Nari-Lanreth

Nari passed through the entryway, not even looking up as the bell tolled above her gently, the ringing signifying her arrival. She glanced about, taking in the various wares and goods that were on display throughout the entire front. The place had a quaint feel to it, as of somewhere that was designed to feel almost homely. "Ah, hello. I'd heard about an up and coming ware shop in the area, and was thinking that I could donate some goods to a cause...well, a cause. We'll leave it at that." She opened her inventory, selecting the collection of items, before laying them out on the table in

I was right. That definitely hurt...but I think it was worth it.Nari stared down at the piece she'd picked up in the market. It had some variable stats to it that would provide some benefits to the wearer - but that wasn't why she had picked it up. The merchant had wanted an exorbitant price for the piece, but Nari had managed to talk him down to nearly half his asking price - an amount that still felt like it hurt. Worth every col, though. "Hey, I'm home! I managed to bring a few things..." Nari called out as she entered the house, hearing the distant clatter in the far rooms that sign

"How much for the entire bag?" Nari glanced at the collection of spices again, an assortment that she barely recognised. She'd seen Onora using a few of the more common ones - herbs and flowers which gave an interesting flavour to certain dishes when paired together - but she wasn't even sure what the name of any of them were. The merchant had, as expected, been trying to push the entire collection upon Nari. Likely in hopes that she would purchase the lesser worth items at a higher cost, or perhaps that she wouldn't notice that some were worthless altogether. "For a nice girl like you..

Once the enemies were defeated, the cart magically found itself unstuck from whatever had been holding it originally, the owners pushing it up onto the road and taking a few moments to thank the group of players. Nari sighed, pushing herself off the rock and making her way towards the blockage in the road, just happy to be able to continue on her way. Twenty minutes of waiting, and you're complaining. At least you didn't have to take hours to walk all the way around, heading in an opposite direction just to get home. I think you can deal with a twenty minute wait. The voice inside her head cha

Nari felt herself cry in frustration as the creatures appeared - a collection of wasps, and assorted other insect like things that came rushing across the open field to assault the players. She wanted nothing more than to rush forwards and defeat them all - but knew that it would only delay the completion of the quest itself. Come on...come on... She felt her foot tapping the ground as she waited for the players to push through the creatures - the group struggling to bring down the enemies that they faced. Nari felt herself twitching all over as she watched, fighting the urge to scream at them

"Ahoy traveller! Would you be able to assist us with..." The sound of the NPC speaking to someone had caught Nari's attention, drawing her thoughts away and pulling her back to the current situation. She pushed herself up from the rock she'd been leaning on, watching as a small group of players appeared and began speaking to the NPC. She could see two of them eyeing her, glancing out of the corners of their eyes at her with looks that seemed to speak to the level of caution they were taking. Not that she could blame them, she'd be worried about a player randomly standing around watching her, i

Nari had come to a stop several kilometres away from the capitol. she could see the settlement in the distance - the walls that lined it standing out against the open space that surrounded the cliff-based city. Although she could see her destination, reaching it was an entirely different situation. She crossed her arms as she leaned back against a rock, watching the struggling NPCs as they tried to remove the wagon from the ditch that they had collapsed into. She'd arrived well after the incident, finding a collection of wagons and NPCs already at work trying to remove the stuck piece - likely

The fields had given way to a small path - a road, in actuality - that led back to the main settlement. Nari had followed it, winding along the dirt with her mind wandering even as she kept an eye out for danger. She'd passed a few NPCs, and a single player along the way - her eyes quickly drifting to confirm the colour of their emblem above their head upon spotting it. She'd given a small wave, a half-hearted greeting in passing, before moving on, neither of them interested in stopping to converse along the way. Most likely, they're off to somewhere important. Maybe they're meeting up with th

The walk through the hillside was comforting to Nari, if only for the sake that she was able to avoid most of the creatures. At times, she wondered if it wouldn't be worthwhile to fight some - to bring them down with a quick swish of her scythe. Not worth it. Not in this game. In this world. One wrong move, could spell disaster. Better to just enjoy the walk, and the scenery. Mio had trotted alongside her, silently keeping pace as his many tails flowed behind his form. The kitsune was content, at least, to follow her for the time being. Whether he enjoyed Nari's present decision or not, the cr

Nari breathed a small sigh of relief as the fight came to its conclusion. She'd been certain that Jomei wouldn't hesitate, would finish off the woman - although, for the briefest of seconds it had looked as though the ginger would hold back on their assault, as if they had considered another choice. Nari considered saying something, but was distracted by the weapons that had appeared at their feet - a virtual collection of various tools, all of which resembled the weapons that the trio were already wielding. Before either of the others could reach, Jomei had already reached down and coll

She'd tapped open the message, closing her eyes as the system pulled it up in front of her. She'd forced herself to breath deeply, a number of times, before eventually opening her eyes. At first, she'd read the message quickly, rushing to make sure that there were no signs of danger - no signs that she was being called to help someone who was on the verge of death. Halfway through, realising that the message was too long for such an occurrence, Nari had stopped herself. Forced herself back to the top, to read it thoroughly. To hear the woman's voice in her head. To: Nari-Lan

