Melodie le Breton

"There goes the plan of letting you hit them till they were near death and I swoop in at the end." Melodie joked nervously, not taking her eye off of the boarlet in front of her. Okay, it was just a basic slim monster in reality. After all, she had killed dozens if not hundreds, or even thousands of basic starting monsters in other games. The only difference here was the fact that if she screwed up, game over. Game over for her life. "You make it sound so simple." The brunette said, tightening her grip on her sword and trying to will her body to fight. Run away, said a voice in her head,

Mel decided to accept Astreya's offer of cards, not that she knew how to play a card game to save her life... Besides surely saying no might draw more attention to herself and it may even hurt her friend's feelings. Melodie never had that many friends to begin within in game to afford just being able to upset them, thus risking the friendship. Forming friendships happened to be a lot more difficult than it looked. "Er... Sure." Melodie said, making her way over to Astreya and trying to work out how this card game thing worked.

"If it is all the same I'll try to not get chewed on if possible." Melodie said, not really wanting to see herself being snacked on by some monster or worse the in game sensations it might bring. True, it could not cause any real pain, save for the terror of being closer to death as her health bar ticked closer to zero. But the idea of having her arm in a beast's mouth, unsettled her quite considerably. Though not as much as being labelled a coward. She was going to be a hero, she would reach the frontlines and from there be one of the top players in this game, complete with good armour, fancy

Mel, awkward as ever and not really having the confidence or social skills of Astreya, managed a thin smile and a nod of greeting. She mentally kicked herself for not being adept at these types of functions, but then again her standard operating procedure for parties was either, not go or escape to her room at the earliest available opportunity. Neither of which were options for the present. Yet all too swiftly her friend abandoned her with some near total strangers and dashed off. Melodie wanted to call her back, but held her tongue. Things were awkward enough without her saying, don't

"It's almost like it's a game." Melodie muttered sarcastically more as a result from nerves, rather than anything her friend had said. "I'm sure you will one day." Mel attempted to encourage her, though personally she would prefer to stick with surviving the game. Yet, part of her wanted to be more than a mere survivor, she wanted to be a hero, prove to herself and others that she was not some coward. She had taken the step to put her life on the line and fight back, but it was not going to be enough. She needed to be more... She, would have to do more if she wanted to be seen as brave, as str

"I've heard it helps though." Melodie countered quietly, if she were but tall and powerfully built it might be enough to keep away any potential Pkers and serve to discourage people from talking to her. Sadly, she was neither tall or powerfully built and generally felt as dangerous and deadly appearing as a cuddly puppy. "I... I think I'll save the dragon fighting till I am a higher level and have a mount of some kind." Mel said, half frightened by the idea of fighting a dragon, half interested in the idea. Mel shrugged at the mention of outfits. "You'd be better off by yourself than inv

Melodie felt distinctly out of her comfort zone at the party. A large part of her wanted her to move, to say something, to just start talking to someone, whilst another considered only leaving and escaping the awkwardness. Yet the thought of spending Christmas alone held her back, so she naturally found herself gravitating towards a corner, where she might observe the festivities. Astreya, the only person she really knew at the party appeared to be in her element in the social setting. Mel envied her confidence greatly. Almost as if the thought had attracted her friend's attention, Astre

She shook her head at that, amusement clearly written across her features. "I'm many things but I'm not exactly big or scary." Melodie responded quietly, normally she got labelled shy, sometimes cute but usually awkward. The latter she seemed to have perfected to the point it might as well be an art form for her. "Chewbacca." Mel informed her, finding it funny that Astreya did not know who he was. If they made it out of this game alive, she would have to sit her friend down to watch some serious sci fi, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and probably some others. Maybe a few fantasy sh

