Zajcica

Spending some time relaxing was just what Yuki needed after a few weeks of grinding. She sat in the tavern, eating a sandwich and drinking some juice. With her menu pulled up, she was planning what her next move was going to be. There were rumors of a quest that would help her harsh weather conditions away. That sounded like an essential skill to have for anyone really, not just a tank. She closed her eyes and sighed.

A man sat across the room from her. He was a player, indicated by the cursor, everyone else she could see was an NPC. He was drinking alcohol from the looks of it. From what she remembered, however, it was impossible to get intoxicated from the drink. What was he doing here? Maybe it would be a good idea to go talk with him. Though he was older that most of the people she had met in SAO, but she wasn't scared to meet new people.

She picked up her plate and walked over to him. "Sumimasen, may I take a seat with you? My friends are all busy right now and I have no one to speak to." Her voice came out a little hushed and nervous.

@Morgan

The green grass of the first floor was so expansive. Mobs ran wild around, spawning in and out of virtual reality, coming and going as quickly their existence allowed. Maybe that was the same way as the material spawn nodes, which is why she had decided to stand around and wait if the spawn node happened to grace her with another blessing yet again.

Several moments later, a little node popped out of the ground. If this were a manga, she would have been depicted with a sweat drop over her head. Quickly she reached down and plucked the node from it's cozy spawn point before it went as quickly as it came. It made so much sense now. Better player probably know some spawn locations of where materials can be gathered and her dumb ass was running around trying to look in the stupidest spots for them. Lesson learned.

Her quest updated. Time to return to the kitchen with her ingredients in tow and learn how to cook from the NPC.

She rose from her squatting position only to look back down and find the node had spawned a new set of materials just as she had backpacked the ones just before it. It was somewhat shocking that an event like that could happen. Materials likely had a random counter on nodes to discourage camping on them, or the nodes were placed randomly around the map. She reached back down and pocketed the extra set of materials for herself. Watching the node's empty spot, quietly hoping another set of materials would just rise out of the ground for her and make this easy.

Waiting her for a moment wouldn't hurt her. What sort of things would be good to put on her menu when she got her shop made? Bentos, snacks and desserts and big yummy Japanese traditional feasts? It was only limited to her imagination. She would have to make Mari some Mochi filled onigiri so she would stop judging her already.

The grass rose up to her knees, which didn't seem too high with her height. Floral smog polluted her nose enough to make her rub it out with her arm. She wasn't much of a flower girl anyway, she preferred gifts meant to last and ones that meant something more to the receiver.

"What do you think of the word fate, Yuki?" Her companions voice broke her thoughts. A weird question, but she had asked weirder. Fate? A word that Yuki knew from her English lessons, but wasn't entirely familiar with.

"That's the word that means the same as 'destiny' correct?" She asked before beginning her explanation. "Fate, the development of events beyond a person's control? Honestly, I think its a bunch of bull. There might be some things we can't control in our lives, but that doesn't mean it was set up for us. We can always make our own actions and change our future if we put enough effort into it. Take me stumbling into you for example. Maybe it was 'fated' that you and I met. The universe thinks maybe we were meant to meet and become friends, but one of us could have easily destroyed that foundation by walking away. Why do you ask?"

The paladin continued her lead down the cobblestone path, walking backwards to look her companion in the eyes as she spoke about what she assumed was a serious topic. After all, you don't ask deep questions so randomly to someone you just met... Oh wait, she had done that. Well, you don't do it without being a serious matter!

@Life

A worried strain came across the paladins face. It didn't come across as respectful as she imagined it would. What she had said really upset the other player, which was the last thing she wanted to do to any player, green crystal or no. Mari had warned her about other players with orange crystals floating above their heads, even herself. Yuki wasn't scared to die defending a person to her last breath, but as hooded figure's words grew even more irritated, she could tell she really struck a nerve. She circled Yuki slowly as she spoke until she made a full circle, explaining her 'master plan' but she was pretty sure it was all in sardonic jest. The knife quickly thrust to her neck made her flinch heavily. She wanted to destroy Laughing Coffin? Why did seem that all orange players she met actually had better intentions than some of the green ones?

The tiny blade was taken away from her neck. The paladin sighed heavily in relief that this wouldn't be the last face got to see. The lance she carried was dug into the ground next to her and her shield placed next to it as she got on her knees and bowed her head to the dirt, the smell of slightly crisped grass wafted into her nose. Her muffled voice was raised to ensure Hidden could hear her apology.

