Ariel - The Crowned Lion

Before she could turn around and give Dracul a reply, she uncharacteristically heard Assassin give a pretty accurate description of what the Survival skill brought to a player's arsenal. She saw no reason to intervene and simply nodded as she listened to them. As predicted by her last night, they managed to find the cargo relatively fast after resuming its search. A package marked delivery, the blonde wondered if they could store it in inventory and just use a crystal to go back to the town to finish the quest. She didn't do it herself in the past as until now the possibility to do that hasn't even crossed her mind. 

"Try storing it!" she chimed, thinking that there should be enough inventory space to do it. Curious to put her theory to the text but she wanted to let one of the other three do it as she didn't know how it would affect the quest is she'd complete it; already having the extra skill.

She thought about his reply and the comparison for a second, unconsciously replying: "Kawaisou na...(poor thing)" implying a negative opinion of the father's parenting skills while pitying Raidou for his potentially harsh upbringing. By his reaction, she decided not to further pry into his personal affairs and give a more positive response to his last statement. "I think they know that too but like to do it anyway over some sake." she giggled, trying to lighten up the mood again. 

She got distracted by a glitter in her peripheral vision and thinking it would be a monster, in one smooth motion, she materialized her weapon, sidestepped got ready to attack whatever caught her attention: "Huh?" came her involuntary response to nothing being there but a rock. Squinting her eyes, she would notice the glitter again and drew closer only to find what looked like a treasure chest. "Score!" she admitted gleefully, as she motioned raidou to come and see it.

ID# 155493  CD: 7+11 Treasure chest found!

She notice Assassin flinch at her reply to Dracul and felt bad for raising her voice, remembering bits of the discussions they had when the two first meet. "He knows I'm joking." she added in a lower tone, trying to reassure her. After freshening themselves up, the two left the tent and had the breakfast that Darius was kind enough to make for them. The smell of the universally traditional early day dish visibly improved the blonde's mood, as well as the taste. They packed up fast and continued their treek in the blazing sands afterwards. Wiping off sweat with the back of her hand, she check the map once more. Somehow it felt like a different area than when she'd done it the first times and the blonde unconsciously tugged at her red tarnished cloak, feeling a slight tinge of anxiety. Despite the desert looking all the same, this feeling of not being in the right place, or the one that she remembered, was having that effect on her.

There was a sparkle in her eyes: "We have a lot more in common that I first thought!" after listening to his confession. The name didn't ring any immediate bells but it was to be expected. If you weren't a school or dojo with a longstanding tradition or that has distinguished itself in any special way, your name's renown would be restricted to your region; in Ariel's case that would be Sakura-shi, Chiba Prefecture. "I am a student of the Tatsumi-ryū, grandfather is the 25th iemoto" (head of the family/grandmaster). She omitted her father's dojo at first, but found herself revealing that detail later on.

"It didn't look like that to me! Every style, every person is different. He should know and accept that!" the blonde visibly protested, his words hitting home more than she expected. In response she decided to relate a story from her past: "Oji-san used to say similar things about kaa-san, who married a gaijin. Despite that, oyaji didn't get disheartened and even moved to Japan to study our style. He ended up opening his own dojo which is based on the Tatsumi-ryū but includes fencing and other european 'martial arts' in their curriculum." her initial aversity softened as she related the story after hearing it countless times before. "Mom told me that oji-san softened up a lot after I was born. Hehe! He and dad are in friendly terms now. I find them often squabbling over the topic of the 'better weapon: noble katana vs. versatile sabre' ." she added with a smile, hoping that her story would somehow relate to him and give him some hope that he could mend things with his own father. 

Pre-meeting start, mostly concerns @Raidou @Assassin @Oscar.

At the meeting, for everyone:

Noticing that Baldur was about to start the meeting, the three followed after the sea of people and remained outside the meeting room, near the opened shoji panel doors. This way they were still able to see inside and were within earshot all while the three kept their distance; the blonde knowing that both Raidou, Assassin and maybe herself too, prefered it that way. She listened with closed eyes, leaning against the wall as she sat down. She vividly recalled the events from the scouting expedition, as their host presented their findings to the rest. Sometimes Ariel would nod in agreement, other times furrow her brows. Near the end, despite not knowing much about the guild, she had to give them credit for reaching out to the rest of the guilds and help prepare the raid members with buffs and whatnot. "Umu!" she interjected under her breath when he mentioned  that they'll need to work together, the scouts themselves having to constantly communicate throughout their fights, using each of their strengths for the right purpose.  

