[F3-PP] Method to the Madness

[Raidou 1]

A raise of his hand, feeling drastically uncomfortable by the sudden gesture. After all, he was just a man, not some hero and not something she wasn't. "I traveled carefully, I tread carefully." He comments moving bits and pieces onto a platform off the side of the fence, piling up sacks that lay flat. It was as if she coined his entire method of fighting, he was riposte tank. Some semblance of difference as she locked her attentions into the soil and kept to her original motives. "The most important thing is remembering why, I focus on that. Knowing that lives hang on the actions I take, one way or another." He found himself stuck, finding this girl so close to a past self. Withdrawn, and yet with intention. Trying to move for something that mattered.

"I am not afraid of dying, I accepted that I will eventually. It keeps my objectives simple, my weapon drawn. It is our job, to maintain the one thing the players still own. Their lives, and give them hope." Adjusting a pair of glasses on his nose, reminding him of his humanity. Raidou didn't need them here, but they reminded him of a home he would never see again.

ID:203347 | Battle:3, Craft:12, Loot:5+1=6
Forager EXP: [217/299]

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

“I understand.” The words were spoken softly, barely more than a whisper. Her hands continued carefully pushing and pulling at the dirt, and she let silence envelope the two of them for some time, before bringing her next question to the air around them.

“So, you fight for others, and not for yourself?” She had meant to ask just that question, but something in her mind caused her tongue to continue. Against her better judgement – if there was any at all – she spoke the next part stoically, no emotion attached to the words at all. No resentment, no distaste, a simple statement of fact. “I have no one to fight for. Not here, nor in the real world. No one other than myself. But…I wish that I had that, the drive to protect someone important to yourself. To give everything, in return for nothing.”

Pausing in her work, she turned to stare at the man, adding in the same emotionless voice. “To any whom I party with, I give my all, standing out front and using myself as a shield against anything that would harm them, but it’s not the same, is it? It’s not the same as giving your all to someone you…you love, or who loves you?”

ID 203349 | LD: 19 | Material Search | Success (1/2 Materials)

Spoiler

Word Count: 209

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Raidou 1]

The same rhythmic breaking of golden leaves, akin to that of tea leaves in his palm. "Correct" allowing the girl to speak her piece. To the pile, as it seemed, no matter how much they removed, the garden continued to flourish. A trick of a skill the game had forgotten, that was slowly regaining its strength little by little. "But you do, Nari-Lanreth you have made the choice to protect everyone. That takes more than any loved one ever will. It's easy to protect friends or family. The difficulty is choosing to protect those you hate, that hate you." Staring out past the fence post, a ripple in time ringing behind his eyes like a droplet disturbing a puddle.

"On the contrary, you save others the pain of mourning you by refusing to get attached. Save them from it, even if they hate you for it. Giving your all, not because you want to. But because you have to." A lineage, something taught from a very young age. Experience, wisdom. It was as if he was an old man reflecting back on an entire lifetime. Was it foolish? Some would see it as such, but there was power in playing the fool. Learning from each and every voice, every face and every circumstance. 

ID:203351 | Battle:9, Craft:2+2=4, Loot:11+1=12
Forager EXP: [225/299]
Materials: 6

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Nari paused again in her work, staring at the area she had just been digging into. There was such wisdom in his words, and yet, she sensed something else there…was it sadness? She had never before been great at catching the emotions or feelings of others, but somehow she felt a connection with this man she had just met, as if they were of like mind and heart.

“Perhaps that is true, but…is it not lonely, to go through life in such a way? Would it not be easier to instead have others to rely upon? To provide you their strength when yours faulters?” Nari shook herself from her trance, realising after the fact that the words had actually been spoken aloud, and not just in her head.

She slid to the next plant, carefully pulling aside the dirt to find the metallic pieces beneath, slowly finding herself becoming better and better at this. She knew that she would likely not be as good as this man – not yet at least, but maybe in time…

ID 203355 | LD: 1 | Material Search | Failure

Spoiler

Word Count: 175

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Raidou 1]

Another pull of the drawstring and a shift onto the shelf, it was if he was out here alone with his thoughts made audible. "It is lonely, and it is a very long road. Especially for a tank." Recounting the numerous quests he'd had to 'live' in given his damage output. "Relying on others is fine, as perspectives will always vary. Each person sees things in a slightly different light, a spectrum. Every person has something to offer. Sparing them may be self condemning, but isn't it best if we can choose this. Take on this hardship so that others do not have to. There is strength in numbers, in unity. But not in heartache." Adjusting a pair of glasses into a silver white shield, knowing full well to who he was referring to.

His tone ever shutters, never waivers. It was a practiced facade that he'd worn for eons. That of a guild master, of a tank, of an ally. But not of a lover, of family. He'd built them a family, that he was not a part of. He was the one to die to make it possible.

