[PP-F3] Return to the lake -Complete-

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar scans the lake for enemies. He had noticed her face turning red, and he knew his was as well. This was a good excuse to be looking away he figured. Shadow stood between the two, the small AI pet had no idea of the situation it was standing between.

"Our best bet is to keep going after sea lions up here, there are other light metals, but this is the easiest to get in my opinion..."

After breaking the silence, he moves over to her side, a smile on his face.

"No reason to keep the enemy waiting."

He had enjoyed this game, even with the threat of real death, to a certain extent. But this was the first time he had felt truely happy here in the game. For now, he felt truely alive, and at peace.

[Shiro 0]

"Well then!"

Shaking her head and regaining her senses, she once again drew her《Basic Foil》 and readied her sword skill.

"Let's get on with it," she said as her foil began to glow, thrusting her into a lunge at a nearby Sea Lion. A steady whining hum rang out as her blade sliced through the air, piercing the thick flesh of the beast. She gave a little hop to get clear of any counter-attacks.

Sea Lion: 5/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 36/37

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar rushes in after her initial sprint, doing his best to back her up. He wasn't used to this, in all of his time here in SAO, even when he had teamed up with others for various bosses, he hadn't gotten used to actual team work. But he knew he had to try. Dodging to the left, as her attack goes through, and she jumps back, he moves in. Sword held up, he slashes sideways at the sea lion, swinging his blade in an attempt to slice it in half. Its sudden movement threw him off guard, and his attack missed. As it spun around, it slammed into him, sending him sprawling a few feet backwards, as he hits the ground on his side.

Sea Lion: 5/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 34/37

[Shiro 0]

Seeing Seldentar take a hit like that made Shiro very angry. She barely knew this man, yet she couldn't help but feel protective of him. She was starting to realize he felt the same way about her. It was difficult to maintain her composure through her rage, but somehow she managed, and unleashed a flurry of swipes at the monster. The creature bound forward to chase after Seldentar and her attack barely grazed it, doing no noticeable damage at all.

"Seld, get up!"

Sea Lion: 5/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 34/37

[Seldentar 0]

Shadow reacts as Seldentar gets hit. His parameters were designed to help and protect the person who tamed him. Dashing forward, he leaps into the air at the Sea Lion, even as Seldentar starts to get back to his feet. The little fox misses however, as it leaps too far and shoots past the sea lion harmlessly. Seldentar meanwhile, finally stands back up, his sword raised.

"Im alright, just got caught by surprise. Give me a second, I need to do something."

Swiping his hand down, he starts to cycle through his inventory items, and for a brief moment, he appears unarmed, as his black sword vanishes from his hand as it is unequipped.

[Shiro 0]

She nodded in response to Seld's request, and moved round the front of the Sea Lion in an effort to get its attention. Taking a huge lunge, she thrust her sword straight at the thing's head. It ducked its head under the blade, just dodging the swipe. Shiro made a "tch" sound and rebounded. At least she had its attention.

Sea Lion: 5/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 34/37

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar hits confirm in his inventory, and begins to rush forward. His right hand held out, a swirling flash of light appears as a new sword forms in his hand. A blood red blade, with a bone hilt, his is now held at his side as he charges the sea lion. As he thrusts at the last second, the blade begins to glow red, the same way sword skills activate. Unlike a sword skill however, this was the special ability of the weapon. As he stabs his blade into the sea lion, his health bar begins to fill back up, slowly restoring as his blade drinks the health of the enemy.

Sea Lion: 2/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 35/37

[Shiro 0]

Following right on the heels of Seldentar's attack, she began her rushing lunge before Seld's finished. Once within range, she unleashed a hail storm of thrusts at the beast. She felt she had found a comfortable "zone" where she could think clearly and fight calmly alongside this man. Every single one of her thrusts pieced the beast's flesh with devastating speed, and it shattered, vanishing before their very eyes.

Sea Lion: rekt

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 35/37

Loot: Atlantean Iron x 1

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar watches as she releases a flurry of attacks against the sea lion. He smiles watching it die, its ody shattering apart.

"That was amazing. Nice job Shiro."

