Nari-Lanreth

The walk through the hillside was comforting to Nari, if only for the sake that she was able to avoid most of the creatures. At times, she wondered if it wouldn't be worthwhile to fight some - to bring them down with a quick swish of her scythe. Not worth it. Not in this game. In this world. One wrong move, could spell disaster. Better to just enjoy the walk, and the scenery. Mio had trotted alongside her, silently keeping pace as his many tails flowed behind his form. The kitsune was content, at least, to follow her for the time being. Whether he enjoyed Nari's present decision or not, the cr

Nari breathed a small sigh of relief as the fight came to its conclusion. She'd been certain that Jomei wouldn't hesitate, would finish off the woman - although, for the briefest of seconds it had looked as though the ginger would hold back on their assault, as if they had considered another choice. Nari considered saying something, but was distracted by the weapons that had appeared at their feet - a virtual collection of various tools, all of which resembled the weapons that the trio were already wielding. Before either of the others could reach, Jomei had already reached down and coll

She'd tapped open the message, closing her eyes as the system pulled it up in front of her. She'd forced herself to breath deeply, a number of times, before eventually opening her eyes. At first, she'd read the message quickly, rushing to make sure that there were no signs of danger - no signs that she was being called to help someone who was on the verge of death. Halfway through, realising that the message was too long for such an occurrence, Nari had stopped herself. Forced herself back to the top, to read it thoroughly. To hear the woman's voice in her head. To: Nari-Lan

It had taken her a while until she was calm enough to approach the teleporter pad. She'd refrained from immediately heading home, knowing that Onora would've been waiting. Instead, she had leaned herself against a nearby wall, watching as the few other players passed through, moving with an obvious intention. It was still early in the day, meaning that many of them were likely heading out in their daily ritual of doing whatever it was they did in order to prepare themselves. Few of them will join us for the boss fight. They're nowhere near strong enough. Nowhere near capable enough...but maybe

She'd found herself stopped outside of what appeared to be a church, or a cathedral. Nari had been staring up at the building for several moments, before she'd even registered what she was looking at. She had no doubts that there was a faith here, in fact she'd met many of the priests on her travels throughout the floor itself. Zealots. Throwing their lives away for a world that doesn't care about them. For gods who don't answer their prayers. Following the same path because they have no other meaning in their lives, and this is all they can do. It sounded like her own life, a life where she w

At some point, she'd left the ruins behind. She'd slowly made her way back to the small settlement that was the capital of the floor. For a time, Nari had simply wandered, passing street after street as she tried to sort out her emotions. She knew that the anger wasn't temporary, that the darkness she was feeling had been growing inside her, day after day. She'd felt lost for a long time - an almost depressive state from everything that had occurred. She had sorrows upon sorrows building up, slowly tearing her down, tearing into her very soul. This is what they want, isn't it? To tear us

Nari had stood still for a period of time after the last of the knights had disappeared. She'd been lost in thought, her mind slowly turning as she considered everything she'd realised in the few moments following the end of the fighting. She'd hated that she could even consider herself anything like Cardinal, and yet, she found she couldn't argue with the overall results. She had become brutal in her fighting, calculating, cold. She was far different from the woman who had entered the game. Gone are the days of laughing hysterically at jokes told by friends. Of having friends, people who you

Nari cocked her head to the side as the creature seemed to make its decision, suddenly rushing towards her in a flurry of steps. She'd considered letting it take its frustrations out on her, considered trading blows with it for the sake of lettering the fight last as long as required, before putting the poor thing out of its misery. Tormenting it. Like this game torments you. She wanted the thought to be wrong. She wanted to think she was better than this world. The truth, however, was that she knew it was right. Knew that it was saying nothing more than the truth about her in that moment, tha

Taking the creatures down was pitifully easy, once you had figured out their movements. Nari had watched them long enough during her previous fight in order to get a handle on how they flowed through their attacks. Most creatures had a repetitive movement to their actions, a set of common attack motions that they followed - with some few being able to shift their sequences every so often. These creatures, however, seemed to follow the same pattern - which made it easy for Nari to time her reactions. A quick flurry of blows, designed to overwhelm the defences of a lesser target, before a single

She'd managed to catch the majority of the creatures, watching as they stopped moving, their limbs betraying them as they locked into place. A single one had avoided her strike - more out of luck, than actual skill by the creature itself. Although Nari would've liked to land a follow up attack, she found herself ducking backwards as the smaller knight slashed outwards at her, intent on bringing the woman down by itself. I doubt you could, unless you were given enough time. Not that she was about to give it the time it needed. She knew the dangers of prolonging fights like these, and the necess

She'd gotten tired of thinking. She wanted nothing more than to run away from her thoughts, and all the darkness that they brought with them. She'd grown tired. Tired of it all, of everything she was doing each and every single day. I'm tired of taking every single day to get up, to craft some useless materials, hunt down more monsters, all in the name of eventually escaping. We've made no progress...in a long time. We may be picking up again, but...are we really getting anywhere? They'd found the boss's room, from the rumours that had been passed throughout the floors. There'd even been menti

She'd found a place to rest a small distance away - the rolling terrain giving an almost three-sided shelter to the area. She'd been concerned at first that something could come over the crest and attack her from behind, but so far the few small groups of creatures in the area had stayed well and far away from her current position. She'd watched, for a time, following their movements. At first, like all collections of creatures in Aincrad, the paths had appeared random - a collection of steps followed before a sudden turn, and a new collection of steps. But with time, Nari had begun to notice

The wind had picked up slightly following the completion of her skirmish with the humanoids, a fact that made Nari wonder if Cardinal wasn't watching her. Absurd, it's just coincidence. The AI isn't watching you and waiting for the most opportune moment to give you the dramatic flair... The voice in her mind scowled in response to the idea, and Nari found she couldn't disagree with the sarcastic tone. It was highly unlikely that Cardinal was simply waiting around to provide her with a gust of wind, the more reasonable explanation winning out for once. To think, you thought yourself important.

