Yona

              Aryut turned out to be a strange place. It was more nature than structure. Yona had heard rumors about something, though, so she had the full intent to investigate. However...the question was, where would she even start? Not only that, but the NPCs in this settlement didn't seem to be humans. Some of these NPCs looked at her with distain or prejudice, but the majority simply looked at her like she was an unusual sight, looking at her either curious or perplexed. Yona blinked as she began to feel a bit lost. This place wasn't exactly her cup of tea, but it sure was someone's. "If I could just find some semblance of a hint to that rumor..." She thought aloud. When there weren't many of these unusual NPCs around, the Binding Stone then shook, signaling that Shaxus wanted to talk. She tapped the stone a few times to signal that it was ok for him to come out.
                         Shaxus emerged from the Binding Stone, and the shadowy wisp seemed to have something important to say. "The air here...as normal as it may seem, I'm getting some kind of...familiar sense. It's coming from a certain direction. I can't quite place it, but if you're up for the task, I suppose you might be willing to do me a favor and search for whatever the source might be? I'm sure it's in this realm somewhere, so I doubt you'll be looking for too long."
                    Yona was nearly deadpanning. "Floor 3 is still a big place. If we happen to get warmer during my own search, just let me know...silently, if at all possible. I'm not about to look through this entire floor over a hunch." She replied. Shaxus wasn't able to shrug in his current form, but if he could, he would have done so. "Fair enough, but if you do want answers, or more helpful assistance, it would do you well to hold up your end of our little bargain..." Shaxus countered, before returning to the Binding Stone. Yona sighed, and continued wandering this Town. There had to be a clue somewhere...

                Yona's eyes darted left and right, looking for something, or someone, that was more out of place like herself. "There's gotta be something different around here..." She thought aloud.

Stats and Equipment:

                  So what if it was in December? Yona hadn't been to a beach party in YEARS. Also, it sounded really fun, so there was no way she was gonna miss this. The fun, the sun, the beach, the drinks...and the sweets. Sweets of multiple kinds...sweets for the mouth and sweets for the eyes...

               She wasted no time in getting herself ready, then she made her way to the teleport plaza, where she would proceed to teleport to the twenty-fourth floor, where, hopefully, a really good and fun time awaited her.

                           Yona took the trip there in stride. She'd been waiting for a day like this to come, and hopefully, maybe this time she'd actually have a great time at the party without some kind of shenanigans mucking up her day. When greeted by Morningstar, the host of the event, she had her left hand on her hip, and her right hand spread out whilst her arm directed it downward diagonally. Her smug, confident grin didn't show any signs of fading. "Merry Christmas to you too, Morningstar." She began. "It's about time I attended a beach party, anyway...wait, am I first?" She observed, noticing that there weren't many people here at the moment. Where was all the eye candy? Morningstar nearly counted, but there was something odd about his attire. She couldn't blame him for the effort in merging two aesthetics together, though, so she'd let the goofy shirt slide.

Yona's attire:

Stats and Equipment:

         Row explained how she operated, it was interesting to hear how she preferred to fight and what her objective was. "I suppose being a Tank would result in lots of planning, especially if they were on their own or wanted to get as many drops as possible." Yona guessed. Whenever Yona wanted to fight something for treasure, it was as simple as "kill them before they kill you", in which some buffs would usually make a guarantee that players could eventually grind up a fortune...though from what she knew, the appraiser profession could be a real sink for those who were determined to get something good out of a single item...for themselves, at least. Any customers would be up a creek if they asked for one too many attempts to re-gacha a single item, as the appraiser's gotta make a little profit out of the service, anyway.

      When Almina suggested that Row be the leader of the party, Yona wasn't too pleased about the thought. While she wouldn't care who the leader was in most scenarios, she'd prefer to be leader for one reason and one reason only...that someone else wouldn't try to call the shots on her life or her actions. Regardless, Yona was silent on the matter, especially since there were still things to do. Row would ask that the players meet back here in two hours. Should be good, hopefully. After all, those two hours might open room for some last minute preparations, like consumables, in case this field boss hunt ends up getting hairier than expected. "Fair enough, see you in two hours."

This had all better be worth it.

      Yona had a difficult time not cracking up over Row's words. "Pfff, what? 'Don't do damage'? I, I just, Haaaaah, ha, ha, I, then how exactly did you, wait, you're, you're a tank, aren't you..." Yona remarked, her laughter fading at the realization of what build this girl may have preferred. Thorns Damage. That had to be the only way she defeated it without being a damage dealer. "I don't know how tanks make it anywhere unless they have a party to dish out the damage, but then again I've only been damage builds, so I don't know the struggle." She added, with a mild shrug and a nervous smile.

       Almina denied Yona's claim with confidence, and Yona would continue sipping her shake as she had a mild staring contest of confidence with Almina...that is, until Row changed the subject. Yona thought for a short moment as she finished her shake, then with a smile, she answered with, "Sure, I don't mind another trek." She then looked over to Almina. "You don't mind getting carried, do you? You know how that works?" She asked. Regardless of the answer, Yona would continue. "Now, as much as I'm willing to help out, I'm no healer, so don't expect me to be able to save your butts if your HP starts getting too low, 'cause I can't heal you." She noted. If those two blondes, Astralin and Krysta, could carry Yona over in Floor ten, then carrying a level one in floor one should be a cinch, as long as she knew what she was doing, that is. 
       The Binding Stone was shaking again. "Now before we go, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta...toss this garbage in my hand." She said before dashing off.

