Meeting another Swashbuckler [Closed]

[Steel]

Steel was looking around for more monsters to fight as usual since he wanted to become stronger and level up. He saw a few other Adventurers fighting other monsters but out of gamer etiquette as it was called, he decided against joining in the fight or else he would be essentially “stealing their kill”. Besides, he was wanting to fight monsters on his own. After about 5 minutes, he couldn’t find any. “Why is it that whenever I actually try to find a monster, I can never find one?” Steel said to himself with a bit of annoyance. Not long after that, he heard a buzzing noise. Apparently, the monsters found him. When he turned around, he saw 2 Hornet Soldier rushing towards him. They were all level 20. "Looks like I'm going to have to fight these stupid things" Steel said to himself when he saw them. They were known for being quite annoying in battle since they wouldn’t sit still. Oh well. He thought with resignment as he charged in to fight them off. He jumped into the air and slashed one of the bees, dealing it some damage. While known more for their attack, the wasps didn’t have that high a defense. I get the feeling that this is going to be a pain in the butt. He thought to himself as saw the large stingers. He was thinking this both literally and metaphorically. He then got ready and got into a fighting stance.

With the aggro now shifted towards Steel, the bees charged at him with their rear ends, complete with stingers of course, facing towards him. It was pretty easy for them to dodge Steel’s sword swing because of their speed and immediately afterwards, they hurt him with their stingers. Darn, these bugs are fast! Steel thought to himself as he tried to forget the pain he was just dealt. They definitely hurt more than the bees in the real world, probably because they were much larger. "Well, it's time I fight back!" Steel exclaimed before charging in. With great speed, he used Mirage Dealer to slash at one of the bees before teleporting behind them. He then attacked the other with Viper Raise. He wanted to at least slow down one of them. Unfortunately, the bleeding debuff didn’t do anything to cause the bee to hesitate and they charged at him again. And here they come again. Steel thought knowing that the bees would be pissed as heck. He dodged one but he couldn't dodge the others, taking a bit more damage. I'm really starting to hate these stingers. He thought to himself in annoyance as he rubbed the spot he got stung at.

Time to hit back! Steel thought to himself before swinging his sword at one of the bees. Unfortunately for him, the bee being swung at dodged with great speed. Another reason to hate bugs, they're annoyingly fast and hard to hit. The bees were unrelenting and continued to charge at Steel, not wanting to give him any room to breathe. Steel used his agility to dodge around both attacks, one of them just barely, the stinger just centimeters from his face. I gotta finish off one of these guys quickly because I’m having trouble taking them both on at once. "Bring it on you bugs!" Steel exclaimed before slashing at one of the bees with great force and speed. This time, he was able to hit it and he dealt it critical damage and was even able to knock it back. Having taken so much damage at once, the bee who had been hit became somewhat dazed. Looks like I can focus on the other one for at least a bit. Steel thought seeing how it wasn't really aiming for him for now. The bee that didn't get hit attacked Steel in revenge, well, programed revenge. Whether it had emotions or not, Steel was able to dodge the incoming stingers with more ease than before since he only had to deal with one attack this time before swinging his swords at the bee's midsection with a kendo sword technique.

Looks like I've got the upper hand now. Steel thought to himself. However, I gotta regroup myself a little and give myself some room. He then jumped backwards so he could gain some distance from the bees. The bees didn't seem to want to give him any breathing room, well they were probably just programmed that way or were just like that naturally. The bees charged in, their stingers at the ready. Steel dodged the first attack but then saw the other bee coming at him. Normally, this was an attack he could not dodge because he had jumped to dodge the first one and even in a game, one cannot dodge an attack in midair so easily. Luckily, he had his Swashbuckler skill Fold step, which propelled him forward and out of the way. Man these bees are annoying, it's like these bees are coordinated with each other. Steel thought to himself before he swung at one of the bees which dodged it quite easily. He then activated Mirage Dealer and slashed at it in an X shape before teleporting behind it. Once teleported, Steel got into a kendo stance and readied a sword technique. “Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Samidare!” He shouted before slashing at the same one, intent on getting rid of one of the bees so he could concentrate on the other. It didn’t take long and with one final horizontal slash, the bee burst into anima fragments.

The remaining bee then charged in revenge. Whether or not the bee was still run by a program was debatable but either way, it looked mad. However, Steel was able to dodge the stinger which was much easier to do because there was only one to dodge. "I'm going to finish you off now!!" Steel exclaimed before swinging his sword dealing it some damage. Despite the close range, the bee kept going at him, not wanting to give him any breathing room. It was able to land a hit on Steel from its stinger, causing him some more pain. “Crap, THose stupid bugs dealt me more damage than I thought.” Steel thought to himself in a bit of a panic. Those stingers did more damage than he thought. He then used Mirage Dealer again, dealing it a good amount of damage and he added a few more well placed sword swings to add to the damage pool. The bee’s health points were now getting near the zero mark and one more hit would kill it. The bee then began to try to strike at Steel, only to be dodged by him due to the fact that Steel was getting used to the speed of the bug.  Despite being close to death, the bee continued fighting. However, it seems that all that damage it has taken has taken its toll, making the bee slower and easier for Steel to dodge. "I just need to hit this thing one more time." Steel said to himself before the bee came at him. The bee was persistent and struck at Steel again. Its persistence paid off and was able land a hit on Steel, dealing him some damage.

"Persistent aren't you?" Steel said to the bug as if it were a living being, maybe it was. The People of the Land used to be NPCs before the Apocalypse but now they're people so it wasn't that far a stretch to imagine that the monsters were also living beings. "However, I won't lose." He said this as he took a pose to stabilize himself and get ready to counter whatever attack the bee would throw at him. Back in the real world, he was renown for his counterattacks which usually frustrated and/or struck fear in his opponents. Even if this was a virtual body, the feeling one would get looking at him could not be described as anything but killer intent. Steel's face wasn't angry at all but he instead looked extremely calm so it wasn't his facial expression that created this intensity. Instead, it was his several years of experience fighting several opponents in the real world being represented in one unwavering stance, one that looked as if it were designed to cut down one's life in an instant that created the aura of killer intent around him. "Come at me!" Steel exclaimed at the bee, wanting to have a one on one clash. As if understanding his challenge, the bee charged at him. Steel was able to dodge past the stinger and jump back to give him some room. With a loud battle cry, Steel charged and slashed at the bee with full force, his blades hitting their mark and making the bee burst into anima fragments as it got cut in half. "That was a good fight." Steel said to the scattering anima fragments which earlier were a persistent bee monster that kept on fighting to the end. Steel felt that he should have respected such an opponent, even if it was a monster that annoyed him. Seeing that a lot of his health points were lost in that fight against annoying bugs with stingers, Steel then used his Heal spell to restore some of his health points. "Now then, I guess I should rest a bit before I go on." He said to himself as he sheathed his swords. The killing intent from earlier was completely gone and was replaced with a more carefree smile. He then heard something in the near distance which promted him to turn towards the sound. "Who's there?" He asked.

