Them

Cleo's heart had nearly melted watching the magnificent fluffball nuzzle at the tips of her fingers and the little sigh that followed. The strength of the bond between Nari and Yuki was evident in the trust on display, from the fox being awake and reacting in calm to the Player's recognition of her friend's disappointment. "You two share something extraordinary, I can tell. From everybody I've talked to who has a familiar, there's always something so magical about the bond they have with them. Plus, I'm sure a little bit of food goes a long way for a critter from the fourth floor, being so chi

"Punching a giant boulder?" said the Player with an amused tone, if not one which also carried hints of disbelief. "I'll be sure to try that one out at some point. It might be a good way to blow off some steam, sure beats running around town and bumping into cabbage wagons," She pulled a smile, recalling the circumstances that they'd met under not long ago. If it were as easy as Rebekah had made it out to be, Cleo at least considered taking on the quest. She stumbled upon a flower identical to the one that Rebekah found, only to meet a similar fate upon trying to collect. "Huh. I think we

Teleportation crystals. Cleo knew of them, even used one to return home after a particularly grueling time with <<Calming the Soul>>, but hadn't thought to pick one up before leaving town. "Thank you. I came prepared with everything but a safe way to get home." She flashed a kind smile at Nari and set off on the journey for the fire kitty, with everything seemingly in order. The ruins were a little farther than the players had anticipated, but they would find them eventually. Sandstone pillars loomed in the distance, the remains of an ancient temple lost to the sands of time.

"Die? Come on. They're just boars. How bad can they be?" She scoffed at the notion. Their excursion being the first time she'd partied with anybody, the concept of scaling mobs escaped Cleo, and she failed to grasp how a measly boar could be a struggle for the pair. A material by a nearby brush stole her attention and she floated toward it, blissfully unaware of the mob that lay in wait. Cleo ate her words when a hulking beast of a boar burst onto the scene, its body worn from battle and the crystal floating above its head, black. Backward she staggered, tripped, and struggled a safe dist

"It looks like bad information is in vogue these days." Cleo's smile grew just an inch, and then she nodded. "Had plenty of alone time recently, and I'm not a fan. Please, would you?" She drew up the party screen and sent an invite, remembering that they'd added one another as friends at Nari's shop not long ago. After sending the request, a familiar ding rang out nearby, which she presumed to be the invite finding its recipient. The winds were tender, indicative of calm, harmless weather for the time being. Whether it was the calm before the storm or a rare sandstorm drought, the blue-ha

As Cleo rose to her feet with assistance from Nari, a handful of sand funneled out from each leg of her bottoms. "Getting my ass handed to me and learning how much crotch-sand I can accumulate in five minutes, apparently." She shook loose whatever grains lingered still, managing a smile despite her discomfort. "I'm on the lookout for a familiar, and beginning to think that my intel is just a little off." The stranger's words echoed clearly in her thoughts, 'Fifth-floor town. It spawns by some ruins about ten minutes East. Can't miss it!' Apparently can't miss the snappy boys, either. Pff.

Life draining to zero, the final scorpion exploded into shards, its dying whine echoing across the dunes. Adrenaline kept the Player alert and tense, and her heartbeat only slowed when it became clear that the immediate threat was no more. Calming, she let her head drop into the sand with a muted thud, relief abundant in each of her breaths. "I am, yeah, I think so." The other Player warned of the misplaced dagger, after which she reached out to retrieve it. "Sweaty hands are a bitch," she made a weak, passing smile and sat up, dipping her head slightly to signal gratitude. "If you hadn't

Stubborn in her search of the fourth material, she continued to rummage through a couple more thickets, listening as Krysta mentioned how tailor's materials weren't as easy to come across as other professions. "I'm starting to believe you. How can there be nothing in any of these plants?" A few bushes over, she spotted something. "Hold that thought." As she shimmied toward a nearby plant and found the fourth material, she pocketed it swiftly, her suspicion confirmed. Killing it, she thought with a proud smile. As much success as she had herself, she gathered that Krysta had been strugglin

