Xena

Xena whistled a toon softly too herself, the cat had recently been giving a opportunity she couldn't exactly pass down. It was a chance to get a actual profession, which would help bring in Col and thus help her in general. Though her Info Broking side job has helped her a bit so far, she had her hood up as her tail swished below her cloak, she was clearly restless as she walked through a ally up too a door, specifically too a profession locations, the one for Performers, she had her own reasons for choosing this profession, namely she wanted to repay a debt of something special, to someone special. Placing a palm to the the door her clawed fingers closed against the turn bolt as she turned her wrist and walked in a bell sounded her arrival, the quest NPC had immediately noticed her, she was in fact the only one there, yeesh tough crowd apparently. "Heya, i was looking to be a performer, you think you could help?" Speaking those words the quest simply started. "Not the kind of request I was expecting, but yeah, I'll help. Problem is, I've got a few more orders to fill, and I'm getting low on recording crystals. If you go pick up the mats I need, I'll finish up my work, and we can meet in the middle. Deal?" The NPC responded with, Xena nodded, she happened to know a few good locations for material gathering. And with the spawn of her Info Journal she easily pinpointed the required components for Recording Crystals, those were the items she needed to begin with actually. "Got it, I'll be back soon."  With that the cat made a turn towards the door, and opened it right up running out of the ally bumping into someone though with little care she ran into the warp zone warping to Floor 2.

Xena | HP: 80/80 | EN: 26/26 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 6 | LD: 3 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2

 

Xenas eyes seemed to dilate from her anger, she definitely seemed like she was about to swipe at him in any moment. "Yeah your the one who ran up basically naked and unbuffed to a damn mother boar aren't you!"  She was obviously just trying to hit him where it hurt for once instead of being nice cause she was clearly very upset. Her adrenaline will likely wear off soon and she'll apologize, maybe. "Your being a big butt at the moment..."  She had stated pouting and crossing her arms. "And why are you bringing politics into this...?" The topic confused her as Xena generally never paid attention to politics at all. It didn't matter to her, but she was certainly acting more like her past self. If not a little meaner due to the fact she was upset. Supposedly they found the gypsy, Freyds moon speak confused both Xena and the gypsy and by the time either had went to comment Xena was being dragged away. "D-did something change in the past 15 minutes or, are you just opening back up?" She had asked due too the fact he was acting all emo and edgy earlier. "Hmph, well regardless the least you could do is offer to give me a piggy back ride or something." She joked but if he did end up doing that she'd likely be too embarrassed to keep up her angry talk. Taking the bag that was basically tossed at her she didnt really know how this quest worked so she just looked at him with a raised brow.

In all honesty Xena herself realized what she just did was mildly crazy about 3 seconds into the fall after her anger rush wore off, she's never experienced fall damage in this game, but if he decided not to catch her this was gonna be a painful first lesson, may even kill her. Putting her arms infront of her in a minor attempt to not die she just kinda hoped for the best. Whats worse she could see Freyd vanish, which mildly hurt. She did sorta trust him with her life just now. About 2 seconds from impact though a secondary force hit her from the side catching her out of the air, though she could feel the ground suddenly hit under her she didnt take the brunt of the slide thankfully. Looking up she saw Freyds face who had decided to use a alternative method of catching, if you were perspective you could notice Xena was shakey, as if in a panicked state somewhat. "You sc-scared the shit out of me pulling that stunt ya know!" She answered after he called her crazy. Too be fair maybe she was going a tad crazy in his presense, she's never done anything that risky before, feeling like she could survive just about anything it was a strange effect Freyd had on her thats for sure. "Just a tip for next time, next time a girl trusts you like that, P L E A S E don't make a joke of it." As much as she wanted to play it cool she couldn't, her knees quaked and her entire body felt lighter then air. She was well and truly panicked and only barely hiding it in its entirety for now the only sign was her quaking knees. As Freyd said for the two to go she nodded slowly beginning to walk behind him, she didnt know where they were going after all.

? Xena effectively ran to follow the man, he was extremely fast and with how short she was, maybe she should develop a claw fighting style based on all fours movement, it would lead her faster results. He clearly had detection skills going off left and right, she wasn't sure if she was being tracked by them too which would only serve to annoy him, he knew she was here obviously. As she ran her hood blew down much to her annoyance, her tail followed behind her somewhat curled instead of straight. "As mean as it may be to say it I kinda didn't plan too... I wouldn't be anything more then a hinderece at my level..."  Running running and more running she felt the two had traveled through out the entire Maze. It was only until now that she noticed to people far infront of him, but before she could comment Raidou seemed to be able to notice first. "Do, do you know them?" Xena simply asked quietly staying close behind him, her tiger ears stood on end, as if she didn't already obviously hate this situation in its entirety, the presense of two more players that could likely on shot her didn't give her any comfort. She was frankly too out of her comfort zone to do much other then stand almost directly behind raidou, perhaps he'd cover her from view by the other two. She wasn't sure but it was the best idea she could have.

