Calcifer

“Oh, sure!" Calcifer straightened up again after kneeling to pick another herb that was hidden in the base of some shrubbery. That was the last one she needed, but true to her word, she was content with assisting Aquarian with the remainder of his task.

They veered their course and made their way past the edge of the forest. Mountain ranges stood tall in the distance, but there was a much greater distance between them than when they started their trek together. They came up to a clearing that was littered with wildflowers. Small fauna like rabbits and birds could be seen nearby, going about their business.

“Do you want to practice with me?" Calcifer asked. “I mean, we can try dueling and work on our combat ability." She explained with a smile. She reached across to her left hip and drew her sword from its sheath. She was facing forward into the clearing, and held it steady in front of her before slashing down and then pulling back to swing the blade across. Regardless of Aquan's answer, she seemed content to work on her form while he continued looking for materials.

ID: 179561 | LD: 18 - Success  [5/5 materials]

The shift in available sunlight was becoming apparent, and Calcifer shifted her weight once she noticed it. “I'm sure it can't be that difficult to get back to town from here..." She mumbled the words mainly to herself under her breath. She turned and looked all around, finally trying to get her bearings in the forest after the lengthy encounter with the mother boar. They were surrounded by trees, all right. Calcifer couldn't see any sort of break to a clearing or even the mountain ridges from here.

She frowned. Now this just wouldn't do. As much as she hated to use it, Calcifer waved her hand through the air to pull up her menus and navigated to her map. She hadn't collected a ton of map data for the first floor,  but she had to have enough to figure it out, right? She was just beginning to hover her forefinger, tracing an imaginary path that led from the blank void she was standing in to the Town of Beginnings when the sound of a wolf's howl pierced through the air. She froze, tensing up and pausing her navigation efforts. “Uhh... Do you think the wilderness gets more dangerous at night?" She asked nobody in particular. A snap like a twig breaking in half sounded somewhere within earshot. Leaves began to rustle without the wind to blow them.

“You think so?" Calcifer wore a smile that quickly grew more confident the longer she reflected on his positive affirmations. She certainly didn't expect an answer to that question, but shifted her attention to his following topic about what it is the people calling themselves frontliners actually do. She didn't look at Aquan, instead focusing her sights on the area around them as they continued their leisurely pace.

Calcifer eventually frowned while she mulled over his words. 'Saving us' and 'getting us out', she wanted to roll her eyes and scoff at him. She nearly bit her tongue and chose to stay quiet on that specific subject. Aquarian was nice, and she didn't want to stomp all over his friendly intentions.

She welcomed another change of topic, and let out a thoughtful hum. “Well, I used to wield fire magic along with a sword style kind of like this one," She patted the basic straight sword that was sheathed at her hip. “but since I can't use magic anymore, I suppose I'll just be a regular knight! Heh," She chuckled and thought again. “I normally try to stand my ground. I'm not the best at being evasive, and I haven't decided if I want to try using a shield yet, so I suppose I have something like a dueling fighting style?" An upward inflection made it clear she was still getting used to combat in Aincrad.

ID: 179498 | LD: 13 - Success  [4/5 materials]

Calcifer smiled when Aquan started speaking, ready to ask for confirmation of the fact that he was working to become a Cook. She waited, bent down to retrieve another herb from the forest floor, and waited a bit more. Soon, that window of conversational opportunity had come and gone. In fact, by the time Aquan had paused long enough to allow her a word in edgewise, Calcifer had lost track of any sort of contribution she might have provided to the many topics that he had covered already.

“Oh, right, well yes," Calcifer realized the forced silence that had fallen over them and mentally backtracked to the last thing she recalled. “Guilds can be an incredible boon, but..." She stopped to think for a moment, searching her words out, “it's not always easy to find those that share in your ideals, I suppose." She took advantage of the chance she'd been given to respond and continued with a frown, “I have no interest in dealing with the people who seek only profit, for example. If a guild wishes to challenge the Lich King Ner'Thuul himself, it should be to finally put an end to his rule of tyranny! To free the undead thralls that comprise his army! To protect the innocent people whose cities were next to be seized, not to line their pockets and pine for whatever treasures he has stashed away on his belt!" Calcifer had puffed out her chest, and when her emblazoned speech came to an end her shoulders drooped and she looked back to the grassy roots beside her feet. “I've dealt with too many people like that already." She tacked on dejectedly.

