Shay

The moment the two of them made eye contact, the rogue knew she probably just fucked up. A quiet day with some monster killing was out the window now for the second that they locked gazes was enough time for the other to enlist her to a conversation full of questions. Shay's eyebrows furrowed for every pose the woman made. At least when she had met Chase, he was a pretty quiet and reserved person that would let her talk at her own pace. Words never came easy.

"I'm just heading out to grind gear and some experience, nothing more really." The raven-haired female said, adjusting her scarf in an attempt to hide the cursed sign on her face from the woman. Before she could walk off in the silence caused, Minako asked her if she'd seen some sort of advertisement she made. Did players really do that sort that of thing? Maybe it was just a LFG application or something. That wouldn't be too uncommon.

Somehow, Shay was sure that she was going to spend the rest of her time on this floor with this girl. Sighing slightly in defeat, she turned her gaze back to the red-head. "You need help with a boss or something? I can join you, I guess."

A hand to her face. Though there was no texture, she could feel the emblazoned mark of the sword's curse upon her cheek. Still there was no apparent way to rid herself of this deformity, but sitting around like a dunce wasn't going to get it gone. As the rogue journeyed through the tundra of the fourth floor, she pondered momentarily on Titan and Chase's health. The two of them were really her only friends and somehow the terms only seemed bad with them. Reflecting on the relationship that her and ChaseR had, she was a pretty big dick to him sometimes and as much as she wanted to feel sorry for it she knew she had to move on from it or else it was only going to be worse when they talked again.

"Floor Two: Urbus." The raven's voice called to the sky. With a flash of light, she was suddenly on the forested floor. Probably not the best place to be grinding levels at her level, but if she journeyed to the edge of the floor, there were bound to be some easily farmable monsters that she could take on solo for some gear and experience. As she stepped out of the safe zone, another player caught her eye. Usually people that hang around on this floor were below level ten. Could she really deal with another rookie bothering her the way ChaseR did?

“ Sounds like fate meant for all of this to play out then, huh. ”

If that was true, fate was pulling on her leg extremely hard. First Titan leaves her life so she fills the void with another person. Then that person leaves her behind only for her to find Titan later again. She sighed heavily, yet again, trying to make sure that she didn't snap under all the pressure she was feeling on her shoulders. "If there's one thing I know I'm bad at, it's lying. I've stopped trying to pull the shade over other's eyes." She felt like she had to explain herself at every turn. The emotional state she was in was not agreeable for her usual demeanor.

Coming across the field of Nepents, Shay summons her regular sword. The demon's curse Murasame, brother of the Masamune. "I deal with the weaker ones while you farm the bigger one. Get the drop and we're done. Easy quest when you have the luck." For the first time, Shay offered him a smile. Getting into a fight was exactly what she needed right now.

With a rush of speed, she drew her blade, leaving the saya to fall in the grass behind her. Every accurate slash split out the pack of Nepents, allowing for Titan to make haste to the boss directly without distraction.

The branded mark, the reappearance of Titan and the break up with Chase. Literally everything was going to shit. Shay was starting to realize that there has to be a connection with all this happening and something being wrong with her. No matter what it was, everything she became apart of only seemed to crumble and fall apart. Letting out a heavy sigh, she adjusts the pink scarf around her next to hide the red brand upon her cheek. Although anyone around might see it as a fancy aesthetic, it was nothing more than a reminder of a what a failure she actually was.

The beginner's town was as nostalgic as ever. No matter who she thought about, she remembered that pretty much all the friends she had met here. The town's roads were the same as always: Plain and simple. She needed something to take her mind off all this bullshit.

The mention of the scar made Shay uncomfortable. The resentment of her expression was apparent in her expression. Thinking about ChaseR was the last thing she wanted, but she wasn't going to skimp details. That wasn't the kind of person she was. Saving face was stupid.

"After you left, I sat in silence for months in my shop. It felt like I spent an eternity in their away from everyone else. It was nice after what happened, honestly. I learned to calm down and relax a little. When I finally decided I couldn't stay pent up forever, I traveled out and met a boy who I partnered with up until now. We got closer than we thought and dated a little. He just recently ended it though. We're split up and this stupid sword refuses to let me use it. The damn thing left this mark on me. It goes all over my body. I think it will go away if I get strong enough to control it though, so I was gearing up to get stronger. Then... You bumped into me. There you go."

