Andromeda

"Nn..."

An didn't know pillows could move. In her half-asleep state, the silver-haired girl only curled herself around it tighter and murmured something unintelligible even to her. She didn't want to stand up. She wanted to sleep a bit more. She wanted to curl up and return to that restful darkness that was only occasionally interrupted by the pleasant dream. She didn't even care what she dreamed about. Whatever it was, it would be loads more pleasant than...

Now.

She shot up, her cheeks flaming a bright red hue that almost matched the color of her eyes. Arabelle finally pulled herself free from her grip and busied herself with pre-combat preparations, leaving An a moment to process what was going on. She remembered getting back... and then taking off her armor for comfort and trading it for her usual red off-shoulder blouse and white baggy pants... and then falling asleep... while hugging the cute purple-haired girl close to her. For the past fifteen minutes, they had been. That. Close.

"Oh... uh, ehehehe-- Yeah!"

What the heck was that? Her heart was racing in her chest and the heat wasn't leaving her cheeks. Quickly, she spun around and bit into her funnel cake before she could embarrass herself more. 

Focus, Harriette. Focus!

For all her efforts of trying to calm herself down, she didn't notice the wooden boards of the stage beginning to shift underneath her feet.

***BINGO BOOK

An gave Arabelle a grateful smile. "Aghhh, finally!" Even though she hadn't done as much damage compared to the other two, she was dead tired. Like if she even lay down, she'd immediately fall asleep or something. Now that she thought about it... a catnap sounded nice. An's crimson eyes turned dreamy at the thought... but she quickly snapped back to reality when their leader called for them to retreat. The silver-haired player stretched and sheathed her rapier; she wasn't so used to running with it in one of her hands. "Shiro, do you need help--?"

--The girl ran past her, exhausted but stoic as ever.

"Guess not, then."

She followed the other two and inelegantly skidded to a stop. Peeking past them, she realized why. There was another zombie in their way, and Mishiro was already charging forward to engage with it. 

Do these guys never end?!

As the girl in black armor tore her axe free and kicked off the zombie, disorienting it, An sped up and took advantage of its dazed state to light up her rapier and embed it into the wound already marking its torso. She almost slipped, backpedaled, then properly pulled herself back after that minor stutter. It was all on their team leader now.

***BINGO BOOK

"Damn it!" 

An couldn't restrain her cry of exasperation. She wasn't blaming herself, she definitely wasn't, not after  the talk they had earlier -  but it was turning more difficult as the battle went on. Once again, she had missed and it meant sitting back until she could regenerate enough energy for her only Sword Art to be usable. And once again, there was only one mob in their way, Arabelle had taken care of hers earlier. She glanced at her teammate, then at the last zombie that remained at full HP. There was no way they were killing it in one round, and Mishiro was looking worse.

"I'm so sorry, Arabelle, but can you handle this for us?" At that point, convincing their team leader to finish it off was all she could do. An glanced up at her energy bar, then gestured to the zombie's HP once the small purple-haired girl looked over. "There's no point conserving energy now, we're all tired. We'll do better once we're rested up next round!"

***BINGO BOOK

An nodded along to her team leader's words with the sternest expression she could muster. It was just one round. Did she just give too much credit to herself? Well, maybe she did. Maybe she was perfectly valid for doing so; An would be completely useless against a mob that had higher than 1 HP. "Let's take an extended break after this round, then! It should be enough for all of us to recover... right, Arabelle?"

There was no convincing Mishiro and as it turns out, they didn't really have a choice. The aftermath of Arabelle's attack still left way to many alive for either of their liking and even An was ready to ask the other girl to rejoin them unprompted.

"After you, Shiro!" 

--Mishiro missed her attack. An charged up a Sword Art, only to be met with the same result. She looked at her teammate, then at the zombie they were facing. This situation felt strangely familiar. An's expression twisted into a grimace. Not again!!

***BINGO BOOK

Yesss!!! The accursed thing was dead! And it died at such a cool moment, too! An internally celebrated as she regrouped with her teammates, wholly unaware of just how morbid she just sounded. I mean, celebrating the death of something? Even if it was an enemy, her parents and siblings would probably have heart attacks. Humming to herself, she walked up to Arabelle and held up her hand for a high-five. "Here's to us for finally finishing it off, yeah? Oh, also, remember the little bet we made?" An leaned in, conspiratorially. "I think I lost. No, really. I did. There's no denying the effort that took. I'll take us to a nice breakfast place in the morning, alright?"

