Koga

"Koga, good to meet you," the swordsman said with a nod as an unfamiliar girl approached them, before turning his attention back to Nari...an action he immediately regretted. The man's facial expression shifted concerned, to confused, to 'what-in the fuck???', each state lasting all of about three seconds, before finally settling on the latter. The man groaned as he closed his eyes pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to make sense of what he understood only as complete and utter stupidity, recklessness, and a general lack of regard for ones own well-being. "Hold on, let me get this str

The man slowly turned and look at Koga, eyes peering at him with coldness, an unfamiliar chill that Koga put his finger on. Both unexpected, and yet, perhaps it should have been, given what great lengths that the man must've resorted to in his crusades. "I'm waiting." "A friendly challenge," Koga stated, his tone lacking any cheer, despite his words. "I'd like to see where my strength lies at present. What better way to test that than to challenge the man who took on Aincrad itself?" Between his first floor boss fight, taking on Calming the Soul, and pushing himself to solidify his b

Despite one of theirs taking only the most minor of blows, the group of players did not break their battle cadence. Pressing on as if she couldn't even feel the blow (underneath all that plate, Koga would have been surprised if she could feel it) Nari raised her shield, her spear and thrust the sharp point into one of their prey, her form almost reminiscent of a Spartan's. What exactly was it that made NIGHT choose her? "Alright! Hit 'em!" Jomei's call interrupted Koga's stray thought, and the man turned back towards the mobs. "On it!" he called back, leaping straight into the air, w

Giovanna gave what Koga assumed was the standard pitch for these gathering quests. Anthony had given him a similar one in fact, except instead of a fancy compass, he'd given Koga some fancy fishing bait. Remarkably it had worked so well, Koga had caught one of those multi-colored fish on his first cast, though he doubted he'd be so lucky again. Perhaps Ghost would be on the other hand...or, well, as lucky as you could get with a compass at least... In any case, at Ghost's bidding Koga stood and conjured his fishing rod out of thin air, resting the thin wooden pole against his shoulder. "

Koga sat down at Giovanna's bidding, removing his weapon from his belt and laying it across his lap as he crossed his legs beneath him, and he waited patiently as she and Ghost conversed between them about the art of foraging. To be honest, Koga would have probably found foraging more interesting than fishing, but his profession seemed to favor the fishing rod. He'd fished a couple times in the real world, and had always found it incredibly boring, but he'd been younger then. Nowadays...well, he was still getting the hang of it, and hadn't quite settled on an opinion yet. Foraging on the

A soft smile that lasted for no more than a moment crept onto Koga's face before disappearing. "I'm glad," was his only reply, before falling silent. They came upon the caravan only moments later, and were quite quickly greeted by the NPC. Giovanna. Koga hadn't met this one yet, but she seemed like a pretty standard quest giver, though quite a bit prettier than any of the ones that Koga had had to deal with so far. Except for maybe Brienne but the president could do with a lesson or two in manners. Gesturing with one hand, Koga bade Ghost take the lead once more. This was her quest after

Koga let out a small huff of amusement as he read the words that Ghost signed. "I couldn't really think up of a name for them. It was the best I could come up with," he explained with a shrug. "Figured you might like them though, they kinda seem up your alley." The crackling of a campfire up ahead soon faintly entered Koga's ears as they drew near their destination. The figure of a woman move about the campsite could be seen, silhouetted against the painted sky behind her, presumably cooking something, judging from how she kept moving to search for something in one of the many bags strewn

Koga narrowed his eyes slightly as he listened to what the witch said. 'whatever you hit me will never amount to any kind of victory over me' Hmm. Ominous. What exactly did that mean, the man wondered, his eyes searching over the woman for any kind of weakness, some clue as to how to defeat her. Moreover, did she seem to mean that attacking her simply wouldn't hurt her, or would it strengthen her? Best not to risk it. He didn't have much time to ponder it further, as the woman slammed her greatsword into the floor, the walls and furniture suddenly shifting, moving, rearranging themse

k o g a the elder wolf All quiet on the western front. Not a single sound between them, aside from the crunching of boots on foliage. Not that Koga minded, he was quite content with the quiet for the moment, a step removed from the usual insanity that was his day. Constant fighting, farming, questing, it was nice to put that aside for a moment. Admittedly, he was technically still questing now, via moral support, but hey, at least he didn't really have to do anything. Except maybe level his fishing skill...damn, Koga sucked at not working...

