Shay

At the very least, Oats was resolved. If she could handle her brutish treatment then they could handle pretty much any monster within their level. Shay understood how terrible she could be with words so it was nice not to have to do so much explaining. Shay would deliberately swing with full force from a bad angle, expecting her pupil to sidestep or back away. The strategy lured people in to false security as they try to follow up. Nevertheless, the student had learned. She pushed the attack, much to Shay’s anticipation. She would redirect her saya to block the incoming Yatsufusa, purple

A lull hung over the 'fight' as she may have realized just how bad a teacher she actually was. She sighed. "I'm not a great person with words." Her catch phrase at this point in her life. She had hoped that this person was a much more somatic learner. "Observation of your target. You saw me move just now? I'm fast but I made a horribly reckless mistake: I just jumped towards your attack to catch you off guard. If I had missed or timed it badly, I would be bleeding right now. That probably comes down more to your reaction speed, I guess..." She contemplated. After a moment, the girl would

The assassin could already see flaws in her stance. Feet to wide, stance completely off and her an attack that befitted one wielding an axe more than a katana. Before the attack even made it to her, she stepped into girls attack and smacked her hilt against Oat's head before following up with a strong kick that would launch the girl to her back if she didn't catch herself. "Slow and wide." Shay would say, taking a step back before the other's katana nicked her. "A katana in not a brute's weapon. You should focus on studying your opponent to learn their style, adapt to it and find a weakness be

Shay did in fact notice that the girl was trailing behind her without even turning back. As attentive as she was she would never rely solely on her sight in combat which has translated into everyday life. She would allow her to catch up by slowing down ever so slightly. Once they were walking side by side, Shay’s crimson pupils would observe her once more. They almost looked like twins. ”Yatsufusa is a blade of pestilence. It wears away the body of its enemies.” Shay would draw the second sword from her sayas, showing it’s very similar look to Yatsufusa except no hazy mist. The blade was

Shay observed as the player inspected one half of her arsenal. “I cannot help you acquire one. I can however, teach you how to use one to allow you to unlock the skill.” She’ll respond stepping down from her blade and turning towards the closest route outside the safe zone leaving the blade for Oats to pick up. ”Come along, bring Yatsufusa that sword.” She’ll almost demand. If they were to put her to the test they would need to see legitimate combat. Honestly she had no idea why she was wasting her time with this. There was hardly any experience to be gained from it and it wasn’t like she

The assassin would sigh quietly. Baldur once taught her and it seemed like now was the time for her to step in and be someone else’s mentor. She herself wasn’t nearly as practiced as her mentor but she could at least help them unlock the skill. Yatsufusa screeched in agony as its owner forced it from its home and into the sky. Steel pierced stone and a shaded black hair of a woman curtained her face momentarily as the wind settled from her blinding speed. She balanced carefully on the exposed hilt like a ninja, bending down in a crouched form to her soon-to-be student. “Katana? Like this

The assassin in the shadows hid from view of the NPCs that lived their daily digital lives and the players were either too scared or unmotivated in the face of death to do anything to deal with their problems. She was one of those people maybe around a year ago. Times have changed for her, however. Watching these players go about her business, she was reminded of time that she was weak and others helped her. Times where she’s tried to be helpful but to not much avail, genuinely being nothing but a harasser or difficult to agree with person. "Katana." She would hear another player speak al

The battle continued to clash. Shay hadn’t been pressured this heavily by an enemy in the game for a very long time, especially since ChaseR had been around. That was the last thing she wanted in her mind during a fight though. Their rapier was fast, footwork was clean and unbroken and precision only challenge by Shay’s extremely quick reaction speed. She was on the defensive waiting for an opportunity. Soon it came. The rhythm of their feet had gotten into her head. Just as the Broker placed their foot forward to lung, Shay quickly ducked into the attack low and cleaved through their che

Shay was ready to leave, allowing Mishiro to collect the crystal that sat upon the throne of the Iron Guardian. She would turn to make her way out of the complex before hearing the conversation between the broker and Mishiro. By the time she'd caught up to what was happening, her partner had been stabbed and paralyzed. Shay quickly intervened charging in just as they taunted her. The dark haired woman's sword would be parried away as she reached in. The tip of the rapier missed just slightly when she leaned back from it's stab. Steel screeched as the two blades opposed each other and Shay's he

Having a reliable partner was nice but being useless herself was even worse. Mishiro was able to finish off her target without much problem. Shay would sheathe her weapon and wave it off as a small annoyance. The experience was the only thing that mattered to her in the long run and it wasn't like she would have much problem doing this solo anyway. Her partner would assure her that she would be following just behind, so Shay would approach the throne room and enter with least possible grace. The two would be greeted with the Iron Guardian himself. "Let's hope I don't miss twice." Shay wou

Normally she would activate stealth about now just to avoid having to talk with anybody she was questing with but Mishiro had yet to do anything that annoyed her. Granted she got annoyed at just about anything said to her for no reason given, but it was a pretty pleasant change of pace. That and these mobs would barely be able to stand up to Yatsufusa’s raw power. Mishiro would express her friend’s desire to get a crystal from this quest. Shay simply shrugged to that. “By all means it’s yours. I just want the experience.” Shay will explain. The two of them seemed as though they would be h

As Shay was opening up a bit to Acanthus, it seemed she was getting distracted with Oz’s tobacco. She simply sighed and shook it off. Sharing any of her personal life didn’t matter anyway. They were close to town at this point anyway, so they would soon say their goodbyes. Through the canopy of trees that covered most of the sky, she could see the small town of Florenthia in the distance. This much social interaction had already been way beyond the allotted limit she normally stuck to. ”Looks like we’re finally done.” Shay will say simply after seeing off the two NPCs who had given t

"...—it wears on us." The girl would say about their current situation, being stuck in Aincrad. Shay's red eyes would dart away from hers a little shamefully. If she was to speak her mind on that subject, she might just bring down the woman's mood a little too much. "Yeah, whatever..." She simply says before drifting back into silence. The walk back felt way longer than the walk here. Maybe it was because listening to the conversations between Acanthus and Oz kept her mind off everything but when she was talking it felt like every word was enough to prick her skin. Painful, that is.

The silence was preferred by her questing partner as well, thankfully. Shay did not like small talk or anything of the sort. The exchanging of names was merely a formality to make sure Mishiro didn’t think she was an absolute asshole or something, even though most of the time she can be. She did return the introduction with her own name, which was nice. The silence quick fell back over them. Shay wracked her brain a bit, wondering if she should say beyond that or maybe it was better that she didn’t. Mishiro’s interruption of her thoughts woke her up though. “Ah, well, I don’t really care

As much as Shay wanted to pound Acanthus's head for the act of comparing her to a woman old enough to have a child her age, she restrained herself. Her fits of anger would more-so push that incorrect statement. The raven-haired woman would huff angrily as she attempted to calm herself down. "If she is anything like me she would put you in your place for implying a woman my age could have a child of yours." She'll comment and turn to head back to the village where they'd began the quest. "Onward, noble steed!" Only to see man-on-man action happening the time of her scolding. Oz had be