Astralin

It wasn't long before Snow suddenly gestured for Astralin and Astreya to head over to the Onsen. With most of the work finished, it kind of made sense that the rest could be taken care of easily by one person. "Guess we'll see you again soon, then!" Astralin called out to her. Then came the trip to the onsen itself. Astreya seemed to ask if that was indeed what they were gonna do. "Why not? Let's do it!" Came Astralin's response. Then Astreya asked a question that Astralin didn't expect...like, at all. Her face reddened slightly at the latter alternative. "I-I....Um....I-I-I dunno about t

Astralin had begun to hear of Krysta's tailoring skills, and that her shop was set up over in Taft. At this rate, Taft was slowly becoming a secondary trading hub of Aincrad, which was nice to know. Any shops within main settlements were always easy to reach, others often needed some time before Cardinal set up enough of a safe path for players to travel, from what Astralin could guess. It wasn't like she'd ever needed to go to Vigilon's blacksmith shop or anything... Excitedly wondering what Krysta's shop would have, Astralin made her way over to the area of Taft where the shop was state

The woman accepted the offer for help, and Astralin would gather up a sizable pile of dishes. Practicality would suggest that she take one pile in each hand, but she didn't have the actual strength to do that, despite being able to carry and pull against significantly more weight in combat(yeah, Astralin hasn't figured out why that is either). The load she carried might not have been much in comparison to the other two, but the fact that she could help at all in this regard was nice. The woman soon introduced herself as Snow. Astreya would then introduce herself in response. "I'm Astrali

A sleepover? That sounded like it could be fun! Morningstar ended the conversation in...an unexpected manner. "Wha-? Wai-? H-how-?" Astralin stuttered as her eyes widened. "YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THIS WAS A DAAAATE????" Came the inevitable reaction. Maybe at this point, she should have realized it was a joke. How embarrassing... Well, too late for that now. @Morningstar Astreya would reveal that she intended to wander, and Astralin could come with if she was interested. "Sure, I don't mind." She responded with a smile. As the two walked around the property,

Well, everything had suddenly gone downhill from here. First, the card dealer had a bit of a reaction to Astralin's reaction, followed by his explanation of what came to his mind with the term. "Ohhhhh, ok, sorry..." But before Astralin could try to mend the conversation, the dealer abruptly dropped the subject and moved on, leaving Astralin sitting there, disgruntled over this little misunderstanding having shut down potential conversation. Astralin began to think about what she should do or say next, then came another player....with a lil' kittyyyyyy! Astralin's eyes widened as bot

Astreya's expression seemed to show some sympathy to Astralin in response to her speaking about her past. She also laughed a bit when Astralin revealed that she and Yona came with tunnel vision that resulted in a bit of a...surprising realization upon reaching the island...yeah, Astralin kinda deserved to hear this laugh for being so reckless. Astreya would explain that she liked meeting new people, then make a remark about commitment, before she gave her answer as to who she would have chosen if she was to have won, and it sounded like she would have chosen Alkor as to try getting to kno

Morningstar answered the question that Astralin had asked Astreya, saying that he used to be an actor, that it was a long time ago. He also noted that about fifty percent of theories involving what actors were really like were probably true. "Like how reputation tends to carry weight, or that an actor's life is never all roses?" Astralin guessed. Astreya added that everyone used to be someone, or something. Astralin, however, couldn't really relate. Her smile began to fade. "Well, I guess you could say that kind of depends... Me, I was just a girl who couldn't really find her place. Simpl

Astreya would tease at Morningstar, asking him if he was trying to get a jump at the dating game. Morningstar would tease back at her, asking if she was interested, before admitting that he just liked sunsets. "Sunsets...to me they've got a warm feel to it, there could be a whole variety of moods it could portray...It could just be the colors, though, I'm really not sure." Astralin commented. "...Or maybe I'm just biased. Sunsets are pretty, but the stars..." She continued. "There's just something wondrous about the sight, I can't quite place it or put it into words, actually..." Astreya

