[CLOSED] Vigilante Patrol

[Mari]

Mari wandered the streets of the Town of Beginnings casually, her cape billowing out behind her from the gentle breeze that accompanied the rather pleasant and sunny weather of this particular day within the Game, smiling to herself as she brought a gloved hand to sift through the blue strands of her own hair and let out a soft sigh of relaxation at just how peaceful this particular day seemed to be despite the fact that, as they had been for quite some time now, trapped within a Game World known as Sword Art Online and would be so for the foreseeable future. She never really minded that, if she was honest with herself, being trapped within the game world just never worried her all that much because - perhaps as some others had - she did not have much to look forward to on the outside and, in here, she was able to make a new start for herself as a self-proclaimed hero and vigilante, protecting the weak and innocent from those who would hurt or take advantage of them no matter the risk to herself and without expectation of a reward.

Her attire perhaps stood out among those of others due to its previously mentioned long, flowing white cape and complimenting blue and white attire consisting of a corset-styled torso-piece, the small blue gem worn as jewelry upon her navel and the thigh-highs and boots that covered her legs, being completed by the long blue armbands upon her person and white gloves that protected her hands from ware and such. As far as weaponry was concerned, however, she was not as lucky and for the time being could not afford to buy herself a nicer weapon and was thus stuck with the standard beginning sword that many had started with, including herself, until she could gather up enough Col to buy another sword - preferably one that matched her attire that she had spent so long making with what materials she could afford from simple tasks around town and gathering without going too far out of the safety in the city, knowing that she would not last long without better weaponry or skill to match.

Sighing softly, Mari's hand moved to sift through her hand again in a somewhat anxious fashion as she tried to draw her thoughts away from her lack of Col and instead upon the streets of the Town itself, searching quietly for any sort of disturbance or crime being committed to sort out, feeling a need to assert herself as the Towns self-proclaimed protector again before she began to felt as if she were slacking off.

"Even if you don't know it yet, I'm here to protect you.." She said quietly to herself, one hand resting idly upon the hilt of her simple longsword and the other on her opposite hip, shaking her head as she leaned it back with a smile: "Jeez, Ariwa, Listen to yourself - You sound like some sort of comic-book superhero . . ." She chastised herself internally for being so serious in the moment before returning her gaze ahead of her and continuing to walk down the streets, figuring that today was likely to be a quiet and boring day as the last few ones had been, or at least, that was her assumption.

[WC: 549]

[Flora]

A breeze ran along through the city where Florence would close her eyes and simply feel it's embrace against her cheek. A soft sigh came free from her lips from the sweet sunlight warming her skin - these sensations were so real even if she were just in a game. She didn't mind it all anymore, having come to terms with the fact that despite being in this new sense of reality, this was her new life and she had to make the very best of it! She hummed to herself while making her way towards her favorite little coffee shop, aiming to make a detour at some of the material shops from the NPC's so she could obtain the necessary ingredients for some build ideas she had in mind for her own Black-smithing. Each breathe inwards to her surrounding felt special to her - every day in this world could have been her last but she had grown accustomed and was planning on making this her home until the day someone could end it all - who knows, maybe she could be the one to free them all? Heh, hardly.. but it was nice to dream of such fanciful outcomes.

She was wearing a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress. The inside of the bolero is red and the sleeves turn blue as they get closer to her wrists. The back of the bolero displays a crest which bears a resemblance to a snowflake. According to Florence, her dress also doubled nicely as a combat skirt which made some of her customers laugh at the notion. Wearing an apple-shaped necklace along with a pair of thin, rectangular earrings. White, heeled wedge boots that go to mid-calf fit snugly on her feet; the insides also lined with red. Her long white hair well-kept in a pulled back, off-center, ponytail.

With her hands crossed over her hips, her boots clicked against the ground - sounding out her presence slightly while wandering the open path streets. Usually her waist would accompany a swaying Rapier in it's holster but for today it was safely tucked within her inventory, she didn't see much need to bear arms within the city when it was safe and the necessity of such valuable items being out in the open was a bad idea and unnecessary. Instead, in it's place was just the white belt that she wore where the holster would normally be attached to. She could wander the street with Col safe in inventory, she was in utter bliss. "Let's see.. what kind of coffee am I in the mood for today?" Florence could still remember the taste of vanilla from the previous day. It was a pleasant day today however, blissful even - for this, she was thankful.

WC: 475

[yujin]

Kino had arrived in the city recently, having been traveling around for the past while looking for a group to party with. He had been searching around, stopping by pubs and the such, though with no money he would just sit there and talk with people before being kicked out for not buying anything. The conversations never lasted long, either. He had little to offer in terms of a party, he was low level, he spent too long in search of people to accompany him to actually grind a little to gain some more power. Now the best he could do was swing and stab at random monsters. The worst part being that he didn't even have the money to go and hire anyone to help him out. He would have to either find someone merciful enough to take him on their next adventure, or that he could do some solo grinding. Maybe find an insanely easy quest.

