Morningstar

Ciela was no natural at fishing. Big Bertha fully ignored her attempts at bait, and so she passed it on the the girl Wulfrin had introduced as Nymoria. A good effort was made, but even she wasn't able to catch the fish. She looked disappointed, or maybe it was just general melancholy. Star couldn't tell, but he smiled reassuringly. "No big deal," he said to the group, watching as the red-coated swordsman took the pole. Who better to catch the fish than the resident fisherman? He pulled and Big Bertha followed the line out of the water and into the air. Morningstar reacted first; years of

# familiar tame

# familiar tame

# familiar tame

# rolling for familiar

Morningstar scanned the area, unable to explain his alertness. "This place feels different," he murmured, half to himself, half to Willow. "Like something’s watching us." Willow nodded, her eyes darting around, trying to catch any movement in the shadows. "More elementals?" "Could be anything," Morningstar replied, his voice steady. "But whatever it is, we'll be okay." Willow smiled at his confidence, drawing some strength from it. "Yeah." editing

After a few minutes, Willow glanced at Morningstar, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What keeps you going through all of this?" Morningstar’s eyes remained fixed on the path ahead, his expression unreadable. He hadn't really thought about it. He weighed his words carefully to ensure his answer was an accurate representation of how he felt. "I like to explore. Find new things—things that nobody else has seen. It's what kept me from staying in the Town of Beginnings at the start. I was too curious. And Lexa..." He trailed off, pulling himself back when he realized the train had fal

Willow smiled, sensing a hint of vulnerability in Morningstar’s response. "I get that. It's easier to keep a small circle, especially in a place like this." "Yeah," Morningstar agreed. "Most people here have their own agendas, and it’s hard to know who you can really trust." "Freyd seems to be an exception, though," Willow said, probing gently. "What’s he like?" Morningstar paused, as if considering how much to reveal. "He’s... different. A good guy, really. Strong, reliable. I won't pretend to know him that well. He helps me out from time to time, though." "Sounds like som

Somewhere down the line, the conversation had changed subjects once more. "Have you been to the Endless Caverns?" "On Ten? Can't say that I have. What's there?" "Not a ton," Willow said. "Shadow monsters and drakes, mostly. But it's really pretty. There's one area with like, glowing blue trees." "Glowing blue trees?" "Yeah... I don't know how to better explain them," she laughed. Morningstar tried to recall a similar place but failed miserably. The tenth floor remained totally mysterious to him; he never really went near it. It was dark, gloomy, and quite dangerous if

A soft hand touched his shoulder. "I'm sorry," Willow told him. He nodded. "Simon was just a kid. Fifteen, or something. He deserved better. Anyway, the heat's only fifty percent of the reason why I don't come here. This place tends to ruin my mood." "Let's go," she smiled. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave." "Yeah." *** Conversation took a more cheerful note for the next stretch of their travels. Willow told him the story of her great-aunt's sixtieth birthday party. Horrendous laughter escaped from both of their lips; breathing and talking were equ

Morningstar continued. "We left from Fortaleza, I think, on the fifth floor. We did a quest called the Traveler—have you heard of it? Yeah, that one. We spent a day or so in the desert just walking and it was a terrible time. Anyway, we ran into some desert bandits out there but they didn't give us any trouble and let us pass through. We found some ruins nearby and intended on resting for a while before nightfall, but the bandits had tracked us there." He fiddled with a cool, solidified lava rock. Willow was listening intently. She realized where he was going with his story. She had alrea

"We're never coming back here," Morningstar wiped his forehead. "I get why you hate it now," Willow sighed. She took a long sip from her canteen, only stopping when she realized she had to breathe. He took a short look at her before glancing away. She was new in his life. She hadn't been around during the start. It wasn't only the heat that caused him to hate the ninth floor. It was history. He had mentioned the story once, but briefly and only touching on a few points before closing off. But it had been years since the events took place and it no longer carried the same weight

Morningstar had somehow stumbled into a quest. His party included star-crossed lovers and a deaf girl that he could somehow understand despite speaking two words of sign language. The system attempted to translate her signs through some sort of weak telepathy. All that trouble to get away from the voices in his head and here one was again. It mostly worked, too. The translations weren't perfect, but they showed how far technology had progressed. Cardinal never ceased to impress him. He vaguely remembered the name Dorian from somewhere. A previous quest, he thought. "Oh, shit, this is

He held blame for nobody but himself. Zandra rushed to his side, activating both her and her familiar's heals simultaneously. The distance between him and death was lengthened for a while longer. As his health bar regenerated, so did his body. "Right," he nodded to Zandra. "Back to work." Freyd had the right idea, battling the slobbering three-headed beast by himself. He controlled the fight expertly while the other two reoriented themselves. Morningstar leaned towards the the left-most head, leaving Zandra to do as she pleased. If he could whittle down its health bar just a bit