As the man decided to roll off the damn tree she panicked and went to grab his arm though she missed. Of course she would as fast as she may be she isn't nearly fast enough to do that. Yeesh that asshole! He's fine but he just gave her a heart attack. "That wasn't funny you dummy!" She screamed watching get onto his own feet, then he tried tempting her, she felt like a cat, but instead of toying with prey, she was being toyed with. "W-why you!"  Taking the challenge Xena got on all fours before suddenly just flinging herself off the tree with zero idea of the risk she just took, she held her fingers together to avoid her claws harming him, but she was still a 120 pound kitty cat dive bombing towards him at about 20 miles an hour. She clearly didn't mean this in aggression though, more a playful rise to his challenge, though her face wouldn't show that. It looked like she was tempted to tear him open, or at least knock him on his butt.

Xena accepts and uses:

Pheromones | [148626]
When used during the «Feeding your Enemy» quest, gain +1 CD when attempting to tame a familiar. Effect lasts for one thread.

Familiar Sight | [164419]
When played during the <<Feeding your Enemy>> quest, gain +2 LD when attempting to find a familiar. Effect lasts for one thread.

Berry Crumb Bars (Snack) | LOOT DIE 3 | [195115-2]
Tart crumbled and held knitted together by jam and cut pieces of berries. Chewy, crumbly, complex. Mild.

Xena accepts and pockets:
Ghost Treat | [203365]
Allows its user to skip the searching portion of the <<Feeding your Enemy>> quest. If the player fails to tame the creature, they will have to find it again by the searching rules in the quest. Can also be used to change a familiar’s appearance to a ghostly form of itself. 

Xena simply nodded taking what he said as fact, she didn't know anything about this quest o be honest. Her eyes drifted around the area as she placed a single finger against a wall, the metal on stone sound it made was somewhat loud but, she felt it would help them leave when they were ready. As the two walked into a opening which as he stated was where the other minotaur would spawn. "Well thats not frightening at all..." She muttered softly to herself, she stood close behind Raidou seeming to feel safe in his presence, though she did of course give personal space. "That should mean the quest would be done by now though shouldn't it?" She asked having not actually been in this situation before, today was a day of firsts, none of which she liked. She tried to listen out for any sounds being made in the distance but at the end of the day she couldn't hear anything. Pulling her hood over her head she simply hid in it, she wasn't exactly feeling very safe anymore despite her proximity to Raidou. He could only do so much, especially if the other two are high level and plan to bring harm to the two.

It had been about a hour of climbing now, or so she thought. She didn't have a watch but, god she was tired, was this even worth it at this point. "This sucks... Why can't they just have a warp pad too the top of this damn place." She didn't dare look down, as much as she hated her life at the moment she wasn't ready to forfeit it by looking down, it wasn't until 5 minutes later she finally realized she was getting close too the top. "Oh thank god..." She muttered to herself as she climbed, this was already testing her patience and stamina, neither of which she had much of anymore. As she finally gripped the top of the mountain and pulled herself up she groaned just laying on the ground for a solid minute. She looked up to find she was infact in the right place and the monk was just ahead of her. Lovely she could finally make progress on this quest.

Xena watched as he seemed to have a, snake? She wasn't even entirely sure, but whatever it was it was certainly neat, and then it finally formed into what appeared to be a mongoose, it seemed to also know the direction they were going for. "Yeesh, maybe I should of expected you to know exactly where to go." She smirked pushing his shoulder, she looked down with a sad look though. "So we gonna be monkeys and swing along the trees or you wanna help a lady get down from here?" She joked and teased at him with a nice innocent smile. "And honestly, I doubt the kind of pet I want is here, maybe I'd be able to find a cub, I dunno." She had stated all this coming to a stand pulling her hood down to let the wind blow through her hair. "I feel you could just teleport down there if you felt like it" She stated with a happy giggle not at all knowing Freyd's capabilities. She gave a small stretch her body seeming to be more then happy to get up and move around a bit. Looking at him she calmly waited for his responses, as if eager just too here him talk some more, maybe that's why she asked so many questions in such a short amount of time. She even offered a hand to help him stand up if he'd like, should he of refused it she'd just cross her arms smiling waiting to see what he'd do.

As she walked the tail continued swaying side to side beneath her cloak. Almost unseeable due to said cloak, she held her clawed gauntlets softly against eachother in a crossed arm motion as she walked, she followed the man as he seemed to grasp this quest for more then she could currently. She simply had no idea what to do with it. "It's, it's fine. I apologize for getting so riled up, I'm kind of scared of other players outside of safe zones..." She spoke with truth to her words, her level was too low to enter dangerous area's at this point and yet she was still risking her life to try and get some progress in her EXP leveling and what not. "I, honestly I assume that's what I was after, there was supposed to be a NPC here but he seems to of not even spawned in, I've never even heard of such a bug before." Her cat ears twitched a tad as she turned her head, they certainly were a mystery for the time being. "I... just wanna get this done and leave, this place gives me the creeps..." She stated in a soft and innocent tone, she just didn't have the guts to be around players she didn't know right now. But then again, she didn't seem to mind this guy too much. 