Then a topic that interested her was put in the forefront... tanks. The scouts have relied on Hestia to be their tank but she couldn't keep that role up 'til the end. She had allocated a lot of time to this subject and had something to say in regards to it. She opened her eyes and was about to stand up when she heard a familiar voice take the spotlight after Baldur finished and opened the meeting to questions. She couldn't believe it, it was not too long ago that she had bumped into Yuki and ended up doing the quest together. Ariel distinctly remember the tank saying that she would skip this boss fight.

Luckily Shield was quick to intervene and shut her down, as much as she enjoyed teasing him and not show it in his presence... she had respect for the established tank. He had his priorities and goals set since she first meet him a lifetime ago and held a important position after achieving them. While his words were harsh, they were what she needed to hear. Soon the blonde would add something more.

"Shield is right, Yuki-chan! This won't be like the quest against the wolf cubs in the forest." she said out loud, making sure everyone heard her. "This boss is serious trouble, we labored until the end to light the beacons, thinking it would have an effect and in the end it only made it stronger. So strong in fact that the 24th floor is now in perpetual darkness, after we cleared it." She eyed Baldur for a moment, mentally apologizing: "We fled, ran away with teleport crystals! after with but a snap of its fingers destroyed the four pillars we labored so much to light up." her memory fresh, marked by a simple line that she couldn't get out of her head. 

"It asked us after 'Did you think a giant flashlight would be my kryptonite?' I couldn't believe my ears. Then with a snap of his fingers, he reduced all of our health bars by at least half, his adds exploding and dealing damage." she took a break, visibly frustrated as she was trying to recollect key details. "Baldur-dono, I know that you probably deemed this aspect unrelated to the meeting but I think they need to know how lucky us scouts are to be here today. To leave that room alive. I was left with less than 150 points of health,  after taking a direct hit from the boss before his final attack." she stopped and took a deep breath, realizing that she was rambling on like a old soldier talking about war.

Closing her eyes, she finally added: "I also believe that a pair of tanks is a must have for every party in this raid and would like to volunteer as main tank or off tank, if the first position is filled. I am a damage dealer at core but with 'Quick Swap' and some minor changes I can confidently say that I can fill both those roles." With those final words, she made a curt bow towards the crowd and returned to the more private area where Raidou and Sin were. "I'm such an idiot..." she muttered with a long sigh, that only the two would be able to hear.

Seeing him reply so specific, the blonde couldn't help but enforce her suspicions "Haha, I wonder how would it work with the Martial Arts skill. There are a lot of people that take that skillset just for boxing or plain punching." She peeked at their stats, their blue bars still not filled so she would take the opportunity to verbalize the question she had on her mind. "You seem pretty confident and knowledgeable about it. More than the average person I mean. Did you by any chance trained in that style?" she looked to the side, already eyeing their next targets as the spiders spawned in a place that they've cleared not too long ago. "...if you don't mind me asking..." she added a bit hesitant afterwards. While she herself didn't have the aforementioned issue, the blonde still had the foresight of taking into account that Raidou would not feel the same way about it.

"Ahh see!! you can do it if you try!" she claimed with a victorious grin, getting the reaction she hoped from him. "Meikyo shisui." she then said almost unconsciously, his initial sentence propping that specific part of her teachings in her head. She sometime would find repeating the words as a mantra to help her reach that state. "We're different in that regard, I tend think less in combat. Trusting my body to subconsciously react the way it was trained throughout the years." she added, not really concerned about relieving a little more of her real life background. She know many treated such actions as talking about the outside as taboo but she would never understand why. She was pretty confident and secure with who she asked and when asked about more info she would gladly impart information that she deemed pertinent to the topic of conversation. " I noticed." she added with a nod to his last statement

Mornings were always pretty much a standard routine for the blonde; despite not technically needing it, as it was the case in real life. She would wake up a little before the sun rose, train in the dojo until getting hungry, have a light breakfast then train some more until around noon. Here in SAO she tried to keep to the routine as much as she could, at least with the training part. Not so long ago, during her self imposed 'exile' on the 22nd floor she would meditate in solitude in the cave she called home or near the lake and waterfall. Slowly she integrated the meditation in her routine from before.

