[PP|F3]Hunting in anonymity <<DHA 3: Opal Hatchling>>

[Dustin 0]

Dustin was finally getting comfortable again, and he hated it. The silence used to be deafening, all he ever heard was the clash of defeat, the player's horror as he disappeared. Now Dustin heard nothing, not even the ringing of steel. "I can't forget the pain I've caused." His eyes would close and he would try his best to picture the player he killed in the snow that day.

Nothing.

He wanted so badly to remember the face, but he couldn't. All he saw was the print in the snow, the lack of a person made it ominous in its own right. No tracks to or from what obviously was a death spot. Had he not been sleeping in the snow of the fourth floor he might have forgotten the nip of Jack Frost at his nose. Today was different though. He noticed that the monument room was almost dead silent, and for the first time in months Dustin heard nothing. That room used to be filled with pain and hatred, from Dustin and everyone else who had a friend on that wall. I can't just forget about what I did, it's my sin. My burden. My cross to bear. If I forget, then I'm no better than that man.

Even if he needed to bear hell, that didn't mean he had to focus on it all day and night. Today he was going to finally take down that dragon quest he had followed with Arabelle. "I used to love this quest, made me feel like a real warrior." He would say as he pushed through the field before walking past a very familiar house. Over grown and practically falling apart, Dustin could almost see himself running around tending to the slime farm and growing a garden around back. Now it was full of weeds and death, empty where the most beautiful Hydrangeas used to grow.

Dustin would turn and quickly walk past, making his way out even further into the wilderness in search of that monster he was hunting. He needed to think, and his mind was quietest during a fight.

Spoiler

Stats

HP: 600

EN: 60

DMG: 15

MIT: 12

ACC: 2

EVA: 4

BH: 6

 

Inventory:

Oroboros:[Jewelry][2x Accuracy] A silver ring with a dragon eating its tail on it

Strength of Thor:[T2 Handwraps][3x Damage] Black hand wraps with a nordic design following the trim and mjolnir lace pattern on the back of his fists. The knuckles are studded with what appears to be rocks.

Azure Overcoat:[T2 Light Armor][3x Evasion] A jolting sapphire military-inspired jacket. This goat grants the wearer extraordinary elusiveness.

 

Skills:

Rank 5 Martial Arts [with Ferocity Mod]

Rank 3 Light Armor

Rank 1 Battle Healing

 

[NIGHT 0]

Tragedy? Killing another human being? Sins of the past weighing down on their shoulders?

Wow, that couldn't be NIGHT at all!

(Except for that last one. Maybe. But that's another topic for discussion another day.)

What really bothered her more was the urging of her broker to hunt for another baby dragon this day. There were so many -- so young, so small, and for some strange reason to Cardinal so in need of being slain. Whatever for; jewels? Artisans worked with the stuff in such large amounts, the player didn't see the issue with replacing what they'd needed it for with some other replica of its design. It was on the third floor that her gremlin mark resided, amongst the fields far away from the misty forest of old.

Good. She didn't really want to turn towards that labyrinth, anyway.

NIGHT gave the settlement around her a look as she materialized into its center -- largely unchanged, and her gaze lingered upon a familiar blacksmith's sign before she tore it away from the quest location. One quick confirmation of her mark's whereabouts with the menu, and she'd set off on her way.

For dragon infanticide.

	NIGHT   | HP: 1530/1530 | EN: 165/165   | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 76   | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5   | Stealth Detection: 5 | Stealth Rating: 7   | Dungeon Search: 2
- - -
[Examine] [Equipment] Dragon's Gaze -- [ Keen | After a successful attack, gain +1 BD until your next successful attack, at which point this bonus is removed. Another successful attack will reactivate this enhancement. ] -- [ Paralyze I | Natural successful attack rolls of 9-10 remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Paralyzed opponents lose any evasion properties. ] -- [ Absolute Accuracy | +1 ACC. Attack rolls of 1 no longer automatically miss. ] Reinforced Black Tracksuit -- [ Mitigation I | +54 MIT. ] -- [ Evasion I | +1 EVA. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ] [Battle-Ready Inventory] - - - - - - - - - Skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Light Armor | Passive | RANK 5/5  > Athletics, Sprint&Acrobatics Searching | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 > Reveal Hiding | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 5/5 Energist | Passive Quick Change | Active [Extra] Survival | Passive  Concentration | Active -- CD: 3 Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 3/3 Consumed Buffs Spoiler Kumatetsu Statue | +1 DMG - - - - - - Misc. Buffs Spoiler Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests.

