Shay

Shay blushed and turn her head to the side to make sure that he couldn't see her embarrassment. It was true that she herself felt the same way about him, though it felt weird just to think about. After a moment of quietness, she finally spoke up. "I feel the same way. We'll stay together and make sure that the both of us make it out of here alive. No matter what this stupid world throws at me- uh, us - We'll live. It won't conquer us." She wasn't trying to be inspiring or hopeful, she only wanted make him more confident with their situation.

Grace Eon eyed the smaller familiar for a moment, seeing that it was struggling to keep up with her. She lowered her tail and allowed the other familiar to step on to her back. From there, Blizz would be able to keep up with the masters and relax.

Shay merely shrugged at Chase's question. She honestly had no idea whether Grace was male or female, not that she really wanted to question it. She looked down to the familiar and stopped for a moment. The two stared at each other for a moment in quiet understanding, then she continued to walk again. "Whatever Grace is, she is my familiar. For now, I'll just refer to her as a she. She doesn't seem to have a problem with that."

A soft mewl and a smile from Grace confirmed that. On to his second question, "I named her Grace Eon cause I thought it sounded nice. Names don't really have to mean that much. Its a beautiful name for a beautiful and elegant familiar." Within the next few minutes, the duo was back in the safe zone where they could use the teleporter to reach the next quest, or simply go home to rest.

"Take as much time as you need Chase. It's not easy to get used to. This isn't a normal every day thing." Shay said rising to her feet and giving the boy some air to breathe. She didn't want to be overwhelming him too much, but they still needed to work on getting stronger. As they continued to work together and complete quests, he would get more confident with his ability to tank. All that he needed was some personal experience and more skill points and he would be a great tank.

Since their battle was now done, Shay would begin to usher him to the safe zone again. They had gone out a little bit far, so it might take a while to get back to town, but that would give Chase enough time to calm down before they went to the next floor, at least. Shay offered him a smile as they walked.

She was glad that he wouldn't take what she said without thinking it over. She wasn't trying to be mean to him, she was simply trying to imbue some semblance of confidence in the boy to help him deal with the stress of being in the game. It was a dangerous thing to be out here leveling up like this, but if you didn't have the confidence to be strong, you were only putting yourself and others in the way of danger.

Then Chase asked how she had gotten Grace's name. "It just sounded nice in my head. Why? Is it not a good name? I like it." Grace mewled to her master happily, as if she was agreeing on her point. The rogue offered a smile back at the familiar before looking back up to Chase. "Did you only name yours Blizz cause it sounds like Blizzard?" She asked.

"Chase, the monster of this world should be terrified of you, not the other way around. You are much more powerful than anything this game could ever throw at you. That boss was annihilated before it could do anything simply because you were there and made it happen. I am telling you right now, that if you were not here to help me fight and I was still trying to play solo, I would have probably had to flee from this fight." Shay tried to explain without worrying him.

The tunnel system was quiet as they walked through it. Grace herself seemed to be in better spirits now that they had come and done what they needed to do. She walked close to her master still, to make sure the she wouldn't get attacked by anything out of the blue. Shay looked over to her partner, just to make sure that he was still doing alright.

Replacing her sword to its sheath the moment that the Kumatetsu died, Shay let out a sigh of relief that they got through this fight easier than they had with the White Tiger. That fight had gotten way too chaotic way too fast, so thank god they took another day to relax before continuing on their grinding sessions.

When the battle was over, Chase keeled over and started to pound the ground furiously. Shay walked over to him and knelt down next to his frame to hold him from behind. "Calm down, there's no reason to freak out." She said trying to get him to calm down the best she could. She wasn't very good at comforting people like this, that was for sure, but hopefully it would work for Chase at least.

She would stay like this, holding him closely until he came through and calmed down enough to stop shaking.

The rouge replaced her blade to it's saya and let out a huff as Chase finished off the remaining group of mobs. She placed her hand on her up and moved her weapon to her inventory where it should be. Walking over to her partner, her crimson gaze returned his own as he spoke, looking somewhat defeated with the experience he was going through. Shay raised her hand and flicked him lightly on the forehead.

"Hey. We got through this no problem because of you. Without you, I wouldn't have beaten this boss so easily. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't be surviving the way I am. Stop doubting yourself so much and be proud that we got through that entire fight without a single scratch," Shay smiled, trying to make sure that her words weren't met with ill intent. Once everything was all cleared up, she would start to lead them back to town so they could get off this floor as soon as possible.