So it came as a big surprise to find Assassin wake her up, peeking outside she would notice that it was way later than she usually woke up. "I'm awake... good morning..." she sleepy muttered, realizing that the long walk they did yesterday took a larger toll on her than she predicted... or was it because of something else she overslept? She looked at Sin-chan while trying to come up with an answer, letting out a soft yawn.

"Running low!" "Huh?" She reacted by tilting her head, taking a second to realize what he was referring too, energy consumption took its toll on him once more on the aspiring frontliner. Eyeing the remaining mobs, she frowned as one of them had significantly more health, forcing her to use once more the same sword art as before instead of taking in account energy management option. She dashed in and wiped the remaining foes in one clean swipe, gathering once more the loot provided to them.

"You know I think people would open up more to ya if you used more words than the amount of fingers on one hand every time you spoke." She let out a smirk as she continued: "I doubt you're puttin all your brain power into fighting." despite the mean comment, it would be pretty obvious that she wanted more to elicit a response from him than to berate him.

• [1, 2, 2, 2] Ariel | HP: 1510/1510 | EN: 75/146 (-13) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 1 | AA | FLN: 4 | BH: 75 | LD: +11 | +6*HP Col
• [6/6/4/6] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:36/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 | HP: 53/950 | DMG: 222
• Spider 2 | HP: 35/950 | DMG: 222
• Spider 3 | HP: 195/950 | DMG: 222
• Spider 4 | HP: 44/950 | DMG: 222

After fighting for a while now, Ariel was still bewildered that they didn't take any damage until now. Her disbelief being rebuked by the sight of their full health bars despite fighting for some time now with minimum rest period. And even those meant only to have them recover energy. Waiting for her skill to get off cooldown, she observes her tank counterpart that after a curt reminder of his presence took her place and became the focus point of the mobs; which yet again missed all their attempts to wound him. It was a pretty ridiculous situation already, or maybe this was how a couple of high tier frontline players usually did things. This was a pretty new experience for the blonde, fighting alongside someone like this, each doing the role they are good at. With a grunt, and a visibly pleased expression on her face, she strikes all the creatures swarming around Raidou, further decreasing their HP. 

• [1, 2, 2, 2] Ariel | HP: 1510/1510 | EN: 75/146 (-13) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 1 | AA | FLN: 4 | BH: 75 | LD: +11 | +6*HP Col
• [3/3/3/3] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:50/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 | HP: 213/1050 (-216) | DMG: 222
• Spider 2 | HP: 195/1050 (-225) | DMG: 222
• Spider 3 | HP: 195/1050 (-216) | DMG: 222
• Spider 4 | HP: 204/1050 (-216) | DMG: 222

“Let’s call it a day Ariel-dono, I think I got all the data I need. All that’s left is to process it and we’ll get back to you with our results. I think you’ll be pleased with our finds. As I noticed and noted some things that would help you in the long run.” She stopped and checked some of her notes, a few pages behind and she nodded before reading “pairing with a tank” then she raised her gaze and addressed the blonde directly: “You’d benefit more from pairing with a tank. It’s true that it will reduce your income by half but also you’ll spend less energy since ideally they would deal some amount of AoE. If you won’t have to worry about taking hits or hate you can use loot enhancing items to increase your gains. You’d also need to work and time your attacks that you finish them off. Ariel agreed with the maid’s words after taking them into consideration. They returned to the main settlement where they spend the rest of the days at the spas to wash off the grime. 

