[F02 - PP] Ghost/Koga <<Breaking The Unbreakable>>

[Ghostie 0]

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Spoiler

Ghost’s Journal

Player Block:

Ghost

[Level: 5 | Paragon 0]
[Total SP: 25 | Allocated: 0 | Remaining: 25]
[HP: 100/100 | EN: 28/28 | DMG: 1 | ACC: 1 |EVA: 1 | MIT]

Ghost stared up at the tallest mountain on Floor Two, the top fading into the clouds. The rocks were steep and narrow, the wind already lightly biting into her skin. Frowning lightly, she opened her menu to look at the specifications of the quest, to make sure that she had gotten everything right.

To begin the quest: Breaking the Unbreakable, you must first start the climb up the tallest mountain on the second floor of Aincrad. The rocks are unstable in areas! Be wary, and watch your step. Granted that you don’t fall to your death and respawn at [REDACTED], you will eventually find yourself at the peak of the mountain, Master YunXiang’s Dojo! To continue the quest, you must interact with Master YunXiang and begin your training. May luck be in your favor, Player!

…Well that seems both simple enough and nerve wracking. Looking back at the mountain, Ghost sighed and sat down at the foot of the cliff side, Lightly slapping her hands against her face in thought. She remembered Koga saying that this quest would be very difficult, but she was hoping that he was exaggerating up until now. Shrugging, she opened the message interface and replied to him.

|TO KOGA:
I am currently at the foot of the mountain on Floor 2! Are you currently on your way? If so, I’ll wait for you.
-GHOST|
 

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[Koga 0]

k o g a the elder wolf Spoiler notes: oh this quest isnt nearly as bad now   Koga, Lvl 32/55 | HP: 900 | EN: 124 | DMG: 26 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 99 | B.HEALING: 49/99   equippped battle-ready inventory Bloody Handwraps | Perfect T4 Martial Arts Weapon | DMG III Shuku-ro Coat | Demonic T4 Light Armor [ EVA II // VAMP-D. II ] lupine. | Demonic T4 Trinket [ ACC III // EVA ] Tsuki no Hikari | Demonic T4 Katana [ CRSD // FALN II // BRN ] Liquor of Light | Perfect T1 Consumable | DMG III (2) Bandages | Perfect T1 Martial Arts Weapon | DMG III   skills Spoiler | UTILITY Gathering: Fishing I | Successfully forage for materials on a LD 14+ | 0/49 EXP  Searching III | +1 LD per rank. +1 to Stealth Detection per rank. | 14 SP Night Vision | Ignores any penalties from low light or darkness. Negates the bonus Stealth Rating from low light or darkness. | 3 SP | COMBAT Combat Shift: Single Target | For the following Sword Arts, +3 to multipliers and +2 to EN cost; ST-I, ST-II, ST-B. No other Shifts may be taken. | 10 SP Mastery: Damage III | Gain 1 * Tier Damage per rank | 13 SP Battle Healing V | Recover 5% (rounded down) of your maximum HP at the start of your turn | 30 SP Emergency Recovery | When non-fatal damage would leave you with 25% or less of your maximum HP, recover 10% of your maximum HP after the attack resolves. Effect cannot occur more than once per thread.  When activated if the player has lower than 10 energy remaining, simply reduce the player's energy to 0. | 6 SP EN Cost: 10 Energist | Increase Base Energy by 5 * Tier | 8 SP Charge | Perform a single attack/Sword Art with +5 base damage. Charge attacks have a -1 Accuracy debuff and cannot be affected by any auto-hit effects. | 10 SP Cooldown: 3 Posts Howl | Adds +2 Hate each against up to 4 targets. | 10 SP EN Cost: 2, Cooldown: 2 posts | WEAPON Katana V | +7 DMG when equipped with a Katana | 30 SP Stamina | Reduces the energy of all Katana attacks by 2 EN | 4 SP Precision | Gain +1 ACC. | 2 SP Ferocity | +2 DMG when using Katana Sword Arts | 4 SP | ARMOR Light Armor V | +30 MIT when equipped with Light Armor, -2 Stealth | 30 SP Meticulous | +1 DMG when equipped with Light Armor | 4 SP Resolve | +1 ACC and +10 * Tier HP when equipped with Light Armor | 6 SP | EXTRAS Familiar Master: Rending | You and your familiar attack in tandem, applying Rend [7*tier unmitigatable damage] to the target that lasts for two turns. | 10 SP Cooldown: 5 Turns Survival | Increases Healing effects received from all sources by 10%. Grants immunity to all damage dealing environmental attacks/effects. | 0 SP Parry | Apply the energy cost upon proc, not activation. Reduces the final damage of the next successful attack against you by 50% (rounded down) and negates stun/paralysis effects of that attack. If hit by multiple attacks, only apply parry to the first attack against you. Parry lasts for three turns. Cooldown starts when the player activates the Skill. If the player is hit when using Parry, the cooldown is reset to 3 turns. | 10 SP 9 EN, Cooldown: 3 Turns Vengeful Riposte | A successful Parry also returns 50% (rounded down) of the raw damage that would be dealt to you back to your opponent. The reflected damage can be mitigated by the opponent. | 6 SP Cooldown: 4 Turns Justified Riposte | A successful Parry also stuns the target for 1 turn. | 5 SP Cooldown: 4 Turns Frozen Hide | As a free action, apply one slot of Frost Aura and one slot of Frost Thorns equal to your tier to yourself until the start of your next turn. | 0 SP 5 EN, Cooldown: 4 Turns buffs Spoiler | PARAGON REWARDS Lv. 5 | Earn Col equivalent to 15% of player’s EXP earned in thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to Looting | BUFFS <<Well Rested>> | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat. <<Squeaky Clean>> | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down). <<Filling>> | Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. <<Item Stash>> | +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot <<Tasty>> | Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread. <<Relaxed>> | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. <<Advanced Training>> | +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post. (Last Use: Mar. 4) <<Multipurpose>> | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll. <<Practiced Angler>> | +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.