Words: 1613

Valerie

[Valerie]

Valerie was looking around the forest for some easy monsters. She jumped through the trees, careful for tree-like monsters, when heard the buzzing noise two Hornet soldiers zoom past her followed by a male voice. “Looks like I’m going to have to fight these stupid things.” The brunette paused on her branch, listening carefully before moving toward the sound of combat. She swung herself onto a lower branch to watch the fight between a duel-wielding player and two Hornet Soldiers. Valerie drew her daggers and tensed her body, ready to jump out of the way if attacked. She clenched her jaw at the sight of the giant hornets and muttered silent curses about how disgusting and hateful the creatures were.

“Well, it’s time I fight back!” The dark haired player exclaimed to himself, making Valerie smiled in amusement at his own commentary. She kept herself in the safety of the shadows and trees and watched the dark haired male use some familiar looking attacks, swashbuckler moves. He’s a swashbuckler, like me. She thought to herself and began to watch how he would attack the disgusting monsters. The male was tall but agile and it saved him from being pierced by both stingers, though one was very close to his face. “Bring it on you bugs!” The boy exclaimed again, this time, Valerie couldn’t contain her amusement and laughed quietly, covering her mouth to muffle to sound, but she was too far for the male or monsters to notice. Her eyes were locked onto the player and they widened at his speed when he attacked one of the hornets, dazing it. The male tried to distance himself, to plan his next attack. The brunette thought to herself, think of what she would do in his situation.

She focused herself back onto the fight and grit her teeth as the monsters continued to attack him endlessly. The player fought back and using two different swashbuckler skills. “Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Samidare!” The guy had shouted before slashing one of the hornets and soon it disappear into anima fragments, floating into the sky. “I’m going to finish you off now!!” The black haired player said. He sure likes to talk to himself during a fight. She thought to herself and he spoke again, interrupting her thoughts, making her grin. “I just need to hit this thing one more time.” She winced as he was hit and mentally urged him on. “Persistent aren’t you?” He said as if the hornet was living. “However, I won’t lose.” He said, making Valerie shake her head, smiling at the boy. If I do this while I fight… She thought to herself, then shiver at the thought. She was never someone to talk much and trying to imagine herself talking while fighting was horrific. Valerie straightened as she notice the boy’s aura change. Though she didn’t actually see anything, she felt something change in the fight and focused on the adventurer’s face. It was calm and composed and his body seemed to radiant a killing intent.

This made Valerie smile like a child. Someone like me. She loved fights and sometimes she would project madness in a fight instead of a killer intent because her would feel glee during a good fight and at the end. Fighting was like happiness to her, rather strange for a girl like her, but she didn’t care. The other hornet disappeared as it died and the boy spoke again. “That was a good fight.” The brunette unconsciously nodded in agreement, happy that the adventurer had not died in the fight. Valerie had no long lost feelings for other adventurers but disliked watching people who came from the same world as herself die. “Now then, I guess I should rest a bit before I go on.” He said to himself again, and this time, Valerie couldn't hid her amusement any longer and giggle out loud. She stiffened and slapped herself mentally for not having better restraint and sheathed her weapons before dropping from her branch onto the ground in front of the black haired player.

“Hello. You’re quite skilled.” She greeted, grinning at the memory of him talking to himself. “I hope you don't mind, but I was just watching you fight.” Valerie explained, her voice trailed off into another giggle.

(Word count: 717)
Steel

[Steel]

A girl came into Steel’s view soon after he inquired as to who was there. She was only a bit over 5 feet tall, which meant there was quite a height difference between the two, Steel being 6 feet tall. It also seemed that this girl had a similar general color scheme to him when it came to appearance. The two of them both wore dark clothing and had dark hair (Steel’s hair was naturally that dark both here and in real life but he didn’t have any idea whether this was just one of the choices this girl made) but this girl’s clothes had more of a design than Steel’s who preferred to have simpler looking clothes. She had jumped down from where she was, most likely from the trees and had told him that she had been watching his earlier fight. “Well, I don’t really mind who watches me but at least you had good manners not to interfere in the battle. Although, even though I don’t mind whether you wanted to stay hidden or not, if you were trying to hide, I’d suggest not to giggle out loud like that.” He said this all with a friendly smile. He then proceeded to ask a question about that. “If you don’t mind me asking, why were you giggling in the first place anyway? Did you like watching the fight or something?” Well, she had to be giggling about something. Either that, or she was one of the types to giggle all of the time and Steel hoped she wouldn’t be like another person he knew who did that really creepily

“Ah right, I haven’t introduced myself, my name is Steel, a Swashbuckler. What’s your name?” Steel said with a friendly smile in introduction as he stuck out his hand for a handshake. While this technically wasn’t necessary due to being able to see status screens of the other players, Steel thought it was good manners to properly introduce oneself even then. At this point, Steel was still observing this new girl, trying to find a hint that would yield something about who she was and whether or not she could be considered an enemy as well as other such things. One could never be too careful and all the while, he kept on his friendly poker face. While his friendly demeanor was by no means fake and he genuinely wanted to get to know this new acquaintance of his, he kept his thoughts to himself for multiple reasons.

After introductions were done, he noticed the two daggers at her waist. From the fact that this girl wielded two weapons, he concluded that she was a Swashbuckler like him. From the cheap appearance of the said weapons, Steel could tell that they were starter weapons and he then presumed that the girl was probably a beginner, most likely a level 1 or 2. Then again, he had somehow survived keeping the starter long swords all the way until he was level 30 which was when he finally got new weapons so this girl being a higher level than what he predicted wasn’t out of the question. “So, what brings you around here?” He asked to stop himself from thinking too hard. “Doing some training?”

Words: 545

Valerie

[Valerie]

The girl straighten her posture and looked at him with her eyes, only tilting her head back slightly to emphasis the height difference. When he asked for the reason of her laughter, Valerie bit her lip to prevent herself from laughed again as the image replayed in her head. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you talk while you fight. And it was quite fun to watch.” She confessed, looking away because she felt bad for laughing at how he fought.

Valerie looked up as he introduced himself and her eyes widened slightly when she saw his hand which she took gingerly, unsure how handshakes should be. “I’m Valerie, but you can call me Val if you wish, I’m also a swashbuckler.” She answered with a small smile but noticed how his eyes glanced over her, taking note of her weapons but she didn’t mind because she knew he wasn’t a player killer because player killers hunt and kill in groups for strength but considering how he fought the two hornet soldiers alone she suspected he was alone. Although when she saw him fight, she immediately knew he was not weak by any means and could easily kill her considering how the hornets were a much higher level than herself. She looked over Steel once more since when he was fighting, the two giant hornets were quite distracting and she never quite focused on the player himself. He looked like a really tall high schooler which made Val pout inwardly at her young appearance. She was about to enter her second year of university but she still looked like a small high schooler.

