Sakura

Feeding Your Enemy Familiars. They had become the newest discovery and requirement for any and all players. Aoi had heard talk of their existence within the communication and information lines she maintained, their presence within the game nothing short of a necessity for any player looking to expand upon their own growth and development. Anyone who desired faster skill development, or easier grinding, or even just a less lonely time in Aincrad had taken to finding and accepting the companionship of a familiar within their homes and parties. Aoi hadn’t put off finding one, but rather been

The finished product sat before her, the words emblazoned into the tablet as soon as she’d figured out the meaning behind the ciphering. Her eyes passed over it numerous times, taking in the translation as she tried to comprehend what she was reading. Some portions of it were logical, and Aoi was quick to pick up on the fact that she would be facing numerous dangers going forward – a fact that suddenly made Cervais’s illusive hint about the longevity and continuation of the quest more reasonable to her mind almost instantly – but she found herself entirely lost with some of the references.

Determination and brutal force had given her the advantage she’d needed. Where her advancement had been slow to start – a true struggle to understand the concepts of the puzzle, and what needed to be done to translate it into something understandable – her continued workflow had taken a massive turn as she saw patterns once invisible to her eye appear before her. It was as if something opened in her mind, and suddenly she was able to not only notice, but also relate the patterns to one another and find the connections between ciphering and translation, providing herself with an understanding o

Pieces of the message had begun to traverse themselves into an understandable form within her writings. She’d begun to see portions of what was clearly meant to be a message – another riddle, from the way it was developing to her eyes – within her own language. As if she were working to decipher the actual riddle that would lead her upon a quest, or if the information was correct a collection of quests, towards whatever end goal existed beyond this chamber. Aoi didn’t think that far ahead, not yet, as she continued grasping towards the meanings within the ciphered words. This one is…power

Moments passed before Aoi made any real headway, the cipher and tablet providing nothing more than confusion as she tried to figure it out without any real instructions or guidance. Frustration had built at the very beginning, and she’d found herself forcing it back down as she tried to do anything but become lost among it all. Slowly, she’d compared the two objects, passing back and forth between them until she found herself grasping at the most basic of concepts and understandings within the activity. She’d never truly been great at encoded messages and deciphering them – she knew a lot of p

Passing through the gate, she’d crossed dozens of kilometres of field and pathway to end up at the destination described by Cervais. Regular, unappealing hillsides surrounded her, a singular small entryway leading into a tunnel that gave Aoi pause. There was nothing to signify it from anywhere else in the vicinity, and yet the marker placed by some unknown system had appeared into view almost exactly as Cervais had described it would. Still, Aoi hesitated, trying to convince herself that there was nothing beyond the entryway, and that this had all been a waste of time. I came all this way. I m

The impromptu meeting had ended with Cervais leaving as quickly as he had appeared, sliding from his seat and heading back out into the city’s populace without a commotion. Aoi remained seated for a while, considering the information that Cervais had deemed worth his time to share – for a small price, of course – and the impact it could have on her own journey going forward. Many of the suggested bonuses were no more than speculation, based upon what rumours had been aligned with the questline itself – little of it had been proven thus far, due to further limitations. But enough of it was catc

Scents of the Wild: Keepers of Nature News had quickly reached Aoi’s ears once it had become common knowledge. News of the newfound area within the first floor’s vast wildlands, a place that sat upon the edges of the floor’s existence and led into a cavern that was once the most sought after farming location. Now, as the rumours suggested, it had become an abandoned and empty cave, filled with naught but a single large, closed door carved into the very stone that had been nothing but wall previously. Only a large tree, supposedly inscribed with illegible script, sat alongside this newfoun

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’It’s gone.’ The words were a mere whisper from Aoi as she glanced around and made sure no other creatures were appearing from the dark. Seconds passed before she was certain they were - relatively – safe in the moment. Turning back to the young child, Aoi knelt down and gently placed a hand upon their figure. Unsurprisingly the touch caused the child to flinch backwards. ’That’s just me. Come now, let’s get you home shall we?’ The path back out of the tunnels was longer than Aoi expected. Either she had truly become lost, and they wandered aimlessly for a while until they were out, or sh

The bolt struck the creature directly in its left wing, sending it colliding to the ground and skittering across the hard surface to slam into the far wall. Aoi felt herself moving even as it first impacted the ground, not waiting to see what would happen to it in the chaos of what came next. She fumbled another bolt into the crossbow’s mechanism, locking it into place and preparing to release another shot even as she moved towards Koko’s form in the dark. ’Koko don’t move! I’m right above you! I’ll keep you safe from the monster!’ Her voice was low, just loud enough for the child to hear

’H-hello…?’ The soft voice spoke from Aoi’s right, and she found herself jumping and almost firing at the small shape that appeared from behind a collection of boulders. The figure moved blindly, reaching out with hands that waved in the air in a desperate attempt to find anything to support itself. Aoi breathed a sigh of relief, before realising that she’d remained silent for long seconds following the voice’s declaration of existence and greeting. ’Koko…? Are you Koko? Your mother sent me to find you.’ Aoi’s voice was gentle, trying to coax the child into a less terrified state. The cro

