Ivory Lotus

The young woman glanced over at the newcomer. She had only gotten a few skips away from the gypsy before someone had called out to her. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her lips parting slightly in a dazzling grin, as though she had just met someone she had been friends with for a long time but hadn't seen in a while. Her finger made its way to her chin thoughtfully. 

"Hmmmm. Not really. I was just sightseeing, but fate had other plans I suppose." The response came quietly. "I would be happy to help out a friend though, if you needed something from me."

It was definitely an odd way to address a stranger whose name she didn't even know yet, but this was everyday business for Ivory. With barely a pause from her last comment she bullheadedly continued on. "You're cute, do you have a girlfriend yet? What's her name? Is she cute too?" She stared intently up at the man, hands clasped in front of her seeming extremely interested in whatever answer she happened to get.

Ivory stood outside of entrance to the settlement of Nimbus, the wind causing her long white hair to fly about her. She shivered a little, pulling her gold embroidered purple cloak around her. The seventh floor was beautiful, but in the way that made the young woman want more to reminisce about it indoors with a cup of hot chocolate. 

"Chilly today, isn't it?" A voice chimed in from behind her. The healer turned around smiling to the NPC who had walked up behind her. The name above her head said <<Traveling Gypsy>>, and while Ivory had never met the NPC before she was well aware of the quest that involved her. "Y-yes, haha. But still just as beautiful as I remembered it." Ivory's attention turned to the animals surrounding the woman. "You wouldn't happen to be able to help me tame a familiar?" The question was met with a soft, warm laugh. "Mhmmm... That's what I'm here for." A quest notification popped up in front of the girl.

She smiled kindly to the NPC, clicking the blue accept button, the familiar food being added to her inventory. "Now, don't forget to return that to me when you finish, alright?" The gypsy spoke up, tilting her head to the side slightly. The healer nodded happily and started to skip off further out of the safe zone, no visible weapon, and seemingly no care in the world.

Stats:

Ivory stood up as the stranger addressed her, making note of his strange colored eyes and extremely pale skin. They were some very nice eyes, but they were so serious...  She brushed the dust off of her clothes, a wistful look on her face. "I was, and that would be wonderful. It's been a long time since I've done a quest, or combat or anything really." She beamed at him for a moment before pursing her lips, looking like she was trying to remember something. There was a pause before she spoke up again, looking like she had figured something out. "... I'm Ivory, its lovely to meet you!" She exclaimed as she brushed her hair behind her ear, seeming completely unconcerned by doing a quest with a complete stranger who she knew nothing about. What happened happened; She would just go with the flow. Plus, she could already tell that she had made a great impression on this new friend of hers.

Ivory Lotus: Lvl: 19 | Mitigation: 66 | Health: 465 | EN: 60

The forest floor glimmered with strange patters as the sunlight made its way through the ceiling of leaves above. Ivory hadn't been doing nothing over the past long while, but then again she hadn't really done anything of importance either. She didn't have any friends really, and her skills lay in such a way that she couldn't really do anything by herself. She twirled a lock of her long white hair between her fingertips as she lost herself in thought. As time passed the people of Aincrad seemed to be getting sadder and more hopeless and it made her sick to her stomach that she couldn't alleviate that. Her skirt swished between her legs as she made her way over to a tree near the teleport platform, sitting down in the dirt as she waited. It was about time that she did something to help the other people stuck in this game, and to do that she needed to get stronger. To help her with this goal she had made a posting on the request board for some players to help her with one of the easier quests. It was drawing close to the time that she had listed and the woman couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of potential new friends.

Current Level: 19
Current SP: 50
Link to SP Tracking: Journal
Item Upgrades:  I'm poor. ;(
Notes:

Ivory nodded, not necessarily agreeing with Sey's point about the never ending loop being beneficial to players. Well, she agreed that it was beneficial, but she didn't think that anything so lifelike should be forced to relive its death over and over again just so that players could get some skill points. Still, she smiled to Sey. "Yes, I just hit tier two, which is why I was asking about equipment." She explained to him, smiling thankfully at him. "Thanks for your help in getting here, and for the suggestions. I hope the artisan stops being busy. That's a major part of my build." She explained. The mitigation wasn't going to help her protect people for a while yet, so she had been trying to focus on the healing portion of her build. She really needed combat craft if she wanted to advance in that way. She wanted to help people, but now it seemed that she was going to have to focus on the tank aspect more for now.

