Freyd

"I don't really know much about it, yet. It's been making the rounds among the brokers and rumour mongers for a few days. Sounds interesting, and might be a bit of a game changer. Mobs have been able to pull off this sort of thing for a while. Look at the witch lobbing potions at us. I guess the system just took a while to rebalance and give us the option." He flexed his fist again, evaluating the new mechanic's potential. "I'm not likely to make any big changes myself. These handwraps have already been a sword and a staff. Kinda want to keep them the way they are at the moment."

"I make it a habit of being where I'm needed," he replied jovially at Nymoria's surprise. Truth be told, trouble followed him around as often as he actively sought it out. It wasn't truly in Freyd's nature to stay out or away from it for any length of time. He'd grown too accustomed to being in the middle of the fray. At least he still knew better than to pick unnecessary fights, like certain others he'd come across. Lowering his cowl to let her better see his face, his features softened at her humility and effort alike. "No need to apologize for making efforts. I think it's admirable. J

Backpedaling from Zandra's fiercesome strike, the witch stumbled suddenly as her own dress and cloak went taught as if pinned to the ground beneath her feet. "Hurk! What the...?!" Gazing down, she found only a small pool of shadow in the form of a mongoose, its piercing blue slotted eyes staring back at her smugly while its front paws held her clothes firmly in place. A flick of the azure orbs teased the mob to look upward. Brow furrowed with anger and confusion, arms tugging at her own collar to keep her from suffocating, the witch glanced upward only to see Freyd and his fist e

"Fair point about the pain mitigation. As much as I like to rag on the system, there are strong elements of fairness to it, which just seems weird in the context of a death game. Really makes you wonder what Kayaba's true motives might be." Freyd shrugged, dropping the topic before he delved too deep into philosophy. Strolling through any labyrinth, even this one, wasn't really ideal for that sort of thing. "You'll be amazed at what you can manage when you simply have no other choice. How many players in the game could ever picture themselves wielding a sword in defense of their actu

Message received and preparations made, Freyd had been gradually assembling resources for the next raid since the last one ended. He'd been involved in enough of these things, by now, that it was finally starting to become familiar. Mad dashes near the event itself were perfectly, predictably normal. How many times had he found himself dashing around between six different floors trying to scoop up that one last consumable, just in case. The preamble to facing Wushen had been replete with such frantic activity. At least, this time he'd cleared most of his own needs off his list, leaving hi

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Hiding Ranks 3 and 4 Mod(s)/Addon(s)/Shift(s) Being Dropped: None SP Incurred Towards Limit: 14 SP Refunded: 14 Cost: 14,000 col

"You and me both. It took me years to build up the nerve to leave the Town of Beginnings. Long story, but I was convinced that Cardinal had a vendetta against me, personally. It might be fairer to say that it's directed at every player in the game." Freyd seemed surprisingly calm about it, given that he'd just declared the overlord of their digital domain as a nemesis. It had taken a long time to get to being casual about it. Even now, the game occasionally liked to tweak his nose to keep him on his toes. "Who knows. Maybe the whole golf thing is just a bit of random AI garbage tha

"It's really a choice, at the end of the day. The more ways you try to specialize yourself, the less specialized you become. Kinda makes sense, when you think about it. At least you have the benefit of being high level, with a lot of points to spread around how you see fit. It's much harder for newer players coming up, where every point counts." After fiddling with the lock on the tower door for a minute, Freyd just gave up and channeled a sword art through a swift kick, blowing the unfortunate fixture to pieces. "You can be decent at damage AND a support. Just don't expect to be to

Content to go with the flow - and things were definitely deep in flow - Freyd clinked his drink against Star's whjle accepting the proffered seat. "Is this just for us, or is everyone else here also celebrating non-stabbing?" Snowfrost didn't strike his as having that kind of rowdy crowd, but stranger things had happened before. The Whisper's ears burned at mention of Avalanche, the lure of Cardinal's challenges oft proven difficult for him to ignore. That the face making the inquiry was familiar made it especially enticing. "Nymoria?" They'd met, alongside Wulfrin and Ciela, during