She felt vindicated after Rebekah reassured her it wasn't strange to stay on the first floor. It was the smartest thing to do given the hardcode nature of the game, and it was the exception rather than the rule to have the guts to be able to go out, day in day out, putting one's life on the line to edge toward freedom. She'd freely admit to not having those guts any day. Then, the other Player confirmed herself to have been a Front Liner long ago. "No way?" She explained that, despite the hiatus, she intended to continue training to rejoin the battle. Cleo, almost feeling in the presence

Approaching footsteps tore her eyes away from the scorpions and toward a shield-bearing Player, spear at the ready. Cleo, now with a buffer between herself and the beasts courtesy of the long-haired woman, found the precious seconds needed to discover her center of gravity, straighten her thoughts, and take arms with the dagger bound to her hip. "Thank you." Whoever this woman was didn't matter, besides the fact that her actions painted her as more friend than foe. The spear-wielding woman struck one of the arachnids and drew the ire of both, and they followed the shield-bearer toward the

Immediately, she felt terrible for bringing the question up. "Oh," the Player started, searching for words to follow, but none came so quickly. "That's... I'm sorry again. That makes sense. It's important to remember the ones that helped us get here." Though she sympathized and knew that many other players had fallen, she was one of the lucky ones who hadn't experienced loss in SAO. It was an eventuality that everybody would lose somebody in the long run, and the thought terrified her, having never dealt with significant loss even before the game. She busied herself by searching a nearby

The First Floor Cleo took hold of the bag of <<Familiar Food>>, handed to her by the <<Travelling Gypsy>>. "And this is free, right? It's just that my funds are a little bit dire right now," she admitted freely, uncertainty woven in her expression, but the soft-spoken, nomadic woman interrupted to reassure her. "There is no material cost," responded the Gypsy, "But I ask must you to return the remaining feed when you're finished." Could this be a genuine act of kindness, no strings attached? The Player wasn't want to question a gift horse in the mouth, an

The foe was turned around this time, making it easy for her to get close without gaining its attention. Some 20-feet from the target, Cleo readied yet another attack, eyes focusing on the <<Man-Eating Plant>>. By the time the floral monolith knew what was happening, it was already too late, the gaping wound in its mid-section a symptom of its health falling to zero. She hummed in surprise, graced with another rewards window with different loot than before. The system was beginning to make sense to her. "So, the rewards are random?" Musing to oneself, she hadn't heard nor seen the a

"Oh." Cleo drew her lips into a slight pout and dismissed the quest log menu. "Bummer." Upon Rebekah suggesting that she still look for materials anyway, she agreed and set her attention back to the funny-looking fungi. "Sure, might as well while we're out here." Being so confident that it was a material source, her disappointment was immeasurable upon reaching it and realizing that it was, indeed, just a plain old patch of fungus on a tree. She prodded it with a finger and, disappointingly, received naught but some slimy residue in return. After shaking off the goo from her hand, she joi

The man-eater's size distracted Cleo from the obvious that it was a low-level mob beside the main settlement on the sixth floor. A vine whipped her way when the floral foe took notice, and, gasping, she lurched back, avoiding its tentacle's damage by an inch. She put a foot back to catch herself from falling and, targetting the <<Man-Eating Plant>>, readied an attack. Nimble feet carried her forward as the peak of the Obsidian Stylet shone a brilliant purple and, with ease, penetrated the fibers of the mob's body. It gave an alien cry and tumbled, head limp, before shattering to no

In the vast <<Jungle Expanse>> which surrounded the settlement of Krycim, the day was like any other besides the peculiar presence of Cleo, who stood at the edge of the safe zone. To seek out a fight was hardly her forte, the exact opposite, in fact, but she meant to challenge herself with a string of increasingly difficult and dangerous daily goals. On the first day, she sought a fight with a school of <<Boarlets>> on the first floor. On the second, a score of <<Goblins>> on the second floor and a single <<Dire Wolf>> on the fourth floor. On the

