Morningstar

Morningstar smiled. "Alright then, if you insist." He evaded the snapping jaw of the shallows prowler, stuck his sword into its back and watched as the loot rolled in. "You're kind of a natural. You'll be a beast with some levels on you," he told the red-coated swordsman. "Listen, I've got a project that I'm working on but it's still a few weeks away from being a real proposition. I called you out here today out of personal interest, admittedly; I think you'd be suited to what I have in mind, but I needed to make sure. I can't really be any less vague at the moment," he chuckled. "In

"Fair concerns," Morningstar replied. "While I'm confident that I wouldn't lose aggro, my plan's not foolproof. If I did get dragged under and you weren't in a position to stun, or if it were in the middle of stun immunity, it's not impossible that it would go after you while I was out of commission. Maybe it's a 1% chance, but when you need it most that 99% is sure to fail you, in my experience. So, you're probably right. Besides, it's not like there aren't lots of these little guys around," he said, tapping a sleeping alligator with his blade. It awoke, trashing at him until his stun disable

Morningstar always thought the best of situations, even when things looked grim. It was a virtue of his, one might say. Once, his optimism had been compared to a bright light, guiding the way for the hopeless. He hoped that in this moment, for Wulfrin's sake, he could be that light. The moment they stepped into the second mob chamber, it lit up. Two golems erupted from their slumber, a wall barricading them from proceeding to the final boss of the Cave of Wonders. Freyd could see over it, however. His body was a blur as his instincts kicked in. He pummeled one of the bronze golems, crushi

Morningstar shrugged. "I'm indifferent. I can always come back for him another day. Best to keep you in your comfort zone, I think." Spotting another group of gators, Morningstar dashed forwards. He abused the same trick as before, stunning the entirety of the platoon, before backing up a distance from the waterside. Wulfrin could have the kills, he decided. The blonde understood well enough how valuable loot was at an early level. Besides, picking up kills would boost his confidence, even if they were on weakened opponents. It had done the trick for him, and it would do the same for many

"Yeah, that'll happen a lot with Freyd around. No complaints from me," Morningstar admitted. He had seen the Whisper take down dungeon bosses with little effort. The man had earned his respect even before deciding to play tank against Wushen. He laughed. "I meant the two-shotting but now that I think about it, the disrespect is pretty consistent too." Energized and ready to jump back into the fight, Morningstar stood from his seat upon the log. "Ok, might as well fight a little bit more while we're out here. It's not every day you find yourself in a swamp like this. I'd hope not, anyway."

"Potion Seller! I'm in need of your strongest potions!" Morningstar burst through the door to Evangeline's shop, the flier in one hand and a bag full of col in the other. The alchemist gawked at his sudden entrance, and then smiled politely. "I'm sorry, but you couldn't handle my strongest potions." Morningstar raised a brow. "I'm not sure you understand. I'm going into battle and I want only your strongest potions." "My potions would kill a dragon, traveler. You cannot handle my potions." Evangeline said frankly. Morningstar, intent on arguing, thought for a moment. "Actua

"This is exactly what I'm looking for," Morningstar grinned, eying a flier posted on a bulletin board. A dragon had been sighted near Horunka, terrorizing anyone who entered its territory. Players and villagers alike were too afraid to leave the settlement and were worried that it might grow discontent with the size of its home and look to expand further into Horunka's borders. Someone had put out a call for help, requesting a player of suitable strength and experience to take down the dragon and save their hometown. A sum of col was listed at the bottom of the page as a reward, which Mor

"That's a heavy burden," Morningstar commented. "DPS is easy work. It's the tanks and healers that are the real carries." Morningstar locked his blade with one of the remaining two pirates' weapons, placing enough pressure on his enemy to disarm him. Using that opportunity, he sliced the pirate in half. With a quick turn, he dueled the last man standing to the edge of the skyport, where he tipped him over with a hearty kick. "That's that," he said proudly. Their victory was short-lived, however, as a voice called to them from the other end of the platform. "Where's Ryland?"

