Katoka

While following Chase Katoka realized she was being a lot more forward with her red headed companion than usual and blushed slightly, she leaned in to her ear and whispered again, "If I'm making you uncomfortable I can stop. I feel more at ease with you so I'm not as anxious as I usually am." she leaned back and continued walking with her arm looped through Vie's. It was true, she was beginning to feel much more comfortable with the girl and it was easier for her to act natural, though maybe hanging on her arm and getting as close as she had been might not be what she's comfortable with.

Once the trio arrived at the area they were going to search in Katoka surveyed the area, "Well, I guess we should start out search huh?" she begins to stretch some before looking for materials in the area. She manages to see two fish near the surface of the pond and sneaks up on them, snatching them up with her bare hands she holds them above her head and yells, "Fish!"

Gained: (2) Tier 1 material <<Fish>>

Katoka watched the red head head over to cash register, it seemed that she had managed to diffuse the situation before it had gotten out of hand. Letting out a sigh of relief she turned to Chase, "I accept your apology, but next time just ask. You don't want a woman as an enemy, trust me." she smiled and lightly punched him in the arm, "Don't worry about this being your first game newbie, you've got two veteran gamer girls to take care of you now." she laughed and it felt nice to be able to joke around. Having such normal interactions with people was a step in the right direction to living a normal life here.

When Vie returned Katoka gestured forward to Chase, "Alright then, lead the way." she turned to her red headed companion, "Chase-kun here thinks he knows a good hunting spot." she looped her arm through Vie's and put her other fist up in the air, "Let's goooo!"

Katoka was a bit startled by Vie. She fed Chase's familiar and let her companion finish. She understood being upset when it came to being a girl in an mmo, especially when the males tend to treat you like you're stupid. She placed a hand on the red head's shoulder, "I don't think he meant anything by it Vie-chan. He seems concerned for our safety, which is appreciated." she smiled sweetly at her friend, but turned back to the boy across from them, "However no, this isn't either of our first games. Assuming so is a bit rude but I think we can look past it, right Vie?" she said patting her on the head a bit. She leaned in to Vie's ear rather close and covered her mouth with one head to whisper just loud enough for her to hear, "Don't get upset over him, we're both much cuter anyways." she giggled a bit and sat back in her chair.

"So where is the closest gathering spot Blue Boy?" she asked Chase as though the whole situation hadn't happened.

Turning to the sound of the voice Katoka saw the man working in her sword before her. She watched as he pounded and worked the metal with his hammer, she was entranced with the work he did before her. Crossing her fingers on his command she watched as the blacksmith heats it one last time and quenches it in the water nearby sending up a cloud of steam. The small woman flinched at the sound of the screaming metal but couldn't keep her eyes off the work. Finishing up the blade seem to take no time at all, the speed at which he sharpened the metal and attached it to the tsuka was blinding. When he finally turned to present her with the finished product she reached out with trembling hands and gently took it from him. The katana was incredibly light, she took a few test swings and it felt great in her hands. Taking a stance she charged a released one of her new sword skills. She returned the blade to it's habaki and turned to Griswold. She bowed deeply and came back up grinning from ear to ear, "Thank you so much, this sword is absolutely amazing sir." hopping around like a giddy school girl she made her way to the exit. "Thank you again and I look forward to working with you in the future!"

Katoka was startled into standing still at first. The speed and grace at which the girl worked was amazing. Soon the blonde relaxed and let the woman work as she took her measurements and draped cloth over her at various times. When she did catch a glimpse of the woman working she was surprised by how beautiful her skin was, she was in awe once again. When the tailor was finally finished Katoka looked down at her clothing, it was gorgeous. The cloth was slightly cool to the touch which pleased her, the colors were exactly what she had requested. After a few moments of checking herself over she smiled, "Thank you so much, it's perfect!" she looked around at the seemingly empty shop and started towards the door. "Um," she called out once more while stopping at the door, "I look forward to working with you in the future." she then stepped back out into the cold, shutting the door behind herself.