When she was asked about her reason for being there, she smiled and nodded. “I was on my way to London and decided to try to find some low level monsters to kill on the way there.” She said simply. “I was planning to gain a level or two before I reach the city.” Valerie said vaguely, not wanting to give away too much, though she realized it was easy to see she was a beginner.

The brunette threw the question back to him. “What about you?” She asked, grinning playfully. “Are you going anywhere?” She asked, her violet eyes wide with curiosity. When she realized what she was doing, she immediately withdrew herself and placed an apologetic expression on her face. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer me. That was rude of me.” She said, scolding herself inwardly for asking a complete stranger such a question and bowed her head.

(Word count: 426)
Steel

[Steel]

“Is that so?” Steel said in response. He was well aware that he talked in battle but he didn’t know that people would find it amusing. Then again, he never really did that when he was with other people. “Well, I already knew I do that when I fight alone, it sort of gets the adrenaline pumping through the body in that sort of situation. I just didn’t know my solo fights would so fun to watch. I never took myself to be the entertainer type.” He said this in a semi-joking tone. He was somewhat relieved that she didn’t turn out to be one of those creepy gigglers. Instead, it was his own actions that made her laugh in the first place, something that Steel was slightly embarrassed about. One couldn’t blame him, since most everyone doesn’t want to get laughed at for what they did. But as usual, Steel didn’t show that on his face.

The girl seemed to be surprised when Steel stuck out his hand for a hand shake. Her eyes widened a bit and she gingerly took his hand into hers, making Steel wonder what was going through her mind. The unsureness from the girl was as if she’s never actually shaken somebody’s hand before. Steel now wondered how all of this would go in terms of their interactions. It was then she introduced herself as Valerie or Val for short. As predicted, she was a swashbuckler just like himself. “It’s nice to meet you Val, I hope we get along.” He said with a smile, adding in some Japanese styled pleasantries as he shook her hand. A bit later, it seemed that she began focusing on him and perhaps analyzing him or something. Then for some strange reason, Steel felt a slight negative aura coming from her, meaning that she was upset about something. Steel began to think of the reasons in his head. Due to the fact that she was like that after looking at his body, Steel concluded that it was probably the height difference between the two of them. Even after figuring all of that out, Steel decided to keep quiet about it because she seemed to be quite sensitive about her height. If she’s like though furthermore, she’s probably my age or slightly older than me since she got depressed probably after comparing my relative age to my height.

After Valerie had answered Steel’s question about purpose, her answer being quite vague, the girl turned the question around to him and asked the same thing. Immediately afterwards, she withdrew and apologized for asking such a thing. She seemed to be mentally berating herself for doing that. Ask me or don’t ask me, make up your mind! Steel thought to himself with a bit of a sweat drop. “It’s okay, I’ll answer you. I asked you earlier and you answered so it’s only fair right?” He said in a reassuring tone telling her that it was okay. “As for me, I guess I’m doing something similar to you, fighting monsters while traveling around. Usually, I just go wherever the forest takes me and when it starts to get dark, I usually go back to London or just sleep outside under the stars.”

Words: 541

Valerie

[Valerie]

As she watched him joke about himself, Valerie laughed lightly and was semi-relieved that Steel had not taken it as badly she would have thought. One could never be too careful around strangers with word. She has seen people react poorly to the kindest compliments, which was why she avoid people so often, causing her people skills to rust if they had not already disappeared from lack of use. But she was happy that he didn't take it poorly for her had enjoyed watching him talk to himself while fighting, for learning and entertainment purposes. 

“It’s nice to meet you Val, I hope we get along.” He said, making Valerie smile and nod. It was pleasant to see people with manners, even in the game, where many people can act differently from their normal self. The girl had always kept her in-game self as similar to her normal self as possible to keep herself from changing like the people who chose a different personality. There was always a slight temptation to bear a different personality from normal because it would be fun to be different but being herself in-game held a much higher appeal to her.

As she heard his voice again, the girl looked up and saw a bit of nervousness in his eyes as he spoke, as if he was talking to a scared animal. She didn’t have to guess that she was supposed to be the scared animal, slightly offending her since she was not afraid in anyway, just angry at herself. Steel’s carefulness warmed Valerie’s heart, there is SOME hope in humanity after all. She thought to herself, chuckling darkly knowing SOME hope won’t do much to save humanity. Valerie listened to him talk and her eyes sparkled at the thought of sleeping outside under the stars in the city of London. “Aren’t you afraid of other players or monsters targeting you while you’re asleep?” She asked curiously. It was dangerous being outside during the night, there were monsters everywhere and it was dark. She personally loved the night and was not afraid, but one must always be careful at night. The night was hauntingly beautiful, cold, mysterious, yet calming. Or at least to Val.

To avoid staring at Steel too much, the brunette looked glanced around, watching for any lurking monsters in the area. She kept her expression innocent and slightly bored as if the trees around her were very interesting, but she was watching for any approaching monsters. She was not too interested in fighting in this area, considering there were Hornet soldiers flying around, and she could never hope to beat them at her current level but she could manage a bit if she wasn’t alone. “Are you up for some more fighting?” She asked him. “Do you mind if I join you?”

Word Count: 470

Steel

[Steel]

Steel wasn’t surprised that Valerie was going to ask about him sleeping outside. In fact, he was half expecting her to become curious about it. Usually, people didn’t like to sleep outside, especially those from England, something he noted from his observations of the people he’s met so far that he’s known to be from the area. Perhaps it was a matter of culture. The culture he grew up with was more attuned with nature and it was something to be respected. Steel didn’t see as much of that when his family moved to London. It didn’t exactly help that there were some factories nearby the area. “Back in the real world, I always liked being around nature. While I’m not saying that sleeping in a bed isn’t nice, sleeping outside feels nice. Well, the only exception to that is sleeping outside on a snowy night. I wouldn’t recommend trying that.” He then began to think of how he would answer the girl’s question. “As for your question, I don’t have to worry about any monsters since I always stay in a safe zone during that time or an area with only low leveled monsters that can’t fly or climb trees. The low leveled monsters would stay away from players with a much higher level than them you know. As for other people… Well, it’s not like players haven’t attacked me while I sleep but I seem to have acquired the ability to wake up and be immediately ready for battle whenever I sense killer intent. Usually though, people don’t really notice me, probably because I’m a shadow, someone that has a low presence.”