• Ariel | HP: 1147/1490 | EN: 23/146 (-8) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | AA | FLN: 4 | +59 BH | +48 HB | +8 LD
• Spider 1 | HP: -84/1050 (-144) | DMG: 219
• Spider 2 | HP: -75/1050 (-144) | DMG: 219
• Spider 3 | HP: -3/1050 (-144) | DMG: 219
• Spider 4 | HP: -48/1050 (-144) | DMG: 219

And that is exactly what she did time and time again. She had managed to avoid all the thirty two hairy legs that came her way and dealt yet another devastating blow. Claudia took note of her energy reserves, she was starting once again to deplete them and if she didn’t finish this group in the next couple of moves the blonde would be stripped of the ability to use sword arts; having to resume herself to basic hits that while they were powerful by themselves, it would take a considerable number of them to finish off the spiders. Luckily, her energy was still good so she would rain destruction and bring them close to death. “Almost done.” she chimed, prompting a nod from Claudia who could verify her claim. She started tallying up the rewards the blonde got until now as her observation work was almost done. A significant amount of col was gathered on top of several unidentified items.

• Ariel | HP: 1088/1490 | EN: 31/146 (-13) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | AA | FLN: 4 | +59 BH | +48 HB | +8 LD
• Spider 1 | HP: 60/1050 (-225) | DMG: 219
• Spider 2 | HP: 69/1050 (-252) | DMG: 219
• Spider 3 | HP: 141/1050 (-216) | DMG: 219
• Spider 4 | HP: 96/1050 (-225) | DMG: 219

That didn’t seem to deter her eight legged opponents at all, on the contrary it seemed to spur them on as they managed to land hits on her several times. However it was not enough to change the emerald color from her health bar. The armor did its job, Claudia was approximating that it negated about a third of the incoming damage. That combined with the fact that she was healing another third after every hit thanks to the armor’s enhancements and her battle healing skill; the blonde was now taking only a third of the damage she had received previously. After that simple change of equipment, the odds that stacked in Ariel’s favor seemed to have doubled if not tripled. It looked like the blonde was also aware of it; or the armor had some kind of placebo effect on her. The lioness’ expression exhumed confidence in her skills and determination to cull any who stood against her.

• Ariel | HP: 981/1490 (-162) | EN: 44/146 (-13) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | AA | FLN: 4 | +59 BH | +48 HB | +8 LD
• Spider 1 | HP: 285/1050 (-234) | DMG: 219
• Spider 2 | HP: 321/1050 (-216) | DMG: 219
• Spider 3 | HP: 357/1050 (-216) | DMG: 219
• Spider 4 | HP: 321/1050 (-216) | DMG: 219

After everyone settled in the had a modest dinner and with nothing else to do, started chatting until late in the night, around the warmth of the campfire. "How far do you think we are from the lost cargo?" asked Darius, his eyes setting consecutively on each member of their group. Lastly he looked at the little girl who seemed half asleep and made a note to himself to tone down the intensity of his voice. Ariel, looking beside her, gently poked Sin's cheek to see if she had fallen asleep. Verifying that it was so, she replied in a lower voice: "If we would've kept walking for half an hour in that direction, we probably would've found it." Raising her right hand, she gestured towards the direction that Assassin mapped out for them. "This little one was almost spot on!" she added with a smile, gently dropping her hand and stroking Assassin's hair.

Listening to Raidou, the blonde was grateful that he kept a cool head and focused at the task in hand. "Umu!" she replied with a nod, finding the expression rather funny and quite versatile despite its simplicity. "Let's keep going then!" she added after quickly eyeing their energy reserves. Picking up the loot that the remaining mobs dropped, she noticed a item that was different than the usual rewards. Reading the content of the piece of paper, she smiled and waved it so that Raidou could see it too. "We got another dungeon's coordinates!" she chimed with a smile. Adding the sheet to the rest of the stack in her inventory, she looked for the next group mobs who fortunately were in sight of her charge range. Lowering her center of gravity she dashed forward like before and concentrated on kiting the mobs, removing a chunk of their health thanks to the reach of her spear.

