Shay

"As long as you don't go too far ahead of my level, I won't mind. I'm almost level 19 and you are level 15. We're doing fine right now." She mentioned before taking the lead towards the tavern where they would meet the old fart that was supposed to give them some antidote potion to help them fight this enemy. It was known for having poisonous attacks, so anything would be helpful.

"Listen, this boss is likely the hardest you've faced up to this point. Whatever you do, don't be scared and believe in your power. It might be strong, but if you keep your head in the game and do what you need to do, nothing bad will happen alright? With us both doing what we need to, we'll defeat this boss with one fell swoop." Her reassurance was met with a hint of strategy. She didn't want him to under estimate anything because he was getting stronger, but she didn't want him to think they were in any danger.

T1 Uncommon Lullaby

T1 Rare Lullaby

Day 13

(1)Fail: 0
(2)Salvage(LD:6+): 1
(3)Uncommon: 4
(5)Rare: 1
(8)Perfect: 0

EXP: 37; Total: 230+37=247
Custom Ambition Tool: +1 EXP; ATP bonus: +2 EXP, +5 to Salvage attempt

Gathering her usually equipment took almost no time. The healing crystals that she had made would help with this boss. She couldn't benefit from it's rewards anymore thanks to the level restrictions, which were present in basically no other quests even though there were harder ones than this, however, questing in general still offered the girl experience and that was all that really mattered. After this, they will have already done all the quests that they need to catch Chase up to her.

Finally she had made it to Urbus, and Chase was already waiting for her. Good, he was getting around just fine. "Ohaiyo." She said simply, walking over to him with a wave. She seemed in a much better mood today than she did most of the day yesterday. "Gotta finish this last quest before you reach the level cap. The experience isn't anything that special, but hopefully it will help you get closer to me. We're nearly the same level already."

"Just message me whenever you're ready. I don't care what time." The girl said as the two of them stopped in front of an inn on the second floor. She placed a hand on her hip and returned her weapon to her hammer space looking to Chase with a slight smile. "You did great today for a noobie. You didn't take a single hit I believe and you nearly destroyed every single boss that got in your way with a single attack. That's pretty impressive, I can't lie and I've been playing these sort of games for a long time."

With a quick nod, she could see that Chase was reaching his limits now. He was going to sleep well tonight. She gives him probably up to 2pm before he wakes up tomorrow, maybe even later than that. She could be lenient on him for that. "I'll see you tomorrow. Message me when you're ready." The raven haired woman slowly walked off towards the teleporter. Damn, she was more tired than she expected for doing almost nothing.

"We don't have to complete a number of quests to move to the next floor. We could travel up to floor 24 right now if we wanted and do whatever the hell we wanted up there. It would be ill-advised, but there are some bosses in the game that players our level could easily handle and we will. There's a boss on floor five that we could easily handle together. It's an easy one to do because there's a lot of introductory bosses for lower players." Shay hated all this explaining, but he was still learning. It's still only his first day.

"Once we're done with that we could probably work on tackling some tougher bosses. It will help once we've maxed out our weapon skills, then you can invest in some tanking skills while I invest in support. We'll be a two man team that can take on just about an bosses with us alone."

Shay nodded as he returned to her, closing the loot window of the stinger poison that she had acquired for being apart of the group when the wasp was killed. "If that's all you can handle for today, sure. I will admit that I am a little bit tired, even though I didn't really do anything for more than half of those quests. I'd offer you a room at my place, but you would likely be more comfortable in an inn than on the wooden floor of my shop." Shay mentioned as she started to lead him back into town.

"So, you're now in the teens of levels I presume. You're pretty close to my level at least, which was the whole point of us doing quests that I've already completed. When I'm ready to start questing more, I'll send you a message. If you really want to join the front lines and help them fight, then we really need to start getting some of the games content done."