"There's no great conspiracy to it, as enjoyable as that might be. Each of you is a member of Firm Anima, or associated with the guild by proxy. You've also each demonstrated that you can be trusted to care for the common interests of Aincrad's broader player base. That's a resource in short supply, and the very reason the guild exists. While the Assault division takes care of front line battles, I need people I can trust to get shit done behind the scenes. You don't need to be spies, or stealthy-spoopy types, Quip. You just need a willingness to get things done when they need doing, reg

This was the best part of the sharkbait program: the aftermath. Crossing his arms in front of him, Freyd just leaned against the arena wall, watching and listening as bonding occurred. They didn't need to have actually been in danger, merely sharing the experience in some way was often enough to bring a group of players together. Foyle figured it out almost immediately, a certain sparkle in the old man's dull grey eyes signaling approval. Jeeves was in full blown manic mode, as was Quip. It was strangely amusing to see how their approaches so differed from each other, yet they would see t

Calling Persi off and clearing the path for his follow-up, the best option was to strike swiftly and finish the fight as quickly as possible. He had to grab Quip and yank her back to provide the necessary opening, dodging around her wild weapon swings, which were proving to be fruitless after her initial success. Still, at least she'd managed to contribute something. That alone was remarkable against such a powerful mob. "Stand clear" he ordered, as Terra Firma fully recovered and made ready to charge the party. Taking a chance, the chose to rush it first, driving his fist forward wit

Quip had also clearly forgotten that this was her second time through the program. They'd failed to obtain the extra skill obtainable from the quest during their last run through. The extra combat prowess never hurt, but Freyd was really aiming to pad out her skill set a bit. "This way, and wait for my signal to engage." It took them little time to reach the hollow sand bowl where Firm Anima made its lair, the surrounding rock walls providing both natural protection and an enclosure to keep it from threatening Nimbus directly. "There, on the west side. See the fin. Don't underestimat

"I didn't even realize this could exist, before you showed me." The smile creasing across his eyes shone with sincerity, daring to trust and be open with those most vulnerable aspects of himself. Wrapping both arms around her slender waist, Freyd held her close and kissed her gently on the forehead, treasuring every aspect of the moment. The scent of freshly washed hair mixed with an assortment of spices used in their latest attempt at breakfast alchemy. Fingers wove their way upwards to play with dew-like droplets - stray towel survivors - trailing down her back in a vain attempt to escape

"Yeah, see, this is where things get kinda tricky." Making a face halfway between a grin and grimace, the implication was that any method would be far from foolproof or results guaranteed. "Aincrad doesn't really facilitate this sort of thing very well, unless you know what you're doing. For now, we gather what information we can from Zackariah and Evangeline. Hopefully they remember those odd little details like: who Veradine might have partied with, quirks of behaviour, assorted slips of the tongue, whether she exhibited any unusual traits or carried odd items, etc. It's always best to g

Shrugging, having no better alternative to propose, Freyd motioned for them to move on. Larbrook led them deeper into the labyrinth, his wounded pride dampening an naturally dour demeanor. "Don't mind him," Freyd whispered to Euled. "He's just cranky because someone stuck him here without a reason or explanation. I've tried a dozen times to get it out of him, but he doesn't even seem to know why he's on this floor. Sounds like someone uploaded some incomplete content in a rush to meet deadlines, if you ask me. Kayaba probably tossed the programmer who did it into the game as punishme

As the last vestiges of the fallen mob fell and sank into the ground, the hollowed darkness of the clearing dimmed for a time leaving only winded breaths and fledgling recovery. In the boughs above, the soft red glow of fire red leaves hummed a strange and ominous song as they swayed. A door had been opened, though the details beyond it remained obscured. Something vile had corrupted this creature, and the woods beyond. Freyd had seen it first hand in Glyndebourne and the Magistrate's manor, only to witness it again here. The pattern was disturbing. "We can't go any deeper than this

