Nymoria

Her sudden shift in movement had either surprised them enough to let her past, or they'd underestimated her ability and fluidity. Either way, Nymoria found herself surging past the two and into the open area, spinning even as she rushed past them in an attempt to lay the stun effect onto them once more. Her sabre danced around the forms, barely managing to slash into the sides of each enough to cause them to tense up for the few seconds she needed in order to put even more distance between herself and them. Once more she considered her avenue of escape, wondering if she was pressing her luck b

The grimace that appeared on her face following Salem's quick answer may have disappeared quickly, but Nymoria had no doubts that the other player would have seen it. She swirled her coffee slightly, absentmindedly moving the cup as Salem continued speaking. She noticed a slight delay in one of the words towards the completion of his commentary, as if the system was having trouble picking it up or interpreting it for her, but she waved it away as nothing more than an oddity. A game. Yes...it is a game, I guess. Her response came slowly following a long pause as she considered the comment

The pair had faltered only slightly at Nymoria's sudden assault against them. It was far from enough to end either one of them, but she found herself being able to drive down the health bars of each one rather significantly. The spinning of her sabre had caught them entirely unprepared, and as she drove point to blade through their defences and around their own weapons, she felt a single moment of satisfaction at her success. That was, until the longsword had been driven into her side and thrown her across the tunnel's small space into the distant wall. She rolled to the side as she felt

The blade of her sabre danced around the longsword, slashing at the man's chest and driving him backwards. Almost too late she noticed the approach of the battleaxe, the weapon driving around in a wide arc towards her torso. Nymoria swept her own blade around, connecting with the side of the haft and driving it downwards in a desperate plunge. It was enough momentum to drive it away from her, but gave her first opponent the chance to slash at her with the longsword, cutting the back of her leg as she tried to step away. I'm okay! I'm okay! I'm outnumbered...but I'm okay! Oh...oh I need t

Her sabre flashed in response as the battleaxe was driven down to the side, Nymoria taking the opening and rushing into it. The flash of metal vibrated in her hand as it connected first with the axe wielding man, before lashing out sideways and catching the taller, skinnier man in the side of his torso. Both figures froze on the spot as the technical skill locked them in place, giving Nymoria the chance to step backwards and away from them, her breath coming quickly as she realised this was her first true form of combat. Oh. Ohohohoh. This is not good. There's two of them! Well, I guess

Her steps carried her around the curve of the tunnel, her eyes glancing about even as she stepped outwards and into the open. When nothing met her gaze, she felt herself sigh slightly, releasing the tension that had been building up inside of herself. She hadn't quite been sure what to expect, but somehow the emptiness of the area made her realise that she'd been fearing the worst, somehow. Shaking her head to clear away the concern that had been building up, as much as the tension of her muscles, she forced a smile on her face. Clearly I'm just way too on edge, Musei. See? There's nothi

Her eyes had fallen onto the sign at the front of the tavern, glancing back and forth between the door and the sign. Just beyond it's entryway she could see the party that was occurring within. An obvious sight of revelry and excitement that Nym was entirely unprepared for. She bit into her bottom lip, trying to decide whether she should come back another time, once the party had come to it's conclusion. Likely there's some major event going on, which means that maybe Alexander isn't even- Any argument or attempt to compel herself away from the party was taken when she felt a pair of hand

She'd slipped through the wall easy enough, finding the opening to be wider than it first appeared. A slight curvature had hidden away the true width, and Nymoria had found herself sliding slightly around it in order to pass through, before stepping onto the ground on the opposite side. A large tunnel, leading in the same direction she'd been heading above ground, lay before her. Small cracks in the ceiling of the tunnel provided more than enough light to see by, without causing it to appear foundationally distressing. Guess we go this way, Musei. Her fingers moved as she stepped forwards

Quest: Absolute Zero The days had been passing reasonably well, and while Nymoria couldn't say that she had come a long way from where she'd begun, the progress had been inspiring. So much so, that she had found herself pushing into territories far beyond those she had once considered unsafe to enter. Her recent plunges into the depths of the first, second and third floors had been eventful, if not a stark reminder of how far she still had to go, and while she had come out alive following each adventure she had still felt the grating concern towards her safety. It was, with hesitatio

They'd come to a crossroads at one point, and Nymoria had been required to check the small marker on her mini-map in order to determine where they should be going. She'd considered, for the briefest of seconds, taking the opposite path just to see where it led, before remembering why they were out here to begin with. Although she'd never heard of a timed quest, she didn't want to push her luck. It was more than plausible that there was information out there that she didn't have, and testing Cardinal seemed like a horrible idea. Based on this, we should be almost there. This is going a lo

The forest around Nymoria was beautiful. She'd liked the flow of the trees, and the way the winds swept through it ever since she'd found the floor. Even though she'd never truly pressed into it's depths, nor had she strayed too far from the beaten paths that were known to be safe towards lower levelled players, she'd always found the draw of them alluring. Like a mermaid's song calling out to sailors, or so she'd been told. Her eyes ranged across their flowing limbs, watching as leaves seemed to dance against the soft breeze that played at them, enraptured by the way that they seemed to almos