ID:203357 | Battle:9, Craft:1+2=3, Loot:11+1=12
Forager EXP: [233/299]
Materials: 7

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

‘Strength in numbers…perhaps. But is there also not a strength in…other things?’ Nari couldn’t help but see the shift in the man’s posture as he spoke. His voice bared no change in emotion, as if he was providing nothing more than a fact, but his posture…his very actions, and words, seemed to hint at something else.

“Your points are valid, and I cannot argue their truth. Yet…I wonder…I wonder if not, there is some strength in something beyond the conviction of the loner – the defender. Perhaps this is the road we are forced to walk, but is it not fair and right that we should also search for another whom walks this path, and in turn, combine ourselves with them?”

Nari stopped, her mouth hanging wide as she realised this was the most she had ever spoken with – ever shared – with another. She felt so…comfortable. It was something she was unused to, and yet, she welcomed it wholly.

She forced her hands to return to the duty of searching, determined not to let her hesitancy show more than it already had. ‘And, to provide an excuse to continue this conversation…for you do not want it to end, yet, do you?’

ID 203360 | LD: 13 | Material Search | Failure

Spoiler

Word Count: 200

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Raidou 1]

Drinking in the serenity and enjoying the quiet reflection, stirring thoughts into mental folders. Nari had proven to be a better focal than simple reflection. "I do not pretend to know, I can only see things through my own point of view. Showing the way down a road is amicable, teaching and understanding the finer points. But it will inevitably backfire." Referring to Nikki & Miaki, who'd quit the frontlines entirely when Miaki almost died for Nikki. Thankfully, they made it out alive, but only by a hair.

"I would be lying if I said this hasn't been pleasant. Most don't quite stop to hear what a quiet stranger has to say. It speaks leagues to your character, Nari-Laneth." He'd still stuck to her full moniker, out of respect from one to another. For others, she may have shortened it, because it was too complex or long for their taste. Forced to settle because they refused. The man was a bit different. Milling about without care, somewhere along the conversation the tension had fallen. Perhaps it was that those that couldn't trust others could only trust each other. More and more sacks of worth, piled up in what seemed like minutes, but had been working for an hour.

ID:203361 | Battle:9, Craft:1+2=3, Loot:8+1=9
Forager EXP: [239/299]
Materials: 7

[Nari-Lanreth 0]

Nari gave one final dig through the plant beneath her before gently moving the dirt back into place. She had to admit – she had enjoyed this entire encounter, it had been…so fulfilling in a way. But she knew that there was more that needed to be done, regardless of how much she wanted to stay here.

“You’re right – the most we can do is to follow our path, to wherever it leads us. Perhaps, as some do, we’ll find another to travel that path with us. But perhaps for individuals like ourselves – well, maybe we simply have to accept that it is a path to traverse alone.” Nari slowly raised herself to her feet, bowing deeply to the man she had just spent that last…how long had it been? Closing her eyes, she spoke her next words with a pang of regret. “I have truly enjoyed this whole encounter, and I am so glad to have met you. As much as it pains me to suggest…I feel that it is time I return to the world itself, to prepare for one day joining the frontlines. I hope that I see you there, when I do eventually find myself among the top floors.”

Nari will straighten herself as her words come to an end, smiling gently at the man still tilling her plants, ever so carefully working with them. She had truly enjoyed all of this, the serenity, the conversation, but she knew – in her heart of hearts – that she couldn’t stay forever.

ID203362 | LD: 13 | Material Search | Failure

Spoiler

Word Count: 252

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Nari-Lanreth
Dice Roll Results

[Raidou 1]

The girl works to clean up her hands before bowing, and even still the prospect made Raidou uncomfortable. They were equals in how he viewed it. "That path will bend and wind in all manner of strange ways, and I suspect you will find roads that I would have never dreamed of." His hand takes to his brow and begins to clean a smudge off of the lenses. "There is no doubt in my mind that one day soon you will be there fighting with me. Keep fast your goals, your ambitions." as I have. "and you will succeed."

Watching the girl head out the gate and gingerly latch it closed, he'd start to rake the shuffled bits and return them to a nice even layer. Into the mists and out of sight. "One of the good ones, they still do exist, don't they Juiblex. It is for players like her, that we cannot falter in what must be done." An aura of red begin to billow out of his pores, the masked hatred for murders and monsters. Renewed in its fervor just that much more. So that a player, just like her, could succeed...

Thread Closure:

5995/30=207*5=1035

Raidou:
1035*12=12420 EXP
Forager EXP: [239/299]

Nari-Lanreth:
1035*1=1035 EXP
Materials: 2
400*Col (Thread Closure)

Simmone (Guild Treasurer):
Materials: 7
12420*.15=1863 Col