• [1, 2, 2, 2] Ariel | HP: 1510/1510 | EN: 88/146 (-13) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 1 | AA | FLN: 4 | BH: 75 | LD: +11 | +6*HP Col
• [0/0/0/0] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:70/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 | HP: 689/950 (-261) | DMG: 222
• Spider 2 | HP: 680/950 (-270) | DMG: 222
• Spider 3 | HP: 671/950 (-279) | DMG: 222
• Spider 4 | HP: 680/950 (-270) | DMG: 222

Seeing him hold off his attack made the blonde even more driven to end their programed lives. Quickly wanting to clean the garbage, she once again mentally perused through her weapon's sword art list this time trying hard to remember a low class area attack that would finish them both fast. She blinked twice as she pinpointed exactly what she needed, momentarily staggering as she tried to activated the sword art by doing the required pre-movement: "Let's see, if I remember it correct...." she felt the system assist kicking in, thrusting her forward at, as the name suggested, inhuman 'sonic' speed. Despite being the lowest rank sword art in her repertoire, it was one of the few that had a flashy effect and insane speed similar to the charge skill. She let out a red streak in a straight line behind her, as she pierced through both of the remaining targets: successfully achieving their goal of finishing off all mobs.

• [4/3/3/3] Ariel | 1510/1510 | 101/146 | 24(+4) | 5 MIT | 1 EVA | +4(5) BD | 75 BH | +11 LD | +6*Col
• [6/5/6/4] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:69/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 |  64/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 2 | 4/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 3 |  73/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 4 | 17/950 HP | 222 DMG

After denying Dracul's blatant accusations and replying to Darius' concern, the blonde takes a moment to think about what let to the little vampire wannabe's opinion. Knowing him, it had to stem from something more than a random allegation to crack a joke on her expense. Though she couldn't deny that the last part was also added to his motives. What was Assassin for her? Thinking analytically, she denied any sexual attraction towards the kid; as she stated to the 'knight'. What was left? Did she help her out of a sense of duty? not really, that wouldn't completely explain the blonde's actions either. At this point Ariel closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, walking forward instinctively based on her last sight of the road ahead.

It was only after she had heard a scream followed by a soft thump, did she open her eyes and notice that Assassin wasn't beside her. She could feel her pulse acceleration, her eyes shooting at the four health bar in the corner of of her sight; full HP, she relaxed a little then let out a sigh as she peered down: "Are you alright?"

Once again she saw how her tank counterpart dance  on the battlefield, marvelously parrying, deflecting and evading all the damage coming his direction. Her keen eye picking up more hints of his combat prowess through the finer details in his movement. As a kendoka and a professional fencer, these were near impossible for the blonde to miss as part of her training was trying to 'read out' her opponent before they even acted. "Not bad at all." she mused, loud enough to be heard before jumping into the fray once more. The fact that she was studying his moves transparent as her interest.

She eyed the remaining spiders' heath bars and concluded that she still needed to apply the same art she used until now to finish them off. Unfortunately, it was only enough for half of the spiders. Despite managing to hit them all, two of the eight legged creatures survived with just a red slither of health. "Tsk!" She frowned as she looked at the mobs, then at her weapon. For some reason the Fallen effect didn't manifest as much in this item as it did in past weapons with the same effect.

• [4/3/3/3] Ariel | 1510/1510 | 16/146 | 24(+4) | 5 MIT | 1 EVA | +4(5) BD | 75 BH | +11 LD | +6*Col
• [6/5/6/4] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:68/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 |  64/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 2 | 4/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 3 |  73/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 4 | 17/950 HP | 222 DMG

She was happy to see the hp bars decrease, even if the damage was less than she’d like. It was a trade she came to terms with when she picked the new weapon; that didn’t mean she liked it. For a while now she had thought of getting a second weapon skill to compensate in that regard but there were just a couple of weapons that actually were worth getting for their AoE and the blonde didn’t see herself wielding any of them. At some point she was thinking of getting the katana skill as she wanted to include it in her curriculum but there were more pressing matters to attend to before having the SP to invest in such a thing. She always tended to be a little more pragmatic about her choices, style coming second after use. With such thoughts in mind the blonde would once again strike the mobs, relieving them of another chunk of their health bars.