Shay took an aggressive stance like she was about to rush in and murder the giant bee with a single stroke - which she wasn't, she was only going to basic attack it - before Chase spoke up. He wanted to take the boss on alone, which seemed fair. When she had done this quest so long ago, that orange player had carried her through it. She hated the idea of being carried through a quest and wanted to make up from it back actually taking the Queen on this time. However, this wasn't about her. This was about empowering her ally and raising his confidence. With a gentle nod, the girl did as he asked, reforming the Murasame's saya back into her hand and sheathing the blade in an instant.

He rushed in, slashing the bee nearly in half. It fell to the ground completely limp from the attack that he had made. It was actually more impressive than she imagined. He had made so much progress in just a single day. Five quests done and several levels gained. Hopefully he doesn't get too used to leveling up so quick. It would be a little more difficult to level up from this point on.

"Floors don't really have names. It's just Floor 2. Most players remember it by that, or by the main settlement." The rogue explained as she wasted no time moving through the town of the floor, which was considerably smaller than the Town of Beginnings. But they weren't here to sight see or anything. They had a stupid wasp to kill.

The forest of the floor wasn't as thick as the third floor at least. She made their way to the location of the wind wasp and noticed it floating around there alone. She could help if she wanted so she removed her sword from the saya and threw it into the ground, it disappeared the moment that it made contact with the grass. "If you don't kill it on the first attack, I'll jump in and help you. Don't need you taking a tone of damage since your still new to fighting. You'll get the hang of it as we continue fighting."

"I offer the service of the hot spring to anyone who buys from my shop. Since you are my duo partner for leveling, I guess I can return the favor by letting you use it if you want." She shrugged. It was a nice way to get people to come to her shop. Even if she was keen about leveling in the game as quickly as possible, she sure as hell knew when to relax. She had been doing it for a literal month after Titan poofed.

Walking into Snowfrost and stepping on the teleporter, Shay looked to her duo partner and gave him a nod. "Give it a try yourself. It's not hard, just say the floor and the name of the town you want to go to. Basically repeat what I'm about to say. Floor Two: Urbus!" She called out and with a quick flash of light, she was gone.

"These crystals in particular are made for healing. I have no idea why they do that compared to a potion, but I'm not going to question it. They do what they do for the sake of either protecting me and my party, or weakening our enemies. That's all that matters." With that, she ushered the boy out of her house and locked to door to her home via her console. Once that was done, they skipped over the rocks in the hot spring and started to make their way back to the teleporter. This boss would be lucky to last two seconds against the both of them.

"If you want to break, yeah. I don't mind. I'm getting kind of tired anyway. Being near those hot springs makes you tired pretty quick. Its nice to relax in them though." She mentioned looking ahead to the destination before them. It was annoying how far out she had chosen to live, but the spot was serene if not scenic.

The frustration of being so good at one's hobbies only to have their crafts be destroyed right before them was probably one of the most infuriating things in this game. Crystal after crystal would shatter no matter how beautifully or perfect you play the song. After about five minutes, she could finally be finished with playing the same song over and over again, gaining several different results from this craft. All of them had healing effects though, which is what she was shooting for.

Once she was done, she shut the lid on the keys of the piano and moved the five crystals she had produced into her inventory. She turned around to see Chase enjoying the music playing. That at least put a slight smile on her face. Not many people got the chance to actually listen to her play live, and even in the real world, the only people that listened to anything she played were her instructor and her late parents.

"Pleased? People don't really know that I have this skill. I'd say three- well, now four -people actually know about it."

It was pretty apparent that he wondered where ladder went to. It was some what out of place. Not that is was that much of a deal or anything though. "It leads to a loft, where I sleep. The limitations to what I can built with my shop is so much. I can only have one room really, so I made a loft up there that has a hammock. This is my entire house." She mentioned as she finally dug out a handful of the small black crystals, turning off the one she had just started playing for silence.