As Titan moved up next to her, he suggested that the two of them go on a quest together. While it wasn't really what she was looking for in the first place, maybe it was for the best. Sighing, and finally giving up on hiding the brand that the sword had given her, she summoned her regular weapon to her hands. "I'm just trying to get my mind off things and fighting is one of the easiest ways for me to do that. I can't stand sitting around and doing nothing anymore." Shay mentioned, letting the blond lead the way with whatever quest he was attempting.

As they walked through the forest of the first floor Shay was somewhat quiet. There was a lot on her mind recently with her break up and just her general drive to continue further in the game. "I understand needing time alone, but I would have respected it if you told me that you wanted to take a break from this overwhelming situation. I-- I spent a lot of time thinking about how it felt like you'd abandoned me. You gave me a light of hope to get stronger and improve and then you just disappeared. I became a mess..."

Shay could feel the presence of the katana. Somehow, it was calling to her. Perhaps ChaseR couldn't really feel the intensity that she was, but as she reached out to take the katana, it's malevolence seemed to eat at her hand. Some sort of dark, evil sword? It was surely strong, she got that impression just by looking at it.

"Thank you. The next time you see me, hopefully I'll be stronger than ever." Shay mentions, returning the hug to ChaseR. This would probably be the last time that she would see him for sometime, not that she was going to ghost him. She would answer messages she got from him, but when it came to doing quests, it might take awhile for her to get over this. Some solo play or time with other players would do her well. 

"I don't want to make this more painful by staying too long. If we drag it out it will only hurt more. When I'm ready to get back to it, I'll message you." She said to Chase heading towards the door. After saying her goodbyes to him, the girl made her way through the safe zone towards the teleporter. She wasted no time in heading to the fourth floors snowy plains. A quiet place for anyone looking to hide away. Home was where she was heading, back to the hot springs. Grace-Eon was still there, waiting for her to come back.

The katana in her hand still clawed an unsettling feeling up her arm. The more it continued to do so, the more Shay wanted to get a little greedy and see it before hand. The blade held out in front of her, the rogue grabbed the hilt and attempted to unsheathe it. Deeming her unworthy, the unique blade bit back at her. A mark surged up her arm and a slight bit of pain through it. It branded her with a tattoo that stretched from there to her legs and face. After shaking off that pain, Shay breathed heavily. "So-- That's how it's going to be then? Even you reject me. Fine. I'll cut my own path asunder with sheer willpower then, you piece of shit!"

The bite of Titan's words cut her deep. Back then he was pushing her to do her best, and even still when the both of them are in the worst possible moods he's still trying to pull her out of the depths. Shay's expression slowly dropped from fierce and annoyed to regretful and upset. "I-I didn't mean it. Things have been hard... Just when I think I can do everything on my own, people keep showing up in my life and trying to make me feel better. I'm trying to better myself, do I really need other's help when I can't even help myself?!" Her voice raised the more she continued to speak, like she was slowly about to go crazy.

“ You look good though. ” The blonde said, being enough to calm her down for the moment. Taking a deep breath, she wave him along with her. "Let's walk and talk. There's still some things that I wanted to do. You don't look too busy right now anyway, right?"

The initial shock of the break-up had hardly reached much of a reaction from Shay. How did she know this was going to be the topic of discussion? Nevertheless, she did it with the best composure that she could muster. "I-- I agree. This doesn't feel very right in my mind. Perhaps things were way too rushed between us." Deep down, Shay felt the sadness. Even though they were further apart from each other than ever before, it still felt like her heavy heart had just been ripping in half.

Standing up from her seat, Shay lets out a heavy sigh and looks down to her partner. "For now, I want to be alone. This whole ordeal is weighing heavily on my mind. I noticed it just the same as you did. Let's say we take a good few days away from each other. No talking or questing for awhile. Just give me some time to figure some things out, okay? I need to get myself together and just... relax."

