Pinball

Though Acanthus had taken a tumble into the water, Pinball still remained in the boat. "The water is cold,” she offered. “I would recommend not getting thrown in. Unless you like being cold, I suppose.” Pinball nodded solemnly. "I think you should get back in the boat." She didn't seem like she planned on getting back in, though. At least not yet. Fighting a fish in the water was a bold strategy. They'd see how it worked out soon, Pinball supposed. There was a moment during that silence that Acanthus looked like she was going to ask him something. He waited, but the moment did

"A tier four dungeon." He confirmed. If Mishiro was worried, he didn't notice. His face was buried in his food, and he would never have suggested it if it meant putting her in harm's way. It was when she trailed off that she had his attention. He quietly waited for her to finish. "That's not a problem." Pinball said. "And you won't owe me anything. It's not difficult to get your hands on a map." Pinball went back to his food. His mind went to the next fight ahead of them, and the dungeon they'd take on after. Before he knew it, his plate was empty. He pulled back, puzzled. Had he n

Eventually they rowed the boat out into deep waters. There was no land in sight. He let the oars go slack and let the boat just drift. It didn't take long for the boat to begin to wobble. Pinball frowned. The fish was there already? Moretsuna erupted from the water like a geyser, drenching the two of them in their boat and nearly capsizing them. Pinball let out a brief hissing noise through his teeth. Without stopping to aim, he hurled his knives towards where Moretsuna's body was -- where he thought it was. Pinball knew that if he tried really hard, he'd be able to kill it. It was just

Pinball sat down with Mishiro and started picking out his food. If their lunch was any indication, the dwarves ate much better than he did. It wasn't like it mattered much. You couldn't gain weight, and your health was solely dictated by a green bar in the top left corner of your vision. There was no need to worry about vitamins, protein, fats, or nutrients; Pinball was sure in the real world, his body was enduring much worse on life support. But it was a little embarrassing. His diet consisted mostly of various sweets, and he just didn't get tired of eating them. He liked pastries, mostly, an

They set up the boat quickly. Pinball was fairly eager to set out. Not out of any particular sense of excitement or urgency, but rather for the sole act of completing the quest. After doing different quests for so long, there came a point in time where a good chunk of them began to feel like a chore. He already had the stats, he already had the gear -- and still, progress on the frontlines were slow. He helped out when he could. He was helping out right now. What more could he do? He lost his train of thought as they loaded into the dinghy and cast off into the water. Pinball was silent,

The soldier died quickly. The crystal, like his knives and his arms, disappeared beneath his cloak. Pinball remained motionless where he stood, allowing the two to recover themselves from the heat of battle. Was that the whole quest? Pinball was unfamiliar with the trilogy, despite his frequent visits to the Fourth Floor. He was about to ask as much, but his mouth shut before it could form the words. For one reason or another, he didn't want to ask. Instead, he turned his attention to the performer. "Thank you for the crystals, Acanthus," Pinball said. They had been very helpful, and he

Circe's knives found themselves buried in the back of the Forgotten Time King, but not once did the withered husk of a mob even consider looking back towards her. Pinball was drawing too much aggro. The new player attacking came to Pinball as a surprise, but a welcome one -- their damage wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't inconsiderable, either. Pinball, being used to feeling out the health bars of mobs, felt that she had lined up his kill perfectly. All at once he flickered forwards, his body stepping in and out of shadow. He took two knives by the handle and drove them home into the gut o

Another blow came, another blow went whizzing by. The Forgotten Time King was very good at missing its attacks today. Pinball almost felt bad about using all those consumables earlier, if he wasn't going to take a single hit. But that was a foolish thing to think. If he hadn't buffed it, and he had taken a hit, or missed his attacks, he would have been left wanting for them. It was always better to be safe than sorry. He needed to make sure he remembered that, going forward. It was one of his biggest, most consistent mistakes. His daggers flew. Pinball stayed on the outside now, kiting t