The little message notification appeared in Koga's periphery just as he opened his 'liquor' cabinet and grabbed a couple of bottles from it, stashing them away in his inventory. Closing the cabinet door, Koga gestured with his finger, summoning up the translucent UI pane to see who had messaged him. It'd been Ghost, of course. He wasn't running late was he? With all of Okami's excitement at seeing the girl again, he'd figured he'd been out of his house sooner, rather than later.

A quick message was sent to Ghost notifying her he was on his way, and a moment later, he opened his front door, Okami bounding out at high speed, only at the end of the path leading to Koga's home to wait for the man, before dashing ahead again. The mutt was a crackhead, Koga swore.

---

Some ten minutes later, Koga could see Ghost staring up at the mountain, their long climb ahead of them. "Yo," he called out to her, waving once she turned and spotted him and his companion. His appearance was it's usual. Tired-looking eyes, a dark leather coat, unbuttoned today, with a grey shirt beneath it and a pendent hanging from around his neck, black pants and boots. All in all, normal...except for the lone fact that something was missing. His katana was not at his side today.

"Sorry, ran a bit later than I planned. Anyways, here," the man said summoning up the bottle from before and what looked to be a roll of cloth, tossing them to the girl. "Drink up, and put those on, you're gonna need them." The man tugged on the sleeve of his coat momentarily, lifting it enough so that it revealed the bandages wrapped around his hands, and tugging on the ends of the knot keeping them in place, tightening them. They were identical to the one's Koga had just tossed to Ghost, weapons, by all rights, the only difference in their appearance being that, while Ghost's set was clean and white, Koga's were dirtied, dulled brown with dust and spots of dried blood.

"So, you ready?" he asked, as Okami wagged his tail expectantly as he sidled his way up to Ghost, looking up at her with big puppy-dog eyes.