From his inventory, Morningstar pulled a pocket journal. It was leatherbound, and well-crafted at that. He had found his original on the game's opening day, shortly after discovering that he would not be leaving. It was his first purchase, even before a meal. He had continued buying copies ever since. Each time he dotted the concluding sentence of the final page of a book, he would return to where he started and purchase a brand new one. It was an cycle that he wished would never end; a ritual that brought him peace in a world so uncertain. Everyone had something, he theorized. He fl

Sunlight blasted Morningstar in the face as he materialized in the Town of Beginnings. It was an astringent change of scenery from the dreary tenth floor and the ill-lit locations within its land. He had spent enough time staring into the void that entering a normal town essentially burned out his eyeballs. Squinting, he stepped into the town. His investigation of the void had come up futile. It was an oddity that simply existed with no logical rhyme or reason. Naturally, that intrigued him and so, he spent three days there. One of his experiments included dropping useless items into the

"Not to ruin the mood...but does anyone see anything alarming around here? I don't trust this...it's too easy..." It was a good observation. Morningstar sliced through a Blightbound Monstrosity, severing it in two like it was butter. He reigned in his horse closer to Nari so he did not need to shout. "Nah. I'm gonna live ignorantly and enjoy the easiness of this. It's not often the system gives us a break." He took a good, long look at Freyd as he rode by. Morningstar refrained from saying anything, but he seemed off—mounting his horse and donning the shadowy cowl had flicked a switc

Zandra's charge caught Morningstar off guard. It was quick and intense, the polar opposite of what Freyd had just told them. She swung high and hit air, panicking as Cerberus simply moved out of the way. The middle head swooped in for a counterattack. Morningstar clenched his fists and lunged, unable to sit back as the beast's jaws closed in on the girl. The backbite of his sword redirected the attack away from Zandra, saving her from an untimely decapitation while also pulling its attention towards himself. For this decision, there would be repercussions. Head 3 slammed into him from beh

He listened to her story while putting together pieces of the puzzle. They were similar in many ways, he imagined. The both of them came from families with enormous reputations and he thought that insurmountable expectations were common territory. "Look at us," Morningstar smiled. "No MMO experience and yet here we are, surviving." "I'm sorry about your brother," he added. "I hope he's doing okay now." The tablet was coming together nicely. Etherial mentioned being shockingly adept at reading it, which Morningstar agreed with. She had a knack for translation. "The game will translate

"ok." morningstar waited around while night did her crafting things. nyanko was visible from where he stood, and they stared at each other neutrally during the time it took for the ring to be made. he liked cats. he wanted one. night came back and delivered his commission, which he thanked her for. it was a pretty item that would fit well in his collection. "where'd you find her?" he asked, before leaving. he wasn't sure whether he planned on doing anything with that information. probably not. morningstar tripped on his way out of the evening star, in spite of night's warning.

Name: Crystal +2 Your Profession: Appraiser Your Rank: Rank 5 Roll ID: 221557, 221558 Roll Result: 6, 2 Reroll ID: 221572, 221573 Reroll Result: 17, 7 (Unique found! BD: 10 CD: 7+1=8 AND BD: 10 CD: 12+1=13) Item Type: Straight Sword Tier: T4 Quality: Rare Enhancements: Absolute Accuracy, Freeze Description: A broken piece of the field boss, Avalanche. It is impossible to melt and sharp like a sword. Link: URL Acquisition ID: 221339a

total cost = 173,360-8,500 = 164,860

Ciela literally meant a few moments. He didn't even have time to pour himself a cup of tea before she wrapped around the corner of the back room with his wagon wheel in hand. "You are a superstar," Morningstar said, impressed by how fast she had baked the item. "Thanks, I'll enjoy this. Congrats on the shop!" And then he left, leaving behind a large quantity of materials for the woman to work with. On the way back home, he messaged Willow, who was deep in a nap. After accidentally waking her, he told her about the cozy little shop on floor twenty-two, putting forth the idea that

During their dungeon run, Nari had mentioned that she was a performer. Never having purchased from a performer, Morningstar was naturally curious about the products she had for sale. "Hey, Nari," he said, waltzing into Morríghan's Descants. He browsed the many songs she had in stock, most of which had names he wouldn't have dared to pronounce. He picked the with words he knew. "Mind if I take a few of these off your hands? I have a bad habit of not bringing any health recovery items along on quests and dungeons." The listed price was transferred to her account in col. ***

Morningstar, wandering aimlessly around the twenty-second floor, came across a shop he had never seen before. He thought that he remembered seeing the building before, but not inhabited. Now, there was a sign and decorations, and presumably someone inside. He took a look inside Fondante's Inferno with the assumption that it was a cook's shop. It smelled like a bakery, which Morningstar loved more than anything else in life. Baked goods, he believed, made the world go around. "Anyone home?" He called into the newly setup store. A moment later, a vaguely familiar face poked out from th