Mel found herself chuckling at the thought. "What does that make me?" She inquired amused. "Hopefully not the princess in need of rescuing. I'm thinking perhaps a Han Solo type, daring smuggler in it for the money." She laughed lightly, the joke in reality probably was not particularly funny. But she happened to be nervous and the tension needed to be let out before the pressure built to the point she broke. She managed a smile at what Astreya said next feeling the other girl nudge her. "Well when I make it there with you, I'll finally be with the cool kids." Melodie joked, she had not exactly

Melodie nodded in agreement, though she was unsure if she wished to waste a skill slot and all that time with a profession that probably had little to do with helping her survive a battle. True, becoming a world famous chef in SAO might not be too bad, but she would still need ingredients and it would give her the excuse to stay behind. After all, why should a chef fight on the front lines? She need only stay nearby in a safe zone to provide them with hearty food and a good drink when they returned. Yet, it still smacked of retreating, of giving up on being a hero. If she decided to learn how

Astreya finally arrived, just when Melodie had reached the point of wishing she had brought a book with her to read or wondering if she should shoot her friend a DM. It was always difficult when messaging others, what if they needed some time to themselves? What if they were asleep? Or what if they did not want a message? However, she could push such worries aside for Astreya made it. "Hey." She called back, quieter than her friend, self conscious of the crowd and not wishing to draw more attention to herself than necessary. At the mention of the combat, her previous worries came back to the f

Melodie le Breton had slept poorly. All through the night she lay awake knowing that the very next day might well be her last. True, the tutorial enemies were unlikely to be particularly dangerous. But, the stakes were high since if she ran out of HP at any point, death would be here reward and her body would shatter. Game over in this world and the old one. Yet if she wanted to avoid any accusation of cowardice then she had no viable alternative. After all, if they ever made it out of the game and her whole contribution to defeating it had been crying behind a wall till the noise stopped then

"It really does." Melodie responded, though she was pleased with the result of the potion making lesson and quest. Plus she was still alive too boot, so silver linings and she made a friend. A high level friend with heavy armour. She turned to leave, grateful to Astreya for her help with this questline, even if she was not able to actively do the quest. Keeping the mobs away and keeping her alive happened to be an important enough role for Mel. "Time to get used to fighting." Mel attempted to sound determined, but she was immensely worried. What if she died? What if the boars killed her?

Mel nodded slowly, forcing a smile onto her face and put on an attempt to look convinced. "Yeah you are right." Though from the sounds of her voice, she had her doubts. Not that it would stop her from trying to get to the frontline and helping to clear the game. It was probably her own paranoia talking, of her not trusting in the offered way out. Melodie went through the dialogue with Zackariah, before starting on making the potion. After a few more presses and motions, she had a potion. This she gave over to Zackariah and whilst he was examining it, she glanced over at her friend. "I'm

Dying in game was something that filled Melodie with a nameless terror, but returning to the same reality she sought so often to escape also frightened her. The world would not be the same one she left when she logged into the game all that time ago. "What if they were lying to us?" Mel asked suddenly. "What... If we beat this game and then..." She trailed off, that they were merely stuck here. No way to ever escape, ever log out, trapped forever in an endless MMO. A world of swords and monsters, made of digital data their home till the limits of human technology on their bodies took their tol

"Yeah... I'm not looking forward to returning back to reality. It is going to be one heck of a shock to the system." Mel said, shaking her head. Going home would have it's great perks, such as not being killed by an Orc, but all the old problems were still there, waiting for her. No exp bonuses for dealing with those. "Oh." Melodie responded quietly. "I guess..." She was not really good with the people, but she guessed Astreya appeared to understand humans better than she did. "Thank you and yes, please do." She was fine with being left out of a song and also happy with there being a son

"At least life in a video game makes sense and you can do practical stuff to guard against anything unexpected." Mel countered, in short the higher their levels, the greater their chances of survival. She glanced at her own level, the sooner she managed to get that number to rise... The better. Right now it was far too small and thus far too close to a potential death for her liking. "Sounds like a good plan to me." She agreed with Astreya. She shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah... You are probably right." Mel returned the smile, though it was half hearted and nervous, as if she were already