As Xena had climbed the mountain her claws had begun to wear down, they gave her a decent edge in climbing but, they weren't meant for digging into solid rock, she got about 40% of the way up before claws blades failed, snapping into pieces. Fuck, she didn't even realize weapons could break that badly. Looking at them it was almost like they had been hit by a level 80 player with a great sword. Looking around the area, she spotted some minor indents in the rock that seemed like they could be climbed. How would she even get down though she wondered, this was already going swimmingly and she only just started, not to mention she was left in a danger zone without even a weapon. Maybe she'd be able to loot one somewhere around here, but she doubted it. Running over to the indents she placed a hand against them testing their grip, they weren't that well greppable but there didn't seem to be too many options. Grabbing on with only a cloth glove between the sharp rocks and her hands she started climbing again. With any hope, this would be the one way up, but looking up she couldn't even see the top of the mountain and that wasn't a good sign what so ever. 

(For the sake of timeliness clarity this takes place one month after Kayabas speech.)

Opening a black book the Info Broker walked through the mountainous terrain of floor 2, memories scorned the Broker, thinking back too the beginning days. Back when her and thread farmed quests on this floor, she smiled but also frowned at those memories. She certainly couldn't be happy at them, not after abandoning him in his time of need. The panic she felt that day wasn't one she had felt sense. She truly despised herself for such a thing that she had done. Coming to a mountain she stopped, looking up at it it was extremely tall, but this was the mountain she needed to climb up. It was where she could get some easy EXP as well as a unique skill and weapon art. "Well, its behind me now... its been a bit... I need to move on..." Xena equipped her claws, from the upper forearm two heavy looking blades protruded, she figured they'd probably help her with climbing. And as she slammed them against the mountain and they dug in, it seems she was right. "If I'm ever gonna forgive myself, or have him forgive me, I need to keep moving forward..." As she stated that the climb up the mountain had begun, after setting her black info book in a small pocket on the inside of her cloak.

Xena | HP: 80/80 | EN: 26/26 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 6 | LD: 3 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2

Xena watched the man walk up to and past her, her cat ears had twitched a tiny bit as her tail swayed to the side that was furthest from him. "Uh ahuh." She stated turning to follow him slowly pulling her hood up, she was mildly spooked by the man, jeez for being a broker she didn't know jack shit about the top tier items of the game. It all seemed so magical, and out of her reach that she didn't even understand it. "Well, what are yo-" As she said that Raidou decided to use a skill, and thus a minotaur suddenly just, existed. In truth it scared the shit out of her which was evident as she jumped back at least 6 feet, the heels of her boots digging into the ground as she made a panicked murmur. She had almost instinctively activated her hide ability. But by the time she did it seemed the minotaur was already dead. "C-could you like! I don't know warn me next time!" In truth it was like her hair was standing on end, that scared her half to death and it only lasted about 5 seconds. She caught something that was thrown at her which she looked at for about 5 seconds not knowing what the hell it was.

Xena could hear the woods breath, it wasn't until she heard another voice talking though that her gaze turned towards the forest. She could rather easily hear the sound of boots against grass. As her eyes gazed around the terrain they actually seemed to dilate, until they finally came across the person they were looking for, another player. Well shit, thats the second time she got caught in the open by another player. Though they seemed to be more interested in telling her the way to go then attacking her. "South huh, alright then." Her gaze didn't leave him, this felt shifty, and she could tell that. "Well uh, what are you doing here, going after the quest too i assume?" She stated as she looked him over from the distance they were, red cloak. A sword and a few other things, she actually liked his cloak, it looked rather nice. But she wasn't about to comment on that quite yet, this could still be a foe, one she wasn't ready to handle what so ever. "Or are you out here gathering materials?" Another possibility as this area does have a few rare materials to its name. Her clawed gauntlets slowly moved to her hips holding them, she certainly wasn't threatening and she wasn't trying to be. In truth her attire made her look rather friendly, despite the foresty vibe it gave. "If you were doing the quest we could do it together." She stated rather simply, almost too friendly, in truth she believed friendliness was the only way she was gonna survive this.

Xena had been wandering the jungle like forest terrain of floor 3, after encountering a NPC to activate this quest who said he'd meet her at the location. her hood was down for once and it revealed two tiger like cat ears, down under her robe a tiger tail also existed waving slightly back and forth as she moved. In her hand a small black book could be seen, inside it was information on the quest, one she honestly shouldn't even be going towards, it was a labyrinth with which was said to house 2 minotaur's, supposedly a item meant for marrying another player could be obtained by this quest, which she wouldn't be willing to mention to anyone, She certainly listened closely too her surroundings, her eyes darting around. The entire area could be dangerous for all she knew. And her appearance certainly wouldn't help her, what was she thinking anyway. Sure she liked tigers but, cosplaying as a tiger girl? perhaps in another game, but in this one. She sighed to herself. "At least no ones around to see me like this..." As she followed a small hand written map she made, it was likely the closest she could get without having to fear any enemies, though she could hear the insistent rattling of snakes. She had already killed 4 of them as she walked through the forest, thankfully the blood didn't remain on her clawed gauntlets. "It should be coming up soon, perhaps ill have a chance to do this on my own, though... I wish Freyd were here to help..." She had stated that last part more quietly, Freyd likely wouldn't want her to go mentioning him so casually. Her boots broke a branch or two as she walked up towards what seemed like a stone building. "Looks like this is it." She had stated softly, with a small movement the book snapped shut, and shattered into particles returning into her inventory. "If the knowledge i have is correct the enemies inside shouldn't be too dangerous, a level 4 should be more then enough to handle it right?" She had continued talking to herself running a finger against the stone making a loud scraping noise, her clawed finger didn't even wear down from doing so. "Yeesh, i guess the entrance isn't here though."