   Despite telling the truth about needing to dispose of the empty cup, she also had another reason for taking off. She took cover in a nearby dark alley, looked to her left and her right to see if there were any players, or if she was followed, and then tapped the Binding Stone three times. "Alright, Shaxus, whaddya want? You were almost seen, so this damn well better be important and urgent."
             The puff of shadow emerged from the Binding Stone. "Well, for starters, I don't think you've been looking around or adventuring in significant enough places...but more importantly, this talk you've been having about those greater foes, these 'bosses', as you call them...don't many great beasts have treasure filled dens? Could one roaming around here have something? I'm telling you, if we strike down bigger things, we're sure to find better treasures, or possibly what I might be needing..." He explained.
                 Yona had an unimpressed look on her face. "I mean...I understand what you're getting at, at least. I was gonna go anyway...just...try not to do anything stupid, alright?" She replied. Shaxus let out a disembodied scoff. "I could easily say the same to you." He shot back, before returning to the Binding Stone.

       Yona would then return to the other two players. "I'm back! So then, before we go, we should set up a party." She suggested.

    Yona nodded her head in understanding. "Experience can be a harsh yet effective teacher. I might have yet to deal with learning from experience in the economic field, but I've learned a handful of other things in this game at least." She remarked with a shoulder shrug. Darting her eyes towards the ground to her right, her expression shifting to a scowl as she muttered, "...Hmph, Dad didn't know as much as he thought he did...not nearly as much, pff, what a tool..." under her breath, before getting back to the current conversation.

        After Row apologized for the misspeak, and noted how it took her longer than expected to take one down, Yona took a sip from her shake as she patted Row's head again. "It's ok, we all make mistakes, and sometimes even bite off more than we can chew. I know I've made plenty of mistakes, that's for sure." She added, hoping to cheer the girl up.

            Almina pointed out that the Binding Stone was moving, and asked if it was her imagination. "Not Good!" Yona thought.
       Row guessed it could be lag, but then began to question if there was even lag in this game. "I mean, I've been in this game and haven't experienced any lag whatsoever, but I can't exactly say it doesn't exist for anyone else in this game." Yona remarked. "But rocks don't move on their own, I'd definitely say it was your imagination." She added, only to feel that the Binding Stone was moving again. Once again, she would clasp her free hand onto the Binding Stone's location as to stop it from moving. Hopefully Almina wasn't paying attention this time, right?

     Yona's expression was simply a smug smile when the pirates' Captain began storming towards her. She wasn't afraid to throw hands with the big guy, and she would prove to him that no one threatens her or what she cares about and gets away with it. If she's affected by one's fatal mistake, she would become the consequence.

   When everything shifted, Yona had a feeling this wasn't an NPC's doing. On the assumption that it was indeed a player's action, she would act like this was all planned. The enemy captain called out for his underlings to kill three hostages, but there would be silence instead. Yona kept up her smug smile. She would keep up the ruse that there was nothing odd about this...for if there's one thing actual humans are good at, for better or for worse, it was their innate ability to bullshit their way through almost any situation. This pirate was merely the construct of an AI, so how could this false human possibly understand what real ones were capable of? Yona would simply keep up the smug expression, while just casually sticking out her tongue in complete nonchalance, just to spite him.

      Cutting these ropes with Sword Arts might be more difficult than expected. This one was already taking longer to destroy than expected. Yona started to worry that she might run low on energy before she can get all the ropes cut, not that she'd show it...but hopefully she wouldn't be the only one cutting ropes. "Stupid rope! Just, snap already!" She growled as the rope finally cut below half its Durability/HP. "Behind you." Shaxus warned. Yona would turn around, grab the approaching pirate's wrist with her free hand, disrupting the attack he was preparing, and, continuing the turn for momentum's sake, proceeding to throw him overboard. "YEET!"

     The fading scream of her enemy meant nothing to Yona. She just needed to finish this rope and move on to the next unless there was something more important to handle. "Just a little more..." Yona said to herself, trying to be optimistic.

Almina's answer to Yona's question came with an explanation as to why. In the end, however, Yona had more questions about her than she did answers. "I can't tell if you're being honest or if you're trying to look like you unknowingly live dangerously." She remarked. "Though I guess I'll figure that out myself if we're near each other for long enough."

    To Yona's initial remark, Row had a response for. "Several dozen failures, or several dozen methods that don't work?" Yona added, hopefully assuring that she meant well with this. When Yona made her little remark in terms of the Appraiser profession, Row spoke up. And the response was good. "Finally!" Yona began. "I was worried I'd never find someone with ethical business sense!" Too many people who were always too big for their own skin, too many people who always took and took and took, and whenever someone neared their level, they either assimilated them or crushed them. Too many Exploiters, too many Monopolists, it's about damn time someone looked at a market's system with how it was supposed to work, rather than exploit the hell out of it until it had a bad name. "You're right, we've all got our own pieces of the pie to claim, that's normal, that's how it's supposed to be, it only gets bad when one gets too big for their own skin and tries to take everyone else's slices. Through competition, we push each other to improve, it shouldn't be literal economic warfare. Someone teach you this, or did you figure it out yourself?" Yona was curious about this girl now.