"Quiet now. I'm going to try and make some crystals." Setting the first crystal on the piano's lid, she began to play. A beautiful song to start, as she began to play, Chase could feel the soothing sound of the keyboard easing the aches in his body. The first crystal she tries to make shatters halfway through as the tempo picks up. She throws her hand in the air and slams them onto the keys. A message appears before her denouncing the piano as an immortal object. She takes a deep breath and continues. Luckily the next five crystals turn out much better than the first one did.

Shay walked on to the teleporter and grabbed the boy by his wrist, not even offering a moment to answer his question. She looked up to the sky and called out to whatever system made this stupid teleporter work the way it does. "Floor 4: Snowfrost!" She called an in a flash of light, the both of them were suddenly in a much chillier zone. The town was covered in a thick layer of snow and even still it kept falling. "Come on." She said walking out of town and summoning her blade to her off hand in case they meet any monsters a long the way.

The walk took 20 minutes from town. It was far out on purpose like she explained. Soon, the sight a beautiful red tree topped with a blanket of white came into view and the temperature started to come up. A house sitting over a hot-spring could be seen with Shay's sign on near the stepping stones.

"Owner is away, will return some time."

Skipping over the stones, Shay opened the door to reveal a small room with a piano and a counter. Performer crystals are found a chest near the piano, likely blank ones. She walked behind the counter and turns on one of the crystals that sits upon the counter. A soft, high-pitch song plays through it while she gathers some items. The only other notable thing in the room is a ladder leading up to an attic of some kind.

Shay made no comment. She knew that she wasn't bad at the piano, that didn't change the fact that she didn't like playing it. It was tedious and took her years to learn, and now even with the help of the system, she still had trouble making successful crafts. She probably had more fingers on one hand than she had created perfect crafts since she started her profession. Granted, she only crafted when she needed those buffs.

"Whatever, just stay quiet while I'm recording." She said as they passed through the barrier into the Town of Beginnings. Going home would be nice after spending hours helping this rookie out. He seemed to be a worthwhile person to invest with. If he ran away like Titan did, however, she was going to kick his little blue ass into next week. She couldn't deal with putting her faith in another person for them to leave her alone again.

The teleporter that led to the other floors was in the center of the Town of Beginnings, so it would be a moment before the two of them made it there. He would have to sit there and wait for her to make her crafting attempts before they could go fight the Wasp Queen. It likely wouldn't be that tough of a fight considering that she wasted a song on the cave guardian to help him out. This time she would make a few healing crystals. They could be used if the fight started to fall out of their favor, so holding on to a few of them in her empty inventory wouldn't be a bad idea.

"When I start to make my crafting attempts, you must stay quiet. Polluting the audio can cause the crystals to shatter. It's why I chose such a remote location to put my shop."

Thinking on the subject, Shay was pretty sure that the Wind Wasp Queen had better stats than the Minotaur did, but hardly by anything that really mattered. However, she did remember that Mari had given her a freebie in that quest and killed it for her. It would be fun to actually fight it herself.

"If you say so. They're both around the same level anyway and I've done both of them, so I already know what to expect from them." Shay mentioned as she started walking back to the Town of Beginnings towards the teleporter. "I'm heading home to craft for now. If you want to tag along, I don't mind. Bring something warm."

Her daily crafting attempts had finally reset, and thankfully that meant that she would be able to make the two of them some healing crystals. She wasn't sure how they worked really, but that wouldn't stop her from using the benefits they provided.

"What use is that question?" She turned to ask once the boat had docked against the pier. She stepped up out of it and helped him out as well, expecting the fisherman to send them on another quest or something completely stupid. "Do you want to sympathize with someone that just left you bareback naked in a forest full of bears and wolves?"

Now that these quests were done, she could easily bring him along on more difficult quests. Best thing to catch him up would be to simply redo the quests that she has already done. By then, he'll be about the same level as her and they'll have an easier time facing bosses since the level difference won't be so marginal. "Next we're going to either kill the Hoya Minotaur, or the Queen Wind wasp. Which do you prefer to do first? Each one is exceptionally easy for me and you."

