Nymoria

The sun had shifted in the sky by the time that Nymoria had decided that it was well past the time to make her way back towards the blacksmith. There was still more that needed to be done in the day, and although she had no desire to see the man again, she knew that the only way to complete the quest was to face him. As hesitantly as she had originally made her way towards the smithy, she forced herself to her feet, struggling against a desire to remain where she had been sitting, indefinitely. Growing old and dying here isn't ideal either. Get up, and go do the quest. The voice in her h

Although the words themselves had once given Nymoria a depressive feeling, a wonder towards something that she could not obtain, she instead found herself filled with desire for once. She wanted to be like those players out in the field, fighting to make themselves better, to become someone who others could rely upon. Wasn't that exactly what she wanted in life? To become something that others could rely upon? To become someone who was stronger, who was capable of helping those around her? She felt her arms tighten at the thoughts, the desire burning within herself becoming more and more

With an amount of force and determination that Nymoria wasn't sure she'd ever applied before, she pressed down the thoughts that had begun to rise, determined not to let them overwhelm her in the instance. She knew that she should be happy, if not entirely proud, of the achievement before her. Yet she found that it was hard, harder than the fight she had just endured. You don't deserve to be happy. What have you ever done to deserve that? Nothing but problems for those around you. Nothing but a nuisance, unable to help...a drag. Words that she had heard her entire life resurfaced, and although

The shattering sound, followed by the shards on the air in front of her, left Nymoria stunned. She knew that she'd improved since her earlier days, but as she looked upon the spot where the large boar had once stood, and realised that it had already been defeated, she couldn't help but feel a combination of wonder and amazement at her success. The fight had lasted no time at all, and although she'd taken a glancing strike, she'd walked away from the entire conflict without any real harm or concern - a fact that wasn't lost on her. Is this...what's possible in this game? What have I been d

Her feint had worked, at least to a degree. She'd felt as the blade of her sabre connected with the side of the boar, dragging along it's flank and causing the thing to flail back in rage and pain at her successful strike. Yes! Just like that! Now I just need to press the attack! She'd stepped up and forwards to press her attack, which had been her first mistake. The sudden impact on her side caught her by surprise, but the secondary impact as she slammed into the ground brought the breath out of her entirely, causing her vision to blur slightly as her mind tried to figure out what had happene

The large boar had moved quick, leaving Nymoria little time to dodge it's initial attack. She'd barely managed to roll to the side, avoiding the charge with a hair's breath between herself and the creature's flank. Already she could feel her heart racing, the sudden fear and adrenaline coursing through her and making her move through reaction, more than any actual planning. Stumbling to her feet, she raised the sabre in front of her, feeling the awkwardness of the blade as she tried to properly right herself and prepare for the next attack. I defeated those other three, I can bring this

In another flash of shards, the pair of boarlets were gone, leaving Nymoria alone once more. She released a puff of breath that she had been holding in, letting the sabre drop slightly to the side as she took in the area where the boarlets had been. Once again, it had almost been too easy to overcome the minor challenge that they presented - a fact that reminded her of just how much progress she'd already made compared to all the time she'd previous spent in the game. It was almost embarrassing, if she stopped to consider it too fully, and she found herself naturally turning her attention away

She wanted nothing more than to leave the fields, to return to the inn that she had begun to call home, to leave everything behind and simply fade away. She could feel the depression cutting into her, taking away the few moments of happiness that she had felt only moments ago, dragging it into a measure of darkness that felt both familiar, and horrible all at the same time. In her mind, she felt the screams building, the mixture of frustration, despair and hopelessness trying to overwhelm and overtake her. No, no! I need to...keep going, for them. The words were enough to shake away the

