Grave

"That's unfortunate. It's hard to accept such a large guild falling into obscurity." Grave smiled at Hirru. "Guess we're in the same boat. Though I've been away so long, I don't even know what guilds are around anymore." Grave materialised the <<Gungnir Shard>>, its metallic shell falling gently into Grave's palm. He peered at it curiously and tapped it with a single digit. The shard unfurled, like an iron flower, and from within sprouted a platter of savoury and salty treats. He plucked a slab of what appeared to be ham, considered it a moment, shrugged and chowed down on it. As h

Grave followed closely behind his friend, unsure of his own footing on this floor. He'd never spent much time up on the ninth floor, so he wasn't yet adapted to the changing pathways that populated the volcanic landscape, but Hirru seemed to find his way well enough. He was always great at scouting and analysis, and it seemed those talents hadn't faded with time. Grave trusted in the Jade Hunter and stuck close to him as he finished the rest of the dry bread. He pulled open his menu and retrieved the <<Immolation Potion>>. Would this be good to wash down the ration? He swirled the

Hirru removed his helmet and let that familiar green hair flow out. Grave looked upon his old friend, his brother-in-arms and bit back a sob. He wasn't expecting reuniting with an old mate to be such a punch to the gut. It was Hirru alright, but his eyes were different. They were dull, they didn't have the same spark of life as before. He'd seen it before. "Things have been hard for you, haven't they?" he asked, his grip on Hirru's armoured shoulder tightening. "I'm all ears if you want to talk about it." Grave looked away. "Yeah... I disappeared without telling anyone. It was selfish. I

“If you’ve done this quest before, that should make my life even easier. I’m glad you bumped into me when you did,“ Grave sighed appreciatively. “It is strange how much things have changed though. The NPCs feel more alive, some enhancements and skills have changed. Aincrad just feels… different. Do you know why that is? Did something happen?“ Grave tapped his chin. “They don’t still have developers dropping hot fixes or anything while we’re all stuck in here, do they?“ The player’s offer of consumables temporarily distracted Grave from the names at the top of his HUD, and he stared at the

“Ahoy there! Fancy some help? I may not look it, but I'm a decent healer.” Grave turned to face the newcomer, whose muffled voice echoed over the crowd. In his momentary confusion, he didn’t recognise the voice, and probably wouldn’t even if it weren’t so muffled. Grave’s eyes lit up as they came to rest upon his literal knight in shining armour. ”Oh my god, yes, please. I was actually just having a bit of a panic attack. I’ve been off the field for a long time, and my mortality dawned on me all of a sudden as I accepted this quest,” Grave blabbered. “I would appreciate the help. H

<<The Iron Guardian>> Quest Description Grave mopped up the sweat pouring down his virtual face on the sleeve of his jacket. Leather wasn't great for soaking up fluids, and in fact, it sucked to rub against his face in the Floor Nine heat. He never liked coming up here. He was much more used to rainy old London. For the sake of a quest that could scratch that itch for a fight he'd been unable to sate since returning to society, though? It might just be worth it. "Are you the one that accepted the quest to kill the Guardian?" someone asked, and Grave turned to the hooded

Grave looked up from the notepad that laid in his lap so he could take note of his material and item stock before he got back into the swing of business. The chime in his ear tore his attention away from his motonous task and he brought up the message from NIGHT. With a smile, he stood up from the floor of his shop and whistled with two fingers. Hikari leapt onto his shoulders and curled around his neck like a scarf. He headed for the teleporter to take a trip down to the Town of Beginnings. The Evening Star's bell twinkled as he stepped in once more. "I've come to pick up the circlet," h

Grave stood back as Jevi went to work. When she turned to head back into the forge, baring her arms to the world, Grave could see just how strong she was. He would say he wouldn't want to get on her bad side, but he'd already been on the receiving end of her fury more than once already. He leaned against one of the walls and shut his eyes, zoning out to the ringing of metal against hot metal. Grave was startled out of his nap when Jevi returned with the item, her breathing ragged. She'd put the last, determined drops of her energy into this, and it showed. They were brilliant. Jevi stated

