[EV-SP-FL22] Flower in Bloom [FATAL ERROR - ACT 1]

[KnightessCiela 0]

KnightessCiela dusted flour off her apron, wiping it across her armored glove as she stepped outside Fondante's Inferno, her lakeside bakery. The fresh scent of rising dough lingered on her as she tightened her ponytail and adjusted her sword belt. Floor 22 was normally peaceful, ideal for baking and lakeside daydreams. But something was missing from her latest recipe. A rare ingredient whispered about in tavern corners: Verdant Bloom. Said to grow in deep forest glades, it supposedly made bread so light it floated. She needed it. Not just for her masterpiece croissants, but to keep herself busy while waiting for news of the upcoming Floor 29 raid. She glanced toward the forest and then up at the sun. "I won’t find it standing here like a soggy biscuit," she muttered. And with that, KnightessCiela locked the bakery behind her and set off, sword clinking against her hip and adventure in her heart.

* * *

KnightessCiela | HP: 777/777 | EN: 86/86 | DMG: 8 | MIT:261 | ACC:5 | AA  | TAUNT | F-SPIRIT | EVA:2 | FL.AURA: 8 | FR.AURA: 8 | FL.THORNS: 8/16 | FR.THORNS: 8/16 | THORNS:72 | BH:26 | HB: 17

* * *

Spoiler

"Name: KnightessCiela
True Tier: 4
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 1
HP: 777/777
EN: 86/86

Stats:
Damage: 8
Mitigation: 261
Accuracy: 5
Evasion: 2
Battle Healing: 26
Stealth Rating: -5
AA TAUNT FL.AURA: 8
FR.AURA: 8
FL.THORNS: 8/16 FR.THORNS: 8/16 HB: 17

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Touch of Grace | T4 Demonic Straight Sword | ACC III | AA
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Frostflame Bulwark | T4 Heavy Armor | Fl Aura I | Fl Thrns I | Fr Aura I | Fr Thrns I
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Valkyrian's Guard | T4 Demonic Shield | Thrns II | Taunt | Holy Blessing I

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Mitigation R3

Combat Shift:
  - TECH Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - Protector Familiar

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R3
  - Fighting Spirit
  - Heavy Armor R5
  - Howl
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Block R5
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Survival
  - Frozen Hide

Inactive Extra Skills:
  - Concentration

Addons:
  - Focused Howl
  - Iron Skin

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Bear Trap x5
  - Ordsea Crystal-B x1
  - Teleport Crystal x

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Greenhouse: +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:
  - Resilient
Crafting Profession:
 - Cooking[731exp] R7
Gathering Profession:
 - Forager[66exp] R2"                                                                                                                            

 * * *

WC: 153

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Ciela didn’t travel light. Her satchel held essential baking tools, small jars of salt, a whisk, backup flour packets, and emergency cookies. As she passed the peaceful lake, a familiar ping sounded in her ear, message notification. Wulfrin, her husband and her always, sometimes-snack taste tester, had sent coordinates. "Scout party forming. Possible Verdant Bloom location. Also, rumors of rare drops nearby."

Ciela’s heart skipped. Verdant Bloom and rare drops? Jackpot. With her sword strapped tight and boots crunching gravel, she headed for the forest’s edge. The trees were thick, humming with ambient field music. She spotted claw marks on bark, someone or something had been through recently. Probably a group of players. Or worse, Rocs again. She hated Rocs. One had tried to eat her oven mitt once. With a sigh and a cookie for courage, she stepped into the woods. Time to forage, fight, and maybe, just maybe, find the ingredient that could change everything.

* * *

WC: 157

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Leaves rustled as Ciela crept deeper into the forest, sword drawn and senses alert. She followed faint footprints, too small for a bear, too scattered for a party. Solo player? Or a child NPC? Either way, she remained cautious.

A sudden growl snapped her to attention. A shadow leaped from the bushes. "Mosswolf!" she gasped. It lunged, fangs bared. Ciela sidestepped, swinging her blade with practiced grace. The wolf yelped, biting air.