Kino was walking around in some fairly basic clothing, a white long sleeved shirt, some black pants with simple shoes. Over the shirt he had a leather chest piece, it was simple protection though probably gave away the fact that he was a noobie. Another dead giveaway was probably the weak dagger given out as the most basic weapon to people who choose daggers as a weapon. Not only was he low level, but he was an up close and personal low level. All of a sudden he could imagine why people wouldn't want to bring him with them.

While walking, Kino took notice to someone. Outfits in SAO have normally seemed somewhat fancy looking, however this one took a cake or two. This one had a cape. Out of all the players he had met, he had never really seen anyone with a cape in their outfit of choice. He just kind of stood there, oddly watching. He noticed her weapon. Didn't seem like it was too high of a level, looked as if it were a starter, or what he would assume to be somewhat low level. He had a different weapon than the caped woman, so he couldn't exactly compare the two as if they were the same, he figured. He had heard her whispering to herself, something about protecting someone. He didn't really question it too much, he figured other people must have changed, mainly for worse he figured. He sat there, for a few seconds, thinking of what to say. He wasn't the best at starting a conversation, in the end he merely poked her shoulder announcing his presence with a simple "Hey."

Panicking internally, he began to think of something to say, considering this was probably one of his last chances at getting any help with leveling. "What level are you?" He asked, brushing his long grey hair back in a somewhat nervous fashion. "Er, I'm only level one." He announced, figuring it was probably better to say it first. "I was uh, just wondering if you had anyone to help you level up? Help you fight, I mean? Do quests, or kill things, or however you level up?" He said, realizing that he, himself, actually didn't know how to properly level up in the game. He figured it would have been similar to almost all other MMO, kill monsters, and stroll through some dungeons, but considering how unique SAO has already been, it may be slightly different.

{572}

[Mari]

Mari had turned on her heel upon feeling the touch to her shoulder, cape billowing out once more as she took note of the man before her and offered him a soft smile while listening to his somewhat anxious sounding introductory speech in which he proclaimed that he was Level One and that furthermore he was wondering if she had anyone with which to fight or level up alongside, seeming confused even on the concept of leveling up in and of itself. She waited until he had finished speaking completely before replying to the question he had asked before blurting out his level and other such things, that same soft smile remaining upon her lips and a patient gaze within her eyes: 

"Honestly? I'm Level One, Too - I just made these clothes for myself because I took Tailoring when I started this game and, well, I guess if I die a newbie, I'll die a well-dressed newbie, right?" She said, offering a short and cheerful laugh before speaking further. "But I definitely wouldn't mind having someone to help share the quests and adventuring with, being a loner can only get you so far, you know?" She said further, before then offering her gloved hand towards the other man and concluding her small speech. "You can call me Mari - And well, not a lot of people know it yet, but I'm kind of a vigilante around here. I go around and try to protect people from those who might want to hurt them to further themselves and stuff like that, but I guess I have a few levels to go before I can actually stop the real bullies around here." She introduced herself, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand idly as she gave another soft laugh. "But I bet that's not all too interesting to you, all my weird Hero cosplaying - I just thought I'd get it out in the open, so that you could laugh at me before we go on our first adventure together. Well, that is, if you want to Party with me after hearing that." She said, seeming to be a bit critical of herself, but at the same time seeming in rather good spirits despite this, her laugh and smile genuine as they came even in this world in which they were all trapped inside of.

Regardless of whether or not the man had accepted her hand, eventually it would return to her non sword-bearing hip and rest there for the moment as she seemed to be silently assessing him for some sign as to how he felt about this whole situation or more specifically about Mari and whether or not he looked as if he had an aversion to her due to the revelation that she seemed to enjoy playing 'Hero' in a sense, despite her currently weak state - Though, at least it seemed she understood that she needed to be stronger and in order to do so would likely have to go on many adventures and dungeons with the man if he ended up accepting her offer at all. 

[Total WC: 1,064]

[Flora]

The city was bustling with many people from all types of jobs, weapon-styles and more - it was a central zone of all those whom had made it past the first floor's torture and the first day's destruction. There was something to be said about it all, the fact that society had regained itself and had become functional within the game with NPC's and PC's alike was quite the accomplishment. Though in hindsight maybe it was just because it was a benefit to some like Florence with lives some wished not to return to or a prison for which to work harder to break free from by rising up through the floors. Whatever the case was, they were all there for a reason.

