[F24 | PP] Sake and Sidequests | <<Field Boss Thread>>

[Acanthus 0]

Acanthus followed her instructions dutifully, pausing for a moment to get her bearings. She had made it to the edge of the main island on Floor 24. Now, where was the boat? The lone swordswoman wandered along the coastline for a spell before she saw it—not the boat, but the floating Torii. She relaxed, confident that she was in the right place. Clutching her gift in one hand, she guided the boat gently toward the portal. A confirmation window asked if she wanted to visit Breidabilk. Her finger brushed “accept.” Without thinking, she offered a quick prayer as she passed through the gate. Let me go home.

For a brief moment, she thought the gate had granted her wish. A winding stairway lined with verdant trees guided her steps to the main buildings. I recognize these styles, she thought to herself. The estate was built in a loose sukiya style, departing tastefully from the traditional architectural constraints in the name of modernity. The landscape blended effortlessly in a display of new-wave organic architecture trend from the early 20th century. It was difficult to tell where the trees ended and the walls began.

The sounds of nature surrounded her, and she took a moment to close her eyes. Acanthus didn’t realize how much she had missed home. The real world was the combination of a thousand small memories she could not recall or explain, but something about this place had invoked enough of them to make her heart ache.

You shouldn’t keep Baldur waiting, she thought with a twinge of embarrassment. Given her proximity to the house, there was a possibility that he could see her stopping and lazing about. Acanthus blocked out the longing. She could always add a room onto her estate when she needed to pretend she was home. But she would pretend on her own time, and no one else’s.

Once at the front door, Acanthus made her appearance known. She pulled her housewarming gift out, ready to greet Baldur with one of two things: a bottle of sake, if he cared for the stuff; if he didn’t, a collection of teas she had purchased from Kingsley's shop on floor one.

@Baldur
 

 Acanthus | Lvl 65 (34/31) | HP: 840/840 | EN: 98/98 | DMG: 26 | MIT:54 | ACC:5 | AA  | EVA:4 | BH:46 | VAMP-D: 46 | REC: 8 | LD:8

Slime Farm Activated! +10% Experience for this thread.

 

Spoiler

Equipment and Consumables

Spoiler

All enhancements reflected in the stat block unless otherwise specified.

Equipment
Weapon. botan. | AA | ACC 3
Armor. Enduring Thistle |  VAMP-D | MIT | REC | FIREPROOF
Trinket. Evasive Charm | EVA 3 2 (Light Armor q.q) | REC

Consumables
Smores | EVA 2
Gelato | LD 3
Ass-Kicking Absinthe | DMG 3 | 231995-2

Abilities (Skills, Shifts, Masteries, Add-ons, and Mods)

Spoiler

Combat Mastery and Shift
Combat Mastery: Damage R3
TECH Shift

Skills

• Battle Healing R5
• Light Armor R5
  • Addon: Precision
  • Addon: Resolve
  • Mod: Meticulous (1/5)
• Searching R4 + 1 (Skylight: Searching)
  • Mod: Night Vision (2/5)
  • Mod: Tracking (3/5)
• Straight Sword R5
  • Addon: Ferocity
  • Addon: Stamina

Extra Skills

• Disguise
• Survival
• Photosynthesize
• Parry
  • Mod: Justified Riposte (4/5)

Inactive Extra Skills

• Hiding R5
• Assault Mode
• Forgotten King's Authority

Addons

• Ferocity
• Precision
• Resolve
• Stamina

Mods

• Justified Riposte
• Meticulous
• Night Vision
• Tracking

Battle Ready Inventory (7 Slots)
Dimensional Backpack + Item Stash

Spoiler

1. Lama Sabachthani | 236687 | Consumable - Soundtrack | Hypnosis 2 | Lullaby 2 (Instant) | Pain deeper than words, engraved by a hand that does not know its own heart.
2. Edict's Threnody | 236686 | Consumable - Soundtrack | Perpetuate (Instant) | If my suffering will not end, then neither will yours.
3. [Empty]
4. [Empty]
5. [Empty]
6. [Empty]

Housing

Spoiler

House Name: Villa of Coruscating Flowers (The Villa)
Location: Floor 24 - Paradise Islands
Description: See above
Plot Size: Estate - PK Accessible
Rooms: Listed below. All rooms are assigned to Acanthus.

