Acanthus

“No reason to worry at all,” she confirmed. Back when she started this quest with Pinball, the thought of scaling a mountainous monster and risking unavoidable damage—setting aside the fear of falling itself—might have driven her back inside for another year. Acanthus did her best to avoid conversation. She could have sworn Pinball gave her an odd look while she wasn’t paying attention. Odd looks meant odd questions, or unwanted conversation, and she didn’t want to repeat her previous weird, mushy remarks. Even though part of her thought about Pinball as a good friend, she recognized that

10/7 Craft evals All crafts refer to 10/7 crafts. Link is here Name: Breath of Life Profession: Performer Rank: 5 Roll ID: 235048 Roll Result: 8+1/LD:9 Item Type: Support Song Tier: 1 Quality: Rare Enhancements: HP Recovery 2 Post Link: Hyperlink Descripti

Crafting for 10/7/2024 Extended Workshop. (+3 EXP total from Trinket | Tuning Fork + Hard Working) Roll: ID# CD: LD: Quality Count Experience Ambition Mod 1 235048 CD: 8 +1 LD: 9 Rare - 8 (+3 Ambition) 2 235047 CD: 6 +1 LD:

All links refer to 10/6 crafts, found here. Name: First Floor Overture, Accelerando Profession: Performer Rank: 5 Roll ID: 234985 Roll Result: 5+1/LD:20 Item Type: Support Song Tier: 1 Quality: Uncommon (Mast) Enhancements: HP Recovery 1(Instant) Post Link: Hyperlink

Crafting for 10/6/2024 Extended Workshop. (+3 EXP total from Trinket | Tuning Fork + Hard Working) Roll: ID# CD: LD: Quality Count Experience Ambition Mod 1 234985 CD: 5 +1 LD: 20 Uncommon (Mast) - 6 (+3 Ambition) 2 234984 CD: 5 +1

“One last hit is all it needs to go down. You want to do the honors?” Acanthus shrugged. At least he trusted her to do something. “I’ll draw its attention. Once I attack, you should have the opening you need.” Eulogy dipped back into the shadows as Acanthus bided her time. The bird turned its gaze to her. It spit fire and raked the air with its talons, but Acanthus was too quick, thanks to Nymoria’s charm. She wove under and around the attacks, letting the smaller strikes bounce off her armor. Eulogy seemed to be taking his time. “Any day now,” she said sarcastically. “Not that I’m in any

With a few practiced swings, Acanthus had knocked the bird out of the sky. “Eulogy, it’s yours!” “Got it!” He rushed past Acanthus, knives at the ready. He punctured the Phoenix precisely, causing its to lose its remaining HP. “Gotta watch out,” he said. “Now it’s time for round two.” Acanthus had read up on the Phoenix. The first time she killed it, the Phoenix would regenerate and gain an attack boost. She wasn’t too worried; given the respawn health, she would be able to make short work of it. Sure enough, the bird disintegrated into a pile of ashes with a theatrical caw. But rath

“On your left!” came Eulogy’s cry. She made space for him; this time, he had left an opening for her. Intended or not, she couldn’t say, but an opening of any kind was good enough for her. She scored a few choice hits before she was forced to roll out of the way. Eulogy had been right; she was so busy tanking the fight that she was having a hard time getting any decent strikes in. Thankfully, Eulogy was doing his share of the work. The two of them worked as one; Acanthus took the heat while Eulogy dealt out the pain. Once she got the hang of it, she rather enjoyed the field boss fight. Sh

Acanthus backed up from the Phoenix as its wings began to glow. “Watch out,” she warned Eulogy, “I think it’s about to activate an ability.” Stepped back cautiously. The Phoenix stretched out its wings with a loud caw, causing the ground to erupt. There was nothing either one of them could do to avoid the brunt of the attack. Even with her fireproof armor, she felt the heat bubbling up around her. Eulogy must be feeling like he was cooked alive. When the fires dimmed down, she looked for Eulogy. He appeared to be cracking a few crystals. Some of hers, actually. She recognized the ending m