Nymoria glanced down in shock as the creature in front of simple exploded into shards as her sabre blade tore into it's side. She couldn't help but release a squeak in response, a combination of excitement at her ease and success, as well as surprise from how easy the fight had been. Is this really what doing these lessons does for a player? Does it make that much of a difference...? I mean, yeah I gained a couple of levels just from that first one...but...wow, I should've done this so long ago. I...I regret not doing it. She couldn't believe how long she'd put off these lessons, thinking they

She waved to Terin on her way out of the gate, sighing softly as she crossed out of the town's safe zone and into the fields beyond, trying to shake off the various emotions that had been weighing her down mere moments ago. The potions had helped slightly in that regard - the bitter sweet taste of them causing her to think of things other than the words that had been spoken to her by the blacksmith - something that, if she'd been more aware of, she might have considered a small blessing. That wind is so nice. She raised her face against the sunshine, closing her eyes slightly as she too

Nymoria had wandered towards the fields once more, her emotions roiling within her as she tried to push back all the thoughts that had come with the dismissive behaviour from the blacksmith. She knew that it was nothing more than the Cardinal system's auto-generated messages, that there was nothing personal to the words stated. In fact, she knew, deep down, that they were said to every person who entered the shop, and yet she found herself dwelling on them as she did any time such negativity was directed her way. It's just...just words. I can't let it get to me. I can't...otherwise...oth

Whether through the system's recognition, or pure luck, the blacksmith had turned at her approach, wiping his hands and frowning slightly as he spotted Nymoria's form within the smoke of the smithery. "Welcome, I would normally say. However I'm quite busy at the moment and don't have time to be taking orders for new materials or items." Nymoria raised her hands, preparing to correct the man, however a wave of the blacksmith's hands stopped any form of argument or correction that she would've attempted. His voice was gruff, unwelcoming and overall displeased as he continued speaking, clear

Her meandering path had taken her well outside of the direction of the quest's marker, and she'd found herself needing to follow the mini map in her display in order to get back to the original area, a detour that had taken nearly half an hour of her time to cover the single block between Zackariah's shop, and the blacksmith's work area. She knew that she'd been delaying the inevitable, and yet her feet had naturally carried her away from the locale, until such time as she'd been forced to return, aware that she would never complete the quest, never move forwards, if she didn't. I don't n

The First Lesson | The Second Lesson Quest Nymoria had remained outside of Zackariah's shop for nearly an hour, trying to figure out what she was going to do with the expansion of the quest. She wanted nothing more than to return home, to give up on the chain that was slowly unwinding before her, to return to the normalcy that she had found within the game. The only thing that had stopped her was the realisation that if she gave up now, she would be returning to nothing more than a desperate reliance on others in order to bring about their freedom; another means of reliance that left he

"I'm afraid that I wasn't the one that he loaned the money out to, as I've not borrowed anything as of late!" Zackariah shook his head, a soft chuckle escaping his lips even as he confirmed that the entirety of her time had been all for naught. As if knowing that he'd just given a harsh blow, he quickly followed the comment by providing her with more information to go on, an obvious lead into a secondary quest for Nymoria to further track down the money that the mayor had loaned out. "You may want to try Lyle, a local blacksmith. He's been talking to the mayor a lot as of recent, perhaps he bo

She'd paused as he turned towards her, her hesitation apparent in both her movement and expression. At some point she'd begun to bite her lip, and although she couldn't feel pain from it, she knew that she was likely leaving a mark. Slowly, with an air of uncertainty and apprehension, she had raised her hands. Her fingers moved in a pattern, slow at first, but picking up pace as she began to sign her question to the man before her. The mayor is hoping to get his loaned money back, and he told me to ask you for it. Would you be so kind as to give me the amount you borrowed from him, so that I c

"A--a! P-rf--t! See, I knew you could do it!" The sound of Zackariah's voice shocked Nymoria out of her excited daze, diverting her eyes from the potion in her hand to the the man before her. She couldn't help but beam a smile in response to his excitement, her own bursting within her as she realised that she'd made a nearly perfect version of the healing potions she had in her inventory. She could feel the pride swell within her as she truly began to understand the accomplishment that she had before her, and the fact that she had done it entirely on her own. "Excellent, excellent! Well, now y