As Florence was turning a corner she stumbled upon the beginning of a conversation between two individuals, they spoke of their levels and the blue-haired girl spoke of her ideology somewhat. A Hero? An admirable title and a goal that should never be taken lightly, any could acclaim fame from going through the grueling dungeon crawls and some of the more unthinkable fights. Hell, whoever fought in the battle to claim the second floor was likely beginning to gain some renown for themselves. Florence was at the very least interested in the two before her and wanted to speak with them -- her shopping could wait for what was a cup of coffee in the place of valid company?

With a turn of her boots and a casual stride over towards the two across from her she cleared her throat to try and make herself known - not meaning to surprise them. "My apologies, I believe you both said that you were level one as well? My name is Florence, it's a pleasure to meet the two of you. If you decide to work together as a party I was wondering if you might consider allowing me to join, I may not appear like much but I can at the very least help through my blacksmithing in the case you two desire weapons and armor throughout your grinding." Florence was unsure of their reactions, hoping she was not intruding too much but she had to at least offer - being along in this world was a lot harder than it would seem. For now she could only have hope that they would consider letting her tag along with them.

( WC: 874 )

[yujin]

The lady, Mari she called herself, introduced herself as some form of a hero. He had a guess that's what he heard when she was whispering to herself, and would also explain the cape. Heroes are better with capes, after all. The way she explained it, she stopped people from hurting each other. He thought of his long term plans, how he originally was going to be a thief with this build. It might be a little harder in this case, if he chose to ally with her. But, hell she was also level one. This was a good a chance as any, Yujin figured, to make a long term ally so that he can finally reach to a higher level. She seemed to be only interested in those who hurt to others to be able to benefit themselves, perhaps she literally meant that? Hopefully she didn't mind thieves, considering they aren't the worst thing in this world it seems. He figured something rather horrible must have happened to her in order for her to go around prancing herself the protector of others. He didn't ask, feeling that personal space would be better. If she ever decided to go into detail about things, sure, he'd listen and maybe support her depending on how the scenario goes, but right now he has no idea what this lady has gone through, and had only just met her. He was in no position to be asking questions. He would shake her hand in agreement to forming a party with her, "Thanks, being a loner can indeed only go so far.. especially in this world. I haven't had the best time starting off, I wanted to wait until I was in a group.. might not have been the best of ideas." He released her hand after speaking. "Personally, I don't mind your get up, I mean, I can't really say anything. All I've got is some leather chest piece, and pretty basic clothing." He said, chuckling awkwardly a bit. He couldn't really afford much else, tailors could probably make a bit of money off of selling basic clothing, he figured. Would explain why he only had what he had, everything costs too much.

Another lady appeared, Florence she announced herself as. Apparently she had practiced blacksmithing. Recalling what Mari said, she had taken tailoring. Two people with production skills might not be so bad, he figured. "I, uh don't really have anything useful, in the sense of making things I mean. But uh, when we get to dungeons I took lockpicking? I figured that would be useful? I'm not entirely sure yet, though. I haven't really had any use for it.." He said, letting the other two know what he was capable of. "I uh, also use a dagger." He held up the beginner dagger, and then proceeded to resheath it. "Besides that, uh. I don't think I have anything else? Nothing I can remember, anyways?" He said, completely forgetting about the fact that he had channeling amongst his skill set. "Oh, uh. Also, nice to meet you.. Florence? and you as well, Mari." He said beginning to think, "Did I tell you guys who I was yet? I mean, I'm Yujin, uh. I think I told you, Mari? If not, sorry, I'm uh, well I just said that. Nice to meet you guys, sorry."

{1133}

[Mari]

Mari did not seemed bothered in the slightest by the presence of the new figure before her and Yujin that had introduced herself as Florence, in-fact, she cast the other woman a bright smile and nodded along to her words, waiting for her to finish before speaking up in reply to her: "The more the merrier, I'd say - Not to mention we would have a better chance of making it through this with the three of us, rather than alone or just with us two." She said, before casting that same bright smile towards Yujin and giving him a small nudge, seeming to be fairly confident in him even after he mentioned a few moments after Florence had spoken that he had taken nothing he deemed all that useful. "Not that me and Yujin couldn't probably beat the tar out of plenty of Monsters by ourselves, I'd bet." She said, trying to reassure her new-found ally that he was indeed capable, at least in her mind, of progressing through this game - Talent or no talent.


She would then put an arm around both of her new ally's shoulders and bring them all closer together, laughing heartily and cheerfully as she spoke once more: "We'll show this game who's boss and prove to everyone that even if we're level one, we're not pushovers!" She proclaimed excitedly, her shimmering gaze and rather exuberant body-language making it seem that she definitely believed in her own words and that she was definitely looking forward to working with the other two, despite the fact that they had all just met. 

After her rather enthusiastic display, she would of course release her arms from the others - if they had allowed themselves to be pulled into her little display at all - and would pause for a moment, tapping a gloved finger against her own chin: "Hmm.. Well, We should find some sort of quest to go on with the three of us now that we're all working together - But first.." She said, bringing up her [Menu] screen and promptly opening the [Party] tab and creating one for the three of them, sending the two both an invite and if they had accepted this first invite, she would then send them a [Friend Request] so that they could all stay in contact with one another easily via messages as well as know one another's location if they got to the point where they were taking long journeys without one another and needed to meet up in the future.

After this was taken care of, Mari would then close her [Menu] and lace her gloved hands behind her head, beginning to walk down the street she had been on before with a smile on her lips as she strode casually through the town, allowing the others to follow at their own pace if at all as she did so.

"I figure that there should be some quest around here for us, we just have to look for it - Are you two up for it?" She asked while taking slow steps down the street, figuring that if the two did not want to participate in any quests at the moment that they would speak up and, if they did, that just meant that the trio would be one step closer to Leveling Up and furthering themselves upon this adventure they knew as Sword Art Online.

[Total WC: 1,629]

[Flora]

After her seemingly abrupt arrival and offer had been given it seemed that the two didn't mind and had even reacted positively to her initiative in joining the conversation. Yujin looked to be the type that would downsize himself just because he didn't feel useful in the moment but Florence spoke up on the matter rather quickly; "Lockpicking? That's a very useful skill! I'm sure it'll come in handy when we cannot find our way out of locked traps or find ourselves without any way to open the chests! Good choice, Yujin. Plus when we level up I'm sure there will be plenty of time for you to find a production that you want to do and even if you don't you can still become the best at what you choose to do, alright?" Florence wasn't much of a motivational speaker but she had hoped at the very least it would quell any nerves that the other had about himself.

Her attention then fixated onto Mari who pulled the two of them into a slight arm-over-shoulder kind of hug and spoke up about beating the ever living heck out of monsters and that such tasks would be some kind of a cake-walk for them as a group. Numbers definitely helped such an idea feel more possible and while she wanted to say that they shouldn't get so cocky - it was hard to interrupt enthusiasm like Mari's. Rather than try to stop her from having her fun, Florence only nodded and smiled just as bright, pumping a fist up into the air to match the output of joy that Mari seemed to be exuding. "Of course! We'll show them all what we can do and really make our mark in this."

Once released from Mari's hold, there was talk about going after a quest and joining together as a party. "That's a great idea, we should hit up the regular missions first before we explore anything too high - mostly cause even the mundane tasks could give us a good little boost to our levels which will help us tackle the harder ones~." This was a nice feeling, getting to actually be productive in this world and start some kind of a journey to a singular goal... was this what it felt like to have real friends? She wondered to herself for a few moments while looking at the both of them what it must have been like for the both of them outside of the game but she chose not to linger on that for too long and had pulled up her [Menu] and swiped through the available options on the display. [Friends] was opened up first and the request from Mari was accepted, having sent her own request over to Yujin so that she could have both of them in her contacts for the future.

With the [Friends] tab being closed, the [Party] opened and the team was formed on her end with the accept button showing a small 'congratulations' on the tile for a moment before it closed and she laughed a little. "Guess that makes us a trio then - I'll be counting on you two from now on, the same goes for me to you both though - if you ever need anything you can talk to me." She wasn't the most efficient of her craft yet but she was at least learning the basics and could help run it through the two of them. This was the beginning of something new, something grand and Florence could just feel it crawling up her back with a shudder of blissful euphoria.

Mari seemed to mention there was a quest somewhere around them or at the very least there had to be which got Florence pumped up and with a smile over to Yujin she called over. "You ready to go? Let's do our best together, okay?" She kept her ears open for a response but walked with Mari, aiming to keep pace and not be left behind in the middle of the street.

