudly as it hit a nearby outcrop of stone and skipped into the lava beyond, Freyd raised his staff, pointing the tip menacingly at the mob's face. The containment seal on his weapon sizzled and crackled, struggling to hold against the hunger within, reinforced by its wielder's own impulses. The sound

Freyd spent most of their walk responding with one-word answers, or just a look when he could get away with it. Every once in a while, he'd chime in with some deep thinker crap to let Eruda know that he was actually listening to every word she said. Smalltalk just wasn't his thing, but he indulged her. She'd clearly needed it. And, though he was loathe to admit it, it was nice. When the time came, Freyd watched the elder make his way to shelter. The man's weathered form reminded him too much of the lone member of his own family that he'd ever cared for. Thank goodness the air was so

"Yeah," came the dry reply. "That sounds like Nisa. The woman's bat-shit-savant kind of crazy. Thinks she's Fate, with a capital 'F'." He shrugged at the declaration, as if her oddity was no issue. "She's clever, though. I'll give her that. In a cunning sort of way - and she knows it too. Don't believe that she's as innocent and harmless as she appears." Listening to Eruda's recounting of her encounter, Freyd remained silent. "She called me her messenger. Not really sure why, but it was a long time ago, now, or seems to be. Never quite figured out what she meant by

A stranger, darkly dressed, slipped into her quaint blue shop, the final vestiges of a cup of crème brûlée passing into his lips. A try full of the things clutched under his arm, he started scoping the various wares on display, muttering their effects to himself at a glance, not even bothering to read the carefully manicured labels. Haste was clearly a factor, judging by the way he leaned forward as he walked and the heaviness of footfalls from someone dressed more appropriately for stealth. "I don't happen to see any MIT foods. Do you not prepare them, or are you merely out of stock?"

"Tricked?" Feigned injury could ooze, apparently, if you tried hard enough. "I would choose a more generous and beneficial term, but if that's how you feel, why don't you just ask him." Freyd pointed at the small hunched figure huddled hiding behind a nearby outcrop of rock and compressed ash. "And Cardinal is Hephaestus in this particular drama. The lame god is just another tool, wielded by us and against us. You can choose to 'live' however you wish. I spent a long time choosing not to choose, myself. It was a mistake. I hope your 'chooses' go differently for you, and hopef

"Whao, whao! Easy, Tex. I don't have any answers for you! Me stopping back there was only the connecting of the second dot. I'm going to need more time, and a heck of a lot of crayons to piece this picture together. Give me some time. I promise to let you know what I find. Trust me. This is what I do." Nodding his head repeatedly as he spoke, Freyd strove to reassure her that everything would be fine. Repetitive stress injury was becoming a very grave risk by the time Zamek finally found his errant stash. Returning to them with tears in his eyes, the man clutched a stack of aged

"You're connected to her." It was a statement backed by certainty. He didn't know how, but he'd only felt such a splintered connection once before, when searching for Tuatha. Its position had been revealed as a place he had already come to know: Freya's home. "So is Freya." Freyd face soured as he spoke, which could easily have meant he was happy. The man's expressions made little sense, as if they stemmed from some bizarro-world reality where everything was backwards, except also tweaked just enough to break the pattern and confuse the absolute shit out of you. "There are o

Freyd grinned with such mischief that the Cheshire cat himself would be jealous. "I have no idea why you would take such a risk, given that safe zones are never truly that. They just give the false impression for comfort's sake. It's not my place to judge, even though I probably will anyway. You're a grown woman and can make your own choices." "That said," he pointed to the fading clouds of shard from the mobs she'd just devastated slowly drifted down upon the ashen landscape. "You are a player, Mina. In here, that grants you the potential of a god that would make Hercul

"Ehh..." Freyd seemed hesitant to drudge up such distant memories, but Eruda was a friend. "Yeah. That definitely sounds like Nisahime. She's what we call in the business, 'a weird one'." He even made the little air quotes with his hands to confirm the veracity of the claim. "Honestly, she puts Raidou's better oddities to shame. I'm also not entirely convinced that she's actually a player, which carries some pretty damned big consequences, if true. She had a green icon." He let that comment sit and stew for a bit, pulling a small canteen from his inventory and savoring a long dra

"To get you some better gear. You've tiered up, which means new options are open to you." He led the way from the small cluster of hovels that were nestled as close to the portal as they could. "You still haven't really answered why you wouldn't wear armor, or why Jon would be upset if you did. Forgive my persistence, but this seems rather important towards figuring out your odds of survival. What's the deal?" You don't get to be the captain of a guild's spy branch without being persistent about crucial information. Freyd wanted a why, and wasn't about to let up. He was also well

Freyd arrived just in time to tick the quest log and watch the gory drama unfold on the field below. He hardly paid attention, preferring to catch up with an old friend who'd gone dormant for awhile. "Been awhile, Oscar. Thought you might be dead. Checked. Glad you weren't." So much for small talk. He'd given it his best shot. Turning his attention to the bloody mess being left in the valley, Freyd pointed to the nearby captain. The NPC would intervene, shortly, driving off the foreshadowed villain who was currently tearing up his men. "Don't worry," he offered. "We get to beat

Results: https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/19579-freyds-evaluations/?do=findComment&comment=644627 @Oscar