Item Name: Lockhart Gloves Profession: Blacksmith Rank: 7 Roll ID: 208731 Roll Result: 11+1 Item Type: Martial Arts Weapon Tier: 2 Quality: Perfect Enhancements: DMG III Description: No Materia Needed! Post Link: Item Name: Something Adorable Profession: Blacksmith Rank: 7 Roll ID: 208732 Roll Result: 12 Item Type: Martial Arts Weapon Tier: 2 Quality: Perfect Enhancements: DMG II, ACC Description: The enemies will be so distracted by how cute these weapons are, they won't even try to move when you hit them Post Link:

Stepping back out from his forge, Koga noticed a slip of paper on his counter. A quick read over, and he was actually a tad bit surprised to realize it was Ghost who had left behind the request. For a moment, he wondered why hadn't gone and knocked on his forge door, considering his hammering was definitely audible, even in the store proper. His second thought was that he needed to remember to start locking the door so no one came in and stole anything...not that there was really anything of much value on display to begin with. It was a good habit to build at least.

The two bandits slowly made their way out of the armory, and when the latch of the door finally clicked shut, Koga let out a long held breath, and pulled off the heavy plate helmet he'd donned as disguise. "Fuck, I thought those two idiots would never leave," the man said to himself before he head the sound of Okami's whines echoing from the suit of armor across from him. "I'm comin' bud, just hold on a sec," the man said as he pulled off the (slightly too large) pieces of armor and set them aside as gently as he could, careful to not make any sounds. After freeing Okami from the confines

Hmm, so this was a newer quest...Koga wondered what exactly it had been that possessed Cardinal to so suddenly push out such a massive content update. Coupled with a revamp and rebalance of systems. It had been a lot for the players to relearn at the same time. Chances were, some had died as a result. Although, Cardinal might've decided they were progressing too slowly, and simply marked those down as acceptable losses. Or, they were moving too quickly. Who knew what the intended timeline was... "First of all," Koga said, lifting his index finger into the air, "I never assumed you actuall

k o g a the elder wolf In all his years in Aincrad, Koga could hardly remember visiting the same floor so many times and so frequently. And yet, here he was again on Floor 27 for the...third time? in recent memory. Underground, the only light coming from the glowing crystals embedded into the floor itself. It would have been gloomy and ominous, were it not for how bright the crystals, so much so that it almost hurt to look at them. But the luminous crystals weren't what drew Koga back here today. Today, it was the rumors of the Kingslayer.

k o g a the elder wolf Though it still could not be said that Koga was getting a good night's rest, he was getting a bit more of it, and of better quality. That being said, Koga could still feel that constant exhaustion gnawing away at him as he worked the forge in the early hours of the morning. One hammer strike after another clanged within the small structure, the orange glow of the forge's flames illuminating his work. For once, it came along nicely. Call it inspiration, hard work, whatever. All Koga really knew was that he'd felt better as

Satisfied with his performance, the man took a step back from the boulder, appraising his work, glee running through his body. He didn't really care what the exact numbers were, or how satisfying it was to finally get back at the thing that had tormented him, the speed at which they were going to finish. Yes, that was more than enough for the man. Looking over at Ghost though, she seemed less enthused, a slight sheen of wetness in her eyes as she stared up at him, the slightest tremble in her form. Okay, maybe he'd shown off a little too much...A pang of guilt pierced the man's chest, and

A perk about cliff diving that Koga never really thought too much about was that he was prepped better than most to climb wet rocks while soaking wet himself. He knew how to cling to the slippery rocks, leverage himself so as to not lose his grip. In truth, it wasn't terribly different from normal rock climbing, save for the fact that he didn't have the luxury of friction, and thus, required much more care. Suffice it to say, Koga made it to the top a bit quicker than Ghost did, and once the man had hoisted himself over the ledge, he glared at the boulder with disdain. 75 HP, now it was n

