Koga

Koga stared with wide eyes as Oji splashed the water, sending both Mina and her familiar shrieking. He wasn't sure if he should have be amused or just plain surprised. It just wasn't something he had expected from either the older gentleman. He seemed kind enough sure, but Koga wouldn't have necessarily described him as playful. But then again, the man did seem to love cute, small creatures, so maybe Koga shouldn't have been that surprised. The swordsman leaned back into the stone walls of the spring-cave as the conversation proceeded, content with listening to Mina's story. He didn't kno

The girl spoke more words in the last five seconds than Koga thought he'd heard her utter in the last five minutes. He was wrong, but surprising nonetheless, not that any trace of that emotion showed on his face as he allowed the girl to say her piece, stepping closer as she did so. "So...you're the mysterious merchant, huh?" Koga said, not bothering to answer her questions quite yet. It made sense for her to be the one selling things out of that small dark building. Made sense that it was unmarked, given how distrustful she appeared to be of others. "If you wanted to kill me, you would h

Koga's first blow missed, but it put Alkor off-balance, on the defensive. He had to keep up the pressure, not give him the opportunity to strike back. Alkor had more range than Koga, if given the opportunity, the man would surely score a point. The Wolf let loose a barrage of strikes and blows. Punches and kicks came at all angles at the man, who dodged and blocked each blow with a familiar alacrity, refusing to back down. Just what he would have expected from his opponent. Though they were friends, comrades, there was no mercy in their blows. They'd spoken at length with words, abou

That made sense for a man like Oji. A familiar that could help him during crafting honestly seemed right up the gentleman's alley. "That makes sense, plus you'll raise your craftsman rank even quicker with a crafting familiar," the man commented. Following his senior to the water's edge, Koga sat down beside him, resting his arm on a propped up knee. "Tea, please. No sugar," he said, before gratefully taking the cup of warm liquid with a nod of appreciation. Koga took a sip of the golden liquid and let out a small sigh of appreciation. He chuckled alongside Oji at the man's jest. "Can't a

k o g a the elder wolf As soon as Koga had found out who his first opponent was, he was practically giddy with excitement. It was unlikely anyone had ever seen him this emotional the entire time they've been in the game. It was like he was a little schoolboy, grinning and eager for the round to begin. When the two men stepped into the ring, Koga was still grinning, cracking his knuckles, the popping sound coming out muffled from beneath his handwraps. Sure, he could have picked up a bokken, like everyone else, he was more than comfortable

The Wolf nodded silently at NIGHT's response. But she wasn't entirely wrong either. In the end they'd been able to change enough of Frontliners' minds to swing the vote entirely in the other direction. And yet, for some reason that wasn't more than a small comfort for the man. Baldur's enraged shout still rang in his ears silently. Perhaps that was what was bothering him the most, not the potential ire of the rest of his compatriots. Although Koga still wasn't entirely happy with the way Bismuth had been conducting himself, he looked at the other man sympathetically. Well, as sympathetic

Koga sighed inwardly as Blue responded to his request far to quickly and energetically to have actually given it any thought. Although he didn't show beyond the smallest twitch of his jaw as teeth ground against each other, he felt a slight sense of displeasure with the girl in that moment. It wasn't a subject worth pushing any further for the moment, but the man knew he wouldn't be able to trust the girl until she could be honest with him, let alone count her as friend. "Hey, I didn't say I wanted a whole pie," Koga replied leaning forward in his chair as he did so, a stiff lipped smile

k o g a the elder wolf When Koga woke to the morning sun mercilessly battering his eyes that morning, he couldn't possibly have been more excited. Today was the day after all! The tournament! He'd been the literal first person to sign up, so he didn't quite know who else would be showing up, but given that Baldur held some manner of recognition, he expected it'd be no small amount of competitors and spectators. And there was a good chance that many of those who would be competing today would be quite skilled. That only made it all the more exhi

When Jomei opened his eyes again, he'd see Koga giving him a small smile in return. A single corner of his lip curling upwards towards his ear. Closer to a smirk than an actual smile, but a smile nonetheless. He was glad. Glad he was able to help out someone he was quickly considering to be a friend. "Don't mention it," Koga replied, turning away from the ginger and setting his eyes back on the path ahead of them. "I think you and I have a good bit in common actually, now that you've said all that." The man looked towards all the markings on the wall, some fading away slowly. "I've...lost

Koga leaned forward, his chin resting on the palm of his hand as he propped himself up on his elbow. He stared at a spot on the table, a knot in the wood, with his dark brows furrowed in concentration as he considered everything that his friend said. Koga wasn't the kind to pass judgement on these kinds of things, everyone had a right to their own beliefs in his mind. And more importantly, everyone had a reason for them. It was part of the reason he had never been able to see the world in black and white as his parents, and many others he'd known always seemed to. "I dunno dude, I think t

k o g a the elder wolf The light was blinding after the time spent in that dark dungeon. The low light given off by the scathers had been just enough to see by. Now the bright light of the sun piercing through the clouds was enough to cause the Wolf to lift his hand to shield them from their antagonists. The man blinked as his eyes adjusted to the daylight, and around him he only saw suffering. The dank walls of what Koga could only assume was the slums crowded around the group of twenty something players, pushing them together. Each step

Sign me up Oji-san!

Koga gave Bismuth an unimpressed once over at the man's mention of his lack of protection and delicacy. Yeah, this guy was gonna get himself killed, wasn't he? Although, Koga wasn't really one to talk. He'd heard it a few times about his choice of light armor, and his occasional predisposition to throwing himself at danger face first. Okay, well the sword usually came first, and his face second, but the point stood. At least the guy was willing to confess to kidnapping... While Bismuth continued to dig himself into an even deeper hole with Nari, Koga took the opportunity to turn to NIGHT.