"Uhh... that could be a lot of people, in the right conditions. Hidden? Assassin? Cordelia? Ariel? Nisa?" Counting on his fingers somehow helped to link their images and names. "I suppose that you could add a few others, too." Glancing over casually as she picked up the old man, an observation slipped. "Griswold's daughters have their father's strength." A rare compliment, candidly given and heartfelt. Both women had endured their respective shares of the same trauma, each from a different perspective. Freyd didn't know all of the details. He didn't need to. It was enough to

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Hiding R3 Mod(s)/Addon(s) Being Dropped: Untraceable SP Incurred Towards Limit: 14 SP SP Refunded: 18 SP Cost: 18000 col

A smile suppressed, Freyd had recognized the dungeon's pattern, but Mina's reaction sealed the deal. They must have been pulled into its bounds from the moment they left the edge of Coral's safe zone. Nine levels, though, that was rather remarkable and out of keeping with his own experiences. "Aincrad is always changing," he admitted. "We need to change with it. For what it's worth, I think you're making the right call and that Jon will understand." Rosa's shop had largely been restored by the time they arrived. A half-dozen apologies, and promise to buy out all of her stock, fi

Freyd was still staring at the loot summary from the recently obliterated first wave. Was his luck really this bad? The results were quite abysmal, especially given the number of looted mobs, and he'd been finding this to be a persistent problem of late. It all started when... "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk... sorry pal, you're out of luck!" "YOU! I'm gonna frikkin murder you, you little bag of post-digestion content! What the hell are you doing? Nevermind. Don't care. I'm putting you in the ground!" His companions had already engaged another group around the corner, but Freyd was overly

"Did something similar happen to my sister? What was in her..." Well, it's kinda more specific, isn't it? Freyd's gaze glanced casually down at his shadow, making it look as if he were sheltering his eyes from the sands. "Why are you asking me these questions instead of just asking Freya?" It was an honest and fair rebuttal. The winds were increasing in speed and intensity as the full brunt of the storm fell upon them. Pulling his cowl tight to his face and lifting a mask as well, Freyd had all but retreated behind his clothing. "I think we need to clear up another quest

"The Celestial Ascendants? Huh. I wonder if they were around during the same days as The Madrigal. The timing seems about right. Both predate my active days. I spent most of my early time in the game touring the Town of Beginnings - by which I mean the first few years. You must have been active for quite some time." Internally, Freyd was trying to process how Mina could have been around since those days, and yet still be so completely incapable of harming their enemy during the recent fight. "What level are you?" He just blurted it out, rather than being subtle or slaving himself

Freyd's silence was telling, but not in the manner Eruda might first think. "That's not exactly a simple question. But, if I were to distill it to the simplest answer, it would be something like: I was just there when she needed a friend." Memories tore through him like a flood, going as far back as a cluster of rampaging giant bees, Shiina sledding on a compound eye. Battles fought, side by side, slowly rebuilding Freya's confidence. Behind it all, a messed called Tuatha, or Kuriyama, or spoopy-semi-demon-dude. Who also somehow turns out to be Simmone's dead brother from before

"You know Shield? We've run together a few times, mostly dungeons. Both of us were at the last floor boss raid together. Can't say that I know him particularly well, but he seems a decent sort. Good head on his shoulders, and all that. I'll have to let him know that I can out-glare him, next time I see him. He'll probably glare at me, if I do." Mina's choice of words ha caught his attention. "You referred to him as you 'old guildmate.' Does that mean that one or both of you left your guild? I thought he was with Jacob's Ladder." Walking back towards Coral proved to be far l

Evals for items provided by Oscar in shop: https://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/19871-f13-appraiser-freyd-edges-open/?do=findComment&comment=644577 Rank 5 Appraiser (Base: BD 10, CD 8+ for unique, 10 identifications per day) +1 to CD from Hermes’ Scale +2 EXP: Hard Working (also +1 IDs per day) +2 EXP: Lucrative (Firm Anima) (also +2 IDs per day) +1 EXP: Custom Ambition Tool (bought from own shop 2020-07-16) Consuming: Crafting Respite: 173273 Witch's Brew: Provided by Oscar. See link above. Identifications: 26x T4 Perfect Items (@3040 col) = 79040 col +72

One eyebrow arched higher than the other at her assessment of his demeanor, ending with a snort-like exhalation and a wide, wry grin. "You're actually not far off, on both counts. It's an occupational hazard, I suppose. Sorry about the ninja twins, back there. Mari's gemini is not one to be taken lightly, and posed a very real threat. We may not know each other, but it was me who put you in the position in the first place. I'm sorry for that. Playing a trump card seemed prudent and appropriate. I'm glad it paid off." Freyd's bearing softened as they spoke. His edge melting

"Taking pride in killing your opponent, is a recipe for disaster." "I will not give him that satisfaction of killing me in this game." "Who gets to decide what should have and shouldn't have existed?" Freyd listened in silence, motionless as the dial upon which the sun casts shadow to define its concept of time. Their debate held no meaning for him. Being the instrument of the casting set him aside in the equation. Wheels turned within themselves as skies fell to darkness and arose once more with the inevitable dawn. Answers in contrast were illusions and mere distractions -

The two opponents charged at each other, one fueled by rage and the other by mild irritation. The dragon lanced through the air with surprising speed, it's impressive and malicious maw aiming to devour its foe, only to find nothing but shadow and an impending collision with some very, very hard ground. Nemo crashed, face first, too stunned to manage any form of a dodge. Freyd, meanwhile, came plummeting down on top of the reptile's head, braining him so hard that Nemo nearly bit off his own tongue. Unexpectedly, the lizard splayed out its arms and whimpered pleas for mercy. It was rat