An just wanted them to have a good time after all this.

Turning to Mishiro though, her spirits dampened slightly. She had never seen the girl look so worn out and part of her wondered if she could even hold herself together in the next round. "Are you sure? You can sit the next one out if you want."

Yeah, Harriette. Way to try pulling out the 40% of the team's functionality. You go, girl.

***BINGO BOOK

One more hit, the silver-haired player chanted in her mind. It worked the last time, it should work with this one, too! This mob was giving them all trouble: it used its weird regeneration ability on Arabelle, constantly attacked Mishiro while keeping out of her axe's swings when it mattered, and survived an attack from An. Well, to be fair, it was actually on her, who didn't crit when she was supposed to, but whatever. Crits were unreliable.

As soon as it backed away from Mishiro's attack, An swiftly swung her rapier at it - not aiming for anything in particular, if she made even the smallest cut on its hand it should count as a deduction of one HP and it would all be over - and missed. The zombie had jumped back at the last moment, and finding that An was the only person in its way, simply barged past her and towards Mishiro.

"Ohhh... not again!"

***BINGO BOOK

They were... fine? She frowned, watching a disoriented Mishiro somehow hold her ground against another attack and deal a significant blow to its HP. Nearby, Arabelle didn't look any better. An shook her rapier in its sheath. All she had to do now was to trust in their judgment -- "Ehhh? M-me?" Her crimson eyes grew wide as she pointed at herself and asked for clarification. She knew they were getting tired, but out of all the people... Arabelle still had enough energy, after all! And it still had a fair amount of HP left! She wouldn't expect... oh. An's eyes steeled with determination. 

A Sword Art plus a critical. That was what Mishiro probably meant. It was a gamble!

Not one with the highest risks, but you get the point.

"Right! An, joining in!" An's rapier ignited. She was completely in the zone. Closing in on the last zombie that was giving their team way too much trouble, she started off with a thrust at the red lines already streaking around its rotted flesh. Deepening the wound. Then she withdrew and delivered another, right at its throat. 

But zombies didn't have the same vital points humans did. And at the same time, this was a game where where you struck did not really matter, for the most part. The zombie lived, long enough to pull itself free from her blade and attack Mishiro once again.

***BINGO BOOK

They were still at it. An internally sweatdropped. She stayed a safe distance away and watched as bare fists somehow clashed against the green flames of one scythe and the sharp blade of a black axe. It was keeping up with them; had they encountered one that was stronger than the others? Her concern for their safety only amplified when the zombie made a mad dash toward Mishiro and backhanded her, almost knocking her to the side. Any further attacks though, were quickly prevented by either of the two. Somehow, she was a bit blurry on that last part.

Thankfully, it had only taken 1 HP. But this zombie still being alive after all that was kind of suspect. That shouldn't be possible... right? Those two were the strongest in her team. Heck, maybe Arabelle was even the strongest Tier 1 inside the tent, considering the damage she had been doling out.

An, being a bit far from the rest, had to cup her hands and call out, "Are you guys okay?! Do you need me to call for support?" 

***BINGO BOOK

One more hit. All she needed was one hit to finish it off. Heck, she didn't even need to deal any more than 1 DMG! An deflected a swing - collateral, it really was just trying to brush her off like an annoying fly - and pushed the zombie backwards again, before it could get any closer to the two. They were still having trouble, somehow, despite their combined efforts the mob's HP hadn't budged an inch. An wasn't currently concerned on that though, her focus was on the zombie that was ignoring her and trying to interfere with her teammates.

"Doing something else while someone is giving their all... my high school teachers used to like saying that was plain disrespectful! And terrible people should just die!"

...now that last part was totally overkill. An was just hyping herself up, okay?! She did weird things when trying to summon motivation. It worked though, as she finally thrust her rapier into its chest and watched it fall apart. That made her second kill! An internally cheered. 

***BINGO BOOK

Meanwhile, An was locked in a duel with a zombie at literally one HP. Oh boy, here we go again-- Though to be fair, it was hardly a duel. Its preset AI had it constantly trying to make its way back to Arabelle, who had landed an attack on it earlier. So it was like... in video game mechanics, pretty close to a 'defend x' objective? Honestly, Arabelle technically didn't need to be defended - the last attack that landed on her barely even left a dent on her HP - but An figured she needed to concentrate.