Entering the shop Katoka was immediately in awe, the items on display were clearly of exquisite quality. Upon seeing this her excitement grew, she was finally going to get her first katana. Her guild recommended that she place the order here since Griswold was also from Firm Anima. "Hello? Griswold sir?" she called out, "I'm here to pick up my order." she continued to look about at the different weapons and armor on display, the varying types of metal making her eyes sparkle. Who knew there was such a myriad of colors when it came to smithing? She was getting more and more excited to see how her sword turned out.

Katoka entered the building anxiously, she had heard from Raidou that the owner was as cold as the floor her shop was on but the items she produced were of top quality. Looking around she saw clothing and light armor that were amazing, though the 'Go Away' sign seemed odd for a shop. "Hello?" she called out, "M-my name is Katoka, I'm from Firm Anima and I had placed an order for an item?" she continued to look around at the mannequins in wonder, maybe she could get a nice dress from her at some point too? The ones on display were gorgeous.

Katoka watched as the sun begin to fall. It was a good idea to take shelter for a time, walking through a sandstorm at night would prove to be difficult. Ducking into the cave she sat down near Hisa, "I didn't bring any ice cream sadly, but if you have an extra sandwich I'll take one." she sat with her knees to her chest watching out into the darkening storm. So far they had done well, Hisa had taken a bit of damage in the beginning bit other than that the group remained unhurt.

"I'm glad we could all do this quest together. I imagine walking through the desert by yourself would be quite lonely, not to mention the possibility of getting lost or being attacked along the way." Katoka shivered a bit, whether it was from the cold or the thought of being killed alone in the desert she was unsure.

Katoka nodded along with their conversation, breaking off small bits of the scone and putting them in her mouth. The pastry was delicious but she was too nervous to prepare it as meticulously as Vie had. It seemed that Chase was concerned for their safety which she was glad for, despite how quiet he had been he did seem like a nice individual. "Well with this being a gathering quest I think that we should be out of danger here on the first floor at least. Vie and I have gained enough levels that the weaker mobs here should pose little issue if we were attacked somehow."

Katsumi felt a tug at her yukata and looked down at Chase's familiar, "Awww, hey sweetie. Do you want a bite? Is it ok if I give him a bit?" she asked patting his plated head lovingly. She already had a piece in her hand ready to slip to the pangolin.

After the embarrassment subsided a bit, though her cheeks were still a bit pink, Katoka ordered a scone as well. She had never been to this cafe before and didn't want to wast too much time looking over the menu. Accepting a mug of tea, she accepted the party invite as it pinged in her UI. The blonde was still a bit unsure of Chase, he was a man of few words it seemed. Trying to break the silence Katoka asked, "So what all does this quest entail? I like to have the details worked out usually before going in so I can properly asses things." she sipped again at her tea waiting for their pastries to arrive. The tea had a nice smooth taste that warmed her body all over, it always surprised her how well the cardinal system translated her senses, it will probably take her a while to get used to it.

Katoka was startled at first by Vie swinging her around and embracing her, but she hugged her tightly back and felt surprisingly warm. Her face flushed as she enjoyed their contact, "I-I missed you too." she whispered in reply. They separated and she introduced herself to the blue haired man, bowing politely and smiling. He was rather quiet and it seemed like something was on his mind, but he didn't act particularly hostile so she wasn't put off by him. Following Vie to the cafe the group found their seats at a table and the man coughed a bit and asked, "So when did you start dating?"

Katoka turned bright red and steam practically shot from the top of her head, "W-w-w-what?! W-we aren't, we're friends! And and-" she covered her face completely with her hands, she had only known Vie for a short amount of time and wasn't even sure if she like women the same way that she did.

