Yuurei

As Kura jogged into the maze, Labrook gave a cheeky grin and jogged in after him. "That's the spirit!" He would say, leaving the two girls in the dust. Yuurei would simply sigh and look over to Sai. With a slight chuckle in her tone, she would give her a smile. "Boys can be so reckless sometimes."

Then Yuurei would follow in after them. Sai, not wanting to be left alone outside of a safe zone again quickly followed suit despite being pretty much terrified of just the maze itself. Once all four of them were reacquainted they would begin their trek through the winding labyrinth. Even Labrook didn't have much knowledge of the area, so it looks like they would be going off their gut feeling. "This place is massive. I hope we'll be able to find our way out of here when we're done." Yuurei would say lightly, though only adding to Sai's nerves. "Y-You mean we'll be able to find our way out right? Th-There's a map of the are isn't there?" Yuu simply felt stupid for a moment. Of course, as they traveled through the maze their terminal maps would update to show where they've been as they walked through the maze. "R-Right. My bad."

A few moments later, the group would start to feel vibrations in the ground. Very light at first, but noticeable as they walked. "We're getting closer. Keep you're guard up." Labrook would say a little more seriously, only adding to Sai's anxiousness further. Within the next minute, every step felt like they were walking closer and closer to an ongoing tremor until they were right next to it. It felt like the walls would cave in at any moment... but then the tremors stopped. Yuurei would place her hand on her katana in expectation as the group continue to walk through the hallway. "Wh-What's happening-" Sai would be cut off by the wall just in front of them being burst into pieces. The dust would settle rather quickly as the Minos revealed himself. Yuu would quickly jump into the lead.

"With this blade, I sever your existence." The girl's serious nature would over take her when two other lives were on the line. Her speed was quite impressive for someone so low leveled. The Emerald Spirit would charge head first into the Minotaur. The mighty axe it wielded would drop over her head, cracking the earth beneath her as it just barely missed. Jumping from the crag of rocks, the green blur would draw her blade almost too quickly to perceive. When she landed back on the ground, she would sheathe her blade. At the same time, the Minotaur would be in two pieces, falling to the ground. It would soon dissipate into nothing but data. "It stood no chance."

Yuurei | HP: 180/180 | EN: 36/36 | DMG: 11 | MIT: 12 | ACC: 1 | BH: 1 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2
Kura | -stats here-
Sai | HP: 60 | EN: 12/12(Flavor stats for NPC she's level 3)

Kantaras | DEAD/150 -(16*11) | DMG 45 | ACC 1

Upon the approach of the maze, the slightly dense forested area that they were getting used to traversing would slowly start to thin out. The giant walls of the maze stood higher than twenty copies of Yuurei standing on each other's shoulders. As cool and collected as she was most of the time, the maze gave off quite the eerie vibes that were somewhat difficult to ignore. Not to say how Sai was taking that menacing aura. The girl was shivering slightly, slowly inching over to her 'bodyguard' as they got closer.  The leader of the expedition was much less perturbed by the feeling the maze was giving off.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Labyrinth of Minos." He said, presenting the location with his axe. "This is a mission of glory, yet we have two targets. I won't force you to take on both targets and I understand if you might have some fears going forward. If you don't feel ready, I suggest you head back to town for supplies." Yuurei shook her head in response. It was probably a script to warn the player of pending danger, but at her level, she felt comfortable taking on whatever was ahead. Sai on the other would have left the moment she saw the maze in the distance. With her samurai here, she could at least be brave enough to walk in with her.

"I assume you're good?" She would ask Kura. She, of course, didn't want to put him in a dangerous situation if he wasn't comfortable. "When we get into the fight, let me or Labrook take the aggro, then you can join the fight. Sai, if we get hurt, you have at least the first level of First Aid. I know you're probably a little spooked, but you don't have to get close to the fighting. Just stay back and don't get caught up in it." Sai would carefully nod. "G-Got it, I make sure you don't take too much damage if you get hurt."

Yuurei nodded quietly at Kura question. She had expected only to do it with Sai, but he had accepted the quest rather than deny it, so why not get it off your quest tags? She always hated when there was a lingering quest in her log. The NPC would then start leading the way whilst explain what they planned on doing for the day. He would mention that they were on their way to eliminate the Hoya Minotaurs. Some old beasts that lived in a labyrinth a mile or two away from Aruyt. Meanwhile, Yuurei would send a party invite to Kura so they could keep track of everyone's health.