The two were teaming up against the other zombie which was evading both of their attacks pretty well. And wasn't there talk of a time limit?

"Oh, come on! Stay here!" An thrust her rapier at the advancing zombie - to little avail. She missed, but she at least got to shove it back before it could get any closer to the two. 

***BINGO BOOK

"I-I, uhh... yeah, I guess that's what I meant. I don't mean anything bad by it though, please don't misunderstand!" An's embarrassed blush progressively grew deeper and deeper as Arabelle spoke. Busted! She thought that had been subtle enough to get past the purple-haired girl, but apparently not. She now had her added to her (rather short) list of "people An should never ever have a Freudian slip around because they would probably actually end up reading her mind or something."

As her teammates busied themselves and got ready, An found that the only thing she really needed to do was check her battle inventory. She needed proper armor, she realized as she scrolled through her equipped items. Maybe something cute and showy. She looked from Arabelle's schoolgirl-esque military uniform to the black armor Mishiro had under her oversized coat - a wardrobe choice which totally made sense when the girl shifted at an unlucky angle and An got a glimpse of it, it barely covered anything below the hips.

Could it be? That the girl with dull eyes was actually--? But just in secret--?

An turned red at the prospect. 

"I'm ready here, too!"

Following closely after the other two, she found herself still lagging behind but at least she was far enough to quickly find the target she was supposed to take. The zombie left with 1 HP. An swiftly drew her blade and slashed... only for it to flail an arm suddenly, enough to startle her, and run off to wail on their main DPS. Somewhere nearby, the other zombie that was now approaching half HP landed a blow on Mishiro.

An internally cursed.

***BINGO BOOK

And An was giggling along to their banter again. There was something about Arabelle's playfulness and Mishiro's deadpan responses that played off so well with each other. This time, however, she felt more a part of the group than before and the lingering hesitation was pretty much completely gone - even if they weren't speaking to her directly. "So Arabelle has a boyfriend? I wouldn't have expected that~. I mean, not in a bad way or anything, you give off this aura..." She paused and tapped a finger to her lips, trying to think of the right word. When she found one close enough, she brightened. "You look free! In a different sort of way. I'm not saying that relationships are restricting or anything. But... gosh, okay. That is not the right word. Anyways, what's he--"

Time's up, apparently. Whatever discussion that would have generated would be saved for another break time. Wide crimson eyes also looked up to take notice of their full energy bars. It was time to fight again! This time, she wouldn't be too focused on proving herself. She wouldn't even stress about improving. An just wanted to give it the best she could!

"I never thanked you two for earlier, right? So, thanks." An gave them both a sincere grateful smile. She got up as the others did and shook her rapier in its sheath. "You didn't really need to comfort someone like me, but I feel a lot better now because of it."

The fact that they immediately jumped to reassuring her... felt nice. Even if she didn't deserve it because she was the one having a minor outburst at something that turned out to be basically of no concern to them. Was this what having close friends felt like? An found herself laughing along softly at Arabelle's jab, then felt slightly unsettled at the way Mishiro spoke to her at first but eventually calmed down enough to nod in understanding. She didn't seem like the person who respected her own emotions. An didn't think the same, but she had proven herself to at least be kind so... they could try to get along. Somehow. 

Even though they just met, An wanted to learn more about the both of them. An was curious!

But the two were already close friends. So, just once more, just for the last time, An sought out approval. "A nice change of pace, huh? Tired of each other already?" Her slightly teasing smile implied she was not at all being serious, and then she allowed her hesitation to seep into her expression. "I'm sorry for asking so much. But, is it really okay? You two seem so close that I sometimes feel like I'm intruding..."

The truth. She didn't even try to disprove it. So all this time... An had been seen as nothing but weak. If Mishiro had stayed any longer, An's scowl would have deepened. It hurt, and as if she wasn't already feeling depressed enough from berating herself, this girl had to add onto it too! If Arabelle hadn't been friendly earlier... and if she hadn't promised to her team leader (and by some power of telepathy, accepted the little bet she put forward earlier) to do better for one more round, An would have straight up left. Maybe she could train herself and only team up with others once she was completely sure she wouldn't be endlessly dragged behind. Maybe she was overreacting. But she didn't like how this girl worded things. As dull, as blunt as her gray eyes.

