Assassin

Running her blade free from the ground, the leopard continued to try and distract the wolf as much as it possibly could. It was like a child throwing a tantrum in public to get attention from her parents, except this child had no parents and no one was here to substitute that feeling for her.

The purple hue of her blade took light once more, barely contrasting the darkness of the forest that surrounded her form. If this wolf had half a mind, it would have ran from her already, but still it persisted to fight the girl. It snapped at her, reaching it's toothy mouth to bite something underneath her cloak, it found nothing. With it's body outstretched and unable to react, she clawed her weapon through it's side, starting the bleed effect on the monster. Now that the effect was on it, the battle was easily going to be her victory.

Assassin: 176/200  | 10/20 (-4) | DMG: 3 | EVA: 2 |  ACC: 2 | LD: 3 | MIT: 18 | BLEED: 12/2 | PARA: 9-10
Wolf: 76/100 (-12) | DMG: 30 | ACC: 3 | EVA: -3 | [BLEEDING: 12/2]

The Assassin was ready for anything as usual, making sure that her newfound friend was safe. The wound that she had suffered from the claw of the wolf was barely even noticed. She lit the purple blade up once again, raising it above her head and tried to stab the canine directly in the head. The wolf, even being as slow as it was, moved out of the way of the attack just in time and scraped its own claw against the girls face. She gritted her teeth in the moment of pain before it faded as quickly as the memory of a fish.

A wince pained across her expression when the wound came out, but she wouldn't let it bother her too much. Staying focused was important in a fight. She was beginning to realize that the cub was able to help her fight, though it would need to be refined into something stronger. Without increasing it's level and training it further, it was no different than a poor vanity item.

Assassin: 176/200 (-12) | 12/20 (-2) | DMG: 3 | EVA: 2 |  ACC: 2 | LD: 3 | MIT: 18 | BLEED: 12/2 | PARA: 9-10
Wolf: 88/100  | DMG: 30 | ACC: 3 | EVA: -3

A familiar sight this floor was. This was where her journey began, where she was sure she would find something to test her strength with her new found ally. The little leopard began to follow her closely, enjoying the company of the young girl almost instantly. The both of them exited the safe zone to find something to fight together. This would be so much more fun with a pet now that she has one!

Eyeing a solo mob quickly she jumped in and activated the strongest sword art in her arsenal. The purple lit blade tore through the night of the second floor towards the poor wolf that was just minding it's own business. The wolf wasn't quick enough to keep up with her attack and fell victim to the attack, but it caught her with it's claw just barely, leaving a neat little red mark across her arm.

Assassin: 188/200 (-12) | 18/20 (-4+2) | DMG: 3 | EVA: 2 |  ACC: 2 | LD: 3 | MIT: 18 | BLEED: 12/2 | PARA: 9-10
Wolf: 88/100 (-12) | DMG: 30 | ACC: 3 | EVA: -3

The power in her muscles was over flowing. The familiar wasn't enhancing her ability to fight at all right now, but it was still doing enough to change her mood. With the power coursing through her veins, she could only wonder what mob stood a chance against her any more. Quickly, she switched out her luck boosting item, since it wasn't necessary anymore and put on her belts that were to help her keep her accuracy up. She could fight something and as much as she wanted to lay into a mob on this floor right now, she knew that she was going to need to find one that she wouldn't have trouble fighting. At least the rage she was feeling wasn't blinding her entirely to reason.

Heading back to the settlement of Yomi, she pushed through a crowd of people, knocking a few of them over and yelling. "Get out of my way!" Before stepping on the pad and calling out to the teleporter to take her back down to floor 2.

The two of them stared each other down for a moment. The leopard cub on it's defensive, growling softly at the girl but holding it's ground. Assassin smiled, respecting that would fight if it had to, but thankfully for the cub, she wasn't here for a fight, at least with her.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." The girl unclipped her belt that held her weapons and removed the dark cloak from her neck and throws them behind the cub. "Here, take my weapons. A sign of good faith. I can tell you are strong, but things around here could really bully you if you're alone like this. If you don't have any parents, you should come with me. I would love to have a partner."

The offer got the leopard to stop growling. It looked at the girl quizzically and and the inspected the weapons she had thrown behind her. After a moment of contemplation, the leopard picked up the belt of weapons and returned it to Assassin. She clipped it back around her waist promptly and gave the cub a quick pat on the head with a smile. "Thanks."

