Nari-Lanreth

Nari stayed quiet as the other released the pent up emotions, the thoughts and frustrations, which had clearly been held back for a long time. She listened, without saying a word, as the other expressed their concerns and fears. Their desires. Their hesitations. Nari couldn't help but remember her first days, back when she had started this game. Started down the path of becoming stronger, of joining the ranks of those fighting for their freedoms. "You won't. You can't. As you are, you could never defend your friends, or those around you." She kept her voice level, no judgement, no negativ

Leaving behind the first nest, Nari had continued down the pathway. She'd hoped to find the next nest relatively quickly - assuming that they had been created in line, or that they had grouped them together for the sake of ease and general logical purpose. Her hopes had been quickly dashed away as time slowly passed, and her search continued without success. Another bend, and she'd found herself cursing at whomever had made these tunnels. "I swear...this all looks familiar! I can't even tell if we've been down this way or not..." She glanced at a nearby wall, peering at a collection of s

Thread Summary Word Count: 6,117 Nari-Lanreth EXP: 6,117 / 10 x 8 x 70% = 3,425 EXP Xlearsight EXP: 6,117 / 10 x 1 x 70% = 428 EXP Col: 400 (Thread)

Nari nodded as the player seemed to recite things to drive it all home. To make themselves understand. She smiled, as she listened - the boy was clearly trying to psyche himself in preparation for the steps to come. Steps that Nari knew would be difficult, but that could be obtained with a bit of patience, practice...and a fair amount of effort. "Exactly. Start simply...and you'll get there. Perhaps one of these days, you and I will be fighting to clear the floors, shoulder to shoulder." She let the thought linger on the air for a moment, hoping that it would drive the player forwards e

Nari came to a stop, turning to stare at the other player hard. Their interest in player killers had set off some alarm bells for the woman, and she found herself listening for any sounds of movement around them. Seconds ticked by, as Nari waited - watching and listening for anything, before realising that the two were quite alone for the time. "No...no I haven't. Not to player killers..." She paused, an awkwardness in the air as she struggled to continue speaking. She'd lost many, but those were different stories. Different situations. "Player killers are not anywhere near as...popular,

Nari ducked beneath a strong, wild swing from the King. Beside her, she watched as Jomei dodged around an assault from his own combatant, avoiding any damage and continuing to press the attack against it - holding it at back and slowly whittling it down. She turned to face her own fight, the King standing across from her and preparing for another strong strike, his movements far faster and far more fluid than should have been possible for someone that size and strength. Her scythe sang a ringing hum as it deflected another strike aimed at her torso, forcing her to twist with the impact

Nari could only watch as the King descended upon her, his chuckling seeming to echo in her ears. She was helpless do anything, to move out of the way. Unable to even lift an arm to block the incoming strike. She stared at the descending blade, waiting for the impact, unable to even brace herself physically. Everything had slowed as the blade had begun to swing, as if time was toying with her. She had watched, breath held, as the edge seemed to inch closer and closer, before hitting the halfway mark of its momentum. Then, just as suddenly, everything had returned to its normal speed. Nar

Eager, but well-intended. Nari could appreciate the player's desire to lead the charge. She had been like that once, joyful, determined to change things and bring about the next wave of fighters who would clear the floors in no time. Not long ago, it had been her goal to reach the frontlines, to make it among the best of the best with the intention of helping to clear...everything. Now, she knew better. Knew what it cost to get there, what it cost to do something as simple as clearing a field boss - let alone a floor boss. "If you haven't yet...I would recommend it. They give a good basis

It didn't take anywhere near as long as Nari had expected before the final rock was tumbling down the side of the once-nest's edge, leaving her standing triumphantly over her destruction. The grin on her face matched her enthusiasm, and for a brief second she forgot where exactly she was standing. It was Mio's slightly yip, that brought her attention back to the present. "You're right...we probably shouldn't hang around here, just in case they decide to return." She said in response, eyeing the tunnel around her for any sign of movement. For the moment, at least, it seemed that they were

Peering down a short tunnel, Nari saw something that seemed to reflect in the light - an almost metallic shine against the otherwise dull lit rock that surrounded the remainder of the area. Casting a single glance around, Nari moved forwards down the tunnel, keeping her ears open for any sounds that would signify the presence of anything else in the area. Beside her, Mio walked gingerly, his fox-like steps barely making a presence against the dirt beneath them. Nari envied him that for a second, wondering what it would be like to move without leaving any trace of your existence - before r

The tunnels seemed to close in around her as she continued on through them, constantly glancing down side stretches and cutoffs in search of any sign of the quarry they hunted. Mio trudged along beside her, appearing content to simply follow Nari for the time being. "You know...considering how big this floating castle is...I'm amazed at how many floors of it all focus on being underground..." She glanced down another side path, peering in towards a dead-end before continuing her trail of thought. "I don't mean to say that there shouldn't be any, but...I mean why not incorporate an above

As soon as they had exited the undercity entirely, Nari turned her attention towards their task at hand. Mio followed along behind her, glancing up at her every once in a while as she reviewed the quest information that now displayed itself on her menu. The foreman had given her three main options; hunt down and kill the Drakelings, lure them away...or destroy the nests. "Luring them away is the most humane...but I don't think that's going to get me what I need here. Although it is tempting...I think the best bet here is going to be to destroy the nests. At least this time around." She g

Their journey had taken them across the underground city, until they had finally found the individual in question - an older, grizzled looking individual who had clearly been working the mines for the majority of his life. Nari approached the man, giving a greeting as she came closer and listening to his request with a calm, collected expression. As soon as he had finished discussing the issue - a collection of Drakelings that were terrorising the miners, from the sounds of it - Nari was heading off, leaving the bright lit undercity behind in favour of the solitude that the caverns offered.

Nari watched as the girl attempted to pet the kitsune, the creature recoiling slightly and moving away - thankfully not biting out as Nari was concerned it would do. Turning her focus to the area around them, Nari took in the scenery. The floor was, as always, an image straight out of a near-perfect environment. Flaws could be found, if one looked...but they were not common. "Anyways...you've decided to get started in earnest now, right? So why don't we get your quest done so that you can catch up with those at the frontlines. Assuming that is your wish, after all." She smiled, a reassuri

Nari turned at the single word from Jomei, her rage broken for the briefest of seconds as she heard the man hit the floor. The cold washed over her, as she realised how out of touch she'd been - how driven by the anger. A feeling that caused her discomfort upon realising. "You good?" She called out to the ginger, nodding as he responded in kind. Cautious, the fire gone out from her earlier fury, Nari turned back to face the King. Just in time to see the blade descending towards her, the weapon colliding with her body and sending her flying across the room. She felt the impact as her body

The skeletons around her faded away as she approached the throne, a humming coursing through her body that seemed to push aside anything aside from the King in front of her. Nari barely registered Jomei behind her, barely considered that there were others in the room - her focus was only on the King, her awareness limited to her own movements and his. The images of the town were gone, although the fury remained. She had been bottling it up for far, far too long. The anger at being stuck in this place, at being constantly worried about every move, about the actions she was taking. What s

Nari paused for a few seconds after realising that Jomei had come to a stop, her question apparently having put the ginger into a state of consideration. She waited, patiently, as he seemed to think on his answer, before acknowledging what Nari herself had been feeling. The difficulty between differentiating, the concerns around losing oneself if they let themselves truly fall into the trap; and then the confirmation that either way - they weren't leaving this game in any shape that they had entered it. "Broken...or dead...not exactly a best seller." Her tone was hushed. Although she'd s

"You'd do well to keep that in mind...this is a game where you need to work together, if you want to survive in the long run." There was no anger in her tone, no emotion at all. A simple statement of fact. She'd never been engaged in a floor boss, had yet to help clear the battles known to be the most vicious and dangerous across Aincrad. Even still, Nari was well aware that when it came to the real fights, you needed to rely on those around you. No one could survive alone. "You're a quick learner, from the sounds of it though...so I think you'll do fine." Nari tried to make her voice mor

The afterglow of Jomei's strike seemed to bounce on the corners of Nari's vision, leaving the girl shaking her head slightly to clear it. The small group had been easy enough, and for a second Nari felt a smirk touch her face. "You know...these things are pretty easy. Do you think this king is even going to be a challenge? I mean...his forces are almost disappointing..." She bit her tongue as she considered the thought. It was never good to get too cocky, especially in this game. Surprises could be waiting where one least expected it, and the last thing she needed to do was walk into a di

Nari felt herself smiling at the sudden enthusiasm of the other player. They quickly listed everything they wanted to do, to incorporate, going so far as to bounce ideas off her and then immediately answer them before Nari could say anything. For a time, she let the boy speak, continuing their advance towards the world beyond the gates - making sure to wave at Merv as she passed the ever-vigilant guard. "Ideas are all well and good...but sometimes even the best of builds falters. That's why it's important to work together, as much as possible. Soloing this game will only get you so far,

Nari chuckled at the thought of the mobs running away. It would be nice if they would do that, but she'd yet to encounter anything in this game that showed fear beyond something reactionary, perhaps in its final moments. Cardinal didn't seem to consider surrender and retreat options, when it came to combat. Or, at least, not that she had ever seen or heard about. "DPS is always good...first thing you want to focus on then, is setting your equipment and skills up to focus on dealing damage. Seems intuitive, but there's always catches. Some skills will cancel out the effectiveness of your w

Jomei had rushed alongside Nari, moving even before she'd shouted out to him. His fluid movements making Nari feel shame at her own clunkiness - making her remember that he was by and far the more agile of the two. Still, she'd managed to snag a few of them, and even as she watched Jomei put down the first, and grab the last one that she had missed, she remembered again why they worked so well together. "Nice! Here...let me see if I can't score down this friend a bit more..." She gave her scythe a twirl behind her, turning her attention to the leader of the group. The thing seemed to sta

Nari smiled as the individual seemed almost excited to hit the fields - a drive that they exclaimed was focused on bringing more players to the frontlines. Silently, she wished them luck with that endeavour, hoping that he would succeed where so many others had failed. "I don't think anyone on the frontlines would...turn on other players. At least, not those who are focused on clearing the game..." She wasn't entirely sure on that statement, but it felt right to say in the moment. As if she were defending herself, and those she knew. "It would be nice to see reinforcements, however...espe

Nari looked up the mountain towards the shape of the drake above, the wings outspread in what she figured was supposed to be some sort of display of magnificence, and perhaps terror for those players coming across it for the first time. Nari, however, felt only a bit of disappointment. It felt typical, like anything she'd find in any other game - something written by a childish individual with no imagination. "It would be easier if it would fly down to meet us...doubt that'll happen though." She gave a soft sigh before beginning her climb in earnest, reaching back to offer NIGHT a helping

"Good! Keeping that fear will keep you alive...remember that." She chuckled as the boy declared his true feelings. She was glad to see he was able to realise that the fear of the entire situation had taken over him - it was far more impressive that he had realised it, and overcome it. If nothing else, Nari could empathise. She still felt that fear every time she walked into combat, every time she was facing down a threat. It didn't matter how small the creature was, how weak it was...sometimes, you simply lost. "Have you...ever fought anything before? In the game?" She pulled up her menu