"My deepest apologizes. I did not mean to suspect you in that fashion. I have met other orange players and they all seemed nice enough to people to trust, I should not have judged you any more than I had the others. I had only in mind that if I was going to be attacked and I had my chance, I would not go down without fighting. Please forgive my reckless approach to this situation." Her head remained on the floor until she got a response from the other girl, or until she walked off. " I deeply appreciate your help in my time of need. I could have easily died to that boss monster without someones help.

@Hidden

Yuki sighed in relief as the boss exploded into data. Hopefully there weren't many more bosses and enemies like that terrifying creature. Video games that she had played before had similar types of beasts, but it wasn't hardly as terrifying as it was in virtual reality. Her attention returned to the hooded player.

"Arigatou, you came just in time to get credit for killing the bo-" The hooded figure had an orange crystal floating above her head. Yuki choked on her words when she noticed and her grip grew tighter on her lance. After watching the girl destroy that tiger on her own, she was sure she could not defend herself from the dagger that she wielded. The grimace could be noticed by the hooded woman. "I assume you came only because you wanted to collect the quest like I did?"

Her voice was shaken. The serious demeanor she was aiming for failed to come out as intended. It was obvious that she was either still shaken up by the Byakko's appearance, or by the fact that she had just met another orange player this early in her SAO career.

"Or, did you have ulterior motives?"

@Hidden

Yuki took the lead, opening the door to the tavern and letting Life out behind her. She equipped her weapon, the massive lance gleamed of the sun that barely poked through the trees. She looked at Life while they walked towards the quest destination and gave him another one of her cheeky smiles. 

"Nee, Life. I think I'll be much better in combat now. While we took a break in the tavern, I found out that could realign my skill points for Col. Now instead of having a Rank in Straight Swords, I can more effectively use my lance." She looked down at the golden-trimmed white lance. "This weapon will protect me and my friends. It's a great weapon and is most effective when I can actually hit critical attacks. I will use it to protect anyone that stands behind me."

Her smile continued. Her tone convinced that she truly believed that she could protect anyone. She needed to work on a lot before she could join the front lines, but that was at least 40 levels away. One day she'll reach that strength.

@Life

Yuki could barely hear anything. The creatures roar had made her ears ring from the sheer decibel this close. She had her eyes close from the intensity, but when she reopened them she watched another player jump between her and the Byakko. Normally she would have been fine on her own, but the sheer appearance of the monster threw her off. She was basically cowering like a little girl and she definitely didn't want to show that to another player. Her finally stopped ringing and she could barely hear the hooded figure speak out to her.

'-ering away is a good way to get yourself killed.' She could hear under the growl of the Byakko. She took a deep breath and grabbed her spear and shield. The hooded figure took a splice of damage from the beast's maw, but took only a minuscule amount of damage.

"Gomenasai! I'm alright, I was just startled.." She admitted, stepping in front of the girl that stood between her and her enemy. The spear quickly went though the monsters shoulder, digging in shallowly but still well enough to land a some damage. The massive one-handed lance gleamed off the jack-o-lantern like beast's luminescent chest. She retracted the lance to her side and readied her shield for the creatures next attack. It wasn't looking too kindly at her, after all..

[0] @Hidden | 879/880 HP | 86/86 EN | 13 DMG | 61 MIT | 4 ACC | 1 EVA | 8 Holy
[3]@Zajcica  | 200/200 HP | 20/20 EN | 1 DMG | 27 MIT | 0 ACC | 0 EVA |  18 Thorns

<<Byakko>> | 150/150 HP | 40 MIT | 60 DMG | 

• On MD rolls of 9 or 10, half the damage dealt is instead dealt as burn damage, which ignores mitigation as a status. This has no DoT.

It didn't take long to find the ashen cloud of smoke rose from the green forest, disturbing the beauty of the cool blue sky. A loud roar deafened Yuki's fragile ears and the ground shook with light tremors, slowly working its way up to her position and only getting worse as it approached. Yuki grabbed her gallant lance, ready for the fight that was coming to her. The Byakko burst through the trees next to her and growled deeply in her direction. It was probably the most terrifying monster she had to face yet. It was a fleshy looking skeleton with an orange glow in it's chest. It was ready to fight and Yuki's was beginning to have second thoughts on undertaking this quest alone very fast.

The monster's gaping maw let out another roar that was so deafening that Yuki had to cover her ears, this was a bad idea.

@Hidden

Yuki sat silently for a moment, digesting what she had just her. The expression remained on her face for sometime before she actually seemed to react. She let out a heavy sigh and smiled awkwardly to him.