The Forgotten Time King thrust with his great spear. It missed again, unsurprisingly. Pinball had fought this thing once before, on his own. He'd come with even more buffs this time, and already with a knowledge of its attack patterns. It shouldn't have been surprising that the fight was passing by so easily -- but it was. And maybe that was because the Forgotten Time King Pinball was fighting now was nothing like the Forgotten Time King that he had fought previously. It was strange. And he would have to go and look for a reason for that change later. But for now, Pinball's knives carved

The first attack had landed -- good. Now for the next one. The Forgotten King swung wildly, and Pinball had no issue deftly dodging the spear swinging overhead. Pinball's form flickered as he activated Vanish. The Forgotten Time King didn't know where he'd went. But it didn't have to wonder long. Pinball reappeared, kicking up its bony back and burying two knives between its shoulder blades. Pinball used its back as a spring board and created more distance between them, a new pair of knives flashing into his hands. At some point during the combat, his hood had fell around his shoulders, reveal

They came upon the soldier's camp suddenly. The mangled corpse of an NPC laid off to the corner, prompting the NPC traveling with them to burst into tears. The soldier stood, tearing meat off a bone with his teeth, and announced his pleasure in their emminent slaughter. The enemy's eyes were wild, bloodlusted, soulless. Same old, same old. Acanthus threw herself into the thick of it first, landing a solid strike and applying bleed to the Night King's Soldier. Not wanting to take up too much space, she shifted her position, leaving Pinball with enough room to make a clean shot. With

He could hear Omen and Circe conversing behind him as he vanished, but his pace did not slow as he entered the throne room of the Forgotten Time King. Pinball was there for one simple thing. He'd do it and then he'd leave. As Omen and Circe entered the boss room, the Forgotten Time King rose to his feet, reaching its withered arm for the weapon at its side and staring, eyeless and soulless, at the two players and the entrance of the boss room. Pinball was in its blind spot. Exploding from the corners of its vision with knives in its hand, Pinball carved a great twin red arc across

Omen and Circe couldn’t be more different, in looks or personality, Pinball thought. Omen greeted him politely, and Circe was by far more curt. He didn’t reply to either. Instead, he nodded. He wasn’t of a mind to linger either. He turned and pushed the great wrought iron doors open. The hall seemed to shake under their moving weight. With the doors open, the room was finally visible. It was a wide and barren room of cold stone and destroyed architecture. Pinball paused for half a second. The room looked nothing like it had when he’d taken the quest solo. Whatever — it hardly mattered. The fig

Pinball waited by the doors that led to the Forgotten Time King's throne. He was waiting for two players, named Omen and Circe. They were new, and from what he'd seen, eager to make their way to the frontlines. That made Pinball, despite his outwardly cold demeanor, eager to usher them along. The Forgotten Time King was the quickest, easiest, and safe way to promote a jump in player levels. It was why he had sent Omen there in the first place. And it was also why when Omen reached out to him about helping another player in the same way, Pinball had accepted. He finished up the consumable

Sending over: x10 creme brulee: acc ii x3 yaki hatahata: (+15 mit) x5 skewer roll: protein ii x5 Liquor of Might: DMG III

"Sorry," he said. He had not even reacted to the shrieking of the NPC, and his blank expression did not change even as Acanthus fell face first into the snow. It did occur to him that he could have texted, and also that he had said he would warn Acanthus next time. The best he could offer was a sheepish shrug. "Bad habit. Didn't want to be rude." He nodded to Morningstar. They had met a few times previously, and like Acanthus had said, there was no need for introductions. "Night King's Trilogy?" He asked. Pinball kept his fingers crossed that he had been right in his assumptions, t

Again he found himself at the mobile food shop, and again he decided that it was likely too good of an opportunity to pass up. He got some shopping done, refreshing his personal stock of evasion and accuracy consumables, as well as some extra to help out a couple consumables he'd be giving away to a couple of new players on the side. His wallet was reaching empty pretty quickly, he noticed, and he figured that it was probably time to go ahead and get to grinding up some more funds pretty soon. For now, he paid, and went back on his own way. *** Purchasing: Purchasing x20 crem