CD: 9+1
Familiar successfully 'tamed'

The forest's trees were dark even against the moon but even still Assassin could feel that a familiar would be easier to find on this floor than on the higher floors. Several minutes of searching proved to be promising as she happened upon a leopard. A small little cub of a leopard to be exact, no parents to be seen. It looked lost and a bit afraid as the girl approached. Once she was close enough to it she bent down her knee, thinking of it looking a lot like Kimba. The only difference between the two of them would be that Kimba is a lion and this little guy was a leopard.

Even with some distance on it, Assassin was warned with a growl not to come close. She stopped about 5 feet away from it, wondering if she could sway it to come along with her instead of staying where it could be harmed by other monsters.

LD: 8+8=16
Familiar found

Looking up to the black rock of a sky, dotted with lit up mushrooms and some monsters that she could see even crawling on the ceiling, she wondered how long Ariel and Kimba had forged their friendship. That was a good question that she should ask the Lioness the next time they meet. Wagering that Ariel is at least close to max level, or at least Tier three the could have known each other for years now. Would she be able to forge a friendship that Ariel has with her familiar in the same way? Who knew how long they were going to be stuck in this game. It could be years longer now. The front line had only made it through a fourth of the game so far, so what would happen after they cleared it all out? Would Assassin have died by then? If not, what about all the friends she had made so far, and would she ever see those friends again if they didn't die?

It was becoming clear that nothing she could find on this floor would be anything like Ariel's, not to mention the threat that the fortune cookie she received instilled in her. Quickly, she headed back to Yomi and teleported back down to floor two.

She could feel that familiar getting closer and closer. There had to be something in this wide expanse of cavern other than damp mushrooms and countless monsters spawning in and out of existence faster than her eyes could really make out. Certain that this expedition would hold merit, she was not ready to turn back now. Each and every step would get her closer to something cooler for a familiar. Ariel will be so proud of her to hear that she was able to find a familiar all on her own with out any help. Maybe it won't be as cute or cool as Kimba, but still it will be her own and she will love it.

The help a familiar could provide for her damage would be extraordinary to her ability to fight as well. After all, the stronger she continued to get, the easier it would be for her to beat up any meanies that decided to try and hurt her.

The mushrooms that lit up around the cavern needed to be avoided. If she was caught out in the open, mobs would over run her before long and she wasn't strong enough to fight against more than two mobs at a time on this floor. They would eat her alive easily. 

Sticking to the shadows was the best option. Tip-toeing around enemies as the came close and hiding deep in the darkness with the help of her dark black coat was easy enough. Any time anything got close to Assassin, she would just walk slowly and move around them without a sound. This thrilling of an adventure to find a best friend to travel around Aincrad with her was nice. Although she felt fear all around her as she walked through the monsters, she knew that she was safe and wouldn't be caught by anything that she didn't want to see her.

Moving through the large cavern that had opened up in floor 10, Assassin worked her way around hostile mobs looking for any familiar that could be picked up from the crowd and used to help her fight. Nothing yet, though, she was feeling that she would run into something eventually.

The fortune she had gotten from the cookie was still bothering her even if it likely wasn't going to come true at all. That could be for just about any time in her life, right? It was incredibly vague just like any other fortune so that it would be easy to relate to when someone read it. 'An Unwelcome Friend.' That could mean anything like a random mob sneaking up on her, or a boss later down the line that would be a difficult fight. No reason to worry over something like that, if she let it get to her too much, she might end up with microwave brain.

The clearing was full of monsters walking around. It seemed like there was everything you could ever dream of down here. Traces of machine work that was pretty much unusable at this point spat out steam from where holes in the pipes and feral looking monsters walked around for anything they could get there slimy hands on. After doing this familiar quest with Kazookie, the crazy spider-loving-girl she met here by chance, she knew this would be a nice place to start looking. A familiar that suited her taste needed to be vicious, which would be easy to find down here, and hopefully sweet enough around her to protect her like Kimba does for Ariel.

If she could find a familiar like that, it would be the best. Maybe then people wouldn't have to protect her all the time and her familiar could do enough with her to take the stress off of others. Although she loved the attention that she was getting from the older players of Aincrad, she didn't wanted to be treated like a child.