Ivory nodded to Sey and then gave a radiant smile to the blonde woman. "I'll do my best to help you two out, but I don't have any gear yet." She explained to the golden haired woman. She smiled. "I can still heal a ton though, so don't worry about it. If you need it ill do it." She stated confidently. She wouldn't let either of them die, even though she lacked the necessary skills or gear to make that promise for real. She really needed to get her gear, but she hadn't managed to find the time to get the gear that she wanted. She was tier two now, but it was seemingly harder than ever to find someone who could craft her the armor or jewelery that she desired. So many artisans and crafts people had just stopped crafting, sadly enough. She hoped that it was just a phase, because she really needed that equipment.

"What a sad life. All it knows is dying and killing." She stated as Sey landed the finishing blows on the enemy. That was truly the only purpose for its creation. She smiled to Sey. "Well, now I can get some equipment to help me out with actually landing my healing." She said happily. She already knew what she wanted, although she didn't know anyone reliable that she could get it from. She looked over at Sey questioningly as she started to walk back towards the settlement. "So, do you know any blacksmiths and artisans that are reliable and quick? I need to buy my tier two equipment now, and im kind of in a hurry to get it. I want to join in the valentines event that's coming up and I want gear before I do events, even one that's just a dance." She explained to Sey, wondering if it was rude to ask him for anything more after all that he had done for her already.

ID# 76932 results:

Craft: 7

Ivory's face fell as she stepped forward and activated her healing skill, the gentle glow from her hands flickering and disappearing without restoring any health to him. "I need to get equipment..." She said before perking up again. "Its okay though! You've got this in the bag Sensey." She said with a wink and a smile, making a cute post and holding up the peace sign. "I'll be your cheerleader since Cardinal doesn't want me to heal you." Nothing could get her down for long, and certainly nothing as silly as not being able to heal when it wasn't even entirely necessary. She thought to herself as she waited for Sey to attack again. She wanted to get combat craft, and obviously some mitigation. But what else? Maybe some regeneration, but she really wanted a unique enhancement called lifemend that she had heard was rumored. Still, that enhancement was rumored to be cursed, killing off its wielder.

[1] Sey: 669/700 l 12 Dmg l 57 Mit l 3 ACC l +20 BH l 70 NRG 
[0] Ivory: 480/480 48/48 | 1 DMG |

Byakko: 46/150 l 60 Dmg l Mit 40

Ivory nodded, trying to keep a serious look on her face. It lasted for a few moments before s broad smile broke through. She could never keep a straight face for long. "So you two run in and attack it, and ill heal you two if you get hit." She said with a confident nod. Sey had already proven beyond a doubt to her that he could handle himself. She didn't know about the cute blonde woman, but if she participated in boss fights she had to be pretty strong. All members of the assault team were in one regard or another, although most seemed to specialize in one way or another. Sey was unique and fun in that he wanted all the skills. It probably wasn't the best goal, but at he same time it was interesting and useful if he had the motivation to get the skill points required. She had a feeling that he would be rivaling some of the best in the future.

Ivory nodded as he spoke. What he was saying was pretty obvious, but maybe he felt like he needed to explain? She didn't know. What she did know was that a beautiful flaming tiger had just pounced out of the burned forest in front of them. It was a shame that they had to put it down, but she knew that it would respawn for the next player to take the quest. It was just a respawning field boss after all. She raised her hands in preparation to heal Sey if he needed it. She had a feeling that he would be one shotting the creature again, although from what he had said earlier it might take two shots. It still wasn't too big of a deal. She could already see the four skill points that she needed to reach tier 2. She smiled to Sey and nodded. "I'll let you get the hate first, so go at it." She said, informing him of her plan. She was all set to heal him even though she didn't think that he would be needing it.

Sey: 700/700 l 12 Dmg l 57 Mit l 3 ACC l +20 BH l 70 NRG 
Ivory: 480/480 48/48 | 1 DMG |

Byakko: 150/150 l 60 Dmg l Mit 40

@Sey

Ivory waved excitedly to the new woman, skipping up and starting to pet her golden blonde hair. She looked like some sort of angel fallen to earth. "I love your hair, its beautiful!" She exclaimed before stepping back, not wanting to annoy the other woman. "And we'd be happy to have you join us. Any help at all would be appreciated." She said with a kind smile towards her, completely ignoring the fact that Sey hadn't sent Hakai an invite. She accepted her own and turned to Sey. "You think the three of us can take it together?" She asked, wondering what he thought about it. If he was inviting her it probably wouldn't be too dangerous. And she recognized the other woman from somewhere. Some sort of party on the second floor she believed.... She couldn't remember her name though. All she knew was that there were some people discussing the katana she wore at her hilt. She didn't know why they had been discussing it, but she supposed that when you were a frontliner weapons take on legends of their own.