Katoka got a pin and saw she had a message, when she saw it was from Vie she excitedly opened it. They had planned on meeting up for the material gathering quest so she had already been waiting for a message to arrive. Sitting in her room at the inn Katoka typed out a message to reply to her friend.

She felt a bit nervous, the last time they had done a quest together it was a bit dangerous, but it wasn't the thought of danger that made her heart beat fast. Looking down at her hand she blushed and stood up quickly. "L-Let's go then!" she said aloud to herself, marching out of the room and out into the town. She was beginning to get familiar with the layout of the Town of Beginnings, despite being called a town it's size was more that of a small city. It's sprawling buildings and alleyways tended to form maze like corridors inside the large protective wall surrounding it. She did manage to make her way to the marketplace where she saw a familiar redhead bobbing about from vendor to vendor with a blue haired boy in tow.

"Vie!!!" she called out and waved to her friend as she ran up to meet with her.

Upon standing her sensei bowed to her first, Katoka was shocked and bowed several times. When he straightened himself he laughed again, putting a hand on the young girls shoulder, "It's been many years since someone has given me a run for my money like that. It's also been a while since I laughed that hard. Thank you Katoka."

She was shocked at first, she didn't remember ever giving the swordsman her name yet he called her by her player name. Just then a window popped up in front her signifying the completion of the quest and the acquisition of the katana skill. With tears in her eyes she tapped the confirmation button and leapt forward to her sensei to hug him. He was shocked at first but hugged her back.

"It's rude to call me by my name when I don't even know yours Sensei." she said stepping back. The man chuckled, "It hasn't been spoken for quite some time, but you may call me Sakurai little one."

She nodded and bowed again, placing her fist against the palm of her other hand. "Thank you Sakurai Sensei."

With that she said her goodbyes and left the mountain sanctuary. She somehow felt stronger, and she planned on putting this new strength to good use.

Katoka was surprised to find herself on the ground, she heard her sensei's muffled snickering. Was that programmed? It must have been. She saw his figure over her now, holding out a hand to help her up. She accepted the help and brushed herself off, "I guess I had that one coming huh?" she asked, glaring at the man trying not to laugh. "Again young one, maybe without falling this time."

She hopped up once again and went through the motions, this time she managed to avoid the stones being tossed either by dodging or deflecting them with her sword. She wasn't prepared however for the bamboo poles that she hadn't noticed rigged to the ground swinging up to meet her. This continued for most of the day, new obstacles and more of her falling down. By the end of the day however she managed to dance about the field despite the various items thrown or swung at her. With one final twirl around she crossed bokutō with her sensei who was now standing in front of her. She was surprised but managed to gather her thoughts just in time to blow two of his rapid blows, ducking under him she leapt to the side and attacked, but of course he deflected the swings.

Leaping to the side she ran from her teacher, knowing he would chase her to continue his assault. As she dashed for the end of the course he attempted to intercept her, but was met with one of his own rigged bamboo poles swinging up to hit him square in the face. He fell back on his back and Katoka jumped off at the end of the course, she turned and ran back to her teacher, "Sensei?! Are you alright?" her teacher laughed a deeply and sat up, she offered her hand and he accepted.

The next morning was much of the same, once Katsumi was awake she ate and stretched before walking with her sensei back to the same area as yesterday. Looking confused Katoka turned to her teacher, he smiled, "Today you will take all you've learned and learn to adapt to any situation." he gestured to the bamboo rods, "You will attack and move upon the rods like yesterday but I will be adding obstacles to you test how well you adapt."

Katoka sighed but hopped up on the rods, assuming her stance from yesterday, "What sort of obstacles are we talking about Sensei?" she asked slightly concerned. He laughed, "If I told you now it would spoil the fun. Now let me know when you are ready."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling Katsumi cleared her mind, "I'm ready Sensei." and she leapt to the next rod, swinging her sword and ducking to avoid an invisible blow. When she came back up however she was met with a stone to the forehead, causing her to fall flat on her back.

Katoka almost fell asleep in tonight's bath. Her stomach was full and her body was weary, it had been a long time since she had done this much physical activity so many days in a row. How many more training sessions did they have left? There wasn't much in the notes except for 'plan to stay for a few days'. Whoever left the details was definitely a jerk, she sank into the bath deeper and blew bubbles out of frustration. She was close though, she could feel it. It was like with each bit of the training she mastered the system was nudging her closer and closer to the skill. She did miss the company of others though, her sensei was nice but he was an NPC. There were times he felt so alive, so real, but she knew in the back of her mind that he was just data. Then again, wasn't she as well?

At first Katoka thought that she would be fine, her balance wasn't all that bad after all. The initial balance training didn't take her long to get he hang of, after about an hour and a half she was hoping about the rods with ease and had only managed to fall a couple of time. The sword half she thought was going to be easy.

It wasn't.

With the added weight and length of the sword she had to adjust her original way of balance, then she had to account for swinging the blade. This took her much longer to really get a feel for, and she fell even more. When she began to get frustrated she called upon the knowledge from her first day of training, she calmed her mind and focused on the task at hand, then she swing her sword with purpose like the second day. Her phantom foes fell with each blow and she hopped and dodged other unseen attacks. Before she had realized it she had reached the far side of the practice course without falling and hopped down pleased with her success. She bowed to her teacher and he nodded, "Very good young one. Come, we will have dinner."

Once again Katoka had fallen asleep almost as soon as she climbed into bed. The next morning she got up and ate breakfast again with her sensei, and they went out to another open area. This time there were about 30 bamboo rods sticking out of the ground, they were about three feet off the ground and spaced another three feet from each other. "Now you must learn to move with ease in your environment. Your balance must be precise and your movements precise." he leapt up onto a rod and stood on it with one foot, with his bokutō drawn he began to make fluid attacking motions, leaping from one rod to another with ease. He twirled and spin, attacking invisible foes and deflecting phantom blades. At the end he leapt down and gestured to her, "Now it is your turn, first without your weapon. Once you have gained your footing and balance you may use it."

Tonight Katoka took a longer bath than she had previously. Her muscles ached and her hands and arms were extremely sore, she almost couldn't raise the bucket to wash of the soap before she slid into the tub of hot water. It was strange, she knew this was all virtual but looking down at her hands she could see her skin beginning to blister from the constant swinging of her sword. She could feel the displacement of the water around her, despite the fact that it was just slightly off she felt the warmth of it around her body, soothing her muscles. Had Kayaba really put this much work into something just to kill thousands?

It felt so odd, if he wanted to just murder a ton of kids and people he could have immediately had the NerveGear blow up our brains. Or hell if he wanted to just watch us all fight to he death he could have made one big death tournament or arena or something. This all felt like too much time and, she hated to admit it, love had been pored into this creation. Katsumi shook her head and pulled herself out of the bath, it was time to sleep if she was going to try and forgive that man already.

"What am I thinking about putting down?" Katoka asked taking her own papers and pen. She read over the the questions, "Well, I don't think these are really things that you can borrow answers from others for. These have to be your wishes, plus they won't come true if you tell." she blushed a bit turning so her blonde companion hopefully wouldn't see, a few of her answers were going to be a bit more personal to share. It would be too embarrassing for her to outright tell Ruler the things she plans to write. "Now think real hard ok? These wishes have to come from here," she poked at her chest, "rather than here." she poked her forehead and giggled.

Turning to her papers she read the questions again more thoroughly, what was she going to write? She closed her eyes and thought hard about how she felt deep inside.

[Tanzaku Recieved]

Katoka took a similar stance to what her Sensei had, drawing the bokutō and standing in a readied stance. Her teacher was leaning against a nearby tree, sipping from a mug of tea he had pulled from somewhere. Taking a step forward she struck the dummy once, an echoing thud bouncing through the area. The wood had vibrated up her arms and hurt her hands slightly, she adjusted her grip and struck again. And again. And again.