The battle was short but satisfying. Ciela’s counter was swift and sweet, like a sharp raspberry tart. The Mosswolf de-rezzed, dropping a pawful of raid currency and a strange green sprig.

"This... isn’t Verdant Bloom," she said, examining the sprig. It shimmered faintly but smelled like minty compost. Useful, but not what she needed.

Still, she pocketed it. She might need it for a garnish.

More rustling. A player approached, hooded, armed, familiar gait.

"Wulfrin," she grinned, relaxing her stance. "Took you long enough. I nearly became dog food."

* * *

WC: 161

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Wulfrin smirked beneath his hood, brushing moss off his shoulder. “I see you warmed up without me.”

“Just a pup,” Ciela replied, nudging the fading wolf particles with her boot. “Any intel on the Bloom?”

He handed her a worn parchment. A hand-drawn map with a tiny X deep in the Whispering Grove. “NPC trader claims a flower that glows at twilight grows there. Matches the description. But…”

“But?” she asked.

“It’s guarded.”

Of course it was. Nothing in Aincrad was ever easy.

Ciela traced the path on the map. “Worth the risk. And what about the Raid Ore?”

Wulfrin pulled out a tiny ore fragment from his pouch. “Found this embedded in a tree nearby. Weird place for ore, huh?”

“Almost like someone’s planting them.”

Their eyes met, the same suspicion in both. A trap? A rival guild?

“Either way,” Ciela said, tucking the map into her apron. “We’re going. Come on. I’m baking nothing until I find that Bloom.”

* * *

WC: 161

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Twilight bled across the forest canopy, casting eerie shadows over the mossy ground. The Whispering Grove lived up to its name, leaves rustled with voices not their own. Ciela gripped her blade tighter.

“This place gives me goosebumps,” she whispered.

Wulfrin nodded. “Keep ears sharp. And eyes sharper.”

They followed the map’s route until they hit a clearing. Bioluminescent flowers blinked like stars across the ground. At the center, surrounded by thorny brambles, was the Verdant Bloom, its petals glowing a soft, ethereal green.

Ciela stepped forward, and froze. The ground shimmered. A trap.

A burst of wind knocked her back as a boss emerged. Vinebound Warden. HP bar massive. Axe made of bark and briars.

“Looks like dessert has to wait,” she muttered, readying for battle.

“Let’s slice this salad,” Wulfrin grinned.

And the fight began, steel against thorn, magic against might, and Ciela’s dream ingredient just out of reach.

* * *

WC: 151

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

The Vinebound Warden swung its axe in a brutal arc. Ciela ducked and rolled, flinging a stun powder from her apron pouch. “Have a taste of kitchen spice!” she shouted. The powder burst, stunning the boss long enough for Wulfrin to slash its leg vines.

They weaved around the clearing, dodging roots and retaliating with precise strikes. Ciela used flour bombs to blind, while Wulfrin launched high-damage combos. When the Warden’s health dropped below 30%, it let out a screech, summoning minions, Thornlings, fast and sharp.

Ciela leapt onto a boulder, gaining height to cleave three in one swing. “Wulfrin! Distract it! I’ll go for the Bloom!”

He nodded and baited the boss away.

Ciela sprinted to the center, hands outstretched. The Verdant Bloom shimmered in her grip, petals folding in as if recognizing her touch.

With a triumphant laugh, she plucked it free.

“Got it!” she yelled.

Now they just had to survive long enough to bake with it.

* * *

WC: 160

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

As soon as the Bloom left its perch, the forest seemed to rebel. Vines thrashed wildly. The Warden roared, enraged, ignoring Wulfrin’s feints.

“Bad news!” Ciela called out. “This guy’s gone full sourdough feral!”

“Then let’s not stick around for dessert!” Wulfrin replied.

They retreated into the grove’s western path, cutting down Thornlings as they ran. Ciela hurled smoke flour bombs behind them, creating clouds of choking white that slowed pursuit.

After a tense sprint, they dove through a narrow tunnel between two mossy boulders. Safe. For now.

Both slumped to the ground, panting.

Ciela held the Bloom up to the dim light. “It’s… beautiful.”

