Shye

"Can I join?!" The girl replied almost instantly with starry eyes. This was exactly what she needed to get better! Mentors and teacher could help her at a moments notice! She was interrupted by Shield. He reached down and somehow managed to get a chest to magically rise up from the sand. An actual chest? She hadn't yet seen one beyond what was in the manual booklet she had collected from one of the info brokers. Speaking of which, she materialized that exact item and read out the information on chests once she located it within the table of contents and turned to the page.

"Treasure chests can be found by players outside of safe zones and inside of dungeons and labyrinths. They contain a myriad of items including the following: Col, Materials, and Unidentified Items like Weapons, Armor, Shields and Consumables. Be careful!! Traps could also be mimics and attack players! Be ready for a fight just in case! Whoa, so I guess that's a pretty cool find then. Are you going to open it up right now?"

@Shield

Shye listened carefully again. Strategy and Tenacity? If she was asked the same question, she might have given completely different answers. She looked relieved as the safe zone came back into view. A small vacation would be in order after this, probably at least a day away from questing or even going away from the safe zone.

"Strategy and Tenacity." She only continued to have more and more questions with each answer she got from Shield. She wondered if he was willing to mentor her on these things. "Hey, Shield. I don't think I have those things yet, and honestly I don't think I could ever really achieve them, but if there's one thing I know, it's that I'm determined. Will you please help me get stronger? I don't want to- I mean, I won't die in this stupid digital words! In order to keep that promise to myself, I need to learn more. You know a lot about the game and I really need the help."

@Shield

Her face became as deep red as her hair when Shield explained what he thought it meant to be courageous. Honestly, yeah, what she did was absolutely stupid. It wasn't courage or bravery at all, and that really only made her feel worse about what she did. Holding back tears, the girl tried to come up with a valid respond. "I..." She started off, looking in Shield's direction. "I need a lot of work. Thank you for bringing me along, this was helpful."

Her mind continued to stop and go. Shield was strong and experienced, he knew what he was saying. Mari was also a pretty strong person in her own right, not like Shield, but similar. She wondered... "Hey, Shield? Do you think that someone as timid and weak as me can be strong?" She asked, looking back to the sand. "I'm still not sure if someone like me can achieve that mantle..."

@Shield

"I'm sorry." Were the first words to come from her. She followed beside the tank looking at her feet, watching the sand behind them get scarred from their footsteps then heal again when the sand fell back in. "I realized after the decision of rushing into battle that I didn't listen to you at all. I was trying to be more courageous, but I guess I should save it for something that won't end my existence in a single stroke. It's a rough life to live in this game..."

The girl was having a hard time making eye contact again. That was pretty much a norm for her anyway, but she couldn't seem to stop looking at the sand under her feet for anything. Her thoughts were everywhere right now, breathing was irregular once more. Anxiety attacks were awful, so she did her best to keep her mind off what just happened as to not have another attack right in front of Shield.

@Shield

A moment of paused silence filled the wind before Chelsea found the courage to stand up. Sand shifted behinds the rock as the girl peeked around the solid stone to make sure that the threat had indeed been vanquished. Once she had determined it was safe enough, she finally stepped around the rock and had trouble looking up at Shield. The mistake she made was still fresh in her mind and her heart was even still pounding from the fear.

"I...I apologize for worrying you. I did something absolutely reckless and it frightened me out of my skin. I promise I won't do anything like that ever again." Her words came out on the spot, in fact, it was kind of like she had rehearsed apologizing before. Like she already knew what she had to say. She had indeed apologized to many people, especially in Japan thanks to her lackluster knowledge on the culture.

@Shield

The wind picked up a little, sending some sand particles into the teenagers eyes. It brought her back to reality for a moment. Shield was still in combat it seemed, judging from his health bar not being completely full. It ticked back up to full for a moment, but she could hear him yelling at the monster to give its all against him again. All she did was sit here and wait for the battle to end. It would be nice to level up since she is such a low level right now and it's the entire reason she can't do anything. As she got stronger, she wouldn't have to worry so much about anything else, right? She'll be tough like Shield and able to keep people around her, that need her, alive.

The redhead peered over the rock once more, to check on her fearless companion. Still the monster was one hit from being vanquished. She wondered what he was going to say to her when he came back around, or even what she was going to say to him rather than just 'sorry'.

