Astralin

             It wasn't long before Astralin was approached by Avani, one of the two NPCs whom Shulko had hired. "Welcome to the Carefree Magpie." The NPC began, but things happened differently next. "...Astralin, correct? I've noticed you coming here more often." She remarked. Astralin nodded her head with a smile. "Yep! It's a nice place, never hurts to come here at least every once in a while." She commented. The NPC's expression showed little change, but Astralin figured she'd look prettier with a smile. Did something happen that caused Avani to be this way, or was it just her programming as an NPC? They may have been made by the Cardinal, but in a way, Astralin viewed them as people, seeing that this world was the only reality they'd ever get to have. "Right...So, is there anything I can get you started with?" Avani asked. Astralin took a few seconds to think before responding. It was still the morning, and while spring was around the corner, it technically hadn't even arrived yet...so... "How about a nice Hot Cocoa, with whipped cream and cinnamon?" Astralin asked. Avani's eyes closed for two seconds, as if pondering something. She then nodded. "Of course, why did I expect anything else..." She remarked. Astralin blinked, then remembered that she'd ordered the same thing an embarrassing amount of times throughout her visits. No matter what else she got, she often got hot cocoa somewhere along the line...but that wouldn't change her stance here, the order would not change. Avani then moved on to a table where an NPC regular had just sat down. Astralin wondered what would be coming next...

                 Shulko noticed the elderly man enter the Tavern. How couldn't he notice? The man was comically short and wearing some tacky odd apparel, it's like he'd come straight out of a kids anime. A man couldn't change his height though, and perhaps he was wise enough to know that sometimes Meta is better than looks, in ways that could even save your life...not like it could earn him any friends, though. The old man climbed up to the stool at the bar and made his order of Brandy. "Coming right up." Shulko acknowledged. Due to his habit of checking the beverage stock every night before he slept, he knew exactly what he was looking for and where it was. Within ten seconds, he'd retrieved the bottle and began to pour into the glass he'd also picked up. Avani would arrive in this moment to hand him two slips of paper containing orders the moment he'd finished handing the filled glass to the elderly patron. "Ah, thanks, Avi, I'll get to these quickly." A quick glance to the two orders, he'd look over to the NPC near him. "Hey, Angie, I've gotta get two orders taken care of and make sure the stock is ready for the coming Lunch Hours, would you mind holding the bar for me real quick?" He asked. The Pink haired NPC's response was delayed for three seconds, but her expression, showing a slight nervousness, explained the pause. "Sure! I-I don't mind at all! Ehe..." She said. Shulko smiled at her. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry, Angie, you've got this." He encouraged, before disappearing into the kitchen.

                       Avani checked the surrounding area for any tables that have had a change in activity, and spotted a boy sketching on a book. She would then make her way over to him. "Welcome to the Carefree Magpie." She greeted. "Is there anything I can get you started with?"

                    The Carefree Magpie. Located in the settlement of Taft, this is a Tavern ran by a Player with the Username Shulko. It is a roomy establishment, with plenty of bar seating and a spacious dining area. Shulko once worked The Carefree Magpie on his own, but he has managed to hire two NPCs to assist him with running the Tavern, or cover for him whenever he's out and adventuring. With an extensive menu featuring numerous cuisines, European, Japanese, a bit of American, and much more, it's nearly guaranteed a player may find something to their taste, and the menu is even still, slowly expanding further. With the amount of baked goods produced in this Tavern, it ended up having a separate bakery menu consisting mostly of the many available desserts, though there is yet another menu for all the available Drinks, both Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic alike. 

                          One Monday morning, Shulko put up a sign attachment displaying his latest ongoing deal. 

        "35% off all Drinks from now to the Sixteenth, and 50% off all Drinks on the Seventeenth"

                                 The player to witness him doing this would be his best friend, Vigilon. "So, making a St. Patrick's Day deal or something?" He asked.
       Shulko shrugged. "Kinda." He began. "Just thought I'd word it in a way even NPCs could understand. Players aren't my only patrons, after all." Vigilon nodded his head understandingly. "I see... Well, I'd love to stay longer and chat about more, but I've got plans with Krysta. She's heard about some rumor involving some kind of seal, so I volunteered to help her investigate." He noted. Shulko waved goodbye as his best friend left. "Have a good one, Red Eyes, and come back alive, alright?" He said. Vigilon raised his hand with a reply of "Thanks, I'll try."

               It was only five minutes before someone else showed up to the scene. Astralin came by, wondering if there would be anyone new coming here. "Oh! Hey Shulko! I'm not too early, am I?" She asked. Shulko smiled at the blonde. "Not at all, Starshine, I just forgot to do this first thing after waking up. I mean, it's only Eleven-Fifteen though, what's the worst that could happen?" He replied. The two players would chuckle at the remark. "I'm open right now, so come on in, I'm sure things will get busier soon." Shulko offered as he did what he could to reassure Astralin with his words. Astralin didn't normally come here in the mornings, but she didn't exactly have much to do today, so she figured she might as well show up earlier and hope she gets a chance to meet someone new.

                        So far, there were only the last of the morning regulars, any players among them must have already gone to start their days outside, leaving only a few NPCs. Slow morning, maybe? Well, Shulko seemed confident that things would pick up soon, so Astralin saw no reason to not stick around. She noticed that the two hired NPCs, Angela and Avani, were already stationed within. Was this simply their programming as NPCs, or did they actually have such hours for whatever reason? She recalled one time she'd come here and they were here late into the night, so in the end Astralin was left a bit confused...but she decided not to ask about it. For now, she would simply find herself a seat and get settled.