The colour in the vial quickly turned into a brownish black paste under Nymoria's harsh shaking, and almost immediately she knew that she had done something wrong. Her eyes shot up to look at the shopkeeper, searching for an answer to her outcome. A knowing smile, and a patient glint in his eyes, told her that he wasn't entirely surprised at her lack of success. She expected to be berated, talked down to, or otherwise informed of everything she had done wrong in the instance, and found herself wincing internally in preparation. "Ah yes, I have that happen sometimes. If you shake it too h

"-ight, what you will want to do here, is to bring the materials together and grind them into a slight dust...then we're going to place them into a liquid, and mix them up." Nymoria's eyes glanced sparingly at the items as Zackariah explained the steps involved, intent on the man's face in order to notice and take in everything he said. She'd long since learnt that the system corrupted the voices of those she wasn't directly paying attention to, making it sound as if they were far away, or covered by a veil of some sort. "Should it mix properly, it'll turn a dark red colour, and you'll notice

"Oh, you've returned! Welcome back, welcome back! Did you manage to find all the materials we'll need in order to complete the order?" Nymoria gave a hesitant nod in response to the question. Zackariah appeared entirely unphased by her silence, as if the NPC wasn't even truly noticing her presence. The concept stung Nymoria more than she would like to admit, and although she tried to ignore the nagging voice in her head, she couldn't entirely push it aside as it began it's mantra of distasteful and self-loathing commentary. She was only pulled from the thoughts as Zackariah's voice began speak

Her walk back to the shop had taken numerous detours, an unconscious attempt at avoiding the eventual as she tried to figure out exactly what she was going to do. She knew that there was no choice but to return - either that, or forfeit the quest entirely - but a small part of her wanted to put it off as long as she possibly could, unwilling to face the inevitable. Her attempts at avoiding the location were eventually brought to an end, as she found herself standing before the shop once more - her winding trails and redirection attempts leading her to the exact spot that she had wanted t

As her eyes passed over a rather ugly yellow flower, Nymoria felt a moment of elation. The soft glow surrounding it drew her eyes onto it fully, confirming that it was the final ingredient that she needed in order to complete the retrieval aspect of the quest. Carefully plucking it from the small bush it had been growing on, she placed it into her inventory with the others, smiling for the first time that day as she straightened and considered the success she had managed. I'm allowed this one moment of happiness. I did this all by myself, and look at how quickly it went, too! I may not be like

She'd been playing with another flower as she considered the thought that had come. Slowly, as if waking from a stupor, she'd noticed the aura that surrounded the thing in her hand, signifying itself as another flower that could be used in the alchemic creations that the shop had been filled with. This piece had long, flowing flower petals that seemed to curl outwards and down, as if leaves hanging from a willow tree. The deep red colours of them reminded Nymoria of red spider lily plants that she had seen in the wilds. She wondered if this one was as toxic as the spider lily, her eyes lingeri

Whether it was simply the game's randomisation feature, or some higher power being nice to her, Nymoria happened across another of the iris like flowers in her thrashing. It did little to push away the sorrow and despair that she had felt, but it was enough to calm her and return her to the moment; to return to what she needed to do. Settling onto the ground, she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, trying to calm the internal mess of emotions that had been swelling through her over the past few moments. It was always like this, any time she came into contact with other people - wheth

Her attention slipped back to watching the trio, and it was several moments before Nymoria recognised that she'd entirely stopped looking for anything. Sighing heavily, she settled into the grass and watched the fight unfold, determined to at least get the most out of it if it was going to distract her so much. The trio seemed to dance around the boar for a time, their attacks leaving small gashes in it's side that must have caused at least a slight dip in it's health bar. Yet, even after several long seconds of the conflict, it became clear that the players were far from being done with the t