He looks around the lake, trying to focus on what they were there to do.

"There are a few sea lions left, shall we finish them off? After these we will have to stop, they take time to respawn."

[Shiro 0]

"Sure, let's do it."

She smiled at Seldentar as she sheathed her rapier. That last fight replayed in her mind over and over. She had felt amazing. She had felt as though Seldentar and herself shared one mind; that they didn't need their words to communicate. They had worked together like a well-oiled machine and she wanted to keep feeling that for as long as she could. She grabbed Seld's hand and pulled him over to another enemy, jogging happily.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar feels her hand grab his, and lets her pull him towards the next target. His mind slightly in shock at the sudden grab, he is glad she is ahead of him so she doesn't see his face turning red again. His mind is reeling, not really sure how to react to her sudden move.

"So uh....I think i see three more in total..."

[Shiro 0]

"I'm sure we can fix that!"

Having approached a Sea Lion closely enough to initiate an attack, Shiro let go of Seldentar's hand and drew her blade once again. She felt alive! This world was definitely exactly where she wanted to be and it was all thanks to Seldentar. Smiling (and blushing), she rushed to the nearby monster and dropped into her stance. Wasting no time, she lunged. The tip of her blade pierced the monster, and as she had done so many times today, she stepped back for clearance.

Sea Lion: 5/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 35/37

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar feels her hand leave his, and shakes his head, his attention returning to the task at hand. As she moves in to attack, he cycles through his weapons, reequipping his midnight blade. As he sees her start to jump back, he dashes forward. Unlike with others, he doesnt tell her he is switching in though. Instead, he simply moves, trusting that she will know what to do.[ His blade slices through the monster, brining its hit points into the yellow.

Sea Lion: 2/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 35/37

[Shiro 0]

Hoping to avoid giving the Sea Lion a chance to retaliate, Shiro lunges in once again to follow up Seldentar's attack. The two seemed to really be getting the hang of switching. There was no need for words. They just naturally seemed to work well as a team. Her foil let loose a flurry of thrusts, bringing the monster to the brink of death. She hopped back for Seld to strike the final blow.

Sea Lion: 1/6

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 35/37

[Seldentar 0]

Switching in as Shiro jumps back, Seldentar forces himself to ignore everything around him. The world begins to fade from his view, until only himself and the Sea Lion are left. With nothing but blackness around them, Seldentar charges forward, hyper focused on his enemy, as his hidden skill activates. His eyes begin to glow bright blue as he launches himself forward at his enemy. This hyper focus comes with a drawback however, as his feet hit the water he loses his balance, falling into the lake.

[Shiro 0]

Shiro leans away from her stance and her foil begins to glow. She launches forward with the system assisting her as she activates《Linear》, rushing headlong into the sea lion for the final blow. The beast lets out a yowl as her blade pieces it, and shatters, vanishing from existence.

Shiro turns to Seld, soaking wet in the lake, and fails miserably at holding back her laughter.

Sea Lion: ownt

Shiro: 12/15

Shadow: 33/34

Seld: 35/37

Loot: Atlantean Iron x 1

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar pulls himself up, and out of the water, his face burning red with humiliation. He had definitely meant well, but sometimes losing focus of his surroundings was not such a good idea. He walks back onto the dry land.

"So uh...you got it. Awesome, good job. So uh....yeah."

[Shiro 0]

She couldn't help herself. The laughter just poured out of her with no sign of stopping. She wiped a happy tear from her eye after sheathing her foil, and fell to the ground.

"Hahaha, you should see yourself right now! Incredible!"

She held her stomach in her laughter.

[Seldentar 0]

Seldentar sighs as he listens. Watching her fall down laughing, he takes a seat next to her. He doesn't look upset however. If anything, despite being embarrassed, he looks quite content. He turns to Shiro, smiling.

"Alright alright, get it out of your system."

[Shiro 0]

There was no telling how long she laughed, but it was the most she'd done so in a good, long time. Eventually her laughter died down and she sat in silence, staring out over the water of the lake. She didn't know how long she sat there; it felt like forever.

"Thank you..." she eventually said, quietly. She never averted her gaze from the waters.