---

| Koga consumes Liquor of Light, +3 DMG

Koga offers Liquor of Light to Ghost |
Koga offers Bandages to Ghost |

Spoiler

Koga, Lvl 32/55 | HP: 900 | EN: 124 | DMG: 26 29 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | FALN: 16 | VD: 99 | B.HEALING: 49/99

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Koga

[Ghostie 0]

After a short wait, Ghost watched as Koga walked up to her, and she quickly stood up and dusted herself off, giving Koga a small wave. She remained expressionless, but she couldn’t help as her eyes started to trail along Koga’s features. His usual attire was casually worn, unbuttoned and giving a sense of relaxed tone to his look. He seemed clearly exhausted, which is probably what led to his more softened wardrobe and stance. She immediately noticed that he didn’t have his katana on hand today, but she refused to question it in her mind. Her first thoughts, however, was how comparable Koga currently was to that of a romantic manga character, specifically the leading male role.

She shook her mind free of those thoughts quickly before they started to show on her face, as Koga handed her the bandages and ‘liquor’, giving Koga a confused look but putting the bandages on and drinking the liquor regardless. Apart from what Koga had given her, Ghost was wearing a very simple basic uniform: A tight fitted black low cut tanktop and similarly fitting black pants, some black arm sleeves, and a pair of black boots tied tight in a military fashion. Her top being different from usual, it showed what seemed to be a small tattoo under the front of the left strap of her shirt, noticeable but not enough to make out what it is. Plus, there was now a very small and noticeable light scarring around the base of the left crook of her neck that looked like it had been healed for a very long time, presumably from something in her real world life. Where the sun had been beating down on Ghost, small beads of sweat were seen on her neck and arms, her silver hair more flowing than usual.

Getting prepped, Ghost then turned to Koga and activated her STS to talk with him. Okay, so how should we proceed? I’m assuming that climbing this mountain is probably going to take a bit of time; Do you know a good path up? 

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Ghost Equips: Bandages

Ghost Uses: Liquor Of Light : +3 Damage

 

 

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[Koga 0]

A tug at the corner of his lips and the slightest upward movement of his brow was all that gave away that he was impressed with the fact the girl had managed to catch both items in the air. No small feat of hand eye coordination. His reaction to her new attire though, was not as well hidden.

It took the mana  moment to avail himself of Ghost's new outfit, form fitting, and though not provocative he had to admit, it was attractive. That she was attractive. Had he just never paid attention before? The man lifted his fist to his mouth, coughing into it, as if clearing his throat for a moment as he struggled to regain his composure, the unexpected ambush causing more havoc than intended.

The man almost missed the words Ghost signed him, a little too enraptured by her pale eyes, a tinge violet, but managed to catch enough that he knew the question. Forcibly averting his gaze, perhaps a bit stiffly, the man looked up at the mountain side again. "Yeah, up there. There's actually a path not too far. C'mon," the man said as he turned and gestured for Ghost to follow.

As the girl caught up to him, the man stole a quick glance at her again, before fixing his eyes ahead. "I like the new gear," he commented, wanting nothing more than to fill the silence with something, even if it was just the sound of his own voice.

[Ghostie 0]

Noticing Koga’s visual evaluation of what she was wearing, Ghost looked down for a moment and thought about her look. Starting to overthink, she wondered if this was an appropriate attire for what they were about to do. Was she underdressed??

A small bit of panic crept up and onto her features, but was quickly interrupted by Koga’s cough and gesture to the path he knew about around the corner. Nodding, she checked her new gear to make sure that she had the appropriate stats and… buffs? before working to catch up with Koga.

Several moments passed of silence between the two, before the man had made a comment complimenting her outfit. Looking at him in surprise, then back down at her outfit again, she thought even harder about the situation. Did she misread? Or… did he like it for other reasons?? Ghost fought back the flush on her cheeks, reverting back to her stoic but friendly appearance before signing to him.

Thank you! I was starting to worry that it wasn’t appropriate wear for the quest; It’s not an armor type, just clothes and etcetera. I thought maybe it would be more comfortable than my other outfit. I… like yours too! she added, feeling slightly stupid for saying it since it was practically his normal attire but altered, but she meant it and that’s what matters!

