[F4-PP] Séance in a circle of frost

[Raidou 1]

Soft winds carrying falling flakes of white, where no two are the same but similar. Dancing in from above from a network of branches that compose a canopy between columns of wooden spire blasted ivory by the unceasing flurry of varied magnitude that takes hold on this floor. They find the glass that covers Raidou's eyes, a placebo of the real world he had no interest in ridding himself of. These glasses bound him to reality as a subtle reminder that he was in a dream, an iron cage devised by a man who aimed to lock them in torment for eternity for the sake of entertainment. An exhale of hot steam from his mouth as he peered into the grayed sky above him, trapped in a moment that had passed. Trying to come to terms with what had transpired prior and claim what lay dormant on this floor: Cold-Ivory. A plant with particular properties that seemed to warp space around it, made it of various potent effects.

The fact was this plant's use was too dire to skip over, he had to gather some despite his reluctance to return to the starglades, to the frostbitten lake that painted the area with his failure. The same failures that seemed to cover the pure white canvas with shades of regret, of longing that was hard to swallow. Raidou wasn't one to dwell on the past, he chose to always look forward and was determined here to do the same.

His footfalls broke through the fresh powder, drawing his path through the undisturbed ground coverage with each step. The vibrant red of his cloak stood out in the sea of ivory as he passed between the trees, his movement causing some of the surrounding clung snow to fall from the branches overhead. A ding from his HUD as a pulse from his gathering skill causes a gold dot to create rings slightly off his position, just a tad northwest of him. "So be it..." Raidou whispered to the winds about him, convincing himself to carry on.

ID# 137511 results: Craft: 9, Loot: 9+(5/3)=17, Success!

[Gatherer Activated!] +2 Bonus Materials

3*T1 Materials Obtained!

Sifting through the snow, where the small node is alight a hue of yellow on his map, unearthing a few tufts of white hidden underneath the surface Raidou pulls away from what lay just out of sight.

Spoiler

Raidou, The Red Wanderer:

Level: 27

HP: 540/540

En: 54/54

Weapon: The Black Star - Genesis [1HSS] (T1/Perfect): Paralyze 1 (9-10), Taunt (+1 Hatred from Attacks/Howls, +2 on Focused), Vampiric [Offensive] 1 (Recover 10% of Total HP on 9-10)

Armor: Swordsman's Bracer [Heavy] (T1/Perfect): +27 Damage Mitigation

Misc: Onyx Spectacles [Trinket] (T1/Perfect): +3 Loot Dice

Skills:

1 Handed Straight Sword: Rank 1

Parry: Obtained

Gatherer: Obtained

Searching: Rank 5 (GM)

Concentration [Extra]: +1 Accuracy on next attack, 3 turn cool down

Battle Ready Inventory:

Golem's Strength*5

Golem's Strength*5 (8 more in reserve)

Self-Heal Recovery Potion*4

Teleport Crystal*1

Red Wanderer's Robe [Light] (T1/Perfect): +3 Evasion

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Raidou

[Hidden 1]

The white glow of the snow she tread on was annoyingly blinding. She had just managed to finish up her final quest on the fourth floor <<Absolute Zero>>. Admittedly it was rather difficult for her to accomplish alone and she barely managed to bring the battle to a close in her favor. She was left exhausted, and having a wish to get out of this cold. Swiping her finger down, it would bring up her menu and equip a coat, being forced to unequip her cloak. 'That's fine, I'll just drink one of my Elucia potions' Scrolling once again through her inventory she searched for the potion that would make a temporary change to her avatar to allow her to pass. Her eyes widened when she didn't find one. "I let myself run out!" she gasped exasperatedly. 

Bringing a scarf to cover her mouth she shook her head. There was no way she was making the journey back in just her cloak and combat gear. She would just endure it and run the risk of getting seen. Moving forward, she would find herself coming upon a path of footprints. Her eyes moved up the trail until she seen a red-cloaked player scrounging around in the snow. 'Weirdos'  she thought to herself. He was directly in the path of the town and she had no intentions of backtracking. 

Trodding forward, she kept her eyes on the boy who seemed to surprisingly look like Hikoru in his younger days. The glasses, the messy black hair. It was all too familiar. She was going to say nothing, until she came close and was forced to come to a dead stop. 

"A-are you crazy! It's like a negative million degrees and you're not wearing anything warm?" 