Xena | HP: 80/80 | EN: 26/26 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 6 | LD: 3 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2

Xena had watched him as he seemed to consider what she had said. In truth, anyone else she wouldn't of pounced, she probably wouldn't of even pounced him to begin with due to how different he looked. She'd of likely tried to hide herself more, only to of gotten spotted immediately. As he had seemed to finally comprehend what she had said he seemed to push his hand through reality, gosh she was so out of the loop she actually backed up a bit frightened by how that looked. As he had removed his hand through she certainly hadn't been expecting a gift, especially not like this. "O-oh, well, no I, still happen to like cats heh..."  She seemed to be mad at herself for about a second due to the stutter she just did. She clearly didn't like how reserved she was acting, as if at any moment someone could come up from behind her and rip her heart out. "Your not stupid silly, your just adorable when you act stupid." She had teased mostly due to not liking the fact he looked so badly of himself. She slowly took the ring from his palm holding it up to her eyes to gaze at it, it was beautiful, and so she said as much. "Its... a beautiful ring... It almost seems, too good to be true." She slid it around her finger almost instinctively, her gauntlet seemed to shift and contort to allow her to do so. He then mentioned his situation and how he might of harmed her had she pounced on him, she frowned but nodded. "Yeah... Your right, this isn't a joke with the level difference, you really must of been through a lot..." She stated somewhat solemnly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there with you..." As the topic shifted towards the mention of a quest she had opened her menu, with a single button press a book appeared in front of her which she caught, catching it seemed to pull her forward a tad from the weight of the book, it was a extremely large book. The kind you'd expect to be a massive dictionary but when she opened it, it was notes. All kinds of things she's jotted down over the years, it wasn't a diary no it was a Info Brokers diary. The kind they wrote everything they had learned in. Flipping to a page deep deep in it she put a tipped finger on a few words. "Well, word had recently traveled down to the first floor, about the familiar quest, and about a hour ago, i had been told about the quest holder being on this floor, i, didn't think you'd mind joining me for it... It's not exactly a combat quest to my knowledge, the kinds i imagine you've been doing..." Xena said this rather sadly, she hadn't done a single combat quest ever since the incident that happened years ago, she never had the courage too do so. "I, I can definitely change my schedule though! I-if this is too boring for you." She stated that quickly due to suddenly coming to the realization that he had likely already done this quest many times before. It was a repeatable one after all, she looked at him with slight panic in her eyes not wanting to bore him out of this reunion. She had slowly shut the book, and it had then vanished into particles returning to her inventory. "I'm up for anything you'd like to do of course!" She made a shaky smile, her entire personality felt like it could shatter any moment, she was just happy to be here sharing a moment with her past friend. Even if it was only a single moment, which she was afraid it might be.

Xena accepted Freyd's Gift:

Xena Equipped:The Fierceness of Grass
The Fierceness of Grass | Trinket | #203379 | LOOT DIE III
An intricately carved jade ring covered with finely detailed blades of grass, marred by the passing of infinite sharpness, organized around the tiny, but powerful form of a natural black mark in the stone that carried a striking resemblance to a panther.

Xena certainly didn't agree at all with what he was saying, the girl had her reasons for that. She was lucky enough to recognize his face, but, it wasn't one she ever wanted to forget. His attire changed, which too be fair made sense, hers hadn't by much though, her cloak still a nice forest green, though it had a fluff to it now, one to defend from the cold. Her shirt was still a dark grey completely unarmored, she wore a brown leather skirt and beneath it a pair of brown cloth pants, even lower she wore a pair of boots which seemed hardened at the end, most likely meant to aid in climbing. Her entire outfit made her look like a elven scout in from other games. Except in this game she was anything but a elf, in fact she even had a few vanity items now that made her closer to her favorite animal. But she didn't wear them currently, it would of been a tad embarrassing, hell she hardly wore them in general, due to the fact most others didn't even slightly alter their appeared race usually. Looking at him now, tears somewhat formed in her eyes she simply blinked to get them to disappear. It was now that he finally embraced her back, in truth she was about to let go out of fear she had overstayed her welcome. But now that she looked up at him, she was able to tell the changes that had been made, more specifically his eyes and his attire in general. "Blue...?" She simply mumbled to herself confused how that could of even happened, perhaps it was a item that hadn't had its knowledge brought to floor 1, that or Xena was just extremely out of the loop. She paid notice to his hands, gloved by clearly high level gloves, they were practically void, but they had feeling to them, she knew such when he decided to brush some of her hair out of her face. 

