Zajcica

Yuki, with her confidence even further bolstered, raised her sword again. She charged into the beast once more, expecting the giant insect to finally die from her final blow. She watched her blade sink directly into the Queen's body. Expecting it to fall to the ground, she watched its health points drop even closer to death... and stop right before it hit zero. She groaned.

"This thing refuses to die! Kisama! Shine!" The pinkette raised her brilliant blade once more to strike it again before it could react and attack either of them. It missed the chance to attack her but was still able to fling the small girl like a speedy pink blur past Luna, she braces herself to hit the ground and lets out a resounding groan as she makes contact with the dirt. Dizzy and disoriented she tries her best to regain her footing. She wouldn't be there to shield the bluenette before the wasp could try something.

The wasp floated by Yuki's shield, even after taking the time to specifically dodge her and attack her partner. Luckily the time it took gave the bluenette enough time to reposition and prepare for an attack, nimbly dodging the dangerous stinger it possessed. The pinkette took her opportunity to take a stab at the beast but to no avail. The blade clanged off its hard exoskeleton, doing absolutely nothing. Yuki turned to Luna and gave her a confident grin. 

"Alright, we're almost done, Tsuki-chan! Finish it off, you can do it." The stalwart paladin again shoved her shield into the wasps face, between its rage and Luna. "I am your shield, I will support you!"

Newfound confidence swelled inside Yuki. Fighting with someone to improve herself and just actually do something with her life in this ridiculous game. She hoped Luna and she could continue to adventure with each other in the future. This would be the start of an amazing friendship.

The anxiety swelled with every second that passed. When she heard Luna's voice though, she noticed her breathing was out of control and she was just thinking irrationally. She took a much-needed breath and made a wide slash at the big bee once more, her blade just meeting air as it floated back to avoid the steel. The pinkette slipped forward off her toes, eyeing its opportunity to make a fool of her again. The hornets stinger went directly through her chest again. All she could think of was how dead she would be without Mac's armor. 

"Ugh, kusou.. Another critical hit? This thing is relentless.." She looked over at the bluenette her breathing stabilized. "Gomen. I let my anxiety get the better of me and I panicked. I'm good now. Let's end this thing."

She steeled herself for the wasps next attack, raising her shield in front of her company. She moved forward with Luna to let her get another attack from safety.

The Queen indeed did not appreciate the bluenettes assault against it. It floated menacingly in front of her, chasing Luna down and swiftly striking its thin thorn into her sword arm. The pinkette let out a growl as she jumped on the Queen with her sword, digging the shinning blade into it's back, hoping to take back the aggro.

"Are you alright?!" She said looking up at her party's health bar and letting out a sigh of relief to see that she had much more HP than herself. "D-Don't worry! I have this!" A nervous and shaky tone made it well aware that she was panicking a little. She had expected the big bug to just focus her and would die swiftly to her thorns like weaker mobs. How typical of her. She needed to be prepared for everything and couldn't make any mistakes or else its literally game over for everyone around her.

Yuki watched as her companies thin blade didn't even pierce the body of the giant pest. Where's the bug spray when you needed it?

"It's okay! Just stay calm and focused and we'll kill it easily!" Yuki said bravely as she rushed in herself to get in on the action. The wasp had been patient, however, waiting for the next strike from one of the two. It raised it's stinger impressively fast, bouncing Yuki's beautiful white and gold blade away from its skin. The pinkette reeled back from the sheer force of the blow and wasp stabbed it's sword-like stinger through her chest once again. Not even her cuirass could stop the assault of this hideous boss.

" M-My thorns didn't trigger? Why? She looked up at the critical hit symbol next to the numbers of damage. Only one point still, but criticals don't trigger thorns. The bluenette watched her partner's health go up to full again before being ticked back down to what it was. This boss couldn't kill Yuki no matter what it did.

The bluenette nearly shrieked upon seeing the massive wasp, even after rushing ahead faster than Yuki could follow. Although she seemed like she had kept her voice down, she was actually louder than she thought. The wasp had heard her. It was alert and ready to show no mercy to her. It quickly zig-zagged through the air towards Luna. Even though Yuki was terrified as much as Luna was, she swallowed her fear and jumped in front of her company. Unprepared to use her shield, she took the force of the blow. The stinger impaled her abdomen, Luna was witness to that. Yuki growled under breath, unsheathing her sword into a slash like some kind of Iaijutsu trick samurai learned.

