Lessa

Very blonde hair and a raccoon-eyes sunburn.

She heard his declaration, cutting through the scuff of boots on dirt, and heavy breathing of combat. Part of her longed to shout her own encouragement, but she found herself wondering if his words were meant for her at all. So instead she merely smiled, drew Hell Rose, and thundered toward the spider. She had played defense for the goblin, standing her ground until the stocky mob drew nearer. This time, fueled by adrenaline, her good mood, and the previous victory, Lessa leapt into combat without a second thought. Might as well use her most powerful sword art! Unfortunately, such reckles

Guild Name: The Vanguard Guild Owner: Lessa Guild Hall Name: The Grotto Location: Floor 21. Located on the outskirts of Tomoika, built into a network of caves. Description: The Grotto is a mixture of both man-made and natural occurrence. Built into preexisting cave systems, the hall's size is largely obscured by the giant stalactites that house it. Accessible by a simple door, with rooms separated by standard walls, much of the building looks like a structure one might find anywhere else. However, the mushroom lighting and occasional exposed stone walls give the place a unique charm. A second

Lessa snorted, as unladylike a sound as she had ever made before. Then she scrunched her face, lips pursing as if she had sucked on a lemon. "Damn it, Genji," she drawled. "If you don't stop putting visuals of your 'delivery' in my head, I may just go tumbling over this ledge after all. And not by accident!" Then her face loosened into a grin, teeth flashing in the bright sunlight. It was a gesture meant to express that she had no real qualms with thinking such things - he was a good enough looking guy - but she was not his friend if she did not give him a hard time about it. So she nodded, gi

"See? SEE?" Lessa jabbed her pointer finger toward Genji, blue eyes flashing as her face transformed from placid to smug. She could always be counted on to set the perfect trap, and Genji was as dependable as the sunrise when it came to walking right into them. "You're just proving my point, Mister Lord of the Rings expert." She clicked her tongue, shook her head, and added, "I'm willing to bet you even read the books." Then, devilishly, "I bet you even read them more than once." The exchange had removed much of the heaviness from her, plucking the weight from her chest before it had ampl

"Those stupid eagles," Lessa replied tartly, shaking her blonde head. "Do you have any idea how much easier life would have been for Frodo and Sam if those eagles had just flown them there in the first place?" Before Genji could say anything, she held up her hand, and added, "I'm sure there's some very compelling and complex reason that any true Tolkien fan should know. And it wouldn't make for a very good movie otherwise. But man, for a basic movie fan like me, it was pretty annoying." On the matter of mounts, Lessa felt that there was more that needed saying, considering it was a topic

Silence fell as Lessa mulled over his question. She let her gaze wander skyward, lips making soft kissing noises while she thought. Finally, "I'd capture it. Gain its trust. Train it. Make it my mount." When she turned to look at him, a goofy grin plastered across her face, she added, "I mean, why the hell not? We're bound to find mounts at some point. I think mine should be a freaking dragon." The pair carefully navigated their way around the wrecked path, sticking close until they were again on solid footing. Once they were further along, Lessa let a bit more distance come between them,

"Bah," the blonde scoffed, automatically rubbing at her wrist where his hand had been. "Look at me. I'm a tank, armored up enough I'd probably hurt the ground more than it would hurt me." Then she scrunched up her face, swiped at some sweat that beaded on her forehead, and added, "or just go slipping on down the mountain. I'm definitely sweaty enough for it." This sun really sucks, she nearly added, before catching herself. Complaining when she was anxious was a terrible habit, and despite her victory, adrenaline still coursed through her veins. But it was something she needed to work on. What

"Got it!" Lessa shouted back, registering Genji's warning with only a slice of her full attention. Her focus was reserved for the goblin and his warg, both snarling as they trudged a tight circle around her. Though they remained outside the reach of her claymore, she swore she could smell their stink, and feel their warm breath, mingling with the already hot air. Her jaw worked as she watched, and waited. Who would attack first? The decision was made for her in an instant, when a number of things happened all at once. A shriek from above her startled Lessa from her battle mode, and though

"Nope," Lessa growled through gritted teeth. "Over here, you ugly motherf-" Encouraged either by her howl or her taunt (perhaps both), the goblin and his mount thundered past Genji, and directly toward her. Lessa settled deeper into her stance, heaving her sword up and over her right shoulder. The massive blade, crafted by Klein, and styled after Joan of Arc's Sword of St. Catherine, seemed to pulse in her hands. How long had it been since she had faced such a formidable foe? Had it been the Hydra, or even Orochi before? The concern for Genji's safety never left her, but it was reduced to

"Pretty stellar foreshadowing, huh?" Her voice rose and fell with forced humor, but it was no secret that she was rattled. If the sudden explosion of dirt and rock had not been enough, the appearance of the mounted goblin was the cherry on top of her sundae. She yanked Hell Rose from its sheath, distributing her weight evenly between her feet, and settling into her familiar combat stance. She had rarely fought mobs with other players during her various hiatuses, considering her refusal to partake in boss battles. Most of the aid she had provided low-level players had been in the form of coachi