Grave eased open the door, the little bell tinkling ahead of him as he finished playing with the beam of light that danced along the front doorstep of the shop hidden in the alley. For being placed out of the way, it had a beautiful exterior that begged to be admired. "Greetings!" he called into the shop as he shut the door behind him. "I caught word that I'd find an artisan here. This is the Evening Star, correct?" he asked to the abyss behind the counter. He swept his eyes across the room to spot the storekeeper sitting at a round table. "Oh, my apologies, I expected you to be at the co

"You sure?" Grave asked, blinking at Jevi blankly. "I guess if that's what you want, I'm happy to owe you a favour instead." Grave smiled and ran his fingers over the rose again. "I'd find it hard not to think of you, wearing this into battle. I'll take great care of it." Grave tapped on the Black Rose Breastplate, bringing up its item information box, and accepted it into his inventory. He swiped through his menus, dragged the armour over his empty body slot and in a flash, the dark iron wrapped around his chest, the bands snapped around his arms and the pauldrons fell gently over his jacket.

Grave stared blankly. "Wait. So I didn't need to almost die to get here?" he groaned and slapped a palm against his face. "I've never been the greatest at thinking through things, to be fair." Grave looked around the small shop set into the mountainside. "It's a beautiful little place. I really should try and upgrade to a bigger workspace myself, that tiny cylinder gets cramped after a while." Grave stared at the dark breastplate that Jevi brought over, the same rose embroidered on his jacket hammered into the metal. He scanned its surface, ran his fingers over the gold trimming. He forgo

Grave pushed through the door to 'Amorous Armours and Armaments' and wheezed. "God, I thought the mountains on the second floor were rough." He leaned against the doorframe and caught his breath. "You couldn't have picked a less 'climb-y' location to move shop to?" he groaned and stumbled into the store. He stood there for two seconds, three seconds, and stood up straight, running a hand through his messy white hair, pushing it back into its familiar wave. He flashed a smile at Jevi, as if he hadn't looked like he was dying a moment ago. "I've come to request that gear I've been meaning t

Jevi made a face while sipping on the milkshake, and Grave froze. Had he said something wrong? Was that not enough? Was it too much? He looked away and chewed on a thumbnail. Of course it was too much. What good does him being here now do? He was such an idiot. He was late, that was the problem. He should have just kept his mouth shut, then maybe... "Why don't we find out together? Lets see if this new you holds a candle to the old Grave." Grave looked back up at Jevi. She smiled at him. It was a mask, Grave could see that. He smiled back. "Even if it doesn't, this is me now. We can works

Grave watched with apprehension. He knew he was a good cook. It was his profession here in Aincrad, after all. But there was something different about watching Jevi try a dessert prepared just for her, without any mechanical benefits. Just a treat to help lift her spirits. Something gnawed at the pit of his stomach. What if she didn't have as much of a sweet tooth as he did? Did he put in too much icecream? Would it be too hard to drink? All that melted away when Jevi closed her eyes and leaned into the straw. A quiet whistle slipped past his lips as he released his bated breath. "I provi

Grave smirked and grabbed a tall, bell-shaped glass and a bottle of fruity syrup and spun them both. "Coming right up," he announced. He bumbled about the kitchen, sliding the glass onto the countertop and drizzling a few rings of red syrup around the inside of it, almost to the lip. He flung open the cold box and whipped out a tub of ice cream and a bottle of milk. Two large balls of cold cream fell to the bottom of the glass and a stream of milk cascaded around them, the syrup infusing into it and turning it from white to a gentle pink. As he scrambled through the pantries for ingredien

Grave thought for a moment, then grinned from ear to ear. "How cool would it be if we could actually talk with our familiars?" he asked, slamming his hands against the counter in excitement. "Like, Hikari understands me, but I'm not sure she actually knows what I'm saying. Same way I recognise a couple of her squeaks. But what if our pets could actually talk?" Grave leaned back and looked up to the ceiling. "Cardinal, if you're hearing this, let me talk to animals!" he roared to the digital, omnipresent digi-god of Aincrad. Grave laughed and looked through his cabinet again. "Yeah, I'm st