After a few hours her teacher called out to her, he had brought some rice balls and they both sat down together to enjoy them. They ate sitting in silence, Katoka spent much of the time staring at the dummy trying to remember her instructors words and movements. Something clicked in her mind and she finished her food and her tea quickly , thanking her teacher with a bow and went back to the dummy. She cleared her mind this time, focusing on nothing before she struck out again at the dummy, this time with two rapid hits before the vibrating of the wood had hurt her hands. She quickly looked back and her Sensei was smiling, she had begun to figure it out.

Time passed quickly and when the sun began to set Katoka let out a final cry just before striking the dummy for the final time. She had begun to increase the number of strikes as time went on and now she managed to hit her wooden opponent four times in rapid succession. This time however she thought she saw her wooden sword take on a slight glow just before she struck. With a speed she didn't know she had possessed the little blonde landed five blows back to back, this time though her hands remained firmly gripped in the hilt without throbbing even once.

In the morning Katoka and her Sensei at breakfast together in mostly silence save for a few polite greetings and small words here or there. Shortly after she stretched and they set out to another area of the grounds, this one was different from the waterfall though. In a clearing surrounded by a few trees stood a wooden training dummy, it was stained with some sort of sealant that gave it a smooth sheen and was covered in dents and dings. It was well used and it seemed quite old. Her teacher stood next to the dummy with his bokutō, "Next you must be fluid in your motions. The sword is not just a tool, but an extension of yourself." he positions himself in from of the dummy and motions drawing the wooden sward as if it was a real blade. "If you can move your body like a leaf floats on the wind," he strikes the dummy several times, causing five echoing thuds to ring out, "then you can strike just as quickly as you need to."

Katoka let out a content sigh as she settled into a warm bath. She didn't try to think too hard about how the water in the tub was warmed, or what it was made of for that matter, she was just pleased that she could soak her tired muscles after a long day of hiking and sitting up the cold waterfall. She wondered if what she was doing was going to be essential to her learning this skill, it seemed like such an in-depth and almost real training regimen that she had forgotten that she was in a game. She took deep breath and began to calm her mind again, it didn't take her long to reach the peaceful state of mind she had earlier. Maybe there was something to this quest after all.

When she had returned to her room she rolled out the bedroll and crawled under the soft blanket. It took her almost no time at all to fall into a deep sleep.

Katoka was surprised to see more members of the guild show up. She bowed and greeted Kiluia and Haine, then crouched down to the polar bear cub that was scratching at her leg, "Awww, it's good to see you again as well little one!" she cuddled the bear, scratching it's head lovingly. Once everyone was acquainted and situated they all set off into the desert with Hisa leading the way. Katoka pulled her scarf up around her mouth the block the coming sands and it didn't take long before they kicked up, her small friend was hit instantly by the storms debris and staggered back into Ruler.

It seemed like her own scarf was enough to keep the sand at bay, she placed a hand on Hisa's shoulder, "You holding up ok? Let us know if you need potions or anything." she knew her friend wasn't one to accept hand outs often, but if it mean't life or death she hoped she would speak up.

"First," her sensei explained, "You must empty your mind." The two of them sat under the water fall, their legs crossed and their arms resting on their legs. The cold water crashed down on Katoka's head making it difficult to do anything, let alone clear her mind. If it was easy it wouldn't be training though, so she sat under the water until her thoughts began to slow like trickle of the nearby stream. With her eyes closed her thoughts and worries began to float away down the river in her mind, it didn't take long before her mind was empty and calm like the surface of a placid lake. After a time she felt the hand of her sensei as he brought her back to her senses, she opened her eyes and the sun had already set.

"Good, for now we will rest and continue training in the morning. You will be safe here for the night." he led her back to the dojo and showed her to a spare room with a bedroll and other various amenities.