The sound of Master YunXiang's voice reached their ears, and Koga hung his head in disappointment. Of course the old guy was still kicking. Koga wished he could say he was surprised. But, the old man seemed to still have some life in him after all. Water dripped from Koga's swimwear as he stood, looking up at the elderly man as he said his piece. Wise words, words of caution that Ghost would do well to heed. Even if Koga was not the crazed master's biggest fan, he had to admit that the old man gave some sage advice. The master then indicated to them their last task, the one Koga drea

Though Koga did not miss the repeated signs, nor the words that appeared in the air, Koga made no remark. He just continued to walk along the path, following the others. Stopping within the Garden's premises, NIGHT asked where the ghost was last seen. Before anyone could answer, however, Nari looked past NIGHT and uttered something unexpected. "I…think that may be it…?" Following the girl's gaze, the man saw...nothing...even as Nari dashed ahead of them to chase after whatever she had seen. "Hey, wait up a sec!" Koga called after her, gripping his weapon to chase after her. "Don't fucking

Koga followed Ghost's gaze as her eyes drifted away from his and to her shoulder, where a small tattoo of a fox and rose sat imprinted into her skin. Another question drifted into Koga's mind as his eyes flicked back to Ghost's face, but the man held his tongue. There'd be another time and place for those kinds of questions. "Your hands.. They’re soft," she signed to him, drawing out a quiet chuckle as he finally sat back a little, propping an arm up on his knee. "Thanks, Ghost. Ya know, if you keep giving me compliments like this, I might end up growing one hell of an ego," he joked, bef

Slowly, her breath slowed down, no longer deep heaving draws of air. Clarity began to return to her pale, lavender and Koga gently smiled at her, brushing some stray strands of hair out of her face and tucking them behind her ear. "There we are. See? You're okay. Everything's fine. It's just us," he said in the most comforting tone he could muster. The man gently rubbed the girl's shoulders, up and down as she returned to reality. Still shaken, but in reality. The girl reached out towards him, and Koga pulled her close to him, her head resting beneath his chin as he rubbed his hand in lar

With each breath, Koga envision his emotions, his thoughts, as clouds of smoke, steam and mist. On each inhale, he gathered each of these in his lungs, and with each exhale, he expelled them, releasing them from his body and allowing them to disperse. Again and again he did this, until he was empty, and his mind allowed thoughts to pass through them like the water in a stream. This and that, people, things, acts, all stayed for no more than a moment before leaving. It was a quiet reverie. And that reverie was suddenly shattered, the sound of frantic splashing breaking through the calm lik

"Geez, what's got you all riled up?" a near-forgotten voice said from behind Koga. The man whirled around to face the speaker, chest constricting as soon as he set his eyes on that head of brown and hair and sharp green eyes. "Hikaru," Koga whispered, a flood of emotion filling him once again, sitting in his stomach like a lead weight. "Hey, Mas," the man said with a smile as he approached. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" "Don't fucking do that," Koga said stepping backwards. "Don't you dare fucking use them like that." His voice trembled, wavered as he struggled to form the words and

The sight that Koga and Ghost came upon was breathtaking, to say the least. A scene far more impressive than what Koga had experienced however many years ago. He felt the urge to say as much, but was interrupted by the sound of the Master YunXiang's voice addressing him. Koga's eyes shifted to the source of the sound, quick to find the master sitting up at the mouth of the falls, exactly like one would expect him to be in some kung-fu action movie. Wordlessly, Koga waded into the pools, and sat crossed-legged within in, the water striking his back and cascading around his shoulders. Press

It wasn't more than a few steps before Koga felt a hand grasp his arm. Turning towards the girl who grabbed him, the look she gave him...She smiled, the first real expression she'd ever shown him. A soft smile spread across the man's face, a faint heat burning at the tips of his ears. "Th-thanks, Ghost," the man said softly, before looking ahead towards whatever came next, making no move to remove her hand from his arm. The roaring of a waterfall soon reached their ears faintly, echoing off the walls as they walked further into the cave. Candles placed into alcoves carved into the wall il