      Row asked if neither of the other two players have taken on any floor bosses. "Whoa there, that's frontliner business, Floor Bosses...no, I'm not even nearly ready for that. Field Bosses, on the other hand...I might be capable of facing a few, not that I've tried taking one on or looked for any." Yona answered.

     The pink haired girl responded to the young girl's question with a polite declination. She also noted that this kind of stuff happened with her all the time. Yona was completely confused. "This kind of thing didn't happen to you in real life too, did it?" She asked, concerned as to how casually this girl was acting, the only defense of it being the pain dampener removing pain from anyone who was well aware of it and how it worked. The pinkette would introduce herself as Almina. "Well uh, it's nice to meet you too, Almina. I go by Yona." Yona introduced in response. 

     The young girl took in a deep breath before introducing herself as Row, the future owner of the "Frontline Network", in which the name was apparently pending and subject to change. This introduction was like some kind of self-advertising. In this moment, Yona had to tell this kid. The business world wasn't just some place to mess around in. It was always a battleground for the apex, and many would be hunted down in the name of competition and supremacy. If the competition wasn't healthy, it would inevitably spiral into a quest for monopoly as the two try to take each other down economically. She walked up to Row and patted her head. "I'm gonna level with you, kid." She began. "That, is how a business dies before it is even born."

        Despite this factor that Yona saw as truth, she wasn't gonna leave the kid on a sour note. "You market yourself in a manner like this, you've gotta have the resources and reputation to back you up, otherwise you're more likely to flop than anything." Yona may have hated her father, but...the curriculum she was given did have its advantages, solely dependent on what of it she remembered. "Based on that little placeholder name, I take it you want to get involved with the Frontlines...Well, if you're talking trade and supply with the frontlines, rather than being a part of them, Three potential professions come to mind, based on which are the most effective. Alchemists can create salves, potions and crystals, all of which either provide buffs or restore players' HP, but I feel like you might know that already. Cooks can make culinary masterpieces of various kinds, most of which are focused on providing buffs, but feasts seem to be more effective in raids, or, more accurately, before them. Appraisers can identify items dropped by monsters, and are in direct contact with the NPC market, always willing to sell off junk players don't need to some gullible su- uh, I mean, willing NPC that takes any interest in it." Yona explained. "All three of these Professions are frequently visited by players, especially frontliners, so you'll be making bank with any of those three for sure, as long as you can keep up with the supply and demand, that is. Though if you're an Appraiser, that's my profession too, so if you stay in your lane and I stay in mine, I doubt we'll have any problems over fitting into the same economic niche." She added, with a light smile and an "innocent" wink at the end. She didn't mean or want any trouble, she just wanted to make sure that any fellow appraisers didn't try to rip the market from her. Having a piece of the pie was one thing, but ripping another's piece as if it were their own was another. "Hope that helps at least a little."

          When Row asked Yona what made her stop exploring, there would be a simple answer. "Not everyone you see in the town of beginnings is here to stay, you know. Higher level players come around these parts all the time, some looking to see if there's any newbies to carry, some looking for a bit of nostalgia, some to meet up with old friends who haven't left the safe zone yet... As for me, I was kind of bored and wondering if things would get a bit different today by swinging by and seeing what's up." She explained. "Last time I was down here, I helped one nooblet go outside the safe zone for the first time, a mature hottie going by Kylissia. There was also this dummy with the username Sorun. Found him either asleep or unconscious. He could hold himself in a fight against some basic enemies around his level, but he still has a ways to go, in my opinion."

      The Binding Stone shook against Yona's hip, and she quickly clasped it against her side with her left hand, preventing its motion. "Not now, Shaxus..." She thought.

       The girl took a short moment to look at Yona before making a chuckle and giving her response. "Absolutely nothing." Yona remarked, in response to the girl's words. She took another sip of her shake while the girl looked up to the sky again, then the girl asked if Yona wasn't one of the many players who still have yet to leave the safe zone for the first time. "Yeah, it's been some time since I first left." Yona answered. "Doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about this floor though. Mainly just the basic stuff around here, nothing too crazy unless there's a higher level player in the vicinity when outside the safe zones." Yona looked up to the digital sky. It really was a nice view. "Which basically means that the skies above are definitely a peaceful sight to behold, not that anything comes down from it, of course."

    This spiral of words would quickly be disproved, as a pink blur would pass Yona's vision through the air. Yona almost dropped her shake as she flinched from the surprise. Her eyes wide as she turned towards where the blur proceeded to land, roll, and faceplant into a flowering bush. Yona had never seen a player like this before. To top it all off, this pink haired girl simply got up, dusted herself off like it was no big deal, and casually greeted the two players like it was completely normal, just another day. Yona's surprised expression had not changed. "Wha-...what in the flying f**k...??"

       What was equally strange was how casually the girl replied. Just when Yona thought she'd seen all realistic surprises, the world around her proves her wrong, even through it's everyday people.

       Yona would normally be up on one of the higher floors, training herself so she could become stronger. She was going to need that strength if she was to get anywhere, let alone solve any mysteries involving Shaxus, and the shadow puff of an entity was starting to get either impatient, or anxious, as to when or if either of the two would find something that was of use to him. Maybe helping some lower level players could do something, but most of the nooblet-level players in this town were too scared to go anywhere, and such players who were actually brave enough could normally be seen near the edge of the gates, rather than this current locale of the vast settlement.

