NIGHT

“Night, you have nothing to be sorry about. If anything, you warned me that she can be a little… demanding.“ she glanced over her shoulder, the caravan small in the distance. "i'm not sure i would call that 'a little'." “I’m unsure how other people fared with her,“ acanthus continued, “but the quest seems programmed to allow players to move forward, regardless of how the conversation goes. So really, there was never any trouble.” "is that how it works...?" night hummed, reflecting. maybe acanthus did have a point in how the quests operated. but, evidently, if the players th

ye oke

somehow, the game simply turned it up to eleven whilst night hadn't been looking, it seemed -- because while she knew cardinal had a revival era, and the personalities of some individuals had been tuned, this quest had understandably escaped her notice... and was somehow worse than before. night, stunned, had found herself saying nothing, but watched as acanthus dealt with the new gypsy. which meant watching the new player, still foreign to her, stand her ground against all odds of the system telling her, "no." “Next week?! It took me weeks to find where you would be. Nobody told me

frankly, night was more wrong than right at her commentary to koga from prior -- as soon as lilith picked herself back off the ground through some elaborate yet unexplained sorcery from cardinal's part, so too did she flub a strike as she stumbled backwards, trying to avoid its notice. she was under the presumption that they were having a conversation... and it simply never happened. "god damn," she muttered, watching koga dodge out of the way of lilith's retaliation, no matter how inaccurate the strike from the latter may have been. night shook herself awake, just as the two stacks of li

night fought back the urge to smile, but set the side of her cheek to the back of her knuckles as she thought anyway, eyes closed. "i'm sure i could hallucinate a better fiction on the way to dagan," she decided, looking down the singular shelf-formed corridor the players had aligned themselves up within. and she kept quiet, unsuspecting, when she noticed a shadow approaching them from the far end. sure, she'd peered past star to look as well for a glance. at his commentary, she'd barely had time to raise a finger to gesture to -- "Hello, and welcome to the Grand Library of Ronbaru."

night nodded, listening to acanthus. she wasn't all-too-familiar with how other players went about their searches for their companions. and, if they truly didn't have a say in the matter, perhaps night was just as lucky that nyanko found her back then. “In the end, it doesn’t matter. Whatever crosses my path, I’ll make sure it has a good home.” it was a sentiment she could respect, so she hummed an agreement in response. “Thanks again for coming along. I feel pretty safe on the first floor, but it will be nice to have some guidance regardless. Even with a few quests under my bel

NIGHT: ??? NIGHT: why's dragon hunting considered urgent her messages did not warrant a reply. night had leaned forward, on the edge of her seat as she rummaged through her inventory for the proper supplies. the twenty-fifth, last she checked, was particularly greedy in terms of what it beckoned from the player base -- either they went in with the right offerings, or they became one themselves. once she'd decided her stock adequate enough for the raid, she moved forward, towards the teleporter from her home, and dissipated with the light that consumed her. in due time, she wou

at the sudden strike, a thought passed her: it would be easier if she had her own blade back. what was it called, again? doombringer? when the oath's name echoed in her mind, she drew it forward, feeling its weight shift in her hands as she brought it ahead of her. night breathed, unwilling, watching the rhino stumble and struggle to get up. there was the vivaciousness of the crowd, too -- one that wasn't that wasn't there before, a reminder to keep her head in the game. she did so, because her seniors wouldn't be proud of her otherwise. for her team, for their championship, she rush

approved.

sip sip sip sip okay

SHAY | Approved. Total EXP: 47,600 Total SP: 160 Current Level: 33 Paragon Level: 1 Notes: n/a.

she'd stayed quiet during their walk. there wasn't a need to chat on an errand, and she'd rather be taking notes on the targets she'd fought than to delve deep into someone's psyche; she wasn't a therapist, she couldn't fix them. on the twenty-fourth, lamenting the loss of the walkable bridges, night too decided she couldn't fix the terrain either. and, to be fair, the floor couldn't fix her own issues all the same. "We’re just 4 adventurers who wants to challenge Piasuhon,” said mac. the colosseum was a local landmark she'd walked past a couple of times, not really examining it

about the zero? "nothing so much like the threat of floor bosses, i figure," night responded in turn. the first hand experience wasn't exactly as though it made her familiar with the average occupant there. a good comparison would've been shadowing a host family... and that's likely because they'd got lucky on visiting. she waved her chopsticks as she spoke. "we go into our raids mechanically blind, don't we? cardinal usually has new tricks up its sleeve for one reason or another. but, say you've been working through the same content for a while... if you keep encountering similar enemies