He didn't enjoy the eyes on him, but then again he didn't like company, either. He was going a bit out of his comfort zone with this one, but if it meant getting another quest on his belt, he didn't mind. The others didn't seem super hostile towards him either, and that was a plus. The last thing he wanted was to get jumped by a group of frontliners. So far most of them hadn't even acknowledged his existence. Pinball took that as an absolute win. No sooner had the party embarked on their journey were they jumped by a gaggle of undead dudes. And dudes was a pretty appropriate thing to cal

And much like every meeting they'd had since starting the quest line, Pinball joined Acanthus on the outskirts of the Sixteenth Floor's safezone. The next quest had them fighting a fish, but first they'd have to go and fish it up. Swell. Pinball had once been one of the few people with the Fishing skill, back before it had been turned into a profession -- and now he also held the profession, although he never found much reason to use it. Apparently, though, it would make their time on that boat a little bit easier for them, and so he was grateful for that. Acanthus greeted him simply, an

He followed them out of Snowfrost, and stayed hidden until they were well away from the settlement and any other prying eyes. They were traveling with an NPC, but that didn't matter. NPCs were usually easier to hide from anyways. Acanthus and Morningstar were in the middle of conversation when Pinball reappeared. He popped up a few feet behind him, and walked a little bit with them and would say nothing until they noticed him. He figured it was rude to interrupt, and he didn't want to scare them by popping out of nowhere and saying hello. Pinball had done that plenty of times, and the most com

Pinball's face twisted in an ugly rage. "You think that's fucking funny?" It had been a very long time since Pinball had been so shocked, disgusted, infuriated. He didn't know who this person was, but he was beginning to see that they weren't your average fresh player in need of help. Whoever they were, they were deeply disturbed, and adrenaline pumped through his digital veins, urging him to action. But he resisted, instead glaring down at her with eyes of ice and a tone that dripped venom. "Yeah, you've got my attention." Pinball stood right where he was, his expression grim. He

He was standing in between buildings and hugging shadowed corners of the city as soon as they had entered. He followed from a far, careful not to attract any unwanted attention. He watched Mishiro begin her search and felt the simple desire to walk beside her without having to hide. The thought made his face twist. He'd thrown that luxury away a long time ago (and how dare you for even thinking you'd want it). Pinball buried the thought deep down and followed. She'd picked on a place a little ways off the larger roads, something comparatively inconspicuous. While Mishiro headed inside to

Just a few days later, Pinball slipped into Acanthus's shop again. This time, it wasn't so late. He was here to place an order. There were still more crystals he needed -- his build had always been reliant on items, unfortunately -- and Acanthus was the only person that seemed available and willing to help Pinball get his hands on them. He left the form blank other than the item quality and enhancements desired. He sent the materials over just a few swipes through his menu later. "I can't afford the Soundtrack for this one," he said, "yet. This will hold me over for a bit, though. Thank you, A

It wasn't long before the bears were again within sight. And within earshot, he might add. The huffing and puffing and grunting had gone on uninterrupted, it seemed, and Pinball was not that much happier about it than he was when he'd left. He'd gone off to take on that dungeon in the hopes that it would cut off whatever was supplying the sheer quantity of these bears on his front lawn. Now it was time to put it to the test, he supposed. Pinball retrieved his daggers and got to cutting them up. He didn't overextend this time, however. His energy was already low, and he'd only be able to blende

He scoffed. As if he could find an appraiser that would do him such a solid. Hand a stack of weapons and armor to a killer? For what reason? To join the frontlines? Fat chance. Pinball made his way back down the broken forest path, back towards his home and the remaining ocean of bears he had yet to clear out. Pinball swiped idly through his inventory, equipping again the gear that was more suited for mowing through the bears and looting. The old, tattered cloak of the Emerald Harbingers appeared around his shoulders and Pinball felt as though he were embraced by the echoes of ages past. Then