"Fine... If you wanna say it's your fault, but I'll keep saying its mine silly." She gained a small smirk, reminiscing on the past, it wasn't until now that he finally asked why she decided to contact him, in truth she wasn't entirely content with the answer she had, as it felt like she was simply using him. "Well... too be honest... it started with me finally getting the courage to check if you even survived..." She stated as she flashed back to finally sliding her menu to view her friends list. In truth the relief she felt when she had seen his name not greyed out was, something you'd only imagine feeling in a fantasy. "And... I just really wanted to see you again... I had a quest planned and what not if you were interested but... Heh well, I guess the short and simple answer is just i wanted to see you again."  It wasn't until about 15 seconds later that he asked about why they were in a tree. "Oh heh, i was..." She had pointed at the warp pad. "I was planning to pounce on you for a laugh but, seems you got the pounce on me huh?" She smiled innocently, as if pouncing on him from like 20 feet in the air wouldn't scare the shit out of him, probably. 

As her small and slim body swayed under its own weight, the wind blowing it from side to side, the digital tree could be very fluently seen dented by the clawed marks she had left, her reflex's were like a cats thankfully, managing to have saved her from one hell of a fall, landing on her feet wouldn't of helped either, it'd of likely broken her legs, if that were even possible in this game. Examining the player, they looked playful, as if this was merely a joking jester, it seems the jump had been sprung on her, instead of the other way around. She herself hadn't changed much physically, aside from swapping from claws that extended from the forearm to claws embedded into gauntlets, they were very clearly useful, had she been using normal claws they'd of just chopped the branch in half most likely. Funnily enough, as she looked at the figure, the aura he gave off didn't even spook her anymore. As if the initial fright was of just the suddenness of it all, her red eye's innocent in appearance, simply continued to watch the figure, until they finally decided to speak, and that was when all sense of worry faded, she didn't remember his voice entirely well but, it was something you could remember even if you felt you'd all but forgotten it, he joked, funnily enough at her peril. As she hung from the tree a good 20 too 26 feet in the air, the only cushion she'd find was her own butt and maybe a pile of leaf's, but Xena had ignored that smiling, it was the kind of joyful smile you wouldn't expect in SAO, the kind of smile as if they knew everything would be alright. The figure then finally leaned forward until the light had reached his face, which had brought Xena's face to a resting one, perhaps one of minor concern, from her POV it seemed the time that had passed had physically aged and likely mentally aged him. He seemed much more serious, though certainly seemed eager to tease and joke at her, like she had him all that time ago. He had then commented on the fate of most brokers and the surprise that she was even alive, tell her about it, she already had been handed her own amount of threats. With a playful roll of the eyes from his comments she simply tried to pull herself up her arm struggling, only to find that she seriously could not do that with one arm whatsoever,,And with a struggle that could only be defined as pathetically adorable she felt her fore arm get grabbed through the gauntlet. As she got pulled up effortlessly, being sat next to them Xena herself seemed embarrassed, certainly a much more reserved personality sense the beginning, by now she would of likely cracked a joke, or did something that she'd define as funny, but right now she just felt pure embarrassment. She had originally planned to get that jump on him but, it seemed it happened the other way around this time. She simply paused, and with the words its had been a long time, and how was she, she simply and suddenly embraced them. "I'm... so happy you're ok..." She had tried her best to avoid doing this, with plans of jumping out and spooking him, and then casually commenting she was happy he was ok. But, now that it had gotten to such a serious reunion so quickly, she just couldn't help herself. "I'm so sorry I never tried to contact you I just... I was hurting so much..." Commenting on her own guilt for just leaving without a trace, she kept her head pressed against his chest not wanting to make eye contact, though if he were to push her away she wouldn't resist at all, personal space is personal space after all, no matter how emotional a reunion this was. She barely knew much about what happened to Freyd after the two split, she wasn't even aware he was so high leveled, this was almost entirely due to, well, Xena never checking her friendslist, out of a extreme fear, that when she checked she'd find his name grayed out. The sign of death, one Xena just wasn't willing to face, not until early today. And even then it had taken her entire will power to check, and even more to send a single message. "I, I shouldn't of vanished like i did, I... I should of said something..." She had basically just repeated the same thing, it was all she could say. She even stuttered, her quiet voice barely audible in the windy loud jungle. She had said all that with a quiet tone of fear and regret, one unlike her in the past, as she had always been the confident one ready to jump into anything head first, but over the time she had spent in this game, the threats of danger and death, they had forced the personality to get bottled away, and become a more reserved one. One that fears the inevitable, and all it took was a single bad experience, but now, everything just might end up alright. 