[Dustin 0]

Dustin wasn’t going to lie to himself, some company might be nice. Only issue being he was about 95% sure everyone he knew hated him or disappeared. It was hard but he’d put himself in this hellish loneliness when his brother’s killer was stricken down by a kid with a bad attitude and an itch in his trigger finger. “Son of a-“ he would say quietly to himself as he ripped through the thicker brush. “Where an I going to find someone new to help me?” His words seemed almost pointed despite not being aimed at anyone in particular. He was already half-way to the quest marker and had no reason to turn around. Well, unless you count him needing company and he could probably use a few potions.

But he struggled onwards, however, he was walking much slower now. Almost meandering, he would look around to see if he could find someone to talk to. The empty woods were almost ominous, but with the light shining through to the dirt path, the young boy couldn’t help but mutter the word he thought best fit this scene. The wonderful trees placed in parallel lines, leaning over a dirt path speckled with rays of sunshine dancing as clouds covered them up.

”Beautiful.”

He would mutter that simple word, before continuing to lumber through the forest.

[NIGHT 0]

Who in the world would be talking to themselves in the middle of the forest?

She'd tilted her head when she spotted the stray figure in the distance. Amidst the lush greens and the streaks of sun tearing away at the lovely view, there happened to be another player aimlessly pacing about -- not that NIGHT could capture what they were speaking about. Too far away.

Had there been another mark nearby that the woman was familiar with, she might've been certain that he was headed to its location to run its meek form through. But the dragons were the trouble with these odd, out-of-the-way spots across the various floors. It only stood reason that the man was headed the same way she was, the player figured, taking multiple steps behind them after slipping into the dark.

There was something fun about tailing people now. Or perhaps her double's influence had rubbed off a little too much on her. A curse inwardly, the woman fighting against an urge to close the distance between them, as though tempting fate to see how quickly she'd be able to be caught. Nonetheless, even through the thicket she'd keep the figure in her sights.

After all, if the dragon did appear, she'd have to get in her kill too.

[Dustin 0]

The loneliness had come and gone in the short time it took the boy to traverse the speckled path. He had come to a conclusion, one so unbearably stupid that even he felt it was a bit much to hold onto. Perhaps it would be better if I forgot, it's not like remembering is doing me any good. Besides, while it's my sin to pay, it doesn't have to be torture. As much as he wanted to be hated for what he did, he was still human. This green cursor he kept was a gift, it was his ticket to the good life, so long as no one knew he killed Greil, he would be okay. At this precise moment only three people knew anyways, and only two know why.

Whatever the situation was, Dustin would put it out of his mind. Even the heaviest problems could be pushed away with ease, as long as you had the right tools. His right hand would begin to glow a dull green, and his eyes would focus straight forward. As he took the next few steps his breathing would change, as if he was psyching himself up for an upcoming battle, and BOOM! His hand would slide across his cheek as the dull tingling he recognized as pain coursed through his body, his mind was sharpened in an instant, and his goal was clear.

Murder a baby dragon.

His steps would create little dust clouds as he picked up his pace to a full blown sprint. A trail of shallow footprints would deepen suddenly because now the Blue clad warrior was on his way to death, the question became who was he bringing this time?

A hatchling, it's scales shining like a beautiful gemstone his mother used to wear on her neck, would lock eyes with the teenager from across a small clearing. Words would escape its lips but their meanings falling short of Dustin, lost somewhere between the morbid maw of a majestic beast and the ears of a depressed child. Still though, the words had no weight even before they were unrecognizable, Dustin's mind was made up. This quest was as good as finished.

Even if the two guards who showed up tried to stop him, Dustin would murder this baby dragon.

-----------

Dustin: 600/600 HP | 60/60 EN | 15 DMG | 12 MIT | 2 ACC | 4 EVA | BH: 6

@NIGHT: ?

-----------

Dragon Cultist 1: 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 THRN

Dragon Cultist 2: 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 THRN

Ghidorah: 215/215 HP | 40 MIT | 70 DMG | 1 ACC | 1 EVA | 14 THRN

 

[NIGHT 0]

No.

She hadn't expected her target to start casting what seemed to be a skill -- the light on his hand, the swipe across somewhere ahead of him. And what caught her more off guard was the man's sudden rush forward. Had she been caught? Her paces picked up, footsteps falling into the prints left on the ground by her prey. In that moment she had decided discarding her stealthier approach would be the greater alternative to losing her kill.

She wouldn't want to make the long walk out again in the future, on the occasion that she managed to miss the drake.