Tumbling out of the vortex, Freyd took advantage of the added momentum, hurtling through the front ranks of monkey folk attempting to block their path. Mobs exploded left right and centre until their phalanx crumpled under the weight of the assault, leaving only a few stragglers. Emerging from the storm, moments later, mopping most of them up with a decisive axe swipe that splattered their shards ignobly into the wind. ‘’Hehe, havent you cleared the landing spot of monkeys yet? Guess I should let my axe do some talking before going down the supportive path.’ Blinking twice, and a

Ambling through Snowfrost with his special precious prize tucked neatly under his arm, a certainly lanky Whisper looked drastically out of character with every inch of garment on his body shifted from his usual dark to light. It was only practical. Freyd's usual garb worked wonders for him in the shadows, but stuck out like a sore thumb in the landscapes of floor four. It was nothing a little application of certain art couldn't fix, though it still felt really weird. Spotting the advert set out in front of an unfamiliar local social hot spot, the appraiser in him found it hard to turn

"Big slap. Right. No pressure." Owij'Be rounded a nearby oak, frost trailing behind its antlers like contrails as it bore straight towards him. Various afflictions inflicted upon it added their various shades to the mix, to the point where the guardian nearly looked to some sort of streaking mutant MLP reject with rainbows coming out of its ass. Memories came flooding back of Saint Gertrude's daycare, where his mother had regularly deposited him during her internship, abandoning him to the subtle tortures of endlessly looping episodes meant to placate the toddlers in the next room. Ho

Nodding his acceptance and agreement at Lium's suggestion, Freyd's gaze remained locked on Sam. Neutral and unreadable, his face remained numb mainly because he really wasn't sure what he should be feeling. All of this was outside his experience. Though he'd worked with Sam for some time, it was painfully obvious that he didn't really know her very well personally. Those details had never been part of his considerations - an oversight to be corrected in due time. Too often, his perspective had been constrained to the ruthless calculus of spycraft: what was useful, practical and required to

"I... uh... sorry? You can have the next one." Pausing to survey the last drifting remains of their very temporary foe, Freyd scratched at the back of his cowl while stretching out his arms. Sure, Freyd, go all Canadian on him and apologize for doing the right thing. "Wasn't actually trying to hit him that hard, but given the pot shot he took at my head, I can't say that I really regret it." Turning to their escort, the dark clad warrior took on a much more clinical, nigh-inquisitorial mien. "What's the deal, Larbrook? I get it when I show up randomly trying to play throug

Having picked up the quest from Abdullah, Freyd had relied on a favoured disguise to keep from having to interact with the mob as himself. They had a complicated relationship, where Freyd had repeatedly taunted the NPC to test whether he could provoke a more complex response based on memories of past interactions. Gathered around him were the latest batch of candidates gathered for the sharkbait training program. All were known allies and acquaintances, this time around, and brought together with a more deliberate purpose. Relying on Firm Anima's agents wasn't always ideal. A mix of allie

"If there's one thing you can count on in here, it's that no two NPCs truly operate alike. Which is really weird, when you think about it. Don't they operate off the same base code? Shouldn't they be generic, robotic mimicry machines? Bugs in the machine. Random bits of code. Call it what you will. One downside to Kayaba's grand plan is that he can't actually afford a reboot without losing all of his captives. Who knows how long the servers have been running by now? And given the AI in the background, who knows what quirks could develop?" Freyd strode with purpose through the main

"FORE!" Barely an instant passed before giant, hairy beast man in a tartan skirt and beret came screaming around the corner wielding some sort of mutant shillelagh, hefting it in a mighty swing against a spherical stone about the size of Freyd's head. Said ball missed said head by about three inches, embedding itself into the adjacent wall with a giant explosion of pulverized stone leaving an imprint to match all of the others they'd just seen. "What the... speed golf meets murder ball?! WTF?!" Unwilling to entertain whatever sick game the minotaurs were up to, the entire scene