20 minutes ago, Freyd said:

The message was so unexpected that Freyd struggled to believe that it was even authentic.  He and Xena had shared more than a few frantic adventures in their early days, until that incident with the boars had triggered his paranoia so bad that he'd nearly had a breakdown in the process.  If that guard hadn't... if Marv hadn't saved him.  Well, he'd be a nothing but a pile of pixels in the wind now, wouldn't he?  They'd parted ways after that, but not because he'd wanted to.  Freyd was afraid.  No.  Crippled, but by scars they ran straight through his psyche.  Sitting in a sparsely decorated study surrounded by several dozen open UI windows and a smattering of assorted items gathered from all over the castle, doubt insinuated itself.  She had to be dead, by now.  Or, perhaps this was some other ruse spawned by any number of vendettas, real or imagined.  Firm Anima had no shortage of enemies.  His role within the guild ensured that he'd have an order of magnitude more just from personal grudges, and he was fine with that.  But he also knew that their enemies were ruthlessly cunning and not at all beyond willing to manipulate or imitate old colleagues when baiting their ridiculous little traps.

Caution was required, and a little insight.  Peering beyond the flickering haze of light coming from the luminous bobble he'd installed on the ceiling, the Whisper's gaze stretched into the shadows beyond, and then through them.  She was alive, and sitting in Krycim.  The edge of his lips curled at the thought that she might finally have sought out taller grass to hide in.  Another memory intruded.  Turning, Freyd pressed a finger against one of dozens of unmarked drawers laid out in an immense carousel that would make a UPS store proud.  No research or ledger check was needed.  He knew the one.  It had been sitting, collecting dust for years now.  If it was truly Xena, she would know its meaning.

A crack of crystal and a flash brought him to a small shop he'd once frequented on the outskirts of town.  A quick wave and tossing of col ensured that his arrival would remain unannounced.  Much had changed since they'd last seen each other.  He had changed, for worse, then better again, he hoped.  

'Will she see that?'  He wondered to himself.

No effort was required to climb the tree, and his tracking skills revealed her position with ease.  Like the jungle cats she once so favoured, he'd climbed up behind her and sat watching patiently for awhile, just to see if it was her, and what she would do.

***

Freyd | HP: 1080/1080 | EN: 142/142 | DMG: 24 | MIT: 78 | EVA: 2 | ACC: 4 | BH: 59 | LD: 5 | AA | BLGT: 32 | P.V.O | REC: 8 | STK: 40

Full Stats:

  Reveal hidden contents

Freyd, The Whisper in Shadow
Level: 32
Paragon Level: 102
HP: 1080/1080
EN: 142/142

Stats:
Damage: 24
Mitigation: 78
Evasion: 2
Accuracy: 4
Battle Healing: 59
Loot Dice: 5
AA
BLGT: 32
P.V.O
REC: 8
STK: 40

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: The Thing Behind All Lies (T4 MA | AA | Stk | Blgt | PV (O) )
Armor: Fallen Angel Garb (T4 LA | Mit 2 | Rec 2)
Misc: Fight O'er Flight (T4 Trinket - ACC 2 | EVA 2)

Custom Skill:


Skills:
Martial Arts R5
Battle Healing R5
Light Armor R5
Searching R4
Charge
Energist
Quick Change
Extended Mod Limit

Active Mods:
Night Vision
Tracking
Meticulous
Untraceable

Inactive Mods:

Addons:
Ferocity
Precision
Resolve
Reveal
Stamina

Active Extra Skills:
Disguise
Survival
Forgotten King’s Authority
Hiding R5

Inactive Extra Skills:
Meditation
Brawler
Photosynthesize

Battle Ready Inventory:
Teleport Crystals x7
Mass HP Rec [Inst] (+30*T HP) x7
Mass HP Rec [Inst] (+30*T HP) x7
Crystal of Divine Light (Reusable) x1
Rhino's Horn (Reusable) x1
Hmr.Pk: Samael's Pride x1

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
Delicious: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (Searching): +1 Rank to the Searching skill.
Angler: +1 material gained when fishing
Advanced Training: +10% Exp to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
Decor [Potted Tanabata Bamboo Tree]: This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:
Kumatetsu Statue: +1 Base Damage for a thread

Wedding Ring: n/a

 