        Now nearly bored out of her mind, Yona was willing to go for any available distraction...ah, yes, a stand selling some cool, refreshing sweets. That caught her attention...even if it was just her sweet tooth acting up again. "I'd like to go with a strawberry vanilla shake, creamiest one you can make." Yona asked the one running the stand. "That order's a bit complex, miss." Came the response. Wonderful, an overly simplistic one ran the stand...well, there were usually ways to persuade someone to cater to more specific orders... "And what if I was to...sweeten the deal here?" Yona asked, plopping down a small sack of col containing the necessary price, plus a little bonus, onto the counter. Three seconds of silence passed, and then would come the answer. "Fair enough, I'll have it ready for you in a minute or two." Not the longest time to wait, should be fine.

      Within three minutes, Yona was walking away with what she wanted. "There we go, hits the spot right there..." She remarked. Her eyes looked around the area, before seeing a girl who also had a shake, slumped down on a bench while staring at the sky. Yona wondered what was up. "Something got you down in the dumps?" She asked the girl, before taking another sip of her shake. She looked up towards the patch of sky that the girl was, then back to the girl. "I don't know what you're hoping to find, but I doubt it's going to come down from the sky or anything." She added.

Stats and Equipment:

   Not even one second into taking action, and already everything was going to shit. This was clearly a good potential situation, and it was just flung out the door as though it didn't even exist. How so? The target acted like Shaxus didn't even exist, and that was where the attempt fell apart and was sidestepped so effortlessly. Yona remained on guard, whilst Shaxus seemed to be surprised.
 "He...didn't even NOTICE me." The small puff of shadow observed.
     "Yeah, I figured that out the moment he sidestepped." Yona shot back, frustrated at the situation. There had to be some way to punish these idiots with the least number of casualties possible. Most of the NPCs here were hired staff that were just doing their jobs, and the Players could only live once...Yona didn't give a damn about the rest, and she wouldn't unless given a feasible reason to.

    When the enemy leader commanded some of his men to start rounding up players and NPCs, two pirates approached Yona. "I wouldn't, if I were you." Yona warned with a confident expression.
    One of the two pirates snickered. "Oh, really now?" He questioned, as the second one held a cutlass in one hand and was chugging alcohol with the other. "Well if you don't start walking, someone's gonna be going overboard instead." He threatened.
    Yona gripped her sword. "Alright, I can see someone going overboard." She remarked.
 "Heheh, wait, seriously?" The pirate scoffed, while his ally sputtered out the drink in a fit of laughter at this unexpected, casually spoken response.
         "Yeah." Yona assured. "Hmm, how about....eenie, meenie, minie..." Yona grappled the scoffing pirate's forearm with her free hand before finishing with "You." And heaving him off the ship(admittedly, with some difficulty). The other Pirate became hostile as a normal enemy would, and Yona would strike him down normally while the others were busy messing about. This wasn't going to get the 80% of viable defensive targets harmed, was it?

     As soon as Yona looked back to the main scenario, she noticed a familiar face speaking up. "Astralin???" Yona thought. "What are you doing here...and why do you look so damn pretty??? Ugh, that dress really suits you so well..."
    Astralin was asking the enemies' leader why he was doing this. Was...was it not obvious? Apparently, it wasn't entirely obvious after all. What confused Yona, however, was that this event was described as "for the wealthy upper class". Yona held back a laugh, not all the players would have been welcome if this was actually what it just got described as. Sure, it had potential luxurious benefits, but this was clearly not what it seemed. "That's so stupid, you think you know the elite, but you just...don't..." Yona muttered under her breath, as a smile broke out of her expression over how ridiculous she found this to be. Truly, this man knew little of the wealthy upper class, and the only reason why Yona knew better of the subject was because she had experience with such a person.

        Then the captain of the ship came to try handling the scenario. And oh, my, the drama... 

    Now if Yona could just look for an opportunity...
Of course, it was only a few minutes until the opportunity knocked at her door, by temporarily tilting the ship. She then looked over to those rope tethers keeping the harpoons attached to the ship...maybe, if she could cut those...
    Shaxus looked Yona in the eye. "....You're not seriously thinking about helping without allowing any casualties, are you?" He asked Yona, who had an unamused look on her face. "If we're talking about my fellow adventurers, and the servants on this ship, not to mention Captain Xandis, then yeah, I'd prefer there not to be any casualties among them." She answered. Shaxus's eyes showed a hint of intrigue. "And what of the nobles on this ship?" He added. Yona scoffed. "If they're anything like Father, then I couldn't care less about them." She answered. Shaxus was silent for a few seconds. "We'll need to speak more about this later, but for now, what's the plan? Assuming you have one, that is..."
      "I need you to be eyes at the back of my head. Alert me if anything tries to attack me from behind, 'cause I'm gonna try to cut those ropes holding the ship in place." Yona stated. "Fair enough." Shaxus agreed.

    There was one pirate who tried to intercept her along the way. "You stop right there, over to below the decks with ye!" He ordered. Yona scoffed. "See, there's this thing that I guess I haven't made clear yet..." Yona then readied her sword art. "I take orders from no one."

  After knocking the pirate down with a sword art, Yona and the pirate struggled in attempt to grapple each other. Yona succeeded and tossed the enemy overboard, before moving on to the tether rope. "The time is now, Shaxus, let's see if I can't damage this thing."

      The good news was, her sword art would deal some damage to the tether rope. The bad news, however, was that this inanimate object was sturdier than it looked, for its HP(or durability) didn't go down very much. "Damn it," Yona thought aloud. "This is gonna take longer than I thought."