Steel then saw her begin to look around the area, she was probably either trying to make it look as if she weren’t interested in the conversation or looking for monsters coming for them. It was even possible that it was both but Steel didn’t feel like calling her out on it since it would just make the situation awkward. Besides, he was doing the same thing himself. While he was conversing with her, although he wasn’t moving his eyes all around like Valerie, he was listening for approaching potential foes. That’s how Steel knew that the earlier monsters were coming at him. He heard the buzzing noise that came from them. Every monster had their own unique sounds which gave Steel an idea as to what he was up against. As for Adventurers and people in general, he normally figured out one’s condition based on their posture, stance, breathing and etc. Kendo is a first strike kind of sport and being able to discern details like this was essential to win the match. It was then the girl decided to ask yet another question. This one seemed to be more close to an invitation. She followed up that question with the request of joining him. “I guess I am up for some more fighting. I’d be glad to have you along.” He said in a friendly tone, accepting her request.

Words: 505

Valerie

[Valerie]

The shorted swashbuckler nodded in understanding. Nature… Why didn’t he chose the Druid class? She asked herself but perked up at the mention of snow. “I did it before.” She grinned at the boy. “It was amazing. You should try sleeping IN the snow. It’s surprisingly warm.” She advised. Valerie had done it many times before, digging a hole in a snow pile and sleeping there. Some people didn’t believe her, but it was much warmer that sleeping next to a tree or something. As Steel answered her second question she smiled at his logic. Yes, trees are amazing hideouts. She agreed in her head. “..Someone that has a low presence.” He finished. Valerie thought about it for a moment and laughed slightly. “Well, anyone who doesn’t exactly want to stand out won’t have a strong presence, especially compared to those who are especially showy about everything.” She reminded him, wincing slightly of a recent memory of a very special player who wore anything sparkly, shimmery, and shiny. It hurt her eyes, it was like the sun… A very annoying sun who always talked about himself. “Anyway… Why didn’t you chose the Druid class? It has the most nature related skills.” She asked him, though it brought up an interesting image of Steel as a Druid. This time, she could not hold it back and broke down laughing.

Valerie looked up into his grey eyes with her violet ones and smiled, drawing her weapons. “I’m still at level one, so I’ll stay out of your way as much as possible.” She told him, not caring that she just told him her level. Hell, I might as well tell him since we’ll be fighting together anyway. She thought to herself. Then she remembered something. “What is your subclass?” She asked him, she waited for his answer before telling him her subclass. “I’m a Dancer and the beginner skill is called Pacifying Dance, it changes the behavior of the monster for thirty seconds.” She explained briefly. “Since you’re more skilled than I am in recognizing danger, just snap your fingers or something, and I start it.”


Word count: 354
Steel

[Steel]

“I’m quite aware of the fact that sleeping in the snow can be warm despite the fact that it’s snow.” Steel said in response. “The only problem here is that there’s not enough snow on the ground around here to do that. Think about it, we’re in a pretty thick forest, a great deal of the snow would just pile up on the trees. There wouldn’t be enough to dig a hole big enough for a person to fit inside. Well, unless you wanted to sleep under dirt as well.” He said combining logic with slight joking near the end.

It was then Valerie laughed at his comment about him being a shadow and responded in a way that showed that she knew people who were the complete opposite. “It seems you are quite well versed in the topic about people who attract attention to themselves.” Steel said with a light smile. “However, although I said that I have a low presence, that isn’t completely correct. While it is true that I normally don’t draw attention to myself, a lot of people already do that. The reason why it works so well for me is because of something else I do. I think it’d be easier to explain if I showed you an example first.” As he said this, he picked up a small rock from the ground, one that was as large as his palm. “Please look at me.” He requested. Once her focus was on him, he moved the hand with the rock in it and soon after, it was like he disappeared. “What I just did wasn’t magic but rather a skill a lot of people can do if they put their minds to it.” Steel said from behind Valerie. As he walked back towards the front of her, Steel began to explain. “All that happened was that I redirected your line of sight by throwing this rock to the side. At the same time, I moved around behind you so by the time your eyes would naturally fall back to where I was, it would have seemed as if I disappeared. I do the same with people, I redirect the attention of other people to a larger presence. It’s something simply known as misdirection. That’s what I meant when I said I was a shadow, it’s as they say, the darker the shadow, the brighter the light.”

Soon after that, he was asked the question about why Steel didn’t choose the Druid class if he liked nature so much. Steel had a simple answer to that. “Well, I’m a kendo practitioner so swords would be more up my alley, I was never one for the mage or healer classes in games. And the reason why I chose the Swashbuckler specifically rather than the Samurai class which suits kendo more, the Swashbucklers fits with my style of Attack and Speed and dual wielding feels comfortable for me.” He then began to think a little. “Well, there is one more deciding factor since the Swashbuckler class isn’t the only class to have that style. I had a friend who was sickly and he’s the one who introduced me to Elder Tale. His character was a Swashbuckler named Steel. About a year or two after he introduced me to the game, he died due to whatever disease he had. I guess that was a big factor when I was selecting my name and Main Class. I’m just carrying on his will I guess.”

Later on, she then decided to discuss battle tactics. Like he expected, Valerie was a level 1 and she even told him that she had a subclass of dancer. She then asked about his subclasses and Steel felt it was only fair to answer her. “I have a subclass of both Scribe and Courtesan. At this moment, I don’t have much I can use from them to help in combat.” After that, she continued with combat planning. Steel nodded at her strategy but wondered whether dancing would actually make animals calmer. "Okay then, I'll take the lead and make sure to protect you."

Words: 687

Valerie

[Valerie]

Valerie’s brow furrowed slightly, wondering where the dark haired boy lived, he appeared to be of Asian heritage, but he was in the London server, but she brushed it off. The girl’s nose scrunched up as the other mentioned sleeping under dirt but laughed lightly at his joke. You could shake the trees to bring the snow down. She thought to herself, remember how the snow fell down as she climbed the trees back at home. Maybe I’ll do that as winter settles in here in London, she considered with a slight smile on her face.

“It seems you are quite well versed in the topic about people who attract attention to themselves.” The other swashbuckler said with a light smile on his face. As he explained what he meant by low presence, Valerie listened carefully, taking it all in. The brunette obediently looked up at Steel and as he disappeared, she stared at the spot in front of her in confusion. She jumped slightly as his voice projected from behind her, and spun around to face him, watching him carefully as he walked back to where he was originally. Her heart was pulsing heavily from the sudden shock of seeing someone disappear before her eyes and suddenly appear behind her. “Misdirection…” She repeated, nodding as the name registered in her head, connecting with his explanation. “… it’s as they say, the darker the shadow, the brighter the light.” Steel ended, and Valerie nodded in comprehension.