@Shield

One more attack and the beast would be quelled. Shye watched from her safe position, taking a moment to look around and ensure that there was nothing in the area that threatened her. The coast was clear so far, so the redhead turned her attention to the fight in front of her again. The bosses health had reached the red bar, which meant that it was low enough to finish off. It seemed like Shield was ready to have this fight over, but Chelsea wasn't ready to get the bark of his words when he came over to tell her what a stupid thing she just did. Even a feeble little healer can be threatened without even taking an attack on an enemy. She understood that more than ever, now.

The teenager dipped back behind the rock. Resting her back against the stone slab as she really wondered if she was cut out for this kind of thing. It was dangerous and she lacked the knowledge to take this world on and come out on top in almost any case. Her breathing got slightly uneven again, trying her best not to have another episode.

@Shield

Shye watch him stop another attack completely in it's tracks. Could anything really put Shield down? He seemed invincible in this context but maybe he was just way too strong for it. Could she ever be strong like that? Well, not like how Shield is strong but of like in general a really strong player. Their HP wasn't budging right now, this could drag out a little bit longer than she had hoped for it to, but at least she was surviving up to this point. Not to give herself any credit at all, since she was an idiot that just walked directly into combat like a brain dead idiot.

Well, since it wasn't going to be going anywhere soon, the healer decided to take a seat on her knees in the sand. She peered over the rock to make sure that Shield was still doing fine. Yep, he wouldn't be needing her help for this. It felt kind of dirty to have him do all the work and her get the benefits for it, even if he was the one who brought her along.

@Shield

Shye peaked further out of her cover as the battle moved past her vision, though she was sure to keep as hidden as she possibly could. Shield was insanely strong. He could throw that thing around like a ragdoll and continue to destroy it. The most amazing part was that he wasn't even using a weapon more of the time, just his aegis. The teenager stepped out further to watch him launch the shark onto its back. She was in awe of his strength and he said he does this quest regularly.

His health bar continued to stay at maximum even without her help. She felt so useless sitting off to the side and doing nothing, but she would be even more useless as a corpse. With a heavy sight, she restrained herself from jumping in to help the tank with healing and continued to watch as the the squishy little healer that she was.

@Shield

It took at least a full 30 seconds of breathing techniques, but the girl finally got her breath stable again. When she remembered where she was, she very carefully peaked around the boulder she hid behind to make sure her tiny frame was as difficult to see as possible. She wouldn't be in the spot if she could escape the attacks of the Shark... The thought crossed her mind of how stupid is was for her to do what she just did. If that thing so much as breathed on her, she would die, for good. No second chances in the world. Her breathing was getting irregular again and she gave herself a slap on the face. Now's not the time to be having some anxiety issues Chelsea get a hold of yourself.

She continued to keep her eye on the battle while showing absolutely 0% of her tiny frame to anything. As long as she didn't do that again, she would be alright and Shield would kill it off, then maybe kill her for being a reckless idiot.

@Shield

Chelsea watched the flurry of blades chop the bee to pieces. It exploded it into nothing, and Shye couldn'y help but let out an audible "Whoa." As Mari sheathed her dagger. She snapped out of it when Mari's voice reached to her. The redhead walked over to the drop item and picked it up off the ground. It was a vial of poison of something that her high-leveled friend her said would increase her damage, but she was really all that interested in something like that. However, she would keep it on her nevertheless. She looked up at Mari's health bar to make sure that she was alright.

"Y-You didn't take any damage or anything did you? It didn't look like you got hit, but I'm still having a tough time following combat." She admitted, moving the vial of poison that she was holding onto into her inventory. "I want to be useful, so if you're hurt, let me heal you."

@Mari

The girl skidded to a quick stop and let out a frighten "Aaah!" She huddled in an attempt to protect herself until she heard the loud clang of Shield's aegis that had protected her. Before the man could even get his first word out, he could hear the girl's timid voice. "Sorrysorrysorry." She wasted no time on trying to get out of there as soon as possible. Her breathing became irregular and she was already shaking. She screwed up big time and he's going to hate her for it, or worse she'll die to the monster. She took off in the opposite direction trying to find anything she could take shelter behind before the shark resurfaced again.