yea ok

to any veteran, the first floor was known to be the safest by far. simply put, it had the highest concentration of players despite their lower levels. most of them that were congregated and actively participating in the city's economy were information contributors first and foremost. other services, such as crafting, were supplementary to that endeavor of propelling those that came and went to further heights. still, she was familiar with that sense of travelling alone, and the nerves one could develop from being outdoors on their own for a bit. it wasn't the anxiety of being outside

she pondered over that connection that he and teyre had. that, and the knights afterwards, given how they'd declined from their once-glory days of having taken the best of the fight to the floor bosses. her eyes snapped to the glow in his hand when hirru lit it up with cardinal magic. then, as it faded, he chuckled. if night wasn't already leaning forward, now she would be. between the players' spat and the pk guild, there was the downfall of the two people hirru had spoken of, and seemed to hold in high regards. they came, and they went. and he spoke of the same loneliness of being

she felt that contact. it came like a splash of cold water to the face. not that night was out of the woods just yet. in fact, the moment she'd shifted her focus back to that conversation of ease, she'd felt herself slipping. it was easier, just slightly, to abandon her thoughts and go on the attack -- just to hold her own, long enough as she did earlier. all she really needed was to put on a show, and lose. everything else would be incidental. not that her heart was anywhere at the moment. when they drew apart, night's gaze was shaky, but just as well did her body remember her

reusing this thread to hand over: Darkness Salve (1) | [>>] | +20 MIT, -3 DMG

two performers. night didn't exactly expect to keep track of the order forms that came in. processed once with the requests per customer, and they were discarded. the fact that she'd considered even taking note of the players that had dropped by recently was... different. two performers. new faces, at that. right when her stock was starting to get low. she turned out the ring and fork with a polished finish, much like the prism she'd crafted earlier. packaged in patterned rice paper, she left the deliveries with nyanko -- and the latter, a small bowl of salmon for his hard work.

"I'm sure that they just want to share their day with everyone. If you're going to be on the frontlines with everyone then what better way to get to know them than to throw a party?" "a conversation?" night leaned further against her blade. she'd been watching ugzeke the entire time, until it truly shattered into pieces – so the strange ritual from freyd hadn't passed her notice. the intricacy of doing so was odd, and out of place, so surely it must've had a story behind why he'd been doing such a thing. meanwhile, mac and kat seemed liken to make a move, almost giving their presumed

whatever happened to after? she'd wanted to ask, bouncing her blade about as she watched the fighters at work. three slashes, all solid and substantial -- but just so that she was distracted by their commotion. the wedding, she was told, were of folks up and coming. and yet she still knew nothing about them by the time kat was done. mac said nothing on the subject. a stranger to him, perhaps? a familiarity with... ah, that's it. "well, congratulations to them," night said plainly, slipping through the other combatants as ugzeke started to turn around, looking for his target. a strike

r10 artisan | x14 daily crafting attempts | cd tool vow of return. | [#224266] | TIER 1 JEWELRY | ACC III [desc.]: a plain golden ring, with the name "K. Masuda" engraved on the inside. joyful noise. | [#222162] | TIER 1 TRINKET | AMBITION [desc.]: a tuning fork with a tone so clear that it could shatter glass. ring with care.

06/08/24

night opened her mouth to speak. "Don't ask me why." "... i was about to ask who," she added, arms folded as she listened to their informant. curious. night was decently certain she'd been to a wedding in aincrad only once, and daren't ask how the players met each other, nor chance the occasion ending up in a haze that no party in attendance would remember its happenings. and, when the conversation lead to them discussing what was about to take place, night made sure to pay careful attention. resources she'd barely heard of, but akin to those she was sent out to hunt based on the det

she'd ended up presuming what she took earlier were staples for damage oriented players like herself, despite rarely being seen, save for the occasional event. so then, on all accounts, picking something else from the list felt a little bit like a missed opportunity. still, night did so, holding the shard of iron will in her hand. a broken piece of metal, its make ornate, almost like an old key meant to stow away one secret or another. and such a thing was a consumable? she could hardly believe it. the item was swiftly cast into her inventory, just as the other statues blanked of gif