Katoka

The rituals of everyday life were unnecessary here in this virtual world. You didn't need to shower, to brush your teeth, or wash your clothes. These simple tasks were mundane when you could just automate everything in game windows with the touch of a few buttons. However, the act of going through these motions helped Katoka feel more grounded. To make this world feel like it was more of a home than the prison that held them all in. So in the mornings she would shower. She would brush her teeth and hair, put on fresh clothing, cook a simple breakfast, clean her house, and even perform simple m

In an utter state of confusion Katoka whipped her head around to look her friend dead in the eyes, "What do you mean don't hold on? Freyd?" She looked completely dumbfounded as she watched Freyd wind up and punch the sinking vessel, sending the small blonde rocketing into the air as if she was a stuffed animal that had been sitting at the other end of a seesaw. Once she had reached the apex of her climb, Kat attempted to control the speed of her decent by throwing her arms and legs out as far as she could, catching the air as she fell. The winding whipped past her causing all sound to be

"How did a hole get in the boat?" Katoka groaned as she started scooping water with her hands and tossing it overboard, "How the hell are we supposed to deal with this?!" She felt panic grip her as the water began to rise. She couldn't run across this water without having some sort of solid ground to build up speed on first. She was not too keen on them having to swim back, as that might attract the attention of some other sort of water monsters. As her brain ran through as many scenarios as she could think of she continued to toss water out of the boat with her hands, not that it helped

Whirling around frantically while looking for the next enemy to attack, Katoka felt her shoulders relax as she came to realize that the school of demented fish had been taken care of. The sound of a splash and the now missing body of Freyd sent a jolt of panic through the samurai, causing her to leap towards the rippling water. Her arms penetrated the dark ocean in a frenzy, she called out to Elora as she felt her fingers brush against what she thought was an arm, "Elora! Man overboard! Give me a hand!" With their combined strength they managed to haul the unconscious form of their compan

"Big bois are my specialty!" Katoka called to Freyd as she watched the large angler fish emerge from the void like water before them. Adjusting her stance she leapt off the raft, landing on top of the monster in order to hit it more directly. However she hadn't calculated her sandals, or the slippery skin of the fish. She slid forwards, down the spine of The Lurker as she hit it with a few haphazard swings of her katana. It wasn't the blow she had hoped for, but she saw it's health bar dip considerably from her strike. Using the ginormous fish as a spring board, she launched herself off i

The blonde had managed to gain her sea legs faster than she had initially imagined. With the large fish breaking the surface and causing waves, on top of her and Freyd jumping about (or in Freyd's case flopping about) their little boat was rocking back and forth enough to make most people loose their balance. Katoka however bent her knees and rode the vessel as if it was a large surfboard. She let out an almost maniacal laugh as the boss before them couldn't move at all. Once again she vanished in a flash, this time reappearing on top of the creatures head with her feet planted firmly. Sh

The sight of the boat in front of Katoka cause d her to grimace. It looked as though it was far past it's prime and that one good wave would turn it into splinters. She turned and gave Freyd a pained grin as she climbed in and took a seat. "Should I write my Will now or are you more confident in this things structural integrity than I am?" The two cast off as Freyd filled Kat in on the dealings in his relationship, she of course ate up every bit. A gasp escaped her mouth at the last bit of information and a high pitched squeal that could have shattered a glass erupted from her, "YOU'RE BU

Katoka looked around as darkness enveloped them, "Uhh, wasn't the sun setting like a few seconds ago? It shouldn't be this dark already." Her voice had a hint of concern in it as she placed a hand on the hilt of her weapon. She was glad that she kept it equipped for situations just like this. Cardinal was a fickle thing that could take a nice environment and turn it deadly in a blink of an eye. This was beginning to feel like one of those situations. "Freyd?" she asked as she exposed about and inch of her katana, electricity sparking from the weapon and giving off a soft blue glow that il