The smaller swashbuckler smiled slightly as he talked about how he chose his class. Never one to hold back in a fight, I see. She thought to herself in slight amusement as he continued to talk about duel wielding. Then, Steel continued to talk about his friend who introduced Elder Tale to him who bore the same in game name and class. “…” I’m just carrying on his will I guess.” A passing feeling of regret passed through Valerie as she dropped her gaze to the ground, feeling rather uncomfortable making the boy talk about a friend who had passed.

As Steel told her about his subclasses, she nodded, trying to think back to what a Courtesan did. Something with animals? No, that was the animal trainer one… She gave up and accepted his decision that it won’t help much in combat. When she finished explaining, he had a rather strange look in his eyes. Doubt? But it quickly slipped her mind when he said that he would protect her, making her scoff automatically but she didn’t say anything.

Word Count: 425
Steel

[Steel]

Right after Steel had explained about his late friend Kyousuke, Valerie began to look regretful as she dropped her gaze to the ground. From the situation, it was most probably that it was because of what he said. This wasn’t the first time it’s happened. A majority of the time, whenever he talked about Kyousuke, the person who unknowingly brought the topic up felt terrible about making him talk about a deceased friend and some of them became quite depressed about it. Valerie was probably feeling the same and Steel wanted to reassure her that he wasn’t uncomfortable about the whole thing. “There’s no need to feel bad about it. What’s past is past, even if we started crying our eyes out and got all depressed about it, that fact won’t change.” He said this in a moderately serious tone which would normally make one perceive him as older than he was. In fact, his normal personality and natural height attributed to this slight misunderstanding in both the real world and in this one, not that Steel minded it in the first place. It was then he switched to a kinder tone. “And besides, in a way, that friend of mine has been able to live on.” He then lightly tapped the left side of his chest. “Just because he couldn’t leave behind any of his DNA for a next generation doesn’t mean he didn’t make a difference in the world. I’m living proof of that. Because I met him, I’ve changed a lot from how I was previously. Just from that, one could say he’s been living on through me.” He said this with a smile. “It’s the same with anyone else we have met. Even after just becoming acquainted, even if it’s only a tiny bit, a part of the people we meet lives on through us. Even now, because we’ve introduced ourselves and talked to each other, we’re already a part of the each other’s life whether we like it or not.”

When Steel mentioned that one of his subclasses was Courtesan, Valerie seemed to be pondering as to what the subclass in question did. However, it appeared that she gave up on the matter so Steel decided to enlighten her on the topic. “If you’re having trouble figuring out what my Courtesan subclass does, I will tell you. This subclass has the ability to attract the attention of others would be the simple answer to that. However, if used on an individual whom is of the opposite sex and at close range, in my case, the female in question will start harboring feelings of romantic attraction towards me while the subclass skill is active. You don’t want to know how many times this skill has caused trouble for me.” He said that last part in a slightly irritated tone before going back to normal. “I’d show you an example as a way of showing that I’m joking about it but I’m not one to intentionally mess around with the feelings of others, especially the feelings of love.” He then began to address the question that would be sure to come up soon. “Now you’re probably wondering why I chose such a subclass when it conflicts with my natural style as a shadow who doesn’t like drawing attention to myself and after I just said that I don’t like to mess around with the feelings of others. Well, the reason I have this skill is because I selected it randomly. When I first made my character, during the subclass selection phase, I closed my eyes and randomly clicked on one of them and it just happened to be this one.” He had his usual carefree tone but it was laced with a tone of annoyance towards the subclass, a representation of all of the trouble this skill has caused him. He dreaded being in town on Valentine’s Day which was basically couple’s day for most people. He didn’t want a mob of angry guys chasing after him as a result of accidental usage of the skill on the said guys’ dates. “Although I don’t like the skill, an acquaintance of mine from the Japanese server said that all skills have potential so that’s why I still have it. I want to see what kind of potential I kind get from this subclass. Who knows? Maybe it will be useful in the future.”

After he said that he would protect his new acquaintance, she scoffed at him for reasons temporarily unknown to the higher leveled Swashbuckler. He didn’t mean to say anything to offend her, that was just his style. Despite the fact that he was not a class that could be a tank, Steel was always willing to be at forefront to protect his comrades. This was rather natural for him. I guess she doesn’t like being treated like a newb or someone that needed to hide behind someone else. Steel thought to himself, beginning to realize why she scoffed. It was then Steel noticed another Hornet Soldier, this one being level 15 was headed towards them. “Sorry if I accidentally offended you with what I said earlier.” Steel said to Valerie apologetically as he walked past her and drew his right hand sword. Automatically, the passive skill Fencer Style was activated due to the fact he only drew one of his two swords, thus increasing the attack power of the one sword he had in his right hand which was being raised above his head. “Splitting Fang!” Steel exclaimed as he swung diagonally downward to the left, activating the skill. All of a sudden, a meter high thin wall of energy was blasted towards the oncoming Hornet Soldier in the same position as Steel slashed in. Due to the close distance of 3-4 meters, the monster couldn’t hope to dodge and was slashed in the midsection from the attack. “I wasn’t trying to say that you’re weak or that you need protection, it’s just in my nature to protect those around me from harm if I can help it. Now then, do you want to take down this bug together?” He asked as an invitation.

Words: 1029

Valerie

OCC: I'm surprised I could respond with so much

[Valerie]

As Steel began his encouragement speech, or as Valerie liked to call it, the girl’s dark feelings didn’t fade but she nodded. What he had spoken about how the people who have passed on continue to live within us, resonated with the small Swashbuckler, reminding her about the people who had left. One could say it didn’t scar her, but the death her friend had shaken her. The feeling was like a black hole and it was something she would never want anyone else to feel. Though she often pushes it out of her mind, the feeling still lingered whenever she thought about it.

Steel had noticed her curiosity about his subclass and told her briefly what it was. The female Swashbuckler’s expression changed into a teasing smile. “Well isn’t that unfortunate.” She teasingly replied as he jokingly complained about his subclass’s skill. It was a strange skill for someone who wore black all the time and seemed to like the shadows, and less that a second later, he answered her question. It’s like he read my mind. She mused to herself and listened to him explain and chuckled lightly at how chose the subclass randomly. The optimism he projected was a pleasant change of scenery compared to her mind which could resemble a black hole.

“Sorry if I accidentally offended you with what I said earlier.” He apologized, making the girl blink at him confused for a moment since she had sunk into her own thoughts for a moment. When she realized what Steel was talking about, she quickly clarified. “Oh no. It was just an automatic response because… I have a habit of taking care of myself, so the thought of being watched over like a child was not too pleasant.” She said, apologizing but as Valerie ran over her words, she wanted to facepalm. And I just made it worse. “That came out wrong.” She said, trying to fix her mistake. “What I meant was that it was my natural response to protection offered by others.” Valerie bit her lip, knowing that didn’t do much better but left it at that. The swashbuckler was never very good with her words, even in real life, but what she had meant was that it was a natural response to her dislike of being protected, weak, fragile… So it was a reflex to keep a tough appearance, a reflex brought over from the real world.