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[Koga 0]

A brief moment of silence (well, silence sans sign) as Ghost looked down at her outfit, then back up at him, features softened in some approximation of a smile as she began to gesture to him. "Oh, uh, thanks," the man chuckled in response, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're fine for this quest though," he went on as they came upon the well worn path, lined with smalls stone statues of various animals. "Only thing we're fighting today is a rock, so nothing serious. Either way," his hands retreated to his pockets, "as long as you have high evasion or a good tank on your side, you'll be fine." His face shifted slightly, as if thoughtful. "Or both. Both is preferable."

The path continued to climb up the mountain, winding and twisting it's way towards the peak. A little more than half way up the mountain side one could make out a red roof constructed in Japanese fashion. "That's where we're headed," Koga said, pointing up at the structure. "I gotta warn you though, the master there is...interesting..."

[Ghostie 0]

Ghost let out a breath of relief, glad that she didn’t somehow mess up. Especially with this being one of their first real quests together, she wanted to make sure that she didn’t do anything overly stupid, even going through the quest summary and looking at other player written information in the handbook to make sure that she had any general knowledge she needed. She didn’t, however, think about evasion. For which she virtually had no points into.

She went to sign and explain that, but decided against it. Plus, from what she could tell, Koga was very capable as a sided Tank role, so like he’d said, she should be fine! Right? Looking down at her bandages, she gave a small smile. They briefly reminded her of her martial arts classes with her father in the real world, and the countless hours she’d spent with various training dummies. Maybe, once they finally escaped all of this, she could train with him again? And Koga could come too! That is, if he would be interested in meeting in the real world.

Getting shaken from her internal monologue, she noticed Koga point up the mountain side, to a red Hōgyō themed roofing. Feeling excited, she then heard him mention the Master. Interesting how? she asked him curiously.

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Edited April 7, 2022 by Ghostie

[Koga 0]

At Ghost's inquiry Koga lips pulled back into a disgusted scowl. Thinking back on what little he could remember about the quest, the man in question had been markedly unlike any instructor Koga had had in the real world. He was...a different beast altogether. "Uh, you'll see..." the man answered mysteriously, unsure of how best to answer the question.

Their walk then proceeded with relative quiet. It wasn't exactly an arduous journey, but it surely was not easy. The path, though well-trodden, sloped upwards, climbing high towards the distant building, steadily drawing closer. The last time Koga had walked this path, it'd been with NIGHT, Yukiro and Noctua. A good memory. But, the fact that it was pleasant was reason enough for Koga to feel the slightest pang of longing in his chest. Those had been good days. They'd all been...well, perhaps not happier, but they'd had each other then. But, time meant they'd drifted apart, some more than others. Such was life.

[Ghostie 0]

While Koga was deep in his thoughts, Ghost was also in her own. The quest, Breaking the Unbreakable… this wasn’t the first time she stood at the bottom of this mountain. Remembering back, she wondered if doing this now was also her way of letting go. Moving on. But she knew it wouldn’t change her thoughts, not really; This was the last quest that she remembered Sana talking about wanting to do… She never did get to it.

Being drawn out of her thoughts, they had walked a long arduous way to the dojo. And at the door, they saw him: Master YunXiang. His robes, although long, seemed to not have a speck of dust or taint. His hair was long, pinned into a bun, with a beard that matched the same length. His eyes were focused on a specific part of the door. A fly, which buzzed around his head, almost impossible to track by naked eye; it lands on the door, and he readies his chopsticks, slowly - almost painfully so - inches his way toward the fly.

Ghost stood in awe for a moment, watching as the master performed the scene she’d seen countless times in one of her favorite movies as a child. The scene of the master, catching the fly with none other than chopsticks. An incredible deal of patience, discipline, speed and accur—

SMACK!

Ghost’s eyes widened in realization, and slight horror of how badly she misread the master’s goal, as she watched him pull the fly swatter away from the now demolished fly. Sliding the swatter back into his sleeve, master YunXiang seemed pleased, and then looked toward Ghost and Koga with a wild look in his eyes.