Another rock was sticking out of the ground for her to hide behind, she dove behind it quickly and huddled behind it. Her breathing continued to be salvageable at this point. Was she having a panic attack? What great timing...

@Shield

Shye successful escapes combat.

Shye notices the interesting slip of paper that shows the Gemini quest mentioned on Floor 6. Somewhere the girl had yet to venture. It looked fairly simple... She will get one for herself.

Ordering Gemini Pack.

@Simmone

Thank you.

Quote

H:(0) Shye: 20/20 | 1/2 (+1) | Rec: 1 | Healing: 8%

Action: Healing Shield for 8% = +148

Shye watched her ally take a harsh chunk of damage, but even still his HP was coming back as the battle continued. It was nerve wracking to see someone just eat damage like that and continue going. There were really players that did things like that? She would be terrified to see her health going down, but I guess Shield didn't worry about it because he was already so strong. She saw that her tanks HP was still not at full. What if she were to just...

The girl looked at the shark that was rampaging around the sand. The fear set in on the back of her neck, but she couldn't sit on the side lines forever. If she was going to get higher and stronger to help other people she couldn't be a chicken. They would depend on her like she was depending on Shield. After a moment of pondering, the redhead rushed into the battle field and her hands took on a soft white glow. Shield could feel the healing from Shye behind him.

"I-I want to help! E-Even if it means nothing!" She shouted looking really stressed out from the situation. When the healing was done, she noticed the shark coming in for another round. No way she was sticking around for that. Chelsea quickly hurried back to her hiding spot, stumbling over loose sand and nearly falling on her face. She, however, makes her way back to the safe spot.

Shye shook her head in remark to her saying she shouldn't have asked. "My brother knows that I'm skittish so when he bought his Nervegear, he had me do the calibration and turned the game on for me with the command. I got sucked in and couldn't log out. I've never played a video game before, so yeah it was pretty terrifying for me at first. Now I just want to help and heal people."

Her ears perked at the sound of doing the beginner quest. She had already beat it, but so far is was a good way to meet new people! "The beginners quest so easy and not scary at all! May I join you? You can barrow my headphones, the help boost a players luck in finding materials. That is if you don't already have your own item that doesn't do that same thing." The girl clasped her hands together and gave the blonde a warm smile.

@Astralin

Singing? Well, he's got her there, Chelsea can't sing better than a dying elephant. She wondered if he would sing something for her, but she remember how incredibly timid the boy was, even compared to her. He would probably refuse to if she did ask, maybe later when they get to be better friends, if they even talk more than this.

When he compared singing to getting dressed, she thought it was a bit of a weird analogy, but as he continued to explain, she could see what he meant by it. Quiet keen with that explanation. "I- Yeah, that actually makes sense. I mean I can relate to the getting dressed up kind of thing but not really the singing part. Well said though." The girl returned his smile with her own and decided to help him look around for more materials. He only needed a few more, so hopefully they would find something soon.

@Nines

A shark swimming in the sand?! This world continued to horrify her with things like this. Giant insects, sharks that swim in sand and god knows what else awaited her on the higher floors. She was extra careful, hiding behind a rock that seeped its way to the surface of the sand. The health bar in the top right of her HUD hadn't moved yet. She knew that he was the max level and had some amazing self-healing skills, but it was still dreadful to be able to see how close someone could be to death by a little bar. An unnerved feeling traveled up the girl's spine as she imagined her own health bar sinking down into the red. She shivered in her shoes.

What else should she do? If she's in the situation with more abilities, she likely won't be taking or dealing damage. Maybe there were some extra skills she could pick up later that allowed her to do something during combat while staying safe. Perhaps she would ask Shield about it later, when he was done fighting.

@Shield

Shye quietly thought about the things Mari had been saying. A timid shell really did form around her, and she wished she could do more about it, but so easily was she nerved by stress and fear. It was difficult enough to get this feeling of dread just from leaving the safe zone out of her mind so she could continue walking forward. Mari was as blunt as she said, however, Chelsea could tell it wasn't because she didn't care. Well, maybe she didn't entirely but it felt like the kind of scolding you get from a mother or a teacher. It's always with good reason. Well, she was still a kid so maybe she deserved to be scolded.

