Lishuu

"It would appear to be some form of flower," she stated, a bit amused that he couldn't make that out from where he was standing. It wasn't like it looked any different from a normal flower, but for the strange coloration. "Just, it's a bit prettier than any flower I've ever seen. Makes you really think about the fact that this world is supposed to be a fantasy setting, huh?"

She often vocalized those things aloud for other people's benefit. There were plenty of people who just naturalized the game over time, and she'd spoken to many of them who talked about it like it was no different from everyday life outside. That made her feel a bit sad for them.

Then again, maybe that was how they coped with it. She couldn't just accept this world as a new reality. That flew in the face of everything she'd learned up to now. It ignored millions of years of evolution and adaptation that went into something as small as her family. Her family, who no doubt missed her and still cried when they thought about their daughter, living in some sort of death game.

She disliked the idea that they had to hear about it from someone else. The inconvenience that it would put on her father, who had to travel internationally in order to sit idly by while no one could do anything. She hated it.

But that hate channeled quickly, apparently, to her resolve. "Wow!" she called out, as her fingers plucked yet another material from the ground. "Either I'm really good at this, or it's just too easy," she said with a smirk toward Koga. 

"Just three left to go!"

ID# 183282  Loot: 19 <2/5 materials found>

After a few less than reassuring words from Koga, Lish nodded. Really, some of the people in this world needed a better outlook; or at least, they needed some lessons about how to talk to people. Or in this instance, how not to. The young woman only felt a bit more uneasy after hearing from the man designated her protector that her life wasn't completely safe in his hands. The least he could have done was acted like he had everything under control! With a bit of trepidation evident in her hands, she turned her attention to the field.

It was like one of the vast fields where she'd played as a child. 

Everything about it reminded her of the first vestiges of life, wherein carefree and unsuspecting young experienced things. The First floor felt akin to infancy, and Koga like a first time father. She chuckled at the thought. The entire situation felt wrong, like a simulation of life to the point where someone might lose sight of what was real and what wasn't if they leaned into it. Many people most likely already had. Lish would have to talk to more people to get perspective on it.

She couldn't be the only one who felt that way, after all.

As she wandered the area in search of "blue, glistening" things, she realized one almost crunched under the toe of her boot. With a quick yelp, she backpedaled to assure that she didn't mangle the item and ruin it. Carefully, she bent down and gathered it up, and as she glanced over it, she realized that it was actually a beautiful and translucent blue bloom. "What an odd looking flower," she commented, and the next moment, a window popped up across her HUD indicating that she'd found a "blue moon flower," which was described as useful in alchemical experimentation. "Koga, I think I've found one!" Lish exclaimed, holding the item aloft so that the man could appraise it.

ID# 183258 Loot: 12 <1/5 gathered>

The one thing she was glad about was that she wouldn't have to do any fighting. At least, she wouldn't this time. Time would come when it was unavoidable, but for this particular foray into the world outside of the Town of Beginnings, someone said they would protect her. She didn't want to rely on others for that, but she wasn't going to say no when the die had already been cast. She did note the expression on Koga's face was one of befuddlement, and so she decided that she would not repeat the ill-fated 'Senpai' incident a second time. It wasn't like she'd assumed he was Japanese, it was more that Sword Art Online was a Japanese release; but that didn't mean it wasn't possibly racially insensitive, and she had to be mindful of that sort of thing as well.

"Blue and glistening, is it?" she repeated thoughtfully as they left the laboratory behind them and headed out toward the gates of the city. "That sounds like it would stand out at least."

Lish knew she could be wrong about that, though. In all likelihood, this would be a bit more difficult that she gave it credit for. If the NPC quest giver had deigned to assign them a protector, it made sense that there might be dangers she wasn't taking into account. "Let's hurry, I'm certain you have other things you'd rather be doing, Koga," she managed an empathetic smile, as if to say 'I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you.' She spent the duration of the walk with her hands folded neatly behind her back, practically skipping toward the outer wall of the town. It was as exciting as it was terrifying for her. Everything she'd seen only from afar she was about to experience firsthand. This was it. This was her first step forward.