There was a line between tactfulness and honesty.

An followed them back and, suddenly a touch more uneasy than she had been when she first joined them earlier, sat down. She slid closer to Arabelle, who was still oblivious to everything. Makes sense, she had been doing nothing but most of the fighting all the time.

"So what was that thing you said earlier, then? I guess you're taking it back?" No, she couldn't take it back because even An knew it was the truth. At this point, she didn't know what she was still mad about anymore - Mishiro had already said she didn't have a problem, but... An looked up and met the ashen gaze of Arabelle. Who had been asking for a fun topic to talk about. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm causing a lot of trouble for the both of you, aren't I? Sorry again. I really just wanted to help, but..." She hung her head, self-editing the words she was about to say. "If you guys really see me as weak... do you really still want me around? I mean, I'm trying to help, but I think you have it handled all by yourselves. So, there. If you don't need my help, you can just say so. I'll find another team."

Whatever good intentions Mishiro had were completely lost in her words. And in An's personal interpretation. She knew she shouldn't - she really did feel bad, it had been the other girl who let her into the tent after finding her waiting alone outside and she was sure Mishiro didn't know it would all turn into this, plus there was the teleport crystal at her belt - but An found herself glaring lightly into the girl's dull gray eyes. Any other day, she might have been able to rationalize it, but today she was already feeling terrible over being useless.

There was nothing worse than having your own insecurities shoved in your face. No matter how subtly.

"So you're calling me slow?" An frowned and unsheathed her rapier as Arabelle took off. "I know, Mishiro. I already know. I even said so earlier, and I said I wanted to try. But if you really do have a problem, you can ask me to leave." Yeah. Right. If she was feeling this terrible about it, An could just up and leave -- but wait, why had she joined earlier?

To pay back a favor. To help out someone who helped her earlier.

Oh geez. An stayed still as Mishiro left, looking down at the ground with a scowl. God, it was instances like these that made her hate herself. The girl with dull eyes had her problems, but An was maybe overreacting too. And her thoughts were getting all jumbled with the stress of combat and her own inadequacy. She wanted to suck it up and apologize, but--

An looked up upon hearing Arabelle's voice. She drew closer, forcing a small smile. "That was really good. If I were a scythe-user, I would have asked you to be my mentor already."

***BINGO BOOK

Yet another round in which she contributed absolutely nothing. Why did she always have to miss when it mattered? Why was it so hard to kill a zombie that was at literally 1 HP? As Mishiro quickly took hold of the situation and brought down the last, very persistent mob, An shook her rapier in its sheath and internally berated herself. 

Harriette, you absolute idiot. Just because Arabelle hugged you and started acting friendly earlier doesn't mean you have a free pass to being useless. Or being overconfident. Or underperforming. Yeah, that's definitely the problem. If you don't get your [censored] [censored] together, you're gonna get reminded that you are the outsider--

"Good work!" An praised as they regrouped. That was all the low-leveled noob could do at this point. "I promise I'm going to try harder this round! I don't want to be dragged! So, um... Shi- Mishiro, you can leave the ones with 1 HP to me. Just one, I mean. I don't have any AoEs, but..." Her face flushed as she ran out of words to say and simply resorted to repeating what she said earlier. Repetition equals emphasis! "I'll try my best to hit it!"

***BINGO BOOK

An hesitated then high-fived Arabelle with a grin. No offense? No, that totally had some offense behind it. Standing back, she simply laughed along, amused and slightly out of place at the two's exchange, only to be taken completely by surprise when the purple-haired girl went over to her and sweetly latched onto her arm. Her cheeks colored a pinkish hue, embarrassed at their sudden close proximity. Not to mention... Arabelle was strong... and pretty good-looking... and endearing in that playful way of hers... An felt her cheeks turning even redder. "I-I mean, I wouldn't go out of my way to look for it, but I'm not one for passing up perfectly good opportunities. To deny something that's already being offered to you is a crime!" 

She found herself unconsciously looking over to Mishiro - as if she was expecting a small reaction of jealousy of the sort. If she had her best friend being all cuddly with a random girl who randomly joined their team, she would be pissed. However, the girl was simply seated on a nearby chair. Looking up at them with mild interest. An would have thought the dull-eyed girl was going to make another comment seeing as Mishiro had been talking with them only a few moments ago, but apparently not.