NPC/NPC-Player Data:

Stats and Equipment:

(Vigilon Alt[Astralin] in waitlist as a contingency, but really hoping things work out with getting other writers involved!)

        Astralin was hoping to take on these pirates on her own, since she was capable of avoiding attacks and dealing pretty good damage, despite her handwraps ailments still being tier three. However, Jomei would jump in to thank her, and begin assisting her with these pirates she'd began fighting.

       "No problem!" Astralin responded to Jomei's thanks, with a bright smile as she did so. Hopefully, this smile might be able to hide the fact that she was internally screaming, quite intensely, one might add. This was a completely normal interaction, there shouldn't be anything abnormal about it, and yet, there was. Jomei, a ginger who Astralin had yet to properly meet, simply smiling at her as he thanked her for the help she gave earlier. That shouldn't be causing anything. The fact that he had some similarities to Leo, however, despite some of the obvious differences, wasn't doing Astralin any favors.

   And then of course, there was where the trouble really began.
That smile. That damned smile.

          Astralin shifted her attention to the pirates as fast as she could, her heart was beating fast and it wasn't just the adrenaline from the fact that Astralin was in the middle of a battle. She needed to get her act together. "Stop thinking about Leo, stop thinking about Leo, stop thinking about Leo, stop thinking about Leo...." She thought to herself on repeat. "Come on, Libra, you're in battle, get it together!" Astralin shook her head and clapped her hands on her cheeks twice in attempt to get her head back in the game.

      One of the pirates chuckled, noticing something was off with Astralin, based on the latest action she took. He chuckled, before remarking, "What's wrong, suddenly ye can't keep focused?" and chuckling once more, in which two others joined in on the chuckling, for the third other was dealing with Jomei, not very well, however, due to the shoulder connected to their main hand being damaged, forcing them to use the other hand. Astralin had something to focus on now that there was something going on and not an awkward standoff. 

           Astralin began readying her sword art. "E-e-errasifr!" She called out as she unleashed her sword art on the three pirates, finishing off one, knocking another down on his back, and encasing the third in a layer of ice, as freezing energies surged through Astralin's Zero Degree Chill when striking them. The pirate that was knocked down got up with all due haste, just to notice that the ally that survived was frozen solid. "Ice??" 

      Astralin got into defensive position, ready to try countering an attack if this pirate decided to retaliate. "Yeah," Astralin remarked. "You want some of that, too?"
      Hopefully Astralin could stay focused from here on out.

 @Jomei

       Meanwhile, to say that Davy and Jones were probably in for a bad time would have been an understatement. The brunette would deliver a powerful punch to Davy, knocking him down on his rear and almost completely knocking the wind out of him too. "I, Ack, I suppose that's a no, then..." He uttered weakly. Jones growled and pulled up the club. "I always gotta do everything myself..." While he wasn't very successful, his last attempt was able to at least get the brunette martial artist down on the ground. He held his club towards her, ready to strike again if something went wrong. 
              "You're getting better with that club, Jones!" Davy remarked as he began to get back up. "I'd still prefer my cutlass, this ol' thing is pathetic. I shouldn't have played cards with that fool Barbos." Jones growled in response, still keeping his gaze towards the brunette in case she made any sudden moves. "Well, ye might've had better luck if you saw him pull that ace out of his boot." Davy added. It was then that Jones's gaze left the brunette, despite his arm not moving position. "And ye didn't think to tell me??" Davy shrugged. "Ye told me to keep quiet so you could focus. I pointed, but ye didn't look."
      Jones rolled his eyes with a loud groan, before turning his eyes back to the brunette. Davy got a little closer. "So what do ye think we should do about her-"

     *CRAAAACKKK!!!!*

    An axe broke in from above, catching the attention of everyone present. "That the capn's?" Davy asked. Jones looked at the peeking blade of the great axe warily. "No, that's not Loughran's...must belong to an adve-"
       Before either of the two could realize what was happening, their legs would be toppled with a low sweep and their heads knocked together before the crashed onto the ground. This was the second time they were both bested easily by a strong martial arts user in this one night. Jones's eyes darted around, realizing that this brunette wasn't the only adventurer in the room. His cursor reverted to yellow as he facepalmed. There were not one, not two, but at least three adventurers in this room. A handful of them scattered throughout the ship might have been difficult but possible, but no, there were just too many of them. The two should have retreated when they had the first chance.
                          As he attempted to get up, he'd completely leave the club on the floor as he grabbed Davy and prioritized getting himself and his ally out of harm's way. "Come on, Davy, we're getting the blazes out of here."
         The pirate who was completely ignored by the players and had witnessed all of this, growled before calling out, "Cowards!" as Jones tried to drag Davy with him as he attempted to retreat, most likely towards somewhere else within the decks, due to a green haired man interfering with the steps they came in from. Jones could only hope that the individuals around him knew mercy, for he couldn't move very fast as long as he was dragging along his half-conscious idiot of an ally.

           To say that Astralin had the time to respond to Morningstar's remark would be a lie, for he took action before Astralin could speak, attempting a thrust towards her chest...which, was definitely not the kind of place you'd want to stab a girl.