"How can I be upset that you're taken? That's neither of our faults and I hope you and them are happy together. I never thought I would find feelings like this for man. I thought I only really like the company of women honestly, but this was quiet the experience for me. Perhaps these feelings will fade in the next few hours anyway. Like you said, we only just met and perhaps your charm just really caught me off guard. I think this actually just simplifies things." She was hiding more to that feeling than she let on, and perhaps he could see it on her face, but she was kind of upset that he was already taken. This would have been a really fun experience otherwise. Never would she disrupt the balance of another's relationship with her own feelings. She stood from her seat, attempting to hide her muscular stature in the hoodie she wore, on of the biggest reason she wore these baggy clothes was to hide her male features.

"Well, I guess we should get ready. We have a dragon to kill, right?" Her smile stayed bright, even though he could tell she was still a little hung up on the topic.

@Life

Just as Life took a seat Yuki took a bite of her roll. The bread stuffed her mouth, she probably looked pretty stupid, or cute, either one. Thankfully, Life’s mind was wandering so she was able to gulp it down with some water before he noticed.

”Oi, Life-chan.” Her radiant smile shined at him. She was feeling much better after a break. ”You look like you’ve been relaxing just as much as me. That’s nice to see! I apologize for what you saw of me on the battlefield. I promise you that I will not allow myself to feel that weakness again.”

She smiled again, trying to forget what happened in the field entirely. Life was the son of a farmer, so she assumed he wasn’t much for formality, but even still she tried to look a little poised and straightened her posture up.

”You asked me earlier if anything was holding me back and I do have an answer. Its yes. Something is bothering me beyond what anyone else would be experiencing, like missing their family. I-“ She closed her eyes as she choked on her word. It was harder to say than she thought. She tried again but this time in Japanese. ”S-Sukidayo...” The girl mumbled only just loud enough for him to hear.

@Life

<<The Opal Hatchling>>

Once the two arrived at the safe zone inn, Yuki found time to remove her armor, which didn't really help her tiny stature. She wore a short skirt and a white and black hoodie accented with red. It felt nice to spend time out of her heavy armor. She sat in the inns dining area, getting some food. She wasn't sure where Life was at the moment, but she did say she would be waiting for him here. After the events of the last two dragons, she needed some time to calm herself. She can't believe she had started bawling right in front of Life like a little girl. So far that's the only impression he had gotten of her; just a whinny little girl that needed saving. If she really wanted to make an impression on him, she had to stop acting like a kid and take things seriously.

Players didn't have to eat to sustain themselves like in the real world, but it was still a great feeling to have a good meal. Its the simple things that one really longs for when they're taken from you. She closed her eyes and relaxed quietly, leaning back in her chair and letting out a sigh of comfort. She would find a way to return the charm that Life showed her. Perhaps she could actually get him to like her back. Though, she just remembered the thing she was going to tell him before the dragon interrupted her. With that in her mind, she would put off telling him until it was necessary. He was surely going to ask what it was she wanted to say. What should she do?

After awhile, she decided to message Mari. She needed some advice.

'I keep embarrassing myself in front of a guy I think I like, what do I do?' -Zajcica 

Several minutes later, the message was returned.

'I have no idea. Tell him you like him?
Or keep embarrassing yourself.
You're probably making a mountain out of an anthill.
Ps; I'm the worst to ask advice on for this sort of thing.' -Mari

Yuki sighed to that. She knew that's how Mari would answer her. Okay, if Life brought up their previous conversation again, she would just deflect to her feelings for him instead of the actual topic she meant to bring up.

@Life

Yuki removed the gauntlet from her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. Her face had gotten red from the sobbing and she sniffed quietly attempting to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. Life took a knee in front of her and did his best to reassure her that she wasn't an absolutely waste of space like she thought she was. He could see that his words were getting to her, a slight expression of shock followed by a light smile painted across her face. She didn't know why everyone wanted to assure her that she was useful. She didn't feel like it whatsoever, but still Mari had insisted that she was doing everything she could for now and Life was saying now that she had worth. It was all just bad luck and her clumsiness. She beat the Gemini on her own and several other mobs. If she wasn't able to handle herself, she would be dead, right?

"Y-Yoshi." The tiny girl said rising to her feet, picking up her equipment. "I think maybe we should take a break before taking on the next one though. I need some time to collect myself." The two headed back to the safe zone to find an inn.

Skill(s) Being Dropped: R1 One-Handed Straight Sword
Mod(s) Being Dropped: None
SP Refunded: 5
Cost: 5,000

Col will be sent shortly.