Shaxus had a feeling it would be time consuming anyway, especially if any pirates were to look and realize was Yona was doing this very moment.

Freedom was an inner ideology that Yona had for herself. The problem was, not everyone was worthy to use freedom in her eyes...such as disruptive people who were far, far more chaotic than her. And those who disrupt her personal freedom, do so at their own peril.

     She hadn't even finished her wine halfway when something sounded wrong. What sounded like the shot of a cannon boomed in the distance. The moment the sounds of destruction arrived, agitation and aggravation filled Yona. "You have got to be f**king kidding me!" She exclaimed as she struck her wineglass against the surface, to which only a portion of the item shattered, the rest of the wineglass becoming an effective, but one-use makeshift weapon.

  When the enemies boarded and made their way to whatever refreshment they could find, Yona thrust the glass into the forehead of her first available target before shoving him aside. She quickly accessed her menu to switch to the necessary equipment for combat, returning to her usual getup for scenarios in Aincrad. She once again wore a simple blue dress, paired with a soft and durable, yet also stylish white jacket, and in her hand was her Resplendent Falchion, a weapon fit for someone of status. Aside from the earrings she wore as well as minimal makeup, there wasn't anything left of her party appearance.

    Yona then tapped the binding stone hanging at her hip. She didn't like the fact that she'd have to let him out, but if he could give a possible advantage... "Their leader." Yona spoke, just audible enough for Shaxus to hear. The mysterious puff of shadow emerged from the binding stone and descended to the floor, moving quickly but passing from shadow to shadow as to reduce the chances of being seen. Shaxus couldn't do much, but if he could create an opening for Yona by startling the enemies' leader from behind...

  A Ginger haired player attempted the first attack against the captain, as was apparently "granted". As Yona had figured, however, such first attacks were always easy to dodge or deflect, and the enemy captain proceeded to turn the tables, disarming the ginger and pinning him to the ship's railing with only his foot. The enemy captain then tossed him towards the center of the deck and gave his warning.

       "Bodies will start piling up, all right," Yona called out, a confident yet smug expression on her face. "but they won't be ours, nor theirs." She added, clearly talking about the innocents among the NPCs when mentioning "theirs".

Shaxus rose from below, to let out a whisper from behind the intended target, in a deep, husky, and seemingly disembodied tone, very unlike how he usually sounded. "They'll be yours."

Should this startling distraction work, Yona's Sword Art would surely land a hit against the pirates' leader. Otherwise Yona, who was now advancing towards her target with all due haste, would need to keep an eye out for sudden movements.

   Yona gave a soft chuckle. "After all the time that's passed? I'm pretty damn sure I'm of age to drink by now, not that it would matter in this game, it's not like we could drink till we drop or start spilling secrets, or anything else like that." She remarked. The NPC Bartender awaited to hear what Yona would be having. "I'll go for a glass of the finest wine you have available." She told the bartender.

     She looked back to Morningstar, a smirk on her face once again. "A refined event calls for refined tastes, I suppose." She claimed, hoping not to reveal her past, let alone the factor that her sweet tooth would take her to the sweeter forms of liquor if she were to drink. Well, now she could, and she was going to make the most of it. While the idea of having some Hor'dourves seemed tempting, sunset was approaching and the skyship was now taking off. Better wait for the good stuff to show up, it probably was going to, at some point soon. There will be much more to come in this event, and the anticipation was welling up within Yona, it had just been too long, and she was finally free to enjoy it her way.

@Morningstar

     Just as she'd thought, it happened. "A Valentine's Day Event...I knew it. If we players didn't make one for ourselves, the game would do it for us, 'cause why not?" She mused with a smile and a shrug. That Dress Shopping trip wasn't all for naught after all! Now, if the night could just go smoothly...

    Yona didn't exactly have a date to bring, nor did anyone she know seem interested...enough to ask her. This was, admittedly, par for the course and she knew it. The people that Yona had become acquainted with didn't seem to know who she truly was, nor did they know her long enough to be interested in her. Granted, Yona knew of at least two women who were hotter than her, so her chances of having a potential date stroll up to her weren't as high as they would be for those two...wait, wasn't there another? Oh well, guess she'll have to remember that if it happens to be necessary.

      Yona's Binding Stone began to shake again. Oh, that's right. How's she gonna dress pretty when Shaxus would rather be anywhere but Yona's Inventory? Good thing she was making some final checks before equipping the dress and setting out. "Alright Shaxus, whaddya want?"

    Shaxus came out of the Binding Stone, not looking too amused. "I do hope you have a place for me...a place other than those unusual pockets of yours. You don't know how stuffy it gets in there..." He remarked. Yona blinked a few times. Pockets.

   "...Pockets?" Yona asked. Even though the only way Shaxus could currently show expression was through his dot-like, red eyes, he seemed to be confused. "How do you not know-?" 

   "I have Pockets." Yona repeated. "I am a woman who has functioning. Pockets." She realized, sounding a bit excited for reasons that this poor little puff of shadowy mass could never understand. Shaxus was now even more confused, and unamused. "What significance does the realization of you having functional pockets supposed to have? Have you been oblivious to how you carry your things this whole time?" He asked.