Xena was in her menu by the time Freyd had arrived at her location. His sneak skills vastly outweighed any search skills she had, which were none. She had completely stopped farming for, well. A good long while, she simply broke down after the incident. She truly broke down completely, as soon as she had made it back to her shop back then she had collapsed onto the floor and just laughed and cried till she couldn't anymore. That was how she dealt with grief, and to some, they may call her psychotic, she had pushed a button making a potion form in her gauntletted hand, careful not to scratch the bottle she looked at it, she had then pulled out a small black book, setting the potion in front of her she flipped through the pages to find where she had written the location she got that potion from. It could of been any number of alchemist, but this one was special. This one was from the first quest she and freyd did together, she smirked. He was so upset at that tax collector, if she hadn't whacked him on the back they might not of gotten that quest. She then frowned, the quest just after that was when everything went wrong. Taking the potion back it vanished into a burst of crystals returning to her inventory and she placed the small book back into her cloak. The cloak itself was new, she had recently gotten it due to a anonymous tip about a good tailor on another floor. It was cold but, she supposed it was worth it, the shirt and pants were nice and form fitting and the cloak was warm and soft, while also being able to blend in with the forest. Not that conventional hiding would work in Aincrad. It might of if you and the person you hid from had no search and hide skills, but even a low level search skill would reveal you. Pulling her hood down her orange and gold hair got caught in the breeze almost immediately, it felt nice. Cool even, she still couldn't help but feel vexed though, she knew players didn't frequent these locations but. What if someone did decide to try to sneak up on her, with her level she wouldn't stand a chance. But, it was a risk she was willing to take she supposed, besides, who would try to sneak up on he- as she looked to her side to see a black figure sitting directly behind her, she almost didn't even notice. Then she did, and practically fell out of the tree hanging on only from slamming a claw into the branch. She winced feeling a tingle in her elbow, as if it wasn't ready to feel her weight being forced on it. But it didn't hurt in reality, this game wasn't programmed for pain to feel like it should. Looking at the figure more properly, she didn't really recognize them, they seemed to just sit there though, and Xena didn't exactly know how to react. Her hand wasn't about to pull herself closer to them, and she could let go on a dime if he decided to rush her. So the decision was left to this mysterious figure she couldn't recognize, she couldn't even see his health bar from this angle which was somewhat concerning.


Xena | HP: 80/80 | EN: 26/26 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 6 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2

 

The warp pad had activated on floor 6 of the floating castle. Out of the glowing light came a short girl in a green cloak, upon her hands were two gauntlets with sharpened ends designed to aid in climbing and for scratching at things. As she stepped into the air she breathed a large sigh. She had been on floor 1 for what felt like the better part of a century, she hadn't kept too much track of time, but it had definitely been a few years. Her shop, a info broker store, was relatively unknown, but she had a few customers, the most recent being one with details on the familiar quest. One Xena has cared about for a while but hasn't had much luck getting any information about. This specific customer had sold her the info for relatively cheap, supposedly the quest NPC was on this floor, or at the very least had been spotted her relatively recently. Xena had no real spotting skills, so she decided earlier before even warping to this floor to call in a favor from a friend, in all honesty she was rather nervous about the whole situation. It had to of been at least a entire year since she had last seen the man, she wondered if he'd still be a funny as he used to be. He was always easily embarrassed or teased, she made a shrug as she breathed in the jungle air. Walking over to a tree she dug her clawed hand into it catching it rather easily, she proceeded to climb it up to a sturdy looking branch that loomed over the teleport pad. These low level floors very rarely had players anymore, everyone was always up at the most recently unlocked floors, supposedly the most recent one that had been unlocked was 27, though not much info had returned from the frontlines about it. Xena pulled her hood up holding a hand infront of her face specifically looking at the claw part of her gauntlets, it felt off for some reason. She simply held her index finger in her other hand pushing on it from both sides, somewhat stretching the muscle in that hand. Thankfully the claws didn't get in the way of that. She laid back against the branch quietly, she honestly felt at peace in this environment. Almost like a tiger laying in a tree waiting to pounce on her prey. The sounds of the jungle around her were also calming, the rush of water, the tweets of birds. And the wind, it felt so life like and nice, it was somewhat, vexing, the area felt too perfect. Almost like something would jump out at her at any moment, and she wouldn't of heard it at all. Glancing towards the teleport pad, it hadn't activated yet, so she simply stared at it. Maybe she'd pounce on her friend when they came through, could be a good laugh for the two of them. Or it could upset him, which would be saddening for her as it would of simply been a joke on her end.


Xena | HP: 80/80 | EN: 26/26 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 6 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
 

Trudging through the snow of the cold floor she held her arms to eachother her green cloak covering her entire body, this place was cold as shit, and she hated it. But this was the only Tailor she could find on the grapevine. Slipping into the building she wanted to just collapse. She was definitely gonna need to get something good here for this trip to of been even remotely worth it. Going in with a straight if not shivering face the short girl looked around before coming up to the counter. She simply placed a sheet of paper on it.

T1 Perfect Cloth Armor with Mitigation 1, Recovery 2. (For 4 Mats)
Name:Panther's Cloth Armor 
Description:Armor made for hiding amongst the darkened green leaves of the forested jungle like terrain.
(Blame Freyd for this btw.)

1 minute ago, Freyd said:

Their pace slowed once they reached the village proper.  Tolbana still bustled with activity, dozens if not hundreds of players crowing the starter zone as they scrambled to complete their quests.  Zackariah's hut was absolutely swamped, blocking any sight of the NPC.

"Huh.  Well, that's a problem."  Freyd stood with his left hand on his hip and his right scratching at his unruly mop of mousy-brown hair.  A mischievous grin spread across his lips as the beginnings of a plan formed in his head.  "You may want to stand off to the side, behind that fence," he said to Xena, nodding towards a nearby low rubble stone wall.  A flick of his thumb opened the well-oiled latch on the white picket gate, allowing her easy passage.