The pink paladin rested on the ground for a moment as the pressure on her arms was relieved. Her face got red again as she realized that this was the second time he had to save her, and almost in the exact same way. The embarrassment washed her expression  as she thought about how she had said 'dasukette' like she was some helpless little girl. Her reached his hand out to help her up, this time she took it and sat up in the grass.

"N.. Nn.." She nodded quietly. "G-Gomen.. You had to save me again..."

Yuki fought the urge to cry. She knew that other tanks in the game at her level were probably more effective than her. "I'm so bad at this and I can't use the excuse that I'm inexperienced anymore... I could never join the front line as the klutzy little girl that I am!" A tear streamed down her cheek. "I should just go back to the Town of Beginnings and be useless where no one else can get hurt around me!"

@Life

Yuki jumped forward to aid her companion after seeing that he couldn't finish it in a single blow. Her spear shined past Life's eyes towards the dragon but he saw it simply fall to the ground with her. Roots had sprouted up around her feet and brought her onto her back. She slid in front of the Quartz Hatchling pretty much free meet to it's next attack. She let go of Lux next to her to grab her shield with two hands as the dragon attempted to crush her like the first one did.

That [censored] was not happening to her again. How could it happen to her again, in front of Life twice now. Her shield clanged loudly against the scaly beast's talons, she struggled a bit helplessly to keep it from piercing her person. She struggle to get some words out and she knew that if she stayed underneath this claw for too long she would get smashed into the dirt for real. The sentence escaped her struggling breath, barely audible.

D-Dasukette.." The strain was visible on her face.

@Life

Party
1 Life: HP: 540/540 EN: 30/54 
2 Yuki - HP: 180/180 EN: 16/18 -2

Yuki and the dragon both missed. Yuki suffered -1 ACC from the bosses special ability.

3 Zylara - the Quartz Hatchling
HP: 30/175 (210-65=145 Damage)
MIT: 35 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 0 - DMG: 65
On a natural roll of 15+ in LD when this attacks, miniature sticks will form in front of your character in attempts to trip you, in result you will receive -1 ACC on your current attack.

The quiet gaze on Yuki’s face became somewhat dismissive at first like she was deciding not to tell him, but then she stopped just before the boss spawn area. Her pink tail hanging from her head flowed against the wind. The pink paladin took a deep breath before continuing.

”I-If you say so.” She muttered quietly just loud enough for Life to hear her speak. ”Life-san, I-I am-“

A piercing screech howled in the distance, loud enough to force Yuki to cover her tiny ears. The dragon had noticed them standing there and didn’t care if there was some tense moment going on. Yuki grabbed her white and gold spear.

”I-I’ll tell you afterwards!” She moved between life and the dragon raising her shield at it. Internally she was a bit relieved to get a moment to think about it, but at the same time she wondered if it was really smart to tell him right now.

@Life

Yuki jumped slightly as his finger tapped against her forehead. She was so deep in thought that she almost forgot Life was actually sitting right next to her. A shiver went down her spine as his warm breath met her ear. She remained somewhat quiet as her and Life made their way out of the tavern and into the forest. Once they were out in the field, she finally spoke up.

”This is your first ever video game? I can’t say that myself, but I will say that this is my first VRMMO experience ever. I’ve never played an MMO either...” She rubbed her arm awkwardly. ”Nee, Life? If I told you something insanely out-there about myself, would you think badly of me, or do you have an open mind to other people’s choices?”

She had thought that he meant to cheer her up by telling her that he was a complete noob to video games, but she didn’t feel the mood lighten at all. She didn’t know what to say. It had already killed several of her friendships to reveal her transition to others and she definitely didn’t want to ruin it with Life.

@Life

Yuki thought about initiating the conversation by repeating what she just said, but it was probably not the best idea. She quietly sipped her water and sighed.

"I-It's nothing. Just personal stuff I haven't let go of yet is all." She mumbled. Was it even worth trying to come out and say she was actually a guy? She had come out to Mari about it really quickly, but she wasn't so sure why she had told her. Mari had a nice attitude towards it and Life and her were friends from what she understood. She took another gulp of her water and sat there quietly stuck in thought. How would she even bring it up? As weird as it sounded, she actually liked this guy, at least that's what she thought was the feelings she was getting from him.

The tension and confusion could read on her face. She wasn't very good at hiding at it.

@Life

Why did she ask such a stupid question? It was probably because whenever she was feeling depressed or stressed, she thought about her family to fuel her resolve. Though now it just felt like it brought up bad memories for him. 

