Wulfrin

The walk back to the teleport gate was a quiet one. Neither party spoke the whole trip. Wulfrin was too busy mulling over what he had witnessed whilst on his waterfall induced drug trip. He killed himself, twice, killed a fake version of his spouse, and even faced a dungeon boss that once made him quake in his boots. Oddly enough though, Wulfrin's mind felt clearer than it had ever been since facing his Gemini this last time. Perhaps the real lesson he was meant to learn was that his resolve needed to be restored. His soul had been utterly destroyed during that fight and over the course of tod

Wulfrin returned his back up weapon to its proper place in his inventory before reaching down and collecting Icingdeath. The blizzard around him began to fade, the snow and ice melting away from the out cropping where he still sat meditating as if nothing had happened. Behind his akimbo physical form, Wulfrin saw another shape. It was The Entity that had guided him here. It looked back at Wulfrin and grinned, showing off the pure white void of a mouth, before dissolving into the shadow being cast by his physical form. With a sigh Wulfrin moved behind himself and placed his free hand on his hea

"Not in the slightest," The devil sneered as they continued their advance. Strike for strike. Move for move. The two duelists moved in perfect opposition. Wulfrin could feel his body growing lighter and lighter the longer the battle drew on. He could feel his determination, his drive, his passion returning. At last he had broken past those mental inhibitions holding him back. He held no doubt he would best this devil at his own game. More importantly, he held no doubt he would reclaim his blade. "Really?" Wulfrin said with a massive grin. "Because you've left yourself wide open."

"Fantastic," Levistus grinned as he shooed away Solaris. "Your skills are sharp, but mine are sharper." The devil began to move with blinding speed. The way they moved, revealed they were well practiced in the art of swordplay. It was all Wulfrin could do to keep from getting hit. Wulfrin was loosing ground rapidly. He took a deep breath and focused on the devil's movements eventually tracking him down long enough to unleash a sword art. Another Florenthian Howl found purchase against his fiendish foe allowing Wulfrin some much needed distance. Wulfrin planted his feet firmly in the snow

"See," Levistus spoke as he caressed the blade of Icingdeath. "I've found your journey so far to be an interesting one. So much so I've decided to test you personally." "Test me how?" Wulfrin asked as he matched the devil's pace around the arena, his unconscious physical body still sitting almost completely buried by snow and ice. "Oh I'm sure you've already figured that out. After all, you've already prepared your second blade. But are you as familiar with that one as you are this one?" In a flash, Icingdeath was brough to bare towards Wulfrin. With blinding speed, Wulfrin resp

Wulfrin finally worked up the strength to stand. The sight of his prized weapon being taken form him filled him with a fire of determination. Wulfirn stared daggers at the princely figure as they glided across the arena with an air of regal assholery about them that made Wulfrin's skin crawl. The figure had a health bar and name. According to the System, Wulfrin was currently in the presence of Levistus, Archdevil of Stygia. "Ah Icingeath," The archdevil sighed in reminiscence. "Forged from parts of a white dragon, slain by me of course. I've not held this blade in some time." "So A

Four sets of chains made of pure shadow erupted form the voids surrounding him. One set of chains lashed onto each of his arms and legs restricting his movement. Wulfrin's grip on Icingdeath faltered as the chains restricted his movement even more than the immense weight Wulfrin was experiencing. Wulfrin attempted to use the abilities granted to him by Shades of the Gemini, but something was blocking his limited umbrakinesis. Wulfrin struggled to get his feet back under him, but his efforts were proving to be futile. "Damn it," Wulfrin grunted as he continued to struggle, his chains only

The world began to freeze over around Wulfrin, though he was certain that Icingdeath wasn't the cause. He couldn't analyze the terrain effects right now anyway. The Shadows of Doubt didn't seem to be phased by the sudden shift, so it was likely meant to impede Wulfrin. It was definitely doing the latter. Wulfrin's Energy all but bottomed out as he unleashed yet another Stunning Strike. The four Shadows of Doubt attacking Wulfrin shattered and like the one before them, only added onto the immense weight he was carrying. Wulfrin fell to his knees unable to stand as his legs gave out from under

For more Shadows of Doubt entered the battle field, and four more became stunned. Wulfrin was doing his best to keep up the attack, but he could tell he was starting to run out of steam. His Energy Meter only reinforced this sentiment, only having a sliver of blue still remaining. Wulfrin unleashed Stunning Strike again, making the most of his Tech specialty and crowd control abilities granted by the art. He was alone, fending of a seemingly endless swarm of mobs attempting to break his mind and spirit. Maybe this was a bad idea. Wulfrin thought. Coming here may not have been smart given

The Shadows of Doubt continued to break past Wulfrin's defense. Each one getting pushed back as Wulfrin did his best to counteract their attacks. The whispers were getting louder there were definitely more on their way. Wulfrin had to clear the field if he didn't want to become completely over run. His sword art shined again with the light of his Stunning Strike sword art as he danced skillfully moved throughout the battlefield attempting to bring down the ones currently engaging him. Each of the four burst into fractal shards of data. "At least they die like regular mobs," Wulfrin sighed