• Master Bedroom
  • Well Rested | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat.
• Greenhouse
  • Green Thumb | +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
• Extended Workshop: Recording Studio (25,000 col)
  • Hard Working | +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day.
• Mega Slime Farm
  • 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.
• Living Room:
  • Relaxed | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
• Attic (Bedroom)
  • Skylight (Searching) | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill (Searching). Cannot boost a skill without ranks, or increase a skill past its maximum rank. Cannot boost a skill the user has not learned yet. Ranks obtained using this buff will make the mods of that rank available for purchase. Mods obtained this way are unusable if this buff is removed until the skill is returned to the appropriate rank by way of SP purchase.
• Basement:
  • Multipurpose | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll.
• Storage Closet: (10,000 col)
  • Item Stash | +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
• Master Bathroom: (25,000 col)
  • Squeaky Clean | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)

Crafting and Gathering

Spoiler

Crafting Profession:
 - Performer[2638exp] R5
Gathering Profession:
 - Forager[779exp] R5  

 

 

Edited January 20 by Acanthus

[Baldur 0]

Baldur sat, as he often did, on one of the wooden walkways around one of the buildings of his home, his feet dangling over the water of one of the many fishing ponds, with his shakuhachi in hand. Slowly he ran through sequences of notes, trying to internalize them rather than relying on the system to play for him. Soft, melancholy notes drifted out among the gardens and the trees that covered his home. An island that had once been covered with monsters, but which Baldur had tamed and transformed into his sanctuary, the network of buildings that was his home, and the web of buildings that was the guild of <<Jacob's Ladder>> weaving through the landscape as if they had always been there. It was a work of passion that had taken him a very long time to get right.

When he someone make themselves known at the front entrance, Baldur stood up, flute in hand, and wandered over to the front. He slid open the shoji panels and eventually came to the wood gate that lead visitors inside. Opening the door, the tall man greeted Acanthus with a wide and friendly smile. His ever present blue haori hung from his shoulders, and a kimono the color of sunset underneath.

"Acanthus! Welcome to my home. Please, come inside." The gaijin samurai stepped aside, leaving the gate wide open for her to enter. Behind him, though no one was visible, was the sounds from the guild and the others who lived in his house. Hirru in the basement of the dojo, often seen fishing in the many ponds of Baldur's estate. The reclusive Calrex and his wife Teayre who rarely showed themselves in public. The guild was a constant hub of activity. But here in the main section of the house, it was peaceful and quiet. The noise and business of the world was not there. The background music was subtle and unobtrusive, being very atmosperic to the peace and solitude of his home.

"I'm glad you decided to come and visit. I'm a bit ashamed I never took the time to meet all my neighbors."

He led her down the wooden engawa and over to one of the tatami mat rooms where the panels were all opened up and allowed warm sunlight to filter through the trees and into the room. The pond and garden manicured specifically to be viewed and appreciated from this room, with the subtle thunk of a shishi-odoshi fountain and the babbling of water down small stones and into the pond. A pair of embroidered red cushions sat on the floor where Baldur had just been, with a tea pot and a pair of cups.

"Please, have a seat."

---

Spoiler

Combat Statblock

Baldur | HP: 980/980 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 23 | MIT:78 | ACC:8 | AA | KEEN: 1 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:3 | BH:54 | REC: 8 | FLN: 8 | BLI: 32/-20 | BRN: 56 | FRZ: 64 | LD:5

Consumables Taken

Evasion 1 |Accuracy 2 Consumed [Filled] (Gungnir's Shard)

First Post Character Information [Signature]