Shay's footsteps came to a halt as she neared the edge of the safe zone. He used her name? Who was this? Hardly anyone in this game really knew her besides Baldur and ChaseR. Her and Baldur had met only once, but she would never forget his kindness. He was the one who taught her how to use the sword that she now uses. It couldn't have been ChaseR. He was probably the last person that she wanted to see after just breaking up with him. No. The voice was familiar though. Someone she knew for sure, who else could it be?

Turning to see the golden locks of hair and the eyes of ocean waves, Shay's eyes widened slightly before she looked to the side. It felt shameful to see him of all people right now. Titan. How long had it been since the two had last seen each other exactly? Way too long.

"I'll call you stupid if I want. Where the hell have you been for the last half year? I sent you messages and you never responded to me, ever." Shay pulled her scarf over her face, trying to hide the newly crafted brand on her face. This sword that ChaseR had given her. Did he know that it would do this to her? Probably not. She wasn't even a high enough level to use it yet. It's enhancements were so alluring, but even still the marks wont go away, even when she's not using it.

Shay sits quietly for a moment. There was a lot on her mind right now but still she managed to figure up what she needed to say. "Hey, yeah. If something is on your mind I'm here to listen, even if I'm not in the best headspace myself. What's on your mind?" She asked trying to get comfortable in her seat.

"I know that I've been kind of lazy and dodgy lately. I'm sorry about that." She added. The more she was thinking about this more she was realizing just how independent she was. Even with a boyfriend, she always wanted to be alone. Was that really the source of this problem? Was Chase going to bring that up with her? Maybe this was something completely unrelated to it. It was difficult to come to terms with, but maybe she was relying too much on his presence in her life while simultaneously avoiding him.

Walking into the house after having gone down to the fourth floor to do her crafts, Shay closes the door behind her and takes a deep breath. Chase had bought them this mansion all by himself basically. It felt overwhelming really. She was rich in the real world. If anything, this would be the opposite way around there. Wonder how that would affect his pride.

In a sense, Shay was really starting to feel familiar with this world as in the real one. She had originally bought this game to get away from the real world and relax, but after relaxing so long, she felt like she wasn't really doing her part in the game. Was she really this much of a wussy? Just hidden under a hardened shell of self loathing?

Trying to take her mind of that depressing bullshit she walks into the living room and takes a seat on the couch, trying to calm her restless thoughts.

Normally, Shay would go to a merchant and just buy materials when she needed them to make her songs, but today, she didn't have a lot money so she would have to go and farm some for herself. Getting into a fight would actually be a great way to relieve all this stress this stupid game was putting on her shoulders. Anger and resentment were all she could feel these days. It had only been a few days since ChaseR had decided to leave her alone. It was a break up, but she couldn't really be mad at him. The more she continued with this barren life, the more she was realizing just how useless she was. Not only as a player in this this game but as a person in general.

This time of year was a little more chilly for the first floor. Having lived on floor four for almost a year now, she was conditioned to this sort of weather. What she wasn't conditioned for was the bump that someone would give her as she was making her way out of the north side safe zone. The two bodied collided, crashing into the ground beside each other. In no mood to deal with another player's shenanigans, Shay drew her blade from it's sheathe and placed it at his neck. She couldn't do anything in the safe zone, but her body simply moved on its own. Murasame's malevolent purple aura resonated against their skin until she finally took it away.

"You ran into me idiot. Pay attention next time." She could have no idea who the person behind the hood actual was. The friend the fired her soul to progress and be strong. Without that information, the raven haired woman would simply continue to walk to the edge of the safe zone, a little more upset than she was to begin with.

"I'll continue to get stronger. There's no doubt about that. You're with me on that, so let's keep it up. I'm not trying to sound like a dick, I just continue to hate myself with ever passing day. I can't keep going with doing absolutely nothing." Shay mentioned as they passed into the safe zone. This quest had been an emotional roller coaster. IT started off just fine then they started going at each other. Shay's attitude got the better of her, but even still, she wouldn't let herself stay weak. 

If there's one thing that her parents taught her early in her life, it was that relying on others was a sure fire way to get yourself depressed. If one truly wanted to become a stronger person, they had to first become independent and then ask for other's help when they needed it. None of this had to do with how good or bad Chase had been treating her, or vice versa. It was all about her own struggles with herself.

