Shay

Shay actually was surprised by Titan's sudden appearance out of no where. Was he really stalking her? Nah, probably not. He didn't seem like the kind of guy - way too kind and polite for that kind of stuff. She looked at him as he was following her outside the safe zone, wanting to tell him she'd be fine on her own, but would he really take that from her? Probably not.

"You can join me if you like. Just collecting materials for that NPC Zachariah. Hopefully it won't take me too long.." She said quietly, ruminating on why Titan would want to keep her company when she was a jerk to him yesterday.

It didn't take long to find her first node in the grass. Right outside the safe zone were some usable materials, so she bent down and sent them to her inventory.

"So why so worried about me?" She asked the blond bluntly.

LD: 13+2=15
Materials 1/5

Another day another boring quest to do just so she can level up and become stronger. Her mind was still on what happened with Titan the other day. She looked like a complete imbecile, bumbling around and missing so many attacks, then getting them lost. She wondered if the blond could really forgive her for that. It wasn't like she meant to get angry and project it on him, just that she lost her temper momentarily. The raven assassin sighed quietly as she left the safe zone.

The NPC Zachariah had tasked her with going and finding materials for crafting a potion of healing. This was probably the most boring thing that she would have to do in any quest ever. The only reason was because the end result was guaranteed, it just matter of getting the success after a ton of tries. It wouldn't be difficult at least, and she could gain some nice experience to help her level up. The more levels she got, the stronger she would get.

@Titan

Shay was secretly glad to be out of that maze. She was somewhat claustrophobic and starting to get a bit unnerved by how little room there was to move around inside the labyrinth. She let out a quiet sigh and listened to Titan, who sent her a friend request. She looked at the window prompt for a moment, debating if she wanted to accept the request at all.

Titan wants to add you to their friends list!
o - Accept; x - Decline

After a moment of quiet contemplation, the girl tapped the 'o' on her screen and Titan could now see her location on the map, along with the other information that friends could share with accepting their friend requests. She closed her menu and folded her thin arms across her chest. It looked as though she wanted to say something that she wouldn't normally say.

"Ahem," She cleared her throat, "Thank you for helping me Titan. I will message you if I need anything else." And with that last sentence, the raven-haired player walked towards town, leaving the party...for now.

Shay coughed slightly and wiped the tears from her face. The worst part about everything that he just said was that shay actually possessed an item that boosted her ability to land attacks. Maybe not as much as he had, but still. Her focus was on evading attacks.

"I already do and I still missed my target several times." She put bluntly. "If you know the way so much better, than why don't you lead..." 

She knew that was what he intended to do before she stormed off and got them lost because she wanted to do something correctly.  The girl dusted off her clothes and removed her back from the concrete wall that she was pushed against.

"I think I need to find out who I am before I let myself become something I don't want to be. Slow down your teaching, preacher. I've only just begun." The girl said, almost just to cheer herself up the best she could.

@Titan

The girl stood at the one of the dead end of the labyrinth staring at the wall in front of her as the blond behind her asked if her if she even knew where she was going to. Honestly, she had no idea. Her sense of direction was awful and they game didn't come with some kind of mini-map on the HUD to help a player find their way around. To make matters worse, the map you do get doesn't have a local mapping of the maze. She brewed momentarily in hatred for herself before taking a seat against the wall of the labyrinth.

"I... I apologize.." Her formal, callous tone continued even though a tear streamed down her cheek. "No one believes I can handle things on my own because I've been pampered my whole life.. I have the skill to be good at this game, but I don't know how to do it without someones guidance. I was overjoyed that someone came in here with me, or else I'd be stuck in here for days.." She tried her best to hide the tears that streamed down her face.

@Titan

Shay side stepped the soaring amulet and it pinged lightly against the ground behind her. She watched it fall until it was settled on the dirt and stone of the labyrinth floor. Was it some sort of cruel joke? Did he feel sorry for her, or something stupid like that? People feeling sorry for her wasn't something she needed. Her pride was cut deep there in that fight and she wasn't so sure that she could recoup from it just yet. She had taken handouts before, but this one was unprecedented: She did not deserve that quest reward.