If he accepted, he would see the two girls were already partied together. The Emerald clad samurai with the Katana was named Yuurei, while her skittish friend in the blue was named Saigyouji. Still, she felt the need to introduce herself. "So, you can call me Yuu for short, or Rei, whichever suits you." The girl would say, then look to Sai. "U-Uh, you can call me Sai for short... Saigyouji is a little difficult to say."

Yuu would clear her throat again, eyeing the maze in the distance. "What level are you, if I might ask? I should be able to one shot the boss pretty easily, but I don't want you to get hurt if you're not close to the level requirement."

Amazing how the game was years in development, seemingly expecting not to see any actual updates that it wouldn't be thoroughly play-tested enough to catch these glitches in the system. At least the world was beautiful. "Ah, I see." Yuurei would watch the burly man make his way over to the players and wave to Sai to come over as well. The much smaller, and younger, girl would instinctively job over to the Emerald Spirit. "Thank you for the help."

"You two are surely looking to take on the beasts known as minotaurs, correct? You two look like well skilled warriors capable of such a feat." He would say, obviously speaking with the two who were still looking for the quest. Yuurei would cock a glance over to the tiny pink haired, robe adorned girl next to her who would return a nervous smile then look back to Kura. "Want to get a quick level or two?" She would ask as she accepted to quest prompt.

The Emerald Spirit and her tag-a-long friend were going out on their first adventure together. There were several quests available to Yuurei that she had ended up passing up when she first started playing the game. Despite her inexperience with video games, Yuu had gained an amazing affinity for learning the system. She wasn't sitting by entirely idle for all that time. The things she'd learned and performed to protect and save Saigyouji caught that girl's attention. She not only wanted to learn from the snow-haired samurai as she could, but also be friends with her.

So here the duo was walking into Aruyt. "Here it is." The Emerald Spirit would say as they passed by the player named Kura. Of course, they paid him no mind seeing as how they were strangers. Though they would stop for a moment and talk. "Y-You said that the quest guy would come up to us, right?" That question would earn a confident nod from Yuurei, who would take a moment to look around. She would lock eyes with Kura for a moment, but quickly look away. It was clear she was looking for someone. "I thought so, but maybe we came on the wrong entrance or something. Or it's timed thing. MMO's are weird like that apparently."

Yuurei wasn't really one who liked waiting though. "Wait here for a moment." She would say as she would walk over to Kura, hopefully not interrupting his day. "Excuse me, sir." The girl would give a light smile. "When you walked into town, did an NPC approach you with a quest? I was told there was a quest I could do with my friend here to help her get to a higher level. Know anything about it?"

Yuurei | HP: 180/180 | EN: 36/36 | DMG: 11 | MIT: 12 | ACC: 1 | BH: 1 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Current Level: 9
Current SP: 21
Link to SP Tracking: [link]
Item Upgrades:

Finally, this stupid quest was finished and Yuu could let out a breath of fresh air. when she returned to the blacksmith who had initially sent her on the quest, she wasn't surprised to find out that he wanted her to do something else for him. She was completely down to do more questing, but first she would have to help Sai find some armor and a decent enough weapon to at least protect herself on this floor.

Her next mission, after everything with Sai was settled, was to find a woman out of the safe zone who was supposedly a jeweler. It was to be another simple delivery, and if she had to guess, when she met this woman, she totally wouldn't ask her to do something for her in return for a reward or something. They wouldn't repeat the same quest... twice would they? Nooooo. Well, only one way to find out.

Without really speaking it, the two would start to make their way back to town. It would be best to get Sai back to the safe zone and make sure that she's informed that she should properly equip before leaving it next time. "Thank you." The girl would tell the ghost. Yuu shrugged for the second time. "Anyone would have done the same thing I did, I'm sure. I don't really feel like I deserve recognition for something like that."

"B-But..." Sai would trail off. "A-Alright, well, I can still be glad that you're a pretty nice person. I think anyone else probably would have called me helpless and left behind or something to find my back on my own."

"I'm not that heartless, but you should really get your friends to help you and actually get some gear to help you fight." The Emerald Spirit would say, throwing her hands behind her head and relaxing a bit, waiting for her energy and health to return to full.

"I... don't really have any friends in the game." Sai would say. Yuu would shrink a little at that, feeling her pain. So, the both of them were completely alone here. Another mere coincidence? Probably not. "I... apologize. I had no idea..." Yuu would say quietly as she thought about what she should do next. After a moment of contemplation, and a pass into the safe zone, Yuu would make her decision. Opening her friends list, she would send the girl a friend request. "Accept that, and I'll make sure you don't go getting yourself hurt then."