She glanced around curiously, noting the ashes and embers around them, all seeming to point in one direction. She motioned her hand that way. "So we follow the trail of destruction  and hope that we can handle the enemy we find at the end of it?" She asked with a smile and a wink. "I have confidence in you abilities, and you should in mine too. Together we shouldn't have any problems. I can probably heal any attack it makes and more in one heal." She said confidently, cocking her head to one side, her smile seeming a bit cocky. If Sey thought he could take it she knew that they wouldn't have any problems. She had told Sey that she had grandmastered first aid, but she didn't think that that fact would sink in until she actually healed him and showed him how much damage she could erase in one go. The same was true in real life. So many people didn't understand that certain herbs could do tons for their health. She wanted to show the real world too.

Ivory hopped up and down excitedly, spotting Sey on the fifth floor where she had been chilling. Well, more like roasting. She skipped up to him happily and punched his arm. "Hey Sey, you up for some more quests? I'm all set to pull you off on some more." She said, her words flying out of her mouth like machine-gun rounds. She had had a bit too much caffiene that morning, and that only enhanced her peppy and excitable nature to an extreme. She really just wanted to spend more time with the nice person who had carried her on two quests already. She felt like it was time for her to do something to help him out, and the thoughtful look on his face worried her. She didn't know the circumstances, so her mind could only wander to the craziest of ideas imaginable. Maybe he was planning to commit murder? Maybe she could help him....

"Yep, I'm good. Not like I have anything to get or use besides these starter items." She said, making a reference to her starting weapon despite the fact that she had never used it and didn't even have it out at the moment. Still, it was one of two items that she owned, so she felt like she ought to mention it even if she never planned to use it. She nodded to him and motioned for him to go first. "Lead the way. After all, your going to be doing all of the hard work. Im just here for the show." She said with a smile and a wink. She would do her best to heal him and all of that, but besides that she was really only there to watch and take the SP for the quest. She disliked being so useless, but understood that she really needed to get some more skill points and items before she could be even remotely useful to anyone. That was just the way of this world.

Ivory smiled, a little proud of her achievement of grandmastering a skill without taking on a single quest. "Uhhh...." She tried to think back but couldn't think of any quests she had taken besides the one they had just done. "I think that last quest was the first one I've ever done. Its hard to remember. But as you know you get skill points from just doing things outside of the safe zone. They accumulate after a while." She explained. It was pretty impressive in her opinion, although not really a good impressive. At least it showed that she cared about more than just skill points, unlike many other people. "Not a big deal. I'll get them done eventually. At the rate we're going I'd say we have another nine years or so before we get close to getting out." She said, aware that most people would find that figure disturbing, but at the same time accurate. They were over leveled and moving much too slow.

"An orange crystal doesn't make someone a bad person. Maybe that sort of thing just makes them happy." She said, betraying a little bit of her unusual views about the world. She took her shield out of her inventory and slipped it onto her arm once again. "I suppose we both ought to get ready for this fight. You make it sound like it's going to be a lot harder and I want to make sure that neither of us is unprepared." She gave him yet another smile, the apparent lack of any other emotion besides happiness probably grating on his nerves or creeping him out somehow. It was yet another one of her quirks, an incessant happiness that seemed to pervade the air around her. It was actually interesting how the happiness of others seemed to anger others. "So what do you know about this enemies stats? Do you think my healing will be necessary?" She asked curiously.

She smiled to him again. "Well, i'm not going to be able to do anything to the monster either, unless you want me to heal it." She grinned, following him as they made their way up to the sixth floor. "So you have a lot of experience with quests? Who carried you?" she asked, it being common knowledge that everyone had been carried at one point by someone else. It was easier to get someone to carry you through a quest without you doing anything, and still get the reward. Ivory wouldn't have minded doing that for someone, but her build wasn't going to let her. She wouldn't be able to deal damage to the enemies, only protect from the damage. That wasn't going to work out ofr anyone unless she was partying with some damage dealers. It kind of sucked, but at the same time she was fulfilling her own desires and wants and at the same time helping to fill a void in the frontlines, both with her tank aspect and her healer aspect.

Ivory nodded. "It certainly sounds a bit scarier than a sand shark. More realistic too, or at least like something you would hear about in ancient myth rather than a shark that swims in the sand. That's just someones idea of a bad pun." She said with a smile and a little laugh, walking next to Sey. She was thankful that he was willing to carry her through these quests, seeing as she really couldn't do them herself. If she were a damage dealer she probably could, but her build required others and a lot more skill points than any other build she knew of. "It shouldn't be a problem. I can take some hits, and although I didn't get to show it off in the last quest, my healing skills are grandmastered, so you don't need to worry about yourself. I'll keep you alive. Trust me in that." She said, giving a warm and full hearted smile to her quest partner.