"D-Don't worry! I'm here!" The pinkette turned to look at Luna as the wasp removed its stinger from her body, ready to strike again. "There's no need to be afraid."

Yuki cleared her throat and folded her arms against her chest once again. Another deep breath escaped her lungs. "I just like to have a positive mental attitude towards anything I do. If I went into everything without keeping my chin up I'd drown in my own self-loathing I guess. Hearing someone agree with and all around just understand your situation is encouraging is all. So whether or not you accept my thanks for helping my spirit, I'm still glad I talked with you about it."

She looked over at the tent's entrance once again, wondering if she would have time to incorporate her own ideas, but something told her she was probably too late for that now.

"Well, I hope you enjoy it no matter what it is. I know I would. It would be awesome to have your own quest idea in a video game like this. What kind of ideas did you apply with?"

@Mari

Yuki led the charge, hand on her sword as they left the safe zone. She hadn't realized just how sudden she got a feeling of protection. That feeling you only get as an older sibling to protect their younger siblings. It was a responsibility, and right now, her responsibility was to make sure Luna stayed safe through this. She wouldn't be able to live with it if someone had died because of her. Her train of thought was interrupted by her company's soft voice.

"Oh, right. We'll work together and nothing will stop us from beating this horror show of a video game." Yuki said with another soft smile. "And yes, Macradon seemed like a pretty upstanding guy, his craftsmanship is excellent, that's for sure."

A giggle escaped her breath as well when she mentioned a girl's day out. Such a sentiment shouldn't really apply to Yuki as she is now, but that kind of attitude wouldn't get her anywhere.

"I would like that. Maybe we should do that once we've completed this quest!

The bluenette's health bar appeared on Yuki's HUD, just under her own. Next to her own username was a crown, symbolizing that she was leading the party. She slid through the messages in her menu to find the friend request and clicked the green circle with a checkmark in it.

"Of course! I am your shield, do not worry, for I will protect you." Luna kind of reminded Yuki of her younger sister Aki. She was a bit impish and Yuki always had to defend her from bullies and make sure she didn't get in trouble. "I'm glad to be making friends. I haven't done anything for years. It feels like I'm actually making progress and working to get us out of this stupid prison."

The pinkette began walking towards the objective marker on her HUD. She gestured the younger girl to follow her. "I got the armor from a shop in the Town of Beginnings called "The Blazing Typhoon" it's run by a high-level player named Mac. He has a really good deal for players under level 15 to get good beginner's gear. Maybe I can show it to you and we can get you some better gear. If you don't have enough materials or money, I can maybe make up the difference for you!"

@Luna

"Yush! I like the enthusiasm!" Yuki said with a determined smile. She pulled her menu back up and looked through the quest directory for <<Long Live the Queen>>. Easily enough, it appeared on the list and she accepted it. After that, she navigated to her inventory and equipped her main set, removing her set named 'Safe Zone Clothing' for that.

"Killing a Killer Queen Bee, eh? I'm not a big fan of insects, but I'm pretty tough for a low-level player! I will be your tank and we'll beat it as a team!" The pinkette exclaimed, looking ever more regal with her steel plating on. Hands on her hips and a proud expression painted on her pure white face, she continued. "Don't worry! I'm tougher than I look for such a small person. I can take it!"

Lastly, she opened her menu one more time, scrolled through somethings, then a pop-up appeared in front of the bluenette.

--Zajcica has sent you a group request!--

@Luna

Yuki gave another huge smile to the bluenette. She was worried she had just annoyed a much higher level player. The menu in front of her disappeared with a quick flash. The pinkette turned to face Luna.

"I'm only level one, so you're surely stronger than I. I figured you were close to about level 20 or so, but I guess I was mistaken. My name is Yuki! Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!" Her heavy Japanese accent was really accentuated when she actually spoke her native language. Even though it was pretty thick, it was perfect English. She did get the best grade in her school for English class.  "If we're both lower leveled players, maybe we could find a quest that we could perform together! Strength in numbers and whatnot! Sure with the two of us working together, we can complete an easy quest and level up! Yuki came off kind of strong, but that was just like her. She loved meeting new people and making friends.

@Luna

Thud

Yuki weeble-wobbled for a moment before falling on her face into the cobblestone. A groan escaped her breath, even while standing still she could still fall flat without even moving. She slowly rose back to her feet and looked behind her. A blue-haired girl younger than herself had collided with her backside. She shined her an awkward smile before finally saying something.