The rogue shifted her blade in her free hand, dazzling crimson eyes glowing in the darkness of the tenth floor tunnels. Her expression was fierce and determined as her blade took on a deep scarlet hue that matched her eye color with ferocity. A quiet growl escaped her lips as her native tongue took over once again. "Homiru."

A black blur of speed wizzed past Chase and when his eyes adjusted to what he was seeing, by that time the Lich was split in two pieces with a perfect horizontal slash. She didn't stop there though, there were still targets on the battlefield to deal with. Rushing over to greet their new faces, the rogue slashes each one straight across the chest each. Both of them dropping straight into the red and left dangling with a thread of health points remaining. The duo ganged on her, trying to pin her down, but she was smarter than that. By the time they tried, she had already moved back.

Shay | HP: 520/520 | EN: 29/52 -(8+6)+2| DMG: 13 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 2 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR: HP: 600/600 | EN: 40/60 | DMG: 14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 5 | BH: 5

The Leech Lich: HP: 24/250 | DMG: 50 | MIT: 25 | ACC: 2
Stygian Warrior 5: HP: 1/100 -(104-5) | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1
Stygian Warrior 6: HP: 1/100 -(104-5) | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1

Shay recoiled when she say Chase hit that tree, the message of the tree's existence being completely eternal popping up just behind his back for a moment. She turned around to see the Kumatetsu still alive and well. If anything, it looked better now that had fallen below a certain health point threshold. She had expected Chase to be able to finish it off there but it must have caught him off guard. No matter, she would finish it here and now then.

Rushing forward, she drew her blade from the sheathe so fast that it caught the edge of her saya and fell to the ground at her feet. The energy being consumed for the sword art. She groaned in annoyance as the bear loomed over her. Quickly picking up Murasame from the ground and handspringing back away from the bear's reach, the girl looked back to make sure that her partner was doing fine. "You alright?"

[1]Shay | HP: 520/520 | EN: 46/52 -(2) | DMG: 13 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 2 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
[1]ChaseR: HP: 505/600 | EN: 55/60 | DMG: 14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 5 | BH: 5

Kumatetsu: HP: 93/300 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2 [Stun CD; 2/3]

Day 17

EXP Total: 331+32=363
Result: +32XP (14, +6+12), -4 Tier 1 Materials, Uncommon Support Song (3)

Before the Lich was able to do it's sinister ritual of delicately eating it's minions. Shay jumped in with speed faster than the eye could track. With a quick slash of her sword, the Lich's minions were no more. Chase was able to finish of three of them, while Shay was able to follow up with an attack of her own to finish the remaining one. Before her sword art would end, however, she would rush down the Lich itself, slashing at the base of it's being and leaving a deep gash that nearly stole a third of it'd health with no problem.

It reached in, trying to eat her whole instead of the monsters that it normally chose to, but Shay was way too fast for it. She hopped out of the way behind Chase, allowing him to take control of the battlefield now that all that was left was the boss monster.

Shay | HP: 520/520 | EN: 40/52 -(8+4) | DMG: 13 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 2 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
ChaseR: HP: 600/600 | EN: 60/60 | DMG: 14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 5 | BH: 5

The Leech Lich: HP: 181/250 -(104-25) | DMG: 50 | MIT: 25 | ACC: 2
Stygian Warrior 1: HP: 100/100 | DMG: 25 | MIT: 5 | ACC: 1

Shay moved behind Chase to let him do his thing. He needed to learn how to tank. Already she saw that he was making good use of the stun effect to make sure that he didn't take any unnecessary damage. Although, he was the one who brought the constant stuns, she was the one who really dished out the punishment. Katana was undoubtedly the best weapon in the game for dealing direct damage.

With the Kumatetsu left vulnerable thanks to Chase's efforts Shay moved in, a blur across the battlefield too fast to track with the eyes. All the could be seen was the constant, high-intensity red of her sword arts buzzing through the air striking the over-grown bear. When it was finished, the cuts almost seemed to have no effect, until Shay stopped just behind Chase, only to hear the silent click of her Katana back into it's saya. The bears health vanished instantly. 