Name: Baldur True Tier: 10 Level: 34 Paragon Level: 65 HP: 980/980 EN: 132/132 Stats: Damage: 23 Mitigation: 78 Accuracy: 8 Evasion: 3 Battle Healing: 54 Loot Die: 5 Stealth Rating: -2 AA KEEN: 1 REC: 8 FLN: 8 BLI: 32/-20 BRN: 56 FRZ: 64 Equipped Gear: Weapon/Armor/Trinket: - Etheral Tether - Zanshin AA/Keen/Freeze/Burn Armor/Trinket: - Jade Magatama - Acc/Acc/Eva/Recovery Shield/Armor/Trinket: - Monstsuki Haori - Mit/Mit/Eva/Recovery Combat Mastery: - Combat Mastery: Damage R3 Combat Shift: - TECH Shift Familiar Skill: - Custom Skill: - Skills: - Battle Healing R5 - Charge - Energist - Extended Weight Limit - Fighting Spirit - Katana R5 - Light Armor R5 - Quick Change - Searching R5 Extra Skills: - Concentration - Survival - Forgotten King's Authority - Parry Inactive Extra Skills: - Meditation Addons: - Ferocity - Precision - Resolve - Reveal - Stamina Mods: - Detect - Emergency Recovery - Meticulous Inactive Mods: Battle Ready Inventory: - Basic Teleport Crystal x7 - Bear Trap x7 - Group Heal Crystal x1 - Hypnosis x5 - Medium Vitality Snack x1 - Misperception x2 - Safeguard Potion x1 - Warden's Fury x1 - Zanshin or Muramasa x1 Housing Buffs: - Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30. - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot - Dining Room: 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. - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. - Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per fishing attempt Guild Hall Buffs: Scents of the Wild Totem: Wedding Ring: Crafting Profession: - Appraising[5000exp] R5 Gathering Profession: - Fishing[exp] R1

 

Edited January 20 by Baldur

[Acanthus 0]

Quote

"Please, have a seat."

“Thank you.” Acanthus took the seat she was offered, sliding comfortably onto the cushion. The peaceful sounds of the dojo surrounded her, and it took all her concentration to bring herself back to the moment and talk with Baldur, rather than listen to the sounds of wind and water.

“There’s no need to apologize. We may live on the same floor, but it’s still quite a journey. I wanted an estate, which made it difficult to find somewhere inside town. And given my late entrance to the housing market here, many of the good locations were taken. I ended up settling on a nice plot of land outside the city of Scalabis, but I think the reason it was still available was because the path takes you through harpy territory. The mobs are easy enough to avoid with a little care, and they certainly pose little threat to anyone accustomed to the frontlines. But all the same, I tend not to impose on others to make the trip.”

She set the sake and a small wooden box on the table. “I can’t help but feel like sake doesn’t count as a housewarming gift if it doesn’t actually do its job. So I went ahead and brought some tea as well.” Opening the box revealed three small, neatly packaged tins: one green, one black, and one silver. “The green is a gunpowder tea from floor six. The black is a personal favorite of mine, Tomioka tenderleaf. It has a very smoky flavor. The last one is a floral tea from Ellesmera. Apparently the only way to procure this one is a weekly gathering quest from an NPC that’s easy to miss." Frankly, I don’t think it’s good enough to merit being locked behind so many requirements. Acanthus bit her tongue quickly before the last thought slipped out. She could almost hear her dad chiding her from over her shoulder. Don’t disparage gifts as you offer them. It’s unbecoming.

“You have a very lovely home. And on one of the teardrop islands, no less. I’ve always wondered what sort of secrets they hid. I had no idea those secrets included housing.” 

Acanthus peered over the teapot and cups, and then around the room slowly. She wasn’t certain just how formal she was supposed to be at this point in time. Should she pour her tea? Should she ask what kind of tea it was, or was that rude? The line between rude questions and natural conversation was a blurry mess to Acanthus. She opted to keep talking until she could detect some kind of social cue from Baldur. “I thought I had the largest housing available, but this place seems so expansive. It must be nice to have an entire island to yourself. Do people stop by here often?”
 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur accepted the tea and sake with genuine appreciation, giving her a slight seated bow as he accepted them from her. He admired each in turn, letting her explain the teas and where they came from, before setting them down on his opposite side.

"Thank you very much! I still appreciate sake, even if I can't get drunk form it. Even in the outside world, getting drunk is not an activity I take part in, though warm sake on a cold winter night... it can be difficult not to get a little tipsy." He gave a slight, embarrassed laugh. "I will be very interested to try this Tomioka tenderleaf. I don't think I've had this one before, but if its your favorite I look forward to it."

As if speaking of the tea remined him, Baldur picked up the tea pot and filled up both of the small ceramic cups and gestured for her, "Please, it is just a simple green tea, but I enjoy it."