"I-I don't think I earned that-!" Sai would say before catching Yuu's stern glare. It looked like she wasn't going to take no for an answer. She would quickly accept. "Good. Now, I have to do one thing, then let's get you some gear."

Getting tired of these shenanigans, the Emerald Spirit raised her blade once more and tore through her opponent with a cut so clean the enemy was cleaved in half. A moment passed as the boar digitized back into the ether. Much to her relief, it would leave behind exactly what she needed, it's ivory tusk. The samurai would quickly scoop up the item and place it in her inventory for later. Seemingly sure that it was safe now, Sai would escape her safe haven and meet up with Yuu again.

"I-I'm glad you're alright. I definitely wouldn't have been fine without you here to help, but I dunno if I could've had a clean conscience if someone died trying to protect me." The girl would put rather plainly. Yuu would simply shake her head. "I helped because I was here in the moment. It's pretty difficult to ignore someone getting attacked right in front of you."

Yuurei | HP: 175/180 | EN: 0/18 -(1)+1 | DMG: 5 (+2) | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 8: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Was this a taunt to her pride? The girl made another swing, that was three in a row now. This boar was really going to feel her might wrath of Heavy Momentum when she finally landed her attack. 10,000F degree knife against butter anyone?

Even though Yuu's attack would be less successful than the boar's was and it would land a critical on her, she was hardly perturbed. Sai was watching this all, seeing the critical strike hit her savior, she called out in a panic. "B-Be careful! Don't get hurt because of me please!" She would plea to the silver haired samurai. Yuu's jade eye's pierced through the cloud of her hair. "I'm fine. These little things could only endanger someone who's unarmed." The girl would say, carefully trying not to make Sai feel bad. The feeling of having someone concerned for you was a weird one. Why did she appreciate it, yet hate it all at once?

Yuurei | HP: 175/180 | EN: 0/18 -(1)+1 | DMG: 5 (+2) | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 8: 5/5 | DMG: 3

The game seemed to be giving her a break, but it wasn't going to last very long. All those successful hits would stop the moment that she was face to face with one single boar. She was already annoyed enough that this boar would make the double digits in kill ratio, yet she still had not gotten the final tusk that she needed for her quest. Was she going to be stuck here forever until the boars landed 176 more attacks on her and she met a cruel fate with destiny more shameful than probably anyone else in this game?

Nah that wouldn't happen. Though the boar would scratch her leg through the armor this time, which was annoying but inevitable. Her health would be down by about 2% or so now? A sarcastic thought crossed her mind about how fleeing might be reasonable, though she quickly laughed that one off.

Yuurei | HP: 176/180 | EN: 0/18 -(1)+1 | DMG: 5 (+2) | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 8: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Despite everything she's gone through, killing an entire pack of boars, she was actually surprised that she hadn't taken more damage then she had. Though, to be fair, she was properly equipped for such an escapade. Another gleam of her otherworldly katana would signal the passing of life and death once more. The boar would transcend back into data where it would surely respawn in about five minutes or so. That, however, left one more boar to deal with.

It wasn't having much of a better time than any of the other boars that had attempted to fight with her. It carelessly swiped against her, doing absolutely nothing to her health bar in the process. She would turn back to Sai quickly, to ensure that she was fine. Meanwhile, the girl behind the tree was simply in awe of her fight with the boars. How she could look upon this with amazement was beyond her. Yet it made her smile.

Yuurei | HP: 177/180 | EN: 0/18 -(1)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 7: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 8: 5/5 | DMG: 3

"Get back! More are coming!" Yuu would say, readying her blade once more. Sai would nearly jump out of her skin at the command of being told to get back, but when she realized the oncoming hoard's approaching, she would not argue with Yuurei. Taking cover behind a tree, Sai would get a front row seat to watch a much more heated battle ensue.

Even if the fight wasn't necessarily difficult for Yuurei, she could only use so much energy. In fact, she would look up to her bar to realize that she had just used up the reserves on those two attacks. Gritting her teeth in annoyance at the attack that one would land, she just needed to be a punching back for Sai to regain her health get this final tusk. Once she had that, they could head back to town where it was safe for Sai and her to part ways.

Yuurei | HP: 178/180 | EN: 0/18 -(4)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 7: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 8: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 9: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 10: 5/5 | DMG: 3

The brilliant gleam of her blade now putting a wildly blinding light upon any onlooker's eyes, Yuu knew what it was time for. With all the time she's spent in this fight without landing an attack, her passive energy collection was going to unleash something devastating on this helpless hunk of haunch. Raising the blade in the air, catching a bright glint of the sun, Yuurei's swift attack was barely even discernable to Sai's eyes. "There we go." Yuu would shift her hair back into position and meet up with the other girl.

