Lessa

So what else was there? Tailoring wasn’t an option, even if she’d enjoyed that sort of thing. Moving in on Bahr’s clients didn’t make a whole lot of sense. What about being a cook? At the thought, Lessa choked on a hard, self-deprecating laugh. Her, a cook? Yeah, maybe if she wanted to poison all of Aincrad. Or burn it down. And that was assuming she actually remembered to turn on the stove. "Wait," she said aloud, slowing to a halt. What was she thinking? Professions were not a reflection of her real-life strengths. Rather, they were an opportunity to try new things. To allow the game to

Floor 1 Do what you like. It was a simple enough concept, but Lessa had chewed on the question for the past hour. Oliver had been wise to suggest choosing a profession that she enjoyed, as she would be more likely to stick with it. But what did she actually enjoy doing these days? Fighting? Sleeping? Spending time with her wolf, and with Bahr? Yeah, none of those really pointed to a specific career path. Lessa reached up and scrubbed at her face with both hands. “Maybe this is a bad idea,” she muttered to no one in particular, her words lost to the dull roar of the first floor c

The laugh burst from her with the sudden force of a cannon. “Sorry,” she muttered when Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “But no, you’re thinking of ‘irrigation.’ ‘Interrogation’ is a little different. It means asking a bunch of questions. It’s what police officers might do with a suspect.” “Ohhhh.” Oliver nodded sagely. “I see.” Then excitement sparked in his brown eyes as a new thought occurred to him. “Could being a cop be a profession? Like, could I be a cop here in Aincrad?” He beamed. “You’d make a great cop, Alyssa.” “Thanks, Ollie,” she answered, “so would you.” She placed a hand on hi

Lessa couldn’t stop the smile from unfurling across her chapped lips. She brought a hand to the top of his head, tousled his already unruly hair. “That’s a really good question, kid.” He ducked his head, shying away from her hand in typical nine year-old boy fashion. But the pleased smile he wore did not go unnoticed. “Aw man,” he drawled, “why’d you do that?” “Because I can.” When he straightened again, Oliver drove a single finger into Lessa’s arm. “So whatcha gonna do?” He proceeded to jab her with each additional query. “Are you going to open the shop? Are you going to start

She blew out a heavy breath, the expelled air sending her bangs flying. Maybe she would be happier with a shop to run, but blacksmithing simply did not appeal to her anymore. “Whatcha staring at?” The sudden voice startled Lessa, and her entire body jolted as she whipped around. What she found was wide, laughing brown eyes, flushed cheeks, and a grin too big for a tiny face. “Dang it, Oliver,” she managed, a hand pressed to her heart to keep it from bursting. “Why’d you sneak up on me like that?” The boy rolled his eyes in dramatic fashion, then answered, “I didn’t sneak up on y

Profession Change: Blacksmith to Cook Floor 2 Wild Rose Forge. Lessa stared up at the building, hands on her hips, lower lip caught between her teeth. Once, she had been so incredibly proud of the shop, and the work she did there. But something had changed, and the urge to craft had completely left her. How many years had passed since she’d lifted that hammer, or lit that fire? Hell, she wasn’t even sure that the key would fit the lock anymore. What if a squatter had moved into the space, and she hadn’t noticed, considering she never actually went in there anymore? The woma

꧁༺Lessa༻꧂ Lessa, Guardian of Aincrad Level: 31 Paragon Level: 54 HP: 820/820 EN: 120/120 Stats: Damage: 28 Mitigation: 142 Accuracy: 4 Battle Healing: 45 H.M.: 8 HLY: 8 REC: 8 THRNS: 72 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY) Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS THNS) Misc: Neutron Star Necklace (T4 TRINKET - ACC ACC REC REC)

“Oh, it’s on!” // Team B!