She'd managed to disengage from the NPC after some minor reassurances that she would bring the woman's son back. Everything she'd managed to learn about the quest, as little as that may have been, suggested that it was well within her grasp to do. She'd taken the time to ask a few of the lower levelled players she'd worked with before, who had been kind enough to provide her with some of their own details. She still wasn't sure if they'd done so due to feeling obligated, or because they felt sorry for her. Either way, it had given her a head start on the quest, and that was all that mattered t

Quest: <<Captured>> Nymoria was feeling optimistic. It was a rare feeling, one which she didn't normally feel; especially recently. She'd awoken, oddly, in a good mood. A true feeling of success and a desire to push outwards into the world once more, following the success she'd had with training Musei. Her mood had only improved as the morning went on, with everything seemingly going wholly and entirely right. She'd found no reasons to complain following her morning routine, and even her breakfast had tasted better than normal, somehow. I think the barista was surprised whe

She'd been strongheadedly making her way back to the small inn she'd booked for the night, determined to get back and fall asleep as quickly as she possibly could. She'd been out far later than originally planned, and as Nymoria made her way through the streets she couldn't help but feel a tingling up her spine. She, like all other players, knew that the city streets were safe - even at night. It was the one thing that Aincrad had over the real world. Although she knew that, something in the back of her mind wouldn't leave her alone, which was why when the hand touched her arm she jumped and s

Musei seemed to pause in consideration for a time, before slinking away and into the nearby brush. Nymoria had almost risen to follow him, worried that she'd somehow upset him, when she realised that it was the same brush he had disappeared into originally. Curiosity taking over, she'd settled back into her position, determined to wait and see what the weasel was doing. Rustling was the only sign she had that he was still within the brush, and it was only as he was reappearing that she remembered he had hidden the item he'd originally found somewhere within it. She made no movements as th

Before long the minimal amount of food that she had placed out was gone, and Nymoria found herself sighing as she realised she still felt slightly hungry. I guess I'll just have to stop and pick something else up, along the way home. Maybe that new bakery that opened up recently... The idea was appealing, and she found herself dreaming about the various sandwiches that they would likely have for sale. She was snapped out of her reverie by the sudden feel of claws upon her hand. Looking down, she saw Musei staring up at her, a questioning look upon his face. For a moment, she wondered if

They ate quietly for a time, each content to sit without a single sound or movement of communication between them. Nymoria found herself considering a great number of things, each thought taking her down a path that she decided best to avoid in the end. As much as she wanted to plan for the future, a small dark corner of her mind kept drawing her in towards the worst possible outcomes. Today there's to be none of that. I just want to enjoy the success we've had, together. Musei deserves that much at least...a bit of happiness, true happiness, will make this go so much better for the both of us

She'd considered sending him off on another hunt, but a quick glance at the clock displayed in her HUD had changed her mind. She didn't often adhere to timing policies around when to eat, at least not in this world, but she found as she saw the late evening hour displayed in front of her that it would be best to have something to snack on at least. She had no desire to rise and head for any sort of restaurant, and instead found herself bringing up her menu and scrolling through it, even as she signed at the weasel with her right hand. Should we have something to eat? I don't have anything

Musei seemed to take a few seconds to celebrate, the weasel running in a few circles in a way that reminded Nymoria of the single time she had mistakenly given him far too much sugarised treats to eat. Once he had settled slightly, she gave him a small scratch beneath his chin; an action that she knew he had come to enjoy as a measure of connection between the two of them. She was proud of the success that he had had, and how quickly he had managed it - a sign that he was more than capable of hunting things down, so long as he knew what to look for, and had some general description of it.

His hesitation was limited as he considered the item she had described. Nymoria didn't even have time to suggest adding more information, or to confirm whether he understood the description she'd given, before Musei had taken off in search of the piece. She watched, with a bit of happiness, as he headed in the correct direction for the item. She couldn't quite tell from where she was sitting, but she would've sworn that his eyes had already locked on to the piece; his path was winding but moved in the general direction of his target. He's got this, I think... Nymoria remained quiet and co

Musei seemed to stare at the offending piece for a few seconds, as if trying to remember where it had come from, before giving his entire form a shake. Using his two front paws, he pushed the various pieces into piles, leaving them off to the side as he organised all his finds. Nymoria couldn't help but laugh a little, the piles containing an easy two dozen pieces of discs that varied in appearance. She wasn't even entirely sure where he had found all of them, although she didn't doubt that they would eventually return to their original places of origin if they weren't picked up again. S

She had to laugh as Musei arrived once more in front of her, this time dropping a collection of six similar looking discs onto the ground in front of Nymoria. The discs had been dropped with an aggressive thud, an action that reminded Nymoria of a child stamping it's foot in annoyance and anger. Musei then stared up at her, his eyes daring her to deny that the item she'd pointed out wasn't there. Thankfully, she'd seen him pick it up during his last mad dash, before grabbing a few others for his now deposited collection. Picking up the item itself, she held it up for Musei to see, her fin