The forest soon opened up, dense trees making headway into a clearing. The white streak of a comet was spotted first, it seemed, as the utterance of a few phrases in draconic beckoned figures from the shadows to stand in aid of the little beast. Had the man slowed down to a halt, a shadow would over take him, eyes gleaming with a full-fledged fury that betrayed wishes of sloth within. The single blow she'd unleashed once the sprinting player had been out of range was nothing short of a tragedy for the enemies that befell them, for a wave of void would crash into their bleak virtual forms, leaving nothing but tar in a crescent marked onto the floor, speckled with the fading lights of their once-physical carcasses.

NIGHT slid across grass, then; in the time that she'd managed to send a death message to the creatures of Cardinal, she'd also felt the failing of one of her target's destruction, whirling around to greet the live monster with a look. It was one of suspicion, curiosity; her eyes bounced back from one creature to the next, both marked green, only one lighter than the other. She wasn't liken to say much else.

But she did wonder how the fresh face would've felt, with her trying to snag his steal.

Spoiler

ID: 184573 | BD: 5 + 4 - 1 = 8 | <<Calamity Disaster>> vs Ghidorah.
ID: 184572 | BD: 3 + 4 = 7 | <<Calamity Disaster>> vs Dragon Cultist #2.
ID: 184571 | BD: 9 | <<Calamity Disaster>> vs Dragon cultist #1.
 | The strikes land! (-15 EN)
 | 20 * 12 = 240 DMG

Dragon Cultist #1 | 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 THRN
Dragon Cultist #2 | 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 THRN
Ghidorah | 15/215 HP | 40 MIT | 70 DMG | 1 ACC | 1 EVA | 14 THRN

NIGHT | HP: 1488/1530 (-42) | EN: 150/165 (-15) | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 76 | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5
Dustin | 600/600 HP | 60/60 EN | 15 DMG | 12 MIT | 2 ACC | 4 EVA | BH: 6

 

[Dustin 0]

Not long after Dustin had come to a complete stop, a shadow blocked the sun as death rained down in his everlasting anger. Or, apparently, HER anger. The woman seemed vaguely familiar but it wasn't someone Dustin had met before of that he was sure. Still though, she was poaching his kill and that couldn't be allowed. His eyes would dart between the enemies while he realized what she had done. She wasn't just poaching his kill, she was taking all of the glory out of it too. You just had to beg for help didn't you? He was so engrossed in the damage she had wrought he hadn't noticed his mouth hanging open like an infatuated school boy.

Quickly shaking off the surprise, Dustin closed his mouth drew back his hand and launched himself towards the enemy who had just broken free from its shell. As he watched, his whole arm began to glow a very vibrant red, his killing intent had manifest into a powerful attack, ready to be sent forth into the jaws of this kind monster.

Its lack of movement stalled something in the boy, and his hand stayed back. In this creatures eyes he saw his sin, played back in perfect detail, he even remembered the face he had managed to lose over the last few weeks. He couldn't move, except to land and glare at the lizard. "This is my kill..." His words almost devoid of life, his face holding no expression. His mind was practically shattered, having been put through hell all over again. The kid wasn't quite sure he could beat her, but honestly he didn't care. "I found it, it's mine." His eyes didn't leave the dragon's, but his words were very clearly pointed towards the interloper.

His charged attack would slowly fade, and Dustin would turn his back to the enemy, even if it opened him up for an attack from what he knew about the monster he could at least survive one hit. A bright smile would cross the boy's face and his eyes would shut. "I'll even buy you a great big cake." The life he was once so full of came spilling out for a moment, but the smile he had put one was obviously masking immense pain.

Spoiler

ID: 184574

BD: 4 + 2 - 1 = 5 (miss)

ID: 184576

MD: 4 + 1 - 4 = 1 (Miss)

-2 EN

Dragon Cultist #1 | 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 THRN
Dragon Cultist #2 | 50/50 HP | 25 MIT | 35 DMG | 14 THRN
Ghidorah | 15/215 HP | 40 MIT | 70 DMG | 1 ACC | 1 EVA | 14 THRN

NIGHT | HP: 1488/1530 (-42) | EN: 150/165 (-15) | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 76 | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5
Dustin | 600/600 HP | 58/60 EN | 15 DMG | 12 MIT | 2 ACC | 4 EVA | BH: 6

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Dustin

[NIGHT 0]

What the hell was he -- ten? His words were so abrupt, she didn't even realize the strange pause that was shoved into the middle of their dance routine until she'd decided to back down from the kid's kill. Whatever it seemed as though he was going through, he sure felt like a lion's cub trying to fend off a morsel from a predator. She sunk her sword into the dirt, irises still written over with confusion, and with a hand gestured over to the dragonling. Their quarry was eager to attempt a quick get away, if only it could get its wings to flutter.