Perhaps there are questions that cannot be properly answered and make sense in one or more perspectives...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Yona decided on tying a small ribbon around the hemline to act as a miniature, makeshift sash that she could clip the Binding Stone's clasp attachment to. It even fit with the dress, so that was something to be relieved about for the time being. She found a solution that works, so now she doesn't have to hear any complaining from Shaxus when the night's over.

    She might not have a date, but that wouldn't stop her from going to this event with a smile of anticipation that it would be a worthwhile trip. Maybe this time, since the event was NPC-ran, shenanigans that turn the place into an absolute shitshow wouldn't end up happening. So sad, what ended up happening at Koga's, boy, she did not want to know how he felt that crazy night...

         Although, maybe a potential date could be found here, having also come alone? Not that she'd ever ask such a Potential Date to be her date for the night, no, she'd do her best to avoid anything like asking out or confessing. Subservience was beneath her, Equality was where it's at...even if it would feel nice to be served... That aside, Yona had high hopes for tonight, and she'd done what she could to look her best.

    This floor was worth looking into, but she would definitely need to take a look around later. For now, there was an event to get to. She would arrive to see that it would truly be an event worthy of fancy attire, being hosted within a state-of-the-art luxury skyship. "Wow..." She exhaled. "I sure hope things don't get TOO familiar...I don't know what would happen if people realized what I really am..." She thought. While it was nice to go to an event where she would look her best and enjoy the offered luxuries(and of course, the sweets), it was rare that she ever encountered individuals worth meeting, as it was always for the above, never the below...also, this would be her first time going to such an event while being free to be true to herself, with no standards to live up to(except, maybe, basic human decency, in a case like this, which Yona was confident that she currently had)...how wonderful of a feeling that was.

         While there weren't many people around just yet, Yona was certain she'd be able to find something to do. Maybe for now, she might just have a nice drink and enjoy the atmosphere of the event itself before it could possibly change by player presence. Then she just so happened to see some familiar faces, one of which ended up being at her destination, wearing a simple suit. "Well, there's a familiar face." Yona remarked. "You here to enjoy the atmosphere?" She asked, a seemingly innocent smirk on her face.

@Morningstar

Yona's Dress:

Stats and Equipment:

   The two players finished up their fight sooner than expected. Both had their stumbles, but Kylissia in particular seemed to be taking it in stride, whereas Sorun struggled and this was clearly his first battle, even if he knew how to use sword arts and practiced activating them prior to this fight. Whether or not this was Kylissia's first battle had yet to be determined, there weren't enough signs to this being her first.

   Yona walked over to Sorun, giving him a once over as she assessed him. "Well, you know how to fight, but clearly you're gonna need a little practice. Then again, you did manage to kill two of the three enemies you faced." She noted. "I'm not sure if you can be carried easily, maybe you could help out people around your level, come back when you're a bit more experienced, in level or in skill, whichever gets a better result. For now, see if anyone your level needs a little aid, or an additional party member. You can message me if you come up empty, though." She explained, pulling up the party member to remove Sorun for the time being. "And that equipment I handed you is yours to keep, so take care of it and it won't shatter like that piece of junk you had before." She added. "Good luck out there, Sorun, I'll talk to you later."

    With that Yona retrieved Kylissia's weapon and handed it back to her. "So, while waiting for him to get better at this, I might be able to take you on a few low enough level escapades, should be around your speed, but I'll jump in if things get nasty." Yona suggested.

 Little did Sorun, Kylissia and Yona know, things would all be different from here.

Summary:

Word Count: 4518
Player Count: 3
Exp. Value: 271*Tier

Sorun[T1]:
271 Exp
680 Col(Thread Progression[134], Mob Loot[546])
4 Materials(Mob Loot)

Kylissia[T1]:
271 Exp
343 Col(Thread Progression[133], Mob Loot[210])
2 Materials(Mob Loot)

Yona[T2]:
542 Exp
2373 Col(Thread Progression[133], Mob Loot[2240]
2 Materials(Mob Loot)

Looted from Monsters:

 Astralin was onto Yona, but she didn't seem to have figured out what Yona was doing, and asked if anything was wrong. "Oh no I'm fine, I'm definitely fine." Yona claimed, hoping to push away any potential suspicion that Yona had accidentally been looking somewhere some might claim she shouldn't have been.

   Jomei made a remark on how Yona phrased her words in regards to supervision. "I know we're adults..." Yona shot back, looking somewhat irritated as she slowly began to cross her arms. "...Life's just not all roses for all of us." She muttered. Jomei claimed that although the host could be convinced to join, he was likely to turn in early due to having to run the event. "Oh no, definitely let him turn in early." Yona blurted out. "The best of the crazy stuff happens when there's nobody to tell us no." She claimed. So far, this topic has proven to be a good enough distraction from what Yona was almost caught doing...well, it would likely remain that way unless someone began to question her again.

  Morningstar asked how everyone knew the host. Astralin denied knowledge of the host and Yona would follow suit. "The world may be small, but it's definitely not that small. I have no clue who the guy is, I just know he exists, that he set up this event, and that he owns this property." Yona stated. She returned to a more relaxed position as she began to listen to the answers of the players that did know the host. Yona snickered as Lessa explained how she first met the host. "Wait, seriously?"