Morningstar, like just about everyone else, had thought about his physical body outside of the game. It had held out this long, so he had hope that it could survive a few more years. "Wildest quest... That's a good question, and difficult to answer, I'll add," he pondered his many adventures over the years. "Well, the last boss fight was also my first. It was a huge dragon with like, five heads or something. Set us on fire at one point. And then there was "The Traveler," a brutal quest on the fifth floor that has you walking through the desert... The Forgotten Time King almost killed me o

Morningstar nodded, listening to his answer. It was clear to him that Wulfrin had thought about the subject at least a little bit. He recalled the man mentioning his dream of owning a shop some time before, specifically on the twenty-second floor. He had not yet found the time to stop by and visit. When the question was directed back at him, Morningstar looked up, as if in thought. What did he want? It was difficult to put it into words. "During the early days, I was living day to day, just trying to get by and cope with it all. And then, for one reason or another, I left the Town of Begi

"No worries, we can rest a while. We've been traveling all day anyways, so I wouldn't mind a break myself," Morningstar said, taking a seat upon a large fallen log. It was surprisingly dry, considering where they were. He thought it might have been the only dry thing in the swamp. A mosquito buzzed around his ear, attempting to land on his neck for a nonconsensual blood-stealing session. He tried to smack it midair but missed completely, losing sight of it amidst their dark surroundings. The swamp was quiet but for the low croaking of frogs and the chirping of cicadas. If it were less hum

Morningstar shrugged. "They started it, to be fair. How do they know we're not pirates?" The blonde was also unversed in pirate code and refrained from lecturing his partner on the legalities of one pirate spilling another's blood. It seemed in character to him, though. A dagger flew through the air, narrowly missing Morningstar's skull once again. He picked it up from the ground and tossed it right back at the pirate who had thrown it. It embedded itself in his chest, dealing little in terms of damage but obviously creating severe discomfort in the skyrat. Nari voiced an idea that Mornin

Nari was back, her energy restored. Immediately, she returned to a fighting stance and took to battle. Morningstar chuckled. He nodded in agreement, pushing the thought of the crime field trip to the back of his mind and hoping he would remember it for later. A heavy slam fell down upon the fourth sky pirate, his eyes growing wide as Bleeding Giant forced him to the ground. A yelp escaped his mouth before he blew up before Morningstar's eyes. "Four to go," he muttered to himself. "You know, I'm now realizing that of the quests we have done together, two of them involved pirates. Coin

"You know, now that you mention it, I've never met anyone who's gone to prison here. I just assume they exist. But, I don't know, they might be equally as bad. If the game's your prison already and you get locked away inside of another one, it's prisonception. I'd go mad." he mumbled, stopping to take a break from all of the mindless combat. He pulled a flask from his inventory. Inside contained a reddish liquid that smelled of cough syrup. He chugged it, wincing slightly at the taste. His health bar immediately rose, and his energy did as well from the lack of movement. "That's it! Our n

"Scents of the wild, hey? Never done that one. Heard the totems are useful though." Interrupting the pair, Gyrard climbed out of the caravan with a jolly grin resting on his face. "You have done it! Those pesky wolves won't be bothering me or any other merchants anymore! I figured you could just scare 'em off! This is excellent! Here, let's head into the city and I can hand ya your reward there. Give you a little somethin' extra for your hard work." Upon arriving at the town, Gyrard stopped in front of a small cottage. At the sight of the caravan, two kids burst through the front do

Thread Closing: Morningstar receives: 2,455 EXP (Word Count [4910/10*5*1]) 88679 col (1 page [400] + Loot [87,911] + 15% P5 Reward [368]) 80 Materials (Loot [80]) T4 Perfect Consumable 219427a T4 Perfect Consumable 219427b T4 Perfect Armor/Shield 219427c T4 Perfect Armor/Shield 219427c T4 Perfect Weapon 219434a T4 Perfect Trinket 219434b T4 Rare Trinket 219441 T4 Rare Trinket 219442 T4 Rare Trinket 219443 T4 Rare Armor/Shield 219458 T4 Rare Trinket 219459 T4 Perfect Consumable 219460a T4 Perfect Consumable 219460b T4 Perfect Armor/Shield 219460c T4 P

Stunned, Nemo dropped to the ground. They had taken their victory without a scratch on them. Their synergy was good, a testament to their long-lasting friendship and span of experience together. When the stun wore off, Nemo admitted to his defeat. Nemo collapsed to the grassy meadow, the dragon crumbling away to reveal his human form once more. Managing to sit up, he stared at Morningstar and Joaquin with tired eyes. "You're strong, aren't you..?" he mumbled, rubbing his neck sheepishly. The swordsman were shocked to hear the words leave the gardener's mouth. "I'm not used to being beaten