She’d stopped at the sound echoing down the walls towards her. At first, she’d thought it might be another of the bat like creatures making its presence known, and she’d raised the crossbow without a second thought. Seconds and breaths had passed, however, and nothing had leapt out of the shadows to attack her. At least, not yet. Instead, Aoi had tuned into her hearing once more, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from, and coming to the conclusion that it was somewhere further ahead. Almost like a voice, maybe? She had nothing to go on to prove that point, the sound had been bri

Whether she was too lost in thought, or if the depths of what she had thrown herself into suddenly dawned on her, Aoi found herself wandering without consideration of her surroundings for an accounted amount of time. When she finally snapped back to the reality of her situation, she noticed that everything looked different. The tunnels around her had shifted slightly, the walls angling outwards and the ceiling dropping down just enough to be noticeable above her head. Brilliant. If I’m entirely unlucky, the way I came will have some sort of branch in it that I totally missed, and I’ll be

The decision was anything but easy as she’d stood before the trio of paths, and been forced to choose on nothing more than feeling and guesswork. Moments had passed before she’d moved towards the one on her left, only to stop mid step and turn to face another of the pathways. Rattled with indecision, she’d eventually had to take the chance and close her eyes, spinning slightly before opening them and heading directly down the path in front of her – ignoring the fact that she’d chosen the centre one, which she’d originally ignored entirely. Maybe it was the right choice after all. It had c

Wandering through the cave haphazardly wouldn’t help her, Aoi was at least aware of that much in her current state and situation. She needed to prepare herself, to act upon a greater plan of action and move through with precision and patience. She had no idea where to head once she’d made her way into the cave itself – the marker had halted at the entrance, leading her within and no further. Instead, she’d been given the choice of heading down one of three different pathways, each branching off into a different direction – and as far as she’d seen from her current point, there’d been no obviou

Shards fell to the ground around her as the bolt finished the giant bat. Aoi had remained still, unable to move as she’d waited to see the outcome of her gamble. Whether through pure luck, or developed skill with her chosen weapon, she’d managed to strike a decent hit against the thing directly in the centre of its chest. Maybe a bit of luck, and a bit of skill. Aoi had finally let her arms fall to her side as she confirmed there were no other threats, the crossbow reloaded and ready for the next fight – but her entire form needing a break from the exertion that it had just gone through

She’d lowered her guard slightly upon seeing the thing, a pitiful state that brought a moment of doubt into her mind. Though she knew, logically, that it was nothing more than a stream of data designed in that moment to pull upon her emotional reaction, Aoi found herself hesitating. Unable to fire the bolt that would end the thing’s existence and bring herself to safety within the cave. No part of her wanted to harm something that appeared so desperate to survive, the rush of adrenaline that had driven her to fight and survive flowing from her body in almost an instant. The bat seemed to

The bolt soared through the air briefly, clunking into something soft and causing a piercing screech in response as the creature fell to the ground just short of Aoi’s own position. She stared for a brief second at the form of what appeared to be some mystically large, oversized bat, before stepping back and finishing the reloading of the crossbow on her wrist. Whatever the thing was meant to be, she knew that she needed to defeat it in order to be able to continue onwards and find the missing girl that was awaiting her rescue. Right, another quick shot and I should be able to continue wi

The flittering movement was visible just out of the edges of her vision, the creature swooping low towards Aoi as she entered the cavern more fully. The thing – winged, large framed and clearly not welcoming to her presence within its home – swooped down from the roof above her and forced its claws forward in an attempt to catch her and drag her backwards. The ambush would have won if Aoi had been unable to see within the darker environment, the creature’s movements a mere brush of sound against the otherwise quiet background and almost indecipherable if she didn’t know it was there. That

The marker had brought her to the entryway of a cavern in the hillside. Light reached into the area only for a few steps, before being overwhelmed by the darkness within that subdued any chance of providing natural sight. Aoi had come to a halt just beyond the entrance, considering her map for a while as she tried to figure out if it was guiding her within, or simply around the area. She came to the realisation quickly, the details undeniable. Still, she’d remained outside for a few seconds as she considered her options. Everyone always talks about dungeons. Is this one of them? Nothing

Aoi felt herself relax slightly as the giant ant creature exploded into shards, leaving her safe – for the moment – in the field. What little she’d obtained from the combat seemed almost paltry in comparison to the difficulty that had come from trying to take the thing down, though she knew she couldn’t complain too much. She was alive, and that meant she hadn’t lost anything of value. I should look at avoiding these things until I’m better prepared, though. And I need to go find that woman’s daughter. She’d forgotten about the quest during the final seconds of the fight, more focused on

The bolt sailed across the open space, slamming into the ground mere steps away from the giant ant. Aoi snarled, annoyed at the lack of luck she was having against the creature – but content to see that it remained standing where it was, apparently hesitant to approach her in the moment. She couldn’t see any reason for its hesitation, but chose not to look down upon a gift given in a moment of dire need. This thing definitely needs a sight. Or I need more practice with aiming it and learning where the shot will land…this isn’t going well at all. Aoi finished reloading the weapon, bringing

The sound of the bolt impacting through the carapace almost came louder to Aoi’s ears than the slight screeching sound that the creature made as it reeled backwards and froze in place. Clearly not having expected her attack to land beneath its armoured core, the creature froze in place – as much stunned in surprise as it was from her attack’s impact and affect. Aoi didn’t waste any time, reloading the crossbow once more as she rushed backwards to the absolute maximum range of her weapon, wanting to give herself time to avoid any further charges it might make after her. She knew that she c