Genji was slow on his response, a fact that Lessa could not help but notice as she waited for his answer. This was not uncommon when it came to her silver-haired friend; he often retreated into thought, or memory, or somewhere far away from where they presently stood. At first, it had concerned her, driving her to wonder just what it was that consumed him so completely. Once or twice, she had asked him about it, only to be given vague, non-committal answers. Now, though she occasionally referred to him as "space cadet," or broke into his thoughts with a rousing rendition of "Ground Control to

Lessa grinned at the boy. "Depends on the studies," she answered. "Anything that has to do with history or teaching, definitely. I blew off economics though. It's important, but I just couldn't get my head around it. I'll have to do better if I'm going to pass the teacher certification test." At his mention of her ethnicity, her cheeks warmed a bit. "Ha, yeah," she began, reaching to rub at the back of her neck. "I get that a lot." And she did, considering she was a part of the minority in Aincrad. The game had not been formally released in her country, so her appearance confused a great

"You know a lot more about this stuff than I do," the blonde confessed, reaching up to rub at the bridge of her nose. "All I know is what I can remember from class." She had been preparing to teach these same religions to middle school students, but Sword Art Online had interrupted her plans. Interrupted her life, interrupted her relationships, interrupted her everything. Perhaps if she had remained in the real world long enough to see the end of her internship year, she might have learned more about Buddhism and Shintoism. I wonder if I would have passed the teacher readiness exam. She had he

The stoat leaped from her shoulder, scurrying into the nearby brush. When it returned, it was a wolf. "How convenient!" Lessa exclaimed, grinning. "It is almost like we experienced some sort of time jump, and now everything is different!" It really was remarkable. Riker trotted to her side, his tongue lolling as if he had no care in the world. The blonde rested a gauntleted hand on his sturdy head, then shifted it to scratch behind his ears. Were it not for his massive size, the familiar might be mistaken for a mere dog. He certainly behaved in a way that contradicted the vicious wol

Thread Complete Lessa receives 400 col and 1 SP. Alkor gets nothing.

Thread Complete Lessa gains 1 SP, 400 col, and 2 T1 mats. Alkor gets nothing because he dead.

Here's an odd one for you. I have "Hammer of Dawn." It was given to me by Klein. After the merge, all of his posts went to the Kirito account. In Klein's shop, he crafted the Hammer of Dawn. It was originally +1 CD. For whatever reason, Klein gave the hammer to Lessa in this post. Since I can no longer use +1 CD, I'd like to have this reapproved as Crafting Attempt (+1 crafting attempt per day). Please let me know if you have any concerns!

Lessa slowed before she could follow the man across the bridge, turning back to face her friend. An expression of mingling annoyance and discomfort drifted across her face with the slow laziness of the clouds above. She swiped at the the sweat on her brow, shoving a few damp tendrils of blonde hair back from her flushed face. "I think," she began tartly, "that it is way too hot for autumn. We might as well start with the Temple, since it might be cooler in there." And we're both idiots for climbing a mountain in the middle of the day. I'm an even bigger idiot for wearing my heavy armor. But wh

25,686 9 Tier One 0 Tier Two 0 Tier Three This is a link to the spreadsheet where I keep all of my data. Col and mat transactions are all the way to the right side. You'll also see a column with all of my completed threads and their mat and col gains. I hope that is sufficient!

Instinct took over as Lessa saw the man begin to sway on his feet. In the real world, Alyssa Butler had been more clumsy than anything else. Though her hobbies required balance - shotput, horseback riding, skiing - she was still a naturally clunky mover. She made a fool of herself at yoga class when her friends convinced her to join, and speed had never been her forte. Either her time in Aincrad had made her more physically fit, or the game's mechanics made her more capable. More than likely, it was both that allowed her to slide beside the groundskeeper, drop to one knee, and hammock him in h

Expectant silence fell between them, and Lessa waited nearly a full five seconds before she motioned for him to go on. "The NPC is what?" she demanded. "Trapped in the temple? Protected by a dragon?" Her blue eyes widened with an idea, and she added, "or maybe the NPC is that dragon! That would be cool." Her companion shook his head, then nodded a short distance off. The pair had come around a bend in the trail, and as Lessa had been entirely focused on Genji, she had stopped watching her surroundings. Now, as she zeroed in on the figure in question, she frowned. "Oh," came her reply

Closed to Genji "So here's my dilemma." The blonde paused to take a bite out of a crisp, red apple; she had been tossing it between her hands for the past twenty minutes, and had finally decided that she was hungry enough to eat it. "It is probably way too dangerous for me to be taking you, a level one, into the level seven mountains. We have no idea what's up here, or if I'll be able to handle it on my own." She took another bite, her blue eyes shifting to watch Genji in her peripheral. "But on the other hand, I'm really curious about where this rumor leads, and I'd hate to be left out."

@Shield For the record, I don't think anyone is claiming that there are no players with rich histories. But there are players who are asking for more, as I'm sure you can see in this discussion, and on Discord. I could write a dozen solos and have an awesome story. But how does that tie me to the community? How does that build overarching themes that everyone can benefit from? I'd like to see us open the world to everyone by creating events and stories that can't be wrapped up with a bow in 21 posts.