Thank you to all participants for your engagement and your patience. I know that this event launched at an inopportune time, so keep an eye out for a revamp somewhere down the line! Wild enough, we had a tie between the two teams! Congrats to both the red team and the blue team. Rewards for this event are as follows - points * 5 * tier (capped at 4) experience. Nari - 50 points - 50*5*4= 1000 EXP Rebekah - 35 points - 35*5*4= 700 EXP Nicklaus - 5 points - 5*5*2 = 50 EXP Koga - 5 points - 5*5*4= 100 EXP NIGHT - 85 points - 85*5*4= 1700 EXP Hirru - 10 points - 10*5*4 = 2

Lessa shrugged one shoulder, half of her attention still occupied by Pinball's presence. "I was never much of a team name type," she confessed. "I'm happy to go with whatever the group decides." Despite all of her hesitations, the woman couldn't find any reason to reject Pinball's offered buffs. Not only was it a kind gesture, the additional stats would come in handy as she ventured into the mysterious and unpredictable labyrinth. So she sucked in a slow breath, sending her bangs fluttering on an equally slow exhale, and accepted the offered feasts. "Thank you," she muttered to Pinball. "

Some of the unease left Lessa as Nari executed a shaky curtsey. She had a wild and sudden urge to give one of her own, but opted against it, fearing she may give the impression of mocking the other woman. Still, she didn't stop the small smile that bloomed across her chapped lips. "Nari, then," the blonde confirmed, inclining her head slightly in acceptance. "The whole name is beautiful, but, yeah." A soft, breathy laugh escaped her. "A mouthful." Lessa shifted her attention to the familiar, wound around Nari's neck like... well, a fancy woman's expensive fox pelt. What a morbid thought,

꧁༺Lessa༻꧂ Lessa, Guardian of Aincrad Level: 31 Paragon Level: 54 HP: 820/820 EN: 120/120 Stats: Damage: 28 Mitigation: 142 Accuracy: 2 Battle Healing: 45 H.M.: 8 HLY: 8 THRNS: 72 LD: 3 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY) Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS THNS) Misc: Violet Ribbon (T2 Trinket - 3 LD) Skills:

꧁༺Lessa༻꧂ Lessa, Guardian of Aincrad Level: 31 Paragon Level: 54 HP: 820/820 EN: 120/120 Stats: Damage: 28 Mitigation: 142 Accuracy: 4 Battle Healing: 45 H.M.: 8 HLY: 8 REC: 8 THRNS: 72 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY) Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS THNS) Misc: Neutron Star Necklace (T4 TRINKET - ACC ACC REC REC)

For transparency's sake, I'm signing up as a casual poster. I bet this shocks no one.

Spring Fling What? Spring Fling is a brand new OOC event. Rather than interacting IC, players will be given a list of "prompts" or "elements" to incorporate into the writing they are doing around the site. This allows writers to participate even if they're slow about posting, or their characters are just not the partying type; sometimes it can be difficult to shove your character into the "mold" of a site-wide IC event. Who? Players will be split into two teams. First, they will be separated by "casual poster" and "power poster," to ensure there is about an equal number of each o

Lessa grinned at the stranger, lifting a hand in both greeting and reassurance. "No, don't worry about it. Stay comfy. I get it." And she did, every cell in her body giving a collective sigh of contentment as she eased into the warm water. "This is heavenly," she breathed, closing her eyes to simply savor the moment. When it had passed, and her eyes had popped open once more, she swung her gaze to Jomei. "I saw Baldur on my way over," Lessa explained, shifting to position herself a few feet away from her red-haired friend. "He didn't have his PJs on, so I don't think he's sleeping yet. Bu

꧁༺Lessa༻꧂ Lessa, Guardian of Aincrad Level: 31 Paragon Level: 54 HP: 820/820 EN: 120/120 Stats: Damage: 28 Mitigation: 142 Accuracy: 4 Battle Healing: 45 H.M.: 8 HLY: 8 REC: 8 THRNS: 72 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY) Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS THNS) Misc: Neutron Star Necklace (T4 TRINKET - ACC ACC REC REC)