"I see that you two found each other," Nemo said, not looking up at the pair. The gardener seemed agitated, as if he was less than pleased to see them. "No thanks to you," Joaquin said, to which he received a punch in the shoulder from Morningstar. "That's true, I suppose. Originally, I had intended on showing you the full extent of my garden. But you have done nothing but desecrate it since you arrived," Nemo began to grow in size the more he spoke, his health bar following suit. A new name appeared above his head: Nemo, the Wind of Gaia His cursor turned red, signaling hostili

"I mean, what's worse—dying or going to prison?" Morningstar lunged at a pirate, decapitating the skyrat in a single swipe. "Actually, don't answer that. Also, I'm about 40% sure that it's definitely enterable. I see no other reason to be so specific about people not entering." Morningstar looked up at his stats when Nari brought up her energy. His health bar was slowly rising but his energy was falling as well. He only had a handful of sword arts left in him. "I don't remember my broker telling me about any of these mobs during our conversation. I'm running out of juice too. Maybe it's t

Ol' Hookless Hand crumpled to the ground with one last swing of Morningstar's blade. Bleeding Giant cut through him like butter, and then it was on to the next opponent. He focused on singling out the pirates one at a time, taking each one down with as few movements as possible. It got exhausting, swinging that big old sword around. He was built for shorter fights, and usually preferred to go one-on-one rather than two-on-one-million. "Look at this guy," Morningstar said, locking blades with a skyrat who was exerting far too much energy trying to best him. "Does he look afraid to you? The

Morningstar slammed his fist into the face of the final dock guard, knocking him to the ground, dazed. He spun his sword coolly, sticking into the mobs gut. It exploded in defeat, leaving them with only skyrat pirates to deal with. He continued his battle with Hook Hand, listening to Nari simultaneously. "Hey," he swiped threw the pirate's wrist, turning him into Hookless Hand, "I recall you wanting to stand and fight! Worst comes to worst... well, we die, but yeah." The skyrats were far more eager to join in on the fun combat session that had begun. Morningstar danced past a few pir

So long as the bulk of the pirates were kept off of him, Morningstar could gradually bring them down. "I don't mind at all. I'm not Freyd, but I'll do my best," he chuckled. The stun began to wear off and the guards and pirate shifted eagerly. He put down two of them without much effort; however, that was all that he could get to before the others were fully functioning again. The other pirates were beginning to look hungry for blood, drawing a variety of rugged weapons from dirty scabbards. A pair of skyrats took the places of the ones Morningstar had killed, leaving them with four adve

"Glory guts over here rushed in before we could consider things." Morningstar turned his head, chugging a liquor of light. He wiped his lips, quenched by the vitamin D. "What? I could sense that my number one pupil was in terrible danger." Nonchalantly, he restored the rest of his consumables in preparation for the fights to come. He approached Wulfrin with a pat on the shoulder. "These places get progressively harder the deeper you go. Keep a crystal close by. I'd rather not see you get squished in here," he smiled, holding back the urge to smack him upside the head. Entering a dung

The combination of Nari's assault and lingering status effects reduced Calas dwindling hit points to zero. She fell just as Ryland had: without a peep. Her guards charged at the woman that felled their captain, rage consuming them. Morningstar silenced their shouts with a quick and accurate stun, swiping each warrior with the tip of his sword before they could even come near his friend. "Hmm. They're pushovers without the lady. Too bad," he shrugged, tipping one of the paralyzed men over with a gentle kick. "You okay? Noticed you take a bit of damage there." The strongest among their

Morningstar squinted at the oncoming poison snapper. He hadn't exactly considered what to do when the wolf eventually did come his way. The beast lunged at him, ripping into his arm with its toothy maw and scratching up his coat with its claws. He pounded it on the forehead and it let go, dropping to the ground and shattering to blue dust. His jaw widened. He hadn't hit it that hard, had he? "Eh," he scratched his head awkwardly, "sorry 'bout that. The intent was to get it off me, not to kill the damn thing. You did great, though, so good work." He waved for the caravan to continue o