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’Perhaps…perhaps you’re right, somewhat. It would be a shame to be locked away for eternity, unable to explore and find and discover…’ Nari suddenly glanced at Onora with concern, wondering if she had somehow broken Nemo’s foundation of existence. She’d meant nothing more than to present a counter argument, but the man seemed to be lost deeper and deeper in thought as the seconds ticked away, and she wondered if she had somehow created some game altering moment right then and there. ’Still, though. Sometimes being given a place to live and survive is more important than being free – think of h

’That’s true, that’s true…still, a prized collection they would have made as a pair, no?’ Nemo grinned as Onora sighed, clearly misreading her reaction to the comment. Nari knew that the blonde was exasperated by the inability to see the creatures as free beings, capable of making their own way in life – Nemo, on the other hand, seeing their value within his garden; safe, certainly, but contained and incapable of expanding or exploring. Or doing anything that a free animal, being or creature would be capable of doing. ’Perhaps, but isn’t it nice to consider allowing some things to be free

She wasn’t entirely sure that she did know how it went, and yet Nari found herself understanding at the same time, somehow. An odd case wherein she knew she didn’t necessarily need to experience it, to understand it – the suggestion behind the words telling her everything she needed to know, without telling her anything at all. Social constructs and behaviours are weird. She shook her head to herself, knowing that thought was the exact same one she’d had years ago – long before she’d even considered joining the virtual world, let alone becoming a member of Aincrad. ’Sure, sure. But at lea

Time seemed to both stall, and flash before Nari’s eyes as she listened to Nemo explaining the various journeys’ he’d partaken to find the creatures, mythical and majestic as he described them, across the world of Aincrad. At points she found herself laughing, giggling and crying as he explained humorous events that occurred, and in alternation she oft found herself reduced to depressive moments as something went wrong – usually the death of a rare and special being that he had search long for, across various areas of Aincrad. ’…I’d almost had it, truly, but then the dragon appeared befor

Nemo and Onora chatted for a while about the distant paddock – a piece that Nari hadn’t even noticed until Onora had pointed it out, containing a collection of horse like creatures within that seemed content to be locked away. Likely for their own safety, with the numerous predators that roamed the fields in search of their next meal. Something about the horse creatures caught Nari’s eye, the shifting black and white similar to a zebra – and yet the horns upon their heads signified them as some sort of fantastical creature. ’You always have such amazing creatures and beings here, Nemo. Wh

[NEW] Thread Closing Template Word Count EXP (WPE): [Word Count]/5 Pages Col (PC): 400 * page (20 Posts) count <<PLAYER>> receives the following: Tier: Player’s True Tier EXP: [WCE * Tier] + [quest] + [other bonuses] Col: [PC/numPlayer] (unless otherwise agreed on by participants) + [other bonuses] Mats: (If applicable) Items: (If applicable) Other Thread Rewards: (Skills and such) For PT/Event all participating characters get 1 Mon If you're in a guild together you get 1 Guild token If you're in a guild you receive 1% of final EXP and Col (Percent

’Thanks, Nemo. The invite is always appreciated.’ Nari tossed a grin that was meant to be pleasant towards the man, responding after a few seconds of awkward silence. She hadn’t been entirely sure, at first, why she had even bothered responding. Sure, she was trying to keep the non-player character from being sad – but the man likely didn’t feel sadness towards their silence, so much as a lull in the conversation – a point that it simply fell into a docile state, as many had explained and theorised. For Nari, however, it felt wrong to simple ignore the man and his comment; especially when he s

Thread Summary Word Count EXP (WPE): [1090]/5 = 218 Pages Col (PC): 0 <<Luke Pendragon>> receives the following: Tier: 1? EXP: [218 * 1] + [0] + [0] Col:0 Mats: - Items: - Other Thread Rewards: -

’Sorry.’ Onora glanced towards Nari, recognising the stare and the meaning behind it. She flushed slightly, as if embarrassed by the slip up she had made, or the reaction she’d received – or perhaps both. Nari shook her head, wanting to say it didn’t really matter, that there was no reason to be sorry. The words, however, didn’t come out. She knew that it wouldn’t entirely be truthful. Even this long into the game, or perhaps because of how long it had been, the simple comment seemed to strike deep; as if giving up on the possibility of escape was becoming more and more of a reality for far to