    Yona didn't exactly have anything to remark on the other things Lessa mentioned...not without bringing up her past, that is, and this was hardly the time to just announce her real world identity. Jomei's recollection of moments he had with the host all had some kind of baggage, if it wasn't just the two being present in the middle of a raid. Other than that, there was trust built between the two. Not much Yona could go off of. Then Astralin gave her opinion from what she'd heard. "Mentor figure, you say? You know, there are people who say that with age comes wisdom, are you claiming he's proof of that?" Yona asked.

Then Hirru showed up, hoping he wasn't interrupting anything important. "Of course not, come on in! The water's as fine as the people in it." Yona remarked with a smirk.

@Astralin @Jomei @Morningstar @Lessa @Hirru @Astreya

   Yona's patience was waning, but it lasted long enough for something to happen. A girl approached Yona hesitantly, before explaining the situation. If there's anything about quests with this kind of background, there was bound to be trouble...and that's exactly was Yona was looking for. Whether or not she was within level range or too powerful had yet to be seen, but if things became an absolute mess, she always had a Teleport Crystal for emergencies.

  "Sure, of course I'll help." Yona began, a soft smile towards the girl. "I'm sure it won't be too difficult." She assured, thinking that most of the enemies around the area were weak, with the exception of a few select quest targets, as well as the floor's field boss. "All we'd need to do before setting out is to start a party, we can keep an eye on each others' health that way." She pointed out, just in case the girl was as new as she claimed to be. "I go by Yona, nice to meet you." Yona added, just in case this girl was hoping to be the party leader. She was the one who was initially taking the quest, wasn't she?

@Nora

Sometimes there's too much to do, other times, there's not nearly enough to do.

From what she's been hearing, most things are either too strong or too weak for Yona...meaning she would need to look for more things to do that didn't involve what was too weak or too strong. Sure, she could take on the weaker quests on her own, but that may or may not end up being a problem...but she just had to do something.

And now she was back here, in the scorching desert floor, floor 5, within its safe zone, leaning her back against a building, wondering why she was back here in this wasteland. Now that she thought about it, the only things to do around here were just to tackle an occasional big enemy, or, in Yona's case, explore a ruin that can only be explored one for something shrouded in mystery that might not be of any practical or statistical use...but Yona hadn't given up on Shaxus yet, so she hadn't decided to throw away the Binding Stone.

"Maybe coming back here was a mistake..." She thought aloud.

@Nora

Stats and Equipment:

  Yona took a look at her current status. She noticed the sign that showed that her strongest attack was ready. She grinned, her smile containing a hint of bloodthirst, particularly for the greater boar that was the biggest threat in the vicinity. She'd been waiting for the chance to use this attack, and clearly now was the time to do so. "Looks like it's my turn, piggy."

   Yona charged up her sword art, and the Greater Boar was preparing itself to charge towards her. It wouldn't get that chance, however. "Tigress...Storm!"

  The Greater Boar would suddenly find itself under Yona's full assault, being struck by an entire flurry of strikes within a splitsecond, while it looked like Yona had only lunged forward and blurred in multiple movements midair, and then was behind the boar, her weapon in her hand directed to her right, and the monster behind her then collapsed and shattered. Yona loved the absolute rush of this attack...

"Heh...There, that's done." She remarked.

ID# 210563 BD: 5+1=6(hit), MD: 6-2=4(miss)

Tigress Storm(ST-B): 14x20=280 Damage to Greater Boar!

ID# 210564 CD: 6, LD: 15+3=18(2240 Col, 2 Materials, <<Unidentified T2 Rare Consumable 210564a>>, <<Unidentified T2 Rare Consumable 210564b>>)

Yona:  HP 231/260 | EN 14/44 | 14 DMG | 24 MIT | 1 ACC | 2 EVA | 3 LD

           Enemies:

Greater Boar: HP 0/448, 52 DMG

Both Lessa and Jomei confirmed what Yona was thinking. This...this was gonna be good, one way or another.

Jomei seemed certain that they could grab a few more people, but should probably do it somewhere else. "But just this moment here first," Yona suggested. "It does usually happen after supervision's gone to sleep, right?" 

Then Yona looked and saw Astralin heading into the changing room. "Not like any of us would wanna miss the best parts of this experience..." She muttered and trailed off, definitely speaking of the warm relaxation of the hot spring. When Astralin came out of the changing room to enter the onsen, Yona honestly didn't know what she expected. Not that she was disappointed, of course.

Astralin would get settled into the hot spring, and she began to ease up. Yona, of course, was hoping to continue the conversation. "It sure is nice to just relax for at least a good long moment..." She thought, not realizing she didn't speak it out loud. "Big..." She muttered, not realizing she's actually said that. Astralin opened her eyes. "...Hm? I'm sorry, did you say something?" Astralin asked, confused.

It was that moment when she knew, she fudged up. "Ehe, w-we were talking about playing Truth or Dare later on before going to sleep for the night!" Yona exclaimed as her eyes immediately darted in a different direction, despite the fact that she was managing to hold an inside voice. "I was wondering if we'd end up with a big group or a small group when playing it, not that it would matter in the end as long as we all got to have fun with it, right? Eheheh..." She continued, scratching the back of her neck as she explained, hoping nobody caught her unintentionally staring.

@Lessa @Jomei @Astralin @Astreya

The blonde woman and the redheaded player would introduce themselves as Kylissia and Sorun. Yona would look Sorun up and down, seeing that he'd equipped the newer, better gear. Now he was ready for whatever this floor could throw at him....well, as long as it was in his level, that is...from what Yona could guess. Yona would send party requests to the two, and after both were accepted, Yona would hear some rustling in the nearby overgrowth.