      Astralin acted on defensive instinct, clasping her hands together in a quick movement and catching her opponent's training weapon, stopping it dead in its tracks. Astralin's shocked expression in that moment would transition into an adrenaline-filled smile, and she'd chuckle as she suddenly tugged, then pulled at Morningstar's training weapon as a means to swing him to her right and toss him a few meters by letting go of the weapon as soon as he was lifted off the ground. She would then close in on her opponent and unleash a well timed karate chop for the moment said opponent got back up on his feet.

         "You're not bad yourself, you almost got me a few seconds ago." Astralin remarked. "I'm not going too hard on you, am I? Ehehehe~"

Once she'd added that, she'd give him two seconds before attempting yet another strike, this time towards his torso.

@Morningstar

    Astralin: 2/3

    Morningstar: 0/3

A Valentines Day event was one thing, but this was another. It all just seemed so petty. At least Astralin was close enough to the other players to hear the ongoing attempt to strategize. The idea of rescuing the hostages when least expected was a good one, all that was needed was an element of surprise.

Astralin couldn't really take too much action with her current footwear. If she had the time to remove them, she could easily-

    Before her train of thought could continue, the ship leaned with a jerk before going back to its original position. Astralin found herself landing on her rear, on the floor of the deck. Well, at least she was in position to remove the heels now, if the game would let her, assuming it wasn't a part of the rest of the outfit. "I still don't know how girls fight in these, let alone cast spells in them." She thought aloud. Needing to dodge or move at a moment's notice was crucial, especially if casting requires movement, kind of like the skill Astralin needed in order to "cast" anything. Not to mention, it was better to be able to dodge than be a sitting duck taking more damage than one can handle.

    Astralin placed the heels back into her inventory, and got back up onto her feet. Wonderful, there was already some struggling going on. She then equipped her amulet, and considered herself ready to take emergency action. She was still wearing the dress she arrived in, as well as those starry hair clips the dress came with, but had equipped a set of handwraps that were now layered over the outfit's gloves, and she was also now wearing the silver necklace with the diamond shaped pendant that helped her in combat, and of course, to make movement easier, she removed the heels. Aside from that, her appearance was generally the same in this moment. 

    She made her way to the situation that was happening on the deck to see that there were many pirates and only one player ready to help Captain Xandis. Astralin took a quick look at the situation, then unleashed a sweeping attack against the pirates near Jomei and Xandis. Astralin then took position behind Jomei. "I'll hold the pirates off for you, go on ahead, do what you need to do!" She called out to the captain and the ginger. Speaking of the Ginger, he was...a rapier user....uh oh.
        Astralin immediately turned her head around, hoping Jomei didn't notice her expression that, while hopeful and reassuring when she spoke, was in the midst of collapsing as she turned her head to face the pirates. "Focus, Libra, don't let him remind you of Leo, don't think about Leo, don't think about Leo, don't think about Leo..."
     Astralin's mind began to flood with memories, she did not need this right now. At least she still had just enough focus to be able to fight the pirates who would now have to get past her if they wanted to stop Jomei and Xandis.

@Jomei

      While all that was going on, the two Pirates that Astralin got past earlier had also stumbled when the ship jerked. One of the other pirates had noticed them on the floor. "Davy! Jones! What in the locker are you idiots doing? Don't just sit there, get off your arses and do somethin'!" They called out. The two who had stumbled were about to get up anyway, so the words had no real effect. "So are we stopping the pretty blonde over there?" Davy asked Jones. "Definitely not." was Jones's response. "Isn't she heading over to Xandis or the ropes, though?" was Davy's next question. "We've gotta do something, Jones."
     "I know that," Jones began. "But you saw how we grabbed her by both her arms, yet how easily she bashed us together like a pair a twigs, what do ye think will happen if we faced her in a real fight? Think, Davy, think!" Davy nodded his head slowly. "Aye, don't be hasty..." He remarked in agreement, even if he was to throw that advice out the window the next chance he got as he usually would. "Let's see if we can help out belowdecks, come on."

      The two pirates would head down the steps to find that it wasn't likely to go well here, either. They would stop just in time to make eye contact with two women, who Jones believed were very capable of beating them down. "This the wrong deck?" Davy thought aloud. "No, no I think we're in the right deck, just...at the wrong time." Jones noted, his expression wary, his gaze not breaking. Davy then wondered if he could de-escalate any negative tension, even though there were already one or two other still conscious pirates in the room. "Well...lovely evening, eh, ladies?" He remarked with a polite smile and a tip of his hat, not that it ever got him anywhere in his line of work.
      Jones audibly groaned as he facepalmed. "This...can't possibly end well...Davy, yer gonna get us both killed."

@Lessa @Jevi

    So much for having a good time on this trip. As fate would have it, this was yet another time where Astralin had come expecting a moment of peace and happiness, but instead war came knocking on the door.

      As the pirates landed on the ship, they began doing what pirates do. Plunder. There were a lot of things that Astralin did not expect whatsoever, and they all happened so fast. First unexpected thing, Nari would respond to the threat of being tied up the way most people...wouldn't. "Nari???" Astralin exclaimed with a hand nearly over her mouth. Was Nari taunting the pirate, or was she serious about herself being tied up? What was even going on here?

   Astralin's eyes darted in several directions before she dashed in the direction towards the center. She didn't have any time to pull out her Skillbook, but thanks to quick change, she was at least able to equip one of her two sets of handwraps, at random, due to her rush. It ended up being Zero Degree Chill. Well, this would be far better than accidentally setting the ship on fire with the other set's burn enhancement!