It had taken her a while until she was calm enough to approach the teleporter pad. She'd refrained from immediately heading home, knowing that Onora would've been waiting. Instead, she had leaned herself against a nearby wall, watching as the few other players passed through, moving with an obvious intention. It was still early in the day, meaning that many of them were likely heading out in their daily ritual of doing whatever it was they did in order to prepare themselves. Few of them will join us for the boss fight. They're nowhere near strong enough. Nowhere near capable enough...but maybe

She'd found herself stopped outside of what appeared to be a church, or a cathedral. Nari had been staring up at the building for several moments, before she'd even registered what she was looking at. She had no doubts that there was a faith here, in fact she'd met many of the priests on her travels throughout the floor itself. Zealots. Throwing their lives away for a world that doesn't care about them. For gods who don't answer their prayers. Following the same path because they have no other meaning in their lives, and this is all they can do. It sounded like her own life, a life where she w

At some point, she'd left the ruins behind. She'd slowly made her way back to the small settlement that was the capital of the floor. For a time, Nari had simply wandered, passing street after street as she tried to sort out her emotions. She knew that the anger wasn't temporary, that the darkness she was feeling had been growing inside her, day after day. She'd felt lost for a long time - an almost depressive state from everything that had occurred. She had sorrows upon sorrows building up, slowly tearing her down, tearing into her very soul. This is what they want, isn't it? To tear us

Nari had stood still for a period of time after the last of the knights had disappeared. She'd been lost in thought, her mind slowly turning as she considered everything she'd realised in the few moments following the end of the fighting. She'd hated that she could even consider herself anything like Cardinal, and yet, she found she couldn't argue with the overall results. She had become brutal in her fighting, calculating, cold. She was far different from the woman who had entered the game. Gone are the days of laughing hysterically at jokes told by friends. Of having friends, people who you

Nari cocked her head to the side as the creature seemed to make its decision, suddenly rushing towards her in a flurry of steps. She'd considered letting it take its frustrations out on her, considered trading blows with it for the sake of lettering the fight last as long as required, before putting the poor thing out of its misery. Tormenting it. Like this game torments you. She wanted the thought to be wrong. She wanted to think she was better than this world. The truth, however, was that she knew it was right. Knew that it was saying nothing more than the truth about her in that moment, tha

Taking the creatures down was pitifully easy, once you had figured out their movements. Nari had watched them long enough during her previous fight in order to get a handle on how they flowed through their attacks. Most creatures had a repetitive movement to their actions, a set of common attack motions that they followed - with some few being able to shift their sequences every so often. These creatures, however, seemed to follow the same pattern - which made it easy for Nari to time her reactions. A quick flurry of blows, designed to overwhelm the defences of a lesser target, before a single

She'd managed to catch the majority of the creatures, watching as they stopped moving, their limbs betraying them as they locked into place. A single one had avoided her strike - more out of luck, than actual skill by the creature itself. Although Nari would've liked to land a follow up attack, she found herself ducking backwards as the smaller knight slashed outwards at her, intent on bringing the woman down by itself. I doubt you could, unless you were given enough time. Not that she was about to give it the time it needed. She knew the dangers of prolonging fights like these, and the necess

She'd gotten tired of thinking. She wanted nothing more than to run away from her thoughts, and all the darkness that they brought with them. She'd grown tired. Tired of it all, of everything she was doing each and every single day. I'm tired of taking every single day to get up, to craft some useless materials, hunt down more monsters, all in the name of eventually escaping. We've made no progress...in a long time. We may be picking up again, but...are we really getting anywhere? They'd found the boss's room, from the rumours that had been passed throughout the floors. There'd even been menti

She'd found a place to rest a small distance away - the rolling terrain giving an almost three-sided shelter to the area. She'd been concerned at first that something could come over the crest and attack her from behind, but so far the few small groups of creatures in the area had stayed well and far away from her current position. She'd watched, for a time, following their movements. At first, like all collections of creatures in Aincrad, the paths had appeared random - a collection of steps followed before a sudden turn, and a new collection of steps. But with time, Nari had begun to notice

The wind had picked up slightly following the completion of her skirmish with the humanoids, a fact that made Nari wonder if Cardinal wasn't watching her. Absurd, it's just coincidence. The AI isn't watching you and waiting for the most opportune moment to give you the dramatic flair... The voice in her mind scowled in response to the idea, and Nari found she couldn't disagree with the sarcastic tone. It was highly unlikely that Cardinal was simply waiting around to provide her with a gust of wind, the more reasonable explanation winning out for once. To think, you thought yourself important.

The pattern had devolved - the quick bursts had become aggressive thrusts and bashes in what was clearly becoming a desperate desire to overwhelm Nari's defences. She didn't let the sudden shift overwhelm her, instead focusing on simply deflecting the attacks that she could, and avoiding those that came too close. It was a wary game, in the end, the need to keep such a lookout for anything coming directly towards her. Opening. There. She'd spotted it the same instant as she began to move into her own attack sequence, the sudden shift from defensive to offensive causing confusion for the H

She stepped back again as the Harbringer brought its weapon down in a harsh arc, using its own muscles - digital as they may be - and momentum in order to slam the weapon into the spot Nari had been standing seconds ago. She could see its pattern evolving before her eyes, the way it would follow up the aggressive opening, using speed to try and knock aside her defences, before driving a powerful strike towards where she should be. Repetitive. Just like you'd expect from a program. Even an AI. She'd found a simple enough counter - blocking the first couple of strikes, before stepping out of the