I have some really old food items I need to get re-evaluated! OLD: NEW:

Grave stared at Hikari for a second. "Yeah. Some jerk probably would have kicked her. It was safer in here than anywhere else," he concluded and gave her a little scratch under the chin. Jevi greeted the weasel and said the two of them could have talked about how much of a jerk he was, and he gave a little embarrassed laugh, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, if Hikari could talk, I don't even want to imagine how much you two would have to say about me," he confessed shakily. "I'm sure you both have plenty of secrets to spill about me." Grave reached into the

Grave laughed as Hikari moved and nuzzled up by his neck, still shivering and squeaking. "Hey now, it's okay. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." Grave rocked his head back to look at the brunette who lectured him from above. She looked funny upside down. "Yeah, I know. I... didn't really deserve to see her again, but I'm glad she was here." Grave sat up and pushed a gentle hand against Hikari's rear to nudge her up and onto his shoulder. She snaked around his neck and drooped over his chest like a scarf. "I wonder how long she waited in here. Did she go out to find me at all? Did she wand

Grave cowered and covered his head as Jevi tore into him. "I know, I know, I'm sorry!" he whimpered. "I really hope not! I... don't think they do?" Grave turned from cowering to thinking, staring at the ground. "Do... do familiars need to eat?" He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fuuuuuuuck..." Grave yelped as Jevi yanked him away from their spot and across the city. "I need to remember where it is, first," he mumbled. "It was in a courtyard, kind of to the side of the city," he deduced. Though Jevi was holding his wrist, he picked up the pace and walked in front of her, tugging her along using h

"Well, I'd be happy to be your first customer in a while, if you don't mind," Grave offered with a wink. "Oh right, I need to actually think about what I want. I'd want something heavy... big metal gauntlets that go up my arms. Get some paralysis, some bonus damage. I'll be a little more detailed once we start working on it." He scratched his chin. "And armour too... I'm using Light Armour now. It won't be as protective, so I'll want some utility to offset it," Grave muttered to himself, lost in his imagination as they walked. He was shocked out of his thoughts when Jevi's sharp elbow sank int

Grave cocked an eyebrow at Jevi as she confessed that she was lacking equipment. "Really?" he asked with a scoff. "I assume that would be your accessory slot? Best you get one soon then, they can have some cool abilities on them." When she admitted to not being great at games, he hesitantly reached out and ruffled her hair. "I'm sure you're not the only one. No one got stuck here on purpose. Some of us are pro gamers and streamers in the real world, some of us just wanted to try something new and suffered for it." Jevi suggested she could potentially forge something for him, and he rubbed

There it was. That cheeky smile. That's what he was looking for. Jevi caught Grave mid-grin and he winced as the cold block struck right between his eyes, and he rubbed his face. "Ouch. Guess my reflexes aren't as quick as they used to be," he complained. By the time he opened his eyes, there was a prompt floating in the air in front of him. He glanced over the transparent box at the golden eyed girl who'd sent the request. "I'm not going to remove anyone on an impulse like that again, least of all you," he assured Jevi. He prodded the blue circle button, and Jevi was added to Grave's friends

"Seriously? Is that what I look like?" Grave whined when Jevi told him he did, in fact, sound like a wildman. He leaned back and groaned towards the sky. "Mission failed, then, I guess." He sat back up and looked at her. What she asked next got him thinking, and he scratched his chin. "Hmm. That's a fair question. I think I got out of it what I was looking for... but in hindsight, I don't think going off alone without telling anyone was necessary. The little devil on my shoulder told me to do that, and I believed him. Having understanding friends waiting on the outside for me to come back migh

"I saw her. Not long after. I was arrogant enough to think I could talk her down," Grave groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's all hazy but... she was convinced she was 'doing something for the good of Aincrad', and she said something about revenge. She messaged me secretly during our meeting and told me that Laughing Coffin was watching her. She seemed like she was honest. But she up and died before she could prove I could still trust her." He shut his eyes and breathed calmly. "I just hope she managed to do whatever 'good' she thought she needed to do before that. Laughing Coffin