The other swashbuckler had walked past her as she explained, and when she had finished, the girl finally saw the Hornet Soldier and jumped back into a defensive position, her hands on the hilt of her weapons. Steel explained himself further and invited her to fight the monster together. I swear this kid’s a mind reader, maybe that’s a skill his subclass has. Valerie joked with herself and nodded, drawing her weapons. For her, actions meant more than words, so she sprang and used Straights, applied on her right dagger, on the insect type monster. Disgusting creature... You don’t deserve to live. She thought, cursing the monster as her blade glowed gold and slashed upward from right to left, making an X mark on the Hornet Soldier. The tiny swashbuckler quickly sprang back to avoid any attacks that may follow. Thank God, it’s only a level 15. The girl thought to herself.

Words: 557
Steel
OOC: You have very LONG stories... XD

[Steel]

It looks like we’re the same huh? Steel thought to himself as he saw the little shadow on her face, showing a glimpse of her true emotions. Like him, it seemed that Valerie also suffered from the past. Who knows, maybe even the cause of the suffering was similar. It seemed that the two of them were more similar than Steel had thought. He wanted to help her get through whatever darkness she was stuck in but it seems that now was not the time to talk about all of that. For now, he would focus on what he could do to perform what he calls his role as a shadow. To Steel, that role would be either to redirect the focus of attention towards something or in this case, redirect the light to the darkness, illuminating it. In other words, he wanted to bring the light to Valerie if the girl herself wasn’t willing to come out of her own darkness.

After Steel apologized for what he said earlier about offending Valerie, the girl in question quickly clarified it in a slight panic. Her awkwardness with words reminded Steel of himself a little. He then thought about the past a little. Back then, it wasn’t like he hated everyone around him, he was just terrible with words and in general had terrible social ability. This resulted in making it appear as if he were rather intimidating and awkward due to his size and tone. Steel couldn’t help but lightly laugh at Valerie’s words because of how similar he acted back in the other world they all came from. He was always better with socializing online than the real world but it seems that when he got transported to this world, his social ability was a compromise of the two social ability levels for some reason. Steel then gave Valerie a smile of understanding. “I’m the same, I’m not always the best in terms of social ability so I know what it’s like not to be able to correctly say what’s on your mind. I understood more or less what you were trying to say. How about this then? Rather than say I’ll protect you, I’ll instead say I’ve got your back. Just watch mine as well.” He said this with a smile to show that, despite the difference in level, he thought of the two of them as equals. This was to assure his newfound acquaintance that he didn’t think of her as weak, fragile or anything like that.

He then turned his attention back to the Hornet soldier, just in time to see Valerie slash at the insect based monster. However, due to the fact that she was at a low level, the damage she did to it paled in comparison to how much damage Steel did earlier. “It’s coming back, prepare to switch in!” Steel exclaimed out of habit of communicating to teammates in battle. This was a good habit however and it further showed that Steel thought of Valerie as an equal. Steel wasn’t planning on hitting the monster this time, he was instead going to give Valerie an opening using the switch system which was commonly used in MMORPGs. Although Steel had no need for healing, he activated the healing skill on himself. Its purpose was to attract aggro from the monster towards himself, making sure the monster based off of a hornet would try to attack him. Just as Steel planned, the hornet charged at him, its stinger pointed dangerously at him.

The style of such a confrontation as well as the needle like stinger reminded Steel of when he had to face against a French fencer back in the real world. While kendo focused on technique and power with slight emphasis on speed, fencing focused much on speed and attack. That’s exactly how the Hornet Soldier was designed as well. Normally, he would be at an disadvantage in terms of style but because he got the experience of going against a fencer, he was prepared. It’s time to test my imagery. Steel thought to himself as he imagined the monster in front of him to be that same fencer. The Hornet soldier thrust its stinger at Steel and in his mind, the fencer did the same with the rapier. Steel sidestepped and hit the stinger to the side. However, the attack wasn’t strong enough to create an opening. Both Steel and the Hornet kept clashing in this way, Steel blocking and/or deflecting all attacks with ease. It was then Steel saw his chance. “Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Nishikaze!” He exclaimed before swinging his sword powerfully to the left, hitting the stinger and knocking the monster into disarray. “Val, switch in!” He exclaimed before jumping back.

Words: 791

Valerie

OOC: I just have the ability to make stuff up on the go. Sorry for taking so long

[Valerie]

After Valerie clarified herself, the other swashbuckler smiled understandingly. He told her about how he was like her with socializing or communicating, having a bit of trouble trying to properly expressing himself. Steel seemed to understand what the girl meant and changed his previous statement about protecting her to watching her back, making Valerie smile. It was pretty close to what she was trying to express, though the girl also had trouble realizing what she was trying to say. I don’t even know what I’m trying to say, and a stranger, no, someone I just met can manage to figure it out… I’m such a mess. Valerie thought to herself, sighing softly, relieved that he understood what she had meant in the end.


As they fought the Hornet Soldier, Steel started to talk again, but this time, it was advice for Valerie, telling her to prepare to go in on the monster when he signaled. The girl nodded, understanding what he meant. “Got it.” She said as she darted out of the Hornet’s way as Steel and the monster fought. Valerie watched hornet charge at the swashbuckler, her body tense and ready to jump in when called. The black haired player sidestepped and hit the bug’s stinger to the side. I’ve seen people fight like that before… but I don’t remember where. The girl’s mind flashed back to a moment where she had previously seen someone else use that exact same move, or something very similar, but she couldn’t find the specific memory. Steel had hit away the stinger but it had only moved slightly, not the way it was supposed to, according to her memory. The monster and Steel kept clashing with the swashbuckler blocking and deflecting the Hornet’s attacks. Suddenly, he shouted “Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Nishikaze!” and hit the monster’s stinger with a strong hit, stunning the Hornet Soldier for a bit as it was knocked back. The guy yelled for Valerie to switch and she nodded.


The girl darted close to the monster as started to recover from the other swashbuckler’s attack. Valerie rammed her shoulder into the Hornet Soldier’s side, slamming into the tree it was beside and sank both her daggers to the hilts near its head, dragging them down to the stinger. As soon as her weapons were free of the monster, she darted behind it and kicked it face first into another tree, causing it to . Valerie swung her right dagger, gripping it tightly as she swung, activating Straights to hit the Hornet Soldier straight down its back. “Switch.” The girl yelled and jumped back and swung up a nearby tree.


Words: 439
OOC: I've made a template for my posts but I don't mind posting like this too. So just let me know how would prefer me to make my posts (ex. which would be easier for you...)