Monsters could be heard around every corner. Assassin wasn't scared of them. Agile was basically in her name, able to hide nearly in plain site and outrun almost anything on two legs, she wouldn't be much of an easy kill. The best thing she could do was ready herself to return back to the safe zone if anything got hectic. Level 10 was a pretty low level, but on the contrary, floor 10 itself wasn't much of a dangerous place if she couldn't be overwhelm by enemies. That definitely wouldn't happen to her, at least not easily.

Walking her way through the semi-darkness, she eventually reached a high-ceiling clearing where glowing mushrooms of all kind littered the scenery. It was interesting and beautiful to see, since the ones on the ceiling of the cave actually glowed in the dark, making them look like blue, night time stars from her position.

After a moment of halt, the Assassin was wondering if it was okay for her to even take another step. Though, she started to remember that fortune cookies hardly ever lived up to their meanings. She crumbled up the tiny paper, threw in on the cavern floor and continued on her way, nibbling the rest of the cookie down without much of a care in the world. She also carried the Antique Dagger she had made in her hand to ensure the effect of it was working. These things were rare to come by and waiting around wasn't her style.

The caverns of floor 10 were extremely damp, and her only indication of time was on her HUD. It was late. If she got into to trouble, she realized that she wouldn't be able to call anyone for help unless they were actually up at this hour. Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary.

Everything was in order. Assassin had all her necessary buffs and was ready to continue down the path finding a new best friend. Hopefully she could find a familiar as loving and cute as Ariel's. Kimba always wanted her attention and was ready to give an arm and leg for Assassin if she had to in order to protect Assassin. Not that Ariel would let that happen in the first place.

Walking out of the safe zone, Kaya nibbled into the fortune cookie forgetting that there was paper in these things. She bit into it, and pulled it out with her mouth, slowly bring the paper up to her eyes once she realized it was there. It read, 'An Unwelcome Friend Greets You.'. That, sent shivers down her spine. What in the hell did that even mean? The fear halted her legs, terrified to take another step into the caverns of floor 10.

Now that she had everything that she needed on her list for this familiar, she would need to head to an area where some were. Floor ten was the place she wanted to got to search for one, so she stepped on a the teleporter at the Town of Beginnings and called out "Floor 10: Yomi!"

Suddenly it was much more damp and dark out. The perfect place to find a wandering familiar. Making sure she had every buff that she needed before heading out, the Assassin opened her menu and confirmed: Song, salve, spyglass, food and her artifact. Hopefully this would make finding a familiar insanely easy for her. She wasn't sure exactly what kind she wanted, but she could find something cool on this floor for sure. If not she could always travel to a different floor and look for one there instead before the buff ran up.

"Oh, there it is." Assassin said, getting the sack of Col off the counter and over to Bistro. A trade for each item was set up and confirmed by both parties. "500 Col on the dot, that was all I really needed since the other shop keeper couldn't get me the thing I needed. Important quest stuff, y'know?"

Packing up the item in her inventory, the Assassin turned to the doors and opened up before saying "Thanks potion-lady!" And running down the street towards her next location. She had gotten almost everything she needed, just two more items to go.

Thanks Costco

Assassin walked into the store. The one on floor 10 was unable to give her a Spyglass, but at least she had the teleportation crystal she needed. This time she made sure that this one was a high enough rank to sell her the item she needed. Walking in she was greeted by the smell of smoke and two young girls likely around her age, if not younger.

"Hi there!" Said the pink haired one with a sweet smile.

"Welcome to the The Black Odyssey, what can we help you with today?" Said the second one, off to the side, she could see the older woman, who was an actual player, smoking from her ended cigarette holder. "Let me guess, another new player looking for a spyglass I presume?" Asked the black cat.

Assassin nodded in response, while Simmone snapped her fingers for the two girls to grab the item in question. "800 col then deary."

"Already had it ready." The young girl said, passing the sack to Simmone. Maru and Moro both returned, handing the item over to Assasssin. "Thank you!"

"Please do come again."

Surprised to find out that her friend Snow was actually a cook, Assassin hurried along to her shop through the cold of floor four and swung open the door, greeted with the face of the blonde.

"Tank-lady!!" She yelled out over the chime of the brass bell. "I didn't know that you actually took to making buffed food! Since that's the case, I want to buy some of the luck food off of you. I need them for an important quest that I am going to do on my own. Ooh, fortune cookies!" The girl looked at them all, just happening to be the item she needed. Looking at the price, she passed the necessary materials to her for payment. She marked another important item off her paper list. "Thanks!"

