Oscar

There was something about her final attack that should have made him recoil. But he wouldn't give her that satisfaction. She was a fuckin' monster. There was no doubt about that. The rage flaring in her eyes told the entire tale. But his mind lingered on a single word - one which beckoned the half-smile back to his face. Probably and potentially, much to her chagrin. He raised one hand and nudged her boot from his neck. Then he sat up and rose back to his feet, dusting himself off like she didn't just strike him straight in his manhood. "That's how consent works, Lessa," Oscar said as he

She bade him summon his weapon, so he obliged. Even after being on the recieving end of some of Oscar's best needling, it would take more than that to get her to strike an unarmed opponent. Even if that opponent was a defector from the Guild and ripped open an ocean of blood in his wake. He took the hit, unflinching. With a narrowed gaze, his pupils flicked up to his health bar. The duel was a foregone conclusion at this point. He'd all but lost now. But that didn't mean he was giving up. Oscar breathed out a laugh, shaking his head in response to her tirade. His gaze rejoined hers and for the

Oscar listened patiently to her venting. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, after all. And he figured they both could use some of that right now. The fight had certainly shifted in her favor if he looked at their health bars, but it wasn't quite over yet. They needed to cool their jets. But more importantly, they needed that heart-to-heart that until now the two of them never quite had. "You know, one of the things I really admire about you is how resolved you are," Oscar said. "Whatever the fuck you got going on inside that pretty head of yours, it never once has mattered. You plan

He'd struck a nerve. How many of those had he dinged in this bout? Too many to accurately count, he figured. But that smirk never left his face. Even as she drove her blade into his gut and tore it out with a brutality that he'd only seen in, well, himself. She was a monster, but there was no negative connotation there. Only respect for her skill. He'd seen a flash of it that day, but he'd never thought much of it. Never really considered calling it to the carpet or acting on it. Oscar had been too busy with his extracurriculars. But he wasn't now. Now, he had nothing but time to address

Quick as a flash, Oscar lifted his foot as he weapon arched toward the ground and trapped the blade beneath his boot. He'd struck a nerve - he could tell by how quickly Lessa was gnawing through his health bar. "You know, I've never been more attracted to you than I am right now. You're a fuckin' monster, Lessa." He grinned and twisted his foot as he dragged his leg back. He wrenched the weapon from her grip and hooked his foot under it. Flicking the toe of his boot up, the weapon sailed into Oscar's waiting hand. With an exaggerated motion, he made a big to-do about examining the weapon. Then

Oscar hadn't expected such a telling blow. It wasn't as if he'd underestimated the Guardian of Aincrad. It was quite the opposite. But such an abrupt change in tactic took him by surprise. His response was immediate. Second nature. <<Forgotten King's Authority>> dispelled the stun. And in that same instant, his hand shot out. His fingers wrapped around her throat as he once more swept her legs from under her. He drove her into the ground, bearing down on top of her. For a split second, his expression changed. The smirk that had been painted upon his visage had disappeared, replaced

"Oh here I was holding back for your benefit," Oscar said with a smirk. Lessa was always too fucking resilient. Physically and mentally. It was no small wonder why and how she handled the weight of Aincrad on her shoulders with such grace. Oscar wouldn't have been able to do it half as well. In a way, for all their fights and all their history, it was the thing he admired most about the woman. But sometimes, even for just a moment, you needed to shrug off the weight of the world and just cut loose. This entire bout was just a means to do that. Oscar stopped caring about winning or losing

Oscar responded to Lessa's verbal jousts with a smirk. As she set about making herself as durable as possible, he couldn't help but lean into the bit. <<Divine Rancor>> disappeared from his hand with a flash of light as Oscar strode calmly across the arena. "Oh babe," he said, faux offense dripping off of his words. "You know that's not how I get down. But hard and fast doesn't necessarily mean it's over quickly. And with all those items you just popped, I think you can take it." He stepped past her, raising his hand and stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. "Let's te

"Jealousy isn't a good look," Oscar teased as Lessa spoke to Minako. "Could be you but you trippin'." It was fun to cut loose every once in a while. Some one-off fight that neither one really cared too much about taking seriously. After all, both of them had been in a fight much more dangerous than this with far more at stake. So he wasn't about to walk on eggshells like he had with Tarot this whole time. They'd not parted on the best of terms, but they had settled into a sort of equilibirum. "Hold on," he said quickly, throwing up one finger. From within his coat, he produced a sing

This was a major departure from the mundanity Oscar had become used to. A PvP tournament? An assortment of fights where no one needed to worry about death? Oscar was almost compelled to sign up. Oscar stepped into the ring as he was summoned by the caster, pleasantly surprised with the crowd that had formed to see a bunch of goons beat the shit out of one another. Of course, things were a little deeper for him. His first opponent, in some strange twist of irony, was Lessa. They couldn't have found a better first match for him. Unless someone - somehow - found Bahr. The two had a small amo

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“It’s the place I put people like that,” Oscar said plainly. “People who threaten the work I’ve tried to do here.” He beckoned Abellio to follow. They meandered through the streets, passing vendor stalls and shops as they went. “I’ve taken great pains to make this place a sanctuary. And not just a safe zone. People slowly trickle out of town, wanting to get involved. Wanting to stop languishing.” He stopped in front of the Blazing Typhoon, turning to stare at the Smithy with a slight smile. “There’s several of us still here. Frontliners who want to help newbies like you. Like Macrado