Cleo appreciated Krysta's thoughts on the matter with a smile, thinking the comparison to a Tale to be quite apt. "It sort of does sound like the beginning of a story, doesn't it?" She deepened her voice for dramatic effect, "'Challenged to live in a world bent on destroying them, who will rise to overcome the odds, to lead their brethren to freedom?'" Her voice returned to normal, and she laughed a short, breathy laugh before looking to the other player. "Sorry. Again, please tell me if I'm being weird, and I'll spare us both the embarrassment." For possibly the first time in a long, lon

It was her first time learning about another player's origin story, of how they came to be in the game, and it was a somber one. To never know if your sibling was trapped inside the game with you, or worse, if they had already perished, had to potential to be torturous. She made as reassuring a smile as she could and responded, "I'm sure he's okay. The news about Sword Art Online would have traveled pretty quickly. He could have heard about it online before turning the game on." Soon after, Rebekah had accepted the quest from Zackariah and asked if she knew the way out of town. Cleo nodde

Shortly after hearing back from Nari about the completed order, Cleo journeyed back up to the 27th floor and toward The Winter Fox smithery. Standing outside, she could feel the warmth radiating from the furnaces within, which embraced her as she walked on inside. She approached the counter, greeted the smith once again, and took the dagger which wrapped up in a leather binding. In truth, most of the stats were lost on her, and the only thing she rightly cared for was that it dealt more damage than her Rusty Dagger, which it did. "You're amazing, thank you! I'll be back again soon." She d

One thing became evident in Cleo's endeavor to learn more about defending herself; her Rusty Dagger was—literally—no longer cutting it. And so, the player's travels brought her to a blacksmith on the 27th floor, hearing of a quaint little shop a short ways off from the high street. It was to be the first piece of equipment she'd ever requested, and so, wanting to get it right first-time, she had prepared a specification beforehand. With high spirits, she walked inside, and had only managed to admire the interior for a brief moment before the resident blacksmith caught her eye. C

To Cleo's delight and utmost surprise, Rebekah accepted her help. "Cool! There's a spot outside of town with a lot of materials. I'll take you there." It was a safe assumption that the other player didn't require assistance, as most players were strong enough to take on anything the first-floor could throw at them, but she was more than happy to lend a hand. The party invite came through, which she accepted, and she noticed Rebekah's name and health come into view. Instead of sitting through Dorian's dialogue about the loan and Zackariah, she busied herself by helping the cabbage tr

When Krysta revealed that she'd been in a life-threatening situation in the past—held captive no less—Cleo battled against her instincts to gawk and instead stared, unsettled but calm. Without context, she couldn't know how big of a deal the event was for Krysta and thought against making anything else of it. What Krysta said afterward brought only sadness. Cleo noticed when the woman's hands curled and unfurled, a sure sign that the story held significant emotional weight, and she looked away, uncertain of what to say to make things better. There wasn't anything that could be said to mak

After verbally berating the player on the floor, the trader scrambled to recover his goods which were now scattered far and wide. The clutz was still in a haze when she saw another player approach. The world was just coming back into focus for Cleo, and, noticing the offer of a helping hand from the woman, she stood up from the ground with help, proceeding to dust herself off. "I think so. I was running through an alley, and then there was this corner, and then after that... cabbages?" She stared at the chaos before her in confusion and, shaking her head, tried to dismiss it. "Sorry,

Cleo, a long-time patron of the Town of Beginnings, was out on a brisk jog through its sparsely populated streets. She jogged when something bothersome was on her mind or when she needed to blow off a little steam, as it always helped her cool off a little and organize her thoughts. It was a little bit of both in this case, and she decided to spice things up by taking a new route that led away from the center and toward the outer quadrants of the settlement. By now, so long into the game, she was familiar with most parts of town and knew how to make her way back to the marketplace from ju

Thread Finished Thread Rewards 1,045 EXP (6,266 words / 30 = 209~, 209 * 5 = 1,045) 400 Col <<Calming the Soul>> Rewards 2,000 EXP Unlock <<Meditation>> Extra Skill Total EXP and Col 3,045 EXP 400 Col