His response didn't make her feel better at all - In fact, it made her feel even worse about herself. He was out getting as strong as possible to protect people like her. People who were unwilling to become stronger and protect themselves. If Chase wasn't her boyfriend, she would have spit on his hand and teleported out of here. She didn't do that. Instead, she tried her best to calm down and work through this.

"I don't care. There's a difference between you doing everything and me doing nothing. I don't want to be protected. I am strong. I can be strong enough to protect myself. My burdens aren't anyone else's but my own. Dragging others down with me is a sign of weakness." The girl continued on her way back to the safe zone. Why the hell did these walks back to the safe zone always feel so much longer than the walks there?

The brooding rogue quietly folded her arms across her chest and tried to ignore her pained inexperience. Chase was about to freak out though, so if she didn't say something, he would lose it. The girl would take a deep breath before answering him.

"I'm mad at myself. I've done nothing while you've done everything. I'm awful." She said, still refusing to look at him in the eyes. She needed to get back into all this and catch up with him. If she didn't, she would only sit here and wait for everyone to save her. She didn't need everyone's pity. The life she had lived up until now was insufferable. This game was her chance to prove that she could do something with this worthless life of hers and she was only making it worse by doing nothing. Once they got back to town, she would be going on more quests, with or without her significant other.

Taking a look over to Chase, it looked like he was doing fine. With her mind at ease now, she could focus on what was in front of her: The Unyielding Avatar. The crimson blade she wielded hued with a blood red glint. The San Ge sword art blitzed through the air, leaving several slashes across the Avatar's body. They were finished this time around and they weren't coming back.

The group of tier 2 players were stronger than the Vanguard gave them credit for. With a little more practice and levels, any one of them could be over there helping the tier 3 players kill that dragon.

Falling back to her significant other, Shay sheathed her blade and looked over to him. "Hey, you alright? It's almost done." She did her best to help keep him calm, even if it wasn't her best trait. Hopefully it was enough for him.

San Ge > Unyielding Avatar - 20*15 = 300-75 = 225 damage
Energy: -15; Rec: +2

Today was not her luckiest of days. On a normal day, Shay would slice this group of mobs into nothing but little rolls of sushi. Though, today, she would continue to fumble and miss everything with every step she took. Why all today of all days?

Rising from her position where she had missed stabbing the mage, she realized that her over-eagerness had gotten her weapon embedded into the ground. Like Caliburn, weapon of Arther, her katana stayed stuck in the rock. With all her strength she attempted to pull the blade free, yet it took way too long. The vanguard had moved out of her reach by the time she freed her weapon. She'd have to book it to keep up and be in the running for any special equipment that dropped from this special event. The chance of there being a final hit reward was really high and she wanted a chance to get something special if she could.

The assault on the Avatar was more than enough to wager going for a different target. Round back, the mage was one of the primary damagers of their group. If they could get them out of the picture, this fight would be so much easier. There was still not end in sight, no matter what they did. However, they could just outlast the vanguard.

Slipping behind the mage with her unmatched speed, Shay follows up on Griswold's assault. Her hand firmly gripped the mage's shoulder and threw them to the ground. Her sword barely missed the mark as they rolled away. "I don't think you understand, but we are winning this fight. You've hardly scratched any of us and we've killed you all several times over. What a pitiful existence you have to know that you could never win against us. When your dragon is dead, the stronger of us will join this fight and you will be nothing but dust. Now, die over and over again until we finally release your tortured souls back to the data it spawned from."

Shay misses Undying Mage with San Ge - -2 energy

Shay had zoned out enough to miss most of the conversation that Chase was trying to give her. She was having flashbacks to meeting the boy back in the town of beginnings. The boy was such a hopeful, but a coward at the same time back then. The ridicule that she had given him was fresh in her mind. This relationship had started so rocky. How the hell did he ever agree to be her girlfriend?

