[PP|F2]<<Let There Be Light>>Umbra Mortis

[Shirayuki 0]

Urbus was a larger city than Shirayuki had imagined. Though to be fair, the second floor wasn't much smaller than the first was. There wasn't much reason to shrink the size of the settlements just because the floor got a tiny bit smaller.

The character models with their yellow indicators didn't pay her too much mind. All of them were programmed to see the real players pretty equally. They might react to her if she had an orange cursor, but everyone else was around green. Those green players were giving her some odd looks though. Dressing like an assassin might not be the best way to make people like you, but she wasn't trying to make friends or anything.

Her attention was drawn on the crowds so much that she barreled directly into another player. Tripping over the other person's leg, she fell to the ground. Her eyes traveled up the girls legs up to her eyes and she stared for a moment. Green Cursor, real player.

"Gomen." She basically whispered to Katoka, raising to her feet again.

Spoiler

Name: Shirayuki
Level: 5
HP: 100/100
EN: 10/10

Stats:
Damage: 7
Mitigation: 9
Evasion: 2
Accuracy: 3

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Spinning Shuriken(T1/THBA): DMG III
Armor: Shadow's Breath(T1/LA): MIT I; EVA II
Misc: Ferret's Mask(Unscaled/Trinket): ACC III

Skills:
Two-Handed Battle Axe [Rank 1]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potion*5

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[Katoka 0]

Katoka had only been on the second floor once before for a previous quest, one where she hadn't landed a single hit on an enemy. The blonde sighed and closed her eyes, pinching he bridge of her nose. "I... Kind of hate this floor." she said to herself. She had come back in search of a beginner quest that was supposed to give a decent col reward, she also wanted to knock it off the long list of quests that she wanted to at least experience once.

It was in this moment of reflection that she felt someone run into her. The samurai turned to see a girl dressed in assassin like garb laying on the ground, she apologized and began to stand. Katoka offered her a hand to help her up. "I'm sorry as well, I shouldn't have been standing right in the middle of the street like this." she smiled at the girl, noticing her gear looked a bit low in level, "My name's Katoka, are you here to do the cave quest as well? We could probably knock it out quicker together."

Spoiler

Name: Katoka
Level: 17
HP: 340/340
EN: 34/34

Stats:
Damage: 8
Evasion: 1
Accuracy: 2
LD:1
BLD:12
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Mumyou Sandanzuki (T1/Perfect/Katana) | BLD 1, DMG 2
Armor: Shinsengumi Yukata (T1/Perfect/Light Armor) | REC 2, EVA 1
Misc: Rabbit's Foot (T1/Perfect/Trinket) | ACC 2, LD 1

Skills:
Curved Sword [Rank 1]
Katana [Rank 4]

Extra Skills:

Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions*3
Sand Armor Potion - +27 MIT (no stacking)*1

Housing Buffs:
Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Col Stash: +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
Basic Training: +1 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [1/1]

Guild Hall Buffs:
Lucrative: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters receive +1 crafting attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters receive +2 crafting attempts per day.
Col Deposit: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

[Shirayuki 0]

A proposition? She had come merely to inspect the floor and see how much they could differentiate from how they designed the first floor. The second floor really looked a lot like the sixth. Had to be all the trees. The other girl offered a chance to join her for a quest. It couldn't be that difficult since it was on a low level floor.

Quietly, the girl nodded in confirmation. The silence always seemed awkward, but she was never really sure how to speak to someone if there wasn't a screen between them. Hopefully she wouldn't feel offended if she didn't say anything.

Gemini roused from her comfortable spot on Shirayuki's shoulders. What looked like a fluffy white scarf was actually a snow white ferret. It inspected the other woman quietly before being interrupted by a quick little pet from her owner. It chirped quietly and returned to it's safe position, hiding itself as her attire.

[Katoka 0]

Katoka smiled and opened her game menu to send the young woman a party invite. She seemed to be someone of few words so hopefully their interactions wouldn't too awkward. Once she was finished she closed the menu and looked back at the girl, she noticed the ferret around her neck and instantly was captivated. "Oooh! Look at the sweet baby." she cooed, "Such beautiful fur too!" she didn't attempt to pet the little one as she wasn't sure if it was alright or not.

"Well, should we head out then?" the blonde asked, "I believe the quest giver isn't too far from here." Gesturing for the girl the follow, Katoka began walking deeper into the town. She knew that she needed to find a distressed mother in order to trigger the event, as for where she was exactly she wasn't sure. The samurai passed on the information to her companion and told her who to keep a lookout for.