After a moment of staring at the amulet on the ground, she reached down and picked it up. The dark black curtain of hair could have made her blend into the shadows if the labyrinth was any darker. Once it was in her hand she started towards the knight and pressed the amulet of the Hoya against his armored chest, a bit forcefully for the scrawny toothpick that she was.

"If this is mine, then I'm giving it to you." The girl said walking towards the exit of the labyrinth, or where she thought it was.

@Titan

Shay boiled in her chagrin. If she didn't land a single attack on this boss after acting so pompous earlier that would be the most embarrassing thing she would have dealt with since she started leveling. She activated her sword art and swore that she wouldn't miss this attack. The blade glowed red once more, redder than her own eyes. The target wasn't even moving so wasn't like she could miss an immobile target, right?

She charged through the rubble again, making her way to her enemy much more carefully than her first attempt. Once she got close, she swung on her target, only to completely miss her attack, again. The woman groaned in frustation.

"Kuso...." She growled. Her temper was easily getting to her and it could be read pretty easily. She was looking like an incompetent idiot.

Shay: 80/80 | Energy: 6/8 -2+2 DMG: 4 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 0 | ACC: 1 

"B-Boss? I-I'm no ones boss.." She mumbled to herself quietly, but still loud enough for the knight to hear her. It was clear that her being a leader of anything wasn't comfortable with her. Even though her facade was broken momentarily she cleared her throat and tried to get rid of her flushed cheeks. The minotaur became unable to move, so now would be the time to make her decisive strike. Her blade turned underhanded in her hand and turned back into its hot red color. Her temples scrunched with her normal serious expression.

The crimson eyed girl came in fast to get her strike in before the Minotaur could get free from the stun. The one time clumsiness overcomes at the worst time had to be now. The girl tripped over a loose stone from the broke wall and fell flat on her stomach. Her sword art cancelled yet again and she groaned against the stone. The knight could hear the girl swear something in her native language. As she attempted to pick herself back up.

Shay: 80/80 | Energy: 6/8 -2+2 DMG: 4 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 0 | ACC: 1 

The moment Shay was able to stand she got to her feet and stood close to Titan, who would likely take the lead from her and block attacks. He made his attempt to try and land a successful hit on the Minotaur but nothing came to realization. His lance fell short of connecting with the boss.

"Don't apologize. Stay alert. I pulled you out of the way to make sure you didn't take any harsh damage from a sneak attack. So..." The girl blushed a bit. "Just try not to take any unnecessary damage." Why was she so worried about someone else?

Shay wasn't going to stand on the side lines and be a cheerleader though. Her blade, colored like blood, shined through the dim lit hallways of the labyrinth. She charged the Minotaur with no fear in her action or expression.

The raven-haired assassin was stopped short quickly though as the monster slammed its giant axe down towards her. She nimbly dodged the attack but her sword art was pretty much wasted.

@Titan

Shay: 80/80 | Energy: 6/8 -4+2 DMG: 4 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 0 | ACC: 1 

Shay watched as the disgusting Nepent exploded back into data. Blue polygons littered the area around where it died. Shay was disappointed that she wasn't able to get the killing blow on it, but it didn't matter who got the kill as long as they got the item drop. Unfortunately, it was made to be difficult to get so it would take another try. Another group of Nepent's spawned and Shay got right back into the fight, electing to ignore Baldur's comments about messing up.

Her blade flashed like blood again, she charged through swinging vines to slam her blade into the Nepent body. She stood on top of the being until it disappeared into polygons from the bleed and softly landed back in the grass on her feet. She turned her head over to Baldur to check one what he was doing.

"Then was just continue to kill them until they give me what I want." She said plainly as she planned her next attack.