Wulfrin's vision shifted once more. He was back on the rocky out cropping at the Waterfall of the Sage. The major difference was that most of the color was washed from the map around him. Wulfrin's eyes franticly panned around looking for the entity. They were no where to be seen, but what Wulfrin did see was more shocking. He saw himself still seated beneath the waterfall in his meditative state. The air grew frigid as dark rifts began to appear around his basically defensive body. There were four in total. From each, a spectral shadowy form resembling a wraith of some kind began to converge

Wulfrin slowly managed to pull himself back to his feet. He eyed his health bar and his heart sank. Almost half of his HP had disappeared with that singular strike. This was going to be all or nothing. Wulfrin leveled his blade and pressed the attack. Lance recoiled in pain as both them and the shadow wailed in pain as Wulfrin continued his attack. He was in full autopilot mode. Each swing carried his full intent to end this torture session as fast as humanly possible. Wulfrin had forced himself to numb his senses to the reality of his current situation. Icingdeath felt like an extension

Wulfrin was growing tired of all the nonsensical bullshit he was being put through. Each area he was brought to was forcing him to do things he really wished he wasn’t having to relive over and over again. As it stood, he figured it was all part of the waterfall’s quest. “Just push through it,” Wulfrin reassured himself. “Get through the quest. Get the skill. Go home. This is all an illusion. One big lie if you will.” “Is it though?” His voice rang out again. Wulfrin pivoted to see the scene had shifted once more. Before him, the familiar streets of his hometown in the real worl

The entity clapped once more as the Avatar of Avarice fell to Wulfrin’s attack. An opening that Wulfrin was certain hadn’t been there before appeared at the other end of the cavern. Wulfrin pressed into the newly opened cavern, the air began to change again. From musty cave to open air of Coral. He was on his own lawn, the entity on his porch opening the front door like a doorman. “Who’s there?” Wulfrin’s voice echoed from inside. Stepping out onto the porch was himself, in casual clothes. The other Wulfrin locked eyes with himself. “Oh it’s you. What do you want, Gemini? Odd that you’d a

It took a bit for Wulfrin to stop crying. When he did, he looked up to see the scene had shifted once again. Now he stood in a dusty cavern filled with untold riches scattered around him. Instantly he recognized where he was. Wulfrin was back in the Cave of Wonders, the dungeon Nari had opened when they had bested the great bear Kumatetsu. Wulfrin spotted what he could only name as The Entity clapping silently from a rocky overhang up above him. A few seconds later, it pointed to the ceiling. At the same time, an ear splitting shriek filled the cavern. Wulfrin was paralyzed in place, as h

Wulfrin closed his eyes and let his mind enter his inner world. Whispers began to permeate the space. He was back in the clearing where he had slain his Gemini, its body still laying lifeless in a cloaked Ciela’s arms. The fake Ciela weeped over her fallen partner, blood soaking her cloak. Out of the shadows, stepped a figure of the same substance they had come from. All that stood out to Wulfrin was the two solid white eyes and grin that carried a sinister intention. The figure extended a crooked finger pointing to the fake Ciela. “How could you?” The fake Ciela sobbed as she glared at W

Wulfrin eventually found the Waterfall of the Sage. Once there he gazed in awe at the magnificent sight, no doubt one of the Seven Wonders of Aincrad. Admittedly that list was rather short for him, as he hadn’t really done much by way of exploration throughout the floors. “I should really get out of the house more,” Wulfrin commented. “You think?” His shadow retorted. “Can we go one day without you finding some way to make a snide comment at my expense.” “Sure. Once you stop walking into them.” Wulfrin simply brushed that last part off. He stepped up unto a rocky protr

There was one good thing to come from Wulfrin’s talk with Freyd. The special skill Freyd had taught him allowed him to move through shadows, to a certain extent. This made the amazonian style jungle much easier to navigate as Wulfrin occasionally slipped into the shadows of the nearby trees only to appear a handful of feet away. This ability had a combat use as well, making him significantly harder to hit, a nice bonus considering his previous bonus of an occasional bump to his accuracy was nice early on, but his blade was covering that ground just fine on its own. There wasn’t much more he co

“I’m living one giant lie,” Wulfrin said under his breath as he walked the streets of Krycim. “Well I guess the actual meaning is that the truth is what we make it.” “Have you already forgotten?” Wulfrin’s shadow’s voice echoed through Wulfrin’s mind. “The secret behind all lies is that all lies have some bit of truth to them.” “A lesson I still hope to learn,” Wulfrin responded. “Perhaps I just need to meditate.” Wulfrin pulled the cowl of his Fallen Angel Garb up as he stepped out into the damp jungles of Floor 6. His armor made him look like one of The Gemini. The coat was ta

"What can I say," Wulfrin shrugged in response to The Whisper's warning. "I learned from the best." Wulfrin rushed the final mercenary that was only just beginning to unfreeze. Unfortunately for them, Wulfrin had already appeared above him and planted his blade in its back. Ice encased its form once more before vaporizing in the desert heat. So far everything that Abdullah had thrown at them was simply cannon fodder. Wulfrin returned to Freyd's side, Icingdeath over his shoulder. Wulfrin smirked a bit as his appearance morphed to a near identical copy of Freyd's only pre tank swap. "

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