The pattern had devolved - the quick bursts had become aggressive thrusts and bashes in what was clearly becoming a desperate desire to overwhelm Nari's defences. She didn't let the sudden shift overwhelm her, instead focusing on simply deflecting the attacks that she could, and avoiding those that came too close. It was a wary game, in the end, the need to keep such a lookout for anything coming directly towards her. Opening. There. She'd spotted it the same instant as she began to move into her own attack sequence, the sudden shift from defensive to offensive causing confusion for the H

She stepped back again as the Harbringer brought its weapon down in a harsh arc, using its own muscles - digital as they may be - and momentum in order to slam the weapon into the spot Nari had been standing seconds ago. She could see its pattern evolving before her eyes, the way it would follow up the aggressive opening, using speed to try and knock aside her defences, before driving a powerful strike towards where she should be. Repetitive. Just like you'd expect from a program. Even an AI. She'd found a simple enough counter - blocking the first couple of strikes, before stepping out of the

Frustration had begun to take over her movements as she came no closer to putting the creature down. She felt it bubbling up within her, demanding her to do something - anything - to force the thing into the ground. Enough! I can't be reckless here. No one knows...and besides, there's no need to- Her thoughts were cut off as the scythe in her hand was suddenly knocked to the side, the brunt of the weapon slamming into the side of her head and causing her to dance backwards as she recoiled from the sudden attack. Where the hell- She wasn't given time to consider what had happened, the Har

Her scythe moved into an intricate pattern, a shift of metal in the air before, and around her, as she worked to drive the Harbringer back towards a slight dip in the ground. It was far from the high ground that Nari would've liked, in order to assault the thing directly from above, but it was enough of an uneven standing that she hoped the thing would at least come unbalanced in its stride. Any small advantage in this world. That's all it's about. Any little thing that you can use...or can be used against you. Either the thing was used to such tactics, or it somehow knew what Nari was t

The creatures had recovered from the stun effect faster than Nari had anticipated. Not that it had assisted them nearly as much as they may have desired - but it did cause an amount of annoyance to the woman as she forced backwards away from the group. Her scythe flashed in her hand, blocking minor attacks from the party as it tried to overwhelm her - their success minimal at best. It's becoming easier, each time. Almost like a routine... She gave a quick outward slash with her weapon, forcing the Doom Harbringer back, and turning the Sludge Knights that had accompanied it into shards t

The four creatures had been stunned by her sudden strike - not just due to her sudden appearance, nor the static electricity that crackled from her scythe as it tore through the largest of the collection before carrying onwards and through the remainder, but also due to the successive effect her the sword art itself. She could see the creatures lock up - held in place by the paralysis effect of the attack. It's useless, but...again. She gave another twirl, letting the blade wrap around and dance with her as she brought it to bear on the creatures one more time - knowing full well that th

Her pace was controlled, her feet moving across the ground far quieter than when she had first begun to hunt. Although the years hadn't been the most pleasant, Nari couldn't say that they hadn't been well-learnt. In fact, if anything, they had taught her more lessons than she ever would've desired to have learnt. Lessons such as moving quietly, lessons such as never letting your enemy overwhelm you. Lessons such as loss. She'd bit her lip in response to the last thought, realising just how much she had lost since Sword Art Online had first started. She didn't want to think about. Didn't

She gave a soft sigh as she pushed herself to her feet. She'd escaped from the requirements of her day to day life - from those around her who reminded her of everything that had gone wrong. She'd felt sorry, at first, as she'd realised that meant leaving Onora behind. Sometimes I need some time away. She understands. She's good like that. Even if it hurts her a bit... Nari had no doubt that her friend - her recent roommate, companion and perhaps more - would be understanding of the need to get away, to spend some time alone. Alone with nothing more than her own thoughts to keep her company.

The gravel shifted underneath her foot as Nari re-balanced her weight. She'd been crouched by the edges of what had once been the largest - or at least she'd been told the largest - settlement on this floor. The priests had been adamant that the area was dangerous, fearing for her life and striving to stop her from heading out to the area itself. Nothing more than a pre-programmed commentary. They don't care, in the least. No one in here does. You're here. Then you're not. Nari shifted again, the scythe leaned against her arm at a precarious angle, as much of a dark omen as the very air around

Nari glanced out towards the field that she had been resting in, considering her day. She'd come with the intention of facing down the larger wasp, with the focus of obtaining the dropped loot that the field boss provided. But that all seems...well, not worth it, now... Her eyes shifted over the grasses, taking in their overly green beauty. The day itself had come to look almost painting perfect, as if reminding her that there was more to this world than just fighting. Than just grinding through conflict after conflict, in the hopes of making needless headway. Is there more to this world than

Nari wandered into the unfamiliar shop, glancing at the few wares on display before making her way towards the man who appeared huddled over the materials and designs sprawled across a table. She waited a few seconds, until he had noticed her presence. "Ah, yeah. I'm hoping you can help me out with a design..." She gave a quick description of the piece she was looking for, keeping the complexity rather simple - or at least as simple as she was able to, given everything. She waited as he confirmed a few pieces, making sure that everything was as desired, before confirming her order.