Dodging past the volcanic vents, Acanthus closed in for a strike. She readied her blade, began to swing, when she felt something disconcerting. Someone was using her shoulders to launch themselves? Looking up, she saw Eulogy high in the air, knives whirling. “On it!” he cried, taking a sizeable chunk out of the boss’ health bar. “Hey!” Acanthus yelled. The more she worked with this boy, the more annoyed she got. “I had a perfectly good attack lined up!” “Sorry!” he shouted back. “I saw an opening. The damage is done either way, so what’s the problem?” The problem is that I don’t like

Filtering through the players on this floor, she saw the nearest was a player named 3ulogy. Sending the invite, she saw the boy dodge a flurry of attacks while quickly accepting the invite. His health and stats appeared on her HUD. “Any day now,” the boy said kindly. “Not that I’m in any danger, but it’ll at least go faster with another warm body.” I can be more than a warm body, she thought sourly. She stepped into aggro range of the boss, where it locked eyes with her and screeched. “Oh, and you might have your hands full dodging.” “Wait, haven’t you been at it awhile? You should h

Barely into the grind, and there was one hiccup she hadn’t accounted for: someone was already fighting the field boss. A young boy, slightly older than Koji, was going toe to toe with the fiery bird. He dipped around a slew of fireballs before leaping an unhuman height. He sliced quickly and tumbled away before the bird could even react. Acanthus waited for an opportunity to introduce herself. “If you wait too long, you won’t get any rewards.” The boy panted as he pressed the attack. Acanthus didn’t realize she’d made enough noise to be noticed. “Go ahead and send me a party invite a

Of all the places the field boss could have been, it was floor nine. Of course it was floor nine. She had been here already to clear out Cerberus with Rencesvals and Ara. And by the end of the hot, miserable journey, she had hoped to never return. The problem was, the Phoenix here dropped an item that she desperately wanted. “Hellstorm” was a unique consumable that could add a sizable damage boost to her attacks. It would benefit her ability to churn through mobs, not to mention improve her odds in the upcoming field boss fight. And while she hadn’t intended it, her stats perfectly lined

THREAD SUMMARY Experience: [Word Count: 3430/10 = 343] * [True Tier: 6] * [Group Factor: 1] = 2058 EXP + 4000 (quest) = 6058 * 1.1 (Mega Slime Farm) = 6663 EXP Col: 400 (bonus page) + 10000 (quest) + 999 (Laurel Wreath) = 11399 col Items: Blade Spear of the Warrior | T3 Spear | AA | ACC 2

The ceremony was beautiful, but went on for far too long. Thanks were offered to each of the gods of the floor, and Acanthus made a concerted effort to not fall asleep. She worried that she might have dozed off a few times. How did such a climactic fight turn into this? With a jerk of her head, she started awake again. The Chief was still droning on about the bright future of Marsonia. Immediately she wished for someone like Titania to whisk her away. She’d had the right idea; why waste time here? She wasn’t earning any experience. “And now,” the Chief announced, “one final thing to add.

Uso-Tsuki stood up, wiping his mouth. “This is my empire. It’s my birthright. The Chief—” “I have cast you out.” The Chief descended the steps of the palace slowly, sword bared. “You are no longer of my blood. Your crimes will weigh you down to the ocean floor.” Stopping next to Acanthus, he gave a simple flourish of his weapon. “We shall carry out the sentence together.” The former Black Ops assassin knelt, defeated. “And will you do it yourself, father? Will you be able to look me in the eyes and kill me? You and your people will know you as kinslayer, leaving a broken, tainted leg

"Fair? Nothing about father's reign is fair. Even when I was a child," *CRACK* Acanthus sent Uso-Tsuki tumbling down the stairs. Everyone else in this damned quest had been allowed to monologue. The Chief, the Lieutenant, even Uso-Tsuki. So if they got a chance to bore the crowd with theatrics, then Acanthus deserved that chance too. How about I hold you hostage with some useless speeche? “Fair? I have something to say about "fair." Your mistake was thinking this was a fair fight.” In a single, smooth motion, she broke his guard. “I had days to prepare. I’ve crafted consumables,