"Th-That was amazing!" She would say, completely flabbergasted. "You must be really strong if you can do something like that!" Yuu would shrug at the statement. It wasn't untrue that their difference in strength was large, but it wasn't like Sai couldn't also obtain the same amount power. They would hardly have much words though, seeing the pack now descending upon them.

Yuurei | HP: 178/180 | EN: 3/18 -(4)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 6: 5/5 | DMG: 3

With another swing, the samurai would attempt to put an end to this petty squabble one could call a fight. However, the game would continue to decide that she wasn't worthy of finishing this boar despite having vanquished four or five in a single slash. "No, you're not going to die." Yuu would reassure Sai, not forgetting about her presence. "You won't heal instantly. We'll need to keep you away from a few enemies until your HP ticks back to full." The girl would explain, still having some limited knowledge of how exactly combat worked, but she knew enough to put Sai's nerves at ease.

"Th-Thank goodness..." The girl muttered finally standing to her feet. "I must be really lucky to have been saved by you." Yuu never really believed in luck to that degree. Life and death was on the line. Nothing about that screamed luck. Though, she could understand how it would be weird to simply call it a coincidence.

Yuurei | HP: 178/180 | EN: 7/18 -(2)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 6: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Yuu continued her battle with the tiny little boar, but as extensive as it was, she would still find time to talk with Sai. The girl was about to die to something so harmless. She had to be an extremely low level to be having such a problem. "What is your health sitting at right now? You're still in combat unless you flee, so we I need to know where you're at." She would say as the boar would scrape across her the armor on her shin. Sai would frantically search her Heads-Up for where that information was, further confirming her suspiscion that she was a novice with video games in general. Reminded her of someone she knew. "Top left of your vision."

"Ah- Right... I knew that..." The girl would clear her throat and speak up. "I'm on 11/20. B-But I'll heal once the boar is gone right? I'm not going to die?"

Yuurei | HP: 178/180 -(1) | EN: 7/18 -(2)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 6: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Thinking back on it, did weapons eve have a durability limit? She never recalled one breaking for her or needing to really upkeep it. Did someone hand her a fake weapon and tell her to use to actually fight something with it? She had an abundance of questions for the girl, but nevertheless there were more important things to deal with at the moment. The Emerald Ghost moved through the battlefield, keeping the boars attention on her rather than her rescued friend.

The wind sung with steel, just shy of her fuzzy little target who was also having a difficult time finding anything with it's ivory bone. With no damage on either side, the two of them would continue this confrontation. Though thinking about it, if she did finish this one off and didn't get it to drop it's tusk item. She already had most of what she needed, only on more would complete her objective and she could get Sai to safety.

Yuurei | HP: 179/180 | EN: 8/18 -(2)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 6: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Sai simply cocked her head to the other girl. Yuu gave her a smile as she sheathed her blade. The targets were all eliminated in an instant, so they would be able to rest for a moment. "Sai? I've never had anyone call me by a nickname like that before." She replied. Rei walked over to her and offered her a hand up from the ground. She could see that her health bar was back in the green thankfully.

"Good thing I came along when I did. You looked as though you were having a pretty rough time hunh?" The girl's eyes scanned her for any weapons. Although, she didn't seem to have one on her person. "Did you lose your weapon?"

"The durability broke in combat... I wasn't going to win anyways." Sai was obviously sheepish. That at least made it pretty easy to talk to her. It looked like she wanted to say more, but they were unceremoniously interrupted by a boar. "I need to get one more tusk for this quest. If you want to wait around, I can walk you back to the safe zone afterwards."

Yuurei | HP: 179/180 | EN: 9/18 -(2)+1 | DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 6: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Yuurei winced as one of the boars managed to catch her by surprise. Thankfully, her armor was more than enough to tank the blows. "Saigyouji? That's pretty difficult to say. I hope you don't mind if I call you Sai for short." Rei said, focusing back on the fight. She needed to start eliminating some of these boars before they got more of their buddies to jump into the fight. If they started getting overwhelmed, Sai might be in big trouble.

The green blade lit bright in her hands. She could feel the power increase from her armor modifications increasing her damage to exceptional levels. This world really made no since to her, but she could understand numbers enough to understand she was doing more damage. With swift strikes, every single one of her enemies fell to her blade. A beautiful show of swordsmanship yielded her one more tusk for her collection. 