"I-... I didn't mean to bring up such a sensitive topic like that." She shrank a bit into her armor. "I only wanted to say that we should be thinking about the people we cared about most. For me that's my parents and my younger sister. They've seen me through so many hard times the last three years of my life before entering this game were probably some of the most difficult years of my life. Even these last two years in the game have been better."

Drink? Did he mean like alcohol? Yuki was pretty adamant about abstaining from drugs or alcohol. Even if they couldn't get intoxicated from it here. "Some water or something wouldn't be bad." She said walking through the tavern door when Life opened it for her.

@Life

Yuki laughed as he tried to describe his own opinions on how stress can affect people. It was a nice way to explain it all, to be fair, she just wasn't expecting that kind of comparison.

"That's a funny analogy." Her giggle continued as she spoke. "I like it though. It really shows how we can take control of our own stress and pull it off our backs. Bit by little bit, we rid ourselves of the weight on our shoulders so we can help others do the same, er, something like that I guess." Yuki finally stopped her laughing and took a deep breath. Life was very charming for things like that. She wondered who he had that was special to him in his life.

"I don't mean to be rude, Life-chan, but do you have anyone special that is waiting for you outside? Or is there anyone special to you here in SAO?" It was an insanely intrusive question and she only just realized that her attempt to ask something more broadly probably looked like she was asking if he had a girlfriend. That's pretty embarrassing..

@Life

Desforestation

The pink hair paladin arrived on floor six for the first time. It was a vast and dense jungle that looked like something out of a story book. An enchanting atmosphere filled the floor that no other floor really captured for her. Floor four still was her favorite, however. She always thought the snow was beautiful and funnily enough, that's what she was named after. Her mother really like the seasons, so that where her and her sister's names came from: Yuki for snow, like winter, and Aki, her younger sister, for Autumn. Even though she chose the name Yuki, she knew her mom wanted to name her that before they found out she was a boy.

It didn't take long for Yuki to find a reasonable quest. The recommended level for the quest was close to her level, and it wouldn't come close to beating her with tanking abilities. She didn't waste any time and left the settlement as soon as she was ready. The forest would be hard to navigate, but it shouldn't be hard to find a giant tiger burning down all the trees in its wake.

@Hidden

Yuki quietly smiled to herself. It felt odd to give inspiration to someone else like that, after all that's what she had always hoped to do for others. Being a symbol of hope and inspiration to encourage everyone around you to do better. Her heart skipped a beat when he pulled her chin up from looking at her feet. A slight blush formed around her cheeks that she quickly hid from him.

"Nn." She nods in agreement. "I am always scared that things will go wrong, but I do realize that no matter what, bad things will happen sometimes. I do my best to always look at the positives though."

Bringing up things that could go wrong: How much stronger would this dragon be than the last? Its not like it would be weaker, or have the exact same stats. Hopefully she would be alright to tank it. The first time she had taken more damage than one came from that dragon. That scared her. It was really just that matter of how much stronger the next one was compared to the emerald one.

@Life

Yuki rubbed her arm a bit nervously as Life brought up him nearly dying to a boss. It was weird to think about. He was so much stronger than she was. If he had trouble with bosses at his level, how long would she last? She was still pretty weak, compared to her friends. 

"That sounds pretty harsh. Maybe one day I'll experience something like that, but I have dreams of being one of the toughest players in the game." She giggles a bit to herself. "It's kind of funny that someone as small as me would want to be so tanky I guess. Maybe my small size combined with heavy armor will make me hard to hit and take hard hits easily." She laughed at her own joke. Really the reason she had chosen to become a tank over support was because she was scared of dying. The best way to survive would be to become a tank, right? Even if you're the focus of damage, you can just absorb it all and sustain.

"Would you like to take the lead this time and tell me what I need to do so I don't run into battle like a headstrong idiot and get myself killed?"

@Life

The Quartz Hatchling

From the Town of Beginnings to the town of Urbus nigh instantly. Yuki blinked a couple times to fix her vision and looked around for Life. It took him a few seconds longer to appear than it did for her, but when he did, Yuki gave him her signature smile and a thumbs up.

"Yoshi. Time to fight another dragon!" She said, much more cheery than she was just moments ago. "I'll try not to be dumb and get smashed by this one."

The pink paladin scratched the back of her head and chuckled awkwardly. Her mind was still on the feeling she got earlier, when she was smashed by the dragon an Life saved her. She could have gotten out of that predicament on her own, but the relief she felt when someone saved her that way was explainable. A slight blush was painted across her face as she thought about it in her head again.

@Life