Pollux

a very special approval for a very special girl.

The unbending rule amongst even the sweetest of critters: food always won out over affection. Yue Hua was a little heartbroken. But she was happy that she had gotten to pet her. “...I see!” Up to this point, she had failed to consider that not everyone who was actively leveling regarded combat as more than a necessity. If not love, there at least had to be an appreciation for it as an art that had to be honed, hadn’t it — otherwise, they would have forever ran circles around the lower floors like the idle rest. Yue Hua stood, dusting cat fur off her pants, considering. “I was alone before

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If she stuck around, as she was considering, NIGHT would eventually learn that duels were all that made up Yue Hua’s daydreams. Duels, then swords, then cosmetics. She did not even suffer a drop of romantic fancy unless its subject was right in front of her. “Of course.” Yue Hua’s tail, wagging, nearly knocked straight into a passerby — thankfully one that was deprived of food and drink. “T’would have to be after some time. My seniors in my guild have advised me to max out my levels first before picking any fights with frontliners outside of an arena.” Oscar swept in, seemingly to re

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♦ POLLUX [last light.] 「夜空の星のように、君はいつも多くの驚きをもたらしてくれる。俺の相棒。」 ARTORIA [ HLY/MAD/RSK ][ DPS ][ SCYTHE ][ LAUGHING COFFIN ] ' i will remember the first time you kissed me — you apologized — you said, i am sorry destroy me as i am, but i want to kiss you before i am killed, and i said to you, why, and you said, because i have only once met someone so utterly willing to burn for what they believed in, and i loved him on sight, and the first time i died i asked o

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Not too bad for her first try. Firefly was safe from that impromptu swim for now. Yue Hua’s tail came to a rest on top of Firefly’s hat, patting her gently. She sounded like she was doubting herself. Her nervous hope extinguished. Yue Hua was doing a lot of things to her that she had never wanted to. “I know. I trust your intentions are always good. You, and everyone in the guild.” Then Bistro sat down. Her interruption was welcome. But at her news, Yue Hua’s surprise was palpable. They invited another frontliner? Did they not congregate in their own specialized guilds? She swiveled

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A rare peaceful day at the Trackers HQ. Yue Hua was on a walk, eyes half-closed and basking in the slowness of it, when she heard echoes of activity from a nearby room. The sound of a heavy impact, one after another after another. She strolled over to the door, curious. Light slanted in from the training room’s tall arched windows. Everything was vibrant, stirring Yue Hua from her indolent mood. At the center of the hall, Morningstar was in a stance in front of a punching bag, his fists covered in boxing gloves. Yue Hua watched him strike the bag, sending it swinging backwards on its chai

This time, there was no call. The massive shuriken ripped through the horde. It traced an impossible trajectory, bouncing from one shambler to another until it reached a full circuit of four, then it wheeled back into its owner’s hands, who threw it again with little wind-up. The monsters that were crowding Yue Hua screamed like cicadas in the late afternoon. Some of them [Froze]. Yue Hua fought her way out of the wriggling mass, hacking and stabbing at its remnants with none of her previous heed to their pain. She had lost it somewhere in her charge. She emerged covered in blood and

She’d lost… three fights, was it? Saw her health bar descend to a critical level without fear or thought of forfeit. She hadn’t ever doubted what Kindling and Minako did to the arena, even if the hosts’ words were all she had to go by. Dueling was a sport that required a lot of trust. “With some adjustments, I won’t,” Yue Hua said, amused. “I can [Tier Lock] and deactivate a few skills. I’ve never done it myself before — my previous tournaments’ stat changes all took effect automatically — but it should feel like you’re facing a player of roughly the same level.” Match-ups of that type we

Yue Hua would have barely lifted her head at his quiet laugh. Hm? She didn’t hear that. More importantly, she noticed he hadn't answered her question and it only made her all the more curious. Was it intentional? Or was it that he didn't know what he meant by his own spiel? Corvo went a few steps ahead of her, pre-emptively heading in the arrow’s direction after a brief glance, and Yue Hua assumed a more relaxed pace. When she reached him, she lowered herself into a similar crouch, her palms beneath her chin. He looked proud of his find. Yue Hua’s expression didn’t change.

Oscar’s menu was so loaded that even Firefly’s diverse choices didn’t appear so esoteric to Yue Hua’s eyes. Or perhaps that only spoke to how well-traveled she was. Her overfilled plate was the next subject of Firefly’s curiosity. The big helping of crab and the hamburger she couldn’t easily slice in small aside, it appeared as though Yue Hua had availed herself of every item she had passed. “I’m going to eat everything,” she said confidently. She generally had the stomach to back it up. Ladling some soup from the seafood cauldron, Yue Hua tested its temperature with a cautious sip. “Oh,

“Olivia,” the girl said airily. “Head of Fermata’s field operations. You’re lucky to have me.” Yue Hua knew someone who was both a frontliner and a bigshot on a worldwide scale and she swore he didn’t have half this Fermata girl’s attitude. But she strove to maintain decency, reminding herself why she had brought her here. “Yue Hua, player name Pollux. Thank you for helping.” They hunted the last two mobs in the area separately, then they regrouped to heal each other’s wounds, and for her partner, to check their progress with [Tracking]. Olivia duplicated three m

She didn’t. She knew the moment its HP had ceased to drop. Against Morningstar, the newly summoned ghouls were like bubbles that popped at a single touch. He sent the damaged Leech Lich sprawling her way and Yue Hua’s weapon immediately lit with a flick of her hand. “Take the last hit,” she warned. Better to be redundant than to leave Morningstar to rely on a capability she currently did not have. Then, skipping the charge, she stabbed her sword downwards, impaling the struggling thing through its bony chest. Yue Hua kept it on the end of her sword as long as she could. Realistically

Of course, as soon as Yue Hua had transferred her things over to the Trackers’ table, Wulfrin appeared carrying a mountain of seafood. “...Wulfrin! Hello,” Yue Hua said, surprised. She glanced back the way he came and noticed that more people were starting to follow his example, and Warren, busy at the beverage wagon again, looked more proud for it than anything. The gigantic feast was only the appetizer. “I have never played golf but I’d like to learn sometime, if you’re willing to teach. How big is it? I’ve seen videos back in reality where the courses were so long that people had to use car

Firefly looked confused. "PvP?" Oh. “Player versus Player.” That rung a bell, but her friend still had concerns and Yue Hua was quick to answer them. Partly, she was a little defensive of her hobby. “SAO has three types of duels. First Strike, Half Loss, and Full Loss, which is a fight to the death. Typically, in the PvP scene, players compete in Half Loss duels, where the fight ends once one competitor hits half HP, but there has been the occasional tournament where the fights are Full Loss with system modifications to disallow HP from dropping to zero.” That was the Clash of Blades

Yue Hua’s smile faltered at the edges. They were at a standstill, the snapped off stems of the picked herb at Corvo’s feet. It seemed he was misunderstanding her, and worse, the sudden harshness of his tone left Yue Hua with the impression that he had taken offense. Few people became more difficult to read the more they talked — she was starting to consider Corvo one of those exceptions. “I think we’re playing a VRMMO. If that wasn’t obvious.” (A blade, she said in her head the moment she saw him. All sharp edges; the world being kept at bay lest it wishes to cut itself. She wo