"HEY!  GUYS!  THEY'RE GIVING AWAY FREE PERFECT WEAPONS AT CALLUM'S SMITHY, BUT ONLY FOR THE FIRST HUNDRED PLAYERS!!!"

It was amazing that someone so generally slight of frame could actually produce such a bellowing voice.  Freyd was lanky, possibly wiry under his various layers of clothing, but he wasn't what you might consider to be a big man.  A horde of heads turned in their direction, and the crowd suddenly surged towards the edges of the villages.  Only a dozen or so players remained, most grinning with wide and knowing appreciation at his tactic, opening up a spot for he and Xena to work with their gratitude.

Xena had chuckled at the tactic he used, she could never scream like that, not with her voice. "You cheeky bugger, you realize people aren't gonna be happy with you for that don't you!" She said this in a tone that was obviously try not to laugh, she found it absolutely hilarious. She opened her inventory, and then noticed a alert, a crafting reciple, idly tapping it without thinking...  and crafted something specifically a healing potion apparently. Elbowing Freyd she had a faced that was basically. 'I think i just fucked up big.' As she held it out with a panic'd face. She honestly didn't even mean to use the materials and didn't know if this was what she was supposed to do or not. Looking in her inventory the materials were infact gone. That wasn't good at all. She looked around in a panic as the inventory closed and she just looked behind herself.

Crafting success
203318 CD 6

Xena smiled coming out of the tall grass grass sticking to her pants only to slowly fade into particles. "That grass smell was starting to annoy me, its so weird how life like they made stuff like smelling and touching, it felt so real." Hearing his response she was certainly happy to have helped, she let out a small giggle but quickly stopped herself. For but a mere moment a look of pure panic crossed her face when she giggled but she was behind Freyd thankfully when she did. "Hopefully not, that would be annoying, especially if i end up having to go digging in that grass anymore." She walked with a bit more pep in her step just to keep up with Freyd, her claws jingled on her waist as she did her hood bouncing up and down a bit as well as the cloak behind her. She had a happy face on, it was a reassuring one if Freyd turned back to see it. "Hey, maybe the rewards will actually be worth while, you never know."

"Eh, I'm setting something up, not sure if its official or not, deed issues in this game are annoying as shit." She continued her digging through the grass with relative failure, too be fair she only needed to find one more herb but to also be fair she had a feeling that was going to be the most annoying pain in the ass thing to find in the world. As she dug through the grass she simply asked a question towards Freyd. "Are you feeling better now? I feel like you've settled down a bit sense this whole thing started." She asked this in a genuine caring tone, as seeing someone freaking out that badly so close was kind of hurtful to her own heart. She didn't know him that well but, she was the closest thing she had in this game now. And nothing would be changing that for a while she figured. As she continued digging she pushed through some grass to reveal. Success! the final herb, swiftly picking it up she let out a yell. "Hey i found the last herb! We're finally done!"

Xena found a herb!

203300 LD 16 + 6 = 22

9 hours ago, Koga said:

The bell above Koga's door rang, drawing his attention from the sword he'd been polishing. "Welcome in," the man said, as he placed the weapon back in the case and shutting it softly. The man leaned on the wooden counter as he listened to the small girl's request, and then picked up the weapons she placed before him. He gave them a quick examination, before setting them back down. "Yeah, should be simple enough. Gimme a hot second. Okami, watch the store." The wolf let out a short bark of affirmation as Koga turned and went into the back of the store to his forge.

A few moments later, Koga stepped back out and placed the newly crafted weapons down before the girl. "There ya go, on the house for new players."

  Hide contents

203293	10 +1	Rare, +8Exp
203294	4 +1, LD: 1	+5Exp
203295	6 +1	Uncommon, +6Exp
203296	11 +1	Perfect, +11Exp

 

 

Xena sat in the waiting room against a wall watching the wolf, she didn't really trust them out of fear they'd attack her. She didn't really like canines in general, she was much more of a cat person. As time ticked a few moments passed eventually, it felt like a hour just sitting there hugging her knees her cloak covering most of her entire body. As the man came back through she came to a stand walking back over to the counter. "Oh, ok thank you." She stated at the mention of them being free for new players, taking them they poofed into a cloud of particles as they entered her inventory. "Uh, well... have a nice day." She stated before leaving the store, smooth, real smooth, totally not awkward at all.

With a sly grin Xena simply stated. "Well you could always live with me silly." As she had stated that she walked through the grass some more. "I mean I don't bite, much." After adding that last part she had giggled to herself looking around a bit more. If only she could just feel where the materials needed were or they had a way point or anything other then this aimless searching! Kicking the grass infront of her had miraculously revealed another herb right at her feet, wonderful there was only one more needed and they could finally be done with this stupid quest. "Hey I got another one!" She had stated happily raising it up with a beaming smile, the safety in this area just gave her room to feel stress free and happy. It wasn't something she got to feel often sadly. She continued to push away more grass ask she spoke seeing how he could hear her just fine.

203286 LD 20 + 6