   Two of the pirates grabbed her by the arms, probably on the assumption that she was trying to get away. "Not so fast, little missy," One stated. "Ain't she a treat for the eyes? Do you think the cap'n will let us keep her?" The other remarked. Astralin scowled. "Hey, hands OFF!" She warned as she gripped the two pirates' by their torsos and knocked their heads together, in which they would let go of her arms to deal with what Astralin just did to both their heads. Then she ran towards the unfolding scene. As the two pirates got back up, they'd given up on capturing Astralin but they did have some words for each other. "This is why you're still single, you bloody idiot." remarked the first one. "Well you're no blasted prize either, Jones." The other shot back.

   A towering figure who Astralin assumed was their leader demanded the location of a certain individual. Astralin might not have known who he was talking about, but maybe some clarity on the situation was in order, even if these pirates were ruining everything. The second unexpected thing followed, as Jomei would attempt to fight and ended up getting his rear handed to him. Then Yona tried to see if she had any luck, except there was also this...puffy little thing, with little red glowing dots for eyes, that slowly rose up behind the pirate leader, speaking in an unexpectedly haunting voice. This unexpected third thing was that for some reason, it seemed to be working with Yona, whose attack was dodged with a sidestep.

   Things were really looking bad, and the pirate leader made his threat very clear. Innocent NPCs, maybe even some players, might die if things didn't get dealt with this moment. "Well then, what did Daemon, or any of us ever do to you?" Astralin called out. She was likely to get a stupid, selfish, or generic response in return, but it wouldn't hurt to try and see why he's making such an aggressive search.

PH

Resource tracker:

Purchasing: Halloween Favor x2(50+50=100 Seeds), Cluster of Stars(20 Seeds), Nametag(10 Seeds)
Remaining Seeds: 4

Tag Milestone Rewards:

1: [T4]Halloween Candy(DMG) x3

3: Reroll Ticket x3

   There had to be a way around this, these ailments were more than enough of a problem. Astralin was taking damage over time, so she had to avoid getting hit. Delay had already worn off, so Astralin needed to do something fast. Evelina readied her next sword art, and Astralin noticed, as she attempted to dodge, that her most powerful type of sword art was now available. "That's right, I'd almost forgotten about that!" She thought. Distracted by this realization, she ended up getting hit by her opponent's sword art. "Looks like this fight's about to be in the bag!" Evelina claimed with confidence.

       Astralin prepared her Sword Art. "It's in a bag, all right." She remarked. "But it's not your bag." Astralin then unleashed the sword art. "Vyerherri!!!!"

  Astralin's handwraps were cloaked in flames as she unleashed a barrage of strikes, and Evelina turned out to be caught off guard by this blazing onslaught. The final hit knocked Evelina several meters backward, and when she got back up, the burn damage from the attack before dropped her HP down low enough for a winner to be declared.

   While Evelina wasn't too pleased about this result, she at least got close. "Whew, that was a good match, you really put up a fight and almost gave me a run for my money!" Astralin remarked. "You're really good, I didn't see much of that coming at all!"

    Evelina's mild scowl was replaced with a pleasant shock, as though she wasn't expecting the compliments due to her loss. "Er...ah, likewise!" She uttered out, putting on a smile as she did so. "I guess you might be potentially capable...eeeeven if I was only going easy on you." She then pulled something out of her inventory, and placed it in Astralin's hand. "Go ahead and take this, consider it as thanks for both being a good sport and giving it your all." She then turned around to go on ahead, yet didn't expect Astralin to follow, due to her next words being, "Well, have a nice rest of your day! See you never!"

    Evelina attempted another attack, but the Delay had done its job, as Astralin dodged the attack. Astralin would then utilize quick change to swap handwraps. If she was lucky, she might be able to give this opponent a taste of her own medicine...

   Astralin activated her Sword Art. "Larrahi!"

 With a burst of flame, Astralin's sword art struck her intended target, inflicting burn in the process. That was good news. "H-hey! Watch it with the flames!" Evelina exclaimed.

   The bad news however, was that the poison status refreshed. "What the? I, I wasn't even hit? But how??" Astralin thought aloud, confused. Evelina chuckled to the point where it was almost a cackle. "Some ailments can be on defensive gear! Watch where you crit, or you'll get another dose of my poison!" She remarked. This was quickly turning into a problem. If this ailment didn't wear off soon, Evelina wouldn't need many more hits against Astralin in order to claim Victory. Astralin needed a better plan.

      Astralin needed to focus on avoiding Evelina's attacks if she was to win this duel. To keep getting hit would have a chance at refreshing the status ailment. "Alright, so if I need to make my timing right, maybe I should use..."

  With a sword art now in mind, she gestured for Evelina to come closer. Evelina would hesitate, but would come closer, only to jump back the moment Astralin moved. Luckily, this is just was Astralin was waiting for. "Arriora!!" Astralin called out as she activated her sword art. Her opponent would be stricken with Delay, giving Astralin an evasive advantage. Evelina blinked, realizing what Astralin was doing whenever she used sword arts. "Uh, are you giving your Sword Arts weird names or something?" She asked. Astralin shrugged with a smile. "Well, yes and no, they have different names, but I have a different way to speak them as I use them." She explained. "It's just how I prefer to do it."

    Evelina looked confused. "Weird Flex, but uh, you do you I guess."