• HP: 1036/1490 (-162) | EN: 57/146 (-13) | DMG: 24 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | AA | FLN: 4 | +59 BH | +48 HB | +8 LD
• Spider 1 | HP: 519/1050 (-234) | DMG: 219
• Spider 2 | HP: 537/1050 (-252) | DMG: 219
• Spider 3 | HP: 573/1050 (-216) | DMG: 219
• Spider 4 | HP: 537/1050 (-252) | DMG: 219

“Umu!” chimed the blonde gleefully as she gathered the rewards she was given. Being the first time in a while to fight a full group, she didn’t know what to expect. Ariel tried fighting like this before but was unprepared and it nearly cost her her life in the process. She had to run away from the last mob, having run out of energy before being able to finish it off and her health was in the red zone so she couldn’t afford to chip away at its health with basic attacks. But that didn’t happen today, she managed to win against this floor’s toughest mobs and even with more HP than she started. She eyed another group of mobs and after a quick check that she had plenty of energy, she engaged them with her AoE attack. If she were to have something to complain about it would be her lack of area damage output, the spear falling short in that department.

• Ariel | HP: 1091/1490 (-162 -161) | EN: 70/146 (-13) | DMG: 29 | MIT: 59 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 3 | AA | FLN: 4 | +59 BH | +48 HB | +8 LD
• Spider 1 | HP: 753/1050 (-297) | DMG: 222
• Spider 2 | HP: 789/1050 (-261) | DMG: 222
• Spider 3 | HP: 789/1050 (-261) | DMG: 222
• Spider 4 | HP: 789/1050 (-261) | DMG: 222

She'd left the confines of the setlement, hoping to get a head start in tracking down the beast she was looking for. The quest became a after goal, even less than that after receiving confirmation of his arrival and Ariel would've liked to allow them as much time as she could for discussions. With that goal in mind she was walking along the banks of this world's version of the Styx river; or better said one designed after it. Using her perfected sight in the pitch black environment , she easily dodged out of the way of any undead creature that wasn't a part of the quest's requirements. A greeting caught her attention from the nearby mound. "Good evening." she said in perfect english, in the same time reciprocating the bow and listening to him. "I appreciate the kind words, there's not enough of them these days it seems." she said ambiguously before continuing in a more sincere tone but with a worm smile; visibly touched by his words.

"How could I not treat you honorably... Everytime we meet, you seem less and less of a gaijin. Hell, I'd say you're a more distinguished person than all of the clowns from the noble 'koryu' (old/traditional schools) , that I saw perusing over the years at my father's dojo. Some of them supposedly veterans of the martial arts and high ranked kendokas." she stopped and smiled, a little malice present in her features as she continued afterwards. "You should've seen the look on some of their faces after they lost a match, and afterwards got to see the blonde 'gyaru' behind their opponent's mask, daughter of the gaijin they mocked behind our backs." she said proudly, continuing to smile; purposely omitting the times she had lost to a higher dan.

"Your place has the appearance of a feudal estate and I could see the attention you put into details, proving that you understood our culture and reminding me once more that you aren't some weeaboo fanboy that likes katanas and to wear yukatas and kimono; despite having no clue what the difference between them is..." Ariel eyed his attire and nodded to herself, the tailor in her approving of his fashion choice. 

"After all this happened, I believe we'll be spending a lot more time in his...game, than any of us expect. You've got yourself a nice household and made it home by having people close to you by your side... I was kind of jealous." her gaze became downcast, her smile softer but genuine as she saw her reflection the waters of the Stagyan. It seemed like the river itself wanted pto distort that image, the blonde catching glimpses of her past. Without having it bother her, Ariel's eyes set once more on Baldur. "As I wrote you, I'm out of the loop regarding the front lines' strength, only seeing a glimpse of it by fighting side by side with you and the rest. So I want to ask you, after seeing what we'll probably be facing when we decide to organize the raid; do you think we can beat him?" she purposely used pronoun to humanize Shadow, as for her at least it proved to be an entity far more intelligent and rational than everything Cardinal threw at her until now.  

A while after Ariel left Breiðablik, she was musing over her next course of action. After the floor 20 boss fight she secluded herself, wandering around.. visiting different floors and places in search for... for... something.. she had no idea what. The lioness wandered aimlessly until floor 22 got unlocked, Ariel having no  For that reason she even skipped the next boss fights She had left from her place of hermitage on the 22nd floor after spending a significant amount of time in solitude, meditating mostly but occasionally punching a tree or two while shouting her thoughts for all Mother Nature to hear; all to the end of setting things straight in her head without exterior distraction but most importantly accepting herself in any form: past, present and setting up a foundation for the future.