She had noticed the red cloak was all that he seemed to be wearing and unless he consumed some sort of potion that increased his body temperature there was no way he wasn't freezing. Giving the player a second look, he didn't seem that threatening. Was he searching for materials here? She kept her head down, not looking at the man directly. She didn't want to give him the chance to memorize her face. Hopefully, her orange crystal would scare him away. 

[Raidou 1]

From his back the crunch of the frost being broken away from another, it appeared it approached and would pass him by. The floor was usually devoid of activity given the extreme temperatures that usually followed the falling of snow, leaving the nomad to his devices in the serenity of ivory. Hoping that this one would do the same, for history had been layered under the snow here. One that Raidou didn't want to continue, it seems those he met here always ended in turmoil at best or worst: forgotten.

Then like a piercing shot through a glass windowpane, the words shattered the quiet background as they poured from a female voice:

"A-are you crazy! It's like a negative million degrees and you're not wearing anything warm?" 

It was soft and concerned as it danced into his ears at his back, Raidou was doomed to the fates it seemed as possibly it hadn't appeared to him before but bright red in an ocean of pearled water was not the best disguise and caused him undue interactions more times than not it seemed. Swallowing hard and gritting his teeth, the measure he's taken prior to speaking without a stammer on his tongue. Adjusting the frames on his nose, he aims to respond to the girl as he turns with a softened look on his face and does just that:

"I am used to the cold, I've done this quite a number of times."

Raidou couldn't help but notice the orange index claiming her person, one that all too many players he had met prior had over their heads. He found that the color meant little on the grand scheme of things, that it was nothing more than a visible mistake to most and people where just people regardless of what the cardinal thought. The people the nomad had met, the most awful of green players and the nicest of oranges. It was naught but a color. His eyes return to the floor, desperate as to not sour another word here as his hands take motion once again. But he could not focus due to the loaming female behind him, his attentions lied elsewhere in @Hidden.

ID# 137533 results:  Loot: 3+(5/3)=12, Failure!

Edited March 11, 2020 by Raidou

[Hidden 1]

A few of her nerve's were struck when he gave his simple reply. 'He's gotta be one of those guys huh? Tch, I hate people who think they're all bad.' Oblivious to her own hypocritical thoughts, she simply replied, "Ah. So you spend a lot of time doing things like... freezing your ass off searching in the snow."  Rolling her eyes, Hidden would take a few steps forward in the snow, understanding the boy still had his attention on her. Most likely weariness. Her eyes drifted to him as she came into thought. 

'I used to search around for materials and attempt working a shop. He must be one of those who refuses to fight and makes his living running some kind of profession. Those are the most boring kinds... he wouldn't even be worth a fight.' 

"I'll let you get back to it then. Was just coming back from a quest back there. Good luck in your searches" 

Hidden walked past the man. Her goal was the city, which we should sneak in and use the teleport gate to move to where the next quest would be found. Her eyes set on the city in the distance, she wouldn't turn back on the man that she had left behind. 

@Raidou 

[Raidou 1]

"Sorry if I came off as brash, let me explain." Raidou spoke as he seemed to follow the same patterns as she seemed to start to take away, hoping to diffuse the situation just a tad. Reaching for the satchel on his belt and producing some thermal elixir, a bright reddened fluid in a small vial. "These are a bit trivial to whip up, but they do wonders for colder places like this. I call them hot drinks. I'm an apothecary by trade, so these little boons serve me well when I have to brave such temperatures." Before he cut his explanation short, hoping to not drive another to rage with an insistent drabble.

"You probably have the right idea though, a coat would probably be more ideal and less resource consuming."

Adjusting his frames on his face, a glimmer of his glasses poured outward from the dancing sunlight upon them. "A quest huh, I've been on a few myself though it wasn't one here yet. Soon but I wonder how close it is, though." a soft chuckle, hoping to break the tension down. Dropping his task and sitting down as the herbs would still be here if he chose to solidify his attention to the girl, trying a different approach this time. The snow gave way underneath him as the robe moved to brace his rear end. "Would you like to know what these are?" Raidou spoke with a gentleness in his voice, it was a bit clear the girl was tired most likely from her journey.

@Hidden

Edited March 12, 2020 by Raidou

[Hidden 1]

She turned as the man seemed to make a second attempt at conversation, watching him hold up a red liquid in a vial. 'So he is using something to increase his body temperature! Used to the cold my ass!' She could hardly contain her laughter. "Apothecary is a strange way to say alchemist. It makes you sound more like a drug dealer." The boy seemed to try to find some sort of conversation to keep it moving. 'He seems to be having a hard time with this, is he not used to socializing? If so, that makes two of us.' He then would begin to gesture at some plants that seemed to be the purpose of his search. 