( WC: 1,547 )

[yujin]

Yujin stood there, the stranger who just appeared, Florence and Mari seemed to get along well enough right off the bat. This was good, he figured. Now, not only could he gain exp while not being alone, but he had two instead of the one friend he was planning on having. Florence had complimented Yujin's choice for the lock picking skill, and Mari seemed to at least hint at the fact that she didn't think he was totally useless by saying that the two could handle things together regardless of Florence. At least that was how he interpreted it. He placed his hand on the back of his head, "Ah, uh. Thanks, I guess?" He said, thanking the two for at least seeming that they didn't think too little of him. Following this, Mari had placed her arm around Yujin, and the other around Florence, all before giving a speech about how the three will end up sticking it to the system and showing the SAO world who's the boss. He began to think that Mari had high hopes and was eager to get to fighting floor bosses. He wasn't exactly opposed to personally fighting them, he just doesn't want to. Should he have to, he would, but ultimately if it came down to choice, he would more than likely decide not to. Of course, her speech could mean other things. What with her hero, or vigilante type attitude she may just go off and do what she originally said she did and fend off the player killing side of the game. Would be a respectable path, though equally, if not more dangerous than fighting the floor bosses, though Yujin couldn't exactly distinguish between either's threat due to having fought neither. "Ah, sure then." He said in response to her speech. While it wasn't much, he offered a small fist bump as well, reaching up to his chest and not much further. Florence seemed a lot more interested in that than Yujin was.

Mari then began to talk about how we should get involved in some of the quests around town. Originally, Yujin was just going to farm some fairly basic monsters if he could find any. He didn't know what the quests were like in this game, not yet anyways. "I uh, concur I suppose?" Florence seemed to be in agreement for this as well. It wasn't long until Mari began to invite the other two to a party. Yujin would pull up his menu, and begin searching for the invitation. It wouldn't take too long for him to find it and accept the invitation. He would close the menu, then look at the two. Mari had mentioned that there should be a few quests available around, and ask the two if they were ready. "Sure." Yujin said, simply, not too long later Florence decided to ask the same question. Yujin said simple; "Uh.. Sure?" While following close behind Mari.

{1624}

[Mari]

Mari ended up walking through the town alongside Yujin and Florence for a short while before eventually she came across an NPC with a rather simple quest that she figured the three of them could probably handle even at their level one selves: "Hey, check it out - All we have to do is travel to do is take this item to some place called Horunka and deliver it to another NPC there, that sounds easy enough right?" She had said whilst accepting the quest, figuring it would give them a good reason to travel through the Great Plains and to this next town while also getting some hunting in along the way for EXP. "I bet that we can take on some monsters outside of town for some easy EXP before heading to this next place, and not to mention actually get some battle practice in." She proclaimed in the same cheerful demeanor as she held before, gesturing with one hand for the other two to follow her along as she would then begin to walk towards one of the Town of Beginning's many exits and onward to a path which led through the Great Plains and towards the town of Horunka which she had received the quest for. 

She was fairly confident that the other two would follow her along this path, though, if not, she would allow them to simply go about their own business and not pay it too much mind - However, she did deeply hope that they would stick by her side even for possibly low-leveled and simple quests such as this one, because one could never be too sure when things could turn deadly - Especially in this Death Game that they were all now trapped inside of. Her thoughts were interrupted however as she noticed a monster in the path ahead, stopping in her tracks to alert the other two: "Hey, You see that boar up ahead..? Wanna kill it, or should we just try to go around?" She asked, turning to the other two and allowing them to voice their opinions on the matter individually before deciding what she herself would do next, not wanting to do something that the other two would disapprove of while they were all in a party together not to mention possibly putting them at risk by fighting a monster without their knowledge or consent to do so.

Mari waited, then, hands placed upon her hips idly as that flowing white cape of hers, as it typically did, continued to billow out behind her and give her a more dramatic look than possibly she appeared as normally or sounded like. She would not act of course, as she had told herself before, until the two of them agreed upon a solution or at the very least offered one up to which she could decide upon herself, though she hoped for the former as the two would need to start deciding on things with one another if they were going to be out doing Quests together with one another.

[2,138 Total WC]

[Flora]

Carried herself alongside Mari while on the search for quests and soon enough the caped vigilante had seemed to pick up one for the trio to settle themselves on - it seemed rather simple but seeing as they were level one, such tasks were well within the expected boundaries. "It seems harmless enough - it's just a delivery mission but the loot we can pick off the lower monsters along the way seems like worth the while." At this point she had remember to set her [Inventory] up to produce her rapier on her hip - it was of standard level one quality but fit snug to her side by a white belt attached around her slim waist and that contrasted slightly against the lighter shades of pale blue on her dress.

Not wanting to be left behind by Mari - she nodded towards Yujin and kept a hand rested on the handle of her weapon in an idle-manner of keeping it secure while they were heading out of the safety of the city's border. What beset her eyes was a luscious landscape teeming with life - from both the monsters that flocked together to the people traveling along the paved roads in their mercantile trades - even NPC's took the routes. It was a sight she took in for a few moments longer before her attention was snapped off by Mari's wandering steps, leading her to proceed and stay at her side - whether Yujin was with them still or had stayed in the city was yet to be spotted by the white-haired girl.

The snap of a branch on the road seemed to cut off any lingering thoughts of the previous city for Florence - Mari having already seemed to have noticed the beast before the blacksmith could and produced two options; They could either gang-up together and attempt at killing it for loot and items to sell like it's pelt or play it safe and try to avoid the beast to keep themselves out of harm's way. For this she turned her head over to Yujin, if he was there by their side and if so would attempt at addressing him on the situation; "Where do you stand, Yujin? Do we fight or do we sneak past?"

( WC: 1,919 )

[yujin]

Yujin continued on walking alongside his new companions, looking down at the road beneath him. He was thinking, after actually leveling, what would he do? He imagined going in and stealing from other players for profit, but after that? What was there for him to do? He'd make money, sure, however why even try in the first place? He could've just stayed here, alone, and had waited for everyone else to clear the floors. He didn't know, not yet. He didn't know for as to what forced him to go up to random folk and actually request for them to travel with him, to fight alongside him to further his, and their own progression. It may have been loneliness, however unlikely as that was. Back when he was dealing with the real world, this was often something he enjoyed speculating. Why he did things, why was he doing this, right now? Loneliness didn't make sense to him. His envy could, in a way be driving him. Right now, he had little to nothing. A few health pots, leather armor for what that mattered, and a shit worth dagger. He literally had the equivalence according to the SAO world. Seeing the people progressing, seeing them clearing the first floor might have forced himself to push on, that there was a chance to steal that glory from them, so that he himself can feel accomplished? Maybe, or maybe he was looking too far into this. For now, he let those feelings pass. He stopped daydreaming, hearing voices, he tried to make sense of them.

He processed what was being said, he looked up towards the paused Florence and Mari. "Huh?.." He said, continuing to walk for a few seconds. He lifted his hand and began to rub the back of his head, continuing to make sense of the words before he finally put the pieces together in his head. "Oh, uh." He began, now knowing that Mari had invited both Florence and Yujin on a quest she had found. A delivery mission to a different city it seemed. Florence seemed to enjoy the idea of departing the town of beginnings for this quest, and to Yujin it seemed easy enough. Gain EXP for walking, what could be better? "I.. Uh, yeah, sure. Sorry, I'd be okay with this. I'd like to come, thanks." He said. He had been looking for friends to come with him for a while, for him to not join the two on the journey would mean that talking to these two would have been essentially useless.

Mari and Florence began walking again, after the three seemed to be in agreement for doing this quest. Mari signaled for the two to post, Florence nodded towards Yujin as if to encourage him. He merely lowered his hand, and began to follow their pacing. He looked back towards the ground. He began to think to himself again, though it wouldn't be too long until Mari had began to talk again. He heard her talking about a monster being in the road, he looked up in response. A simple boar, he thought to himself. It would only be a few seconds, when he realized these things were actually capable of killing players. He had hesitated fighting them just due to him being broke and not being able to afford ways to heal himself, and then the fact that, if he did need help, god forbid, he wouldn't have any. Now however, he did have assistance. He stopped daydreaming when Florence finished speaking, he quickly processed what she said. "I mean.." He said, "Let's just kill it? I've been avoiding battle for too long.. I'd prefer fighting among comrades, after all. My type of weapon wouldn't do well alone I figure.. It is free EXP after all."

{2259}

[Mari]

Mari had listened to the two speak, even if it was rather brief, and gave a small nod in response to the final suggestion of simply killing the boar for the simple fact that it was essentially free EXP for the trio and she was confident that the three of them would have no trouble with a basic monster: "Right, then - Let's do this! Each of us should try striking it once, that should be enough to kill it and make sure that we're all sharing the EXP." She said, before then drawing her simple long-sword from its sheathe and approaching the beast in the road before them.

She contemplated how exactly she wanted to perform her attack to minimize the risk towards herself while at the same time keeping the aggro trained on herself for the sake of protecting the others who were likely to need a moment to decide who would attack next or if they would do so at once. After a few moments, she decided upon a rather simple maneuver and walked forward until the boar would notice and aggro her, preparing to charge at the caped woman and at the moment that it did so she would step to the side and bring her sword down in a quick slash at its side, bringing the blade up once more in order to hold in-front of herself for protection if the beast decided to retaliate against the attack that had just occurred.

"Switch!" She proclaimed just after having attacked, turning her head towards the other two in the hopes that they would understand and attack themselves in order to kill the beast. While waiting for the other two to attack, Mari returned her gaze to the monster and remained focused upon it intently, not wanting to let it attack her two allies or herself when she was not prepared - This may be an MMO, but it was also a life or death game that they were all playing now and she needed to be as careful as possible if she were to clear this game, first floor or not.