Oscar merely watched as Abellio confronted the men. He was certainly the fiery sort. And definitely didn’t give a single fuck about is own reputation. Oscar heard some of the Players snickered as Abellio admitted to his own idiocy. He was certain that they thought themselves above such things. It wasn’t until Abellio mentioned him that Oscar strode forward. Outwardly calm, he kept his hands in his pockets as he stalked toward the pair. “Abellio tells me that you’re a pair of Info Brokers. Did Cardinal make some sort of Balance Patch recently? The Forgotten Time King was easier than I reme

As soon as they set foot on Floor One, indignation gripped Oscar. The audacity of these people, sending people to their deaths in his town. On his floor. Right under his nose. He couldn’t decide whether he was more angry at them or himself for letting it escape his notice. It was an error he intended to rectify immediately. “Oscar,” he said plainly in response. “Now lead the way.” Oscar followed in silence as Abellio led him towards the Tutorial NPC. A few players were walked by, attempting to take the quest. Oscar watched a group interact with the NPC and then take a few steps towar

“Obviously,” Oscar said. “But I was thinking more, you know, specifically. Like maybe don’t believe everything you hear from strangers. Or don’t go to crazy high-level floors. Or, and I’m just spitballin’ here. Don’t take the easy way out.” Oscar covered his mouth as he yawned. He couldn’t hold too much against the man. All’s well that ends well and all that. Providence or serendipity had saved his nooby ass. Fate, even. Maybe. It really didn’t matter. All that did matter was that the kid had stuck his hand into a hornet’s nest and managed to pull it out without getting stung. “If yo

Oscar nodded. Then, without warning, he spun on his heels to deal with the boss. Taking off like a bolt of lightning, he crashed into the King. With a barrage of sword strikes, he carved through the boss with lethal precision. He struck at its ankles to topple it. Then when it fell to its knees, the back of the thighs. Then, finally, when it was lying prone upon the ground, a final thrust to the back of the head sealed the fight. With a shower of crystalline shards, the Forgotten Time King was no more. In its wake, it left a piece of equipment. Oscar sheathed his weapon and allowed it to

“Fucking what?” Oscar’s tone was thick with disbelief. “You’re on Floor 21, dude. How the fuck did you think this would go?” He paused long enough to make his next attack. He leapt from the ground and drove his blade straight into the King’s chest. His face contorted in effort as he wrenched his blade free and struck twice more in quick succession, leaving long red gashes across the King’s torso. He kicked off and somersaulted backward in midair before landing lightly on his feet. The King was almost dead, so Oscar turned to face Abellio. “Yeah. You’re stupid. A basic mob this high up wou

Seeing his handiwork, Oscar was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He had plenty left in the tank - Health and Energy. The King couldn’t really say that. He heard a concerned voice from the arena entrance. The noob, he remembered. “I’m fine,” Oscar called back sternly. “Stacking buffs means you stack debuffs sometimes. I can’t move right now after doing all of that.” It was a fair trade. The ability to lay such an infamous boss low with a single blow justified the cost. He was just glad the boss hadn’t actually hit him before the debuff from the crystal wore off. He wasn’t concerned f

Maybe it had been longer than Oscar thought. He remembered the last time he came here that it had required a full party of people to put this boss down. He was certainly stronger now, but he didn’t realize by how much. Never would he have imagined that he would reach the point where he was so easily able to handle such a foe. The boss struck true - crit him even - and yet he had all but shrugged it off. Battle Healing recovered the lion’s share of what the boss had dealt to him. It was time to go on the offensive. He lashed out with a slice at the creature’s midriff. Divine Rancor began

Of all the stupid things to do, coming to Floor 21 as a Level 1 was right there at the top of the list. Oscar was familiar with the floor and its tunnels. He was able to easily get ahead of the man. Good thing he did, because he had every NPC and monster in two post codes driving straight for his location. He wouldn’t be able to convince the man to turn around before something looked at him sideways. Oscar swore under his breath and drew his weapon. The only thing that he could do was cut a path through to the boss. Arguing outside of town was only going to get the red-head killed. And so

There was another in the city as well. He was sat outside of a small tavern near the central plaza. He was intently focused on something in his menus. Oscar seemed to be agonizing over a message of some sort. He would type a few words and then scrunch his face up in annoyance and delete everything he’d written. This repeated on and on until something broke his focus. The town was empty and quiet. Outside of the NPCs - who had learned to tune out - the other Players were above or below them. Floor 21 only attracted a specific type of Player: those wanting to slay the Forgotten Time King for som

They were quite a motley crew, if Oscar said so himself. Seeing the way everyone greeted one another and the ease with which they fell into socializing made Oscar feel just a pang of regret. He had been so focused, so driven, in his quest to become one of the vaunted Frontliners that he had never stopped to smell the roses. He’d never really tried to ingratiate himself with anyone outside of a small number of confidants. Perhaps things would have been different if he had. Maybe it wouldn’t have all gone to shit. But he’d played his hand the best he could. There was no room for sour grapes

It had been a hard-won fight. Perhaps it was the fact that Oscar and Comcast had their disagreements during boss raids specifically, but he couldn't remember the last time that he needed to *try* that hard. But he felt a measure of pride. As if he had left everything he could on the field and then some. He selected his rewards from the menu pop-up and shoved his hands into his pockets. Floor 29 awaited them. Whatever mysteries lay beyond, he had never been more confident in the Frontliners' ability to handle it. Except Wulfrin. He had plans for that dummy. "RIP Persi. You was a real one."

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