“It better be,” Wulfrin wheezed. “Half the forest tried to kill us for it.”

She chuckled and nudged him with her boot. “Think we’re ready to handle Floor 29 now?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Not until I get a cookie.”

Ciela reached into her pouch and tossed him one. “Hazelnut. Extra dark.”

“Raid fuel,” he said, grinning.

And onward they would go.

* * *

WC: 167

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Returning to Fondante’s Inferno felt surreal after the chaos of the forest. Ciela gently placed the Verdant Bloom into a crystal jar, sealing it with wax and a soft hum of satisfaction.

Wulfrin leaned on the counter. “You think it’ll live long enough for testing?”

“It’s got at least 48 hours. That’s more than I need,” Ciela replied, already pulling ingredients from the shelves.

She mixed a basic dough, grinding the Bloom’s petals into fine powder. The scent was floral, buttery, vaguely sweet and floated through the air. It was like summer and spring had collided inside her mixing bowl.

Wulfrin sat at the bar, watching. “You gonna name it?”

Ciela paused, smiling. “Cloudbread.”

“Fitting.”

She slid the dough into the oven. “Now, we wait.”

Outside, a message alert pinged.

Wulfrin read it aloud. “Raid leaders need updates on materials. Meet at the head quarters. ASAP.”

Ciela sighed. “Looks like our break’s over.”

“Bring cookies,” Wulfrin added.

Always.

* * *

WC: 158

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

The Head quarters buzzed with energy. Maps, item manifests, and raid blueprints littered the war room. Ciela entered with a satchel full of baked goods and a notebook of ingredient scans.

"You’re late," barked Commander Denzik, eyeing her flour-stained gloves.

“I brought muffins,” she replied sweetly.

That softened him. Slightly.

Raid leaders gathered around as she detailed her findings. Verdant Bloom’s effects on stamina regeneration, the ore's trace magic signature, both invaluable for Floor 29’s toxic swamp terrain.

"We’ll need twenty units of Bloom by next week," Denzik said.

Ciela blinked. “You realize how rare it is, right?”

“Rare or not, the raid needs it.”

She exchanged a look with Wulfrin. This wasn’t just about bread anymore. It was about survival.

“Fine,” she said, standing. “But I’m picking the squad. And I bake before I battle.”

They had a raid to prep. There were many things to do. So so many things.

* * *

WC: 152

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Ciela assembled her party: Wulfrin, and Bork the hammer-happy tank. They met outside Fondante’s Inferno, packed with gear, and extra cinnamon rolls.

“The grove’s too hot now,” Wulfrin said. “We need a new Bloom source.”

Bork pulled out a chart. “There’s a cave system beneath Floor 22. Rumors say it feeds the grove’s roots.”

“Underground flower hunting. Of course,” Ciela muttered. “Let’s go spelunking for salad.”

They traveled through mossy ruins until they found the cave mouth. Inside was damp, dark, and strangely warm. Perfect conditions for something magical… or monstrous.

Their torches lit a faint glow ahead.

“Bloom, or beast?” Bork asked.

Ciela grinned. “Let’s find out.”

The cave was a labyrinth of glowing fungi and twisting roots. Strange whispers echoed off the walls.

Suddenly, the floor crumbled beneath them.

They landed in a soft nest of petals, and poison. Gas hissed around them.

Bork whipped out a vial and threw it to the ground, neutralizing the fumes. “Spores. Definitely protected.”

At the center of the cavern lay another Verdant Bloom, larger than before, wrapped in glowing roots.

Before they could move, a creature burst from the wall, Mycobeast Titan. All teeth, tendrils, and rage.

“Bork, tank it!” Ciela shouted. “Wulfrin, flank! Bork, stay alive!”

She drew her blade. “Let’s bake this brute.”

The battle began.

* * *

WC: 217

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

The Mycobeast was relentless. Every tendril lashed out like a whip. Bork’s potions kept him alive, while Wulfrin darted in with surgical strikes.

Ciela focused on the roots holding the Bloom. If they severed the source, maybe the beast would weaken.