"She really doesn't talk much, does she?" she whispered to Arabelle. Then she waved her hands frantically and claimed no offense.

Soon enough, they were going back to business. She unsheathed her rapier and dashed behind Mishiro. Where the axe-wielder might fail, she would be there to thrust her blade forward and--

The zombie slipped past both of their guards and made a mad dash for their team leader.

***BINGO BOOK

And An was asked to stand back again. Completely, utterly useless. Perhaps the dull-eyed girl would notice the dismay in her eyes, perhaps she wouldn't. Had she even done anything this round aside from tripping after Mishiro did? Short answer is, no. Her shoulders slumped. The silver-haired player momentarily relaxed her guard and fell back, sticking close to the rest of her team as previously advised. Trying to push her worries away, she tried to focus on something else. Their banter earlier had been cute, and it kind of made her want to join in!

...even though it was blatantly obvious she was the third wheel here.

Oh no, she just made herself even more depressed. An didn't know that was even possible.

"Hehh? I'm with Arabelle on this though?" Still, she put on a big smile and tried to play along. "Nothing wrong with appreciating a treat when it's already right in front of you~!"

***BINGO BOOK

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" An squeaked. The silver-haired player grabbed her rapier and scrambled up to stand as Arabelle approached. The scythe-wielder was already carrying their team and to disappoint her like that - she almost scowled as she gave Mishiro a sideways glance. She knew she wasn't one to talk, but what was that? A Sword Art going out of control? The sheer explosion it generated... was that even possible? Was she not as good as An thought she was after all, and only a bit stronger stats-wise?

Oh, but she shouldn't. She felt bad, judging the girl who'd let her in, in the first place. But if she was never let in, she would have avoided all this mess and skipped away without the burden of feeling obligated to help...

Either way, the girl had gone ahead to land the attack she had missed, but it was already too late.

It's not like they could restore the time and energy they lost with that. Speaking of restoring... An stayed out of the way as the zombie flailed back at Mishiro with a strangled cry. It bled from the wound the axe-wielder had inflicted; one more hit from any of them and it was as good as dead.

***BINGO BOOK

Oh. Phooey. An thought Bleed had been an essential part to Mishiro's performance earlier, but if it turned out to be something situational... she would rather not. An didn't have the time and resources for testing and tweaking builds, all she really wanted was one she could use for everything. Preferably one where she could survive and deal damage as well. A tank/DPS hybrid, basically.

Their team leader - wait, when did she start calling Arabelle that - seemed pleased with the previous round and the enthusiasm sort of passed onto An, too! "Yeah! Let's do this!" If she had a hand free, she could have pumped a fist into the air but she resorted to following Mishiro instead. The dark-haired girl had her axe at the ready and was rushing the last zombie left standing from Arabelle's attack, taking the path with less obstacles in the way to get there quicker. Convenient for her!

...She only realized her other teammate was making a mistake when it was too late. 

The world practically exploded. And An was startled and was crying out in concern as she skidding to a stop, and the Sword Art in her hands flickered like a dead light and peacefully went off, and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground with a strange tingling sensation spreading from her lower backside to her nape. "Owww... what the heck?" 

Meanwhile, the zombie joyfully went of to (unsuccessfully) attack Arabelle.

***BINGO BOOK

An could barely contain her smile. She could do it after all! Yes, last time had simply been an unfortunate attack that somehow triggered the zombie's regeneration ability! Of course, the girl didn't pause to consider that she had literally just killed a mob that was already at 1 HP with her team leader doing the work while her other teammate handled a zombie by herself. She wasn't about to rain on her own parade this time; this was special!

Still grinning, she whirled around and found the last zombie still alive with... Mishiro standing nearby, looking oddly relaxed. Huh, talk about confident. She needed help and An was in a good mood and more than willing to give her! Stepping forward, she regarded the zombie's remaining HP and was about to ignite her rapier with a Sword Art when -- 

An was stopped. "H-Heh? Are you sure?"

As if on cue, the zombie in front of them burst into shards without either of them doing anything. The explanation? Status effects. "That's so cool..." Her crimson eyes were shining with interest. "I've never thought DoTs could be that strong. Maybe I'll get one next time!"

