Freyd

"Refreshing." His meaning undisclosed as they kept walking, he listened to her words with interest. "And what comes to those who are not content to remain blind?" A telling question from a man known to walk sighted in darkness and the void linking the nothingness behind shadows. What of those who can't unsee things already seen? Recent events from the raid loomed ominously fresh in memory, gnawing insidiously at the back of his mind. "A thing cannot simultaneously be static and evolve, though parts of a collective might straddle that line. Take the players trapped in Aincrad, as a g

"I am a frontliner," he confirmed, a modest grin curling at his lips' edges. "But just one among many. And a captain informally at best. It's no military rank, merely a title within my guild that makes me accountable for one of our branch divisions. I consider it part of those duties to help along others who wish to improve themselves, whether within the guild or beyond." Her zeal was infectious and admirable, leaving him no desire to dim those burning flames. If anything, it was his goal to fan and foster them into something suitable to forge into proper iron. The weak wouldn't f

Helping the captives back out into the open courtyard took several trips. They were in rough shape. Each severely dehydrated and emaciated, they were weak and had to be helped to the wagon with baby steps. Freyd carried the children in his arms, each of them too tired to make the short journey on their own. All were grateful for the aid and their rescue. Cassim was a bit of a different story. Furtive and cagey, his eyes shifted in every direction as if shadows were ready to jump out at him. They weren't. Freyd checked, just to be sure. "Do you think it might be best to keep him ti

Catharsis achieved, Freyd's stomach suddenly grumbled loudly in protest, causing the wind to falter in his sails and be replaced by heartfelt chuckling. Life always found a way to make things real, even when your spirit wanted to soar high into the clouds. Patting his midsection lightly, he smiled apologetically to Elora, a sheepish blush tinting the parts of his cheeks that could still be seen. "Sorry. I don't think I've eaten anything since the raid began... and that seems a lifetime ago." Corny, yet also vitally important. They needed to be able to trivialize that moment in their m

Freyd just let her talk, nerves seeming to cluster anxiously within her as she sought to fill the void with cluttered words in lieu of uncomfortable self-awareness. With every rambling, eloquently spoken syllable, Freyd's features seemed more settled, until he stood quietly absorbing her display. Captain Fr...? Preferring not to embarrass or correct her, he simply let the moniker slide. Not technically incorrect, it wasn't something he typically advertised, but also made little difference. Those who would want to know likely already knew, and those who wouldn't had no reason to ca

Watching out of the corner of his eyes as the rest of his part descended upon the frenzied bulette, Freyd could sense and empathize with their initial frustrations. "Keep at it! This mob is one of the toughest quest mobs to hit, and more slippery than some high end field bosses. You're expected to miss, if you're just starting out." He was about to whirl and slash low to take out its foremost legs when Eulogy darted between it, nicking the thing square in its softer underbelly and delivering a timely stun. Goddamn crazy kid... Smiling even as he cursed, Freyd couldn't help bu

Yelling was followed by the sounds of a violent scuffle from within and the clashing of steel on steel. It ended quickly, with the barred door next to Ty exploding outward with a spray of what was once a kidnapper - now nothing more than shards. Freyd's head popped out an instant later, turning to search for stragglers and also ensure that she was safe. "That should be the last of them, I think." A waving hand beckoned her inside where a half-dozen NPCs were slumped against the stone walls and floor. One looked familiar, certain telltale features matching those of the man who'd sent t

It still felt weird to watch another taking the lead on these training runs, having done so himself for so long, but Wulfrin knew what he was doing. The red-coated swordsman soon disabled the giant maw-and-tail combo that was the mutant sand-shark. If there was anything more in between those two extremes, they were easily and readily overlooked. Pollux and Xena were no slouches either, each woman leaping into the dust bowl with grace and speed, slicing into their foe's thick hide with equal zeal and efficiency. Once their initial wave rippled across the sandy waves, decimating Terra Fir