There was no reason to be protective over it any more, on her end. Even though her strike was singular, clearing out a great percentage of her target's health bar could've checked off the quest from her log.

One minute edge boy, the next minute a star. Eccentric and dangerous, his personality. The woman turned her sights to a side, hand wresting on the grip of her blade still. "If that cake comment was directed at me," she justified, "I don't need it. Better you than me."

Spoiler

Ghidorah | 15/215 HP | 40 MIT | 70 DMG | 1 ACC | 1 EVA | 14 THRN

NIGHT | HP: 1530/1530 (+42) | EN: 151/165 (+1) | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 76 | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5
Dustin | 600/600 HP | 58/60 EN | 15 DMG | 12 MIT | 2 ACC | 4 EVA | BH: 6

 

[Dustin 0]

Dustin's eyes narrowed as the woman quickly gave up on her kill. His smile had all but disappeared, replaced with a thorough look of suspicion. "Hmm... Now you don't want it? You had no issue following me here to steal it, and not only do you deny my offer of cake, which is rude on its own, but you also give up the honor of killing a dragon?" The kid didn't like this at all, and when it came to his decision making, he could be quite immature. The hatchling was trying to move away from the pair, which Dustin noticed, but had no intention of acting on. If it wanted to get away, he would let it for now, it would only make things more fun, seeing how little she truly cared about the hunt. "There has to be a reason you don't want it." And thus, like a child, Dustin was having fun again.

That's not to say he wasn't thinking of his own personal hell, but it was definitely further from his mind than usual. His weak half hearted smile had turned into a much more playful expression, but in a way that he still seemed mostly sane, even if that wasn't the best description of the boy. "You know what? Now I don't want-" His train of thought was interrupted by a tail cutting through the air like a bullet, aimed towards the woman Dustin was conversing with. Before it could land it's attack however, Dustin had turned around and sent his fist through the being, who was now a cloud of shapeless shards much like its protectors the woman had so rudely stolen from the blue clad hero of this story.

"Whether you want cake or not isn't the point, the offer was supposed to be a trade. Take this. And don't forget, I owe you a cake." He would smile genuinely at the woman, tossing her the small box of macarons he had bought that morning. While he hated what she had done, he was grateful. Company was company and honestly that and a decent fight was all he could ask for. Guess I gotta stop at a bakery again.

Gonna give him his favorite this time.

Spoiler

ID: 184658

BD: 10 (Crit +2)

15 + 2 = 17 * 15 = 255 - 40 = 215 DMG

15 - 215 = 0 HP

58 + 1 = 59 - 17 = 42 EN

Ghidorah | 0/215 HP | 40 MIT | 70 DMG | 1 ACC | 1 EVA | 14 THRN

NIGHT | HP: 1530/1530 (+42) | EN: 151/165 (+1) | ACC: 4 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 76 | KEEN: 1 | PRLYZ: 1 | ABS. ACC | LD: 5
Dustin | 600/600 HP | 42/60 EN | 15 DMG | 12 MIT | 2 ACC | 4 EVA | BH: 6

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Dustin

[NIGHT 0]

Her blade disappeared once the man tossed her a box -- NIGHT's head only tilted, free hands catching the desserts with ease. What was with this person? She'd never seen anyone so eccentric before, and that was saying something, considering a select other figures she'd met before. To date, the most questionable in comparison was a man wielding spears of ice and darting in the dark, and this boy barely managed to surpass his legacy. At least someone could forge stories of that encounter into a rumors of a ghost. This player-- he was simply wacky.

What was she supposed to mention, 'Easter Bunny given human form'? 'Valentines' Cupid offering free snacks?'

(--Actually, given the latter, his colour scheme did seem to fit the bill.)

"I'll already have completed the quest," she admitted, turning over the box of macarons in her hand, trying to decipher what was the true motive behind his gift to her... 'presence'? "It doesn't make sense to own the kill afterwards if I didn't one-shot it, especially if you need its clearance."

The treats vanished with a wave of her hand, NIGHT catching stardust in her palm. "You have no proof I was tailing you." A fold of her arms merely emphasized her confidence further. "There's only one place that this dragon may be found. Not my fault we were headed in the same direction, and definitely not my fault--" she gestured to the fading sparkles, "--that you also wanted, what was it, cake? For its deliverance?" The player ended her guesses with a shrug and a solemn expression.

She wished she had an idea of who this figure was, at least. The way the man was fighting, she could tell he wasn't a newbie, at least. Almost like a seasoned adventurer, if only he was sighted more.