[Shirayuki 0]

Shirayuki simply nodded and let her little ferret get situated back in her place around her neck carefully. This person seemed nice enough, but her words were still few. Social interactions were always difficult for Shiranui. It was why she figured staying quiet was better than anything else. If you didn't say anything, you wouldn't offend anyone, right?

Walking through the square of Urbus, the two spent the next ten minutes or so in silence looking around for this mother who had apparently lost her child. It wasn't until they passed through a small neighborhood in the outskirts of town that they found a group of people. A few children and an adult woman. The moment the woman noticed Shirayuki and Katoka, she rushed over to them waving them down.

"E-Excuse me!" She called, her voice was panicked. "You two look like you know how to fight. I will pay you if you can help me. My daughter was out playing with some of her friends here and she got lost playing hiding and seek with them! I can't head out of town without the help of some guards but they all tell me they're too busy to help. Please, my daughter could be in danger. I don't know what I'd do without her..."

"Stay clam." Shirayuki basically whispered, staring into the windows of her soul. Her expression seemed unmoved, but her words were sincere. The mother was worried but took a few deep breaths. "They weren't that far out. There are few caves etched into the hills around town, that would be a good place to start looking. If you do find her, her name is Azalea. She is nine years old, tell her that her mother sent you guys to help her."

Shirayuki looked over to Katoka, waiting for her answer.

[Katoka 0]

Katoka looked to her new companion and back to the distressed woman, "Of course we will help. We will bring your daughter back in no time ma'am." she smiled as sweet as she could, hoping her expression would calm her. She then remembered that this woman was of course not real and her personality and actions were just code in a system. The blonde cleared her throat a bit and accepted the quest in the window that had popped up in front of her.

Checking her map she led the white haired girl out of town and into the hills designated by the map. It thankfully wasn't as far a walk so if all went well they could probably have the young girl back to her mother before long. But, wouldn't she just reappear back in the caves later for the next person to complete the quest? How many times has this same girl been rescued and then just gets lost again? Katoka's head began to hurt with the loops she was putting herself into with npcs and their actions.

"So I realize you don't speak much, but what should I call you?" the samurai said, trying to get her mind off the topic her brain had sent her spiraling on.

[Shirayuki 0]

Names, right. She had already mentioned her own name, Katoka, but she had yet to even speak more than a few words. Further proving the point that she was really bad at interacting with people one on one in person.

After a moment of silence, she simply decides to point to her name in the corner of Katoka's User Interface. The name read as 'Shirayuki'. Anyone with a common knowledge of Japanese would probably know it just means 'White Snow'. Names wouldn't really matter for this game, the only thing that people needed to know about them when they first meet is their user names.

Following behind her, Shirayuki took a moment to admire the scenery of the second floor. It wasn't too much different from the first floor but, it had it's own flavor. A lot more trees and forests than just open fields. The monsters were all the same for the most part. First levels were always generic.

[Katoka 0]

Katoka watched the girl as they neared the cave, after a moment she pointed up to where her name was. Ah, yes of course. She had actually saw her name when she joined the party but she wanted to try and make some small talk. "Right, Shirayuki. It's nice to meet you." the samurai laughed awkwardly. She hoped that she wasn't bothering the girl by talking too much.

Once they reached the entrance of the cave the blonde attempted to peer inside, "You really can't see anything past a few feet in there. This should be rather interesting huh?" she asked aloud knowing she wasn't going to get much of a response. Fighting in the darkness was going to be difficult, they could probably see a bit when the light of their sword skills were charged but besides that they would be fighting blind. Turning to face the girl she asked, "You ready to head in then?"

[Shirayuki 0]

"Likewise." The ninja said in return. Noticing the girl was looking slightly uncomfortable around her, she tried to talk a little more. Words weren't her strongest suit so she always figured that being quiet was better than saying something wrong.

Looking into the dark little cave, she wondered how a little girl accidentally wandered into here. Surely they would have seen how dark it was and at least thought it wouldn't be a good idea to head in there. Either way, this is where she was, so they would need to head in. "Stay close. We don't want to get split up." Shirayuki whispered almost. Talking was just vocalizing your thoughts. Not hard...right?

Shirayuki took a few steps into the cave, looking back and gesturing at the ronin to follow her in. The sooner that they got through this the better for everyone. If there was a fail state for this quest, she didn't really want to see a dead child.

[Katoka 0]

The blonde was surprised by how much Shirayuki had spoken then, she followed the girl inside and kept as close as she could without making things uncomfortable. Keeping her hand on her weapon she felt her way along the wall as it got darker. Keeping alert she did her best to listen for the sounds of a child; surly she couldn't be that far in could she? The thought crossed her mind that the child could be knocked out or hurt, this made her feel anxious and her motherly instincts kicked in.