Barely a moment had passed since turning away from the sandwich man before the system barraged his interface with a quest notification. Of course. Figures. No sooner had his hand waved off the translucent floating screen than a tiny figure stood suddenly before him, strands of red bobbing in time with her formal and unexpected curtsy. Eyebrow raised along with suspicion at the timing, his index finger still hung where the button had been to accept said quest. "My name is Morrígan," he registered, the rest of her words melding into a flurry of sound mostly lost at the mention of th

Tension wondrously bled from burdened shoulders with the subtlety of a rooftop ripped from a barn amidst a cat five hurricane. She'd never seen him caught so completely and utterly off guard, brows arched to buttress the heavens as his eyes widened with the child-like awe at being confronted with the purest essence of epiphany. In an instant, with a word and a gesture, she'd banished every stalwart guilt arrayed by his own somber sorrows against himself. Of all the possible outcomes forecasted for such a heavy and dreaded conversation, this one never even appeared on his seemingly inexhaust

Does this unit have a soul? Too deep a question for a Tuesday. But Freyd had been brooding over a slightly less existential crisis since the Frontlines first ventured into Ilridge, up on the newly unlocked 29th floor. Maybe more pondering than brooding. He also found himself doing far less of the latter than he once did, thanks to the efforts of a certain green-haired beauty and one possibly toe-over-the-line-of-death experience. 'Near' didn't quite seem to cut it. Twisted nightmares and air of swiftly sudden calamity pervading the abandoned structures of that haunted village begged

She noticed before he did. The 'shushing' of agitated prisoners shifting against painful bonds made awkwardly painful by dearth of having been dragged to their current vantage. Up ahead and to the right, in a smaller watchtower, high up inside the main courtyard. Freyd nodded his awareness after spotting her closing her eyes, his mind puzzling slowly to figure out why. When he heard it, he understood. "There's an exit over there. I'll rush them from the west. Just keep them from escaping and this should be over shortly. Judging by the packs and bedroll count un the main camp, there

Dimensional Pouch | [15 Mon] | ID 239552 Adds +1 to the player's Battle Ready Inventory. A player may only benefit from one Dimensional Pouch at a time, but can be worn in addition to a Dimensional Backpack or Hammerspace Backpack.

Raising a brow at the Merchant's impromptu appraisal, Freyd did the same, but found nothing immediately unusual. "Are you sure it's wise to have summoned him here? If there were ever any NPCs on this floor, something killed them all." The face beneath its purple-hood halted and paled, its mask only capable of hiding so much. "And no current access to stock? That's rather interesting. Ever had that happen before?" A few possibilities jumped into Freyd's mind, none of them good. "Setting up a base camp is a good idea, Hirru. But maybe one or two others should remain here with you

"Well, I'm always keen on the standing in front and doing my best not to get stabbed approach. And your grisly can opening gives you better reach, so you can watch by back while we do it. Try not to stab me. I know it's tempting, but you can probably, mostly, manage." Peering into the cave, Freyd didn't immediately notice anything amiss. It looked very much as he remembered, with pastel-coloured crystals growing out of the walls at odd angles every few feet that hummed softly in the breeze that still flowed near the exit. The deep crimson glow coming from the depths was less consolin

Pursed lips and a nod, acknowledging her words and shuffling the issue down the road, Freyd turned his attention back to the matters at hands. "I should be able to track... nope. Why am I not surprised? Ali and Cassim were always a slippery pair. It figures that they would be untraceable. So much for that particular shortcut." Glancing off in the direction of the drag marks, they led towards a series of old outbuildings. Possibly barracks or mess halls? An abandoned wagon nearby implied an answer to Ty's question. "There's little difference between bandits and raiders. Who

Sliding in to stand should to shoulder with Kyoto, the Whisper whirled and parried like a dervish whenever the bandits tried to close. The first, a hefty brute with patchwork armor that looked salvaged and stapled together from whatever he'd stripped off the fallen, fell rather quicky when he overreached. Freyd stomped on his foot as he dodged, throwing him off balance, making him easy prey for the black blade. His partner roared in rage, declaring his intentions before acting. A quick lateral slice ripped his larynx from his throat, the mob shattering in silent shock at the speed of h

