Pollux

note: nat. cd. stats irrelevant for 1st post. -> FISHING FOR MORETSUNA: 251108: CD 6: Fail.

This time, there was no call. The massive shuriken ripped through the horde. It traced an impossible trajectory, bouncing from one shambler to another until it reached a full circuit of four, then it wheeled back into its owner’s hands, who threw it again with little wind-up. The monsters that were crowding Yue Hua screamed like cicadas in the late afternoon. Some of them [Froze]. Yue Hua fought her way out of the wriggling mass, hacking and stabbing at its remnants with none of her previous heed to their pain. She had lost it somewhere in her charge. She emerged covered in blood and

She’d lost… three fights, was it? Saw her health bar descend to a critical level without fear or thought of forfeit. She hadn’t ever doubted what Kindling and Minako did to the arena, even if the hosts’ words were all she had to go by. Dueling was a sport that required a lot of trust. “With some adjustments, I won’t,” Yue Hua said, amused. “I can [Tier Lock] and deactivate a few skills. I’ve never done it myself before — my previous tournaments’ stat changes all took effect automatically — but it should feel like you’re facing a player of roughly the same level.” Match-ups of that type we

Yue Hua would have barely lifted her head at his quiet laugh. Hm? She didn’t hear that. More importantly, she noticed he hadn't answered her question and it only made her all the more curious. Was it intentional? Or was it that he didn't know what he meant by his own spiel? Corvo went a few steps ahead of her, pre-emptively heading in the arrow’s direction after a brief glance, and Yue Hua assumed a more relaxed pace. When she reached him, she lowered herself into a similar crouch, her palms beneath her chin. He looked proud of his find. Yue Hua’s expression didn’t change.

Oscar’s menu was so loaded that even Firefly’s diverse choices didn’t appear so esoteric to Yue Hua’s eyes. Or perhaps that only spoke to how well-traveled she was. Her overfilled plate was the next subject of Firefly’s curiosity. The big helping of crab and the hamburger she couldn’t easily slice in small aside, it appeared as though Yue Hua had availed herself of every item she had passed. “I’m going to eat everything,” she said confidently. She generally had the stomach to back it up. Ladling some soup from the seafood cauldron, Yue Hua tested its temperature with a cautious sip. “Oh,

“Olivia,” the girl said airily. “Head of Fermata’s field operations. You’re lucky to have me.” Yue Hua knew someone who was both a frontliner and a bigshot on a worldwide scale and she swore he didn’t have half this Fermata girl’s attitude. But she strove to maintain decency, reminding herself why she had brought her here. “Yue Hua, player name Pollux. Thank you for helping.” They hunted the last two mobs in the area separately, then they regrouped to heal each other’s wounds, and for her partner, to check their progress with [Tracking]. Olivia duplicated three m

She didn’t. She knew the moment its HP had ceased to drop. Against Morningstar, the newly summoned ghouls were like bubbles that popped at a single touch. He sent the damaged Leech Lich sprawling her way and Yue Hua’s weapon immediately lit with a flick of her hand. “Take the last hit,” she warned. Better to be redundant than to leave Morningstar to rely on a capability she currently did not have. Then, skipping the charge, she stabbed her sword downwards, impaling the struggling thing through its bony chest. Yue Hua kept it on the end of her sword as long as she could. Realistically

Of course, as soon as Yue Hua had transferred her things over to the Trackers’ table, Wulfrin appeared carrying a mountain of seafood. “...Wulfrin! Hello,” Yue Hua said, surprised. She glanced back the way he came and noticed that more people were starting to follow his example, and Warren, busy at the beverage wagon again, looked more proud for it than anything. The gigantic feast was only the appetizer. “I have never played golf but I’d like to learn sometime, if you’re willing to teach. How big is it? I’ve seen videos back in reality where the courses were so long that people had to use car

Firefly looked confused. "PvP?" Oh. “Player versus Player.” That rung a bell, but her friend still had concerns and Yue Hua was quick to answer them. Partly, she was a little defensive of her hobby. “SAO has three types of duels. First Strike, Half Loss, and Full Loss, which is a fight to the death. Typically, in the PvP scene, players compete in Half Loss duels, where the fight ends once one competitor hits half HP, but there has been the occasional tournament where the fights are Full Loss with system modifications to disallow HP from dropping to zero.” That was the Clash of Blades

Yue Hua’s smile faltered at the edges. They were at a standstill, the snapped off stems of the picked herb at Corvo’s feet. It seemed he was misunderstanding her, and worse, the sudden harshness of his tone left Yue Hua with the impression that he had taken offense. Few people became more difficult to read the more they talked — she was starting to consider Corvo one of those exceptions. “I think we’re playing a VRMMO. If that wasn’t obvious.” (A blade, she said in her head the moment she saw him. All sharp edges; the world being kept at bay lest it wishes to cut itself. She wo

Yue Hua’s brows lifted and her nacreous eyes found the nameplate now visible above the man’s head. “Oh,” she said mildly. She couldn’t tell if the coughing fit was brought on as a consequence of him choking on a laugh, but she took it in good humor, as she always did. “I see…! I’m very sorry, Warren. Are you new, or — have you not dropped by the guild headquarters yet? I live there, so I’m surprised I’ve not seen you around.” Their conversation was short-lived. The other early arrivals were also milling about in the vicinity of the wagon, so Warren excused himself to fetch everyone’s

Five dots scattered wide past the corner. Three in the large square hall, two behind closed doors. It was darker here. The lights were off, and Yue Hua had her hand on another switch, but she knew it wasn’t wise to flick it. She pictured the outcome was similar to waving a bright red flag in front of a searching bull — could she run fast and far enough to lose aggro and then come back later? She had only cleared the one area, what if there were more mobs lurking behind it? She glanced at her messenger, its brightness substantially lowered. SYL: They’ve spread far enough that you

Beach party. Trackers invited. Yue Hua shuttled off to the shared coordinates at the speed of light. It was only when she arrived to a mostly empty venue, Oscar's cornucopia of food at the last stage of cooking (Yue Hua had unknowingly ran past the man himself), that she realized she should have taken the slow route with Bistro. The cloud of dust left in her trail dispersed gently under the bright sun as Yue Hua stuck to the edge of the tables, clarifying her plans through her messenger. To: Bistro Pollux: i Pollux: got excited oops Pollux: i shall save us a table! To: Scarlet

Yue Hua watched approvingly as the cat disappeared into the headquarters, slipping through one of the many pet doors installed throughout the building. Hopefully, it hadn’t just detoured to the kitchens for an impromptu snack. On their secluded hill, the air was fresh and carried the sweetness of cut grass. Yue Hua sensed Firefly’s eyes on her, and when her own meandering gaze had drawn back to the girl, she was asking about her new armor and levels. The silver sword, the mithril necklace at her front, and the bottled aquarium that she felt strangely attached to. Since the day they f

Yue Hua quickly realized that, in her effort to be polite, she had failed to emphasize the urgency of the situation. More mobs could be spawning or climbing into the outpost for every second she spent idle. So she tabbed back to her messenger after a minute of waiting and sent a string of follow-up messages consisting only of red exclamation mark emotes. Then she rang Sibyl until he manually declined. He was too busy for her, but he was sending over one of his colleagues and he could keep her on the line until they arrived. What could be more important than another mob rush on Floor