Freyd

"Good to see you too, Mac. It's been a while." An unusually warm response from the normally cold and elusive player, but they had met and fought side by side before, including that bug hunt on the shores of the Lake of Reflections after Tanabata. Mac was a good egg, at least in the Whisper's scrambled mess of a recipe book. "Kat's a guildmate whose been rising quickly through the ranks. Boss killer, and fast as lightning. She's got quite the spark to her. You two should get along great. She joined the front lines for the last raid. Speaking of which, we missed you against Wushen. You

Blistering winds beat down upon them driving endless sheets of sleet in their path. The fluffy, powdered hills of Snowfrost's environs had soon given way to the tempestuous frozen nightmare perpetually swirling about their target's position. Absolute Zero's general vicinity was therefore never really hard to find. You could spot the maelstrom of snow and ice from leagues away. Navigating the icicle hellstorms that constantly surrounded it, then managing to actually fight the thing inside five overlapping subzero hurricanes? That was the real trick. Some players had learned this the hard wa

To: Tricolor_Mina From: Freyd Cobbled together a little something I thought you might appreciate in advance of the next raid. Swing by my shop in Angel's Point, when you have a moment. We can share a cup of coffee and catch up. Call it a 'thank you' for your ongoing efforts. You don't easily give up on people. That matters - a lot. If this trifling gift can provide you with some sense of how much what you do truly matter, all the better. Your friend. ~Freyd It had taken him hours and dozens of drafts to properly

Melt the following items down to create 3x Mystic Essence: Fuse the following items (Cost: 1 gleaming shard) Fuse the following items (Cost: 1 gleaming shard) Upgrade the following item to demonic quality (Cost: 1 demonic shard), spend 3 Mystic Essence from above to select Holy. Trial by Fire +4 (T4 Perfect Weapon (WH) - Abs.Acc., Phase, Holy 1 Fusion ID: 224208 A redwood staff shod with brass at both ends, the haft glows with crimson light when wielded in battle. Producing: Trial by Fire +4 (T4 Demonic Weapon (WH) - Abs.Acc., Phase, Holy 2 Fusion ID:

Their wards had gone to ground, which took them out of the immediate equation and satisfied his immediate concerns. About to rip into the mob's shadow to taunt and call its anger unto himself, Freyd's efforts were undermined by Sewallus breaking out into some weird elven dirge. Whatever the significance, it was also enough to rouse their enemy from its daze. Ripping the same tree its head had impacted out of the ground, the Monkey King roared "Oh, fuck. They gave this thing its AoE back? Or maybe its just an unlucky trigger" Freyd vaguely recalled that it once had such a power, but

"We're getting close," Sewallus cautioned, and Freyd concurred. Despite being clad in impressive armor, its intricate design seemed too formal and ceremonial to his appraiser's eye. He knew the main could take a hit or two, but not comparable to the scale and capacity of a true player. The differences were just too vast, making him want to be sure that he could cover the NPC. Or, should that prove impossible, take down the Monkey King as swiftly as possible. A warning shout and crashing of trees to the left was all the time they had as the beast breached the tree line and charged into

A friendly nod in parting, directed towards Remington, and the three players were off. Guided by their captain, they made their way to the main gates leading out of town. Ramshackle, as was so much of this settlement, and indeed the entire floor, it was doubtful these redoubts could hold up against any form of organized attack. They weren't meant to. Animals were often the most dangerous hazard here. "You're spot on, Jeeves. Good for you for having done your homework." Freyd didn't sound surprised in the slightest. The younger lad was studious by nature. What he needed was some fi

"Seems like traffic has picked here lately," Freyd observed, leaning across from Remington along the edges of Florenthia's palisade. Sipping on vanilla-scented coffee, the Whisper and zoologist had been trading information on local news, flora and fauna. His latest crop of trainees had already been summoned and should be arriving shortly to partake in the latest hunt to claim the Monkey King's prize. But, for now, he had a little time to kill. "There's been trouble throughout the floor, as if the jungle knows that something is brewing. We just can't identify a source. The Monkey King

"Yeah," Freyd agreed, smiling and recovering his breath. "Nice moves, Euled. Glad you had my back." Relaxing, but only a little, the Whisper remained keenly aware of how close they were to the lands of the Unseelie Court and the fae who reigned in that domain. To call them fickle would be like comparing a blue whale to a guppy. Moody wasn't much better. He'd had no problems with them in the past, but their unique rules were not standard player fare and could be easily run afoul. "Good work today, but we shouldn't linger here. These woods have ears, claws, teeth even, and you don't

"That might be enough. You'd be surprised what I can accomplish with a name alone." A party invite prompt substituted for formal introductions in a much more Freydian manner: make the System do it. Talking still wasn't really his strong suit, especially when his inner bloodhound had caught a whiff of something mysterious. Besides, it never really occurred to him that his two companions didn't actually know each other. Hadn't they both been in the last raid together? Meanwhile, he could practically hear Shaggy and Scooby reveling by their sides, while he and the gang went about solving