She slashed and rolled, cutting deeper until the roots shrieked. The Bloom pulsed brightly, and the Titan roared.

It lunged, but Bork intercepted, slamming it into a wall.

Ciela dove forward, grabbed the Bloom, and pulled.

The creature shrieked once more, and exploded into digital ash.

The silence that followed was almost holy.

“We’ve got two now,” Wulfrin said, panting.

Ciela nodded. “Eighteen to go.”

No rest for the hungry.

 

Back at the bakery, Ciela baked through exhaustion. Each Bloom-based cookie was tested, cataloged, and boxed.

Raid leaders returned, impressed and increasingly dependent on her concoctions.

“We might not need healers if we bring your bread,” one joked.

“Bring both,” Ciela deadpanned.

With every batch, Ciela’s reputation grew. But so did demand.

One day, a player in dark robes appeared. “You’ve disrupted the balance,” he said. “The Bloom was not yours to take.”

Wulfrin stepped forward. “You threatening her?”

“No. I’m inviting her. There’s more to this ingredient than you know.”

He dropped a petal that shimmered black.

Then vanished.

Mystery deepened.

* * *

WC: 213

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Ciela examined the black petal. It radiated faintly and gave off no smell. 

“Corrupted Verdant Bloom?” she whispered.

Wulfrin frowned. “Or evolved.”

Meanwhile, the Crimson Pike guild faced sabotage. Ore went missing. Bloom samples spoiled overnight.

“Inside job?” Bork growled.

Possibly. Ciela posted guards and warded the bakery. Her once-safe haven had become a target.

She baked protection cookies, yes, really, imbued with minor buffing spells.

“We’re going to need help,” Ciela muttered.

So she sent out a call to the one guild she never thought she’d contact:

The Obsidian Fork.

 

Obsidian Fork arrived clad in black and silver, led by flamboyant chef-warrior MisoDoom.

“We heard someone’s been stirring the pot,” he smirked.

Ciela groaned. “Why did it have to be you?”

“Because we’re the best sous-chefs for sabotage.”

Together, they planned. MisoDoom had a contact who knew of a hidden Bloom cache, Floor 23’s Glacier Gardens.

Snow and baking didn’t mix, but needs must.

Team Bake Raid expanded. More players, more danger, more Bloom.

As they prepped to leave, Ciela looked out over her quiet lake.

“This used to be a bakery,” she murmured.

Wulfrin grinned. “Now it’s the front line.”

* * *

WC: 192

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

The Glacier Gardens were as deadly as they were beautiful. Ice paths, frostbite debuffs, and mirror beasts awaited them.

Their breath fogged in the air. Ciela’s cookies froze solid.

“We need a warming ward,” Bork warned.

MisoDoom conjured fire fields with chili-basil baguettes.

The group reached a frozen waterfall. Trapped within the ice, four Verdant Blooms. But a Frost Queen guarded them, and she wasn’t pleased.

Battle commenced.

Ice shards rained down. Wulfrin and MisoDoom danced around her, while Ciela charged up a Bloom Blast, an explosive spell-biscuit.

It hit. The Queen froze, shattered, and the ice cracked.

The Blooms were theirs.

 

They returned with the cache, only to find Floor 29's head quarters under attack.

A rogue guild, The Spoiled Batch, demanded exclusive rights to Verdant Bloom.

“They’re using corrupted petals,” Bork gasped. “Their power’s unstable!”

Ciela stood atop a table, shouting, “We don’t hoard power. We bake with it and share!”

The battle turned. Buffed by Bloom-based bread, their forces pushed back the Spoiled Batch.

But the enemy left a warning.

“You haven’t seen what’s coming.”

Ciela glanced at the black petal still in her pouch.

They were right.

* * *

Post Action: Fighting myconids for their drops

* * *

WC: 190

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

With only two days left before the Floor 29 raid, Ciela worked nonstop. Her body ached. Her eyes burned.

But the final batch of Bloombread was rising.

Wulfrin joined her. “You should rest.”

“Not yet,” she said. “This is my part in the fight.”

Raid gear was distributed. Bloombread packed. Potions brewed. Weapons enchanted.