"Yeah... You're right." Mel said in quiet agreement. If they survived this adventure, or more accurately if she survived it, maybe the two of them would have a lot to talk about over a pot of tea. It might be nice to let out everything she had on her chest, she assumed it might be the same for Astreya too. "Yeah." She replied with a smirk. "So far as I know, the only rules life stands by is there are no rules." Even in this death game there were still rules, rules which restricted their talents and abilities. "You do?" Mel sounded quite startled by the fact. She just seemed so confident, so se

"Yeah, it was really frustrating." Mel admitted, having found it difficult to express to both her parents and to just about any other adult figure in her life why she preferred disappearing online into just about every game possible. From the sounds of it, Astreya had been an incredibly busy individual back in the real world. "I suppose they wanted to help. In their own way." She suggested with a shake of her head, whether or not it actually helped or not she could not say. She blushed, knowing the emotion engine in the game would easily give away the expression. "Maybe. I've got to make

"Yeah I get that. My parents and some of my teachers were always on my case. You need more sleep, you should spend less time gaming and all the rest." Melodie rolled her eyes, recalling the different lectures she went through. In the online world, she felt like she belonged, felt as thought she was a someone, a somebody, a hero. That she was more than this petite girl Lily. "That's where I need to be. I am going to be a hero." Mel told Astreya. "It is a job true enough, but it is a vital one." Without those players willing to risk death in battle and struggle, all of them would still be

Melodie shrugged her shoulders at that. Back in the real world there were far too many people who seemed to have a problem with her life revolving around video games. It was kinda funny now she happened to be stuck within a game. "Finding ways to relax and have fun is always important. Cannot always be all work and no play. You'll burn out." Perhaps at times, she put far too much effort into the fun part of life over work, but that could not be helped. She probably could class all that game time as training, preparation for this game, in hindsight anyway. "I trust you." Melodie told Astr

Mel listening silently, nodding as Astreya explained it. "Maybe it is?" She suggested, though she sounded uncertain. It was not an aspect of the game she had researched beforehand, but even so... If a player decided to play the game as a mere farmer, how would that help them to escape the game? Not that she could judge a player for deciding to become one, especially since she spent her time till recently hiding in the Town of Beginnings chained down by her own fear and cowardice. "I was the quiet gamer girl back in reality. Go to school, do the best I can, come home, play games." She explained

"I'm going to guess that you won't try to by a plot of land and farm then?" Mel suggested quietly, if Astreya disliked fishing then farming might be something else she found boring in game. To tell the truth, Melodie would normally find both quite boring and very tedious, but given the circumstances of perma death, boring might not be so bad after all. Unfortunately, for her there was no such escape from this realm of battle, not if she wished to prove herself to be a hero and finally shake off the belief or worry of her cowardice. "I suppose it comes down to personal preferences?" Melod

Astreya had noble aspirations, a dream to get everyone home and safe, back to whatever lives they once had before becoming trapped within Sword Art Online. Melodie's own reasons seemed increasingly selfish by contrast, her reasons were simple ones really. She wanted to get everyone out of the game, be the hero and prove to everyone, more importantly herself that she was not a massive coward. But there were other problems than merely, escape. The world they left would have changed in their absence, Mel knew as soon as she got out of the game she'd be online in another as soon as possible. She s

Mel gratefully stepped inside and into the lively holiday atmosphere. "Thank you, I was worried that I might be." The last thing she wished was to be the first or the last person to arrive. It was a generous idea of Koga though, to host such a gathering. She stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do now she was actually inside. Hearing the question, she turned to face the player who had let her in earlier, only now she held a plate of finger sandwiches in her hand. "Erm... Yes please." Melodie accepted one gratefully, though did not immediately get round to taking a bite. "I'm Melodie... Er... No