Acanthus

“I t htink that four set ts of S tairs wil be a goo d w aty to sober up just enough.” Over the long trek, her speech slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy. “The nickname… I didn’t mean to make it a thing. My mind was just wandering from syllable to syllable. Mari. Gold. Marigold. The funny thing is that I’m not really sure what you’re hearing. I’m speaking Japanese; is that what you’re hearing? Puns and word associations don’t really translate very well either. So how does Cardinal know what to say on my behalf? Honestly,” Acanthus slugged something amber from a dark bottle (wit

A bear statue? Did she mean the totem? From Scents of the Wild? The remark about a minor damage boost certainly matched. Acanthus opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. Ariel knew what she was doing, and Acanthus did not want to risk the revelation that she did not. This quest yielded a boss fight, and possibly some other mysterious benefit. Perhaps it was a bear statue. As far as she had asked around, nobody had ever completed the quest. Whatever rewards lay at the end of the chain remained hidden to her (and all the info brokers she had talked to). “Last time

Her tactics had changed since the last floor boss. She was used to maneuvering: to rolling underneath the broad swipes, approaching from the flank, and taking advantage of the chaos. With heavy armor, she became the chaos. With uncharacteristic disregard, she waded to the front of the fighting, eager to test her vitality to the limit. She had survived no fewer than three spectral knights. This was the fourth and nothing more. “What a pathetic boss fight.” She caught a hewing blow meant for Jomei, straining under the weight. “Do some damage! I guarantee I’ll hit you harder. So come on!!”

Scrolling through the LFG posts was something of a guilty pleasure for Acanthus. There were scores of posts from mid- to low-level players, with tone ranging from begging to entitlement. “I need this quest item!” or the evergreen, “Can anyone help me with this field boss?” Most of those posts were followed by listing gear that would barely pass a large boar, let alone the Ripper of Glyndbourne. She watched these posts populate and wither in the forum with a detached sense of schadenfreude. They deserve to languish in the middle floors. They have not put in the time to grow as you have. If

Katoka took a single sip and grimaced. Mari swiped the bottle and demolished it as an afterthought. Her audacity stunned Acanthus. Then, she laughed, loudly and wordlessly, until tears formed at the edges of her eyes. “That wa s a TERRIBLe idea.” Acanthus desperately tried to catch her breath, clutching her sides as Mari sputtered near the end of the bottle. “Keep goi nf, you’ re almost hther, Mari. gold. Marigold.” Acathus chuckled again. She couldn’t help it—everything was brighter and funnier. “I fuck in, fucking tol d you. It’s terrible.” She doubled over laughing as Mari complimented

Custom Skill Proposal Name: >run_cmd swap(int *x int *y) (Disabuse System) Mechanic: Whenever you activate [[Assault Mode]], instead swap two of your core stats as though you just activated Temporal Distortion (Quest Reward from <<Down the Rabbit Hole>>). Description: A skill that can only be learned when the truth of the game is confronted: you are lines of code in the same way that your enemies are living, breathing creatures. Did Kayaba foresee the denial of his reality blossoming into its confirmation?

Appraisals (Each ID Links to the crafting date.) (2) Aincrad Lullaby | 245530 245531 | Instant Lullaby 2 Off to sleep, never to wake. (2) Minimalistic Etude | 245533 245685 | Instant Hypnosis 2 A few seconds is all it takes for the listener to lose focus in the heat of battle.

Compared to the previous floor boss, Acanthus felt entirely unprepared. She had helped with a few field bosses for this raid, but nothing she wanted to bring. The lion’s fur sounded nice, but shed part of her ability to weather damage. And the crystal tempted her, but the thought of opening herself to a brutal counterattack sounded foolish. She would rely on the bolder members of the team to commit to the supposed weakness. But no other preparations had been made. The floor boss was a rush project with a firm deadline, and Acanthus couldn’t bring herself to care. The spice of death slowly

"Whenever you have a moment, I have a larger order to place. I'll come find you after the floor boss." Purchasing. Creme Brulee x5 Payment. 10 Materials sent to Demian.

"Thanks for coming through on short notice. I have a few rarer tea leaves for your troubles." Purchasing. 4 Imperial Grey Quarter (DMG 3) Payment. 24 materials sent to Kingsley.

You silly little roller I have places to be

“Sorry.” Mari accepted Acanthus’ paper-thin excuse quietly, a wounded acceptance marred by the dark thoughts moving across her face. Shit. Shit shit shit. The excuse was terrible, but she had still hoped. Acanthus opened her mouth to explain herself. It’s me. I’m a jumpy idiot. I really am sorry. But they had already moved on. Mari took one last swig of the fruit juice before Acanthus polished it off and swapped over to sake. She enjoyed her own cup slowly while Kat spoke to Mari. “Not every day you run into someone so striking off the beaten path like this.” Acanthus sputtered

Ara followed in the wake of Acanthus’ fury, cutting down the lion in a single stroke. Its face contorted in a pained grimace before the entire thing shattered and vanished in the winds of floor seventeen. Acanthus fought the visions of Kumatetsu while she cleaned and sheathed Wormwood. The thing hadn’t felt any pain. It was just a thing, after all. The frontliners talked amongst themselves, debating whether or not the message was real. Truth be told, Acanthus had just assumed the strange message was true. Or at least had some merit to it. How else could some stranger reach out to the enti

They were in the field before Acanthus even knew what had happened. Morningstar had sussed out the lion almost as soon as they were on the Floor. She wondered if he was part bloodhound. Reading minds seemed to be an in-game skill: perhaps there was also a hidden skill related to searching that let you smell out the enemies? Either way, the Lion never stood a chance. Morningstar and Arabelle were already on the lion, destroying chunks of the health bar in single blows. Arabelle remarked that she hoped piercing the hide would not affect the drop. “Not that I’m aware of. I’ve hunted thi

Mari began to reach out, stretching closer to Acanthus’ face. At that moment, the reality of the situation dawned on her: she was alone, in the wild, with a complete stranger. A stranger with an orange marker. The wind picked up, and the shade of the tree danced as the branches shifted lazily. A knife flashed in the shadows cast on Mari’s hand. Acanthus recoiled for a fraction of a second, smacking her head on the back of the tree she rested against. The light had settled, and Mari looked the same as she had before. “Oh, I’m sorry! Sorry. I started drifting off to sleep. It’s a calm