"Hi, yes, Koga?" she asked as she pushed her way through the door and a bell overhead rung to announce her arrival.  "I was just wondering if I could bother you about a weapon? I'm not altogether confident about what things do, but I want to be able to hold my own in a fight," she said as she spanned the distance to the counter and smiled, leaning across it to gaze up at the man. She had a cockeyed smile, eyes half open as if in a daze. "Being as this is what you do best, I thought I might leave things up to you?" Her lips stretched into a full smile as she threw him a thumbs up. "And thanks again for the help, honestly... I really don't know where I'd be if someone hadn't taken me under their wing straightaway. Probably a name on the monument, if I'm being honest."

Her eyes screwed shut and she winced at the idea of death. There were so many who had come before her that did end up exactly as she had inferred. She hated it. With a long sigh, she shook off the gloom that threatened to take hold of her. Lish wasn't any good to anyone like that. "Anyway, I'm mostly looking to take up a supporting role," she offered by way of helpful thoughts on what to craft for her. "I want to be able to fight where it's necessary, but I'd prefer to keep away from the frontline whenever it's possible. With that in mind, I do defer to your artistic vision."

"Ohh, root beer!" Lish exclaimed before all else. She became enamored of the American beverage during her study abroad, and it quickly became her go to beverage. Unlike most of the girls back home, she wasn't quite so fond of booze. "I like that idea, let's go there."

She decided to follow Koga toward the aforementioned 'place,' especially given that the others were likely to go along with it. Astralin seemed eager to make friends, and the other guy who hadn't named himself yet was interested in more information about Koga's trade. It was perfect. They all had very valid reasons to continue. Mutually beneficial relationships between peers often led to longer term situations, and Lishuu was just as eager to have a support system in Aincrad as Astralin seemed to be.

"Honestly, I'm so glad you feel that way!" she practically beamed to the other girl when she responded. "It's been really difficult for me to make friends around here because everyone busies themselves with quests and things that I'm not strong enough to do. I've spent some time talking to the children around and exploring the city, it's to the point where I generally know where things are..." the bluenette coughed softly. There were some things better left unsaid; but it was good that Astralin preferred to pay for herself because Lish didn't really have much in the way of income. "...but it can be pretty repetitive, going the same places and seeing the same thing for years on end, you know? I'm not really excited to be here anymore." She gave an awkward chuckle. None of them were all that enthusiastic, really. She just said what came to mind, though, and she stood by it. That was genuinely how she felt.

"What about you?" she asked, turning her attention to Sketch. "My name's Lishuu, but you can call me Lish if you'd prefer. What's yours?"

Is this guy serious?

Lish stared blankly for a moment at Recon as he responded to her. What a positively bleak outlook to have, and again he persisted with the tasteless humor? Everyone marches to the beat of their own drum, I suppose? The bluenette blinked rapidly, uncertain of what sort of response he was looking for. In lieu of a verbal answer, she gave a cheery 'mhm!' in response to his comment about being impaled. Her eyes moved over to Koga and widened slightly, sending a non-verbal plea of 'HELP ME' to the man before Zackariah busied himself with drafting Koga to actually help them.

Well, at least she wouldn't be stuck alone with the dry bar comic. 

"Not a thing!' she answered with a bright smile that contrasted her dimwitted retort. "I guess I'm in your care, Koga-senpai!" She felt a bead of sweat drip down her forehead as she said those words, utterly disgusted with herself. The others in her Uni's cultural association would have berated her relentlessly for it. "Erm, anyway," she cleared her throat, the rosy hue of embarrassment fast fading from her cheeks. "I honestly have no idea, I've never actually wandered outside of the city before now. I'm actually quite anxious about it." 

She quirked a brow when the man made the joke that he needed his nose. It was sarcastic, and certainly not what she was used to expecting from a stranger. In this situation, seriousness took absolute precedence. She'd made a gaff of her first impression on someone. Then again, his response was equally horrendous in terms of social etiquette. Did that make them even?

Lish didn't tarry long on the thought, though. Koga spoke up and directed her attention to the shopkeep, the old man apparently named Zackariah. What an interesting old man, she appraised in silence as he finished his pitch. Lish knew nothing about leveling up or getting stronger, but what she surmised was that a quest would be the proper step in that direction. After all, everyone seemed to be doing them as much and as often as they could.

"Ah, yes," she forced a laugh. It came out as awkward as she expected, but then, she was just trying to be polite. "It's actually quite a relief that things like this don't have quite the sake consequences that they would in the real world."

Part of her wished that they did, though. Every part of this world that robbed her of any portion of the human experience was a letdown. She didn't iterate that to the room, of course. Someone might mistake her for a masochist. "Anyway, it seems that this man has a request, and he's willing to reimburse us for our effort." Lish turned her attention to the quest giver.

"I'd be delighted to help," she told him with a smile.

"Oh goodness!" she declared loudly as the wet crunch of a nose smashing into wood made her visibly cringe. It was unlikely that he actually felt anything of the pain, but the impact was very real. She didn't feel any less bad that the man had been spared the worst of the ordeal by the NerveGear, though. "Are you alright?" she asked of the man, who had cursed quite loudly.

That bit did cause her to shift her gaze around, mindful of any children who might be within earshot. Satisfied that there were none, she found herself surprised to find Koga, who she'd met during an altercation between her friends. The man seemed to be alarmed, which made sense given the outcry that the other man made.

"Yeah, sorry," she said quickly to the man and his familiar, "I've gone and tried to take this poor man's nose off. I'm terribly sorry, by the way," she apologized a second time, this one meant for Recon. "Is there anything I might do to make it up to you?"

She was here to take a quest, but that meant this unknown man most likely had business with the old alchemist as well. Perhaps she could offer her help in the quest? Two heads were better than one, and all that.

The First few lessons are free

While others wandered by going through their daily routine, Lish only gleaned bits and pieces of how it all worked. She understood going to vendors and paying for various services. The way that people went out of the town and entered combat was still a bit fresh, and she hadn't experienced that for herself, but she had watched from afar. Every tick of health away from someone's maximum made her heart skip a beat. If the green bar above their head dwindled into the red, it was akin to the heart monitor fluctuating rapidly. If it dropped to zero, they flat-lined. She hated thinking about it.

She didn't even really like the idea of bashing away at the health of monsters. Lishuu understood the importance of killing inanimate creatures with no inherent personality in order to set everyone free, but the association had already set in. HP was life force. Everything had it, living or inorganic. Any type of combat resulted in death- and while many cultures celebrated the end of life as part of a new cycle, she just hadn't attained that level of inner peace yet.

No- Lish hated the idea of contributing to the wheel of death. She wanted to stand in its way, to ensure that Aincrad couldn't take anyone else. Unfortunately, Lish didn't know the first thing about surviving outside of civilization. She was hesitant even to take the initial quest that would set her on the path forward.

But today was the day. 

For too long, she watched as her friends left her behind. They'd gotten stronger, and she'd done nothing.  If something were to happen to them, with the way she was, there would be nothing she could do. She was tired of feeling powerless. So, she headed for that icon that she knew to denote a quest, and she pushed open the door. 

"Um, pardon me...?"

@Koga @Recon

Lishuu level 1 20/20 HP | 5/5 EN 1 DMG

"Oh, yes, I think we'll be alright," Lish said with a brilliant smile as she regarded Koga. "Thanks so much for your help, again. I wouldn't have been able to break them up if I'd tried."

The truth was, they were stronger than she was. Not only in physical attributes, but also in spirit. She still didn't have the heart to break free of her fear and inadequacy to take the first steps out of town. Both of these men had done that, and they were well on their way forward. Their small digressions were massive breaks from her norm. The higher they soared, the further away from her they got. Perhaps- perhaps it was time for her to shake off the shackles that bound her and go out into the world, even if there were severe ramifications.

She glanced at her friend, wounded in spirit rather than body. "There really are such kind people in this world," she mused as she listened to the woman offer healing and then to Koga, once again. "There are times when it's so easy to lose yourself in all the horrible things that happen here," she managed to smile and laugh. Through the pain that the world thrust on to her, she still found light shining through. "But that's not all there is. It's good to get reminders of that, from time to time."

Lish stood, helping the other man to his feet. Unease in his gait was apparent, but the voices around him seemed to pull him back from the terror. "Chad, go on, apologize," she glanced to the larger man. "Virgil is still shaking, can you see him?" The scrawnier man shook his head and protested, but Lish poked him with a finger. "Hush you, there's no reason to put on a brave face. It's okay to lean on others sometimes."

"Lish, c'mon-"

She silenced him with a glare that would have boiled water. Her gaze moved to Chad, who hulked over her, and he took a step back. "Aw, come on, Lish, we're all friends here-"

"Apologize," she scowled.

"I don't have time for this," he said as he turned away and threw up his hands. "I have too much crap to do to waste time with you guys. If you decide to stop goofing off, my DMs are open."

Lish felt her heart tear a bit as Chad turned away. Her friends were getting so far away; and the way he was acting was totally unacceptable. Virgil was staring at her when she turned her attention back to him. "I will never understand this toxic masculinity garbage," she huffed as she placed a hand on his shoulder. It was comical, because she reached up in order to do so- but she seemed completely confident in the action. Virgil did not laugh. "Look, it's fine to be scared. What he did wasn't cool, and you have to be willing to tell him when he's gone too far."

"Yeah, but I wasn't right, either," Virgil sagged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Lish. I should have listened when you were telling me to come off it."

She smiled softly and turned her attention back to the others.  "It looks like he's going to be fine," she assured them. In particular, she smiled at Astralin. "It's so cool that you can heal people," she said appreciatively. "If I could do that, I could do a lot more to help than..."

Her voice trailed off for a moment, and she caught herself looking back toward her dejected friend. Virgil headed back toward the inn where he was staying, and Lish turned to the small group of Players that gathered in the wake of the confusion. "Would you all like some drinks?" she asked them. "I'd be happy to pay you back for your help."

@Koga@Astralin@SketchSkirmish

She covered her mouth and stared, wide eyed as the seemingly small man ripped away a much larger person. The Herculean feat earned the appreciation and ire of the crowd in equal measure. Shouts of 'boo!' and 'this is the most excitement we've had in months!' clashed against 'thank god!' and 'I thought that was going to be really bad!'

Lish exhaled her terror and closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself. The worst side of humanity had its own terrifying way of showing, much the same way as the brightest part of them really shined. She loved all of it- a love affair with mankind that no one would ever be able to surmount. It was moments like these that reminded her of that.

"Dear lord, I'm so very glad someone was nearby," the bluenette murmured, a hand over her heart as the excitement washed away. She was trembling. 

Unfortunately, the brawny bastard seemed more displeased by his removal. "I couldn'couldn't hurt him if I wanted to!" he boomed, flailing wildly. "I just wanted to scare him! Y'know, make him realize he was being dumb."

"You're being dumb," the girl said softly as she placed a finger on the man's nose. "Beating someone up has nothing to do with the game's mechanics. You wouldn't be proving your point at all, you'd just be a bully. Look at him, he's terrified," Lish commented as she gestured toward the other man, now cowering on the pavement. "You had better apologize," she scolded him. "You might have lost a precious friend over this foolishness."

"But Lish...!"

"No buts!" she shoved a finger in his face and took a step into his personal space. The man took a step back, reluctant. "What were you going to do after you scourged him? Pretend it never happened? Make him treat you with some newfound respect? Did you even think it through at all?"

"..."

"Are you alright?" she asked of the other man, a hand on his shoulder to offer some comfort. "Its over now, you needn't hide..." Lish sighed. The realization struck that this might become a much bigger situation if they didn't work to resolve the trauma before it festered, but she wasn't any kind of psychologist. Her shoulders sagged slightly for a moment, then she looked up to Koga with a kind smile. 