She did hope, however, that the next town that they were headed to would provide a bit more in the way of Quests as well as be a bit less populous than the Town Of Beginnings had been, despite the fact she saw herself as a hero, even she knew that such a place as that was simply too big for her to protect by herself and she needed to start somewhere smaller where she could at least manage a portion of the town on her own and possibly enlist the help of her new-found friends and allies, Yujin and Florence. After this boar was out of their path, she figured it should be a rather straight shot towards the other town that they could cover over the rest of the day even accounting for the occasional monster or beast that they may run across, all that she could help beyond that was that they did not run into any other Players who would see the three of them as easy targets seeing as how low leveled the trio was and under-equipped they were at that.

Mari frowned to herself, her thoughts shifting to how easy it would be for a high leveled player to more than likely kill them and simply erase them from this game in entirety, though, she tried to remain positive and believe in her team-mates in the hope that they could get stronger before such a player decided to make themselves known and also that one day - perhaps even soon - they would be much better off than they were now and able to take on any Player that thought of them as weak or as a target, soon, Mari hoped, she would be able to protect others as well.

Everyone had to start somewhere, she reminded herself, and the three of them were no different - They began in this large town full of other players who like them had not decided to grind for levels or Col during their stay in this Game World so far and were behind the other more powerful players. But, with enough perseverance and determination, she was certain that they could catch up to those stronger players and become even stronger so long as they worked together, they would be the team that showed everyone that there was hope no matter what level you are - That you can become strong no matter how weak you may be now.

It was in that philosophy that she would try to continue believing in, letting out a deep sigh she turned her gaze once more to her two allies as, in reality, only a few seconds had passed as all these thoughts rushed through her and she awaited their attacks, wanting this battle to be over with so that they could head along on their way and complete the quest they were given and also arrive in the new town of Horunka for which the quest had told them to travel.

[2,989 Total WC]

[Flora]

Her companions had both approved in the choice that they would both attempt to kill the boar and work together with Florence to do so. The left hand slid down onto her sheath and pulled the rapier free with her right hand. The weapon was a beginner weapon with a long blade meant for hitting at some distance, a sharp tip and bladed sides to allow the penetration into the openings of opponents and slashing of the weapon. Despite herself getting ready she watched as Mari walked forwards and aggro'd the boar, gaining it's raging attention and letting it charge at her. Her body turned and in Florence's eyes the strike was quite graceful and well timed - before the boar had much time to react from the blow however, Mari had called out for a 'Switch' which to some could have meant anything but with the context it seemed more likely that she was offering to switch attackers while the boar's aggro was still pulled onto Mari.

With the boar sufficiently distracted with Mari it left her ample time to jolt from her spot in a light dash and when behind the board, turn on her boots and gain some momentum for a strike to it's left hind-leg in a piercing thrust. Watching the blade sink in gave her some feeling of relief that her strike had substance to it and just as Mari had done before her, Florence spoke up as well - this time towards Yujin. "Switch!" She nodded over to him to let him know that it was alright - the boar looked to be on it's last legs in terms of physical wear and with it's red eyes it shifted onto Florence, the aggro having turned onto her and away from Mari - it was most definitely pissed off now as it began stomping a leg against the ground and looking primed to strike at her now that it's attentions had swayed.

Florence put herself on her guard just in case it managed to come after her and for a moment she seemed to freeze up and her eyes widened. She could feel it crawling up her back, the very same sensations she got after she received the scar onto her eye and the back of her right hand, it was that fear of getting hurt. She almost felt close to panicking, breath racing and memories flooding at the back of her mind - the blood in the past made her shudder now. There was no sense of hope or safety back then before and she had no one she could trust back at her home, they all wanted to use her for everything she had but there was a light of hope in the middle of the darkness of her heart - this time she wasn't alone.

Her icy blue eyes loomed up to Yujin and Mari at their current locations and just reminded herself about the fact that she was no longer in the same predicament she had gotten wounded in. She was with two other people, two that she felt could very well become great friends in the future. She could feel her confidence combating the fear in her heart and she began to overcome that memory of having gotten hurt and as she exhaled a breath - she could finally think again and there was no longer this shaking coming from the white-haired girl while the breeze lightly ran along her cheek. She conquered the situation thanks to having her new companions with her, she felt like for the first time in forever she had people that she could legitimately trust.

With her heart-rate returning to average and her hand's hold on her rapier's handle getting stronger, she fully prepared for the Boar to attack her if Yujin wasn't fast enough to strike it, she set up her footing to have one foot turned to the side and the other out in front of her. "Deep breath... control your emotions and focus your mind.." Florence had to mumble the words of her fencing teacher, knowing that even despite the accident she had, the teacher was still someone she had looked up to just like Mari and Yujin. Mari had her own confidence in being a hero and attempting to do her best to protect not only the both of Florence and Yujin but she seemed kind-hearted in the idea of saving anyone. She was a protector and Yujin while he was timid and unsure of his own capabilities seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Whether it was the way he seemed to always been analyzing his situation and others or just the way his voice could be disarming, he had his own levels of talent that even at level one were beginning to surface and bloom.