"Gomenasai!" Yuki rubbed the back of her head. "I shouldn't be standing out in the middle of the road like that!" She stepped out of the way of the other player, likely a good dozen levels ahead of herself, and motioned her to pass by. Once she was closer to the side of the road, she opened her menu to reveal the local map or Urbus. Several seconds of looking through it and closing the map, she realized the other player was still there.

"Oh, um... Did you need something? I'm just looking for local quests I can take to level up is all. I'm a pretty low level and didn't want to bother you." She admitted, albeit a bit embarrassed to.

@Luna

Yuki took a deep breath. It took a moment to get used to the difference of the air here on Floor 2 compared to Floor 1. Murky, musty and wet filled the atmosphere. Urbus looked wildly different than the Town of Beginnings as well. It was hard to believe she was actually taking on this challenge. She kind of felt like a questing hero! Her boots clicked against the cobblestone roads as she investigated the area for any possible quests to take and get herself leveled up. She couldn't help the frontal fight if she was a low level forever. 

It was nice to get out of her armor as well. It was the first time she had worn real clothing since she got ahold of her starting equipment that Macradon had made for her. She was sure she'd be putting it back on soon though, she wanted to get used to the combat in SAO so she could be ready for anything.

Starting <<Long Live the Queen>> with @Luna

All it took was those first six words to but a tear in Yuki’s violet-coloured eye.

”All I see is a woman.”

Even though the emotional lump stuffed up her throat, she held herself still while Mari examined her. She listened to her entire speech about how Yuki was a stronger person than she had thought initially. By the end, she felt fairly emotional barely able to respond, however, she did.

”I...A-Arigatou Mari-san. I really needed to hear something like that after about three years of solitude. I can’t believe I’ve brought up such a personal topic like this when I barely even know you. It seems absolutely rude of me! You are such a nice and understanding person.”

Once the awkward moment had passed, somewhat, Yuki cleared her throat and her tone changed once again. Back to that happy-go-lucky girl. It was weird to see both sides of her, it had seemed she actually had to try to make her girly voice come out correctly.

”I’m not really sure what you mean. Is there more to this event than I am aware?” Subconsciously, Yuki pulled up her menu and sent Mari a friend request. The first person that she could say she added to that list, if she were to accept. 

Zajcica has sent you a Friend Request. Read a prompt in front of Mari.

@Mari

The girl had her face stuffed into her menu so much as she strolled through the streets, that she hadn't even seen the two children practically dragging someone else through the street at a rapid pace. Both parties preoccupied with their own devices, disaster was bound to strike sooner or later. That being the four off them colliding into each other. Yuki wobbled back and forth momentarily as the menu disappeared in front of her. One of the children fell to his backside.

"Oof! Oi, gomen gomen! I was deep in thought and didn't see you guys passing by!" Her thin but armored hand reached out to the young one, an offer to help him back to his feet. "Please forgive my carelessness. I've never done one of these quests and I just wanted to make sure I understood all of the requirements..."

Once the boy was back on his feet she leaned into an apologetic bow, "My name is Yuki, yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

@Solei

The pink-haired paladin cleared her throat. It was true that she seemed just like any other girl, it would look odd for her specifically to be picked on for no reason. Did she dare reveal her secret?

"Well, to be fair, I may look like any other girl, but I'm not the same." Yuki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt as though she shouldn't be scared to share her past but there was also the chance of her true identity could be incomprehensible to someone who didn't understand her situation. She sighed heavily and her tone changed from that perky, happy girl to a more serious and stern tone. Her arms folded against her flat chest. "A lot of people don't agree with my life choices. I was lucky enough that my parents could understand, but most of my friends and classmates deemed me an outcast or a weirdo. I don't want to bore you with the details or anything, especially since I'm sure you probably wouldn't care to hear it as much as some other subject. If you wish not to speak on the topic, I don't mind trying to change it. Otherwise, I hope you have an open mind to another person's choices in life. You seem quite like a realist, so perhaps maybe you would understand it, actually."

Yuki shrugged to herself, taking a deep breath in and out, then looking back to her company.

"Do you ever feel like the things that make you happy also try to destroy you in the process?"

@Mari

Sounded about right. Yuki was pretty bad at reading people in all honesty. If she were to give it a try more often, she figured her sense for those sort of things would get better. That or Mari was really just that hard to read.

”Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything. I was just wanting to meet new people as I mentioned earlier. If I’m intruding I... Actually, I’m sure you would’ve already walked away if you really didn’t want to talk to me.” Red flushed her cheeks again, she hated how easy it was to fluster her but she couldn’t help it. “Uh, thanks. I don’t get compliments like that too often. A lot of people would make fun of me for-“ She cut herself off there, realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to bring that up.

”What do I do? I’m level one. I’ve only just left the Town of Beginnings. I kind of just lived through life these past few years because when I first started, I was only interested in the VR experience. I’m not familiar with MMO video games at all.” It was even more embarrassing to admit her fear of joining the battle. Coward. She hadn’t even tried. “But, I can’t sit around and do nothing anymore. We all need to work together on this and we’ll all walk out of it together. Or...I hope that could be the case.” The scowl on her face showed that she knew that it wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows like she just described, but she was optimistic with it at least.

@Mari

The grassy gardens housed tons of beautiful flowers cradled in bunches to make a rainbow within the green canvas. Nodes of materials could be seen around the garden, it just mattered if her low levels would allow her to successfully collect them. She approached a node and was going to make another attempt to loot it, but her attention was suddenly taken to a low growl behind her. An ambush?! The rabid dogs bit into her legs. Even though she couldn’t feel the pain of being bitten, the shock of the bite forced a wince on her face.

”Lost little puppies, hunh? Well, you’ve just made the worst, and last, mistake of your life!” A resounding growl howled from the usually cheery paladin as she removed her sword from its sheath and burrowed it into the spine of her enemy. The blow was enough to give her legs freedom for their toothy prison. The stabbed wolf dissipates completely right in front of her eyes, but she did not falter.

”I’m not scared to die now! I’m strong and I’ll continue to go stronger until I’m free from this prison!”

 

 

️

 

Spoiler

Fighting 2 Wolves (20HP, 6 DMG)

The wolves collectively damaged Yuki for 14 points of damage(6 from wolf 2 and 8 from wolf 1) which gets mitigated to 1 damage from both wolves.

Yuki suffers 2 damage. 18/20

Yuki retaliated with a strike from her sword that deals 4 damage to Wolf 1. Both wolves suffer from 2 slots of thorns damage, dealing 18 damage to them both.

Wolf 1 - -2/20HP(DEAD)

Wolf 2 - 2/20HP

Combat continues.

The pink-haired paladin looked down at the glass in her hand, then to the glass in her new friend’s hand, then to the table she had pointed to. She pondered for a moment, thinking about it, but she actually hadn’t gotten it from there. The waitress who handed her off the drinks could have gotten it from the table there.

”Ah, actually no. A butler delivered it to me. I think it tastes pretty good, doesn’t it?”She asked, taking another light sip of the drink. “And, yeah. You looked like you had a bit on your mind when I first saw you. Usually that means you could use someone to talk to. Besides, isn’t this event all about the community socializing with each other and enjoying themselves?”

When she noticed Mari’s eyes looking down to inspecting her dress, she carefully adjusted the skirt around her lower half down more to cover more of her skin. Her cheeks flushed a little red.

”I-Is there something on my dress?” Even after looking around the dress for any soils, it seemed clean and fine to her.

Yuki watched the girl, who's Japanese was slightly poor compared to her native accent, bow to her as she introduced herself. Yuki, in turn, bowed to Mari out of respect. She shinned another smile at her, glossing over the comment of her being bad company for the knight. She assumed that it was meant to be about the orange crystal that hovered above her head. Yes, it meant the player had done something bad, but Yuki had done awful things in her life.

"Trust me, if those little crystals existed in real life, everyone the world would be walking around with orange and red crystals floating over their heads. It's completely unfair to look at you your cover - that orange crystal - would be terribly flat of me. I'm willing to give anyone a chance if they give me one." Yuki explained.  "If you don't prefer my company, I can leave. You seemed rather lonely, or well, like you could use someone to talk to, that's why I approached you. No other reason, really. As I said, I'm here to meet new people and make friends."

Yuki offered the extra drink she had gained from Jevi to her. She gave Mari a friendly smile as she reached the glass out to her.

@Mari

The scene unfolded so quickly that Yuki didn't even have a moment to react. Her empty had was quickly occupied with a secondary drink and before soon, her group had disbanded and now she was only able to talk with the PC butler. She watched the scene unfold, somewhat confused about the situation but still feeling a bit awkward to it nonetheless. Her eyes wandered over to NIGHT after it was all said and done. Jevi had forced Minako out of the tent as quickly as she possibly could, which was probably for the best.