      Astralin continued up the path, but she soon saw Evelina standing in the middle of the path, as if she were waiting for her. "I had a feeling you'd continue anyway, so..." Evelina then turned around to face Astralin. She then pulled up her menu and began preparing a request. "I suppose I should make sure if you're ready for whatever lies ahead of you." She said, sending a duel challenge to Astralin.

    "Alright then, I'm fine with a quick spar, let's do it!" Astralin answered, accepting the challenge and preparing the ruleset for the duel. Both players would take position, and Evelina seemed pretty confident, judging by her expression. Well, one way to deal with this now, and that was to claim victory.

     The players waited for the preparation timer to end, and <<Fight!>> would appear between the two. Both players would rush towards each other as they readied their sword arts. "Errasifr!" Astralin called out as her sword art activated. While Evelina ended up getting hit, there was no way she was letting this just happen. She retaliated with her own sword art, dealing a fair bit of damage to Astralin. To make matters more difficult, the status Ailment symbol for poison appeared next to Astralin's HP. "Uh oh, that's not good." Astralin thought.

   Evelina chuckled. "How's that for a first impression? Consider that a gift from me to you!" She said, winking at the end of her sentence. Well, now Astralin was taking damage over time, so she'd have to take evasive action, plenty of it, too.

    "Straggler? There were more of them?" Astralin asked. "Of course!" The girl claimed. "Why, there was a small swarm of them scattered around the path to the summit! I was tasked with taking them all down, as I said before, and uh, yeah, good work on dealing with that straggler, I guess." She added, one hand on her hip, the other holding her weapon, and she seemed to look Astralin up and down.

   "I see." Astralin responded. "Well, thanks for clearing the path! ...wait, I didn't exactly catch your name. I'm Astralin, nice to meet you!" She added with a warm smile. The girl, at first, didn't seem to know what to think, but upon Astralin's introduction, she put on a smile as anyone could tell she immediately knew what to say next. "And I'm Evelina, I don't know if you've heard about me yet, but I'm sure you'll hear more of me later!" Unusual response, but ok. "...Say, are you here to make your way to the Dojo?" She asked. "It's totally up to you if you'd want to, but you might be biting off more than you can chew if you do." She added.

Evelina then began making her way back up, and would soon disappear from Astralin's view. "She's clearly going to keep heading to the summit...hmm, maybe I'll 'test' her..." She muttered to herself. A smirk would appear on her expression as she reveled in this idea. "Eheheh, she'll never know what hit her..."

  The day had come. It was time for the semifinals and the finals to occur. Astralin had managed to get this far, and it looked like there were only two fights she had to win if she were to win this. Her opponent for the semifinals was Morningstar. She didn't know him all that well, nor did she know if he'd be the sort to pick her out if he ended up winning the tournament instead. So, Astralin brought her mind into focus, she would be going along with the plan she'd been attempting thus far. The only question was who to ask if she did end up winning this thing. As far as she knew, she was also the only player in the tournament with the Martial Arts skill...

     With her handwraps on, Astralin looked towards her opponent for the match. Victory or defeat, earn the right to choose or become susceptible to be chosen, as Yona might put it. If anything, this was a test of strength, or skill, as would be more accurate in this situation. Astralin knew that she, herself, wasn't strong in the slightest. Morningstar called out to Astralin with a casual greeting. A smirk would form on Astralin's expression. "You could say that." She began. "Now then, let's give the crowd a good match, shall we?"

With that, she readied herself, and when it was called out for the fights to begin, she would advance towards her opponent. Seeing that she was moving first, she had to keep this attack difficult to predict. Due to this, she would try three false strikes before making an attempt to rush to his side and make a real strike against her opponent with a swift chop.

@Morningstar

Stats and equipment:

    Something was definitely off. Surely this woman was friend material, right? If she was well acquainted with these people, but was unnerved by Astralin's presence...there had to be a reason, right? Astralin tilted her head curiously as she looked towards her.

  Before Astralin could try to group up everybody with a smile and reassure everyone that they'd all have a great time, everyone started going their separate ways. Jomei and Lessa left with each other, and Jevi escaped the moment she got a chance. Nari would then ask if Astralin or NIGHT had come with anybody, or were hoping to find somebody here, then invited them for drinks, or some other activity that the three might not be aware of yet.

           Astralin's expression began to show some mild sorrow. "I...I came alone. Everyone I knew seemed to be busy, and I'm not on Yona's friend list, either. I couldn't even tag along with Vigilon or Krysta, they of course probably had something planned, whether it be on this ship or not." She noted, realizing her situation in full. With the next question though, she brought herself to smile again with a hopeful thought to add. "Well, while it would be nice to be able to have a date, I could settle for making some new friends instead-"

           And then came NIGHT's sudden refusal of Nari's offer. There was also a sudden glance towards Astralin when she noted that she wasn't looking for anyone either. Astralin wondered why NIGHT felt the need to specify that she wasn't looking for anyone either. She then said that she'd catch the two later, but Astralin was starting to have doubts.

  With that, NIGHT left, leaving Astralin and Nari alone. Nari seemed to be on friendly terms with NIGHT, unlike the last time she'd seen the two at the same event. Astralin then looked to Nari, her expression showing some concern. "Nari, is your friend ok? Is...is she always like this, or is it me? You know her better than I do, I'm sure you know what she's like most of the time, right?"