Chase slid his menu her way, showing all of his stats and skills. The raven haired girl looked at it for a second and closed it in front of him. It was just a subtle reminder that she was doing absolutely nothing. She was staying weak, and that wasn't okay at all. If Chase could brave this world and make it to the front lines, then so could she. She just had to buckle down and finish the quests that she needed to.

Finally, the feeling returned to her body. The rogue jumped up from her helpless position and looked around at everyone's health bars. Funny how the Vanguard thought they had the upper hand because they could survive the onslaught of attacks, yet they had hardly dented their opponent's defense. Her morale was hardly withered.

Though it seemed others were having a much harder time coping with what was happening. A black haired brat was tossing around an edgy attitude that Shay couldn't even have accomplished in her own youth. Ah, whatever. As long everyone was still working to take down the enemy, they would still have the chance to win this fight. They just needed to figure out the mechanic. That meant they had to attempt something other than just slam damage into the enemies, helplessly banging their heads against the wall.

Charging her sword art in her saya, the rogue's blade burst from the holster with unmatched speed. A stun sword art could maybe work here if they weren't resistant to it. Using her strongest one was still a lot of damage otherwise.

Iai > Reverent Soul - 20*11 = 220 Raw - 25 MIT = 195 Total Damage
Stun Applied if not Resistant.

She couldn't get away fast enough, even though she felt faster than ever. Flying back and landing on the ground on her back, Shay struggles to stand back up. Looking up to her health bar, she realizes that she can't move because of the stun. The girl groaned trying to pick herself up. 'I'm the main for of direct damage, I need to stand up and help!' Her internal voice screamed at her. Yet no matter how much she willed it, it would not come to be. She would collapse back into the dirty ground of the twenty-first, unable to help anyone.

Shay nodded in the comment to the dragon hunter quest. "They wont drop us a whole lot of experience at once, but if we complete all of them, then by the end, I'm sure we'll have jumped up a few levels." She replied quietly, trying not to trip in the shifting sands under feet. Why the hell were there so many damn quests on the floor that was a desert and basically none on the floor that she liked.

Looking over to her boyfriend's menu, she noticed the number of his level being extremely close to the third tier. A grimace formed on her face, but she looked off to the side in hopes that Chase wouldn't notice. She wasn't really mad at him for going to far ahead of her, she mad that she couldn't keep up. Being weak wasn't a problem; staying weak was. With sigh, she tried to get that off her mind and continued making her way back to the fifth floor township.

By the time Chase's words reached her, she was already running into battle. Following up behind @Gaius to do what their weapon types did best, she rounded the competition. Unsheathing the black blade from it's saya and launching the holster in the air, her grip on the sword tightens. The blood red hue of the blade over takes the colors of the crystalline rocks around her. Flashes of black and red blurred around the unyielding avatar like a whirlwind of a a thousand cuts.

Skidding to a stop, Shay turned around to see plenty of deep cuts on the Unyielding Avatar. They had a lot of damaging players with them here, but it looked like their group would be able to handle the vanguard without much problem. They didn't know about any special abilities that they might have so they should still be careful at least.

Looking over to the spear-man, she was rather impressed with the massive chunk of damage he had done to it. She then watched ChaseR collect a little bit of aggro to make sure that they're tank didn't let anyone slip through. "Keep up the pressure! Don't let them regroup!" She called to all the players, hoping to form a little bit of strategy and keep things chaotic for their enemies.

San ge > Unyielding Avatar - 20*15 = 300
300-75 = 225 Damage
Energy - 62-14(Rested Bonus) = 48

The reasonable conclusion of just about any event would be to simply end and level up the player about 3 or 4 times. Tanabata was different apparently. The event was pretty much over until the ground just swallowed them up and sent them down to the twenty-first floor. She didn't even know that you could dig down and just end up in the next floor. She wasn't sure how it worked, but most games would have simply made the floor split an invisible wall that stopped anyone from pushing through. If that were the case couldn't players just build ladders to the floor ceiling and dig straight through it? Ah whatever, not the time to think of ways to cheese the system.

Moving to Chase's side, holds her sword ready at her side to be drawn. "I'm here, and I'm fine. Are you okay?" Looking over to Gaius, she gives him a nod and simply says: "Yo."

Consumes and Fills Protein Feast #1(Now used up)