Yuurei | HP: 179/180 | EN: 10/18 -(9)+3 | DMG: 5 (+2) | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 1: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 2: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 3: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 5: 5/5 | DMG: 3

Tusk Acquired: 2/3

Another boar jumped into the fray. She wasn't scared of these things though. They would be lucky to scratch her armor at all. Turning to look at the girl she was rescuing, she would do her best to be social with her. "What is your name? Mine is Yuurei. Call me Yuu or Rei for short." The opposing girl took a moment to speak up, but sooner or later, she did. The boars were in the middle of making their attacks when the soft voice spoke up finally.

"S-Saigyouji. That's my name, in the game." Of course, she wasn't going to tell her what her real name was. It was bad manners to speak about another personal life outside of a game. Meanwhile, the ghost was having a problem with landing attacks on her targets, though with each attack she would miss, she only continued to get stronger and stronger.

Yuurei | HP: 179/180 -(5-18) | EN: 15/18 -(2+2) | DMG: 5 (+2) | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 1: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 2: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 3: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 5: 5/5 | DMG: 3

The boars were mindless enough to simply focus on anything that was in front of them, which thankfully meant that she was now their next target. "Think you can beat me you little shits?! Come on then!" The samurai growled, readying her silvered sword. The boars took up her challenge, charging in her direction from all angles, but coming up way too short on all their attacks. She too was having a difficult time making her attacks land, but one of the boars was simply unlucky.

With a dash of speed, the ghost slashed her target in half. It's tusk appeared in her inventory. Two birds with one stone. Turning her head back to the other girl, Yuurei nodded at her she looked scared shitless. Well, as long as she was here, Yuurei would protect her. Readying her blade for the next wave of attacks, she would be prepared for anything upcoming.

Yuurei | HP: 180/180 | EN: 15/18 -(3)| DMG: 5 | MIT: 18 | H.M.: 2 | REC: 2

Boar Pup 1: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 2: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 3: 5/5 | DMG: 3
Boar Pup 4: 0/5 | DMG: 3

Tusk Acquired: 1/3 (Note: ID 166182 is unusable. I hit enter too fast.)

Looking for an open group of boars to take on, the samurai was surprised to spot another person seemingly doing the same quest. A younger girl than her by no more than four years. She was probably fifteen, if she was basing it on her age. By now she would be 18 or so. In the distance, it looked like she was fighting with some of the boars. This wouldn't have been all that interesting, if she hadn't witnessed them knock her to the ground. It was about this time that she realized the girl had no actual weapon. Her health was in the red.

Shit! Without even thinking, the samurai rushed in to help her. She was never one to jump in and help people, but she certainly wasn't going to sit here and watch another person die right in front of her. "Quick! Get out of the way!" She called out to the girl in blue, who was doing her best to scoot out of the battlefield on her rear-end.

The feeling of leaving the safe zone used to be nerve wracking and absolutely terrifying to her. Every time you stepped out of one of these areas, you were risking your life. Though to be fair, albeit not in the same perspective, leaving your house in the real world was just about the same thing.

Within minutes of exiting the safe zone, Yuurei would find the location where these boars were supposed to spawn. They were weaker versions of regular boars so it shouldn't be difficult to deal with, especially since she just unlocked her new weapon skill. With it, she could become stronger than ever.

Walking out into the field, she saw the spawns of boars in all directions. There were absolutely a ton of them. Caution was needed if she wanted to ensure she didn't attract an entire group of the boars into a pack.

With a nod she placed a hand on her hip. "Sure thing, I have nothing better to do here. Might as well hone my katana skills further. I only just unlocked them." Lyle gave the girl a smile and pulled out a map for her. He placed a finger on a forested area not far from the safe zone. "Here's where you can find the boars that I mentioned. They're weak little critters, but I only make the weapons. I'm not the best when it comes to fighting beasts."

Yuurei pulled up her own map and marked the location down for exploration. Turning towards the door frame, she looks back for a moment and simply says one thing. "I'll be back in no time." The door opened and closed quickly. With a brisk walk through the Town of Beginnings, she figure that it wouldn't take her very long to get there.

"I'd say you're lucky that they got here at all old man." She replied simply, knowing that they artificial intelligence was likely just playing games with her. Nevertheless, the man nodded in approval and looked over the goods that she had given him. Then she stood and waited for him to do the obvious: Ask her to do a favor for him.

"Could I ask a favor of you, if you aren't too busy lass?" He asked, Yuurei face palmed in response, but sighed through and nodded. "I need some materials to make a few rings for a friend of mine. If you would be so kind, there are boars in the area with some fine tusks. You could easily take them out and bring me back their tusks. I'll give you some gear in return for you troubles." Yuurei took a moment to think on it. Her gear was probably about as good as it could be, but she needed the experience.