Shay 76/80 | 6/8
Baldur | HP: 1370/1370 | EN: 129/130 | MIT: 79 | DMG: 19 | Absolute ACC: 4 | EVA: 3 | BH: 54 | Conc (0/3) | Parry (2/2) | QChange (3/3)

Nepent 1 0/7 1+12=-13 DEAD
Nepent 2 7/7
Nepent 3 7/7
Nepent 4 7/7

Shay stayed quiet as the man seemed to be somewhat lost on the direction they should head. They would make it there without much problem if they kept walking. It was apparent that he had some idea in mind to lead them through without getting them lost. Shay could feel the vibrations getting subtly louder as the continued. They were getting much closer to the Minotaur, for sure. At one point, the thumping stomp stopped. Titan turned the corner and an open space in the labyrinth was presented to the duo. Shay felt unnerved right when Titan said, “How far do you think we are based on the noises?”

The raven-haired woman grabbed hold of the boy by his waist and fell backwards with him on top of her his back laying in her chest. A humongous axe came flying around the corner barely missing them as they laid on the floor. The wall caved in, revealing the Mino of the Hoya.

The quiet girl nervously let out a, "Close." Her face was completely red with a guy laying on top of her.

@Titan

The crimson eyed woman followed behind the man that had decided to take the lead. He had painted himself as a tank, even with that unsure introduction, and almost demanded that her lead the charge. Shay didn't care. She was along for the ride in SAO at this point. If she worried about any little thing like who was leading a party, it would consume her easily. No, she would stay quiet and do what she needed to do to gain the experience for the quest, then part with him later.

"The quest description mentioned a maze. If there was a map, I would share it with you." The assassin said quietly moving up beside him. "You shouldn't have to worry about me too much. I'm much more nimble than I appear. That Minotaur will be luck if he even sees me." Her words almost seemed like bragging, but to her it just seemed like it was the reality.

@Titan

While she was coating her weapon, the girl's raven-colored hair swung around her to turn to the new face. People kept showing up randomly for her quests. To be fair, however, more help wouldn't be bad considering she still wasn't doing the best possible damage that she could. Her crimson eyes pierced the bright afternoon sun. The callous expression she normally wore was general a neutral look for her, but it was easy to see that some people thought she was wicked because of it.

"Konnichiwa." She said simply, turning her attention back to covering the blade in poison to get that out of the way. Shay sheathed her blade once it was all finished then returned the cold gaze to the blonde. An awkward and obviously forced smile grazed her lips. At the very least, she was trying. "I am. If you would like to join me, I would not oppose."

With that said she, opened up the menu and sent the boy a party request.

Do you want to form a party with -Shay-?
o - Accept; x Decline

@Titan

The crimson eyed assassin handed her old blade over to the gaijin and looked over at the higher level Nepent that had spawned and started making it's way over to them. Her expression hardened while she was getting her body back into the groove of the fight. A firm two hands on her weapon gripped the blade tightly. It weighed slightly more, but enough to throw her off. The length was much better, which was most of the reason for the change in feeling.

With a final nod to Baldur, she took her step forward and worked her way into a run, dodging vine attacks from different angles with every few steps. The nimbleness she felt was all the system guiding her, though she wished she could brag about it all being pure skill. She tried to activate a sword art, but none would work. Katana was not the same skill as Curved sword, so it made sense. Though, that threw her off and her blade came up just too short of hitting her target. She side stepped out of the Nepent's range and waited for Baldur to make his move.

Shay 76/80 -4 | 8/8 -1+2
Baldur | HP: 1370/1370 | EN: 129/130 | MIT: 79 | DMG: 19 | Absolute ACC: 4 | EVA: 3 | BH: 54 | Conc (1/3) | Parry (2/2) | QChange (3/3)

Nepent V.: 15/15 | MIT 5 | DMG: 10

Shay looked at the blade that was being offered to her. The raven haired woman looked to the girl with confusion wondering why she would give away a weapon they were carrying. She still took it in her hand and realized that it was a perfect weapon.

"You're just going to give me-?" She looked up to see the blue haired woman running off in the distance. Her crimson eyes turned back to Baldur and gave him a shrug. With that all said and done, she switched out the wakizashi for the much longer katana gave it a few swings to get used to the weapons weight. It also suited her taste aesthetically.

"Well, that was kind of odd, but the whole point of doing this quest was to learn how to use a Katana, do that's much more helpful than she could have known. Alright. You ready to fight the boss then? It shouldn't be too difficult, but my damage is a bit weaker since I don't have any points int Katana yet."