Another stop to getting the thing that she needed. Some dumb liquid that would help her find the thing or whatever. She couldn't buy it from the dude on the 10th floor so she would have to find an alchemist instead. She walked into the Cintamani shop and walked up the counter, hoping again that the shop owner wouldn't call her cute and ask where her parents were.

"Excuse me, lady, but can I get the item on this list please." She asked handing over the terribly scrawled note to Bistro and the Col necessary for the purchase.

Walking into the Shop, the Assassin took a look around for what she needed. Wandering around by herself always got those reactions like she was a lost child so she hoped the keep would serve her. After a moment of looking around, she gave up and turned to him.

"Hey, mister. I'm looking for a few items I need to help me out with a quest. You have anything on this list?" She asked passing him a piece of paper with barely legible items scrawled on it. 

"Here's how much they should be." She said setting a purse of col on the counter with the exact amount.

Assassin stopped eating for a moment as she listened to Ariel. Was she getting her to rethink what she wanted to do as a player? How could she be called selfish when everyone in the entire world was selfish. There were always ulterior motives, reasons, and desires to any living being.

"I mean sure." Assassin said plainly. "But isn't everyone self when they think about their build? Being a part of a group and a team is nice and all, and I definitely am glad that there are people willing to take on roles that keep other safe, cause their important, but if everyone thought about everyone else this would be a pretty neck-to-neck experience wouldn't it? 'Why didn't you invest in the best weapon in the game?! You're a failure of a damaging player!' or 'Why didn't you keep enough hate on the boss, it hit me once, you're a failure as a tank!'" She mocked her own thoughts. Her contemplation was much more mature than she let on most of the time. Even Snow had mentioned that she was relatively mature for her age. "I might be selfish for choosing an inefficient weapon, but I don't care. A team can only work if the people involved all have put in the time to learn things on their own. The damage that I could do could one day save a tanks life. Will I still be selfish then?"

@Ariel - The Crowned Lion

Ariel picked the tomato off her plate, fine by her, tomatoes weren't really all that great anyways. She would have eaten it, but wasn't her favorite thing in the world. The Lioness suggested that it would be best if she attempted to go the tank route. No no no. She can't defend herself if she can't fight back. There was also another glaring problem.

"Well, I'm rather small in size, and while it is possible for me to use them, it's difficult, and heavy. I can't be fast and evasive if I am weighed down by heavy armor. As long as I have my cloak, I'll stay out of the way of harm and my armor underneath keeps me protected as well. I don't want to be a heavy body that is weighed down by their equipment in the line of fire. I want to hide away and surprise my opponents so that they never have the chance attack me. If I avoid damage, aren't I even more effective than a tank is?"

@Ariel - The Crowned Lion

The Assassin dug into the salad for herself rather quickly. Being picky about food only made one go hungry so she made it a point to enjoy any meal she could. Its not like the caretaker didn't care, but when she had to feed several orphaned children at once, it was difficult to ensure that everyone enjoyed to food.

"Well, I spent a lot of time in the safe areas because the world outside used to seem so scary. I didn't like the idea of being beaten up by a bunch of meanies. Then I learned recently that if I just went with it, I could continue to become stronger and I'd be able to protect myself from anything. If I did that, I wouldn't be so scared of the world around me. When I was running around on the floor, I was practicing to keep up my speed. I have to be fast since I can't do much to help beyond attacking a single target. It's crucial that I can avoid and run as a I need to or I won't live long enough to make it out of here."

As Kimba entered the pub, Assassin allowed her to curl up against her leg. Her hand reached down to the cub gently giving her well deserved pets. The entire pub went quiet, but Assassin paid no mind to it. She was so easily distracted by the feline pet that Ariel towed around with her everywhere. She would need to get a pet of her own, then travelling wouldn't feel so lonely when tank-lady or nee-chan wasn't available to help her do some questing.

Ariel whispered down into her ear quietly, then called out to someone(?) where they could get something to eat. Kimba's mouth began to water incessantly before long. Assassin only realized then just how hungry she was herself. Her stomach grumbled, and she joined in. "Yeah! We're hungry over here, get us something to eat!" A smile to her companion was all she gave as she tried to hold Kimba back from running into the back room to find the food on her own.

@Ariel - The Crowned Lion