Acanthus

“Thank you,” Acanthus said gratefully. She took the tin delicately and cracked the lid to look inside. At the first whiff of food, Kumaki’s eyes shot open. She peered up at Acanthus, over to Ciela, and then finally back to the tin. Acanthus laughed, quickly putting the lid back on the tin. “She likes food, in case you can’t tell. We’re saving that for later,” she jokingly scolded the cub as its nose wandered over to the closed treats. “Cookies were a wonderful idea. You would think that as food-motivated as Kumaki is, I would have thought of it myself.” Acanthus seemed to catch herself mid-tho

It never ceased to amaze her how much help the other players of the floor were to new players. Another player had dropped by, ready to offer an item and some encouraging words without a second thought. She was trying to be like that. But she hadn’t even thought to offer Tiye her own locating charm, or offering to go back to town and shop for some food. She would have been perfectly content to simply gather away, all while Tiye struggled for her five materials. Acanthus burned with embarrassment. Eager to get away from the town, she returned to Tiye with a fresh set of foraged goods. “That

She felt the pommel of her sword and pulled on a few of the straps of her armor, disappointed in how easy the mission had been. What was the point of this weapon if she didn’t get it dirty every once in a while? She might as well be one of those timid players that spent their entire Aincrad existence crafting and foraging. It seemed a waste. Cardinal’s assist made everything so easy, and people were still too scared to engage in combat. All they needed was a little push out the door, like her. Acanthus thought woefully of the untapped potential of the players who were not on the frontlines.

Some distant part of Acanthus warmed up as Tiye began gushing about the inaccuracies of the game. The energy and exuberance reminded her of the time she confided in Nymoria about wanting to create a codex of the plants in Aincrad. A CHILDISH DREAM, she told herself. It would only have delayed her progress in the game. She did her best to return Tiye's excitement, but even she could tell that her response was lukewarm. “It is ridiculous. I will have to admit that history is not my strong suit. I remember a little bit about instruments, but I am uninformed about the accuracy of this floor.” As a

The plans she needed were laid bare on the table. Unfortunately, one last obstacle remained. A young man, barely twenty, bandit bolted upright as she entered the tent. “Who are you?” He squeaked out in a terrified whisper. Acanthus froze for a moment too long—she was never good at lying. Omitting information, working her way around the truth, yes, but in this moment, the lie escaped her. She could tell the boy was about to run sound the alarm. In two steps, she cleared the tent and incapacitated him with a few targeted strikes. He crumpled to the ground, his body remaining intact. Quickl

Confident that she had worked through most of the guards, she approached the center of the camp. It’s time to do what I came here to do. A menacing figure stormed out of the central tent, and Acanthus pressed herself back into the shadows. Another figure followed the first. “Uso, I don’t think we should attack so soon. We are still finding new recruits day after day. As our numbers swell, the strength of Marsonia decreases—” “Every day we wait,” the other figure interrupted, “is a day that all of Marsonia weakens. I will not see it weak for any longer. She is eager to be returned to

Working her way around the edge of the camp, she picked off guards in ones and twos. There were dozens at the camp, all with careful crafted dialogue and exposition regarding the impending civil war. It was impressive that the game designers had worked so hard to create a rich, immersive story. Acanthus covered a guard’s mouth as she ran him through. It was a shame she didn’t have time to experience it in full. But this was one quest of hundreds, and she had places to be. Her armor threatened to give her away. As she pulled away from the guard’s corpse, her breastplate audibly clanked, an

Sliding into the shadow of a large tree, she overheard conversation from two of the bandits. “This was one of the hardest decisions of my life. I mean, I left my whole family behind to follow Uso-Tsuki. I may never see my wife again.” “I feel for you brother. We are making a difficult sacrifice, but it’s all in the name of Mars—” Acanthus jumped from the shadows on the first guard, cleaving him with a single blow. The second guard tried to call for help, but was too slow. Acanthus struck him in the chest, winding him, then sliced him twice before he could recover, and he fell to the

Acanthus slipped off the boat and into the treeline. “Wait here for me,” she told Ben-Goshi. “I’ll be back in a moment.” The island had plenty of heavy cover and the dark skies made it easier to stick to the shadows. It also made it harder for her to find the camp. Her chest throbbed with a phantom ache, and Acanthus did her best to ignore it. The dream had thrown her off, and she was trying her best to recover. It wasn’t the first time she had a dream of being stabbed from inside. Her father was adamant that dreams had meanings; Acanthus still refused to buy it. It’s all just neurons fir

Acanthus was drenched in water, her heart racing. “It was the strangest thing,” he said cheerfully. “One of the worst storms I’ve sailed, and you slept like a baby. I couldn’t bear to wake you up until we arrived, and here we are.” Dragging herself up, Acanthus looked out onto the small spit of land the quest had lead her to. “It’s called Liar’s Cove. We captured a raiding crew that tipped us off to their location.” “Go in, kill the leader, take the documents.” Ben-Goshi was taken aback. “N-no, the Chief wants this done quietly! Didn’t he tell you?” She quickly consulted the quest jo

The storm clouds gathered. Acanthus rushed to the sails, but she didn’t know how anything worked. The skies turned a sickening green, and the pain in her chest intensified. She thought about yelling for the fisherman, but either he was over the side, or this was all part of the quest. There was no point in trying to find him—she was on her own. Acanthus helplessly tried to bring the main sail in, but the rope slipped in her hands, burning her palms. She sucked air in through her teeth and released the rope, and it flew away from her, dropping the sail down to full. Catching the tumultuous

“I think ‘rebels’ is probably the most appropriate term,” said Ben-Goshi. They had been sailing for nearly thirty minutes. “I’m glad I didn’t wait for that response,” she muttered. “I swear, this game enjoys taking too long for even the simplest quests.” Ben-Goshi continued sailing as Acanthus dipped her hand over the side of the boat lazily. She could probably forage a little, but what was the point? Materials just went into items, which were used up, which meant she needed more materials. It was all an endless cycle. “Wake me up when we arrive.” She wasn’t sure if Ben-Goshi heard her; s

Her quest journal chimed. “Thank goodness.” Pulling herself up and out of her chair, she prepared to leave as the Chief’s hand caught hers. She turned in shock; his eyes welled with tears, but his face remained stoic. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.” “Of course.” She pulled away. The quest was really laying it on a little too thick. At the end of the day, I’m just here to kill people. Why does Cardinal try to make me care? Acanthus hustled down the steps of the palace like she was late to an unimportant business meeting. Just enough to show she needed to be somewh

The Chief drolled on. And on. And on. It might have been a moving story. But to Acanthus, it was just another quest. “Long ago, I took Uso-Tsuki under my wing after a tragic…” Acanthus breezed through her menu, organizing her crafted crystals. Ever since she had moved her workspace to the villa, her productivity had gone up. Now that she didn’t have as many custom orders, she was starting to craft for her own personal use. “... with blood on my hands, I swore never again to…” The raid meeting had gone well. But it impressed upon her the need to be prepared. She would be wor

Acanthus kicked her feet on a bench in the Town of Beginnings. It was the same bench she had waited on for NIGHT so that they could find her familiar. Kumaki laid on her lap, snoring steadily. The bear cub was a little too big to actually fit on Acanthus’ lap, so Kumaki’s head draped off the side of the bench. My legs are starting to go to sleep as well, she frowned. But one look at the sleeping cub and she decided she could handle it. Now that she had her familiar, the next step was to train her. Acanthus saw that she would need to complete yet another quest to train Kumaki. But the open

Crafting for 9/28/2024 Ambition food consumed (170470). Extended Workshop. (+4 EXP total from Trinket | Tuning Fork + Hard Working) EXP: 2269/2559

Rather than stumbling into Demian, Acanthus had sought him out. Something about the kitchen was becoming comfortable. Demian seemed to find curiously calm places in the nooks of Aincrad, and it was all she could do to waste more time listening to the gentle ambience of the wandering kitchen. Finding the camp next to a small creek on the edges of floor three, she relaxed for a moment before speaking. “I would like some more of the gelato today. I need to gather a few shards.” The gelato was something of a treat for her in its tastelessness; food was fast becoming unbearable again. The basi

@RiardonItem is grabby grabbed. Thank you!

Crafting for 9/27/2024 Ambition food consumed (170466). Extended Workshop. (+4 EXP total from Trinket | Tuning Fork + Hard Working) EXP: 2200/2559

In a flash, Pinball dove in after the boss. “Dammit, Pinball.” She wasn’t sure if she was saying that for his recklessness or the fact that he evaded her question yet again. Either way, she needed to shelve the thoughts. It was time for combat. She watched the murky water intently. The benefit of the imposter fish was that it seemed to act almost identically to the real one. She recognized a few of the swimming patterns it was engaging in. She felt the boat bump as something from behind her brushed up against the side. That means— She readied her sword like a baseball bat, and sure e

The villagers were strangely lazy in preparing their own town. Were they simply programmed not to care that they were about to die? Their shirtless leader seemed to be that way. For Pinball and Morningstar's helpful suggestions, all they received from the villagers was scorn. And it all seemed in part because of the shirtless man. He exuded some kind of devil-may-care aura that inspired the workers to slack off. It reminded her of one of the foreign exchange interns they had. Tyler Chadwassel. Just the thought of his obnoxious laugh made her blood boil. He was a good-for-nothing idiot that ha

“Finesse and stun,” she repeated. She didn’t want to disappoint Nymoria. She was going to give it her all. It wasn’t enough to just survive the fight—she wanted to win it herself. Nemo screamed at them as they approached. He was furious that they had been stealing and killing in his sanctuary. But Acanthus was only confused. “He… let us in here, didn’t he? So why is he mad? I genuinely thought that he invited us in to partake of the bounty. Were we only supposed to look? That seems like a very strange perspective.” She stopped as Nemo’s form bulged and roiled, glowing silver as he shifted

"I try to stick with what I know: classical music.” Which isn’t much. “When I was younger, I took viola and composition lessons for about four or five years. I ended up quitting after… After a disagreement with my parents.” Acanthus moved to where Tiye had found the weeds. She had a good eye for foraging—all she was missing was the experience. “Four or five years of lessons won’t make you a professional, but I remember enough to write and perform. Cardinal’s instrument assist also makes it easier to play instruments you don’t have any practical experience with. Which is good, because some of t

When she saw Pinball wrangling the villagers to help, she nearly slapped herself. Of course she should have been using them. She flagged down a group of workers as they raised lumber and logs into place. She didn’t have much experience directing people—mostly just interns from work. And interns were a lot more pliable than rough villagers. “This lumber isn’t going to work for walls,” Acanthus told them. “See the warp in the grain? It’ll split quickly if too much pressure gets applied. One push from the Night King’s army and there’s a breach in our defenses.” She tried to sound confident,

Tiye stuck her hand out. Acanthus grasped it firmly, like she was closing a deal. “I can spare some time. It would be nice to have some other performers as well. I believe the quest just has you gather some materials for your first craft, right? There are some good foraging sports just outside the Town of Beginnings. Why don’t we head that way now?” She didn’t want to tell Tiye that she was rushing them because she wanted to make sure she had time to go back to the shop and craft. It would be rude to foist that hurry off to the girl. Besides, she owed a lot to the veterans that had helped