[1]Shay | HP: 520/520 | EN: 52/52 -(15) | DMG: 13 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 2 | BLD: 12 | REC: 2
[1]ChaseR: HP: 600/600 | EN: 55/60 | DMG: 14 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | REC: 2 | MIT: 5 | BH: 5

Kumatetsu: HP: 93/300 -((13*15)-50) | DMG: 75 | MIT: 50 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 2 [Stun CD; 3/3] (Stun)

Shay didn't know about any legends surrounding something with the name of Stygian, but she was ready for a fight after handling the Kuma. With her new precision mod, she got an extra slot of accuracy making her even more likely to strike her targets. "I'm not scared of spook superstition." Shay mentioned, continuing to lead the two through the maze of tunnels. "Just do what we always do and keep a cool head and we'll get out of it no problem. Pink assured me that we could handle these monsters easy. This one specifically, she told me their mistake. One the first four mobs are dead, you can attack the boss freely, but you can't while they're still alive. You use your AoE to clear them, then I'll jump on the boss with my strong direct damage." Shay explained as the river came into view at the end of the tunnel.

Shay continued to head through the safe zone barrier of the eight floor while Chase asked his questions. They would actually have to actively search for this enemy this time, so there wasn't much time to waste. She didn't want to spend forever tracking it. "We're doing a quest line called 'Scent of the Wilds'. I asked pink what quests were good to take at this level and she mentioned this one for the permanent items that they drop. Apparently we can't use them until we collect them all, but they can increase your mitigation and increase my damage, so we're definitely going to see if we can handle them. She ensured me that we should be able to handle the first four of these quests, but the last two might take us some time." Shay explained while keeping a look out for the Kumatetsu that they were searching for. And just like that, she actually found it with ease. "There's the boss! Get ready."

Kumatetsu found!

"If that's the case, then lets get this quest finished with an move on. I can't say that even I have a fondness for the feeling of this floor. Quicker we get it done, the sooner we can leave." She says starting to lead the way into the tunnels of the 10th floor outside of the safe zone of the floor. It was far out of town for sure, the quest location so it would probably take a bit of walking to get to the quest location.

"We're going to a place called the Stygian River. It might take a while to get there, so let's hurry along and get this done so we can make our way back to town." Shay says in a serious tone. She had that normal feeling that Chase was used to on this floor. It was clear that she was completely on guard at least. Ready for anything that might come at them.

Taking a moment to try and ignore the embarrassed feelings, she lets Chase hug her and sighs, returning the hug herself. She was glad to see that he at least slept well because of her presence. She stepped out of the way of the hatch opening to let him head upstairs to change his clothes to get into his armor as well. She couldn't help but tell that her clothing smelled like he did when he was changed into a girl. Weird.

Trying to ignore that, she waited for him to come back down from upstairs and started to lead the way out of her shop. The two players and two familiars started making their way to the teleportation plaza in settlement of fourth floor. They would need to go up to the eighth floor for this boss, and it was probably the most dangerous one that they had fought up until this point.

Once the Kuma had been defeated, Shay and ChaseR made their way up the floors to the tenth. So far, this was one of the menacing looking floors yet. A tunnel system of eerie feeling. Here it almost seemed that demons and spirits were looking over your shoulder, ready to bite you when you weren't looking.

Shay stretched her arms out and yawned with her saya in her hand. She waited for Chase to come through the teleportation terminal before moving forward. "This is a pleasant and welcoming environment, hunh?" She mentioned, seeming somewhat unaffected by the dark feeling of the floor. In fact, she felt somewhat at home in a place like this. She was sure that Chase wouldn't really enjoy it as much as she did. Even Grace Eon's cocky demeanor was set back by the overall ambiance of the floor. "Well, let's go and kill this boss so we can leave this floor, then."

Shay woke up next to the boy she had accidentally fallen asleep next to. To her surprise, she was spooning him. Slowly she woke up, being roused awake by his attempts to get her to move. Once she realized where she was laying, the rogue jumped to a sitting position and backed up a little surprised.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to do that I just fell asleep back accident!" She said, standing up and nervously walking over to the ladder to her room. She climbed up it quickly, obviously embarrassed. Upstairs, Chase could hear her footsteps, though he couldn't really see her thanks to the angle that ceiling gave off. After some time, Shay would jump down from the hatch opening, wearing her normal clothes, a blush still a lit on her face. "M-Morning. You want to get back into leveling today? We need to keep up our leveling right? We just started getting stronger."