A grin spread across the blonde's face as she looked over Freyd's fishing gear. "I don't know why I still manage to get surprised by the goofy outfits and disguises you manage to put on these days. Also, you and any sort of monster having beef is not surprising at all. I would be more shocked if we didn't fight something that ended with us in some wonky dungeon or dealing with a error coded nightmare." Katoka began to walk towards the edge of the settlement, she had looked at a few maps beforehand to get an idea of where to go. The two needed to find a local dock with a boat, then they ju

Standing confidently with her hands on her hips, Katoka looked across the ocean as the three of them began to sail across the waves. She was impressed that they had managed to fashion something as sea worthy as their raft had been, she had a sneaking suspicion that the system would have found a way to intervein in some way. Though now that the thought had crossed her mind she frowned a bit, there was always time for something to happen to them. She quickly began to look over the logs and the knots they had made just to be sure. Turning to her friends as she picked up one of the improvised

Katoka smiled at Elora's joke, "I'm thinking of a nice house boat. Something with a main room with a sectioned off bit to sleep in. Preferably a nice wrap around covered porch." She took Freyd's instruction and severed the felled trees in order to double the surface area of their soon to be raft. She lined them up the best she could before taking a few of the vines that were gathered and began to braid them into a rope like fashion. "I'd rather be safe than sorry, this should help strengthen them a bit more." She lashed the logs together with Freyd and Elora's help and stood back to obser

A sharp whistle pulled the samurai's attention towards the shore once again. She dove under the water and swam in the direction of her companions, feeling happy that her parents had forced her out of the house at various points of her life to make her go swimming. If she hadn't been too focused on games she probably would have joined the swim club in school. "Think we could chop a few of those down?" Freyd asked, gesturing towards some trees on the shore. "We building a raft or something?" Kat asked looking quizzically at the trees and then back to her friends. "I'm sure we can rig s

"Right. Ready, set--" Katoka was standing on one side of the shore in a running starter position, a grin plastered on her face as she eyed the opposite shore. "Go!" The ball of her foot dug into the sand as she pressed all of her weight into her right leg, a sizable crater appearing beneath her before she disappeared in a blur of motion. The only visible trace of her was the spray of water that railed behind her body as she rocketed across the ocean. She felt confident hat this time she could make it to the other side, but that confidence quickly left her as she crashed into the waves, se

Katoka giggled, not directly at Freyd of course, but at the situation itself. The thought of him accidently turning into a chicken or a donkey when trying to slip away had flashed in her mind. She composed herself and turned to her friend, "Hopefully things won't get too crazy for you." "You look all grown up." The samurai looked down at herself, inspecting her clothes and equipment before smiling warmly. It felt like she had travelled down a long road to reach this point in time. She had been to afraid to leave the inn she stayed at for so long before she finally took the first step

Katoka turned in the direction of the garbled sound, arching a brow at the sight of a fish-lizard-frog thing holding a cup of coffee. She blinked a few times before she let out a laugh that caused her to nearly double over, "Wh-What in the hell have you managed to turn yourself into now?" The samurai wiped tears from her eyes as she attempted to gather herself. It took a minute or two of deep breaths and trying not to look in Freyd's direction for her to be able to speak normally again. "And here I was concerned about my wardrobe change. Are you returning to your primordial roots now?"

It had been several days now since the battle that took place on floor 27. Katoka had taken some time off after the raid, taking a bit of that time to spend at home and a day to poke her nose into floor 28 briefly, though that ended up with her spending several hours in an escape room wrapping her brain around puzzles. During her break she had decided it was time for a new look, it had been quite some time since her last outfit change so now was as good a time as any. Now not only was she visiting a floor that she had never been to before, but she was also in clothes she wasn't accustomed

"I can't say I've ever pushed down my emotions to the extent that you do Freyd." the smaller woman placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to provide some comfort. "But if I had to guess, it's something that gets easier with time. Since I don't push much down I've adapted to being able to put up with whatever it is that my brain decides to throw my way. For the most part at least." The blonde looked off over the shore of the river as she rubbed the back of her neck, her mind attempting to gather her thoughts in a way that she could explain. "I guess it's more finding a way to cope wit