Morningstar chuckled at Astralin's guesses as to the meaning behind his username, and he mentioned that his fight had been interesting. Baldur would announce the winners of the round... Oh....Astreya had lost...to the one currently beside Astralin....and in the semifinals, Astralin was now...paired up against this player...this might become a problem if not handled properly. In the time that she knew Astreya, Astralin had seen the budding tank as a dependable ally. For her to fall...would be a sign that she was up against a tough opponent. Sure, Astralin had defeated two well-tr

"Oh, so you've heard of me? That's a first." Astralin remarked, not knowing that this player was somehow able to eavesdrop on her pre-battle conversation with Morgenstern. "Morning Star....Oh wait, you mean, as in the spiky mace thing, don't you..." She remarked, a drop of sweat from embarrassment forming as she remembered what the combined word was, and that it was't himself choosing his username to be a star that was still visible at dawn...though it would have been nice. Morningstar continued, asking how Astralin's fight went. "Ah, it went well, actually! Sure, my opponent kind of gave

As Astralin landed the strike, it all came back to her at once. She was dueling, not fighting for her life. There were many players around her, so they would have likely intervened if something had gone wrong... She took some deep breaths as she slowly backed up and returned to a normal position. She then heard her opponent speak. "You know you bested both Calrex and I, students of this very same school. If you don't win, I'll be a little upset." Astralin's eyes widened. "Ah! R-really?"She reacted. This place...the two who she'd faced were students of Baldur? Well, then...there was

Despite her current lead in her fight, things weren't looking too well around her. First, she looked over to her opponent...and it was here of all times, that she would notice the cursor's color. Her eyes widened at the realization of what kind of player she might be dealing with. "A killer?" She thought. She backed up suddenly, staring at the cursor for a few seconds. She then made eye contact with her opponent and- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The eyes. Astralin...wasn't the best with eye contact. In friendly situations, she could keep it for longer...much longer, in fac

The party had dissolved into a state of chaos once the game that gambled sweets had ended. Apparently someone had gone and left the sink on, resulting in some raised emotion and stress as a few players, including the host, would all jump in and try to resolve the issue. The pink haired baker sent a slime to absorb the water, and the players trying to fix the mess somehow saw the slime as part of the mess...uh oh... A player entered the house, and the host had some trouble letting her in, due to his current state...but he seemed to.... Astreya would confirm Astralin's suspicion, and A

Astralin was prepared to put up with a difficult opponent. She knew she had to win, not only for her sake, but for Yona's as well. She knew that she'd be facing powerful rivals and skilled veterans.... What she wasn't ready for, however, was a trick similar to the one she'd just used. A flurry of attacks at a rapid rate. Astralin's sidestep could only dodge so many, but couldn't dodge them all. Astralin jumped back after getting struck. Her eyes were now focused on her opponent. In a fight where hits counted more than strength, an agile opponent was dangerous, for such an opponent c

The matches were announced. Almost everyone just dispersed. Ongoing conversations stopped abruptly, Astralin was somewhat disoriented, but hopefully it wouldn't be too much for her. The only thing having to do with Astralin at this time was to answer Freyd's question. She clearly hadn't heard of everything in terms of unique, but... "It's not like I know all of my options, but something...unique might do. I've heard of a few enhancements containing things like fire, ice, even electricity...I've also heard...something about light and dark energy? Speaking of which, no thanks on the da

The time had come for the next match. Astralin took a deep breath. Yona was down, so Astralin found herself with the daunting task of having to fight for her cause as well. Hey, Astralin needed to try and be a good friend to the panicked woman, even though she'd so confidently challenged the player whom Astralin had defeated earlier...what was this whole thing even coming to? Whatever the case, she made her way over to the sparring arena. Another male opponent waited for her there. Honestly, if Astralin was to defeat all the male players she came across in this tourney, maybe Yona wo

Just about everyone was staring at Astralin now, and her smile broke into an even bigger one. She really didn't have a poker face...and it explained why she was terrible at BS, too. Yona's expression melted down into one that showed worry. Did she really need to be that worried? Astralin would win the hand, and there would be no further bets for any future rounds. Astralin handed one cookie to Yona, one cookie to a violet eyed player, thinking she was playing, and two cookies to Astreya. She considered handing a few cookies to the other players involved as well. She was just nice that way