When she asked about visitors Baldur had been sipping his tea, but nodded as he swallowed and put down the cup.

"Considering how much of a to-do it is to get here, I do actually get quite a few visitors. Mostly due to the guild hall being here as well. It makes my home feel deceptively large, plus a single story meandering style home. When all your hallways are engawa around a room, or covered walk ways between detached bedrooms, it begins to sprawl."

He glanced out over the pond and the garden, his steel blue eyes going unfocused for a minute.

"It doesn't feel like too long ago I hosted a Valentines Day sword fighting tournament. We had an incredible turnout. Perhaps more than 20 people participated, and as many people came to watch. Almost the entirety of the Frontline assault team was here, and many many people I had never met before. Thankfully the home is large enough, and my dojo can host multiple matches at the same time. Since then, though, it has been much more quiet."

He turned back to look at Acanthus, evaluating her with his sharp, penetrating gaze. He had never been high enough rank to train people outside of Aincrad, but inside Aincrad he had taught  many people, including several frontliners, how to swordfight, both in a way that worked in the outside world, but also here in SAO. This was the measured and exacting gaze he turned on her. He had seen a little of her fighting on the 29th floor, but had not kept enough awareness during the actual boss fight. They had never met before that.

"We didn't really have much of a chance to chat up on the twenty-ninth floor. So tell me, was that your first boss fight, or were you on the 28th as well? It's a big decision, joining your first floor boss raid."

[Acanthus 0]

Acanthus fought to remain neutral as Baldur observed her, busying herself with the tea instead. She gingerly picked up the teapot, pouring her mug a little too full. She cupped her hands around the mug and embraced its warmth as she pondered a response. First, Acanthus made a mental note to ask for details about the tournament. She hadn’t heard much about player versus player combat. It was a method of training she could explore in the future, perhaps.

Acanthus decided to rip the bandage off the most embarrassing thing first. “Callisto was my first boss fight.” Acanthus watched the vapors dance along the edge of her glass as she formed words. “I did not contribute much to escaping during the first two years here. Swords and monsters and video games are not things I’m particularly confident in navigating. But at some point, that desire to leave Aincrad overtook my reluctance to learn. Now that I’m committed to the frontlines, I’m making every effort I can to catch up.” She felt good about her answer—it was truthful, while sanding down the edges of what was still a very raw experience. “While much of that boss fight went well, I can’t help but worry about how little I really prepared for it. It won’t always work, heading blindly into a fight with good equipment, some healing, and a prayer.” She lifted her eyes from the cup to address the samurai. “I assume that, at least. Has it always been that way for boss fights? You speak and act like a veteran. Have you been fighting bosses since the first floor? Any advice would be appreciated.”

[Baldur 0]

Baldur listened carefully to Acanthus' story and was pleased that she was so willing to open up to him. It felt good to have someone to talk to, both for him and he hoped for her as well. People needed someone to talk to, and a space they felt safe doing so. She had come to the frontline later than some, but there were always new people joining the fight.

"I think most people would call me a veteran, but my first involvement in a boss fight was the floor 9 boss... and I didn't even fight it. That's the one where Alkor kinda but not really died. People were going to go into that fight without any buffs or healing items. Back then, we were too low level to even really have sword arts. So I quickly became a Merchant so I could sell the raid teleport crystals, healing potions, and over-health potions. I was ready to fight in the floor 10 boss fight, but guild politics got involved. People fighting about who got to be in charge, and whose... sword... was bigger." He shook his head in disgust. He had chosen between two guilds, and he went with the Azure Brigade because he wanted to fight on the Frontline, but then they pulled a pissing contest with the person who found the boss room location.

"My first time fighting on the assault team ended up being the floor 14 boss... the fight where another player died. The common sentiment was to blame the same guild. They were cavalierly pushing the floors, people just showed up for the loot, unprepared, because the fights had been easy. No one thought about group compositions, because they didn't expect the boss to live through the A team long enough to be a problem. The boss fight made it everyone's problem."

The gaijin samurai swallowed hard, and then picked up his own cup of hiding his expression behind the cup as emotions began to well up inside of him. He could still see the feathers, feel the falling. See the crystals showering down. The anger. The rage. The overwhelming sadness.