The opportunity could not have been more perfect. With fake Marv preoccupied with Persi, Kat decided to try something a little different. Instead of attempting to cross the raging death river before her she instead returned her katana to it's saya. Holding her stance she charged a different sword art, one she didn't use as often. With a bright flash of white light the samurai drew her blade, slashing the air in front of her and sending a visible projectile of light towards her target. Marv managed to turn just in time to see the attack coming his way. Another audible clang of metal sounde

Katoka claims: Ordsea Crystal-B | (Tierless/Consumable - Instant (during any action that generates hatred)/Re-usable) | Once per thread, as a free action: Add an additional +5 hatred to any hatred generated by you. This will apply in addition to any other hatred generation from skills or attacks. (This item must be present in battle ready inventory to be used.) ID Tag: 218367 Braso Crystal-A | Removes one enhancement on a weapon and replaces it with Absolute Accuracy. (This effect cannot override the Absolute Accuracy enhancement cap. Consumed on use.) ID Tag: 218368

Kat looked from the water where Freyd had jumped in and back to Elora and back again. "Did he really just drop the sweet and mushy 'I love you homies' on us and then run away?" she laughed and gave her green haired friend a radiant smile, "He's a dork, but I wouldn't have it any other way. See you in the water?" She didn't give Elora much time to respond to her, instead she used her ridiculous in-game speed to race to the ocean. She sand kicking up behind her and her first few steps out onto the water making it seem like she could nearly walk on it before she sank down with an almost expl

Marv? MARV?! "WE'RE FIGHTING MARV?!" Katoka roared in shock. The flash of light from Freyd's strike knocked her out of her stupor enough for her to rush to the enemy that had his head submerged in the river. As he flailed about trying to pull himself from the water, Kat almost felt sad for him. She knew Marv as the friendly and quiet NPC that yawned and never did much else. Seeing him struggle in the nasty waters before her almost caused her to reach out and grasp his struggling hand. Instead the looming figure managed to grasp onto the rocky shore and pull himself up, gasping f

Katoka turned her attention to her own doppelganger. A sense of deja vu washed over her, reminding her of the fight she had with her Gemini many many months ago. Her opponent mirrored her movements as the both of them settled into the same stance. A small grin pulled at the corner of the young woman's lips, "I guess it's just you and me now?" The system made copy of her gave her a similar grin, "It will be just me once we're through. Then I can go and play with that little toy of yours that you've been neglecting." Kat frowned and the two of them vanished in a flicker of movement, bo

First off I'd like to preface this with this was my first raid, I'm not sure how the other went before this. Also I hold no animosity towards the folks that worked on and created this raid, you all did an amazing job! As for my review while I did enjoy it there were a few things that felt a bit, bland maybe? On the narrative side it felt like Wushen really wasn't paying much attention to us which made it feel kind of boring to see what he had to say. I know he is the big elemental man so it does make sense overall. The combat mechanics were interesting, but once we figured it all out

Taking several steps back, Katoka realized quickly that Freyd was fighting with himself on more than an emotional level now. She watched as the now physical embodiments of his trauma took shape and began their verbal assault on him. She didn't know how to react. What do you do to help your friend when they are hurting? How do you help pull them back onto their feet when they're been tripped by their own past? While the samurai was looking back and forth between Freyd and his demons, unsure of how to act, her friend acted first. With every punch, every strike, every impact, Katoka flinched

The sheer size of the boss stunned Katoka for a fraction of a second. She had fought large things from time to time, however this one was ... Off to her. Her senses were on point when they all get close to the towering giant and saw the tier lock status effect appear on her hud. "Damn," she thought to herself, "this guy should be interesting." As the boss took a step in their direction the ground shook, causing Kat to ever so slightly loose her balance. She has made started in after Morningstar attacked and only just managed to nick her target on the foot. She saw it's health bar inch down and