@Baldur

Shay watched the next Nepent spawn and decided to leave it be for a moment and let her stamina recharge in case she would need to take a few shots at it. She sheathed her weapon and returned another shy smile to Baldur.

"You got some power behind your attacks. You didn't even use a sword art, rather impressive. You must be a pretty high level then." She said eyeing him up and down like she was trying to get an estimate for his exact level.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked knowing that it was. Anyone using a one handed weapon would easily turn to filling their empty hand with a shield. That was unless you were using a curved sword without one. "Yeah, the katana is the weapon I wish to master. I took a couple kendo lessons as a kid so I was guessing that it would be the most useful weapon for me."

She went quiet momentarily, to wait the reciprocating response from Baldur, before remembering he asked her a question. "Oh, my username is Shay."

Thanks!

The raven-haired girl weaved past another onslaught of vines, cutting a few of them in half as she approached her target. The pseudo-katana in her hand donned it crimson hue again and sliced the third Nepent completely in half. As it exploded into the code of blue, she turned back to Baldur. A very short smile reached her lips.

"I apologize," The smile faded as she spoke. It looks like she was just uncomfortable doing that as Baldur was feeling about it. I have difficult time handling social situations like this. If I came off as rude or cold, it was not meant in ill will, only inexperience." The way she had recited those words sounds like she's used them often.

The remaining monster felt no need to stop its assault even with it's buddies taken down. It's vines lashed out to reach the young woman, who simply side stepped and ducked through each of them. She was even amazed with her ability to dodge. It was as if the system of SAO was guiding her body, allowing her to move like she never could in the real world.

@Baldur

Shay 76/80 -4 | 6/8 -2
Baldur | HP: 1370/1370 | EN: 129/130 | MIT: 79 | DMG: 19 | Absolute ACC: 4 | EVA: 3 | BH: 54 | Conc (0/3) | Parry (2/2) | QChange (3/3)

Nepent 3 0/7 ((3+2)*2)+12=-22 Dead
Nepent 4 7/7

On Floor Three now, Shay found the maze of the Hoya. This was supposed to be a relatively easy quest she heard. The boss was easy to kill since it had such low amount of HP. She could deal some pretty severe damage by herself. It wouldn't take long to kill it and move on. The exp it dropped would be good enough to help her reach her next levels. Before entering the labyrinth the raven haired girl opened up her inventory to make sure she had everything she needed to destroy the Minotaur of the Hoya. Whilst looking through her inventory, which was still pretty empty, she remembered the item drop that Mari had given her from the first quest she took on. The Matriarch's Stinger, it would boost her damage for a time so it could be useful to use here. She took the poison out of her inventory and applied it to her weapon.

With that done, she was ready to head in.

@Titan

The quiet woman was about to make her second attack when she was interrupted by the samurai behind her. She turned her head to meet his gaze continued her callous-looking expression. Though it seemed that gaze was unintentionally cold, and more of just a natural look for her. Her voice was quiet but firm.

"Konbanwa." Her black dress flowed slightly in the wind. "I would not be opposed to aid. Though, I don't feel as if it was necessarily warranted." She was reserved and confident. Baldur could probably feel the regal/superior air that she gave off.

With that out of the way, she continued to fight as if Baldur wasn't there. She charged in quickly, her blade brandished in red, and laid massive damage onto the first of the four nepents. It fell over lifeless and dissolved into blue polygons. The remaining of the plant monsters didn't take to kindly to her maiming of their partner and attempted to retaliate. Attempted being the keyword. She weaved and dodged through every vine that tried to lash her. Not a single scratch was left on her.

Shay 76/80 -4 | 6/8 -2

Nepent 1 0/7 ((3+2)*2)+12=-22 DEAD
Nepent 2 7/7
Nepent 3 7/7
Nepent 4 7/7

Dammit all! She had forgotten to pick up the katana from the maker! With a heavy sigh the girl looked down at the curved weapon she carried. Looks like she'll be fighting the Nepents with that weapon. The girl drew the weapon and approached the spawn of Nepents. Ready to fight, four of them spawned in at the same time and surrounded the girl almost instantly. She showed now fear though, only looking to survey the area and find which how should approach this combat.