"I don't think I've been to the most raids, but I might be up there in having lead the most raids. Everyone in my group for Calisto were old hat except for Freyd and Wulfrin. We had all been through this together many times before. Will still almost lost Wulfrin, if Freyd hadn't... done whatever that was, we would have lost him too."

Did we lose him? I saw him die, and then come back. The only person who could do that would be Kayaba himself. Could that really be the case, or did I see things?

"Getting everyone prepared, making sure groups had solid compositions... it was a huge undertaking that took many floors. People almost dying. PvP fights in the boss room a couple of times. My guild commissioned 100 AoE healing crystals in order to supply an entire raid to make sure the minimum work was done. Floor 25's boss fight was probably the first time people really came fully prepared, and even there there are people who come more prepared than others. We all try to bring a little extra to fill in the gaps."

He took another sip of his tea, this time calmer.

"The best advice I can give is more to my fighting style. I prepare for everything. Antidotes, healing, energy recovery. It's better for the fight to last a little longer, but to stay safe, than it is to risk your life for a critical hit. The raid is a team, one person's DPS is unlikely to change the course of a fight so much that it's worth risking lives. Sometimes there is a reason to push, a reason to throw everything at the boss and burn it down, but that's a raid-wide decision to be made by the raid-leader, and not an individual. That's how you effect change in the boss fight, by moving in a way that works together."

He set the glass down and poured some more from the teapot into his cup. Using the moment to recalibrate his thoughts. He was a host here, and he was doing most of the talking. That just wouldn't do.

"Sorry, you get an old man talking and he doesn't leave room for anyone else. You said this was your first boss fight, did you join it alongside someone else you knew? Most people don't seem to join in isolation, someone brings them in. We all join in our own time, and no one that was there for the first couple boss fights is still in it now. We all need to encourage the players that having joined the fight yet, because those of us doing this for a while need breaks from time to time." Or else we die.

[Acanthus 0]

Baldur told the history of Aincrad with a sense of personality that the written logs couldn’t capture. Acanthus had already pored over Aincrad’s past through the incidental information gleaned from the game: change logs, epilogues from completed quests, and even the Monument of Life. But that was a fragmented story told through the black and white of numbers. Hearing the stories behind the boss fights flooded those visualizations with color.

“Overpreparing shouldn’t be an issue. I was in a time crunch for the last boss, but the frontlines move at a slow pace. This time, I’ll prepare for everything. I also plan to strike out on some of the rumors that are already floating around. Despite being a new floor, info brokers are already claiming some interesting things: labyrinth locations, possible safe zones, and even a floor boss weakness gleaned from some discarded ancient text. I have no doubt that most of the leads will be fruitless. But if we uncover even one helpful piece of information, then it will have been useful.”

Quote

You said this was your first boss fight, did you join it alongside someone else you knew?

“Did I know anybody? No.” Acanthus warmed her tea with a fresh pour from the pot. “I know names, but to know a person is an onerous claim.” Her thoughts clouded over with past visions

Spoiler

                                                         panicked. I didn’t mean to do it. He cried quietly. I really didn’t. [ERROR detected in memory retrieval. This is not your memory. But maybe one day you will remember.]
 

The orange cursor is odd. I've never seen that before. Maybe it means he's hit the level cap?

Another letter from her aunt lay on his desk. As Haru left angrily, he reached for the lighter.

There were books and papers all over the floor, and the office chair was turned over on its side in the middle of the room. [ERROR detected in memory retrieval. Careful, Counselor. User_948872 has not processed this yet. TIMESTAMP anticipated: Feb 2 2025] 

With a quick breath, she forced the memories further away. “I’m sorry. That was unnecessarily dramatic. I just don’t feel comfortable knowing when to say I know someone. My life has been filled with people that I thought I knew. Instead, I only had a name.”

Acanthus felt her knuckles, white and tense along the outside of the mug. She relaxed them. “But the raid. I guess the person I knew best at that point was NIGHT. We’d only traveled once together, but she was responsible for most of my equipment at that point. I’m not claiming a mutual friendship, but she would probably have been the only one to notice that I had died during the raid. And—” she almost mentioned Edict before she remembered. “Nevermind. Just NIGHT, I think.”