***BINGO BOOK

"H-huh? A running start? Oh, wait for me!!" Already, she was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. The two had been fighting since the start of the event, and they'd already grown accustomed to navigating around the tent's crowded area: dodging zombies, jumping on and off chairs, and veering around the other teams to reach their goal. And when they ran, they ran fast. An pushed herself to match their speed but after almost tripping over a chair and falling straight into a zombie pulling itself from the earth, she settled for a slower and more careful pace.

She caught up just in time to hear Arabelle giving orders. The one which didn't have full HP... Easy enough! She spotted the one Mishiro avoided - and what a poor disgusting state it was in: with its muddy, tattered clothes, grimy hair, and driven to a point where it could only act on animal instincts - and unsheathed her rapier, charging forward without activating a Sword Art. She had at least been listening to Mishiro's explanation earlier, and if the girl had been right, this one zombie that took Arabelle's attack but didn't die was at 1 HP!

"Hyaah!" Her rapier punctured its skin and in front of her--

It fell to pieces. Leaving nothing but the translucent data shards that would fade as well.

An's eyes were sparkling - rather morbidly given her source of joy, if you would take it that way. She hardly even noticed the other zombie behind her, taking Bleed damage, and making an unsuccessful swipe at Mishiro.

Her first kill!!

***BINGO BOOK

Oh man. Now they were using her for their cute, friendly banter. An was starting to feel like she was really intruding! "It's okay!" An assured, waving her hands in the air out of habit. Once she had their attention, she continued with a sincere smile. "Actually, I think it's kind of admirable. You might not have been the best at it first, but you got a lot better, right? It must have taken a lot of dedication! Especially for someone as small as you... learning how to wield it must have been hard. I can barely handle my rapier," she admitted that last part with a sheepish laugh. "But I'm trying. I want to get better at it."

Because otherwise, what good would she be as one of the ten thousand - or less - trapped in Aincrad?

An blinked in confusion when Mishiro stood up, then her gaze strayed to the status bars at her top left. "Oh! Right..." She picked up her sheath and followed Mishiro's lead, looking at Arabelle for guidance. "Ready! I'll try to be more useful this time around!"

The... treasure chest? It had helped them out a lot, but somehow she wasn't expecting any of them to bring it up. "Yeah. I think whoever gave us these free buffs warrants some thanks, too!" An smiled brightly; the DMG bonuses surely helped their main DPS a lot.

Arabelle talked about the Tanabata Festival. Mishiro was prodding for extra information to get a better grasp of the situation. An... kind of just sat there. She felt extremely out of place - like she was shoved in last minute for reasons she couldn't fathom, like she was intruding on them somehow. They looked like good friends, despite their differences.

"U-um, thanks?" An turned a deeper shade of red at Arabelle's words. She didn't even deny it, as An had been hoping. It was practically half an insult and half a compliment! A perfectly balanced and neutral answer. Somehow... it made her feel a bit worse. The silver-haired player fiddled with her sleeve, unsure of what to think. Mishiro's addition was a welcome relief. She giggled softly. Really, one would never expect someone with Arabelle's small build to even lift a scythe, much more swing it around effectively. 

"I guess that's only natural. The scythe you're using right now is huge!" She wondered how the girl even learned. An ventured a little further, a bit more daring now that she was curious. "Did you always have that weapon?"

...a special ability. An brightened. So it wasn't her fault. That made her feel better! But, no - then all of the overreacting earlier and pretty much almost walking back into a group of mobs, it all seemed kind of dumb now! Noooo.... An's smile dropped and the silver-haired player visibly wilted.

She went down another line of thought instead. "If the ringleader summoned all these hordes with the weird ritual thingy he did in front..." An noticed that. Right before the "show" was about to start. It had her at the edge of her seat, red eyes sparkling in anticipation. Oh, what a surprise it was. It was not at all the show they wanted. "Then does that mean that magic does exist in Aincrad? I've heard people saying that it doesn't, but you can't exactly explain the undead's explanation through scientific means."

Yep. They were definitely summoned by black magic of some sort. A disease or a mutation could have been a possibility, but they were all already underground in the first place. So distracted was she in her thoughts that she barely noticed Mishiro urging her to sit.

It was Arabelle's singsong voice that snapped her back to reality. An blushed in embarrassment. "I've fought a few before this, but I don't do it regularly so I suppose I never learned." Yes... before this.

She remembered going on a few quests with a mentor she left in the end.

"Ah! Was it that obvious?" An smiled sheepishly and tugged at the ends of her ponytail. "I wouldn't call myself good, but surely not..."