"Would you like to know what these are?"

Biting her lip, she sighed and nonchalantly replied, "Okay, I'll bite. What do they do?" she shifted her weight to her right hip, crossing her arms. If of course, they were actually any good she could always swipe them from the man. He didn't seem strong and with his social skills he probably didn't have very many friends. "I really must get moving on though to get some more quests in, so do make it quick okay?"

[Raidou 1]

It seemed as though he had broken through, even for just a moment. Raidou felt as though he was making a finding in a scientific medium, the very notion was an overwhelming feeling of eureka. "Yeah basically, I deal in dopes and poisons." Raidou chuckled at the notion he was selling illicit substances, which would have suited where his shop was in the mists of floor 4. Now that he thought about it, he has made some strange mixtures in his shop. Shaking his head and letting loose the notion, Raidou turns one of the plants over in his hand.

"Well you see, these are the bases for all the strange potions and crystals out there." Raidou replied with an earnest explanation given the fact that most were not interested in his studies, the very things he used to calm himself and focus his thoughts down to a sharpened edge. "Cold-Ivory I've coined them. They only grow in the snow though." Raidou told while turning it over in his palm, before extending the piece of white to Hidden to observe. "Here, you can keep this one. I hope I am not keeping you from something to dire." with his hand outstretched with a scratch at the back of his skull, still a tad nervous and worried he might make a misstep.

Raidou gives Hidden: 1*T1 Material

@Hidden

Edited March 12, 2020 by Raidou

[Hidden 1]

As the man mentioned dopes and poisons Hidden would nod. "Dope. You are practically selling yourself as a dealer at this point." She giggled at her own joke. She wasn't sure if he was enjoying these jokes, but to her they were almost comedy gold. She watched as the man produced a small white herb, explaining that he was one of the only to actually collect it and that it only grew out in the snow. "A curious item. Exactly what kind of potions are they best made into? I am assuming something to help regulate body temperature from getting too hot?" She shot the man a questioning glance as she gingerly accepted the plant from him. 

"Hmm, I don't think I would consider questing to be dire. I am just trying to earn some extra skill points. I have some work that needs done and it would be a lot easier to accomplish at a higher level." 

She would offer the man a wry smile. He was good at making weird potions. Perhaps having him as a contact might not be the worst of ideas. Potions certainly had been nerfed from being able to do all sorts of things, but they could still alter appearances and other miscellaneous things. 

 

[Raidou 1]

"I hope none of my potions are hallucinogens, although I haven't tried every brew personally." Raidou declared as the notion had escaped him with a snicker, maybe some of them did do such a thing. He was curious now, made a mental note to check all the potions in his shop and toss out any that did. "Actually they seem to distort other plants you add to them. They seem to reset your active crafts if combined with herbs that are used antidotes. Likewise, you pair it with a herb with golden leaves, and you end up making a teleport crystal, or a healing potion one and get one that creates a burst of dust that heals your teammates."

"A sample or two perhaps?" Raidou spoke with honesty, taking into his satchel and retracting a couple of his productions to pass to the girl. A crystal that matched her eye color a violet shade, and a yellowed liquid that was a bit on the heavier end. "They are just collecting dust at the moment, eventually when I need them I'll make more. But your questing right? maybe they will serve more use to you." Raidou said with a matching smile on his face, hoping the girl would take them as this was always his intention: to help.

Raidou offers Hidden:

T3 Flash of Rejuvenation (Mass Heal Crystal)

T3 Potion of Obsidian Flesh (Miti. 3)

@Hidden

Edited March 12, 2020 by Raidou

[Hidden 1]

The drug dealer was doing his best to assure her that his consumables were not dangerous. It was a funny joke, that she would allow to live as long as she possibly could get it to. His words were actually a bit interesting. "So you're telling me that one ingredients effect changes the entire outcome when paired with another?" She couldn't cook so if this was a common thing she wouldn't have any clue. She watched as the man reached into his bag and held out two items for her. "Ah, trying to get me hooked I see." she would say with a small chuckle. She slowly took them from Raidou as he asked her if she wanted a sample. "I mean I guess?" She listened to his words before looking into their stats. Grimacing, she would return the items to the man. "Despite how I may look to you, I am not Tier three. I am a second tier player, even though I have been on the frontlines." 

She looked to him and decided to bring her questions in a different direction. Less on the work he did but more on the person. Thats what Mari and Yuki would want her to do right? "So, is there anything you occupy your time with other than crafting? Or does our mysterious red wanderer only travel around looking for materials to craft with and offer suspicious items?"