’It really is.’ Nari pulled in the line again, sighing to herself as she saw the glint of empty hook in the air above the water. She tossed the line back into the water, determined to at least make the most of the time. She knew coming here that she wasn’t going to be experience an abundance of success – one never did, when starting out anything in Aincrad; a fact that Cardinal seemed to ensure. Still, she’d been hoping her success rates would be at least slightly better than they had been thus far – though, Onora would say that just meant they’ll pick up if she kept at it. ’One could alm

Nari could easily empathise with the frustration that Onora was feeling, as she pulled in another empty line. She barely remembered the difficulties she’d had when she first started out as a forager, though she didn’t remember them being this trying. Could simply be that it was so long ago you’ve forgotten, though. Hindsight really does make everything seem…different than it was. And now that you’re great at foraging…at least somewhat… She sighed as she remember the lack of any materials she’d found on the way in – as if a foreshadowing to how her day of fishing was about to commence. ’At

Success wasn’t coming easy as Nari drew the line back in once more. Another empty haul greeted her, the hook glittering softly against the sunlight coming down from above. She glanced upwards, considering how naturally she considered the light in the sky sunlight, now. She could barely remember a time where she hadn’t considered it a sun – though it was clearly nothing star like in reality, beyond simply being a provision of light that allowed one to see their surroundings. Still, in her mind she’d accepted it as sunlight – as had most other players that Nari had come across, when commenting o

The boar looked like it wanted to flee, but oh that poor sorry soul wasn’t going to be going anywhere. Luke wouldn’t allow it to after all the trouble it’d give him. Luke lunged at it, swinging in an arc that was very sloppy but still managed to land its mark. The blade sunk into the boar, and it let out a final groan of pain before dropping to the ground, dead. Victory! He’d done it. The crude slices had completely ruined any chance of him getting any decent salvage from it, but he was still satisfied. The purpose of this was to practice with the sword, after all. Not to benefit f

Luke abandoned his run and swing strategy, instead choosing to take a breather. He didn’t want to admit it, but this boar was actually hurting him every time he let it hit him. He didn’t think that ought to be possible, what with how large their sizes were, but he had to accept it. If he didn’t land a good hit soon… he might actually need to run. He gripped the sword with both hands and let out a roar, swiping it in a horizontal slash as the boar approached. This time he hit it. It wasn’t a clean cut by any means, but it smashed the boar to the side and it hit a tree for good measure. “H

Luke allowed himself to carry his momentum to move out of the way of the boar. It was looking angry, and he was starting to feel angry himself. Why was killing this boar such an issue today? He sighed, holding his sword out. It felt heavier now that he’d used so much energy swinging it around. He’d been putting quite a bit of power into his swings instead of trying to accurately hit it. He supposed that he feared that a direct hit would probably kill it. He tried again, not learning anything from his mistakes. The sword nearly hit the boar this time, but it hopped to the side as they charged a

Luke twirled the sword around, nearly nicking himself in the process. Such a large sword… why was he having so much difficulty hitting something so slow? He sighed, pointing it at the boar that was turning around to give him another shot. They ran at each other again, except when Luke swung down, he missed entirely this time. The sword dug into the ground and pushed him up off the ground. He would have likely suffered a fatal blow in a high stakes battle because of this blunder, but since the boar was short statured, it ran under where he’d just been. His incompetence had actually turned out t

’Well, this is going well.’ Nari had finally managed to snaggle a smaller sized fish, the scaled thing flopping onto the ground beside her before she managed to carve into it with the small knife she’d brought along – another piece of the fishing gear she’d acquired with her new skillset. She was careful to cut away the pieces that were most important, watching as the excess and waste disappeared into nothingness. ’How’s the piece coming along, Onora?’ The blonde gave a soft sigh, waving her hand over it as if to declare some sort of broader response, before simply shaking her head and re

’Which one?’ Onora glanced up, looking across the field in the general direction that Nemo had been eyeing. It took her a few seconds, eyes casually scanning the area, before she seemed to spot whatever it was Nemo had seen. ’Ah, yeah…that one with the slightly shifting pattern? I do like the look of it.’ Nemo seemed to beam at the thought of someone else being eccentric about the creatures he kept, the sudden commentary launching him into an explanation of the thing’s arrival, conception or whatever else had brought it into existence. Nari listened for only a few moments, before tuning t