"Why're you owing me, anyway?" That was the part she didn't get the most. A risen eyebrow signified her great confusion, raised hand settling back onto her elbow. "Last I checked, I was trying to 'steal' the kill from you, wasn't I?"

[Dustin 0]

"It doesn't make sense to own the kill afterwards if I didn't one-shot it."

This line upset Dustin more than it should, but not necessarily in a bad way. After all, he knew most people didn't have dads who encouraged them to fight, took them hunting with a sword and raised them to be a proud man who lived with honor and dignity, and even if they did, most of them didn't lose their dad at the perfect age to make them want to honor said living without knowing the downsides to such a life. "Owning the kill isn't about winning in one hit. If you do, so be it, but the best stories come from a great battle in which the winner barely surpassed the loser." Dustin's words probably didn't make sense, and while Kadin was more for the honor side of his father's teachings, Dustin went all in on the glory. "Think of it like this... A game is boring if there's no risk, because the reward is practically given to you. Now, a game where you stake your life might be a bit much for most, but our frontliners stepped up to the challenge because there's nothing better than winning against insurmountable odds." Dustin looked longingly at the sky, or more accurately the next floor, "I'd kill to be in a boss raid, but my old guild leader told me I'd have to get a lot stronger, and an old friend told me I'd need to think before I act."

A bright smile would cross the boy's face once more, this one much more genuine. "I ain't too good at the second one yet." He'd chuckle lightheartedly, before addressing her second point. "That's basically just math. I took several different paths crossing through the brush and even stopping at my house along the way, the odds of you coming from directly behind me are very low, and yet you did. But that's not it. You didn't take long enough for it to be an accident that we showed up here together." He would nod in a prideful manner as if he had solved the biggest mystery in human history.

"And as for the owing you, I said I would so I do. It's that simple. And besides, bad company is still company is it not?" He wasn't always such an honorable guy, but since he joined SAO, he has been trying to become a better person. One his brother could've been proud of. "As for the snack, those are basically a promise that I will honor my trade. They were just gonna waste by the monument of life anyways, so it's no biggie." He'd shrug, picking up a rock and chucking it at the opened egg where the dragon had stayed. When it hit, he would act like he was bowing for a crowd and mimic screaming quietly to himself.

[NIGHT 0]

Perhaps he didn't hear the way she'd spoken about the part where they might've been in a video game. Selective hearing, that bounceful pride -- ah, once the connections were drawn, it was easier to file him into one category of people or another. Another starfallen spoke from only Cardinal knows where. That explained the white garb, at least. She wasn't going to test the colour of his cursor at any rate.

But his musings about the raiders had nearly made her chuckle. She hated the term, detested it greatly, and yet there had to be some irony in there, when one of those so-called glory fighters were standing right by his side. "Frontliners,"  she echoed, souring with her head tilted one way in contemplation. "So they scathe through each day with an inch of their life on the line. Is that right? And you long to be one of them." The woman huffed, arching a brow. "What, you got a death wish or something? Or do you just get high off a one-sided gamble?"

NIGHT listened in silence, arms folded as the man started to deduce her presence from his little voyage through the forest. Though he shrugged it off at the end, leaning into low odds at his conclusion -- "You say it's probability, though. In that way, it's still possible that I could've been taking the shortest route here, and ended up gutting your dragonling through via pure chance." For all his deductions, the theoretical concept of 'sheer math' had seemed to have evaded the man. Perhaps, if he was speaking to someone else who hadn't had the ideas of statistics drilled into her head, his guesses might've passed her with flying colours.

He definitely had some snark on him, the player would give the stranger that. But she forged the macarons once again at the mention of it being for someone long lost, and now the treats just fell on a sour note. NIGHT had never visited the monunent ever, not even once, and she wouldn't want to step in there in the future, either. What snacks she'd been given weren't meant for her, now that she knew. And even worse was trying to return them to a figure she didn't even have an inkling of knowing.

If her approach was slow, it was not to startle the man. She handed the box back to him, knowing what had been kept was still intact from the throw earlier.

"Here."

It was more an order, rather than a request or a suggestion. Deeply uncomfortable, her tangled emotions were wrapped up in the depths of her sights. "There are other ways to make a promise," she offered, pulling up her menus if only to send him a friend request. "If you're so 'desperate' for company."

And just exactly why was he so eager to see another player? She was about to open her mouth to ask, but decided against it -- with her luck, he would've mentioned his best friend had died or something, and that was why they were on the monument of life or something along those lines. Instead, she returned a, "You could've gotten cake any time you wanted, anyway," leaving her words at that.