[Steel]

Man, she is vicious in combat. Even though I'm at a much higher level, I don't want to get on her bad side. Steel thought to himself as he watched the girl fight the Hornet Soldier in a rather aggressive manner with stabbing, hand to hand combat attacks and more in her fighting style. It was almost to the point that Steel was wondering whether this was overkill and he almost felt bad for the monster being brutally whacked and stabbed around. In fact, if it were a real creature, which may or may not be true with the monsters after the apocalypse, he'd certainly feel bad for it. Valerie's voice broke him out of his thoughts as she told him to switch with her. "Don't go too overboard with your attacks, it'll create too much aggro. If there were multiple monsters here, that'd be really bad." He said as a form of advice as he ran in and switched with the girl who went up a tree. Steel charged at the Hornet Soldier and swung at it in a shape like an arc, almost as if a tidal wave was coming at the insect monster. Unfortunately, Steel missed with his attack and the Hornet Soldier turned its head and stinger towards Steel's exposed back, wanting to take advantage of the situation and to strike at him. Steel could just smile as he said. "Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Nisenami. (the technique name is Fake Wave)" Missing the Hornet Soldier was actually on purpose to create his own opening. Steel used his right foot as a pivot point and spun around to face the Hornet soldier once more and got his sword ready for the Hornet's next attack. With one more hit to the stinger, the Hornet Soldier lost its balance once more. At this point, Steel was already getting into motion for another attack without using a skill. He first swung his sword in a horizontal swing from left to right, followed by another horizontal swing from right to left as he began to move around the giant insect monster. At this point, Steel then spun his body in a full circle and unleashed a third horizontal strike from right to left. Finally, after the third swing was complete, the sword suddenly sprung right and up for one more strike. The whole thing had the fluidity of a dance but it made no effort as to hide the killing intent from his blades. While he has participated in kendo competitions and trained for them, the kendo he was taught wasn't for aesthetic purposes or for sport. He was taught how to wield a blade so he could defeat the enemy. Because of this, he was able to fight like this in this world. He had now redirected all of the attention towards himself once more. Steel looked at the enemy's health bar. It was now in the red. "Val, finish it off while I got it focused all on me!" He shouted out to his current partner.

Words: 506

Valerie

OCC: I don't mind either way. Do whichever one you want.

[Valerie]

“Oops. Sorry about that.” Valerie said, apologizing for rather recklessly attacking the monster. She had forgotten that some attacks could increase aggro, drawing other monsters to the fight which was something they didn’t want right now. The girl’s eyes darted around, keeping track of the fight below her and trying to scan her surroundings. She jumped off her current branch and grabbed onto another one, swinging herself through the tree tops and positioned herself on top of the fight. She planned to drop down from her perch and land on the monster when called to switch. The girl felt a killing aura from below and looked down, and located it host who was fighting the Hornet soldier with a smile on his face. Steel was dancing around the monster, placing strikes all around its body, making the Hornet soldier’s health bar drop drastically into the red zone. Then the guy shouted out to Valerie, telling her to finish off the monster while he has its attention. “I got it.” She said loudly, making sure he heard her. The girl tensed her body and bent her knees and dropped from her branch, landing in a crouch behind the monster. Her daggers cut through its back while Valerie dropped to the ground, making two parallel marks. The swashbuckler crossed her arms in front of herself and pierced the monster’s side then straightened her arms to the side, making another set of parallel cuts going horizontally across its back. Valerie darted back in case the Hornet soldier turned and attack, but it was too focused on the stronger player in front of it to attack the girl. All this time, Valerie had a small smile on her face, her small body radiating a killing intent. The female swashbuckler jumped close to the monster and stretched her arms out from a crouch, and activated the skill, Shuffle windmill, rising up as she rotated, creating a series of lines on the monsters back. The moment she stopped spinning in place, she brought her arms above her head and leaned into the monster, dragging her weapons down its back, imitating her first attack when she dropped from the branch. Drawing back, she thrust her daggers in front of her and charged into the monster’s back, putting all her weight into the attack and sunk both daggers so deep that part of her hand disappeared into its flesh. The Hornet soldier let out a piercing screech, and disappeared into anima, leaving Valerie panting slightly as she stumbled forward as the body disappeared. The girl straightened her back and looked around for Steel, sheathing her weapons. She was breathing hard but a smile lit up her face. It was fun fighting along with the dark haired swashbuckler and it was quite a learning experience for her. “That… Was so cool.” She said, a grin spread across her face as she looked up into the sky, trying to process the recent fight.

TAG: Steel | WORDS: 493| NOTES

[Steel]

After telling her to switch with him, Steel jumped back to allow Valerie to finish off the Hornet Soldier. And she did, rather violently like usual. She kept attacking at it until the Hornet Soldier lost the last of its health points before it burst into several anima fragments which looked a lot like bubbles. With the battle over, Valerie began to smile in excitement, probably due to the adrenaline from the battle. What Valerie was feeling right now reminded Steel of himself when he was first getting used to fighting in this world. Steel felt so much excitement from each battle and Steel couldn’t help but smile at this a little as well as he sheathed the sword he drew.

Valerie appeared to be looking for Steel which made Steel wonder whether his lack of presence was really that low as it seemed that she couldn’t find him even though he was right behind her. Steel lightly patted her on the head to get her attention. Once she turned towards him, Steel began to speak again. “So how was your first battle?” He asked with a bit of a smile. In response, Valerie looked up at the sky and said it was awesome. Steel could just feel the excitement and a slight sense of tiredness radiate from the girl. Well, Steel decided he should at least help relieve her a little. He held out his hand towards her and activated the basic skill Heal. For a brief period of time, and by that, it would be the casting time, his hand glowed a green light as a small shower of light particles went towards Valerie, giving the lower leveled swashbuckler a warm sensation for a bit of time. HP wise, there was no need to use Heal on Valerie but Steel had recently discovered that it can also be used to help relieve a person of exhaustion by a little bit.

“Feel any better?” Steel asked once he was done and the Heal skill went into cool down. “I’m not of the healing class so this is probably the best I can do in terms of making you feel better and feel less tired.” He said this in a somewhat apologetic tone mixed with friendliness. “How about we find a safe zone to rest? I’d rather not be attacked by more monsters while we’re resting.” He suggested before leading her to a nearby safe zone within the forest where monsters could not come in. He then sat next to her. “Fighting a monster that’s at a much higher level than you is tiring isn’t it? Well, it could have been worse. I remember I had to fight a level 15 field boss when I was level 1. Actually, I’ve had to fight more than one back then. I was so exhausted after each of those battles that I could barely move. At the same time, it was so fun. It’s even more fun if you’re fighting alongside others like we were doing just a minute or two ago.”