@Sey

Ivory nodded, smiling thankfully. "I really appreciate it. My build doesn't really let me do things on my own. Its focused almost completely on supporting other players, although until I get howl and tier two equipment I wont be able to do that very well either." She said, following him back towards the settlement. She agreed with what he was saying about bad luck. "Yeah, too many people have died from silly things just because of bad luck or making risky moves that just didn't pay off." She stated in agreement to what he had said. "Tier two isn't my end goal, but I need to get there before I can start actually doing things in this game. Theres a lot someone with my build can do for people. I just have to get there though." She said with a frown, the daunting task ahead of her seeming all the more difficult now that she thought about it and talked about it with someone.

She accepted the potions with a smile before shaking her head. "I don't actually have any clue what other quests we could do. I just know that I need about four more SP, if you know of a quest we could do that has a reward like that. I really haven't done many of them." She explained to him. She reached a hand up and ran it through her long white hair, ivory colored, just like her username. She unequipped her shield before motioning back towards the settlement. "If you cant think of one off the top of your head we can go check the quest board. I want to get stronger so that I can help others better, and right now I really need some gear. But I'm so close to tier two that it doesn't seem like a good idea to get it right before transitioning, and then have to get more gear of a different tier." She stated. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say? That's why I'm kind of in a rush to do another quest."

The fight was over incredibly quickly. It seemed as Sey had put all of his skill points into his damage before he turned to other things like the first aid he had mentioned earlier. "Well, I guess my healing wont be needed until I join an event or something. People always seem to be one shotting stuff when I'm around." She stated. she found it a bit funny how he had commentated the fight by himself, saying stuff like too slow. It just seemed to be a stereotypical video game character thing to do. She hadn't actually thought that people actually did that sort of thing, and now that she was witnessing it she found it kind of cute in an innocent sort of way. "I shouldn't have worried about being held up with this quest. That took all of then minutes. We might even have time to find and do another quest before the day is over." She paused. "Well, if your up for another one that is."

@Sey

Ivory took a step back behind Sey as he called out that the sand shark was approaching them. Despite her desire to protect and help she recognized the fact that she sorely lacked the necessary equipment to fight the enemy head on. In fact, she had little doubt that Sey had more mitigation than her, although in all likelihood she probably healed more than him. Because that was the case it was only logical that she stay back. The only way she would be helpful to him in this fight would be to heal him. That would be safest for both of them. She could imagine that it would hurt him if she died while they were teaming, even if he could heal her. It was always a possibility, although she sincerely doubted it. "We've already had the worst of the casualties. Those that have died have been those who have failed to be careful or play it safe. Probably the majority of us left are the careful ones, the thinkers and the strategists. And of course, those who have grinded until its basically impossible for them to be killed. Ill eave the shark to you. I don't do damage and you probably have more mit than me. Ill heal you."

Sey: 640/640 HP l 12 Dmg l 3 Acc l 57 Mit l 64 NRG

Ivory: 460/460 HP 46/46 EN | Mit: 13 | 1 Dmg

Sand Shark: 125/125 l 50 Dmg

"I don't think it would be. I'm sure plenty of other people have the same idea, and while there might be hype about it for a while it'll die down and so will any profits you might make." She stated, looking around. "And I'll heal you back. Sounds like a pretty overpowered team, two people with first aid." She said with a smile and a wink to him. They continued to walk, her glancing around, looking for the enemy. She disliked walking in the sand, but some things had to be done. "I'm in college in Japan right now. I'm getting a degree in medicine. I guess I'm a little bit older than you." She stated. She had turned twenty one that same year. She wondered how her schooling would work if/when they eventually got out of the game. She imagined that her mind would take a while to grasp the material again. Maybe she'd even need to take some remedial courses. She didn't think that that would be very fun.

She let out a "Hmmm..." Thoughtfully in reply to what he had said. "Well, publishing a book would certainly help with paying for college." She stated, letting slip another fact about herself. She just didn't really care if others knew about her in the real world, especially if they were all going to be stuck in this game for a few more years. She let the shield hang by her side as they walked. She didn't like the idea of being stuck here for that long, but there wasn't anything that anyone could do about it except to get stronger and keep pushing forward. Too many people had already given up. "Cool. Ill try to take the hits, but I don't have howl yet... In fact, you probably have more mitigation then me too." She said, thinking as she spoke. The only thing she could really do was heal him, and she could certainly do that well. She had grandmastered it after all.