[Dustin 0]

She reacted the same way everyone did when they heard he wanted to fight the bosses, asking if he had a death wish. It made him happy for a moment, truly happy. Thoughts of Hestia, Eatos and several others came flooding back to the boy, all people he missed dearly. "Sorry, but you sounded like all of my friends when you said that." He would look down to his hands and fiddle with another rock, one he clearly pulled from his inventory. "Honestly though, I don't want to be dead, I rather enjoy life if you'd believe it." His hands would come down to his sides as if he had no idea what to do with them. "I just don't see the harm in it, ya know? I ain't scared of it." Only one who'd care is mom, and even then I doubt her grief would be shared evenly between Kadin and I. "And after I killed that guy, I doubt my friends would disagree."

A pained swallow was audible in that little clearing of theirs, as Dustin realized what he had just said. He didn't want to draw anymore attention to it so if it passed it would pass, if it didn't he would explain himself. She then explained how Dustin's theory was wrong and he thought about it very visibly, if you looked closely you could probably see the cogs turning in his mind. "There it is, the odds you took the shortest path are very high, in fact if I had taken the shortest path too, I'd be inclined to believe you, but I didn't. I was looking for someone to fight this dragon with, so I took my sweet time." A huge toothy grin planted itself firmly on his cheeks. "I believe the technical term for a situation like this is Checkmate." A powerful pose punctuated with a thumbs up and his foolish smile would just add impact to the situation.

After she returned his gift Dustin looked at her in confusion, he had no idea what he had said wrong. "Why return it?" Then her next statement confuses him even more. "I know there's other ways to keep a promise I'm not an idiot. This is my way... oh yeah and his." He shook the box of macarons. "Anyways, it would've given me an excuse to stop by a bakery and pick up his favorite. These are just what I had in my storage at home."

Her friend request came along with a sentence that seemed to dig at Dustin's soul, but still he would smile through it. "I'm not desperate, I just hate fighting by myself." He'd say like a kid thinking about how he might get coal for christmas. The rock he had been holding would find it's way back to being fiddled with between his hands although Dustin's body language was much less outgoing now. 

"Nah, I don't leave floor four that often anymore. Don't eat a lot either, just some bread and water I've kept for weeks. As much as I hate that floor I- I gotta stay there." He'd remark, clicking the accept button on the friend request.

[NIGHT 0]

"I just don't see the harm in it, ya know? I ain't scared of it. And after I killed that guy, I doubt my friends would disagree."

 

...

 

Huh?

Her eyes went to where the dragon had been slain. Did he mean that thing? It didn't make sense for the man to have brought up such a story, though, given the fact that he'd mentioned his in friends in his words. But the stranger was -- for a better word, troubled -- and NIGHT hadn't thought twice about anything regarding his companionship issues.

No... No, the player was certain she'd misheard him.

Instead, she sobered at his retaliation, a finger itching by her jawline. The math was off again; she could see it. "But-- that's exactly the reason why..." 

--Her words only faltered with the grin the boy shone back to her, and the woman sighed, dropping her hand to the side. Whatever. She'd learned ages ago not to argue on these points -- though she wondered what was stopping her to continue this time. Habit? Most likely. The woman shook her head with closed eyes, before opening them again, irritated. Where were these friends of his? By any account, her guess was that they'd be long gone by now, if his personality was... like that.

Gods. She always had to be in the presence of stars, didn't she?

And this one was solitary, too. But at least he wasn't as insufferable, and definitely not of her type. NIGHT bit her tongue for a moment, listening to the man ramble on about staying at home as her eyes drifted over to her friends list.

It appeared that his name was Dustin. So it was no one she knew even in passing, for a certainty.

"Huh." The player grunted, closing off her menus after he'd accepted the request. "And here I thought you were striving to be a boss-beater." Despite knowing what he'd mentioned, Dustin had also been found on the third floor on a quest with a vaguely meek target. To the woman, something felt like it didn't add up -- his ambitions, actions, words...

She wondered if something had fractured him, and then wondered again if she should've been prying into it at all.

"What's the hold up? Why aren't you there yet, if you're so convinced you'd have fun on the frontlines?"

[Dustin 0]

"Huh?" She would proceed to question him, and he flashed a mischievous smile. "Well you see, it's about the adventure." A young boy was very easily seen in the actions of this practically grown man. Being seventeen and trapped in a death game was bound to crack a few nuts, and Dustin was definitely more eccentric in the game than real life. What was once the meek shell of a boy has become a shining example of how to creep people out by being too energetic. Although, in the last few weeks he had done nothing but avoid them and the ones he did speak to didn't know who he was. His cloak helped with concealment, and other than that he was pretty secluded in the field of the fourth floor. "When you went on trips, did you sleep for the whole ride or stay awake and play games with the others? When you go for a walk in the park do you run to the other side, even if your best friends are over there?" He clearly had a few screws loose. 