Something Baldur mentioned only just now registered with her. “Wait, what did Freyd do? And Wulfrin? I heard one of the players talk about avenging them, but I just assumed the fog obscured his vision. I saw him at the teleportation plaza after the boss fight, so clearly he didn’t die. What happened?”
 

Edited January 26 by Acanthus

[Baldur 0]

When Acanthus questioned the ability to really know someone, Baldur opened his mouth slightly to release one of the many witty, platitudes he was known for, but when Acanthus recovered and continued it gave him pause. There was a kernel there that needed to be explored, but for now he merely knew there was more to that feeling than a simple platitude could help. Slowly, she released a white knuckled grip on the cup, that had this been the real world, he might have been worried would have broken. She was nervous, perhaps, talking about the frontline. So he let the conversation flow.

I would have noticed if you died, Acanthus. I mourn for them all.

She quickly re-engaged on the subject for Freyd, and that reaction not only caught his interest, but aligned with it as well. He resisted the urge to set down the tea cup and... spill the tea, as it were. While he had suspicions about the man, and perhaps who he truly was, Freyd had given him no reason... yet... to suspect his character.

"I am not entirely certain what I saw. We were shielding behind Freyd during one of the bosses big AoE attacks. Wulfrin was caught out, and his hit points were about to be wiped out, but before any of us could react, Freyd threw himself at the mercy of the boss. I would swear I saw his hit point bar disappear in the typical shower of pixels, but then there was a light and he was there. It all happened so far, in the heartbeat breath of attacks. It is often hard to keep pace of so many things in a fight, especially when fighting to stay alive takes up so much of your concentration on its own."

Except that I am practiced at it. Maintaining awareness of the entire field is what I do. But how can I explain what I saw, when I don't even understand what I saw.

"I have not yet had much chance to meditate on it, but it is a good thing no one died. And that is mostly thanks to Freyd and his unwavering commitment to the safety of not just his team, but his kouhai. I do not know what I would do if I lost one of my students."

Baldur did not have much in the way of students anymore. He had graduated most of them, or they had retired from the Front. He would not begrudge anyone their rest. He had taken several, as had they all.

"We would have noticed...  you know. The Assault Team. You are now a member of an exclusive circle. Everyone has their own take on it, but when you fight at the Front, side by side with people, you come to know a different side of them. You mentioned truly getting to know someone? When their life is on the line, when the chips fall down and you have to choose between fight or flight... that's when you get to know someone."

It would have spoken well of Freyd, unless Baldur's suspicions were confirmed. If there aren't consequences to face, then it is not truly seeing that side of them.

"Wulfrin, I imagine, feels that he truly knows the measure of Freyd. I have not been at death's door since wolves chased me across the first floor, but I have seen people die, and I have fought side beside people knowing that one wrong move would have cost someone their life. I wish I could say the decisions had been easy, but when someone is on death's door and they stay by your side because you both know that if they retreat everyone else is in danger? That's when you know what someone is made of."

Baldur couldn't help but think back to the fight with Shadow, with the Dragon it had inhabited. How close they had all come to dying, but none more so than Macradon. How they had had to galvanize the group and fight through because teleport crystals stopped working. That was how you knew someone.

[Acanthus 0]

Quote

"I do not know what I would do if I lost one of my students."

“You either forget the past or accept it. I don’t think there’s another option.” She hoped he would not continue down this line of thinking. Even still, she could not practice what she preached.

Quote

"When their life is on the line, when the chips fall down and you have to choose between fight or flight... that's when you get to know someone."

—“she felt a peculiar desire not to win—but to KILL.”—

Without a word, Acanthus slipped into the dark alleys, intent on resuming her search of the town.

Acanthus collected herself with a deliberate sip of tea. She replaced the mug gently before speaking. “I disagree. Combat is stressful. Prolonged exposure to war and death does not reveal the soul—it warps it. Take a look at veterans that return from battle. To those who come back broken and crying in their sleep… you would not say that is their earnest self, would you?” She procured a chopstick from her inventory. Balancing the chopstick on her thumb, she pressed down firmly on either end with her pointer and ring finger. The chopstick began to bend under the pressure, cracking softly in a hundred small breaks. When the stick was seconds from bursting, she set its bent form in front of Baldur, alongside its untouched partner. “Which of these earned its fate? And does that change which one you would use?”