The weapon in her hand glowed with a menacing red, like that of crimson blood, and wounded nothing really but the air. The girl let out a despised, "tch." As she missed, even with the newly acquired buff to her weapon. The vines of the Nepent's all lashed at her at once. She was fast though, a blur of raven-coloured hair and red eyes weaving through the attacks. Until one, at least, hit her leaving a red mark upon her exposed thigh. A peak of her health bar ensured to her that she wouldn't be taking any significant damage from these things.

@Baldur

Shay 76/80 -4 | 8/8 -2+2(Rec 2 CD: 12= +2 Energy)

Nepent 1 7/7
Nepent 2 7/7
Nepent 3 7/7
Nepent 4 7/7

The raven-haired, soon-to-be, katana user found herself on the first floor of Aincrad. The beautiful meadows of the floor and humid temperature of summer made her sweat. She hated the hot weather of this floor. Hopefully there would be better floors that weren't so hot in the summer to live on in the future. 

She decided to try a quest on her own today. Secret Medicine of the forest. All the enemies should have an awful time hitting her since she got the armor that makes her much more evasive. It would mean she could take her time dwindling the plants down and continue her practice with a katana until she unlocked the skill. On top of that, the bonus of getting experience at the end was nice. She needed more levels if she wanted to become stronger after all. 

She approached the area where the Nepents were supposed to spawn and checked her inventory making sure that her katana was equipped as the primary weapon instead of the scimitar she was using.

@Baldur

Although this player has an orange crystal, it can be trusted they are going to help any new player exceptionally as if they had a green cursor. Do not let this person’s past, the orange crystal per se, sway your opinion when judging them. Thank you for the help Mari-chan.

-Shay

Shay scrunched a bit. Even if it was part of the game to miss, she felt pretty embarrassed to have missed an immobile target that was basically presenting them self to be attacked. She took a deep breath and made her next attack just after Mari finished her last sentence. She turned on her heel with a quick 180 turn and slashed through Mari's stomach. A small red cut formed on ginger haired woman that mocked a real world wound.

Shay's raven coloured hair settled in front of her face. She knew she shouldn't pose like that in battle, but the winner icon appeared in front of her. She put her sword away and stood up.

"I'm not afraid of dying, as I said before. If I die in this world, I was either too weak, or maybe I just wasn't cut out to see the end of it. It sounds harsh, maybe, but I believe I'm strong." She admitted it was probably a dumb way to think, but that was just her view on it. She walked over to the dagger that was on the ground, picked it up and offered it to Mari.

@Mari

Shay
Level: 1 | HP:  20/20 | Energy: 0/2

Stats
DMG: 3 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 0 | ACC: 1

 Mari
HP: 1087/1090  | Energy: 106/106 

DAM: 1 | EVA 1  | MIT - | ACC 4 

Shay listened to Mari explain that orange cursor players should be avoided for others. It felt kind of odd to hear that coming from her since she was the one who actually messaged the request board to help lower players. If Mari wanted to kill Shay, she could do it with her bare fists right now, or she could of done it the exact moment Shay came into view and she first found out Mari was an orange player. She could try and run, but she was sure Mari would have caught her.

"I would like to remind you that you were the one who put the offer on the request board. I couldn't tell what cursor you had until I met you out here. I'm 100% certain that if you wanted to murder me you could do it with little to no trouble right now, or you could have done it sooner. I may not be good at reading people Mari but I am at least practical." Shay explained as she went to hotkey the sword art to her weapon. She accepted the duel and readied herself to strike Mari. Her sword shined blood red, ready to unleash its attack. She slashed past Mari, only to barely miss her opponent. The glow faded afterwards.

"Well, that's rather embarrassing.

@Mari

Shay misses.

Shay
Level: 1 | HP:  20/20 | Energy: 0/2

Stats
DMG: 3 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 0 | ACC: 1

 Mari
HP: 1090/1090  | Energy: 106/106 

DAM: 1 | EVA 1  | MIT - | ACC 4