          With Nari considering that it was just her and Astralin now, she wanted to see what this party was all about. She admitted that she had no interest in the bar, but there must be something to do around here... Astralin couldn't agree more, maybe they could check in on NIGHT after giving her a few minutes, assuming she hadn't just escaped from the event entirely or even chose to hide and isolate herself. Astralin, however, didn't know why Nari decided to take her hand. Nevertheless, Astralin hadn't given up hope yet. Besides, with the takeoff leading into sunset, the night had only just begun. "Well, we might as well make the most of this evening while it's still young!" Astralin remarked with a hopeful smile.

  What Astralin would find herself doing next, however, she had no clue.

@Nari-Lanreth

   Lessa would compliment Astralin in response to the one she gave her, saying that purple really suited Astralin. "Aw, thank you! I feel so lucky to have found a dress like this one!" Astralin added as she smiled excitedly. It was a really pretty purple, decorated with stellar design, and the lower end of the dress giving the impression of a sparkling night sky, to boot! 

 The Artisan stiffened up when Astralin looked towards her, and seemed to have trouble looking back at Astralin, averting her gaze. What was it about Astralin that caused her presence to unnerve this woman?

     Oddly enough, she'd seen similar, but nowhere near this particular form of nervousness, years ago, back in the real world, when she became curious about her friend, Cancer, getting a major crush on one of the local preps, Cassie. Of course, fate played its terrible game, as the student body of that high school would figure out that Cassie was just a nickname that was passable to the public, that her real first name was Cassiopeia, another constellation name. While a good number of people who knew her accepted her anyway, there were also a number of people who turned against her...that day when Astralin and Cancer helped her out in her time of need, with some assistance from another friend, Aries, the damage was lessened, and those who were gracious to Cassie learned, that they'd been a bit unnecessarily harsh to people like Astralin, Cancer, and Aries...but enough reminiscing of the past.

   Astralin tilted her head slightly as she looked to the Artisan, wondering, exactly why Astralin made this player nervous? "Hmm...."

"Curious and curiouser..." Astralin thought. When Nari reached the conversation, her "victim" introduced herself as Jevi, and did so simply, before addressing the Artisan as NIGHT, while noting that it was nice to see her and Jomei again. Jevi then greeted Astralin and Lessa. "Nice to meet you too, Jevi! I'm Astralin." Astralin responded, with a warm smile on her face. Nari then gave her thoughts on having yet to be complimented...in her own, unusual way. "Well, of course you look fabulous-!"

  Nari's next actions, such as winking at NIGHT and making a...oh, dear, that remark could be taken in multiple ways. Nari's impression of a model's posture, though odd, wasn't what had Astralin trying not to panic over. "N-Nari?!" Astralin exclaimed, only half-succeeding at keeping an inside voice. "Sorry, that remark was just...kind of uh, suggestive, from what I know... I'm not really sure that a time and place like this is suitable for that kind of talk..."

Astralin was just genuinely concerned, nothing more. Even her expression showed that clearly. Then NIGHT placed a hand on the purple haired player's shoulder, asking if Nari was in an Open Relationship. Astralin was no expert on Polyamory, but wasn't an Open Relationship, from what she'd heard from some people, an awfully casual way of just dating around with wild abandon? She could easily be wrong, as she'd never seen anyone in an Open Relationship in her life. NIGHT also mentioned someone called Onora, as though this person was Nari's current partner.

Astralin simply blinked in utter confusion. Things were off to a rougher start than anticipated, but hopefully that was all gonna change soon.

@Jomei @Lessa @Jevi @Nari-Lanreth @NIGHT

     Astralin looked around, seeing a few people around, a good number of whom she recognized, mainly from the tournament. There was that girl from the previous system-ran Valentines' Day event, getting dragged over to a forming conversation by Nari. There was also, of course, that Artisan, wearing a suit(was it simply this player's preference? There had to be more than meets the eye...). That Artisan, she seemed to be at about every event that Astralin's gone to. What kind of coincidence was that?

   Well, maybe this time she actually might be able to get acquainted with this player! To start, she'd have to listen as she approached, seeing if there was anything she could chime in on.

   Due to the fact that she had yet to hear something she could add onto at the moment, she'd have to go for a more typical greeting. "Heeey!" She called out with a wave as she approached the players. "Nice to see you guys again! How have you been?" She asked.

She came here to have a good fun time with people, and dang it, she was gonna do it.

To start, she looked over to Lessa. "Wow Lessa, you look so pretty in that dress, it really suits you!" She complimented, but then came the unexpected struggle. She looked over to Jomei next and...it was harder to actually speak the compliment than to try and come up with one. "Jomei, you...you're looking really...w-wow, I um..."

   "Smooth, Libra. Very smooth..." She thought to herself. "Sorry, I, I don't normally trip over my words like this, you look great!" She said to Jomei. It really didn't help that those memories of Leo kept crawling back to Astralin. Sure, before getting trapped in this game, she'd been able to remain as friends with Leo, but...it's like the pain never really left. Maybe there would have been less pain if it weren't for that Becca girl, all those years ago...

Coming back to her senses and shaking off the memories, she then looked to the Artisan. "You're looking surprisingly sharp in that suit." She remarked. "I've seen you at plenty of events, but I never really got the chance to actually meet you." She added.

Then of course, it was likely that Nari would have also reached the conversing group again with her "victim", as she said it, probably jokingly. For the time being, Astralin would simply wave to the two players with a bright smile on her face.