At this moment, Ghost realized an important thing about Master YunXiang: He wasn’t necessarily a master of Discipline, as much as he was a master of the Unpredictable.

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[Koga 0]

As the two climbed the final few steps, the dojo finally came into full view, with it's red painted walls, and intricately carved windows. The wooden double door were thrown wide open, allowing the pair to easily peer into the space within.

As expected, Master YunXiang sat within, legs crossed beneath him with incense burning into front of him and a lone fly buzzing around his head as the old man ever so slowly lifted a pair of chopsticks to nip at the fly's wi- SMACK! Oh...never mind...Koga let out a long, quiet, exasperated sigh as he watched the old man flatten the fly against the wall with a fly swatter. It seemed that the old man had only gotten more eccentric in the last two years since Koga had last visited.

"Welp...there's your 'old man in the cave'," Koga said to Ghost before gesturing for her to take the lead. "He's all yours."

[Ghostie 0]

Master YunXiang, noticing the two approach, sets his chopsticks aside as he stood gracefully, albeit creepily, his eyes never faltering from their watchful gaze. “Ahhhhh, Pupil Koga,” he said keenly with a twinkle in his eye, his mouth curving with just a slight smile. “Judging by your cleared complexion, you must’ve mastered the way of rubbing alcohol since last I saw you! How refreshing! And who is this that you’ve brought with you, I wonder??”

The master gained a cheerful disposition, and began to make his way toward the two with a small skip in his step. Stopping in front of Ghost with a gleeful smile, he looked down at her small stature. “What’s your name!” Ghost at that moment couldn’t decide whether to be confused or petrified, but shakily brought her hands up to sign to him. My name is Ghost, Master. “Ahhhh, a hand speaker!!” the Master replied crudely with a hearty laugh and a wild grin. “Well, you’ve certainly come a long way, both of you! In honor of your hair, ‘Ghost’, I hereby dub you as…. Dandelion! And I have no doubt in my mind, Dandy, of why you’re here! Come, have some tea with me, and then I’ll decide how and IF I shall train you!” 

With that, YunXiang made his way back to the door, snapping his fingers and the door opening on command. Ghost looked toward Koga, her face for once lit up with fear, confusion, excitement, surprise and more. However, after catching her bearings, ‘Dandelion’ nodded and made her way into the dojo. 

 

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Edited April 11, 2022 by Ghostie

[Koga 0]

Upon being greeted so exuberantly, Koga couldn't help but sigh. "My complexion is always clear, old man. It's called 'being Korean' you should give a try one day." Though Koga doubted that the elderly master had any clue was a 'Korean' was, Koga took what little pride he could in rebuffing the old man's insults.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Ghost was to be spared the old man's intricacies either, as he almost immediately dubbed her 'Dandelion'...on account of her hair...because that somehow made sense on account of the color alone.

Ghost cast a worried look back at Koga, and the man faked an encouraging smile for her, and gestured for her to follow the old Master, with himself close behind. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite...much..." he added, recalling how the Master had decided that drawing a stupid face onto Koga should be part of his training. How in the world this old man had become a martial arts master was both beyond Koga, and strangely fitting. Enough so that the swordsman couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the fact. "Oh, this is gonna be a long day," Koga muttered quietly under his breath.

[Ghostie 0]

The master took his time, sitting down comfortably by the table inside. Strangely enough, there were already three cups sitting out, a large pot of tea steaming and ready for pour. “It’s been a while since I’ve had company!” The man said, chuckling as he poured the tea. Ghost took a deep breath, and went to sit down, but suddenly the master stopped her. “Ohp, nonononono! Not yet, Dandelion! First you must do a task,” he said while pouring. “First of your tasks, you must touch your elbows together!”