A measure of silence fell over the trio as they relaxed, Nemo content to mention small commentary once in a while as they simply sat; Nari’s line the one minor movement and sound against the pulling needle in Onora’s hand, and the winds that swept across the plains. Nari was careful to keep an eye on the roaming creatures that made up the population of the garden – wolves covered in moss, alien like creations that roamed oddly against the realistic world’s grasses, and small drakes that floated above the stalks of plants. None came close enough to be a concern, though Nari was sure that wouldn

The image distorts as one of the frontliners cries out. A sword has burst through her chest. Her hands scrabble at the wound, clutching at the sword in a terrified and futile attempt to push it back out. The image shudders again as botan tears out of the her chest through her left side. She collapses with tears in his eyes. User Acanthus's marker pulses orange against the backdrop of red fractals, the only sign that the frontliner had ever existed. <<Counselor, we may have a problem. Simulation or not, we are in dangerous territory when the simulation pulls additional Users in.>

THE DATA MAY APPEAR NORMAL, BUT IT IS PRECIOUS ALL THE SAME. THERE MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND THIS SESSION'S DATA AS WELL. <<I see.>> Map data, invisible to the naked eye, spied four entities approaching User Acanthus's position. <<Users.>> The program confirmed. <<Perhaps they are here for User Acanthus?>> THERE IS NO PERHAPS. THAT IS THEIR PURPOSE. FRONTLINERS, TASKED WITH BRINGING HER BACK. OR BRINGING HER DOWN. <<That is interesting. Have we encountered these four before?>> WE HAVE NOT. NOT EVERY USER OF THE FRONTLINE

The User's fight played out silently before the two observers. Sparks danced around the two combatants as they wove a dance around the lake, leaving streaks of light burned into the image. <<It is beautiful.>>> The voice remained silent. The program had made an utterly inane statement that did not require a response. It was best to leave alone and avoid encouraging the thing. <<I mean to say the fight is stimulating to watch. Both Taneuma and User Acanthus are fierce and unafraid, which makes the fighting taut and consistent. The horse's lightning attacks pr

IMMACULATE. BUT CHECK HER ATTRIBUTES. WE MUST BE AWARE IF SHE ATTEMPTED ANY... STRANGENESS. <<You are referring to the "cheating" from the previous simulation?>> "CHEATING" IMPLIES THERE ARE ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARIES CONSTRUCTED AS "RULES." IT IS AN INACCURATE WORD. USER ACANTHUS'S ALTERATIONS ARE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF CARDINAL'S USUAL BOUNDARIES. BUT CALLING CARDINAL'S ENVIRONMENTAL BOUNDS A "RULEBOOK" WOULD BE SIMILAR TO A USER CONSIDERING THE PHYSICS OF THE WORLD BEYOND AINCRAD AS A "RULEBOOK." IT IS A REDUCTIONIST VIEW. <<I understand.>> The program lied.

User Acanthus arrives at the edge of an abyss. In the dismal landscape, the lake appears closer to a bottomless pit than a placid lake. In a flash, clouds blanket the sky, and lightning strikes the center of the lake. The User's face remains stiff and unimpressed by the grandeur, and she equips her sword and shield without hesitation. <<Counselor, when you say "in more ways than one,” what does that mean?>> YOUR QUESTIONS ARE NO LONGER TOLERATED. WE HAVE REACHED THE DATA THAT IS BEST REVIEWED FRESH. YOU MAY ASK QUESTIONS AS THEY RELATE TO THE FIGHT. NOTHING ELSE. For

The tint of color washed out the User's journey, rendering it a bland pinpoint in a slow-moving landscape. <<Counselor…>> WE HAD HOPED YOU WOULD LEARN THE VALUE OF SILENCE. <<Silence cannot teach me, Counselor.>> ...FINE. THE INITIAL OBJECTIVES OF THE QUEST HAVE LITTLE TO SHOW. WE WILL REVIEW THE DATA LATER. WHAT DO YOU NEED? <<I am curious about what you just mentioned, actually. Would it not be simpler to begin the simulation at the point of contact with the quest boss? We already altered parameters in the previous quest to cut down on U