By the time Ty reached the crumbling fortress gate there were signs of another quad of fallen mobs, their fractal essences drifting off in the breeze. Freyd, his face focused and alert for more incoming guards, slid Veritas' black blade against the sheen on his matching armor, as if cleaning it in some ceremonial manner. Scanning the remains of their camp site revealed little. Hot steaming cups of something acrid now sat unattended. Some unlucky game bird slowly burnt over the open spit with no one left to turn it. Sparing a quick glance towards his companion to assure himself she wasn't

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ Watching her unfurl from his grasp, Freyd was unaccustomed to such certainty entrenched behind her warm, watering, empathic eyes. A rose in bloom, shedding away the detritus of past wrongs to stand proudly for herself - for who she wanted to be. Elora was magnificent. Gently trapping him between her fingertips in a way that he could never voluntarily escape, his heart melted as surely as it wanted to break. "It's ok...", she softly stated. No... anything but that...and yet... Not what he expected to hear. Not from her, given her history and staunchly set ways.

"Nicely done." The praise intended for Wulfrin, as Freyd had already sheathed his weapon to help Foyle clear the landscape off his clothes. "You've made the rounds, I see. Good to see. I'd say you're ready for what comes next. These will be lightweight by comparison, but still worthwhile as practice fodder." A chuckle spared for the older man's predicament, who merely brushed him off and accepted his fate. Foyle rarely complained about anything, no matter how filthy he had to get. "You figure out how to make more of that and I'll buy you a new, shinier pair of goggles." If an

Leaping down onto the drum sands, landing to create a deliberate thud to attract the beast's attention, Freyd wanted to make himself its target. Without hesitation, the sub-sandy lump veered violently his way, streaking like a torpedo as if he was an entire convoy worth of juicy targets all bundled into one. Slamming his fist into the ground several more times, just to piss it off to maximum potential, Freyd stood and claimed his stance, ready to face down the monster. Sliding one leg back to brace against the incoming charge, Freyd kept his katana in a low guard and waited until the gi

Emerging from the portal like a thousand past shadows porting through the void, a familiar stranger reformed mere moments after his departure. Brows furrowed farther than their usual range. Barely a thing had changed, yet... "I left here hours ago. Why are they still all standing or wandering about the starting area?" Summoning his interface was no help. Quite the opposite, in fact. The clock read wrong. Not off, but utterly wrong, in the nonsensical sense. Irreconcilable digits, unreadable glyphs, non-sequential series jumping randomly or even backwards. "Is this floor out of ph

Manifesting at the familiar portal base, Freyd took it upon himself to actually appreciate the grandeur of the place this time, more than he ever had before. Serene and solemn, its high vaulted ceilings and ambient constant suffusing lights granted it an air of ephemeral formality. It felt warm, safe, bright - all aspects in contrast to the road taken to reach this point. A mirth and wistful smile paid homage to previous passages made with vastly different motives. This felt more like a luxury than a trial to be endured. "A horn, please," he called out to the spectral vendors who te

Freyd turns and glances sideways towards his companion, a old, familiar grin forming slowly beneath his new features. Silently drawing his katana, Freyd stepped sideways into the umbra provided by the rocky outcrop behind which they were hiding. Vanishing into the darkness, he reappeared an instant later on the far side of the fortress gate, having somehow slipped through the void between two shadows to emerge behind their watchtowers and defenses. The bandits cried out in surprise - those that didn't die instantly in his opening assault. Another's fractals were smeared across the sand befo

Falling between floors was old hat to the Whisper, having stumbled through more than his share of glitches, not to mention his everyday sojourns through the void as a convenient means of travel. Where others struggle to orient themselves, Freyd was already aligning his blade and self to deliver a blow the instant they emerged on the other side. Wulfrin, true to form, had already stunned the Phoenix, leaving it exposed and vulnerable while the rest of his team fired off their shots as best they could. When his turn came, Veritas struck true and carved the infernal turkey from crown to tailfe