Florence envied them - what did she have beyond her looks and fencing skills? She was still new to black-smithing and wasn't yet confident in her abilities, she had just almost suffered a panic mid battle. She could feel a frown pulling at her lips even now as these words passed through her mind, the mere idea that she was the weakest link to the trio made her feel unsure of herself. She had to persevere though, if not for herself than for the safety of the other two she wanted to become friends with. She put on a brave face and let the worries lingering in her head get pushed back to the deeper reaches of her conscious to be touched upon later when she felt like she could have answers for them.

The boar wasn't giving her much time to dwell on anything anymore either, beginning to trudge it's way towards her with most likely the intention of striking her down. She breathed out and edged back on her boots, attempting to put a little more distance between the two of them. She kept this distance mostly to allow Yujin enough space if he was going to charge at it and strike it, not wanting to get caught in the way of his strike. Another strike would probably end it anyway, the kill wasn't hers to deal - it was Yujin's, the stage was his with the curtains raised for his first performance of the many to come from their party. All that was left to do now was to leave it up to him and trust he would react in time to save her some damage from the creature.

(WC: 3,000)

[yujin]

He stood there, watching. His dagger unsheathed, he was ready for combat. There was a feeling to this he vaguely remembered. Nothing that he had done in the SAO-verse had quite felt like this, though even now it was different. It didn't feel the same. What was missing? Well, the answer was actually fairly obvious. The actual events that were happening while this feeling occurred were far from what was happening now. This was just a vaguely similar feeling, a replacement. He yearned to experience the real thing again, it's the entire reason he was out here doing this, in fact.

He stood there, waiting. His allies had each struck the boar by this point, it was his turn. He had heard the fencer yell switch. He adjusted his dagger according to the situation. It looked angry. Of course it was, three passerbys just walked up and decided to wail on it. He didn't feel sorry for it, however. It was just an NPC, something there to block the player from reaching their actual goal, the last floor. He charged after it, silently. His eyes remaining focused on his target the entire time. He dashed for it. The boar seemed to have it's focus on it's last attacker, Florence. "Fine." He said to himself, silently under his rough breathing. An easy kill, he figured. He swung his arm, blade of the dagger aimed to stab into the boar. He shifted his weight with the attack, pushing using his right foot to stab into the beast. He managed to stab the beast, it being distracted had made things incredibly easy. He staggered a little bit, not realizing that they dissipate after they are defeated. All his weight continued going forward, and he had to use his other leg to catch himself. He kept his calm, however.

He stood there, smiling. It was a prideful one, or at least he tried to make it out to be. 'Oi..' He thought to himself in his head. "We did it.." He said, out loud this time. 'This was it?' He thought to himself, "Nice job, guys." He said, looking towards his teammates as if to get some sort of confirmation that this was as easy as it was. 'That was what had been keeping me here?' He continued on in his head. "Shall we leave soon, then?" He asked, looking towards Mari, "or did you want to farm up a little bit? Personally, I would just enjoy finishing the quest unless we find another one in the road." He finished speaking, whatever the group did was entirely up to Mari and Florence's opinions after this, farm or continue were simple enough options. 'Why weren't you brave enough to do this yourself?' He said towards himself in his thoughts. He knew there were more, stronger and larger beasts around the corner. But this wasn't about needing help, in a sense. He felt disappointed in himself. The feeling of thrill before had left fairly quickly after his first attack. 'Was I so eager?..' He thought to himself, wondering why such a kill could make him feel a little bit proud. It was a simple boar, the slime of other games. But here he was, afraid to take it on alone. He could die to this, after all. He could die. It felt weird to him, he was both disappointed in himself for not setting out on his own sooner and proud of himself, for being able to kill the beast for the first time. "This was just one out of many, I suppose." He said outloud, his smiling fading when he realized that the three will find monsters that are a lot more capable than this one. He slowly began to sheath his dagger into it's scabbard once more. He sighed, rubbing his other hand through his hair. He continued to walk the path, for whichever the two decided to do, the path will bring them there. Farming? There's more down the road, completing the quest? Well, he could only hope the delivery point was this way. He wasn't entirely sure, but this was the direction Mar was heading. "Shall we be off, then?" He said, looking towards the two, having expected one of the two to have decided whether or not they will look for more monsters or finish the quest first. For now, he had no idea what could lie ahead.

{How to properly 1-Up. 3001 words.}