<<Hidden Denies Items>>

@Raidou

[Raidou 1]

"Tier two..." The notion was beside him, he had noticed the tags upon his crafts but this was the first time it was made relevant. Adding them back to his bag, a bit disheartened he couldn't offer the girl assistance on her journey. "As of late no, I am in a consistent pattern of gathering materials and processing them into items. Gaining leverage and boosting what I have on hand to offset things in my favor." Raidou explained with another unit of white plant adding to his bag. "I was avoiding this floor, usually I am on a higher one but I was running low on these and they only grow in the snow." As he shifts some of the frosted white over to uncover a few more units from within. The snow is heavy with moisture, more than likely due to the sheer amount of the stuff that falls in the consistent weather.

ID# 148038 results: Loot: 1+(5/3)=9, Failure!

@Hidden

Edited May 12, 2020 by Raidou

[Hidden 1]

"A consistent pattern?" she voiced back. She traced her finger up the side of her cloak until it stopped where her cheek would be. "So that is in other terms for you are a one tune person, following the same rhythm? shaking her head she would look away. "How do you remain entertained with something like that? There isn't any risk, any fun. If your goal is to just help out everyone, than you aren't even living for yourself anymore." 

This boy was less entertaining than she thought he would be. Every person was supposed to have their story but this was just some crazed drug fiend that picked up every glowing thing on the ground because it was shiny. This world meant a lot to her and she was surprised there was someone in it just picking up random materials. 

She stepped towards Raidou who was busy gathering some more materials. "What if say, you were in danger." She shoved him with her left hand, her unnatural Aincradian strength becoming enough to push him over into the snow. "How is gathering going to save you out of a situation like this?" 

 

[Raidou 1]

Being shoved into the snow by the girl, causing Raidou's glasses to fall from his face into the snow. They were not necessary to see but more of a anchor to reality, a constant reminder of what he strove to overcome. "Simple, risk...is not a method of fun, its a way to get yourself killed." Raidou could feel that fire in his stomach, but it did not show, still a dormant flame that threatened to go out being kindled ever so slightly. "And you are fully correct, this task is a trivial one. Most do not see the use in such a thing, that cloth on your back. That coat, everything you are wearing came from somewhere. It offers you safety and security, it allows you to survive where you could not before. They were made by someone, either the cardinal or another player. I will not be in danger if I am prepared well enough, risk is not something I toy with and neither should you. Gathering won't liberate anyone from this wretched place, but the result of it will." The anger allowed him to speak more freely than usual, as if something had broken away under the pressure. 

[Hidden 1]

His answer didn't appeal to her. She had been hoping for him to admit that what he was doing was tiresome and boring. 'I feel that this kid back in the real world was one of the ones that upheld all of the teachers rules. I seen plenty of those, they tended to leave me alone though' He was speak more outwardly now, seeming to have broken a bit of the shell that he constantly hid behind. 

Walking over, she picked up the glasses from the snow and used her sleeve to wipe them off. Shaking her head, Hidden reached her hand down for Raidou to help himself out of the snow with. "Risk isn't something I toy with. Its a tool used by the participators in any world to utilize to reap better rewards. You put more on the line, you gain more in return. If you have nothing to lose, risk has little downfall" Her eyes drifted down to him. She doubt he would understand, but neither did she. They were too completely different people with different goals in mind. His goal was to stay safe while being productive and helpful. 

 

[Raidou 1]

Handing his keepsake from reality to him as she helped him to his feet, Hidden showed a kindness, a strange alter of the first that Raidou was having a bit of trouble comprehending the sudden shift in demeanor. "It may not seem like it, but I understand risk is a necessity but it can be reduced. I am aware that there is hardly a way to completely erase all the possibilities for things going sideways. After this nettle stems danger..." Raidou remarks peering upward to the down flowing snow as if speaking to cardinal directly before his attentions shift to the girl "But through flowers we find safety." A shift of his glasses on his face, re-adding them to the bridge of his nose "I would offer you that safety for when the exposure is great, it becomes no more than an afterthought. To be prepared for all you would face, before staking your life is the thing I strive for. I do not wish to be trapped in this iron cage for eternity, but a hasty press through dark waters is the quickest way to be consumed by the serpent."