No dark elf warrior should ever be underestimated, even if he was made to seem ridiculous. Freyd had learned that lesson the hard way, and on more than one occasion. No staggered enemy was incapacitated. And so he knew better than to approach Yeff without due wariness and guard. The feral elf, driven mad in his exile, moved swiftly and suddenly, a wild swing the went wide while Freyd contorted his torso to avoid the blade. A sweep took Yeff off his feet once more, combined with a crippling joint lock at the elbow that forced him to release his weapon, nearly wrenching the arm off in the pro

Mouth full of an unknown assortment of consumables, Freyd seemed to be too busy or developing some sort of eating disorder - possibly both. Dude was always on the go, it seems. Gallivanting might carry the right idea, but he was often too serious for it to really stick. More like... driven? Even with his newfound sense of self and changing perspectives on the importance of people, Freyd still drifted back to acting like a machine when it meant grinding through content. "Meed moww ovf veez fings!" His hands wrapped in weave of destructive oblivion, he rapped his fingernails on the me

Freyd wasn't sure he'd gotten the message right. Mina's request was so full of cat emojis and gifs that he was starting to wonder if the profiling business was knocking her off her rocker. Meeting her near Olympus seemed equally weird until he remembered something about the Nemean lions prowling the badlands near the towering mons. "Didn't these things and Ki'raeion used to be on the same floor?" The NPCs gathered nearby just looked him strangely, wondering aloud about whether he was some wandering sun-addled nomad dragged in from the desert. Freyd certainly looked the part, clad from hea

A wry grin formed on the edges of the Whisper's cowl at Morningstar's arrival. The man wasn't wrong. Freyd had been crouching in the same pose for almost two hours, watching the foul troll do unspeakable things to otherwise innocent critters that foolishly wandered into its reach. It was the first time he'd actually felt pity for the giant spiders of the Underdark, though he struggled with any notion of them as appetizers. Wulfrin wasn't far behind, still apologizing for himself, despite his skyrocketing progression. That sounded familiar. You'd almost think he was Canadian too. The

Thread Closing: Elora receives: 3,038 EXP (Word Count [10858/10*4*0.7]) 655 col (1 page [200] + 15% P5 Reward [455]) Freyd receives: 12,911 EXP (Word Count [10858/10*17*0.7]) 2136 col (1 page [200] + 15% P5 Reward [1936])

"There's typically only one per floor. Yeff is... well, he's a little bit special. Let's put it that way. Everyone thinks he was put here as a bit of a meme." Freyd shrugged, having no way to confirm the suspicions. Their journey through the woods was brief and uninterrupted, through a few prowling shadows seemed to haunt their passage, along with the occasional pair of red eyes peering at them through the darkness. Fred walked more carefully here, slowing his pace and scanning their surroundings to pick the best path forward. "Fae like their traps, as do dark elves." The mes

"Field boss. Kinda like a mini-boss roaming the open world. They tend to hang around the same haunts, following a predictable pattern. You can farm them fairly reliably once you get to know where they can be found. Each one drops a special unique item, mostly consumables. The usefulness depends on the boss and your stat build. Speaking of which..." Reaching up to the air to summon his UI, Freyd called two thin and delicate looking vials of reddish gold liquid, each sealed with wax. The contents seem to be carbonated and when opened there is a satisfying hiss and the aroma of cherry s

Larbrook groaned, looking like he was about to protest, but decided it was better to just be rid of them both. "He's still in his usual spot, hanging around near the mouth of the Caverns of Faerie. It's your funeral if you want to go after him, though." he grudgingly considered how both warriors had fared in his labyrinth. "Yeah. You might survive. Maybe. If you do, be sure not to come back." That last comment was clearly directed at Freyd. "But, Larbrook, I'd miss your charming personality!" Slapping the big man on the backside, Freyd sauntered away from the maze and into the

"Supports shine in specific situations. Sometimes, it's just all about smiting shit until it breaks." He paused, pointing at the vase. "But in a raid, or a really tough fight, you'll be glad to have someone with support skills on your side." Rubbing his chin thoughfully, Freyd pondered what best advice to conclude with, given their conversation so far. "It really seems to me like you want to be able to deal damage, with a bit of support capacity on the side. That's not Hirru. He's full support and couldn't hurt a boar unless it attacked him and thorns-ed itself to death." Her atta

Releasing his death grip on Govarron's shade, Freyd slid past euled on the left, tapping his boot as fair warning of his passage. His foot catching on the minotaur's hefty hoof, Freyd used it as a level to bring himself upright and add extra momentum to his swing, catching the beastman with a nasty cross cut that spun his head around like a twist top. A horrible crunching sound followed, accompanied by the mob's sudden and resplendent demise, its shards spill all over the floor in a radial pattern around both players before dissipating. "Nice work! We make a good team. Good thinking w

"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