"Well, that was... Quite the unfortunate turn of events." Yuki mentioned, trying to put on a smile, but only coming off a bit awkward. [color#EC21A8]"I had initially arrived at this event to meet new people and players. My luck seemed to be good there for a moment, but it looks like it crashed rather fast. Perhaps there are others around who could use some company, though. I'm going to be heading outside, you are welcome to join me if you want, ma'am."[/color]

The pink-haired knight gave the waiter a nod and started walking towards the entrance of the tent. She stepped outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air on floor 22. Jevi and Minako seemed to be having a conversation between themselves, but it was probably best to leave them alone at this point. No need to fan any more flames, even if it might be by accident. Besides them, there was a ginger-haired girl in an extravagant dress pacing around the tent outside alone. Would it be okay for Yuki to approach her? She was unnervingly getting gitty about meeting higher level players. Sooner or later, she swallowed her bad thoughts and approached her.

"Oi! Konbanwa! I apologize for the intrusion but I am new to the higher-level floors and was looking to meet a few new friends at this event. My name is Yuki! I'm aware that most people prefer not to use their real names and resort to their usernames, but that just seems rude to me. Uh, anyway, yoroshiku onigaishimasu!" Her thin hand reached out to the other woman and a sincere smile ran over her face.

@Mari @NIGHT

With her new armor in tow, the knight decided to journey off for herself and try her hand at some combat and also find time to harvest some materials, since she decided she would work on a craft while leveling up. Most players seemed to do so and she could make herself nifty items and not to mention sell them to make extra cash.

The quest description mentioned a place where she can find materials easily. It wouldn’t be long until she found herself at the garden in the grasslands. The entrance to the Town of Beginnings was rather close, so if she needed to make a hasty retreat to safety it was but a light run away. If she got into danger, however, the new gear should be enough to keep her alive. That being said, she began looking around for useful materials. The abundance of materials in this area shouldn’t make it difficult to find a good amount. But even then, she still has difficulty finding anything usable. She won’t let that stop her, though.

Yuki's embarrassing introduction was cut short by the loud thud in the middle of the floor. Some unlucky patron met the ground with their rear and it wasn't her for once? Thank god! Her face would have turned as red as the juice on the floor if that had happened to her. She chuckled a little bit in amusement, but not mockingly.

Shortly after that embarrassing incident, a waiter came by the gaggle of girls offering food and drink. They really knew how to impress the noobs in this game. All she needs is food, and you've won an instant friendship card with the knight.

"Yush! Ittadakimasu!" Yuki picked up a plate and took a hearty bite out of the snack that was offered. "May I have some juice then, please?" She asked the girl, a piece of her meal stuck to her cheek. It was obvious that she wasn’t  really the most formal of girls, at least at the Gala.

@NIGHT @Jevi @Minako

Yuki looked through her quest log one more time to confirm the location of the quest giver: Maggie's Kitchen. The NPC there would give her the certificate to begin her profession as a cook and she could level that up to create buffing foods and good meals. It sounded like a win/win to her. She arrived at the location, had a conversation with the NPC and she was tasked with collecting materials and making something at her shop. Easy enough, of course.

The one thing she had to do was head out of the safe zone and collect materials to do that. It wouldn't be hard to dodge combat and look through the world to find materials, though, it was rather annoying that she was unable to use the materials that she began with. It was obvious the quest was meant to teach you how to farm for them. That said though, she made her way through the Town of Beginnings towards the safe zone wall.

@Xion

Hours passed by slowly. She felt no need to leave the store at the moment and just decided to wait for Macradon to do his thing. To pass the time, she observed some of the beautifully crafted weapons out on display. The quality of some of the works set her mind at ease for the coming moments into battle for the first time ever, but soon it was time to collect her own geat. Mac stepped out from the backroom, gear in hand, and lugged it to the counter. Yuki approached from the other side of the counter and presented the trade request, adding the necessary mats for payment and watched Mac add the equipment to it. When all was said and done, she moved the armor and weapon into her inventory and bowed to the blacksmith. 

"Yush! Arigatou gozaimasu!" Yuki said from under her bow, "If I ever find anyone in need of equipment, I will be sure to direct them to you!" With a final wave, the knight left the Blazing Typhoon, a smile painted across her face.