"Should we call out to her?" she whispered her questing partner, "I don't know if it will call any enemies or not, but maybe it will help us find the girl faster?" Katoka was beginning to feel a bit nervous in the dark. The thought of being trapped deep underground and not being able to see was not something she was fond of.

[Shirayuki 0]

Shirayuki was pretty good at sneaking around in the dark. If not for her bright blue eyes and snow white hair, she may have been completely impossible to see. After a moment, Katoka was thinking that their best choice of action was to call out for the little girl to find her. As she mentioned, that would probably bring unwelcome attention.

That was the least of their worries and something of a moot point though. The bats that hung above them were ready to drop and gnaw off Katoka's head. The ninja girl jumped on Katoka and pulled her down to her knees. The duo of bats screeched, annoyed that they had missed their prey with a single swoop. "Apologies. Call for the girl. I'll distract them."

Something about the dark made her feel a little more confident. The words came to her much more easily. The spinning shuriken she wielded formed in her hand. "The darkness is my ally. Try me." She taunted the bats. The creatures flew in her direction, only to be completely slashed by the sawblade-like weapon.

---

Spoiler

Shirayuki | HP: 100/100 | EN: 10/10 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 9 | EVA: 2 -(1) | ACC: 3
Katoka | 

Giant Bat 1: 32/50 -(9*2) | 20 DMG
Giant Bat 2: 36/50 -(7*2) | 20 DMG

 

[Katoka 0]

The blonde was grateful to the silent woman for her help in the dark, once the bats had dove at them and missed Katoka called out for the girl to try and get her attention.

"Hello? Little girl we're here to take you back to your mother!" she called, the loud screeching of the bats mixed with her voice seemed to not disturb anymore enemies. She heard the calls and foot falls of a child before too long signaling that her plan had managed to work. She turned to the two bats and drew her katana in a swift motion, "And now for these two."

By the light of her charging sword art Katoka pinpointed the two bats as they swooped back down and attempted to attack Shirayuki, however they managed to catch the full length of her blade instead. As the tow creatures fell to the floor and shattered to pieces the blonde flicked her wrist in a motion to fling the digital blood from her blade and returned it to it's saya.

Spoiler

Katoka ID#: 169173 BD: 10 CRITICAL HIT | 8 x 10 = 80 DMG
Katoka ID#:  169174 BD: 9 CRITICAL HIT | 8 x 9 = 72 DMG

-----

Shirayuki | HP: 100/100 | EN: 10/10 | DMG: 7 | MIT: 9 | EVA: 2 -(1) | ACC: 3
Katoka | HP: 340/340 | EN: 22/34 | DMG:8 | EVA:1 -(1) | ACC:2 | LD:1 | BLD:12 | REC:2

Giant Bat 1: 0/50 | 20 DMG
Giant Bat 2: 0/50 | 20 DMG

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by Katoka

[Shirayuki 0]

The child was surely grateful to see that someone had come to her aid. Shirayuki knew better than anyone that the girl was just a bunch of 1s and 0s that was reacting per it's programming. However, since that summation of coding looked so closely in resemblance to a human child, naturally one would get worried. She was glad to see that someone here hadn't lost their touch with reality.

Shirayuki was on the defensive, getting ready for her next attack. Though, she didn't even have to worry about it thanks to her partner. She hadn't really seen Katoka being much stronger than her, but that attack surely showed that she was outclassed in comparison. Heading back over to her and the child, Shirayuki speaks again. "We should get back to town." Her piercing blue pupils stabbed the darkness with a bright contrast. Before they had a moment to say anything to the ferret girl, she walked by, making her way out of the cave.

[Katoka 0]

The little girl looked fine overall, a few scraps and dirt smudges, but fine nonetheless. After giving her the once over Katoka turned her attention to Shirayuki as she approached, she seemed not as concerned as the blonde was over he child, but it became obvious to her later that she was probably thinking more matter of factly than she had. She couldn't just dismiss the girl as being a plain NPC, she was too lifelike. The tears in her outfit, her skinned knees, the dried tearmarks on her cheeks.

Once her companion made her way towards the exit of the cave Katoka held the little girl's hand and walked her out, "Don't worry, we'll get you back home soon. Don't worry about her either, she probably just needs a nap." The little girl giggled at her joke and Katoka smiled. The residents here were more than just code, they were alive in their own way.

[Shirayuki 0]

It wasn't that Shirayuki was so heartless that she ignored the girl's condition. That was hardly the issue. She merely wanted to keep their presence in the cave at a minimum. If there was one thing that she didn't want, it was to see the girl die to a swarm of overgrown bats.