ID: 178231 | LD: 11 - Success  [3/5 materials]

Calcifer had steeled her resolve and held her ground. She stared down the oncoming mother boar, teeth grit and sword in hand. And then, it was gone. Calcifer blinked a few times while her brain caught up with everyone around her, and the one named Aquan began to rapidly exchange pleasantries.

'I'm not sure what we would have done if you didn't step in'

Calcifer bit her bottom lip, but said nothing. The blow to her pride was heavy. She spun her blade once and slid it back into the sheath at her left hip. Sliding her heels together with a 'click' of her boots, Calcifer brought her right arm up in front of her torso and turned to the rest of the group, bowing at the waist. “Calcifer, Knight-in-training, at your service." She introduced herself.

She straightened and her eyes pastel-pink eyes moved to the brunette wearing armor with spear in hand. Calcifer took a few steps to close the gap between herself and Minako. “Are you hurt?" She asked. “I apologize for entangling you in my conflict." Her head turned to Aquan briefly to give a nod, "“You as well."

Calcifer listened to him earnestly, and she couldn't help the corners of her mouth from pulling up into a poorly-suppressed smile. Still, she kept her face hidden by looking away from the man while he reached for the fruit hanging from tree branches and knelt down beside the roots of another plant, being so lucky as to actually find a component that could be plucked away to her inventory. Calcifer's chest swelled with pride at his assumptions about her, and she wasn't about to correct him.

Only partially on purpose, she skipped over addressing any of his questions about her personal life and past. Instead, the latest thing he mentioned caught her interest and she echoed, “A guild?" She straightened up and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm... What is the purpose of a guild, exactly? I believe I have some experience with such things, but I can't say I know how they typically function here."

ID: 177743 | LD: 17 - Success  [2/5 materials]

Calcifer's eyes hung on the cave mouth in the distance, nestled up against the steep hills to her right, but she tore herself away to follow after Aquan and venture back into the woods. He somehow seemed just a little more comfortable once they were under the shaded canopy of the tall trees. She looked around in semi-patient silence while Aquan went on about the plant-life around them in a quiet tone, and it seemed that both of them had hit a small lull in their gathering ability.

“You know a lot about plants, huh?" She didn't respond to the insincere apology, but instead followed up with a question. “Oh," She was presented with one herself, and Calcifer shook her head. “Nope, can't say that I am." She denied. “A guild..." She echoed, in a quieter tone to herself. She seemed to be giving the topic quite a bit of thought, but ended up frowning and pointing her eyes back to the ground to continue looking for any more materials that might be hiding ahead of their feet.

ID: 177739 | LD: 7 - Fail  [1/5 materials]

“Yes, exactly!" Calcifer exclaimed with a grin, though she had to continue speaking to explain which part of Aquan's interpretation matched up to her thoughts. “You see, survival is key in this world. Despite the fact that a lot of territory has been uncovered, most of the land in any given area seems to be completely untamed." She nodded along with herself. “It's very important to learn how to survive in the wilderness. Harvesting natural resources, and defending yourself against aggressive creatures, for instance." Calcifer had crossed her arms over her chest part-way through her ramblings, and now nodded again to affirm herself.

Bringing a hand up to tap her forefinger thoughtfully against her chin, Calcifer mulled over his question. “Earning a Living...?" She echoed, and then shook her head. “Can't say that I have." She smiled widely when Aquan seemed to say that their intentions aligned, more or less. “Well then, I'd be happy to accompany you, sir Aquarian!" In a stroke of luck, something then caught her eye. Calcifer perked up and took a few steps aside to bend down and reach for a very average herb sticking out from the ground. She smirked proudly as she plucked it.

ID: 177734 | LD: 12 - Success  [1/5 materials]

“Hm? Oh!" Calcifer perked up when Aquan approached from the side. “Of course I remember you, Aquarian!" She beamed with a wide smile. She brought her heels together, lifted her right forearm in front of her stomach, and bent her torso forward into a bow. “Calcifer the Knight, at your service!"

Her smile dropped, turning into a dumbfounded expression when she watched Aquan reach down and pluck something up off the ground. “Wait--did you find something?" She frowned for just a moment, suppressing a pout, and then nodded. “Oh, but yes, I'm looking for materials! Herbs, specifically. I'm on a training quest in order to hone my skills in the wilderness." She explained with a newfound confidence. Or, perhaps it was the same confidence she always seemed to pull through to the surface every so often.