Even as Chase fell on his back to the mattress, Shay fell on her stomach next to him, slightly further down the mattress from him. She didn't cuddle up to him or anything, but she did lay down close enough to him to wrap an arm over his stomach. The familiar that was in her lap had jumped out and readjusted her position to find a more comfortable spot to lie with her new master.

She never got an answer from him before she fell asleep, but that was fine, she would be able to ask him when they woke up later. The two would sleep through most of the night together, or at least Shay would. She was pretty tired herself after everything that they had been through. Not to mention that sleeping with another person near you was actually so relaxing that she wouldn't wake up until after him.

Shay opened up her messages with Night and looked over, wondering if there was anything that she wanted to say to the girl before she went to bed. Nothing really was coming to mind, but maybe she could say something just to tease her? Nah, she didn't want to give her a bad impression. After all, if she had the tracking skill and really wanted to inact some revenge, she could easily just come after her and attack her in her sleep considering her home was outside of the safe zone.

Eventually, she decided against screwing with the higher leveled players and closed her menu. Adjusting in her hanging hammock she tried to get comfortable underneath a blanket and work her way to sleep. After a few minutes, she would find herself falling asleep before Chase made it home. She wondered if he was doing alright by himself. He gets way too nervous on his own.

"I'm not sure how she'll help me fight, but she will. It seems like she already has the combat experience to do so. We'll find out how when we get into it. If you want, we can get back the grinding tomorrow again, or we can take a few more days break if you want. I don't mind either way." She says, leaning against Chase's side and sighing. She wouldn't mind staying like this for awhile longer.

In fact, she was getting so comfortable that she was starting to lull herself to sleep. Her eyes shut and her breathing started to slow. If Chase didn't wake her up while talking she would quietly fall asleep against his side. A cute little snore would alert him if he didn't notice that she had fallen asleep right there. It would probably be too hard to get her upstairs at this point, which means he'd either have to wake her, or let her sleep on the mattress.

Back on the fourth floor, the rogue found her way home rather quickly. Chase was no where to be seen, so he must be out doing something on his own. No matter, she could use some time alone. She skipped across the stones of the hot springs to her house with ease. Once she opened the door, she walked in and closed it just as quickly. A sigh escaped her lips as she took in the familiar scenery of her house. She was lucky to be able to get that quest done while it was still available to her. If she had leveled up any more than she was right now, she would have over-leveled the quest.

She went up into her room and laid down in the hammock that she normal slept it. A swipe of her hand and the menu shined in her face, lighting up the dark room. Looks like that person had accepted her friend request. NIGHT? Hunh.

"Yeah. It looks nice, its amazing how beautiful the game can be when you look for those beauties. That's why its awful that it was made to be a prison of sorts." She commented quietly, keeping her head resting on his shoulder and her hand on her familiar to give it some pets. Grace mewled quietly and got comfy enough in Shay's lap to relax and eventually fall asleep.

"Well, I'd say she's warming up to me now." A message pinged up on her status. She opened it up to read it.

You gained the familiar mastery skill! Please choose a skill to master.

"Hunh, well there's proof I guess." Shay mentioned, clicking on the damager option. "Well, now I have a trained familiar like you do. That was pretty easy. It kind of just fell in my lap, wouldn't you say?" She giggled slightly, looking down at Grace Eon.

"I told you just to be yourself and you're doing fine okay? I'm glad I took the chance to make friends with you, even if I was a bit skeptical about becoming friends with you." She said, thinking about all of the harsh things that she had said to him before they got to this point. They were starting to make her feel bad just thinking about it. "I'm sorry that I've said so many awful thing to you before. It was unwarranted and I was just mean. I think you're helping me change that about me though. I'm glad for that."

She mentions scooting as close as she possibly can to the boy to get comfortable. The sun was starting to set now, they could see through the single window. Soon it would be night time. Grace crawled into the rogue's lap and got comfortable as well, relaxing with the couple.

"Its going to be your house so you can choose where you want it to be. You're the on paying for it. I think I'm just along for the ride at this point." The girl says, standing up from her position and going over to take a seat on the mattress next to Chase, scooting a little closer to him to get comfortable. Grace followed her over and sat next to her on the other side Shay from Chase. Shay leaned her head on his shoulder again an sighed.

"This experience has been a lot, getting sucked into this game, but I'm glad I have someone like you here to help keep me sane Chase. Thank you for being here for me and looking after me. I couldn't ask for anything better in my life." She wondered if she should tell him now that they were dating... She'll wait until he replies first, then tell him.