"While the ending is important, the best part of the book is the substance, the journey the main character takes that makes him change over time, right? We're all going through changes like that, at different rates, at different times, but we are. Everyone's just so busy giving up or rushing to the finish line they can't stop to smell the roses. They don't fight that field boss they thought would be fun, they don't talk to the pretty girl across the room, they don't realize how many beautiful things are jam packed into this game because everyone just wants out." His hand pulls up a rice ball and stuffs half of it in his mouth. "Thaf why hand out fnackf... That's why I hand out snacks to everyone."

"The little things are often better than big goal." Dustin's eyes would float down to his menu, pulling it out to block NIGHT from his view, showing the almost empty friends list, aside from a select few Dustin just couldn't bring himself to delete. "And who better to enjoy it with than strangers?"

[In case it's important, Dustin's friend list]

Spoiler

NIGHT, Oscar, Hestia, Arabelle, Cosi and Ennakai

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Dustin

[NIGHT 0]

What kind of adventures was this man having if he wasn't about to leave his floor, let alone his house?!

(--On second thought, don't answer that.)

The questions he threw her way were something out of one of those online quizzes people took for fun that determined something generic about their personality. NIGHT was caught off-guard by the questioning, but nevertheless sounded her answers off in her head.

"When you went on trips, did you sleep for the whole ride or stay awake and play games with the others?"

A: Sleep for the whole ride.

"When you go for a walk in the park do you run to the other side, even if your best friends are over there?"

A: Stay with your friends.

She bet, if anything, his answers were the polar opposite of her own. After all, what else could they be in a binary question? And as the player continued, speaking about enjoying life in the game, NIGHT winced, two fingers to the bridge of her nose.

No, it wasn't so much about enjoying the game, nor was it about his negligence to oust himself of what misfortune he and the rest of Aincrad had been trapped in. Dustin's words were even true to an ideal; players needed to take a break once in a while, instead of heading straight into danger at every turn in an attempt to get out of jail as soon as possible. But his words threw her perception of him left and right, and that was what ticked the player off the most. Was he rummaging around the different floors looking for 'adventure', or was he cooped up in his own damned house in frosty winter wonderland?

Which one was the real story, and which one was false?

Ugh. Now she just felt like she'd stepped into Alice's Wonderland, talking with the Mad Hatter. All Dustin needed was a cap of some kind, and he'd be set.

"Thaf why hand out fnackf... That's why I hand out snacks to everyone."

--And where'd he get the rice ball from?!

Bubbly, obsessed with food. If Cardinal ever revealed where her double's personality had been referenced from, NIGHT might make a killing from betting on this unheard of player, and then have threatened to slay both him and the system alike in her wake just to get over her embarrassment of finding out the truth. The corner of her eye twitched as she looked on in annoyance and disbelief, trying to erase her mind of regret and her newfound revelation. Her eyes flitted down towards his menu at the player's offering, reading off the first few names.

'Strangers' was definitely the right word for it, then. At most, she could only identify...

"How'd you get to meet Oscar and Arabelle...? No, wait--" NIGHT shook her head, shutting her eyes and pressing her lips together before opening them. As long as she continued to ride the waves of conversation like this, she would've forgotten what contradictions this player was holding, and that didn't sit too well with the woman.

"Let me get this straight," The player started, her usual scowl coming back into play. "You'd mentioned staying at home all day with plain food and drink on hand, like you're preparing for an apocalypse, relying on only the bare essentials for life. But then here you are speaking about 'looking for fun' by going around and having adventures. As far as anyone is aware, those two things aren't synonymous with each other."

She paused, tilting her head and giving him a suspicious look. "So? Which is it?"

[Dustin 0]

The woman would just let him speak, and speak he did. She waited patiently for her turn to retort and if Dustin were more kind a person, he would've taken a breath and let her do just that. But childish and a bit too talkative were the best ways to describe this bubbly murderer. Even still, he did finish his speech, and she would ask a very blatant question then pause for a moment. Her question made the boy think, as if he couldn't remember the time he rushed in through the smoke and saved Oscar. As for Arabelle, he could remember it like it was yesterday, walking into Stryder's house and meeting his whole guild for the first time since Eatos died. Before Dustin could think of a witty response, NIGHT would once again start spitting out words confusing the boy probably as much as his had confused her.