Calcifer turned her gaze back to the front of her, where she raised an arm to point out something a short distance ahead. “I had actually spotted that cave over there and was on my way to investigate it. If there's somewhere you're trying to get to, though, I'd also be more than happy to offer my services to escort you." She smiled.

ID: 177357 | LD: 8 - Fail  [0/5 materials]

“How difficult can it be to gather a few herbs?" Calcifer placed her hands on her hips, speaking confidently to herself while gazing out over the vast fields of the first floor. Swinging her arms and taking wide strides forward, she set out from the Town of Beginnings to complete her first quest for Zachariah. It was supposed to teach her the importance of gathering materials out in the wild and crafting them into useful items like potions. Really, she wasn't too keen on the whole subject, but the quests she had been able to find that revolved around combat seemed... Well, she wouldn't say they were too challenging or intimidating for her. She just needed more training first, that was all! She couldn't possibly go out on a quest to slay some monsters without training and warming up first!

And what better way to start training than to get a lay of the land. Calcifer spent a good chunk of time trudging through the fields, past the forest, and eventually to the mountainous regions to the far north of the first floor. She ended up scanning the area around some steep hills, but wasn't seeing anything out of place. “Hmmm..." She mused to herself. “Is there really supposed to be a bunch of different herbs out here? I don't see anything..."

ID: 177354 | LD: 3 - Fail  [0/5 materials]

@Aquan

“How difficult can it be to gather a few herbs?" Calcifer placed her hands on her hips, speaking confidently to herself while gazing out over the vast fields of the first floor. Swinging her arms and taking wide strides forward, she set out from the Town of Beginnings to complete her first quest for Zachariah. It was supposed to teach her the importance of gathering materials out in the wild and crafting them into useful items like potions. Really, she wasn't too keen on the whole subject, but the quests she had been able to find that revolved around combat seemed... Well, she wouldn't say they were too challenging or intimidating for her. She just needed more training first, that was all! She couldn't possibly go out on a quest to slay some monsters without training and warming up first!

And what better way to start training than to get a lay of the land. Calcifer spent a good chunk of time trudging through the fields, past the forest, and eventually to the mountainous regions to the far north of the first floor. She ended up scanning the area around some steep hills,

[rolling...]

“Ohhh, how long—is she going to chase after me—?” Calcifer muttered to herself in between small gasps of air. Her eyes went wide as a voice began to shout from behind her, and the teen only spared a quick glance over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the brunette adventurer who was yelling expletives after the both of them. Confused and still concerned for her safety, Calcifer kept running until she passed by a man with pale blonde hair and a naive look on his face. “Ah! Be careful—!” She shouted when he regarded the mother boar with fondness.

The cartoonish chase went on for a while. Long enough for them to pass a couple of other players in the woods. Calcifer felt nearly at her limit, and  swallowed a lump in her throat before she drastically slowed her pace. The heel of her boot dug into the ground to aid her stop and turn her around. The blonde man wouldn’t be far behind her, and she intended to place herself between him and the beast that so adamantly wanted revenge against her for harming her baby. Pulling out her straight sword, Calcifer stood her ground against the charging mother boar. “So be it!” Her chest still bobbed in and outward from her heavy breaths she took. “If we are fated to do battle, I mustn’t drag innocent people into our quarrel. Calcifer the Knight will show you her resolve!” She declared, readying to come to blows.

Meanwhile, just past the deep thickets of the forest and farther towards the looming mountains of the first floor, a young girl with pastel pink hair and a matching set of determined eyes circled in tandem with her opponent--a single boar piglet. With their gazes locked, Calcifer's mouth curled up into a smirk. “You really think you're a match for me? Hmph!" She scoffed and her chest puffed full of confidence. “Stand in my way, young one, and I'm afraid you'll come to regret it." Calcifer taunted her enemy further, her basic straight sword held at the ready in her right hand. Their stand-off lasted a few seconds more, until Calcifer let out a wry chuckle. “So be it... Allow me to make this quick for you. Hyaa!" She rushed forward, slashing across and dealing a single point of damage to the little boar. It squealed out in pain, rearing back and continuing to cry long after Calcifer pulled back and readied for a second strike.