Ciela stepped outside, looking to the skies.

“Let’s knead this battle into shape.”

 

Floor 29 was worse than imagined. Toxic fumes. Mire serpents. Flickering terrain.

But Ciela’s bread granted stamina and clarity.

They cut through the chaos, Wulfrin leading, Ciela shielding allies with biscuit barriers.

The final boss rose, a bloated Serpent King, wrapped in venomous mist.

Ciela hurled her last Bloom cookie like a grenade.

BOOM.

The creature flailed, giving the final strike opening.

Together, they ended it.

 

The floor cleared. The mist faded.

They stood victorious.

Raid leaders lifted slices of golden bread in the air.

“To Ciela! Our baker, our buffer, our secret weapon!”

Ciela flushed. “I just wanted to make the perfect croissant.”

She looked at Wulfrin. “Next adventure?”

He grinned. “Only if there’s cake.”

She laughed.

And with battle behind them, flour ahead, and friends at her side, KnightessCiela knew her journey had just begun.

* * *

WC: 204

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Bork wasn’t her real name, just what Ciela called the hammer-wielding tank after their first dungeon together. A single misclick had sent her hammer flying into a trap door. Bork had laughed so hard, Ciela nearly dropped a tart. From that moment on, Bork was more than a teammate, she was a reliable backup, a boulder of reassurance in the often chaotic world of Aincrad.

They hadn’t talked much since Floor 23. Life, quests, and raid prep had pulled them in different directions. But now, as Ciela stirred batter on the bakery porch, Bork appeared like a sunbeam with a jug of honey and a sheepish grin.

“Thought this might go well with your next loaf.”

Ciela raised an eyebrow. “Trying to butter me up?”

Bork plopped down beside her. “Nah. Just miss hangin’ out.”

Silence settled comfortably between them. Not awkward, just easy.

Ciela offered a spoon. Bork tasted the mix and whistled. “Tastes like confidence and poor decisions.”

Ciela smiled. “Perfect, then.”

* * *

WC: 164

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Bork wasn’t good with words. But she was great with loyalty. She helped patch the bakery wall after a mini-boss charge splintered the side. Stayed late polishing mixing bowls until they gleamed like armor. Protected the oven like it was a sacred altar guarded by fire spirits and cinnamon.

“You ever think about opening a second bakery?” Bonk asked one night, her hammer resting across her lap like a sleeping pet.

Ciela blinked. “Like a franchise?”

“Yeah. Ciela’s Combat Cakes. I could run security. Maybe do taste tests.”

Ciela laughed, genuinely this time. “You just want unlimited cookies.”

Bork grinned. “Can you blame me?”

They sat together by the hearth, letting the fire warm their boots. For the first time in weeks, Ciela wasn’t thinking about raids, corrupted blooms, or her next big fight.

Ciela softened. “Maybe someday. After all this Bloom madness.”

But in her heart, the thought lingered. Maybe home didn’t have to be just one place.

* * *

WC: 159

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

A new threat arrived, glitches spreading from corrupted Bloom nodes. NPCs freezing mid-dialogue. Towns phasing in and out of visual stability. The Crimson Pike were overwhelmed and understaffed.

Ciela and Bork took it upon themselves to investigate a node near the lakeside ruins. There, they found a withering garden, once vibrant and full of herbs, now wilting under a haze of digital distortion. A hacked dungeon portal pulsed red at its center.

“We go in?” Bork asked, cracking her neck.

Ciela nodded grimly. “We stop this at the source.”

The dungeon was nothing like before. Gravity flickered. Floors rippled like jelly. It was like the game’s engine itself was having a fever dream.

At the final chamber waited a Bloom-corrupted mirror boss, one that looked eerily like Ciela, down to the frosting-smeared gloves.

“Guess I’m fighting myself,” she muttered.

Bork readied her hammer. “Nope. We fight it together.”

They entered the room side by side.

* * *

WC: 155

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

The corrupted mirror-Ciela moved with haunting precision. Every slash, spin, and snarky eye-roll mimicked her own. Bork became the anchor, blocking attacks, absorbing hits, shouting goofy taunts that made Ciela snort mid-dodge.