Ghost stood there confounded, not understanding the purpose, but naturally bowed in understanding and then attempted to do so. She placed her hands behind her neck, and touched her elbows together, her chest being pressed and pushed together as a result. “Gooooooood, excellent form! Next, release your arms, and jump in place for thirty seconds!” Not bothering internally questioning it, Ghost proceeded to do so, causing certain things to bounce slightly that wasn’t usually doing so.

”Hmmmmm… yes, well proportioned! Now, for your last task, I will need you to face directly away from pupil Koga! He will be the judge for this one,” YunXiang stated innocently as he finished pouring the tea. “For this task, facing away from Koga, you will spread your legs away from each other, with as much space as you can give! Then, reach down with one hand and touch your opposite foot! Alternate this task for twenty seconds, Dandy!” Ghost shrugged her shoulders, thinking it should be easy enough, and she got into position and proceeded to do as requested, most likely giving Koga quite the unintentional sight.

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CD Roll 1
ID: 208544
Result: 10

CD Roll 2
ID: 208545
Result: 7

+2 Damage inc. to <<Boulder>>

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Ghostie
CD Roll

[Koga 0]

Koga blinked in surprise at the cups of tea arrayed across the small table before the master as he sat down. Koga couldn't recall getting anything of the sort on his arrival, and for a moment he felt a tinge of jealousy. Not that it mattered.

When told that Ghost must first perform some task, Koga stood behind the girl, crossing his arms to watch, his neutral expression perhaps falsely indicating displeasure. Reality would have it that the man was more confused. The swordsman knew that the quest had changed since Shadow, but this was...odd. Touching your elbows wasn't difficult by any means...The orders only got stranger. Jumping with her arms at her side and then...

Koga's eye twitched as he finally caught on to what the old master was doing. And Ghost seemed to be oblivious.

Koga launched forward, fists flying towards the old man's face. "Cut it out you old perv!" the man shouted. The old man only laughed dodging the hail of fists that Koga unleashed, "I thought you'd appreciate this, pupil Koga!"

"Not everyone is a creep like you, old geezer!"

---

| 208546, CD nat1
| 208547, CD nat5

Edited April 12, 2022 by Koga

[Ghostie 0]

At this moment, Ghost heard what Koga and the master said, and her face reddens from embarrassment at realizing her situation. Hopping back up, she went into a small fuming rage, grabbing one of the cups of tea and throwing it full force at the master’s face. However, the master was already predicting this, and caught the cup mere inches from his face, the tea still in the cup. Dodging Koga’s merciless attacks, he took a sip and chuckled to himself. “My my, so feisty! Allow me to explain!!” YunXiang hopped away from Koga, landing on one of the rafter beams above Ghost and Koga’s heads.

“Touching your elbows! Touching your toes! Simple methods of tracking your proportion and flexibility!! Very important things to keep in mind if, in the art of martial combat! Jumping in place, connecting the bridge between the other tasks and having no other purpose! However, you did it anyways, showing that you do well at following simple instructions when under pressure! From what I can tell, Dandelion, you’ve passed with flying colors in flexibility and determination! However, you failed in situational awareness, as you blindly followed instructions that otherwise would have made anyone else overly embarrassed from the start, just because I told you to!”

Ghost had already grabbed another cup and was getting ready to throw it as well, but hearing YunXiang’s explanation, she slowly relaxed and gave his analysis some thought. Still quite embarrassed, she sighs quietly and takes a sip of the tea, hoping not to draw attention to the blush on her cheeks.

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[Koga 0]

Blow after blow met only empty air as the old man bobbed, weaved, flowed around Koga's attacks like water. Untouchable, the geezer actually seemed to be having a good time as he chided to the younger man. Then, in a flash, the old man had disappeared from Koga's sight, leaving the man looking around him for his target, at least until the voice called down from up above them. And though the man's explanation made some sense (in the most loosely associated way), it did nothing to settle Koga's grievances or annoyance.