Chelsea bumped into the orange players arm while in her thought. It was about to spawn. She wondered if she should take shelter or just stand a little back. Would Mari call her a scaredy-cat if she hid behind a tree or something? The girl went back a bit outside of the field of flowers when she wasn't too close, but still close enough to heal Mari if she got hurt by something.

"G-Good luck!

@Mari

Shye had to be the absolute worst at this gathering stuff. Even with the item she received from Jinx, she was still not finding the item that she needed for the quest. And she had to find 5 of them! They were going to be out here for a while yet...

"Well, I speak English just fine. My English accent just pushes through my Japanese accent so I don't say words as correctly as a native would. Irashaimase for example is a word a butcher completely. Not that it's one I use very often." The girl looked her in the eyes as she explained where her body would be. "As a person who is trapped in this game I hardly understand the things we have to do, or why. It all seems so pointless, and it is. We've been left here to slowly die unless we rise up as a unit and do this together...right?"

Materials found 0/5

She did the best she could to keep the sand out of her eyes, pulling a vanity hood from her inventory and putting on to cover some of her face from the winds. She could hear Shield's voice rise from behind the mask of the wind.

"Y-Yeah, I'm alright... Are we there? I'll find a place to hide where I won't interrupt your fight." The girl said looking around for somewhere to wait while Shield did what he came to do. She was incredibly nervous. It was a pretty scary feeling to have left the safe zone on the second floor where she had met that woman, Mari. Now she was even higher and it was even more dangerous. Several things here could probably maul her to death... Eh, probably shouldn't be thinking about things like that. Not good for the sanity.

"G-Good luck!" She called out to Shield from a distance.

@Shield

Please enjoy!

@Zajcica sending to @Crozeph

Shye watched him step through the border. It was always a risk to leave the safe zone, but maybe not for him. Was that really what the power of video games could do to someone? Being something you're completely not and defying all odds? This was going to be one hell of a journey and she was sure that she wouldn't be running through it. Her mind went back to what she had told Mari. She was terrified, unsure and inexperienced for sure, but if someone were to die because she wasn't strong enough to help them survive, she would rather take the risk to help them. Shield didn't need it, that was true, but what if someone like Jinx, Astralin or Nines needed it? What if they died because she wasn't there to heal them? It killed her on the inside to think off.

After a total of about thirty seconds of quiet contemplation, the girl walked forward through the safe zone barrier next to Shield, instantly feeling the harsher brush of the wind. She covered her eyes from the sand being kicked up. She didn't say anything to the man, but she did give him a timid nod and stuck close to him as possible without making it awkward.

@Shield

Shye followed behind him and looked up at the safe zones border. She thought on his word momentarily. He sounded so sure of himself, like he could take on anything he wanted and not have to worry about her as long as she kept herself safe. After a moment of pondering, the red-head looked up at Shield.

"I-If we're going to quest together, I want to at least see your health bar." She said pulling up her menu, and with a painfully long time navigating them, found the party invite function and sent a party invite to Shield, then gave him the party leader when he accepted. "I-If something unexpected happens, please allow me to help you. I can heal you for at least 5-10% of you're health, I did the math." The girl then pulled out a booklet she had tucked away in her inventory. It looked like a general knowledge manual for players who were inexperienced with the game. 

"Ye-Yeah. It would talk all my energy for a single use, but I could still heal you a decent amount if need be."

@Shield

That was a sudden change of events. One moment she felt like she was getting another scolding like she did from Mari, but then so quickly, Shield was inviting her to quest with him on this floor. Was it really safe for someone so low to go out of the safe zone up here?

"Sh-Shield? My healing abilities are amazingly sub-par." Saying something like that out loud made her feel like a nerd like her brother. She cleared her throat. "I'm literally level 1 so are you sure it's safe for me to join you? I have an item that boosts my skills, but I'm not entirely sure how much that helps. I also have zero experience with playing video games so I'm a total beginner when it comes to this."

He mentioned the front lines. She was reminded of what Mari told her when they fought the wasp. Worrying about what the front lines was doing would be a waste of energy for her at this moment. She needed to focus on what she was doing to get stronger so that she could eventually become strong enough to help those players.

"I'm tired of being a scared little girl when someone could have used the abilities I've invested in... but I'm also terrified of dying..." She mentioned out loud, without really meaning to.

@Shield