Nari seemed to be a bit on the shy side after all. Astralin simply smiled back at her, before speaking softly as to not seem too intrusive. "I heard from Astreya here that your name is Nari. Mine's Astralin, it's nice to meet you." @Nari-Lanreth Before Astralin could say anything else, Yona marched right up and...challenged Calrex? Astralin was confused, why was she challenging him? "Yona, what's gotten into you? ...And why are you wording the match as if it were some kind of insult??" Astralin called out. Yona seemed to leave, but her challenge remained in the air...and it wa

Astralin noticed Yona just leaping in and joining the game. So sudden... When the newcomer called out for reveal, Astralin revealed her hand. Yep, she lost this one. Time to get a new hand? She breathed in, and breathed out. "Um...Hit me?" She guessed. Astralin didn't know much about most of the card games played with the usual game cards. She knew games like War, Go Fish, and BS, but...little else, aside from solitaire. She did remember how a friend of hers from the real world, Scorpio, had gotten inspired by some of Astralin's big brother's Dungeons and Dragons worldbuilding,

Everyone but the violet eyed girl, Nari, had something to say to Astralin in response to her words. Speaking of Nari, she seemed to be hiding behind Astreya. Poor thing must have been shy. Astralin gave her a short wave and a smile, but nothing more if she wasn't in the mood for conversation. Astreya gave her thoughts about what happened at the Christmas Party. "Yeah, at least everything turned out alright." Both Astreya and Koga were confused when Astralin explained why Yona should have been panicking right now. "Hmm, I'm not sure...maybe she's just considering the worst-case scenar

Astreya spoke of the other player in the conversation. "Yeah, we did, that's right!" She responded. Astreya looked over to Yona, and spoke of...Yona getting upset at Blueberry... Astralin blinked several times. "Wait...you're telling me...that the 'dessert sabotage' that Yona asked me to fix was...a replacement done by Blueberry??" She asked. "That's...that's just wrong, on both ends!" Astralin could hardly believe what she just realized. "Yona should have handled the situation more calmly, they're just sweets. And Blueberry shouldn't have destroyed what was there to replace it all with o

The brunette seemed to shy to make any response other than a greeting. The poor thing. It wasn't long before Astreya came back to invite the two players to playing cards. "Sure, why not?" Astralin responded. She came over to where the game was being played, and learned that it was Blackjack...which she'd never learned how to play. "Oh...hmm, hold on a sec..." Didn't she have a notepad full of various game rules and social tips in her inventory? She remembered having one, but she could be wrong. So she opened up her menu to look for it. Unfortunately, she was a bit too hasty as she sc

Astralin had a worthy opponent. Her opponent noted that it was an excellent duel, that he was glad to have her as an opponent. He then introduced himself as Calrex. "Thanks, you did great as well! I'm Astralin, nice to meet you too!" The blue haired player suggested that the two players leave the sparring area for the time being, and Astralin agreed with a nod. @Calrex Now it was time to join the others while she waited for the next round. She would notice a familiar face- no, two of them. She headed over to them, happy to see some others who she recognized. "Heeeey! Astreya!

You sow risk, you reap risk. Astralin's risky move would be met with extreme difficulty, for despite her evasive strategy for the duel, her opponent was catching on, and predicting her moves. This was not good. Not good, at all. Her opponent's latest strike would have quite the impact, it was clear that Astralin's weight and squishiness were unknown to him, for Astralin was practically sent flying backwards, until her back hit something. Astralin got up, a bit slowly. "I'm...I'm ok...!" She said to her opponent, in case he was concerned, as she stumbled forward before regaining

Astralin clearly wasn't expecting an opponent like this, but she wouldn't let that thought catch her off guard. If anything, it was reason to be more alert, more aware. Her opponent stepped back upon the hit, and once he moved following a calm breath, it naturally meant it was time for Astralin to move, too. A fight was a fight, so a sharp mind that was well awake would be taking in the details and tell-tale signs. Not every sign could easily be found, due to how Astralin's mind worked, but she was able to notice enough before she could get hit. She jumped back when the false attack