@Lessa @Jomei @Nari-Lanreth @Jevi @NIGHT

   It was good to know that Yona's hunch happened to be right, that there would be another formal event during the Valentine's Day season. The shopping trip really came in handy! Astralin looked at herself in the mirror after equipping the dress she got. It was such a lovely dress, and now there was a social event just waiting for her! She really needed this chance to meet more people, so she was getting excited as soon as she'd gotten the message. She took a moment to make sure she was ready, before heading for the settlement's local teleport gate to head to the twenty sixth floor.

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     Navigating her way to the Ladonian Skyport was a new experience for her, as she hadn't been to this floor, from what she remembered. Because of this, she inevitably would need to find some help. Despite the people who stared and those few who simply gave her a look, there was an individual or two that were willing to help Astralin out. Astralin thanked them for the help they offered, and made her way to where she needed to go.

          When she saw the ship, Astralin began to imagine what it would be like, as the ship before her would travel through the sky as it gave off the illusion of sailing through the stars when the night would inevitably come. Hopefully this would turn out better than the last formal event she'd been to, where she was mostly ignored by everyone and left to fail at socializing with a shy girl who just stopped talking, effectively leaving Astralin with nothing to do and no one to hang out with...not to mention the issues that transpired back then, there were those too.

   Surely nothing could go wrong this time, right?

 With a smile on her lips, she crossed the bridge to board the ship, and was welcomed by its captain. She would then proceed to the main deck, hoping to find someone to speak with. There seemed to only be four other people her so far, but that was bound to change soon enough. Now the question was, who to talk to first...

Astralin's outfit:

Stats and Equipment:

   Yona's response to Astralin's question was undeniably sus. The nervous chuckling gave away that something was up and on the brunette girl's mind. The question, however, was what. "There's enough of us for one such game right here, I don't see a reason to wonder about group size, we could easily start once we get to the room we're staying in."  Astralin reassured. "However, your laughter kinda felt...forced. Is something wrong?" She asked.

       The other blonde in the onsen remarked that people were complicated. "Oh yeah, you're definitely right about that one, myself included." Astralin responded. "I might like people more than others, but if only it wasn't so hard to get along with them..." She added, remembering all those people in her past who she'd tried to befriend, despite that in the end, she was just too different for them...back then, most of her friends were just...that unofficial group she was part of, those eleven individuals whose names followed a naming convention like her own, for reasons that the generation before her had yet to actually tell her...

    And now she was here, in a situation equally difficult, but now in more ways than one. 

 Morningstar asked how everyone knew the host. "Um..." Astralin's eyes widened. Had she stumbled upon some group that all had one thing in common or something? "Nope, sorry, don't know the guy..." Astralin answered. She would proceed to listen to the answers given by the others that did know the host. The blonde remembered how their first meeting wasn't exactly peaceful, and that he was lucky that she was feeling merciful. "Oh, gosh." She added as she chuckled at the sheer awkwardness that the recalled moment must have been. The blonde then recalled how the two began teaching some younger children, who might have been players, even. The ginger(Oh, no, a ginger. That brought back painful memories...) would recall a few moments where he'd crossed paths with the host, mainly in raids and meetings, before finding reason to trust each other and deepen that trust. After this reminiscence from the two, Astralin had a half-baked impression of the host. "He sounds like a reliable friend, with the wisdom of a mentor figure." Astralin remarked.

  Then came a familiar face, a green haired player who was at Koga's party. "It's alright, you're not interrupting anything at all!" She claimed.

@Yona @Lessa @Morningstar @Jomei @Hirru

    Astralin took this chance while she could, and prepared another sword art. "Ikiarra!" She called out as she activated the sword art, finishing off the Giant Moth.

     Well, that was easier than expected. Now it was time to continue on- wait, who was that over there in the distance?

  Astralin walked a bit closer to see this person, finding a young woman, who was revealed by her green cursor to be a player.

The girl looked confused to see Astralin at first, so maybe a kind greeting might ease her. "Hi," Astralin began. "I'm just heading up the mountain, nothing to worry about!"

   The violet haired girl's confusion faded quickly. "Oh, for a second, I thought you were someone else. Anyway, I was kind of sent here to take care of some obstacles getting in the way of the path up, but it looks like you dealt with that straggler there already." She explained. The girl appeared to have a similar apparel style to that of Krysta's, as she looked like a Princess, with the shimmering, flowing dress(probably some kind of cloth armor, like Astralin's), she wore, the silver tiara on her head, decorated with Amethysts and Aquamarines. Her dress was sleeveless and asymmetric, and she seemed to also be wearing knee-high stockings, and fingerless gloves that extended across the forearms, too, not to mention a pair of wedges. As though to complete the outfit, there was also a rose made of amethyst gemstones(clearly the work of an Artisan) that was the centerpiece of a necklace she wore.

ID# 212386 BD: 3+3+1=7(hit), MD: 6-2-4(miss)

ST-II: 23x15+48=393 Damage to Giant Moth!

ID# 212387 CD: 7, LD: 2(3000 Col, 2 Materials)

Astralin: HP 660/660, EN 61/84 | 23 DMG | 20 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 4 REC | T3 Freeze

Giant Moth: HP 0/600 | 128 Damage 

       There wasn't that much of an issue reaching the mountain from then on, but then came the climb itself.

  This was something Astralin did not miss. Not even Vigilon's shop was difficult to reach, just a half-hour walk. This, however, was a much different climb. At least Vigilon was willing to help with all the hard parts back then...now Astralin had to make the climb herself. Some time later, however, she found herself at what seemed like a dead end...no, this was no dead end, something was blocking the way, and it wasn't made of stone.

     Astralin swatted at the false stone, and wings flapped. The false stone, revealed to be a camouflaging giant moth, turned around to face Astralin, who readied her sword art. "Errasifr!" She called out as she activated said sword art. A chilling blast accompanied the impact, and the Giant Moth was encased in a layer of ice.

ID# 212385 BD: 9(Critical, +1 Base Damage, Inflicted Freeze), CD: 11(ST-B Available!), MD: 5-2=3(miss)

ST-I: 24x12=288 Damage to Giant Moth!

Astralin: HP 660/660, EN 72/84 | 23 DMG | 20 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 4 REC | T3 Freeze

Giant Moth: HP 312/600 | 128 Damage | {Frozen}

   Seeing that she was getting nowhere with this, Astralin closed the book and locked it again before putting both book and key in her inventory. It was past time to get going. It took a fair while to traverse the rocky floor, and most of the floor's local monsters were easy to avoid the aggro range of, but this was a game, so of course there would be a few moments...

   Such as the moment when there were some ruins near the road, and goblins showed up when Astralin was close to passing by. "Hold! This toll road. You pay, you pass. No pay, no pass. Toll Five Hundred." One of the goblins spoke up. Astralin crossed her arms inquisitively and gave the goblin a look. "And? You'd have evidence of your position if you were doing official tolls. If any form of civilizations' governance didn't put you up to this, then this is just harassment, conning and petty theft." She countered. The Goblins looked at each other as though realizing they didn't think this through well enough, and the goblin that spoke up earlier responded with, "I follow orders. Five Hundred Col or no pass."

   Astralin smirked. "So you think that avoiding the question's gonna help, or do you not have any proof?" She shot back. "Since you don't have any feasible proof, I guess I might as well pass." Astralin started to move, but the goblin who spoke pulled out a spear. "No. No pay, no pass." Astralin knew exactly what to do here. "Alright then, I see how it is." She then readied one of her single target sword arts. "Errasifr!" Astralin called out as she unleashed her attack, obliterating the target. The other goblins jumped back. "Anyone else feel like pressing this any further?" Astralin asked. The remaining goblins, in unison, answered "Nope!" and ran for the ruins as fast as their legs could carry them.

   Once this was over, Astralin might need to get a move on and become an Alchemist. Maybe she could look for someone who could help her with that other strange book, too. Speaking of which...

   Astralin placed the Skillbook back into her inventory and pulled out the odd book. That VII on it, it clearly seemed to suggest there were more. She wondered if she'd ever find the others, and whatever they were tied to...but if only she could get past the glaringly obvious problem... She pulled out the key she found with the book, and used it to unlock the book. Upon opening it up, just like last time the writing seemed to be something she couldn't translate. Not even the system seemed to offer any words of what it might be. "There's gotta be some way I can read this...I can't translate the symbols to my own language, so it could either be unique, or tied to another language. Well, it doesn't look like I'll be able to understand this thing anytime soon..." She thought aloud as she turned pages, with all sorts of illustration and what might be notes along with the base info, but there was still not enough to guess whatever the dubious symbols and words meant. Not to mention the odd patterns in the exact middle of the book. Turning the pages to that section again, she'd look back at it to see all those shapes, lines and designs again, along with more symbols here and there. The six pointed star in the exact center seemed to suggest that this wasn't a loose collection of shapes or lines, but a part of something greater; incomplete.

....But just what was it, then?

   Her next destination had basically been decided for her, so it was time to set out again. It was up that tall, tall mountain for her, though she knew not the reason, aside from potential further training...even though Astralin herself had no clue why she'd need more. She might live within a warrior's world, but she herself is no warrior.

      Astralin pulled her Skillbook out of her inventory, and looked through both the fire and ice sections she'd been writing. She could use more variety to some of all the sections she'd been putting down for sword arts, as seemed to have one set of sword arts per section, even if their effects and damage output were generally the same. She closed her Skillbook, wondering if there was anything she was missing in general. She'd simply been experimenting and hoping for the best, but maybe this whole thing was the Cardinal giving her an opportunity...even if they were probably some conventional martial arts tactics, she might be able to bend them more to her style with enough time and effort.

       Astralin had not been to Floor Two in a long time. Knowing this, she considered returning to see if there was anything worth looking into.

   Now that she had returned to the mountainous floor, however, it would seem that something had been waiting for her. She hadn't been back in Urbus for longer than five minutes when an NPC approached her. "I've been looking for you, got something I'm supposed to deliver, your hands only." Astralin was a bit confused at first, who on this floor would want to contact her? Is it a quest prompt, or something else? "Let's see here..."

    Astralin waited a few seconds to see what this NPC was here to deliver. "Yeah, just this note. There was some kind of trainee looking fellow, looking for you, so he kinda gave me this note in case I ever found you, something about needing to return to his teacher. Well, looks like that's it, got to go."

The NPC was gone in seconds, leaving Astralin standing there with a note he'd handed her. Astralin blinked several times, then opened up the note.

"..."

Astralin was undoubtedly confused. Had things changed significantly since Astralin had broken that boulder so long ago? What could possibly be waiting for her back there?

Stats and Equipment: