Almina

        Almina sighed when she realized she hadn't managed to get her hands on a single material so far. Wulfrin then spoke up, suggesting to "be a bit less picky". Almina blinked. There were three players who all knew this, heck, Almina had experimented with the common flowers trying to see if they'd qualify for materials. On top of that, there were three players searching, so all things considered, this task would be easier said than done.

          She got up, and looked for anything that popped or contrasted to the local environment in any way...ah, like that blue mushroom over there. She made her way over to it, and pulled at the base of it. Oddly enough, this mushroom seemed to be the type that gets its roots in deep, as Almina struggled to pull it out. With difficulty, then one final strained pull, the mushroom finally popped off of where it was growing. "Whew...that's one!" She remarked.

ID# 222875 LD: 8+3=11(Found 1 Material)

Materials found: 1/5

   Wulfrin warned the three girls no to go too far, so that if anything dangerous came up, he could protect them. "Don't worry, Wulfrin, we won't!" Almina assured.

   What she could not assure, however, was that she wouldn't drift off within sight. From a search around the floral foliage to a gaze into the sky, she saw clouds in all kinds of shapes and sizes. as her imagination became active and her walking began to slow, the skies slowly turned from blue to gray, from gray to dark gray, then from dark gray to a dark, grayish crimson...and with a flash of nonexistent lightning, a storm passed, then receded, leaving a darkened night sky with a gleaming blue moon, the sound of roaring echoed within her mind as the embers of fire danced within her vision...

       Snap back to reality, oop, there goes gravity-

 *Flump*

       Almina had neglected to watch where she was walking, and had slipped on a round fruit and landed on her back. The fruit shattered, so there was another chance gone wrong. Maybe next time she'd try not to get too caught up in her imagination to the point of seeing things that no one else saw.

ID# 222859 LD: 5+3=8(nothing found)

        Miryu had a whole set of screenshots already. Excluding the one she'd just taken of Almina, there were no less than twelve that appeared on Miryu's menu screen. Wulfrin and Kylissia returned, and upon learning of this, suggested that Miryu keep the screenshots for the time being. If Miryu was an amnesiac, that would at least explain why she already had screenshots, though it wouldn't explain how she's level one after having been to who knows how many places in Aincrad, given the variety of environments in the screenshots. Even if Miryu was carried, there still wouldn't be any logical explanation for her to be level one. "Miryu, forgive me for my confusion here, but...exactly how are you level one?" Almina asked. "If you've been to all these places, then how...why...? It...it makes no sense, what happened?" At this point Almina was asking herself this, since an amnesiac without a memory to her name wouldn't be able to answer that.

                 Zachariah's shop would soon be entered, but unlike the expected scenario, the NPC seemed to have some recognition of Miryu. Now Almina was really worried. It all just got more and more confusing. "Miryu..." Almina thought. "What even happened, what did you do?"
    There had to have been something. Her level didn't add up with the scenarios, nor did the screenshots. 



             Then there was the trip to the gathering location. Almina was glad that Wulfrin was ready and willing to protect, for Almina was now focused on trying to figure Miryu out. Nothing was adding up, and now she wanted to find out why. Lost in her thoughts, she puzzled over the possibilities until Wulfrin announced the players' arrival. Wulfrin would begin fishing, and Miryu would circle one flower that stood out from the rest in the patch, before plucking it and obtaining a material. Almina then wondered if the other flowers counted, despite being of potentially lesser quality? Almina picked one, it shattered. Almina picked a bunch in one grasp, they shattered...so clearly those flowers were non-material, and thus being improperly picked will destroy them. "Ok, let's see, what else is around...?" She thought.

ID# 221821 LD: 4+3=7(found nothing)

                                    Kylissia took Wulfrin aside for some kind of discussion. Almina had no idea why this was necessary, but regardless, Almina needed to kill a few seconds, if not more. Almina began thinking of what she could do. "What could I possibly talk about with an Amnesiac...?" She wondered. "...Maybe I could teach her a few functions of her menu, like the messaging system!"

              With that, her eyes lit up, and she looked over to Miryu. "Your menu's gonna become very handy to you throughout your adventures. You can use it to access your inventory, manage equipment, swap equipment in the blink of an eye, and more!" She explained, before pulling up her menu to give an example. "I know you've figured out how to pull up the map, but I wanna make sure you're handy enough with the other functions to make sure you're ready. Of course, there are other neat functions, like sending and receiving messages, sending party invites, and even taking screenshots!" She added. She continued to explain and demonstrate, then a *Click!* noise could be heard from Miryu's Menu. Almina chuckled. "Did you just take a screenshot?" She asked. "It's ok, I don't mind!" She said, in hopes of avoiding any discouragement. "If you'd ever like to take a look at it, you can go to your saved screenshots by touching that button at the bottom right of the screenshot camera!"

    What happened next was unexpected, however. "Oh...!"

                    The rest was all a blur. What Almina remembered after Autumn's attack, was Autumn being seen unharmed...and falling to the ground as though it were an emotional response. Almina walked over to the player, looking at her sympathetically. "Are you alright?" She asked.

      Not everyone starts out ready. In fact, no one ever starts ready at all. They have to become ready, and they'll never really know when they're ready...it's all a leap of faith in the end. Everyone who takes their first steps outside the safe zone to start their journey...leap of faith, right there. This poor girl most likely didn't feel confident in herself...but it could also have been the shock of experiencing her first battle. After all, no one ever said duty was enjoyable...and war is monstrous. In a sense, the players in this game would need to wage war with Aincrad's greatest evils if they ever had any hope of leaving alive.

      Almina offered her hand to help Autumn back up on her feet.

                 What both confused and concerned Almina at the same time, was how Autumn let out a panicked scream rather than a battle cry. Despite this, Autumn's attack landed well...too well, actually.

           Shock filled Almina's face as she realized who the boar's gaze was now directed to. She dashed towards the beast. "Autumn! Look out, it's targeting you!!!" She called out in warning as she tried to intercept. Her attempt at unleashing a sword art would fail, but she was at least able to put it in lock for a few seconds. As she and the boar pushed against each other in struggle, Almina called out to Autumn, "Finish it or run, the choice is yours. I'll try to hold it off as much as I can!" Five more seconds and the boar managed to push Almina to the side, before glaring back to Autumn. It scraped its hoof against the ground, preparing a charge attack.

It was fight or flight for Autumn, and the only thing Almina could hope was that whatever she did, she would succeed.

ID# 220450 BD: 2(miss)

[2]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 16/20 | 7 DMG | 6 MIT | 1 Regen | 3 LD
[2]Autumn: HP 20/20 | EN 15/20 | 5 DMG | 1 ACC

                  Enemies:

Boar: HP 22/80, 4 DMG

                     Almina was concerned. An armored figure? Suddenly gone? "This...this is..." Her train of thought was interrupted for the time being, but nevertheless her concerns remained. 
               The arrival to the shop that the mayor had entered, at least, had made things much easier. The three would enter to accidentally eavesdrop on a conversation that seemed to bear importance to the town's protection.
      A tremor... "So I wasn't just imagining things...there was actually a tremor that shook the land..." Almina thought. "So...I wasn't the only one who noticed..." She thought aloud.

        The Mayor soon noticed the players and came up to them as to initiate the quest as Cardinal intended. "Of course, you can leave it to us!" Almina agreed, before pressing Accept on the quest prompt that appeared. Miryu then walked up to the Cartographer to ask about her map. The Cartographer definitely noticed an anomaly with the map, and suggested the odd tower he'd found might be able to "repair" it. He also offered Miryu a Single-Floor map that she could use for the time being, which she then accepted. Following the other girls outside the building, she knew she had to think about how to handle this situation. If that odd tower could help, then what else could it do other than fixing maps? If it was connected to that tremor, then...exactly what was going on?

                               Kylissia made a good point in terms of taking the bull by the horns. Now that troubles had taken Almina to another world, in a sense, Almina was likely to have to look for trouble herself when it didn't find her. Such is the nature of those with ties to destiny, one might suppose.

          Kylissia then looked to Miryu, and everything started to make sense when she spoke. Almina blinked as her expression became a soft, mild form of shock. "Amnesia? Oh no..." She thought. Fiction often made Amnesiacs into powerful individuals, but the reasoning behind that was usually because they had the procedural memory and personal skills from the life they led beforehand to carry them through their struggles. A real amnesiac would have just as much luck as anyone else, depending on their personal skills set and procedural memory. Therefore, Miryu's capabilities were currently unknown, and that was worrying. 

                     Wulfrin explained the situation the players were all in to Miryu, since due to her amnesia, someone was gonna have to catch her up to speed. "You kinda left out the part that we can't log out of this game until all one hundred floors of this game, which are all pretty much just unique worlds and realms, are cleared. One hundred floor bosses to slay, so far we as a player base have taken down twenty seven, so that's...seventy three to go." Almina pointed out politely, though she explained it in a way that hopefully Miryu would now understand it as well. The course of action was now clear, so it was time to head out.

           Wulfrin must have had some kind of luck, because while Almina would normally have gotten into a fight by now, no aggro of any kind was pulled during the trip to Tolbana so far. "I wonder how we'll find this Cartographer..." Almina thought aloud. When she turned to speak to Miryu, she wasn't there. She looked further and saw that she'd stopped for some reason, but then she turned and ran back to catch up with the party. "Are you alright?" Almina asked. "Did you see anything?"

                           Oh...this was more serious than Almina thought. Wulfrin explained how he'd gotten the feeling that Miryu didn't even know this was a game. What confused Almina was, how exactly did that happen? Everyone logged into this game on the same day, and were all trapped inside on the same day. That, Almina knew. This was advertised to be a game back in the world Almina came from, that she also knew...so how could this girl here not know these things? Well, there had to be something that could explain it all...

                          The three girls were brought over to a tavern, where Wulfrin would proceed to pull up his map and show a route. Almina would notice Miryu pulling up hers too, but by how she seemed to do it, and how she kept looking back to Wulfrin before back to her menu, she was trying to copy off of how he pulled up his. Upon her success, however, she drew the attention of an NPC who pointed out that something wasn't right with her map...
              Wait a minute, that doesn't normally happen. Since when could maps go wrong? When Wulfrin asked for a show of hands, all three girls raised their hands. Almina was the first to speak. "I've been wondering when it would come to me, but I guess I'm just used to trouble looking for me, I didn't exactly go around looking for trouble before we all got trapped in this game." She added, as if to claim that if she'd found it she would have taken it by now.

                                            Another player entered the scene, asking about what was going on. The male player, who introduced himself as Wulfrin, explained how he intended to take the girl with him over to Tolbana so she could start the First Lesson Questline. Before Almina could make any remarks about it, the girl with him spoke an odd question. What strange things were happening right now...First someone says that the First Lessons were located in Tolbana, even though plenty of people claimed to have stumbled upon the first quest right here in the Town of Beginnings, then the girl right next to said person has no clue what Tolbana is, to the point of asking if it was a person? As far as Almina was concerned, Tolbana was common knowledge due to being on the first floor where all the stayers kept to themselves. Almina blinked. "...Are you ok?" She asked, bewildered. "I'm not sure if you've heard, but Tolbana's another settlement on this floor." She revealed, hoping to help this poor confused girl with whatever it was that was going on. "I can come with you, if you'd like, it might make things easier." She added, though still leaving it up to the girl's choice, since she would be the main taker of the quest.

                                    Not everyone expects to find the unexpected within the expected and mundane. Players were always the unexpected little sparkles in the otherwise standard and normal Town of Beginnings, aside from the tutorials, the size of the sprawling city, and of course, the players that decided to stick around despite their strength by setting up shop...not that any of this bothered Almina, of course, there were just only so many places she could get a view from before she got tired of them all. She was wearing her everyday Safe Zone Outfit, which was a simple white shirt paired with a knife pleat skirt and hoodie jacket, both a rose pink in color, along with a pair of white ankle boots, as well as a separate clothing item, being a cream white beanie covered in soft fluffy smooth fuzz that seemed to provide some extra luck towards a certain set of actions not exactly related to combat. She looked to her left and to her right, then decided to get down.

                       Unfortunately for Almina, someone had been unloading the barrel she'd climbed up and so it was no longer stable when she hopped down from the roof onto it, causing her to lose her balance as the barrel then tipped over, and with the quick movement of feet, she found herself moving along with the now rolling barrel(thank goodness it'd just been emptied) until it crashed into a bench, sending Almina flying right towards the nearby tree. Almina slid down the tree trunk and down to the ground, before slowly getting up and wobbling as she got up to her feet, while clutching her tingling forehead(she had reasons to not clutch at her also tingling torso, however).
              She shook off the tingling and noticed that people were staring at her. Probably just a bunch of NPCs that would always be surprised by Almina just existing, as she got into problems like these embarrassingly often.

   Then she looked over to a pair of players who may have also witnessed what just happened. She chuckled awkwardly. "Hi." She said sheepishly with a wave of her hand.

Stats and Equipment:

                           Almina let out a soft chuckle when the girl opened up her mouth, about to remark about the whole truck situation. The girl then suddenly covered her mouth, but it's not like it would have hurt Almina. She wouldn't have been the first to suggest that it was the famous, notorious Truck-kun, and Almina would have doubted she'd be the last, had she spoken it. The girl opened up her mouth again, but shut it once more, before sending a party invite her way. The invite would pretty much introduce the girl's username in the process. "She seems like the shy type to me..." Almina thought. "She could definitely use some help, might boost her confidence a bit along the way if we're lucky!" 
                   Character and Confidence had to go hand in hand, there would always be problems of some kind when one was without the other. Confidence without character is a dangerous thing, one that a concerning amount of people with a view similar to Almina's seemed to have.
                 And in Almina's first impression of this girl, she saw a different problem: Character without Confidence. From how Almina saw her, she seemed like she had the capability, and she cared, and probably had a significant amount of character and personal quality...but the poor thing was terrified, and what got Almina to believe this was that panicked outburst that was made earlier.

          She pressed Yes to accept the request, and was added to Autumn's party. "Autumn...it's got a good ring to it, I'd think it suits you very well!" Almina complimented with a cheery grin. Autumn would give the literal leadership of the party to Almina, which gave her an idea. "Maybe a carry is just what she needs..." She thought, seeing how she can help out this girl while also respecting her wishes of having Almina lead instead of her. This kind of thing wasn't what the tides of Fate and Destiny often sent her way, but it would be a new and worthwhile experience nonetheless.

              Almina looked off to the distance, looking for something to carry Autumn through...but what she was looking for, came to her. Coming into view was a large boar that would probably be tough for a fresh player to handle, but if one had the right equipment...yeah, the two would be fine as long as neither did anything that was actually stupid. "I'm not sure what your defensive equipment looks like..." Almina began, as she and the monster locked eyes. "But I know mine, and I might be able to take the hits for this one. Just watch for now, don't come in with your weapon until I tell you, I need to make sure its attention stays on me first!" She explained, as the monster's cursor turned red, and Almina drew her sword.

                      Almina took position. "If you're new to combat, I'll try to give you a crash course." She said, hoping to help. "The key to victory in combat is in Sword Arts, the game's namesake. Don't expect to deal enough damage if you don't use them. Some take positions in order to activate them, others just will them into activation, then there are those who do both." She explained as she readied her sword art. "Either way, the result is the same...once activated, the game handles it for you."
            Almina leapt into action, her sword art active, cutting deeply into her target, which let out a shriek of a squeal, and proceeded to glare daggers at Almina once her attack was finished. "Ha! That attack was perfect!" She thought. Now to see if now was the time. "Do you have an active weapon skill?" Almina asked Autumn. "If you do, you might be able to stun this thing with the right Sword Art!" She called out, suggesting what she believed would be a good action to join in with.

ID# 219785 BD: 9(Critical! +2 Base DMG)

ST-I: 9x4=34 DMG to Boar!

[2]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 16/20 | 7 DMG | 6 MIT | 1 Regen | 3 LD
[0]Autumn: HP 20/20 | EN 20/20 | 5 DMG | 1 ACC

                  Enemies:

Boar: HP 46/80, 4 DMG

      Upon Almina speaking of the incident with the boars, the redhead seemed to unleash a panicked outburst. Almina blinked. She had nearly had similar treatment by others in regards to certain things Almina had almost gotten tangled into back in real life before this game. "...Everything I do is a risk to take. At least, that's how I'd put it for myself." Almina responded to the outburst. "I mean, of course it would seem like a dangerously excessive risk, but I guess I'm too used to dealing with dangers and potential situations, or, more accurately, attempting to dodge them, on a regular basis...How many times would a girl need to cross the street at top speed because a truck was coming her way, anyway? Then again, I kinda lost count myself...and to think it started happening since I was eighteen? Like, I kid you not, I'd only have to step on the crosswalk and there's a truck on the horizon coming at me at top speed!" She added, prattling on with a chuckle at the end.

                    The player suggested that the two go about their day in a party. Almina nodded in agreement, with a cheery smile and her eyes closed. "Sure! It doesn't matter who the party leader is to me...besides, while I'm definitely getting stronger, we're about the same level, if I recall correctly, so if we end up hunting anything something small near the borders will easily do." She explained. "I'm Almina, nice to meet you!" She greeted, as the player would need to know her username in order to invite her to a party, if she wanted to lead.

                            "Oh, so you're a first timer?" Almina asked. "I was one myself, just a day or two ago. Pretty sure I'm still around your level, though..." She added. With a cheerful grin, her hands behind her back, she'd continue. "The first battle is bound to be a nerve wracking one, no matter how prepared you are...after all, I kind of jumped at the first quartet of boars I saw when out venturing with my cousin yesterday, and...hoo, boy, I might have misjudged the capabilities of the big one in the group." She'd chuckle awkwardly, but keep her smile going regardless. "I mean, we killed it, sure, but it took more than I was expecting to get the job done." She added while smiling sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. "At least not all of the monsters are like that, though!" She remarked, in hopes of leaving room for encouragement in this situation. She then nodded her head. "Well, two players are stronger than one, so if you feel like hunting anything today, I can help! I'm sure we could both use the Exp, after all, right?" She asked, as she offered her hand to shake. "Oh! Where are my manners, I'm Almina!" She added with a gleeful smile.

-

ID# 218673 BD: 1(Critical Fail)

(OOC: RRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-)

[0]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 11/20 | 7 DMG | 1 Regen | 6 MIT | 3 LD

[3]Sorun: HP 14/20 | EN 4/20 | 7 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 6 MIT

                         Enemies:

Boar Chonkernaut: HP 3/80, 9 DMG

                     Now that there was no more need to always be stuck in the town, Almina had more places where she could go to take a look at the digital horizon while getting lost in thought. For example, a nice, tall tree just outside of town. The digital horizon was different here, because there was less "town" to be seen, and more of the first floor's wilds in view instead. It was a nice change of pace.

            Almina snapped back into reality(or, more accurately, the game's reality) at the sound of someone struggling. She looked to her left, then to her right, and then looked down from the tree she was at the top of. She could barely make out the visage of someone down at the road, with the distance and all those branches of the tree. Almina decided to get down and see if any help was needed. This may have been very near the starter settlement, but this was still outside the safe zone. Not only did this mean there might be some help needed, but it also meant that Almina would need a way to soften her fall when she reached the bottom, since fall damage was a thing.

           "You all right?" She called out. Then she began shuffling her way down the tree, before stumbling and fumbling nearly the rest of the way down, managing to grab hold of a lower branch, in which she'd hang down from the tree by her arm, her hand still grasping the branch. Well, at least she was out of the tree now. She then spotted the red haired player. "Ehehe, hi." She greeted, somewhat sheepishly.

           *Snap*

   Almina looked up to see that the branch she held onto had just broke. "Uh oh..."
                    She proceeded to fall and stumble onto the ground, but at least the distance wasn't enough to result in fall damage. She then got up, and shook herself off, before looking back to the red haired player, asking "So uh, how are you? Is there anything you need?" With a cheerful, casual smile without a care in the world about what just happened.

Stats and Equipment:

                              Having to chase after her weapon wasn't what Almina was expecting to end up doing in a fight, but seeing that sword of hers flipping through the air at a fair height, airborne at about five meters per second. Not what you'd expect in any fight whatsoever. Even characters in fiction didn't normally go through this...then again, Almina and her life don't exactly count as "normal"...

              The sword landed in the ground, and she was finally able to retrieve it. "Phew, finally! Now to-"

     Almina heard Aidan cry out in the distance. Seems like the boars hadn't stopped. "Ugh, why..."
              She ran back to the scene of battle, and activated her sword art once again. Somehow, the big piggy was able to dodge the attack...like, if it's so big and chunky, how in the heck was it able to dodge every attack Almina had made?? How was she supposed to become the heroine she needs to be for other people if she couldn't even get a hit against a chunky boar?

     At least the lesser boar was defeated, though...

ID# 218634 BD: 9(Critical, +1 Base DMG)

ID# 218635 BD: 2(miss)

AoE-I: 8x3=24 Damage to Boar 2!

ID# 218636 CD: 1, LD: 5+3=8(90 Col, 4 Materials, <<T1 Uncommon Consumable 218636>>)

Objective Progress: 4/5

[0]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 12/20 | 7 DMG | 1 Regen | 6 MIT | 3 LD

[3]Sorun: HP 14/20 | EN 3/20 | 7 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 6 MIT

                         Enemies:

Boar 2: HP 0/30, 6 DMG

Boar Chonkernaut: HP 3/80, 9 DMG

                  Well, just laying down here wasn't going to do anything, she needed to act...even if the result ended up being the exact same thing. 

            Almina had to help Aidan out after witnessing what happened to him, which caught her attention when he cried out in...phantom pain? ...Oh...right...guys had a soft spot there...
                  Almina was upset over how they were basically starting to pummel Aidan at this point, and if she couldn't do something soon, it might end up cutting too close. "Hey! Stop picking on him, that was dirty!" She called out to the boars before preparing her sword art once again. The larger one simply turned its head to look at Almina and snorted as if it had huffed in annoyance. It watched Almina's movements closely as she made her way to attack, and the blade came down. "Ha! Didn't catch my blade the same way you did last time, you can't throw me off now!" She claimed, but she would then have a quick struggle for two seconds before finding herself still standing, but her weapon was flipping through the air, headed further away from combat. "Wait noooooooo!!!!!"
          Now Almina was chasing her weapon, and the two boars looked back to Aidan once again. Their priorities and course of action seemed pretty clear at this point.

ID# 217433 BD: 3(miss)

ID# 217434 BD: 1(Critical Fail)

[0-0]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 14/20 | 7 DMG | 1 Regen | 6 MIT | 3 LD

[1-2]Sorun: HP 17/20 | EN 6/20 | 7 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 6 MIT

                         Enemies:

Boar 2: HP 9/30, 6 DMG

Boar Chonkernaut: HP 31/80, 9 DMG

                                      You would think that after one failed attempt, that Almina would try a different approach. That after one failure, the next attempt would not fail.

                     Apparently not, for her next attack would go just as well as the last. When Aidan called out to Almina to strike now, she readied her weapon and prepared her sword art. A stone might not have stopped her, but the big one turned around and huffed, before catching her blade in its tusks. This one has seen battle before, and seems to know a thing or two of how to disorient attackers. It then threw her behind it, and she once again landed on her back before the two boars turned their attention back to Aidan. "Fighting these things is different than fighting dummies..." She thought aloud. She'd never fought against a moving target until now. At least these things were weak, so it was plenty of hands on practice and experience.

ID# 216657 BD: 3(miss)

ID# 216658 BD: 1(Critical Fail)

[0-0]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 15/20 | 7 DMG | 1 Regen | 6 MIT | 3 LD

[1-1]Sorun: HP 19/20 | EN 9/20 | 7 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 6 MIT

                         Enemies:

Boar 2: HP 9/30, 6 DMG

Boar Chonkernaut: HP 59/80, 9 DMG

                          So much for a smooth first battle.
                 Almina took notice when Aidan attacked the boars and drew aggro. Almina tried to take the moment as an opportunity to strike while their backs were turned. She would ready her weapon and prepare her sword art. The plan was simple, strike fast, strike now, and strike hard, really nothing much to it, right? Wrong.

                    Almina advanced towards the three enemies, but didn't notice the smooth stone on the slick grass. Before she knew it, her legs were moving upward instead of forward. That wasn't supposed to happen in games...what was going on here? Was this game really lifelike to the point where small objects could influence any entity in the world? Landing on her back, she could only see the sky above. It was nice, actually, but of course, she and her cousin Aidan were in the middle of combat. She couldn't just stick around.

           She got up, but took her time in doing so on the off chance the game was willing to continue being excessively lifelike by either making her see stars or get a cramp. Hopefully Aidan had this covered.            

ID# 216559 BD: 2(miss)

ID# 216560 BD: 1(Critical Fail)

ID# 216561 BD: 5(miss)

[0-0-0]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 16/20 | 7 DMG | 1 Regen | 6 MIT | 3 LD

[0-1-1]Sorun: HP 19/20 | EN 13/20 | 7 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 6 MIT

                         Enemies:

Boar 2: HP 30/30, 6 DMG

Boar 3: HP 9/30, 6 DMG

Boar Chonkernaut: HP 59/80, 9 DMG

                           Aidan's suggestion of hunting and gathering seemed like a good idea. Almina smiled and nodded. "Sure! Let's do it!"

           The two players would leave the safe zone, and Almina would head directly into one of the floor's foliage ridden areas, near the forest. Four boars were there, one of which looked considerably chunkier than the other three. As soon as Almina spotted them, she drew her weapon and rushed towards them with all due haste.

      It was practically luck that the first enemies Almina saw were weak enough for her current stats, though it would be best that Aidan come to help, for the chunkier boar's cursor changed to a darker red than the others' did. Almina activated her Sword Art, though her attack missed all but one...one, which was dealt a heavy strike. Most likely, the squealing would alert Aidan of the situation that Almina had gotten herself into.

            Well, she decided she was ready for trouble, now, here she is.

ID# 214858 BD: 10(Critical, +2 Base DMG)

ID# 214859 BD: 5(miss)

ID# 214860 BD: 2(miss)

ID# 214861 BD: 2(miss)

AoE-I: 9x3=27 Damage to Boar 1!

[2-0-0-0]Almina: HP 20/20 | EN 17/20 | 7 DMG | 1 Regen | 6 MIT | 3 LD

[0-0-0-0]Sorun: HP 20/20 | EN 20/20 | 7 DMG | 3 ACC | 6 MIT

                         Enemies:

Boar 1: HP 3/30, 6 DMG

Boar 2: HP 30/30, 6 DMG

Boar 3: HP 30/30, 6 DMG

Boar Chonkernaut: HP 80/80, 9 DMG

                            Almina had never known the Tank experience, so this was a bit of an eye-opener for her. "Interesting..." She thought aloud. Yona would speak her thoughts on it, and it was understandable. Being carried with a Tank definitely had it's advantages, Almina just had to make sure not to pull aggro on anything too dangerous, and she would be completely fine. It was a simple process.

        Row did not see the rock shake, for she wasn't paying attention. She noted how she got narrow-minded when getting excited about excursions. "It's ok, I don't blame you or anything." Almina reassured with a smile. Row would admit that it's been a game of chance, being outside the safe zone, and the comparisons sounded awfully similar to... "Ahaha, nice reference! I haven't exactly played Dungeons & Dragons or anything, but I know a few things." She began. "It must be tough, trying to make it out there on one's own. Well, there really is strength in numbers, right? I hope this little escapade ends up working out!" She continued.

     When Almina suggested that Row be the leader, Row's eyes lit up, while Yona didn't look too pleased. What was her deal? Maybe Almina would find out soon enough. Row suggested that the players meet back up in two hours. That should give enough time for preparation. "Right! We'll all be here in two hours!" Almina agreed. She was starting to get excited about her first trip outside the safe zone. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard for her.

                               Almina chuckled. "She kind of found me sitting on her tavern's roof, she's really sweet, I just know she'll be willing to help us out, come on!" She said before taking Aidan by the wrist and dragging him along with her as she nearly skipped her way over to the Tavern where Maggie was.

            Almina opened the door, and took a good whiff of the incredible aroma that came to greet her. "You smell that, Aidan? That's the smell of a bright, wondrous, and promising culinary future!" She remarked. Once both players were in, a middle aged blonde would poke her head out of the kitchen door. "Hi hun,"  The NPC began. "It's good to see you again. We've got a bunch of different meals in the works, so what is it that you're hungry for?" She asked.
               With a bright smile, Almina knew just what to say. "My cousin and I are hungry for knowledge and guidance, we seek to master the culinary arts, as you have." She declared, her stance strong and firm, even though this was no such situation for such a pose.
      Unnecessary display and terrible wordplay pun aside, Maggie was willing to help. She clapped her hands together. "Oh my goodness, I would just love to teach you both some wonderful recipes. Unfortunately, today's lunch wiped out most of our ingredients. If it isn't too much of a bother, would you both mind picking up a few things?"
      Almina's warm smile was enough of an answer, but it wouldn't hurt to confirm with words. "Not at all, we'll gladly help out!" She decided, as she pressed <<Accept>> on the appearing quest prompt.
                           "Oh, you're both too kind, thank you very much! I'll need five ingredients from each of you, at the very least. Come back when you have what we'll need, I can't wait to show you some of my favorite recipes!" Maggie responded. With that, the quest was on.

               The Cook profession...
           Almina's eyes lit up again, and a bright smile formed on her face. "I was actually considering taking up the cook profession myself! Wow, what a coincidence!" She exclaimed, her expression having a bright, beaming smile. "We can help so many people with this profession, people are always needing tasty food and consumable buffs for their journeys! This is a great idea, this way we can play our part for bringing freedom to the people even if we're not ready for the front!" She added.
                    Taking up a thinking position and looking to the digital skies as she tilted her head to the side, she had to consider the options. "Well, I don't think players can teach professions, so finding a fellow cook player is off the table, we'll have to find an NPC..." She noted. After a few seconds, however, she had a bright, excited expression on her face as an idea came to mind. "Maggie, that's it! She's a knowledgeable cook and runs a place over in the first Market District, she should be able to help us!" She explained.

       Well, Aidan was looking more concerned about Almina's life than happy to see her again after so long. "Ehehe, nope! Nothing to stop me now!" She answered with a wink and a grin. Indeed, Almina would've loved nothing more than to always be herself. This move that Destiny had made on her was both a blessing and a curse. A curse in the sense that she was stuck in this game along with everyone else here, but a blessing that by inevitably getting into a special kind of trouble, she now had no need to hold herself back in any way whatsoever! "By getting in this game, Destiny really pulled a fast one on me, even I didn't see it coming. But now that I'm here, and a lot of time has passed...well, there's really no sense delaying the inevitable at this point, is there?" She added, her smile not leaving her face. "So, got any plans? I'm just itching to do something today."