"Thank you very much for your help," she told him. Not quite willing to leave her friend's side just yet, she continued. "I'm Lishuu," she introduced herself as she gently rubbed the fearful man's shoulder.  "And you are...?"

Things only got more heated as the two got in each other's face. Lish felt lightheaded as they escalated into a shouting match, and she took a seat slightly away from the roiling crowd. They shoved and tugged at each other as the armored man threw a punch. Cardinal did not register it as an attack, since the necessary skill was uninvolved and the man was not armed with his weapon, so there was no real damage, but the shrimpy man still bit the dirt hard. 

"Hey! No fair, you sucker punched me!" he shouted up at the other man, but sense had left the building. Riding the high of emotions, the plate wearing player seized his opportunity and hopped on top of the other man, and he began punching relentlessly. "H-hey! Stop! This isn't cool, man!"

Lish was nothing short of terrified. For over a year the two men were the best of friends. Small disagreements peppered that time frame, but it was normal for friends to bicker. What seemed abnormal was they way that they handled it when they went out into the wilds beyond the safety of the town and looked to get stronger. Now their perspectives had changed. One was was right, the other was wrong.

It was a spiritual war between two different cultures, and far beyond the two men she'd befriended. Lishuu did not like this at all. She stood suddenly and hurried to push apart the crowd as another man howled. 

"...I will come out there and kick all your asses!"

"Oh please do hurry up about it," she cried out. "They've lost their bloody minds!"

She was not strong, nor did she have the commanding presence necessary to break up a fight. With almost no experience outside of town, her strength stat was too pitiful to move any of the other Players, and so her attempts to push through the crowd were made in vain. Instead, she resorted to calling out. "Will someone please..."

Lish raised her voice even more, and she screamed..

"Please! This damned game is already vile enough without all the fighting amongst ourselves!"

Her eyes drifted from one to the other as two Players, armored and armed in a way she still didn't quite understand went at each other.  The bulkier of the two brandished a massive axe, bigger than she was while the other, a lanky and tall man ran his finger across the edge of his blade. They were poised for a fight. "Guys," Lishuu held up her hands and tried to crack a smile. It felt awkward. The whole premise of this world felt awkward, to be honest. Lishuu didn't understand all the bells and whistles that went into programming something this detailed, but she did understand the warped mentality that fostered the urge to do so. Some madman with a god complex, no doubt. That wasn't as important as the situation in front of her, though. "Guys please, is it really that important?

Lishuu spoke with a Lancashire accent, which most people who knew her thought silly because she lived much of her life in London.  The crowd that gathered didn't seem to care what she sounded like though, because they were all placing bets on who would walk away victorious. "You're both very... whatever it is you want me to say," she flailed her hands above her head. "I don't think that fighting among ourselves is a very conducive way to spend our time, given the circumstances. What do you really get out of this?"

"Satisfaction!" the scrawnier man yowled.

"I can't just let what he said pass," the behemoth of a man snorted as he hefted his weapon over his shoulder. "Everyone knows, heavy armor is far superior in Aincrad. If they can't get through to your hit points, you're much less likely to die."

"And if they can't hit you, that doesn't even matter!" the indignant rogue espoused with his nose turned up. "We'll settle this with a half loss duel, if you manage to hit me even once, though, I'll be impressed!"

She felt her shoulders sink. People always seemed to find something to disagree over, even when it was as asinine as pixels in a virtual world. "Look, if you guys want to fight, I won't stop you," she said, "but honestly, I think it's quite stupid and I want no part in it." She crossed her arms vehemently. These two idiots were among the first friends she made in this world, yet they were so quick to fall into the trap of disagreement. She hated to see it. Lish did not want to watch her friend group fall apart over something so trivial, but they were on the cusp of a clash that would inevitably change their dynamic forever.

Or at least, it felt that way. She felt that way. Powerless to do anything, she turned to the crowd. "And look at all of you, encouraging them! Take your money, get out of here!" She flicked her wrists dismissively, "Go on, shoo!"

