Baldur

<<Kaajh'Kaalbh - Mother of Smiles>> As the newly buffed MorningStar came for the Mother again, her smiles widened, ready for player with her new round of shields in place, but once again the player's sword arts crashed into her, and while his damage was blocked, her smiles were once again frozen. They tried to writhe with anger, but the paralytic venom held her in place, with his hit, one of the smiles seemed to peel off of her face like a sticker that had lost its adhesive and floated to the ground. "RRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!" It screamed wordlessly at him through smiles that re

Baldur chuckled at Jomei's remarks about the heat in the volcano, "It reminds me of summers in Kyoto." Unlike Hirru, however, Baldur had his <<Survival>> mode on. They weren't likely to be pressed to the brink here, so he didn't need to bring his parry mod. "And yeah, we'll need to fight the bigger version. The trick is that if you get all three of his heads in a narrow health window, he will summon more adds. Once we kill those adds, we'll be able to finish off the quest boss. The difficult part for us, will be doing little enough damage to not simply kill the heads. Thankful

As the <<Phoenix>> dove down to attack them, Baldur stepped in front of Morningstar. It wasn't an act of bravery to protect the man, he obviously didn't need Baldur's help with the Phoenix, other than efficiency's sake. No, Baldur stepped in front of Morningstar so that they were was no question about where the bird would go. Rather than trying to target it with a sword art and guess who it might attack, Baldur put both of them in its flight path. As entered the part of its diving arc where it came straight at them, Baldur sliced the air once, then twice, and as he did so crescent

Baldur returned the bow that Alkor gave him. They had not spoken in a long time, not since their fight. Something about the man had changed, and Baldur couldn't help but want to dig in, and see if the man had stopped letting the expectations of others control him and who he was allowed to be. The gaijin samurai realized he didn't even know where the man had left things with Lessa, which had been a source of strife for the man at the time. "Alkor, good to see you again." Regardless, he viewed Alkor as a peer, and someone Baldur had crossed blades with in a way that was not life or dea

When Acanthus questioned the ability to really know someone, Baldur opened his mouth slightly to release one of the many witty, platitudes he was known for, but when Acanthus recovered and continued it gave him pause. There was a kernel there that needed to be explored, but for now he merely knew there was more to that feeling than a simple platitude could help. Slowly, she released a white knuckled grip on the cup, that had this been the real world, he might have been worried would have broken. She was nervous, perhaps, talking about the frontline. So he let the conversation flow. I woul

<<Kaajh'Kaalbh - Mother of Smiles>> "Welcome back, my dear..." The Mother of Smiles says as Morningstar returns to the fight, but before she can embrace him with a loving smile and hug, the player lands his stunning attack with an explosive sword art. It is then, he notices, that her smile disappears. Did she have more of them before? Then Crozeph came in, playing racquetball with a hex, and while it was effective against the faceless Mother of Smiles, as his attack pushed her health bar down into the second, a shiver ran through her stunned form and her face was once aga

Baldur listened carefully to Acanthus' story and was pleased that she was so willing to open up to him. It felt good to have someone to talk to, both for him and he hoped for her as well. People needed someone to talk to, and a space they felt safe doing so. She had come to the frontline later than some, but there were always new people joining the fight. "I think most people would call me a veteran, but my first involvement in a boss fight was the floor 9 boss... and I didn't even fight it. That's the one where Alkor kinda but not really died. People were going to go into that fight with

When Star brought up Kayaba wanting to experience the game from front row seats, Baldur's mind's eye turned back to Freyd, and seeing him disappear into the boss's embrace, only to reappear somewhere else. Then to watch the man die before he was resurrected right before Baldur's eyes. Perhaps Kayaba was there watching from the front row. "Ope, let's get to it then." Baldur put the lid on the bento as the Phoenix grew closer, then slowly put the food back into his inventory and dusted off his haori before resettling it around his shoulders as the Phoenix screeched and moved into a div

Baldur accepted the tea and sake with genuine appreciation, giving her a slight seated bow as he accepted them from her. He admired each in turn, letting her explain the teas and where they came from, before setting them down on his opposite side. "Thank you very much! I still appreciate sake, even if I can't get drunk form it. Even in the outside world, getting drunk is not an activity I take part in, though warm sake on a cold winter night... it can be difficult not to get a little tipsy." He gave a slight, embarrassed laugh. "I will be very interested to try this Tomioka tenderleaf. I

Baldur gave an unusually boisterous laugh considering his normally reserved demeanor when Star mentioned how unpleasant the labyrinth was. He didn't give any details, but it still gave Baldur a flashback. "You know, when we scouted the labyrinth for the fight against the floor 26 boss, it was in the city sewers." He chuckled some more, catching his breath and then wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye, "We fought a giant sewer rat, a la Master Splinter from the Ninja Turtles." Baldur took another piece of sushi and popped it into his mouth, letting the last bit of his

When Kiru asked that he relay to Oikawa that he would benefit from avoiding her, both of Baldur's eyes raised, though only slightly. He wasn't surprised people would ostracize him for being a PKer, but there was something more personal about this Kiru. He only nodded in confirmation of her request. When she relayed that Alkor wanted to meet somewhere else, Baldur nodded. He closed up the bento box of sushi, slowly stood up and shook out his coat, then threw it back around his shoulders. He picked up his katana, but put them back into his inventory, instead of equipping them. It felt a bit odd

Baldur sat, as he often did, on one of the wooden walkways around one of the buildings of his home, his feet dangling over the water of one of the many fishing ponds, with his shakuhachi in hand. Slowly he ran through sequences of notes, trying to internalize them rather than relying on the system to play for him. Soft, melancholy notes drifted out among the gardens and the trees that covered his home. An island that had once been covered with monsters, but which Baldur had tamed and transformed into his sanctuary, the network of buildings that was his home, and the web of buildings that was t

The figure with the black crystal seemed to smile, though its face was not visible. Another flash of red lightning revealed a face wearing a mask hidden deep in the cowl of its hood. Ẉ̷͖͙̻͋̊̌̊̐̏̕e̵̡̡̨̛̟̫̲̜͖̖̲̙̺͖̩͔̯̣̎̋̏̃̓͝ĺ̵̻̼͉̯̱͇͔͓̙̞̲͉̼̳̟̭͓̗̠̪̏̿̓͒͌̈́̃̆̔̐͘͘͜͠͝͠c̷̲̀̀o̵̧̯̞̮̖̮̤̳̜̐̾̃͊͐́̌̅́̎̌͗͐̈́̿̀͠ͅm̵̜̹̥̟̳̬̟̔̾͛̀ể̵̛̳͖̖̭͓̰̭̭͇̟̠̜̳͎̅̋͆̍̒̆̒̈́͂̏͗̄̓̓͝͝ͅ ̸̫̜̐̇̍͌̍͗̾̊̓̾t̸̡̡̻̺̣̞̬̤̱͚͓̜͓̞̼̜̭̗̗͇̔̾͌̆͋ͅő̶̱͕͕̰̹̹̖̟̺̟̩̠̣̻̍̅̓̋̎͑͜͝ ̸͙̆́͂̍̐̂̽̉̀̇̀̽̕m̷̢̟͈̤̫̑͑̑͋̾͊̃̿͛͂̈̽̋̉̀͜y̷͚͍̬͆̃̅͊̿̿̓̕ ̴̘͆̕h̸̛̰͓̞̻̦͖̽͛͋͐̋̒̈͆̃̂̓͒̅̿̀͛͛̎͠͝o̷̡̡̨̳̲̩͎̯̟̹̙̯͎͕͍̳̦̼̮̓͠m̶̘̟̹̺̫̹̌̀e̷̡̨͔̙̲̻͙̖̬̠͙͕̜̦͓̻̤͋́̏ The words didn't seem to be spoken in

"Thanks Hirru, It feels good to be back out as well... though maybe not on this floor specifically." The gaijin samurai smiled at his old friend and gave him a slight bow of respect and welcome when the Jade Hunter appeared in the town square. A short moment later and the Emerald Duelist appeared. Baldur had surrounded himself with green today, it seems. "Thanks for coming too Jomei. I've recently respec'ed. Actually based on the last boss fight. I was unsatisfied with how things were going, and so I'm trying something a little more my style. To that end, I found out there's a techni

Baldur quirked an eyebrow at her once again. "I have no reason to mess with you. Your name sounds familiar, but I don't remember you from my time in the Brigade." He let out a soft sigh. This conversation was a rollercoaster of emotion. He had hoped that opening up to her would let her open up and work through the emotions that were weighing on her, instead he had opened his wounds anew and she only seemed to feel aggressive and paranoid. He could not entirely blame her, he remembered those days. PKing was much more rampant then, aggression between factions was more common then. Ther

"Look out below!" came the confident voice of a man already in flight. From the top of towering cliffs that the Queen was in flight from, a rippling blue and white haori could be seen as a man seemed to be falling towards Bastion and the bee Queen. Bits of white flame were embroidered into the cloth, but seemed to burn as if alive as it rippled. Just as the man was getting too close to the ground for comfort, he seemed to spin slightly into the air so his head was no longer pointed towards the ground, and then he seemed to explode in light. The arc of his sword art seemed to cut through t

Baldur walked up behind Cro with the large black montsuki haori, a symbol of the crow as a mon on both sides of the chest and large on the back and held it so his friend could slip his arms into the sleeves. "It's crazy, even when you rent kimono in Japan, it takes women three to four times longer to get dressed, then you have all the makeup and hair work that goes into it. If you had to fully dress like you would in the real world, it's only slightly more complicated." He patted his old friend on the shoulders once the jacket was on. He then walked around to the front and held up a