T1 Support Song Rare(Mass)

T1 Support Song Unc.

T1 Support Song Unc(Instant)

Day 12

(1)Fail: 1
(2)Salvage(LD:6+): 0
(3)Uncommon: 4
(5)Rare: 1
(8)Perfect: 0

EXP: 18+18; Total: 194+36=230
Custom Ambition Tool: +1 EXP; ATP bonus: +2 EXP, +5 to Salvage attempt

"I'm too careful to die." She said plainly, taking back that tone that she normally had once again. She looked out to shore, hoping that they would be back there soon enough. Boats weren't her favorite vehicle. "We'll make it to the front lines. It's only a matter of time and dedication."

After that, she sat quietly, thinking of how to answer his question. She couldn't come up with anything that would satisfy his curiosity though. She wasn't entirely sure why she was here, or even why she wanted to make it out.

"I guess..." The raven-haired woman began. "I'm trying to get away." Cryptic with her feelings as ever, that's about all she can manage. He was expecting something more than that, she was sure, but unfortunately that's about all she could grasp. To get away from real life and ignore it as long as possible. Was this life really any better?

With the boss destroyed, that marks the end of Chase's tutorial. From here on, the game would not be as nice as it was. Things will be hard and he was going to have to deal with it or quit. Through hardship is how one gains strength.

"Good job," She gave him a light smile. Up until now, she was being difficult on him, but making it through the entire tutorial was enough to prove to her that this boy really wanted to try to get stronger and that he wouldn't up and disappear just because things started to get hard. She sat up more straight in her seat on the boat and looked at him with less darting eyes. "I'd say that was enough to prove to me that you aren't a total wimp with a big heart. From here on, things will continue to get difficult. Are you ready to face those challenges in order to become stronger?"

His question about why was not going unanswered, but she felt that there was still more important things to speak about before they talk about that stuff.

Shay grabbed one of the sides of the boat, nonchalantly holding on to not dip into the water as her duo swung at the enemy. He was already getting better at using the sword arts in his kit and at fighting. There was some confidence in him now. A good time to start getting it honestly, considering that from here on out, the game was only going to continue to throw fire in his face.

"Perhaps. She would have been just as strong as you from a systems perspective. No person can really outmatch anyone in here if they put in similar time at least. If you were my level, you would be just as strong as me, for example. As for how one's determination and willpower make it through the game, yeah, that's a bit different." The girl finally was able to stabilize herself in her seat enough to let go of the boat. He should finish it off easily.

Shay stared at him. Her crimson gaze like that of an assassin's dagger, piercing his own. She was quiet for a moment again, thinking on the subject. She knew the exact reason that she had come to this world, but should she really tell him?

"Where is Lily?" She attempted to divert the conversation to give herself some time to think. This wasn't the first time he'd brought up that name, and she was sure that it wouldn't be the last she heard of it. If he was sweet on a girl, she'd figure that she would be here learning the game with him so she could protect herself. Staying level one effectively meant that you were limiting yourself to the strength of a toddler after all.

The sword fish worked it's way around the boat, making itself difficult to pin down. Shay hardly seemed bothered by it's presence. Her eyes were still affixed to the blue-haired boy in front of her.

She looked back to him and gave a shrug, handing over the wooden fishing pole to him so that he could do it himself. She was only going to fish the creature up out of the water then he would have to kill it. She couldn't do everything for him, but at least he was trying to be proactive with his building. She shifted into the back of the boat, careful not to capsize their poor little dingy into an early grave with Davey Jones.

She was always so quiet and this boy had nothing to do with video games. He'd asked her probably around a hundred questions by now, so it would only be fair if she asked one herself. That being said, what should she even ask him? Did she care at all? Eh, maybe a little.

"So, why are you here?" Her social ineptitude shining like a star in the night sky.