No one seemed to pay her any mind. It was madness, the people had made their decision and now over two thousand years after the dawn of civilized society, they were on the cusp of delighting in blood sport like their baser ancestors.

"Bloody hell," she murmured.

It was not a good day.

Lishuu

Profile

Username: Lishuu 

Real name: Alicia 

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Height: 5’5”

About: 

History/personality: Alica was a gifted student with a bright future when Sword Art Online released. Born in a quaint town in the Greater London area, she always loved people. Strained because of an innate disdain toward Mathematics, she realized early that she would never thrive in the coursework necessary to become a Doctor or Proper Scientist. On the other hand, Alicia was fantastic with people and passionate about finding ways to enrich their lives. She decided to pursue the Humanities, and fell in love with Anthropology.

By the time she was in High School, Alicia knew what she wanted to pursue. Fervently, she threw herself into her studies and earned the favor of the faculty and staff of the school she was attending. With top grades in everything but Sciences and Mathematics, she was able to get entry into a top level school and enrolled immediately in an overseas exchange program that took her to California, in the United States.

With the first year already behind her, she allowed herself to relax just a bit. Some of her friends in the World Cultures program told her about a game that was soon to be released in Japan, a Virtual Reality immersion MMORPG where she could throw off some of the stress of the real world and just interact with others socially. For fun!

The idea also led her to believe that she might be able to spend quality time face to face with some of her friends from back home, and so, with that idea they bought the game the moment they were able. Only… things did not go to plan.

Virtues:

Social Affinity: Alicia has no fear when it comes to interaction. She isn't afraid to speak her mind, and she won't shy away from people. While she does pull back from perversion and deranged persons for safety, she generally won't back down from a flirtatious advance, and she will confront someone who needs to be told about themselves.

Community Cohesion Expert: She knows how people work together, and understands how to separate or pair individuals based on their strengths. Whether it be matchmaking for sport or helping to optimize a group for an event, she's a master of coordination. There are leaders, and there are people who help leaders to make good choices- that's where Alicia comes in!

A Nurturing Hand: Before she took interest in the Humanities, Alicia wanted to be a Doctor. She wanted to help people and to heal them, and she obsessed over her inability to do that for a long time before she came to terms with it. During that time, she learned that what she was good at was communication, empathy, and relating to others. She seeks to heal the spirit because she's no good at mending the body. Aincrad gave her ways to do both- she's a spiritual healer, as well as a Support Player.

Flaws:

The Abyss of Numbers: Everything after division started to become more labyrinthine. By the time she was in Algebra classes, Alicia needed a tutor just to keep her head above water. She barely maintained a C average; and so, all the technical parts of Sword Art Online have been extremely limiting to her. The reason she has made very little forward progress is because so much of the game theory runs on numbers and code.

Bleeding Heart: Alicia loves people. She loves how they interact, she loves to see them thrive, and she will do whatever she can to make that happen. But. The opposite is also very true. When she sees heartbreak, depression, anxiety- she heavily empathizes with others, even to her own detriment. The idea of the game being ambivalent or even apathetic to the plight of the people trapped inside of it horrifies her.

Wanderlust: Put simply, because of what she wants to do with her life, Alicia loves to go places and experience new things. She wants to study all the people she can and learn about how they coexist- to the point where she can seem fleeting. She has a great deal less interest in advancing through floors than she does making sure the people around her survive the ordeal, and so, she will just as readily skip a major raid event in favor of healing a party of new players. Her attention span isn't awful, but she rarely makes a commitment to anything.

Profession: --

Skills: 
 

Inventory

Weapons/Tools:

Vanity Sword

Commoner's Clothes (Vanity)

3 Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP)

5 Tier One Health Potions of Rare quality. (+40 HP)
1 Tier One Damage Potion of Uncommon quality. (+1 Damage)
1 Tier One Over-Health Potion of Special quality. (+50 HP to maximum HP for remainder of thread)

2,000 Col and (25) Tier 1 materials

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