  The visit to Baldur's estate came after all that and the blonde was pleasantly surprised by her reception, despite being announced and on a whim. Scribbling a message while on a bench somewhere in Yomi, she decided to reconnect with    the frontlines once more and offer her assistance. Best way to do that seemed through Baldur who always to offered a    helping hand to those around; the following message written in old fashion letter format was sent to him. She sought his counsel on a personal matter, after seeing him achieve it for himself.

   'No harm in asking.' she thought while looking at the ceiling, which was nothing but stone in this underground floor. She squinted her eyes, wondering if it would finally be a good time to invest in the 'cat eyes' mod.

And so, the started the dance once more. The blonde watched Raidou finish his attack, between the two of them having reduced their opponents HPs by around half with one attack each. On top of that the highly agile tank was dodging all the attacks that were coming in his direction with little effort. Observing him move, she couldn't shake the feeling that this was more than the system working in his favor. Mostly she watched his footwork as from her experience, a majority of the the players had little to no training in real life. Thus unaware of the great advantage that proper footwork gave you be it in the dojo or even in your daily life. Those weren't the steps of a shut-in bookworm, that the blonde though Raidou was when they first meet. She'd once again lunge ain and repeat the previous attack making sure to diligently do her part of work, via the minimum amount of moves without expending precious energy.

• [3/2/2/2] Ariel | 1510/1510 | 119/146 | 24(+4) | 5 MIT | 1 EVA | +4(5) BD | 75 BH | +11 LD | +6*Col
• [3/4/3/3] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:80/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 | 224/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 2 | 220/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 3 | 233/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 4 | 233/950 HP | 222 DMG

Sending the piece of paper in her inventory, she added to the already existing stack of maps she had acquired throughout the floors. At one point, she'll have to scout parties and actually explore them. Coining that thought for another time, she resumed her healthy... discussion? debate? whatever they were doing. "But we can't force anyone to do something they don't want to do. If they won't help, I'd rather have them stay out of the way of those putting an effort." with a sad smile, she nodded. "I think most of the frontliners share your sentiment in that regard. I personally would prefer to capture and imprison them in the Black Iron Palace dungeons. As hard as that is to do..." saying that, she can't remember the last time such a thing happened.

Dusting off her hands by gently clapping, she takes a look at their status bars. Both of them had recovered their energy and the blonde was itching to continue the fighting. Discussing these themes was fun in itself, but she would rather not get distracted from the main objective. "Keep up if you can!" she dared him with a grin before charging into the nearest group of mobs and unleashing her weapon in a spinning AoE attack.

• [2/1/1/1] Ariel | 1510/1510 | 132/146 | 24(+4) | 5 MIT | 1 EVA | +4(5) BD | 75 BH | +11 LD | +6*Col
• [0/0/0/0] Raidou | HP:1000/1000 | EN:100/100 | DMG:20 | MIT:126 | EVA:3 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | BH:50
• Spider 1 | 680/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 2 | 689/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 3 | 689/950 HP | 222 DMG
• Spider 4 | 689/950 HP | 222 DMG

With this last sword art, Claudia noted that the blonde had judged to use the usual, which also was the most powerful, sword art would be an overkill and a waste of energy;  thus opting to use a lesser alternative that effectively did the job of finishing off the mobs. It was only now that the blonde heard a loud sigh, as all of Claudia’s tension seemed to fade along with the virtual bodies of the blonde’s former opponents. “What’s wrong?” Asked Ariel, turning around to check on the maid. Of course the maid would shake her head and deny that anything would be out of ordinary, which in itself wouldn’t be a lie now that the source of her inner turmoils were vanquished. Satisfied with that explanation she decided to direct the topic back at the blonde. “I see you barely got a scratch this time, I think you have more HP than when you started.” 

• Ariel: 1355/1490 HP | 83/146 EN | 24 (+4 FLN) | 59 | AA(KEEN) +4(+1) BD | -3 MD | +59 BH | +48 HB | +8 LD
• Spider#1: 123/1050 | 219
• Spider#2: 141/1050 | 219
• Spider#3:  96 /1050 | 219
• Spider#4:  89 /1050 | 219