Puffing and gasping for air, Calcifer could be found a minute later scrambling through the forest, tripping over dense roots and scratching her arms and cheeks against prickly bushes. “I--I acknowledge my folly! I concede!!" She yelled and panted. Barreling through the foliage on her trail was a large and very angry mother boar, snorting and squealing with protective malice. “Please ma'am--! Surely we can-- come to an agreement?!" Calcifer's pleas most certainly feel on deaf, unyielding ears as the mother boar trampled. The splitting 'crack' of a pinecone splintering under the weight of her hoof caused the girl to let out a small squeak of fear.

She kept just a bit of distance between herself and her old guild-mate, if only for the fact that she could feel her brow furrowed in frustration while she crouched down around the edge of bushes, the base of trees, and wading through the taller grass in search of some usable material item that was supposed to be out here. She caught a glimpse once of Adeux plucking an herb from the ground, then looked back to the area in front of her in disbelief. 'Am I doing something wrong?' She thought with a disheartened expression. Calcifer shook her head. No, it was going to take some time. She just had to be patient and keep trying.

There was a noticeable pause when he asked her about how she acquired the game, but then her response came very normally. "Yes, I bought it. It was horribly expensive." She stood up straight, still focusing on her task and facing towards the fields. Her head swiveled back and forth slowly, and she took a few moments to search while standing in place.

ID#: 156918 | LD: 2 - Fail

@Adeux

"Wonderful!" She nodded, glancing to the side and watching as he retrieved an item from the ground. 'Ah, so that's how it's done? Hmmm...' She mused in her thoughts. Calcifer then shook her head in response, "Not quite... I've got my sword, but I've only just started looking for ways to help people. I haven't been presented with the need to put it to use." In so many words, she admitted that she'd only begun doing quests. "For the better, usually." She then played it off, though her words sounded rather sincere. "Only the foolish and destructive look for any opportunity to draw their weapons."

She took her hands off her hips and stopped looking out over the open fields to actually step into them, walking along and away from the city walls. She dropped her sight towards the grass in front of her, brows narrowed while she focused on looking for anything of interest. She began to wonder if the herbs and such that old man Zachariah wanted them to retrieve would really just be laying around on the floor waiting to be picked up. At least, she hadn't managed to spot any of them just yet.

ID#: 155184 | LD: 6 - Fail

She played off of the smirk he offered and smiled widely. "Of course! Yet there's strength in numbers. I'm sure we'll make quick work of this task." She nodded confidently. She turned back to Zachariah and finished receiving the instructions for their task. Go fetch five herbs from the fields outside of the city, and bring them back to the old alchemist.

Calcifer once again walked with purpose as she strode through the city towards the Western Gate, this time with Adeux accompanying her. "So! How has the world of Aincrad been treating you?" She kicked off the small talk as they made it past the threshold. Calcifer breathed in the 'fresh' air as a breeze rolled by, sending ripples out across the grass. She had stopped and placed her hands on her hips, looking around at the vast landscape in front of them. There were boars lazily grazing in the distance, and wildflowers were scattered here and there. She had no idea where to begin, but taking in the scenery and surveying the area might just make a convincing enough excuse for inaction.

ID#: 153884 | LD: 10 - Fail

@Adeux

Calcifer listened attentively to the elderly alchemist as he was describing a way to find herbs outside of the city walls. Just as he got to the good part--the part where he was asking for her assistance with such an important task--she heard her name called by a very mature-sounding voice from the side. She looked over, and then up. Wow, this man was tall. She felt herself swallow, and then heard the man named Adeux out. His words gradually clicked into place, and she realized what he was talking about. A twinkle almost seemed to form in her eye, and her back straightened with pride. "An Ember-Knight, yes!" She bent at the waist in a bow, "Ember Knight Calcifer, at your service! Although..." She straightened back up with a sour expression on her face. "These days I'm back to being just a fledgling knight. It seems I've lost all the capabilities of my past self." A small sigh, and she shook her head. Looking back to the tall, dark-haired man before her, she looked him up and down. There were...some similarities to his old self, if she was recalling him correctly. Then again, she was merely a petite shell herself. Calcifer nodded, "Yes, I think I remember you. You once traded me that summoning scroll in exchange for the whereabouts of the old guru in the mountains of Chisel Peak." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded again.