While Ghost was able to show some restraint, Koga's general disdain for this whole quest got the better of him. The man snatched the cup of tea from the smaller girl. "Fine, just get down here so we can move on to the next thing!" Koga shouted up to the old man before flinging the cup of tea at him.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Koga

[Ghostie 0]

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“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s an oopsie poopsie if I ever did hear it,” the master responded, grabbing the other cup and purposefully backwards falling off the beam, flipping and landing on his feet while sipping the tea. “That was IMPROPER tea throwing etiquette, pupil Koga! You must have a sense of dramatic drive behind your throw, to mortally wound your target’s feelings!! Like so…. NNNNNYEAUGHGH!!!” YunXiang then threw the cup with an unbelievably fast and exaggerated force, the cup flying across the room and smashing into bits , the fragments vanishing into thin air.

Ghost, still glancing between her now empty hand and Koga in disbelief, she nervously quietly kneeled down and picked up the second to last cup. Standing back up, she glanced between Koga and Master YunXiang from the side and slowly brought the cup up to her lips. But before she could take a sip, the master then grabbed her cup yet again and handed it to Koga. “Here, try again Pupil Koga! I will stand across the room, and your duty will be to hit me dead in the face!” YunXiang then skipped across the dojo, laughing manically before getting into position. Ghost stood there, her hand still held to her lips despite being empty. Motionless. Defeated. Blank.

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Edited April 12, 2022 by Ghostie

[Koga 0]

Koga crossed his arms again as the old master began to chastising him for his poor 'tea throwing etiquette'. As if that was actually a thing. And just to prove a point, the old man threw his own tea cup, the small ceramic object whizzing just past Koga's head like a bullet, missing the man by just a hair's breadth. While Koga wasn't surprised, he was still annoyed. This time by the fact that the old man was clearly just showing off.

Master YunXiang snatched the other cup from Ghost's hand, who stared at her now empty hand in shock, disbelief, a mere shell of the woman she was before. The man then handed the cup to Koga before striding over to the other side of the room and commanding that Koga aim to strike him with the cup.

Oh, Koga would love to.

The swordsman wound up like a baseball pitcher, carefully aiming, lifting his leg, drawing his arm back.

Fwoom!

The cup sailed across the room, team spilling out in great big circling arcs as it span through the air.

[Ghostie 0]

As the cup flew across the room at YunXiang, the master’s grin grew wider as if he wanted nothing more than the porcelain cup to hit him, albeit that intention led off with the mischief in his eyes that told something else. And that something else appeared quite suddenly, as the cup was suddenly halted mid air, a familiar small hand grasping onto it.

Ghost balanced there, on one set of her tiptoes, one hand threw back to keep herself oriented and the other latched onto the cup, which, from the force that Koga threw it with, had almost sent her with the cup. She had appeared as quietly as ever, her face still blank but her eyes unnaturally fierce. After a few moments, YunXiang closed his eyes with a small smile in place of his grin, and relaxed his wild persona. “Took you long enough, Dandelion. I had worried the winds of the storm had blown you away,” he commented, his hands sliding into his sleeves. “Now, you are ready for meditation.”

With that, the master nodded in approval, and walked toward the back door of the dojo, prompting for them to follow. Meanwhile, Ghost walked over to the teapot, her ferocity dissipated, and she poured herself another cup before walking over to Koga, her innocent unreadable expression glancing up at him. She took a sip from the cup, and then offered some to him to help him calm down.

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Edited April 12, 2022 by Ghostie

[Koga 0]

What happened next, no one expected. Or more precisely, everyone but Koga expected. In some Herculean feat of speed and hand-eye coordination, Ghost went from being at Koga's side, to halfway across the dojo, the just thrown teacup in her hand.

Koga blinked twice in surprise, staring at the girl as she walked past Koga, filled the tea cup, and then walked back over to him. The pale girl took a small sip from the cup, thin tendril's of steam still wafting up from the top of it, and then held it out to him. Koga looked at the cup, then at Ghost, then back at the cup, before taking it and also taking a small sip.

"Thank you," he said quietly, before looking at the old master who stood there with a massive shit-eating grin on his face. God, just the sight of the old geezer still ticked him off. But for now, Koga did his best to behave. "Alright, so what's next?"