[Hidden 1]

Raidou accepted her help up, her gaze casting away from a moment. Her face took on a small pout as she she realized she had been defeated by Mari's words. 'I'm the one who pushed him down because he needed to learn something. I shouldn't have to pick him up too.' she thought to herself. Her acting was far out of character for her. It was behavior unfitting the most wanted player in Aincrad. 'My problem is that he's right. Consumables are pretty important, but I refuse to admit that he's completely right either' 

He mentioned him not being hasty to get out of their prison. "You are bold to assume that I want to leave this place. My only business on the frontlines is to not miss anything important." Smiling, she wondered if he wondered who she truly was now. She hadn't been the best at hiding, but she doubted a player like him would be interested in passing information like her visuals to other players. 

"I just hope you know its nice people like you that are discarded or stepped on." she stated plainly. Those that hid behind and augmented the strength of others would turn out to be left behind in the dust in the long run. "Nice people are broken down and left behind. Everything that you build will be stolen from you." 

'Unless you put yourself in the center.' she thought. 

[Raidou 1]

Raidou was a bit perplexed by her statement, to it an inquiry to the girl in an honest reflection and analogy. "If guilt within your bosom lies, imagine every eye beholds blame. If such sentiment makes a bed with reality than no true words have been spoken. If your aim was to stay in this capsule, then nothing there would be of value. A thought and a feeling, if perhaps the most toxic lie could be the one you convince yourself of." a long explanation in a flow of information from his mouth, unfiltered in the method to which ran smoothly. "I choose to hope for the best but expect the worst, you see orange above your head as a burn. A brand that cannot ever be removed, but all I see is a visible misstep on your journey. To make mistakes is to be human, just because mine aren't painted on me doesn't make this any less true. What is offered cannot be stolen, simply a gift from one to another, and to those who would take from those they do nothing more than steal from themselves. You have not to steal, for I will gladly offer." spoken with a firm gaze toward the girl, head still turned he looked on with an adamant glance with a final word "If you need a hand, I would offer you one."

[Hidden 1]

It appeared she made a mistake. Her words set him off into a poetry of an unknown kind. 'Did he just mention guilt being in my bo-' he continued. Her eyes widened as is voice became more and more transparent, becoming unheard by her. As his mouth stopped moving, she refocused on him, her eyes almost glazed over. "I think... I think you've defeated me..." She slowly stumbled a few feet away. 

First it was his terrible sociability... then it was his stubbornness. Now, she understood how he survived. His voice seemed to drawl on with a torturous tone. She was done with this.... This man was a lost cause. She just wanted away. Ignoring the fact that putting it on would give him more than needed information, she would equip her cloak. 

Before bringing the hod over her head, she shot him a death glare. Her violet eyes were dark with murderous intent. "If you don't want any risk, don't even mention meeting me to anyone." 

[Raidou 1]

The principle was lost on Raidou, for it meant very little to him given his lack of attachment to the primary cities. It was little business of others to what the girl's movements were. "Why would I? You have a right to your privacy." Raidou with a sigh and removal of the frames on his face as the theory seemed to fall on the deafened ear, was hoping for an understanding but it was becoming painfully clear a change was in order if he ever wished to convey a point. A shift of his own robe on his back using a section of it to wipe the building fog, the environmental sedative wearing thin in his bloodstream. "If you ever need a hand, simply ask." Raidou paid the girl a smile as he put the glasses back to his nose, in the shortest phrase he could muster unaware of his own social faux pas and how abstract the statement was. Uncorking the bottle in his hand and taking a swig of the stuff, he could feel his internal temperature regulating.

[Hidden 1]

Her eyes, wide with a glassy look, stared at him. She would leave him off the hook for now. For someone who seemed to be really smart he either didn't care or didn't understand the price of information on her whereabouts. It would bring him a good sum of col to talk of her to Laughing Coffin or the Aincrad  Police Department. He mentioned her needing a hand but she waved a hand in dismissal. "I'm not really that sure if I'd ask for help from someone that talks like you do" she stated plainly. It was harsh but hopefully it would serve as a wake up call. 'Is this how other people see me? Or is it just the opposite? He tries to act too nice to people to bring himself in, but others think I am harsh to push people out'. She shook her head out of her thoughts. Shaking from the cold of having only combat clothing and a cloak on, she would step away from the red-jacketed man. She hoped that it would be a long while before she met him again. 

She looked up to the snowy sky, an exhaled breath becoming visible. 'Mari... is this friend making business really that worth it? What do you think opening up is going to accomplish?' What she didn't understand was that by opening up, she was slowly growing warmer to people. 

_______________________________________

2 SP to both Players
200 col to Both players
Raidou receives 2 T1 Materials
Hidden Receives 1 T1 Material