Words: 509
Valerie
OOC: I have a coconia charm like you now. keep that in mind for your ap claim

[Valerie]

The girl felt a light tap on her head and she turned around, beaming at Steel. He placed a hand toward her and a small shower of particles floated and landed on Valerie. The girl tilted her head to the side, confused at the light colored particles and reached out a hand, trying to touch it though it just dissolved into her, making her feel warm. I think it was some healing skill… Valerie guessed as she felt her energy start to slowly come back and smiled at Steel when he asked her if she felt better and explained what the shower of light was. “That’s pretty cool. Thank you for that.” She said grateful that he had tried to help her feel less tired.

The black haired player suggested find a safe zone which was a pretty good idea since Valerie was still a bit tired. Steel started waking to a nearby safe zone and the girl followed him and sat down. He started talking about his experience fighting a level fifteen boss when he was a level one player, making the girl’s expression change to one of awe. The level difference between a field boss and a level one player was drastic enough draw out the fight for a long time just to hack away at its HP and trying to not die. He mentioned fighting along with other people in a similar way they did moments ago with the Hornet Solider. The girl nodded in agreement. “It was really fun…” She told him. Valerie had fought a bit alone before, hunting level one monsters, since the idea of finding other people to fight along with had scared her a bit. The fear of being backstabbed and having to trust people had led her to fighting alone. However, after fighting along with Steel, the feeling of working together with another person was wonderful. The concept and idea of watching someone’s back and having someone watch your back while you fight makes you feel protected instead of vulnerable was new to Valerie but she was excited to fight like they did again.

Valerie felt her energy return and smiled at the other swashbuckler. “Are you up to fight again?” She asked him in a cheerful voice. Valerie jumped up and smiled at the other, letting him know that she was ready to head back out if he was, waiting patiently for his answer. Her mind drifted slightly, thinking about her reason for being so eager to go out and fight again. She wanted to gain more experience fighting with someone at her back and working with the switch system. When he had used it during the fight with the Hornet Soldier, Valerie had found it useful and a pretty good idea. While she was resting, her mind filtered all the pros and cons of the system, but the pros outweighed the cons. To be completely honest, the switch system worked best with two people which was perfect since there were only Valerie and Steel.

Words: 505

[Steel]

“No problem, partners and teammates always help each other right? I’m glad I was able to help you out in regaining your energy.” Steel said with his usual friendly smile. Despite the fact that Steel was a Swashbuckler, he decided to pick Heal as one of his skills. There were a few reasons for this but the main reasons were so that he could heal himself if he was alone, making hunting more easier and also, if people around him got hurt or got tired, he’d be able to help them even if it wasn’t much. Well, in this case with him being over level 40 and her being at level 1, there would be no issues with keeping her health points up if she got hit. Because of where they were, the monsters would be rather high in level to Valerie and Steel would have to be the main tank despite his class lacking any capabilities for it.

During their time taking a break in a safe zone, Steel was telling stories about the past and Valerie seemed to enjoy it, especially when he got to the part about fighting the level 15 field boss as a level 1. Steel noticed that she began looking at him in awe because of that. Granted, such a task was difficult due to the level difference and the fact it was a boss, increasing the level of difficulty even further but there was a reason for why he was able to accomplish it on his own. Before he came onto the UK server and started over as a level 1, he was a level 90 Assassin with the name of Tetsu back on the Japanese server. He had already accumulated so much experience and knowledge on how to deal with the many monsters in the game so while it was more difficult and it took longer than when he was a level 90, it wasn’t that hard for Steel to defeat it. But for now, he would probably keep that fact out of the conversation. In the past, when he revealed his level of knowledge and experience that towered over his peers who were completely new to the game, some had called him a cheater out of spite and jealousy because he could progress faster than most everyone else. Because of that, he didn’t talk about that so easily.

At the mention of the idea of fighting alongside companions, Valerie said in agreement that she thought that fighting together was really fun. Steel smiled at that. Based on how she acted previously, Steel could conclude that she didn’t feel comfortable with working with others, something he got based on how she acted towards the word protect and such. She probably thought that people would backstab her or betray her. Steel was glad that she had begun to open up to the idea of working with others. Even if it was the case where’d she only be comfortable working with him, that was a start but he’d like it if Valerie could eventually learn to work with others. “Glad to hear that you thought it was fun. Fighting alongside others that you can trust enough is a pretty great feeling isn’t it?” Steel said with a bit of a grin. “It’s also a lot more efficient in terms of taking down a monster.”

Not too long later, Valerie was already back on her feet, filled with energy once more. She asked if Steel was ready to go out once more and fight more mobs. She seemed to be really excited by all of this. Steel didn’t need to expend much energy in the first place or rather, due to his large amount of training back in the real world and his experiences fighting so much in this world, Steel had a lot of energy to spare so of course he was already ready to go. The look in her eyes just showed that she wanted to practice fighting with the whole partner system and the switch system that Steel had introduced to her earlier and gotten the female Swashbuckler to emotionally open up to. Steel just smiled at her enthusiasm as he stood up from where he was previously sitting. “Okay then, let’s get going and fight some more monsters!” He said with enthusiasm. It wasn’t as much as the generally more enthusiastic Valerie but this was enthusiastic for Steel. “I’ll be leaving my back to you then.” He said showing that he trusted the female swashbuckler to watch his back. “And I’ll be watching yours. Let’s do this partner.” He said this with a smile.

Words: 773

Valerie

OOC: Sorry for the wait!

[Valerie]

The black haired swashbuckler grinned when Valerie told him it was fun. “Yes, it is great.” The girl nodded in agreement. Steel stood up and matched her enthusiasm when the female swashbuckler asked if he was ready to fight again. It was getting rather late and the sun falling into the horizon. There were only a few hours before nightfall and Valerie was not planning to stay so deep in the Greatwood forest during the night because of the possible high level monsters at night. The plan was to head back to London as soon as the sun touched the tree line, get some food and then find a tree to stay the night. Her stomach grumbled softly, complaining of the lack of food, making Valerie roll her eyes at herself.

“Let’s get moving, then” She said, turning her back towards him and walked out of the safe zone. Valerie kept a steady pace as her eyes searched the forest from some monsters. Her mind wandered and her stomach continued to complain, distracting her slightly. Her mouth watered as images of takoyaki and meat floated through her mind. The girl sighed softly, daydreaming slightly about dinner. She let out a small yelp as the swashbuckler tripped slightly from not paying attention. Valerie turned to Steel and smiled meekly. “Sorry about that.” She apologized for yelping suddenly. The girl focused all her attention into the forest, ignoring the gnawing feeling in her stomach. Something in the corner of her eyes moves slightly, causing Valerie’s head to turn in search for the source of the movement. Her brows furrowed as nothing seemed to move when she was sure something had moved.

Words: 279
OOC: Sorry I wasn't sure what to write about.