Stepping out into the light of the third floor's afternoon, Shirayuki pulled open her map. Her sense of direction wasn't the best after fumbling around the cave, so she needed to make sure they were going the correct direction before heading out. "Town is that way." She pointed to the settlement's direction. "We should get her back home quick. It would be hard to fight of monsters while trying to protect her after all."

Opening up and speaking more than usual was a first for Shirayuki. She didn't like having to confide in others her own thoughts without a good reason.

[Katoka 0]

As the three of them exited the cave the harsh sunlight made it difficult to see at first, Katoka shielded her eyes with her hand while they adjusted to the change. She stepped up next to Shirayuki as she consulted the map and looked as well. It wasn't that she didn't trust her sense of direction, she just wanted to have a look as well. "It didn't take long to get here so if we stick to the same path we should be back in no time."

The blonde found it difficult to interact with her white haired companion, usually she would just have a normal conversation with someone on the way back to town but with Shirayuki it would be a bit one sided. So she tried a more simplified tactic, maybe just asking yes or no questions would work better for them.

"So Shirayuki, have you been fairing well so far in SAO?" she hoped maybe with this way was talking, it would make the girl feel a bit more comfortable.

[Shirayuki 0]

More questions. Questions were easier than idle conversation at least, perhaps she could attempt to make some conversation by asking a question back. How much could it hurt? A lot probably, but she was still going to give it a try.

"I have been alright. I only just started leveling but I don't want to spend my entire time in the game just sitting around the safe zones. If want learn more about it, I need to see every inch, every environment, every challenge. What originally brought you to the game? Not many copies were released so we were all pretty lucky-- or well I guess unlucky, to have gotten locked in." Probably was the most she was going to speak for awhile. Katoka was at least pretty easy to open up to since she was so nice. It's not like she was bullied or anything, she was just really bad with words.

[Katoka 0]

Once again Katoka was shocked, she hadn't expected this lengthy of a response. She smiled though and responded in kind, "I know what you mean. I spent a good part of my time hiding in my room at the Inns in town and barely making ends meet. I finally decided I would get my life back about a month or so ago and I've clawed my way to where I am now, with some help of course." she thought fondly back to her first few quests with Ruler and meeting her other guild mates.

"As for SAO, my uh, my father managed to get a copy for me." she smiled sadly, "He's a software engineer for a fairly large company in Japan and he knows I love video games. I tried to drop it into conversation casually but it seemed like he never really caught on. Turns out he did and managed to get me a copy." thinking about the real world was making her homesick.

"I just hope he doesn't blame himself for what happened." letting out a sigh, Katoka turned to Shirayuki, "What about you?"

[Shirayuki 0]

Shirayuki looked at her feet, thinking about how unlike Katoka, she didn't really have a person to return to in the real world. She was sure that her mother probably knew about her getting trapped in the game when she saw it on the news. If she didn't, her body in the real world would have starved to death in her apartment by now. After a moment, she looked back up and  eyed the other woman with her fierce irises.

"I am a game designer aspiring to hone my craft. I originally bought this game to get some inspiration for a game of my own. Though, before I even got to start on the project, I was trapped here, obviously." Shirayuki explained, as the group passed into the safe zone of the floor. With this, they could finish the quest and get on with anything else that they needed to do today.

[Katoka 0]

"Game design sounds so cool!" Katoka exclaimed, "It sounds like something really interesting to learn about. Hopefully we can get out of this prison before too long and you can get back to your project." As the two women entered the safe zone of town it didn't take them long to make their way back to the girl's mother. Upon seeing each other they both ran and immediately hugged one another, sobbing into each other loudly. The mother attempting to scold her child through hiccupping sobs and the daughter trying to apologize through crocodile tears.

After some time passed and the two managed to calm themselves slightly the mother turned to Shirayuki and Katoka, "Thank you two so much, please take this as a token of my gratitude." she handed the two girls each a bag that felt full of coins. They each disappeared after a moment and in their stead a pop up window appeared adding col to their person. They thanked the woman and watched as the two of them left to head back home.

Turning the the white haired girl, Katoka smiled, "Thank you for tagging along with me. If you ever feel the urge to head out again don't hesitate to send me a message. Also if you are in need of a good guild I can put a good word in at mine, Firm Anima. We welcome new people and everyone there is fantastic." she reached out her hand and shook the girl's. "I'll see you around"

Spoiler

Quest Col Loot Roll:

Katoka ID#173770 LD: 13 | 13 x 25 = 325 col per player

Thread Summary:

Spoiler

Each player Receives: 4 SP (2 Quest + 1 Thread + 1 Event), 525 Col (200 thread + 325 Quest)