"Now hold on, I never said I stayed at 'home.'" He would put air quotes on the word home. "In fact, I said I stopped at home on the way here and then said I sleep on the fourth floor. My home is just that way, right outside of these woods." Pointing just left of the way they came, although he didn't even check to see if he was right. "As for whether or not I'm a shut in or an adventurer, I'd like to think I'm an adventurer. But lately due to personal reasons, I've been sleeping in the snow on the fourth floor. My own personal hell." His own personal hell, heh, if that wasn't understatement of the year. The last sentence carried a tone much like when he was pleading for the kill, very...

Empty...

Quickly though he would circle back to his response as if he hadn't just lost his entire tone half a second ago. "I never said I do those things, I said we need to. I've been letting this game get to me as of late too, so I can understand the allure of rushing to the end. However most people have something to go back to, those of us who don't have learned it's nice to take a breather." There's a dramatic pause as the boy takes a moment to think about what else he needs to address. "And by god is it nice. Even in my own personal hell as I called it I've learned things, taken in the beauty of this world even if it was hard to see. This was someone's dream, this was my dream. A world where the only rule is to survive. The only connections you have are the ones you make. Not dictated by money or greed, not polluted with corruption or oppression. In its own way, it is a utopia. It has it's flaws, and most people are scared of dying, but it's no different out there."

"Oh, and I helped Oscar with the Byakko on floor six a while ago. And as for Arabelle..." The young man would blush as he tried to find the words to describe how he knew Belle that didn't make him sound like a total jackass. "We... uh... were in the same guild." It wasn't a lie but this stranger didn't need to know the whole truth. Still though, Dustin couldn't hardly make eye contact with the poacher he's hoping could be called a friend.

[NIGHT 0]

--Sorry.

"What was the point of a home if you'd bought one and didn't stay in it?"

The expression NIGHT pulled on Dustin was one of weariness, disbelief; each time the man gave her an answer or another, she could only find herself growing exasperated. No, this had to be some lunacy on a whole 'nother level. This definitely wasn't normal, especially when he'd tacked on that personal hell part.

Yeah. Well NIGHT too, buddy.

The fact that he'd seemed completely at peace with the broken pieces of his life only further exacerbated the woman's infuriation. And the mismatch of values -- it grated on her nerves the most.

"Shouldn't you be practicing what you preach?" How else was one supposed to live their lives? As a multitude of contradictions left unsolved? An awful mess; that's what the woman saw in him, expecting somewhat of a negative answer to her question.

He continued on, the other player, speaking at length about Kayaba's dream world despite it being his own personal hell. Gods. If only NIGHT could've been this optimistic. This realm she was set in was definitely not her comfort zone, not at all for a million years.

So it makes no difference whether they left sooner or later, then. But his ideal was to stay, their utopia--

'...not dictated by money or greed, not polluted with corruption or oppression...'

"--Maybe it's because you've been living so remotely for so long that you haven't even noticed it ever existing in Aincrad."

She hadn't meant to object so strongly; a hand went to the back of her neck when she realized that she did so. Her brain was sifting through examples, anything to better prove her point. Why did it have to turn out a debate of perspectives with these kinds of people? That she was always on their opposing ends...

"We can take the taste of food for example," she began, a palm raised horizontally in a gesture. "You never had to worry about experiencing it in the real world. But the game we're in forces you to seek out even these simple pleasures on your own time, your own resources. How could you define denying one of your senses as part of a utopia?"

"Every player in Aincrad is forced to struggle -- 'for survival', you say, as though the life outside the reality we live in wasn't the same way. Theoretically, it isn't, as you said. But the challenges we face are much different than the ones outside."

"Because they're worse here."

NIGHT folded her arms. Her body sunk back into her tracksuit, an almost shrinking violet, irritated that these views even needed to be challenged in the first place. "Your struggles out there could be confined to hard work and labour. Occasionally social conflicts, rarely physical ones. In here, they're almost always physical. Man is put to the test with scenarios we've outlawed as crimes out there. Bullying, assaults, murder -- they're all a part of what made our society tolerable, safe, considerate. A lawless land doesn't guarantee a better one."

("--After all, your friend would likely not be dead without recompense if we weren't in this game.")

But NIGHT hadn't mentioned that last part.

She sighed, having said her peace. Right, he'd mentioned meeting the different players on his list. At best, the woman caught the flush on his face when the performer's name was mentioned, but commented nothing about it. As for Oscar, he'd left their guild one day without a word.

"We... uh... were in the same guild."

Same story everywhere these days, huh?