Surprisingly, Koga actually understood what Crozeph had said with utter clarity. Maybe he'd spent a little too much time in online chat rooms when he was younger, but the man got the gist of it all. It was on them to make sure she didn't get ganked. Although, with any luck, even if she did wind up biting the proverbial bullet, she would respawn by the next day anyways. The trio soon came upon something that left them all...more bewildered than awestruck. "Why the hell does it make me wanna eat it..." Koga replied to his partner. He wasn't exactly interested in contracting some strange vir

Jomei apologized for going off on what he apparently thought was a tirade of sorts. He earned himself a chuckle from Koga. "Immortality. Or at least the closest thing we mortals can come to it, right?" It was the only way Koga had always thought about memories and legacies. Immortality. "Don't be sorry for that. I get it. But, I think you're discounting the people around you if you think they're only going to remember you for being a Frontliner," the man said. "You're more than just a dude fighting to get people out of here. And I mean, that's a lot to begin with, you're putting your fuck

"You're kidding, right?" Koga asked with a quizzical look. It only took half a glance to realize that the man was, in fact, not joking. Koga rubbed his temple and mentally reminded himself that the older gentleman was most likely not as well acquainted with RPGs, or MMOs as Koga was. The Wolf then sighed and gave Oji a dry look. "Alrighty, so, familiars grant you special buffs, or help you do certain things," Koga began to explain. "For example, Okami here helps me out in battle. Goes straight for the throat or whatever he can sink his teeth into and deals a bit of damage to help gimme an

"Sounds like you're talking about 'imposter syndrome,'" Koga commented as the server returned with more libations for them. The Wolf handed her a few col, the golden coins clinking in her palm as if they were real, and not just bytes of data that'd been assigned a value. "I'm sure more people suffer from it than you'd think." Alkor went on to say that it was alright to not know. That the views the world had put before them were utterly meaningless and backwards. And with that, Koga couldn't agree more. The world they'd been born into put more emphasis on the results than the process. As i

The nervous woman's condition hadn't really seemed to improve, even as she asked if all present knew each other. NIGHT was the one to answer for him. Koga hadn't ever seen this 'Bismuth' fellow before in his life, and it wasn't until now that he realized how blessed his life had been before this encounter. Oh how you only knew what you had once it was gone. Speaking of the man, what did he just say? He was helping do what? "I did no such thing," Koga tried to interject, but his words fell upon deaf ears. Even NIGHT seemed to ignore the fact he was technically being kidnapped and coerced i

'Shit,' was about the only thing that came to Koga's mind as the woman explained her predicament to him. How was it he always ended up with the tragic stories. Well more tragic stories. Birds of a feather, he supposed. "Ma'am, you should jus-" He was going to tell her to go home. To grieve, and to not waste her time. But the tear stained face was what cut him off. More powerful than words. Or maybe the guy was just a sap, or he wanted to be a white knight. Koga stopped caring about the why of things a while ago. He sighed and looked at his familiar, who stared back up at him approvingly,

k o g a the elder wolf Floor 14, Stonewall, 5:37pm Floor 14 was something straight out of a nightmare. Or just a Castlevania lover's wet dream. Koga personally enjoyed the creepy gothic aesthetic, but it wasn't a nice enough place to live in. Too gloomy, and he wasn't that depressed yet. Of course, the perpetual melancholy and general sense of anxiety didn't matter too much to the residents of the floor. They couldn't leave like the players could. Flashes of blue contrasted sharply against the permanent red hue of the Floor's palette,

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Howl [10], Curved Sword I [4] Mod(s)/Addon(s)/Shift(s) Being Dropped: Focused Howl [5] SP Incurred Towards Limit: 14 SP Refunded: 19 Cost: Free (3.1 Respec Ticket)

Well these two were complete polar opposites of each other. The older woman could hardly get a word out without stuttering or faltering, while the younger man was trying to sweet talk...one of them? Both of them? Koga's eyebrow cocked itself in curious dissatisfaction. 'Oh god, it's another Lonzo,' the man thought to himself. The overdone confidence, laid on so thick it was practically a wall of cement, if someone had told him that this guy was Lonzo reincarnated, he would have believe them. Before Koga could even get a word in edgewise, the man, Bismuth, had already grabbed his hand, and

Koga scoffed as he turned to start walking in the general direction of the Labyrinth's exit. "Yeah...probably..." A cruel world indeed. At least now they could start warning other players about that...thing. That knowledge might save a player or two. Who knew. The best they could do was hope. The walk back was silent, for the most part. Only the quiet thump of their boots falling on cracked stone floors. The signature spiral marks of Hatter and Vex had long since vanished. Hopefully they had found their way out regardless. It would be in poor taste if they got lost again and had to face D

Koga let out a light chuckle at Astreya's mention of 'virtual' miles. Mile was a mile was a mile. Or more likely, kilometer, since this was a Japanese-made game, but the point was the same. "Eh, you'll get there eventually," Koga reassured the girl. "Floors aren't getting unlocked faster than you can level up, I can promise you that much. How many years in and we're still only on what...Floor 25? 26? You'll have your shot." At the mention of his sister coming though, Koga clicked his tongue before taking a sip of his drink. "I dunno, if she ain't here by now, I doubt she'll show. She's no

"Alright then, after you, old man," Koga said in a humorous tone, gesturing for the player to lead the way. Koga walked along the water's edge as they went, enjoying the unfamiliar landscape as they went. Between the soft breeze, rustling the tree's branches, and them the leaves, and the chatter of the river, Koga was quite content to walk along for however long this took. "So what're your plans once you get your sable?" Koga asked. Familiars provided a lot of utility in a gameplay sense. They served as great companions, obviously, but most players also tried their hand at training their