Two, no, three boars. Figures...except one of them looked bigger and nastier than the other two. "Hope you still know how to fight, Sorun." Yona warned. "Otherwise this'll be one hell of a crash course for you."

Yona drew her weapon. "I'll keep the big one distracted. You can take on the other two if you're feeling lucky, but don't go in recklessly, ok?" She called out to the two players, before rushing in to strike the big one, with the cursor that just turned red. She activated her sword art, and cut deeply into the larger boar, causing it to squeal loudly. Of course, it would retaliate with considerable force, sending Yona flying a few meters. thankfully, Yona had the monster's attention, so as long as the other two went for the small fries and didn't do anything stupid, everything should be fine. 

ID# 210022 BD: 5+1=6(hit), CD: 12(ST-B Available!), MD: 9(Critical! +1 DMG)

ST-I: 14x12=168 Damage to Greater Boar

Yona:  HP 231/260 | EN 32/44 | 14 DMG | 24 MIT | 1 ACC | 2 EVA | 3 LD

           Enemies:

Greater Boar: HP 280/448, 52 DMG

The blonde woman suggested forming a party, and then offered an item to the redhead. "If we're going to form a party, I'm gonna need to know your usernames." Yona noted. The redhead then pulled out an axe that ended up shattering. Out of durability. Arms crossed and a grin across her face, Yona knew she had to do something about it... "That's not gonna get you anywhere but the graveyard, pal." She noted. At least she had what he needed. Pulling out two weapons and a set of Cloth Armor, she remarked, "You may need these." as she handed them to the redhead. She didn't know what tier this player was, so she just handed both weapons to him, as well as the Cloth armor, in case his defenses were nothing as well.

The binding stone began to shake a little, and Yona sighed. "Give me a quick moment, alright?"

Yona ran off until she was sure neither of the two players could see or hear her. "Alright Shaxus, what do you want?" She asked. The shadowlike being came out of the binding stone to speak with Yona. "You're seriously going to work with him? He's clearly an idiot." Yona shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many idiots there are. There are some capable ones out there, and some just might be able to overcome their idiocy. What do you think?" She remarked. Shaxus's eyes seemed to show an unamused expression. "I think it's a dumb risk, but at this point I guess that's both your opinion and your choice. I can't seem to do very much at the moment..." He noted. "Just know that if something goes horribly wrong, I'm blaming you."

Yona smirked. "I can live with that."

Shaxus would return to the binding stone and Yona would walk back over to the players. "So, Usernames?" She asked. "I go by Yona, by the way."

-Giving [T1]Slayer Axe(Axe, 3 DMG), [T1]Nomad's Garb(Cloth Armor, Mitigation, 2 Evasion), and [T2]Elgryn(Battle Axe, 1 Accuracy, 2 Bleed) to Sorun

What the blonde woman brought up sounded ridiculous...but now that Yona thought about it, she never asked any of the NPCs about the storm, just passed it off as a dream instead.

But if the storm, aside from the dream, was all that the redhead remembered inside this game, then...

"What in all of...no way, you couldn't have possibly been sleeping for...did...did you get yourself into some kind of coma, in game, of all things? I mean, that's the only way I could possibly explain you being asleep for a whole damn year." Yona pointed out. "Even if you were in some kind of Coma, how have you not been killed by monsters or player killers by now?" She added.

But regardless of what was going on, there was something that had to be handled, and that was the fact that there was a player here, and based on his getup, he looked like a total newbie. "Ugh, no matter, just...how's your gear holding up?" She asked, wondering if the gear he had looked simple but had good enough stats to keep him alive out here.

The blonde would ask the redhead what the last thing he remembered was. That was a good question that's likely to help out in this scenario.

Except, the answer was completely unexpected. He mentioned a storm with rain and floods black as ink, and some kind of abyss, and a void too. "Whoa whoa whoa, when she asked you what the last thing you remember was, you tell us what happened before you got knocked out, not the latest additions to your dream journal." Yona responded. "I mean, how is that even gonna be relevant?" She questioned.

Just how did this guy get into this situation? It was starting to look like he fell asleep without paying any attention.

"...But there actually was a storm, wasn't there?" The blonde pointed out. Yona glanced over to the blonde with a confused look. "What do you mean? There's no way a storm making a flood of black water actually happened, nothing that wasn't a bad dream, that is." She claimed.

What a day this was, and it's only just begun.

First she found a newbie heading outside for her first adventure, and only thirty-five minutes into the walk, Yona spotted this dummy just laying on the ground on his back. Was he asleep, or unconscious? Yona didn't really know which...nor did she care. She just knew that he was alive, and that he was just laying there like he'd just outright collapsed on his back or something.

There was nothing but silent observation of the redhead for what felt like forty-two minutes before he began to stir, albeit very slightly and barely noticeable. His eyelids twitched as he started to wake up. Once his eyes were open, he looked sleepily surprised to see that two lovely ladies were the first thing he'd see since he fell asleep/collapsed/got knocked out/whatever.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake." Yona said to him. The blonde newbie would remark about there being better places to take a nap, before getting down to help him back onto his feet. The guy then asked how long he was out. Yona shrugged. "I got no answer for that one, buddy. We got here like...well, it's been what felt like forty two minutes since we found you just laying down there, like it's no big deal." 

Stats and Equipment: