Acanthus

Acanthus stopped just inside the doors to Honeydew & Hushwind. She seemed more interested in the variety of plants along the shelves than the items for sale. She recognized some of the plants; others were a mystery. Fascinated, she wound her way from shelf to shelf, leaning over various ferns and flowers, smelling and looking, but always careful not to touch. Eventually, she found herself at the front counter, and remembered she was not just there to peruse the plant life. Rifling through her inventory, she brought some items out. “Hello, my name is Acanthus. I read your notice t

THREAD SUMMARY Experience: 500 (Quest) + 778 ((3,890 / 10) * 2 * 1) = 1,278 * 2 (New player event) = 2,556 EXP Col: 400 (Bonus) + 1,140 (mob loot 226893) + 175 (LD 7 (Roll ID 226902) * 25) = 1,715 col (2) materials (226893) Other Items Glowstone (1) Rare Trinket (226893)

Choshi stood with Koko in her arms. Choshi now cried tears of joy. Braveheart handled the entire exchange himself; despite his brush with death, he was calm and collected as he finished the quest. Still, once they were away from Choshi and Koko, Braveheart gripped Acanthus’ hand. She gave a gentle squeeze in response. When they teleported to the Town of Beginnings, she looked down at Braveheart. He had been crying silently. He finally looked up at her. “I had to be really brave for you. Is it ok to not be brave anymore?” “Oh, Gregory.” She scooped him up into her arms. He began

The bear closed in on Braveheart. He stirred and made it slowly to his feet. His face looked grim, but determined. “I’ll… save you Koko. I promise.” Shakily, he brought his sword back up. Everything began happening in slow motion. The bear reared up again, raising one claw to finish off Braveheart. Braveheart the Bold stood, ready to weather the blow. And Acanthus tore across the meadow. Everything seemed silent: her footsteps, the bear’s hungry roars, and Koko’s crying all were hundreds of miles away. No. No no no no. The bear’s claw was crashing down, right to where Braveheart would be.

All three of them backed away slowly. We’re going to make it. We’re almost outside its vision. With an inquisitive sniff, the bear surveyed the trees. It locked eyes with Acanthus, and roared. “GO!” Acanthus yelled. Braveheart and Koko dashed off, and the bear’s head began to track its fleeting prey. “I’m over here, you stupid bear! Come and deal with me first!” But the kids proved too tantalizing of targets. The bear broke into a run, chasing after Braveheart and Koko. “No! Stop!!” Feeling her sword start to burn hot as she ran, she let a sword art fly, targeting the bear. A so

A creeping sense of dread overcame Acanthus as the brush began to rustle. The quest only mentioned bats. We’ve killed the bats. What’s going on? Braveheart, to his credit, stood tall by Acanthus’s side. His oversized sword was drawn, pointed at the bush. Acanthus could hear him shaking in his armor. A massive black bear trundled out from the bushes. It hadn’t noticed them yet. “Miss Acanthus, is this part of the quest?” She shook her head. “Braveheart, you know how sometimes you read stories and unexpected things happen to the hero? This is one of those times.” Out of the corner of h

Finding their way out of the cave was much easier. The trio followed the tunnels as the light bloomed in front of them. Before long, they had made their way to the cave entrance. Braveheart and Koko ran outside and laughed joyfully. “Look at us!” Braveheart said. “I’m gonna run all the way back to town! I want to complete this quest fast!” “You will do no such thing,” Acanthus said sternly. “A warrior knows that patience is a virtue, and we can’t go running off when poor Koko her is likely tired and hungry.” What she wanted to say was that she was tired and hungry, but she thought better

With a final thrust of her blade, the bat stopped moving. Koko and Braveheart both ran up to her breathlessly. “Miss Haru—I mean, Miss Acanthus! You’re so cool! You took both of those bats out with a single swoosh! Are you sure you’re not a frontliner?” Acanthus laughed a little. “I mean, I have a ways to go. But I didn’t realize how many levels I had gained in all this time.” “We have to go on quests every week! We’ll be fighting real dragons in no time!” Acanthus nodded. “But for now, Braveheart, let’s focus on getting Miss Koko back to her mom. Can you make sure she stays saf