“You call that a roll? I’ve seen muffins do better somersaults!”

The laughter helped them break the tension. Ciela noticed a half-second delay in her doppelgänger’s movements, a pattern.

She baited a heavy swing, and as the reflection lunged, Bork tackled it from the side with a mighty “BONK!” that echoed through the chamber.

Together, they shattered the boss’s crystalline core, and the code dispersed like digital starlight.

The room pulsed once, then went still. The portal sealed.

They collapsed against each other, breathless.

“You okay?” Bork asked, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Yeah,” Ciela said with a half-smile. “Thanks for the save.”

Bork grinned. “Anytime. Just don’t make me fight pastry demons alone again. They're awfully flakey and unreliable.”

* * *

WC: 152

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

Back at Fondante’s Inferno, peace settled once again, at least for now. Ciela’s hands found rhythm in the kneading, her soul settling with the rise and fall of warm dough. She baked a new bread, one infused with the faint glow of the reclaimed Bloom and the warmth of Bork’s honey.

The result was soft, golden, and just slightly sweet. They named it Unity Loaf.

“What's it do?” Wulfrin asked, sniffing a fresh slice.

“Boosts HP regen. And morale,” Ciela replied.

Bork winked. “Also tastes like not dying.”

The trio shared the bread over tea, laughter echoing through the bakery like music.

The raid was over. But the journey? Far from it. New challenges would come. New recipes would rise.

Ciela handed Bork another slice, this one cut a little thicker.

“To unlikely friends,” she said.

Bork raised her mug of cider. “And even unlikelier bakers.”

They toasted, and the firelight danced over flour-speckled smiles.

* * *

WC: 155

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela

[KnightessCiela 0]

The sun was just beginning to rise over the crystalline lake, casting a peach-gold glow across the mist-shrouded waters. Fondante’s Inferno stood quietly by the shore, its chimney exhaling gentle puffs of warmth into the crisp morning air. Inside, the bakery was alive with scents of honeyed bread, citrus zest, and a hint of char that Bonk swore was intentional, though Ciela insisted otherwise.

Ciela stood at the center of it all, whisk in hand, apron tied tightly around her waist, and hair pinned up with a sprig of rosemary. She looked around at the rows of cooling loaves, fresh jams, enchanted toffee drops, and soft-baked rolls infused with Bloom. Her world, rebuilt from the scorched flour of the past, had finally risen.

Bork sat on a stool by the counter, lazily toasting a slice of Unity Loaf over a magical ember. Wulfrin leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, expression unreadable but eyes warm.

“You did it,” he said simply.

Ciela chuckled, brushing flour from her cheek. “I didn’t do it alone.”

Wulfrin walked in, holding a small pot of crystalized ginger and marigold tea. “That’s what makes it worth it.”

The table they gathered around wasn’t grand. It was scarred, uneven, with one leg shorter than the rest. But it held the weight of celebration better than any throne.

“Remember when all you wanted was a good croissant?” Bork asked.

“I still do,” Ciela said, placing a plate of golden, flakey pastries in the center. “But it turns out saving people pairs really well with laminated dough.”

They broke bread together, clinking mugs of cider and dipping warm slices into whipped butter and hope. The laughter that followed wasn’t wild or explosive, but soft and steady, like bread rising in a quiet oven.

Outside, the bakery’s sign swayed gently in the breeze.

KnightessCiela, Floor 22. Home of Fondante’s Inferno. Bakery. Sanctuary. Beginning.

When the last crumb had been eaten and the last story shared, Ciela stepped outside. The horizon stretched beyond the lake, beyond the trees, beyond even the tall spires of distant floors.

There would always be another challenge. Another raid. Another dish to discover.

But right now, as sunlight touched her shoulders and birds sang their pixelated morning songs, Ciela breathed deeply and smiled.

“I’m ready.”

She wasn’t just a knightess anymore.

She was a baker, a warrior, a friend, and maybe, just maybe, the heart of Aincrad’s next legend.

* * *

WC: 403

Edited 4 hours ago by KnightessCiela