Baldur had expected a reaction of disbelief out of Kiru for telling her that Alkor was alive. It had been his own reaction to finding out as well. He did not expect her to confront him and move her hand towards her hip where her dagger was. His eyes widened at her response, but he made no move to defend himself. Baldur knew they were in a safe zone, and he knew he was powerful enough to be confident in his ability to handle any thread that would come his way. Players just weren't as scary as they once were. He knew how fragile life was in Aincrad, but he also knew how to make the system work a

Baldur's eye opened wider when Kiru said she knew Azide and had been a member of the Frontline. Baldur knew almost everyone that had been on the Front, except for those very hazy first days before he had really become active outside of the lower floors. But he did remember Hydra, the battle that killed Rue and Alkor. "You were there for the Hydra then." an almost excited smile flickered across his face for a moment at the realization of connection. "I wasn't able to go to that one, but I became a merchant so that I could sell healing potions and field rations to the raid. Then I worked ha

She seemed to be wary of him now. That was a shame as he was doing everything he could to try and be welcoming and accommodating. To try and help a fellow player work through their grief as well. But he wasn't going to let a little resistance bring his spirits down. Suspicion could mean PK. It was possible that's how she lost someone. Well, she hadn't been the only one. “Who?” She finally asked him. Well, at least she wasn't going to walk away. He took another piece of sushi to give him a moment. He could still see them... the feathers. A whole raid being flung up into their one afte

Baldur listened intently as Star taught him about the floor field boss and its spawning habits. Then the man pulled up a seat and so Baldur did as well, trying to find something that looked the least painful to sit on. His childhood had been filled with playing on lava rock, but he was much older now and that seemed to make a big different. He needed to remember to go find an artisan to make him a kyokuroku chair. "Thanks, if you can imagine it, when I picked up the katana there were only three of us. A guy named Ryujin Sealord, Keith, and myself. It was seen as a bit of a waste of skill

Kiru. Have I heard that name before? The gaijin samurai considered her name for a long moment, but couldn't seem to place where he may or may not have heard it. Some part of him recognized it as a name of days gone by, some part of the old crew, but he couldn't associate her face or her name with anything in particular. Just how long have we really been in here? I feels like years at this point. "It is nice to meet you Kiru-san." He gave her a seated bow, and then a friendly smile. He gestured for her to sit on his jacket turned picnic blanket then gestured, summoning his menu a

"It's a long way down." A voice called out to Kiru as she stood near the edge of the floor. "I can certainly think of better ways to go than stepping off the edge." The blue eyes of a gaijin samurai surveyed the young girl. He stood roughly six feet tall, larger and broader of shoulder than the typical kid that was running around the game. He was obviously a gaijin, probably American features, but he had long dark brown hair and wore distinctly samurai kimono in the colors of sunset, but with a sky blue haori jacket with white flames flickering up from the hems. At his left hip were two k

"Well isn't that a nice trick." A moment later and the Phoenix was back in action, though its health bar was still low enough that it wouldn't last long. Baldur spun around, and before the Phoenix could get much higher into the air, drove his sword straight through to its core. It hovered for a second, its wings no longer flapping, and then exploded into a shower of multi-hued crystals, shimmering in the light of the floors volcanic glow. "huh.." Baldur said once the last hit rewards popped up, "Doesn't look like it drops any <<Hot Wings>>. That's unfortunate. Are you a r

There was something odd about this NPC. In a city that by all appearances was abandoned to the forces of the deep ones, why was this one here? But then Acanthus mentioned the K̸̰̗̱̑̆̊i̶̢̢̡̹̰͎̺̼͙̗͛̑̀͆̇n̶̢̛͉̥͖̙̳͈̳̑̄̒͑̌͋̈̿́̈́g̷̡̡̛̗̖̮̥̜͕͎̖̟̒̉̀̌̚͘͘͜͝ ̷̧̢͉̄̆i̵̢̢̝̠̼̲͚̥͎͓̠̜͌͐̓̉̿̀̓̑̉́͂̈́n̵̝̱͆̈́̾̄̋̓̓̄̍ ̴̧̰̱̻̼͔͚͙̦̊̏̉̈́́͒͒͋̓̕̚Ỷ̸͎̋̎͌͊̂̂̎̿̿ę̵͖̥̓̈̿̾̓̀̋͗̀͝l̶̲̻͙͆͂͑͌͂̚͜l̶̛͓͍̠̝̼̼̣͍̬̃͆͆̈́̐ớ̴̝̖̥̤̳̓̓̓̾̿͗̚͠w̴̛̛͖̩̼̜̤̋̎̓͑̇͑̈́ͅ and everything went sideways. What happened to the NPC next was something that would have been nightmare fuel had it been in the real world, but the separation of game and reality gave Baldur a bu