꧁༺Lessa༻꧂ Lessa, Guardian of Aincrad Level: 31 Paragon Level: 54 HP: 820/820 EN: 120/120 Stats: Damage: 28 Mitigation: 142 Accuracy: 4 Battle Healing: 45 H.M.: 8 HLY: 8 REC: 8 THRNS: 72 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Arcael's Might (T4 THSS - DMG DMG DMG HLY) Armor: Empress Armor (T4 HA - HM HM THNS THNS) Misc: Neutron Star Necklace (T4 TRINKET - ACC ACC REC REC)

At the sound of Baldur's voice, Lessa rocked onto the toes of her boots to peer over the horse's back. "Howdy yourself," she called back, grin somehow managing to grow with the man's arrival. Greta, on the other hand, gave him an appraising stare. Then she gave a non-committal hmph. "Definitely a warrior," she decided after a few seconds. "Definitely not a horse person." The Player laughed again, shaking her head as she watched Baldur circle the mare and come to rest beside her. "We won't hold that against him," Lessa replied, responding with an obligatory shoulder bump of her own. "

She grinned as he bowed, and of course, she replied in turn. With a flutter of her eyelashes and a practiced "princess wave," she let him shower her with praise. "Yes, yes, I know it may be overwhelming being in the company of such raw talent and immeasurable beauty," she crooned in a horrendous British accent. "But don't forget, I am a mere mortal. I bleed, just like you and all the other filthy casuals." Only when she'd dropped her hand again did the booming laugh escape her. "I'm glad you're impressed," Lessa told him, her usual Michiganian accent returning. "360NoScope and 420BlazeIt just

The short walk back to the party left her exhausted. The actual journey itself wasn’t the culprit, of course - she wasn’t that out of shape. But the few moments alone allowed her to finally decompress. Two fights, two victories, with the second a perfect performance. Or maybe it might have, had Alkor not been her partner. Nothing between them was perfect, as demonstrated by their exchange during and after the duel. He’d emptied her out, and filled her back up again, rubbed her raw, and still somehow left her feeling better about everything. Good and bad, black and white, he was so damn complic

“Yup,” Lessa confirmed, loosing a small sigh at the mention of them. “They’re my brothers. Triplets, actually, and older than me. I was the odd one out, but I did everything I could to be ‘one of the guys.’” Now she laughed softly, shaking her head. “I figure that’s why I’ve always been a little rough around the edges, and something of a tom-boy. I have no idea how to do my makeup right, or style my hair, or match my shoes to my shirt. But I dont shy away from hard work, and I like getting my hands dirty. Plus, my Call of Duty K:D is pretty impressive, which is what really matters, right?”

She'd showered him with compliments, and he hadn't responded in turn. In fact, he'd made quick work of reminding her that they weren't actually good for each other, and probably never would be. Charming, a small part of her thought wryly. But in truth, Lessa found she didn't particularly mind the lack of a response. Granted, a significant reason behind that was sheer exhaustion - why keep drilling in a field when you know there's simply no oil? But she also figured, just maybe, she was truly beginning to come to terms with what he was - and what he wasn't. And maybe that was enough.

"Maybe," Lessa replied, flashing him a grin as she plunged the tip of her massive blade into the ground. She leaned on it casually as she regarded the red-haired swordsman. "I was honestly a complete noob when I joined SAO. Now first person shooters, I was awesome at. Having to keep up with older brothers definitely improved my own skills, and more often than not, I beat them. I was decent at sporting games, too, and driving games. But all this stuff?" With one hand, the woman motioned to their surroundings. "Swords, and magic, and quests, and all that fancy stuff?" She blew out a hard breath

I didn't think you had it in you. Regret pricked at the back of her mind. Trash talk had been her second language before Aincrad, and she'd thrown insults around with the best of them. In fact, Alyssa had told many a young man to do wildly inappropriate things with their mothers in the heat of battle. So it seemed so foreign a concept that some people may not know that side of her. That they hadn't known her before this black cloud firmly affixed itself to the space above her head. But that's a lie. A small sigh of relief. If Jomei could see through that mask she couldn't s