The cave proved more difficult to navigate than she anticipated. Keeping track of Braveheart complicated matters as well. The two stuck close together. It would be a terrible twist to rescue the NPC, only to leave the boy behind on accident. It felt darkly humorous. “Miss Acanthus! I think I found something!” He ran over to a small pool of water surrounded by stalagmites. “Braveheart, be careful!” He reached down and picked something up. It was a shoe. Small and pink, it looked like it belonged to a little girl. “Koko’s gotta be nearby.” Sure enough, the item had a quest icon. They w

The bat tumbled to the ground and vanished in a puff of blue shards. Braveheart yelled, “Miss Acanthus! That was amazing! They way you like, swooshed your sword, and then the bat went *scree* and then I hopped in–” Braveheart continued the tale of their battle as Acanthus surveyed the cave. She could see a little better now. Her eyes had adjusted, and there were some biolumiescent plants around the cave. She saw a path forward in the cave. Once Braveheart had worn him out telling the story, Acanthus urged him onward. Still excited, the glimpse of the continuing cave dampened his enthusias

She had little time to ponder. With an awful screech, a dark shape flew at them from the depths of the cave. Braveheart yelled and began swinging his sword wildly. “Braveheart! Be careful! I’ll deal with the bat. Just stay close!” The boy stood in place. Even in the darkness, she could see him trembling. Truthfully, Acanthus felt the same. Be brave for me, and I’ll be brave for you. She waited for the sound of the bat to get closer. As the screech filled her ears, she took a desperate swing at the sound. Her first strike whooshed in the darkness, and she nearly yelped. Relax, Acanthus. Yo

Braveheart, once again, stood behind Acanthus. The entrance to the cave opened like a jagged maw, ready to swallow both of them in darkness. “Miss Acanthus, I don’t think the girl needs saving anymore. Maybe she’ll come out here.” Acanthus knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. “Braveheart, you’ll have to be brave just a little bit longer. I can’t leave you at the mouth of the cave in case something comes by. I promise that if you’ll be brave for me, then I’ll be brave for you.” Braveheart nodded. “Yea. I can be– I can be brave.” She ruffled his hair, stood up, and drew her

She worked as quickly as she could. Finding another vein, she worked at some of the looser bits with her pickaxe. Unfortunately, she failed to extract them effectively. The ore shattered and vanished before her eyes. As she trudged up to the top of the hill, she saw Braveheart with his sword drawn, standing rigidly. He was looking out over the landscape. “Braveh—” He yelled and turned around. Acanthus stepped back lightly. “How fare you against our foes? Any monsters to report?” She felt silly using all the goofy language. But it always worked on Koji. Whenever Koji pretended like he

“You were very brave back there, Braveheart.” Braveheart grinned. “Well yea! You have to be brave for the villagers. You’re supposed to be.” Braveheart was currently holding Acanthus’ hand with an iron grip. They had left Urbus, and were traveling toward the cave. Out in the wilds, she had been careful to avoid any mobs. Let’s stick to the fights that are necessary. She noticed some shining outcroppings of rock nearby. But it should be safe to grab some materials. I’m running low. “Braveheart, can I ask you for a favor?” He looked up at her confused. “Me? What do you need me for?” “I

Acanthus flipped through the info broker’s guide for some of the easier quests. She needed something she could handle comfortably by herself, but also with a young boy in tow. She eventually settled on <<Let There Be Light>>. It was a quick run to the second floor, and just outside town. When they teleported into Urbus, Braveheart was awestruck. “I’ve never been up here before. All my friends are gonna be so jealous!” He went on to talk about the gang of boys and girls on the first floor, all their names, and anything else he could think of. Acanthus nodded and smiled along to

They sat on the bench in silence for a few seconds, before Braveheart asked her, “Miss Acanthus? Since you’re super strong, could you help me? It’s hard to get levels without adults. I did the tutorial mission, but the boars scared me. Could you help me with the next quest?” He really is just like Koji when he was younger. Acanthus was content to play alone, but Koji always liked having people around. It made him more confident and talkative. She remembered all the times they would play outside, fighting monsters and making up stories. But this wasn’t make believe anymore. She was no long

Acanthus danced past how little she, Ty, and Forgotten-Embers had actually done, but the boy’s eyes were wide with wonder anyways. As she finished telling the story, she was aware that the boy was literally hanging on to her. His little hands creased her tunic in excitement, and she was worried he was excited enough to faint. She quickly changed topics. “So are your mom and dad here? Any family?” “Nope! Mom and Dad are back on earth. And my big brother.” If Braveheart was sad, he didn’t show. “Mom and dad said they’d be right behind me. They like games—more than me! But it was my bir

Once Braveheart had finished his mighty battle, he came back and sat next to Acanthus. “You must a frontliner. That magic was so cool!” “Aw, thank you! But I’ve actually never been to the frontlines.” “Wow.” The boy looked astounded. “If you’re that strong, then the frontliners are probably way powerful.” “They are. I was able to fight alongside one recently.” Braveheart’s jaw dropped. “Wow! What were they like?” “So there we were, traveling the suffocating heat of floor 5. We were after the dread Land Shark, Terra Firma…” Acanthus shared the whole tale with the boy. She to

“Please, allow me to help,” Acanthus asked him softly. He relented, and held his foot out. From her bag, Acanthus pulled one of her failed recording crystals. The song itself recorded perfectly onto the crystal, but she had failed to impart any healing properties onto it. It wouldn’t heal him at all, but she suspected all the boy needed was to believe. As she cracked the crystal, its melodies poured forth in a dazzling array of instruments and harmonies. The boy looked around in wonder as the light embraced him. It was just a show, but it had its intended effect. “Wow! That was amazi

Acanthus shook her head. The boy was now sitting on the ground, clutching his foot. Despite the lack of damage, the boy did not see it that way—he was on the verge of tears. It’s time to intervene then. Quickly, she approached the boy. “A brave warrior, wounded in a fearsome skirmish! What’s your name?” He sniffled, and looked up at Acanthus. “I’m Gre– I mean, I’m Braveheart the Bold!” He wiped a tear as it was forming. She offered a theatrical bow. “Greetings, Braveheart the Bold! My name is Acanthus. It appears you are in need of some assistance.” Slowly, Braveheart stood up. “N– N

It was a blessing that many of the children did not see it that way. In the bright lights and fantasy theme, this was just an extended vacation in a strange world. Acanthus saw one child practicing his swordplay against a tree in Boufa Park and smiled. “HiiiiiYA!” The child brandished his sword in a vain attempt to menace the tree. Acanthus chuckled at the sight. He lunged in wildly, swinging the sword in chaotic motions. Every time, they bounced off the tree with the familiar pop up [Immortal Object]. It’s a good thing we’re in a safe zone. His sword is bigger than him—it’s only a m

Acanthus was surprised at how much she had acclimated to living in the game after two weeks. Food still had a peculiar taste, but it was no longer so strong that it drove her to avoid it. Rather than viewing the NPCs as fixtures, she began to treat them like people. She would chat with shopkeepers after she’d made her purchases, and when she saw a familiar NPC, she loved to ask how they had been. She had met a few players while out running errands, and started to recognize them as well. She hadn’t worked up the courage to approach them. She never felt like she’d learned how to strike up conver

“That’s very generous of you.” She knew it would be more polite to decline, even if she would eventually relent. But the truth was that crafting was a gaping chasm that was consuming her materials at an alarming rate. And she had plans for a house, so the col would be needed as well. She looked over the dropped weapons and items. They were all well above her level, but she would grow into them. She would grow into them. For the first time since she entered the game, she was thinking about the future. Not just going home, not just seeing her friends and family again, but her future he

The thought of ever being that fast seemed unbelievable. Deep down, some part of her still believed that the people that had made it up to the higher floors were just born with something that set them apart. It made her last two years of cowardice easier to process. She couldn’t feel bad if she never had a chance to begin with. But the last few weeks had proven her wrong. Before, Acanthus was terrified to even step outside a safe zone. Now here she was, with plenty of quests under her belt and asking strangers to lead her into trouble. Pinball was doing all the work, sure, but the girl th

She swore the next pack was even bigger than the ones Pinball had just put down. But she was considerably less worried. Four wolves and he hadn’t even broke into a sweat. She hoped that the bosses would be just as easy. With Wormwood in her hands, she fell back into a defensive posture. The wolves slowly fanned out and began to encircle the two of them. Whoever had programmed the things had taken great care to emulate actual wolves. It was unnerving. “That last pack was gone before I saw anything. This is just another day in the wilds for you, isn’t it?” She talked as she pivoted to