Uso-Tsuki snarled before diving back into the fight. He whirled through combat, but was still too slow; too predictable. It reminded her of the girl she had fought on floor six. What was her name again? Not that it mattered. Acanthus raised her sword to block yet another whirlwind of attacks. But at the last possible moment, he shifted and feinted, bringing his dagger up from the side. It punched through the tough leather on her side, and she felt the buzz of her pain indicators. Lucky break, she grimaced. Uso-Tsuki seemed to act like he’d just scored the killing blow. He gloated ove

It should have been a fight for her life, but things were going very well for her. She started to daydream about future quests. Part of her wanted to dive into a quick grind right after this, but she knew better. Whirling around one of Uso-Tsuki’s attacks, she slashed through him before returning to her thoughts. There was a field boss on floor nine that would have a useful drop. Both for the grind thread, and for the floor boss. If her suspicion was right, burn damage would be a valuable asset in that fight. “Pay attention to me!” Uso-Tsuki howled as he fought. But as fast as he had look

“What, a dozen men just to fight me? It doesn’t seem like a fair fight.” He grinned wickedly. “Let’s even the odds.” In a dark flash, he charged the Honor Guard. He moved so fast that Acanthus could barely keep up. He cut down half the guard in a moment. The rest were finished quickly as well. Only Acanthus, the Chief, and the Lieutenant remained. “There,” Uso-Tsuki said. “Now it’s a little more fair.” Acanthus did not care much for the theatrics. She stepped in, mid-sentence, forcing him back to fighting. “I wasn’t finished talking,” he hissed, pushing her back. “I know. You were taking

Acanthus: wow, NIGHT. This is beautiful. Thank you so much Acanthus: close window Acanthus: oops Receiving: botan. | [#233631] | TIERLESS STRAIGHT SWORD | ACC III, ABS. ACC [desc.]: a blade of ivory and rosé, a myrtle woven round its guard. it sheds of blood-stained petals when swung.

“... and after today, he will plague our fair citizens no more. For he will come, he will try, and he will fail. For the glory of Marsonia.” The Chief ended the sentence with a sense of finality. Acanthus held her breath, waiting for the speech to pick back up. Instead, the Chief and his Honor Guard all turned to the steps at the front of the palace expectantly. Seeing the top of Uso-Tsuki’s head, she nearly jumped for joy. But her joy turned to terror as the rest of the man came into view. Drenched in the blood of palace guards, Uso-Tsuki carried himself with an air of a feral animal. Hu

Acanthus despaired; the Chief had been talking for ten minutes When he took a deep breath, she interrupted quickly. “We need to find Uso-Tsuki, and every moment is critical. Where can we find him?” The Chief paused artificially, as if Cardinal’s planned speech was cut short. “Fear not, Acanthus; he will return to us soon enough. For I know my son…” And his speech resumed. Acanthus nearly tore a chunk of her hair out. All the fighting around them, and the game was taking a lifetime to explain the deep complexities of the pro- and anti-establishment factions on this floor. And not just the

Acanthus lightly hustled over to the Chief and his Honor Guard. They had created some space with the frontline of the attacking bandits, where Lieutenant flagged her down. “We’ve pushed back the rebels from the perimeter. How did your fight go?” Acanthus checked herself over one more time. She’d only taken one injury, a gash down her arm. The red, webbed wound was stitching itself together at an unnatural pace. She’d honestly wished for a riskier fight. “It went well. His enforcers are dead.” Members of the Honor Guard murmured amongst themselves, impressed by Acanthus’ quick work of

“Alright, you’ve had a moment to talk. But I’m ready to finish up.” Purotekuta’s eyes bulged at her insubordination. “Unbelievable! You don’t even know why you’re fighting.” “Of course I do.” Acanthus took offense at the comment. But the time for conversation was over. She merely limbered up, and dove straight back into the fight. Purotekuta’s fighting had become predictable. Slash, slash, upward strike, leap back, charge. He threw in a few variations from time to time, but she recognized those core strikes over and over. When he leapt back again, Acanthus prepared herself. Rather th