"Well! It's a pleasure running into you again. I was just about to take on a task for this gentleman." She gestured toward Zachariah, standing beside them and looking at the players expectantly.

@Adeux

With the most basic of gear equipped to her avatar, Calcifer strode through the Town of Beginnings with a purpose. She was still working out exactly what that purpose was and where it would lead her, but her chin was held high nonetheless. ‘First thing’s first. Gotta make a name for myself.’ She thought as she walked along. ‘If I want to be a well-known and respected knight, the first part is the well-known part.’ Her modest straight-sword hung at her hip and her arms swung through the air with each stride. Suddenly, a golden opportunity was presented to her.

“Hello! Are you new around here?” A wise and learned old man was standing outside of a shop, smiling and waving at her. Calcifer’s chest puffed with a renewed purpose.

“You could say that!” She stopped in front of the old man Zachariah and lowered her head into a bow. “Calcifer, the soon-to-be knight, at your service! What might I be able to do for you, Sir?”

@Adeux

Profile
Username: Calcifer
Real name: Sakura Ito
Age: 14
Gender: Female
Height: 5’3”

History
Make-believe is the best game anyone can play. You can do anything, be anyone, and all the unfair rules of the real world don’t matter anymore. This creed became so ingrained in Sakura’s mind that she no longer wanted it to be ‘just a game’.

When she was little, Sakura loved to pretend. She took an otherwise boring childhood and made it exciting, creating stories and adventures and friends and memories. What started out as a commonly innocent manner of play, however, gradually evolved into an obsession that infected all facets of her life. Her mother eventually tried to dissuade her from such unbecoming behavior, but her discipline rarely resulted in any long-lasting improvements.

As she grew up, Sakura had one or two close friends at a time while she was at school. Of course they were labeled as the weird kids, since they were the ones that still played pretend at lunch break and ran around in the field having fake magical sword fights in gym class. In middle school, she discovered a lot of the online world and settled right at home into a popular MMO at the time. Calcifer, she named her other self. The one who would become the most awesome Ember-Knight in the realm!

Personality
“Yes, I’d like to pre-order the Nervegear bundle, please!” Sakura’s chest was puffed up with confidence and enthusiasm. Surely they still had some spots available. She’d been waiting in line for over two hours now--this was the moment she’d been waiting for! The exhausted worker on the other side of the counter in the crowded, and now kind of musty, game store tapped away on their keyboard, leaving Sakura in breath-holding suspense.
“115,880 yen.” The cashier looked up from the computer and stared back at her expectantly.
“Oh! Yes, of course!” Sakura fumbled with her purse and went to pay the nice person. She could almost feel her soul leaving her body along with the large sum of money she handed over, but no matter. It was going to be so worth it.

Virtues

• Brazenly Optimistic - With a grin on her face and a fire in her heart, Sakura tries to look on the bright side in every situation. That’s the best way to live happily, after all. Thinking of the downsides in everything is just...too sad.
• Unorthodox - She may not tackle every situation in the most predictable way - and that’s part of the fun! She’ll most certainly tackle every obstacle thrown at her, but thinking outside the box is step one.
• Anything But a Quitter - She’s persistent, and it shows in the best and worst of situations. Most of the time, it’s probably just foolish stubbornness. Plenty of times, it hasn’t been worth it. Either way, Sakura hates giving up, and she’ll commit everything she has when she sets her heart on it.

Flaws

• Technologically Illiterate - Sakura’s been playing video games for a couple of years now. Well...just one video game. One video game in which her only real focus was to run around, explore, roleplay, and blindly take on any quest that popped up in front of her. She’s got a lot to learn.
• Delusional - For a 14-year-old, she is almost impressively immature. Her heart and mind are a mystery, and many people might wonder if the fantastical delusions she prattles on about are truly real in her head. There haven’t been many people that embraced her way of living, and so she marches on to the next great adventure.
• All-Nonsense - There’s a reason Sakura and her friends were usually ostracized. She’s weird, annoying, and often just a nuisance. She hardly takes anything seriously that needs to be, and while her childish nature might be fun and entertaining to some, it’s downright infuriating to others.

Skills
5/5 SP

»[5/50] Rank 1 - One-Handed Straight Sword

Inventory
»Rare Weapon (+1 DMG | +1 ACC)
»Vanity Armor
»(3) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)

Roleplays

Relationships 

Story Thus Far